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f 
& 


IE 


THI 
NEW  YORK 
/  PUBLIC  LIBRAR 

-enox  and  V- 
Fcandsitleftg, 


:  MS, 


-MRS.    W.    A.    INGHAM, 


Women  of  Cleveland 


AND 


THEIR  WORK, 

PHILANTHROPIC,    EDUCATIONAL,    LITERARY, 
MEDICAL    AND    ARTISTIC. 


A  HISTORY, 

IX    WHICH    MORE    THAN    ONE    THOUSAND    PEOPEE    OF    CEEVE- 

eand's  PAST  AND  PRESENT  ARE    mentioned 

AS    PARTICIPANTS. 


BY 

MRS.   W.   A.   INGHAM. 


Introduction  by  Hon.  C.  C.  Baedwin,  LL.  D.. 

Pres't  Western  Reserve  Historical  Society. 


A  Word  Commendatory  by  Mrs.  Sarah  K.  Boeton. 


Cleveland,  O. 

W.  A.  Ingham,  138  Superior  St. 

1893- 


.:t~~  - 


411047 

A£~ 
TILDE* 

.2 1907  l 


"Honor  the  dead;  quicken  the  living." 


The  woman  singeth  at  her  spinning  icheel 
A  pleasant  chant.      '■'■      *      *      :;:  * 

While,  thus  apart  from  toil,  our  souls  pursue 
Some  high,  calm,  spheric  tune,  and  prove  our  work, 
The  better  for  the  sweetness  of  our  song. 

— Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning. 


COPYRIGHT    BY   W.    A.    INGHAM. 

IS93- 


TNI  CllVEUNn  fT«.  1  fUl.  CO.    ClfVEL'1 


DEDICATED   TO   THE 

IDomen  tPorkers  of  <Det>elanb,  ©v 

IN  WHATEVER   PURSUIT   THEY    MAY    HONOR    THE    MASTER. 


"inasmuch  as  ye  have  bone  it  unro  one  of    ttje    least  of    these, 
my  brethren,  ye  bar>e  bone  it  unto  mc," 


INTRODUCTION. 


TJISTORY  is  the  relation  of  past  life,  the  story 
of  former  experience ;  it  is  said  to  be 
many  sided.  It  may  be  as  varied  in  relation 
as  life  is  in  experience,  and  what  is  most  valuable 
and  most  to  be  admired  to-day  is  most  valuable  in 
history.  It  has  been  thought  to  be  uninter- 
estingly written  by  "  Mr.  Dryasdust,"  and,  indeed, 
the  works  of  many  historians  have  been  more 
valuable  for  what  they  have  incidentally  revealed 
than  for  what  the  authors  intended  carefully  to 
preserve.  I  would  hardly  go  so  far  as  Mr.  Her- 
bert Spencer,  who — in  his  little  book  on  educa- 
tion— with  courage  and  with  force  stigmatizes 
many  histories  as  useless  because  the  authors 
chose  the  wrong  facts  to  relate.  His  criticisms 
apply  more  forcibly  to  compilations  than  to 
original  relation,  for  one  can  hardly  make  a  narra- 


INTRODUCTION.  V 

tive  from  the  life  that  has  not  its  value.  There 
may  be  as  much  variety  in  the  written  relation  of 
history  as  in  the  relation  by  living  persons  in  con- 
versation. The  lives  of  women  and  their  work  in 
our  locality  are  of  special  value  to  be  known  and 
to  be  well  presented. 

Every  true  man  feels  strongly  that  the  world  is 
better  for  women,  and  that  his  own  ideal  and  its 
very  measurable  realization  is  elevated  by  their 
work.  Yet,  when  he  writes  history  he  forgets  this 
and  relates  especially  those  matters  that  are  with- 
in the  more  ordinary  range  of  his  own  activity. 
But  that  which  most  ennobles  life,  that — above  a 
ugood  support" — which  cares  for  the  educa- 
tional, moral  and  religious  welfare  of  those  who 
most  need  the  care,  often  because  they  fail 
to  care  for  themselves — -such  charity  is  best  worthv 
to  be  related,  and  such  charity  do  we  expect  of 
woman.  The  experience,  and  above  all  the  exam- 
ple, are  most  worthy  and  inspiriting. 


vi  INTRODUCTION. 

It  is  not  yet  one  hundred  years  since  onr  large 
and  prosperous  city  was  begun.  When  onr  fair 
historian  commenced  her  work,  it  was  not  too  late 
to  learn  from  original  settlers,  by  only  one  remove, 
of  earliest  Cleveland,  and  to  learn  very  directly  of 
its  noble  women,  of  true  and  best  New  England 
mould,  with  its  educational  and  missionary  spirit 
and  active  intellect ;  women  who  laid  here  broader 
and  nobler  foundations  than  the  exploits  so  gener- 
ally registered — the  felling  of  forests,  the  tilling  of 
new  soil,  occasional  hunger,  the  killing  of  bears  or 
perchance  an  Indian  murder.  The  work  of  these 
noble  women  lives ;  lives  in  the  continuation  of 
the  same  work,  in  stimulating  others  in  lines 
educational,  moral  or  religious,  and  we  need 
hardly  say  in  temporal  prosperity. 

I  welcome  this  history,  told  as  it  should  be ;  the 
author's  own  life,  religious,  educational  and  charit- 
able, evidently  directing  her  story ;  no  mere  com- 
pilation, but  where    she   herself   has  led.     Much 


INTRODUCTION.  vii 

herein  would  never  have  been  rescued  or  told  but 
for  her.  It  is  a  large,  original  contribution  to  the 
best  history  of  our  city.  No  better  or  more 
useful  narrative  could  be  made  than  of  the  chari- 
ties, the  literary  activities,  and  the  lives  of  the 
women  of  Cleveland — the  better  part  of  humanity 
working  so  usefullv,  unselfishlv  and  disinterestedlv 
for  us  all. 

The  history  of  past  Cleveland  develops  into  the 
present.  Having  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  looking 
over  advance  sheets  of  the  book,  I  have  learned 
many  delightful  things  about  our  own  city. 
Women  who  have  become  famous  as  writers,  those 
helping  to  sustain  our  newspapers — who  have  led 
in  art — in  history  and  have  influenced  the  cause  of 
political  advancement  are  all  here. 

We  have  a  book,  now,  to  which  we  can  go,  to 
learn  of  writers,  educators,  physicians,  artists  and 
patrons  of  art  in  Cleveland.  Its  style  grows  upon 
me  and  after  reading  her  page,  I,  a  solemn,  matter- 


Vlll  [NTRODUCTION. 

of-fact  man,  am  not  only  better  informed  but 
lighter  of  heart  and  happier.  I  am  more  and  more 
of  opinion  that  Cleveland  and  its  history  will  al- 
ways be  indebted  to  the  author. 

C.  C.  Baldwin. 


A  WORD  COMMENDATORY. 


"T  is  fitting  that  the  biographer  of  the  Women  of 
Cleveland  and  historian  of  their  work  should, 
herself,  have  been  a  participant  in  many  depart- 
ments so  vividly  described  in  the  following  pages. 
A  teacher  in  onr  citv  schools — afterward,  in  one  of 
Ohio's  higher  institutions  of  learning — a  church 
worker — pioneer  in  the  organization  of  the  Foreign 
and  Home  Missionary  Societies  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church — a  leader  in  the  Temperance 
Crusade,  culminating  in  the  National  Union,  in 
which  she  is  a  charter  member,  Mrs.  Ingham 
knows  something  of  woman's  work. 

Later,  she  is  a  founder,  trustee  and  secretary  in 
the  Cleveland  School  of  Art — connected  with  the 
Press  Club — and  Daughters  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution— President  of  the  Northern  Ohio  Columbian 
Association. 


X  A    WORD    COMMENDATORY. 

Her  Flag  Festival,  a  processional  entertain- 
ment, and  the  Four  Hundredth  Anniversary 
Program  are  used  in  every  State  of  the  Union, 
bringing  large  receipts  to  the  various  causes  for 
whose  benefit  presented. 

A  believer  in  the  ability  of  woman  to  accomplish 
much  yet  unattained,  she  attempts  encouragement 
by  reciting  examples  in  this  record  of  work ;  win- 
ning to  greater  achievement  the  younger  women 
favored  with  superior  advantages. 

This  book  is  the  result  of  much    thought  and 

patient  labor;  many  years  of  careful  search  have 

been  given  in  preparation  of  its  detail,  data   and 

accuracy  of  delineation. 

Sarah  K.  Bolton. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Mrs.  B.  Rouse,  Founder  of  Woman's  Work  in  Cleveland — Union  Prayer 
Meeting — The  Ladies'  Tract  Society. 

CHAPTER    II. 

Cleveland  in  1800 — Mrs.  Juliana  Walworth  Long — Mrs.  Mary  H.  Severance 
— Historical  Sketch — Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  B.  Payne. 

CHAPTER  III. 

Mrs.  Philo  Scovill— Old  Trinity— Mrs.  Noble  H.  Merwin— The  Log  Court 
House. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Western  Reserve— Brooklyn— Moses  Cleaveland— Mrs.  Stiles  and  Mrs. 
Guun — John  Jacob  Astor's  House — Major  Lorenzo  Carter — Judge 
Josiah  Barber  and  Wife— George  Watkins — Charles  Taylor's  Farm — 
Levi  Sargent — Walk-in-the-Water. 

CHAPTER  V. 

Heroic  Women  of  Cleveland — Rosamond  Sargent — The  Black  Bottle — 
Jerusha  T.  Barber — Mrs.  George  L.  Chapman — Mrs.  Zerviah  Cham- 
pion— Mrs.  Julia  Selden — Mr.  and  Mrs.  Josiah  Barber,  Jr. — Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Richard  Lord. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Presbyterian  Church— Mrs.  Elisha  Taylor — Mrs.  Samuel  Stark- 
weather— Mrs.  C.  M.  Giddings — The  First  Foreign  Missionary  Soci- 
ety— Its  Workers — Mrs.  Erastus  F.  Gaylord. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Mrs.  Grace  Johnston— The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church — Mrs.  Eliza  T. 
Worley— Mrs.  B.  Rouse— The  Baptist  Church— Mrs.  William  T.  Smith 
— Mrs.  C.  A.  Seaman — First  Congregational,  Plymouth,  Bohemian, 
Polish,  and  Swedish   Missions — German  Work— Mrs.  J.  Rothweiler. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Ohio  City— The  First  Sewing  Circle— Miss  Harriet  Barber— The  Flats- 
Columbus  Block — The  Formation  of  Churches — Mrs.  Abigail  Ran- 
dall—Mrs. Alfred  Davis — Mrs.  Charles  Winslow— Sixteen  Women  of 
Cleveland — An  After-Uinner  Coffee. 


xil  TAKLK    OF   CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  ix. 

The  Female  Charitable  Society  of  Old  Trinity— Moral  Reform  Society— 
The  Social  Evil— Maternal  Association— Mrs.  S.  Williamson— Mrs. 
Louisa  Pickands. 

CHAPTER   X. 

Ohio  City— Some  Prominent  Men  and  How  They  Found  Their  Wives- 
Going  a  Maying — Mrs.  D.  P.  Rhodes— Mrs.  Belden  Seymour— Mrs. 
Mary  A.  Deguon — Mrs.  J.  H.  Sargent— Mrs.  G.  W.  Jones— Twenty-five 
Women  of  Cleveland— Mrs.  W.  B.  Castle— Mrs.  Kate  Newell  Doggett. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Mrs.  J.  A.  Harris— "  The  Dear  Old  Martha  Washington  and  Dorcas"— 
Mrs.  C.  A.  Dean— Mrs.  A.  H.  Barney— Mrs.  J.  E.  Lyon— Mrs.  William 
Mittleberger— Report  of  Fifty  Years  Ago— Protestant  Orphan 
Asylum— Mrs.  Stillman  Witt— Sophia  L.  Hewitt — Ladies'  Temper- 
ance Union. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

A  Phantom  Charity — Mrs.  Charlotte  Degmeier — Mrs.  Jacob  Lowman— The 
Ragged  School— Children's  Aid  Society— Trinity  Cathedral  Home- 
Mrs.  John  Shelley— Mrs.  Harvey  Rice— Mrs.  O.  A.  Brooks— Mrs.  X. 
W.  Taylor — Orphan  Asylum  Workers — Mar}-  Champion— Mrs.  Eliza 
Jennings— Mrs.  Lewis  Burton— Mrs.  M.  Wetmore— Mrs.  Julia  Bedell. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Soldier's  Aid  Society  of  Northern  Ohio— Dear  Mrs.  President — Mary  Clark 
Brayton— Ellen  F.  Terry— Mrs.  William  Melhiuch  —  Miss  Sara 
Mahan — Fifty  Workers. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Dorcas— Mrs.  J.  Ross— Mrs.  J.  S.  White— Ladies'  Bethel  and  Mission  Aid 
Society— Mrs.  H.  Chisholm— Rebecca — Railroad  Woman's  Union — 
Woman's  Repository— Woman's  Exchange— Fifty  Workers— Secret 
Orders— Mixed  Societies— Lida  Baldwin  Infants'  Rest— The  Cure  for 
Poverty. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Sarah  E.  Fitch— The  Woman's  Christian  Association— The  Retreat— Its 
Founder— Mrs.  Meribah  Farmer  and  Mrs.  Tatum— Mrs.  A.  P. 
Dutcher — The  Boarding  Home — Home  for  Aged  Women — Day  Nurs- 
ery and  Free  Kindergarten  Branch  Association— The  Educational 
and  Industrial  Union — Eliza  Jennings  Home  for  Incurables — Hon- 
orable Mention. 


TABLE   OF    CONTEXTS.  Xlll 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Woman's  Temperance  Crusade— Its  Marvelous  Outcome— The  Workers- 
Mrs.  S.  W.  Duncan— League  Organization— Dealers'  Pledge— Mr. 
Joseph  Perkins— River  Street  Friendly  Inn— Mrs.  John  Coon— The 
Open  Door. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Woman's  Temperance  Crusade— Special  Mention— Mr.  W.  H.  Doan— Our 
Dead — Mrs.  Joseph  Perkins— Pearl  Street  Inn. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

St.  Clair  Street  Inn— Mrs.  M.  C.  Worthington— Central  Friendly  Inn— Miss 
F.  Jennie  Duty— Columbian  Statistics— Mrs/  Emma  C.  Worthington 
—The  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  To-day— National  W.  C.  T.  U.— Women  of  the 
Salvation  Army— Our  Vs. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Church  Societies— Fifty  Noble  Women — Columbian  Statistics— Presby- 
terial  Work— W.  H.  M.  S.— Mrs.  Lucy  Webb  Hayes— Episcopal 
Church— Mrs.  C.  S.  Bates— Congregational— Mrs.  J.  G.  W.  Cowles— 
Missionaries  at  Home— Miss  S.  C.  Valentine— Miss  Sarah  L.  Andrews 
— McAll  Mission— King's  Daughters— Mrs.  Conway  W.  Noble — 
Women's  Council— Roman  Catholic  Church — Mrs.  T.  J.  Mooney — 
Miss  Joanna  O'Mara — Hebrew  Women's  Work — Mrs.  Manuel  Halle — 
Bohemian  Hundreds—  Marie  Hajek. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Pioneer  Schools  of  Cleveland — The  First  School-house— Mrs.  Irene 
Hickox  Scranton — Mrs.  Mary  Scranton  Bradford — The  First  Free 
.School— .Seventeen  Noted  Teachers. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Thirty  Noble  Women  of  Cleveland — Eight  Hundred  and  Twenty-two 
Teachers  of  To-day — Miss  Ellen  G.  Reveley — Mrs.  Lucretia  R.  Gar- 
field—Mrs.  Rebecca  D.  Rickoff. 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

Miss  Linda  T.  Guilford— Mrs.  Eliza  Clark — The  Woman's  College— Mrs. 
Flora  Stone  Mather — Our  Musicians — Suburban  Schools— Mrs.  A.  A. 
F.  Johnston. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Early  Literary  Women  of  Cleveland — Mrs.  Maria  M.  Herrick— Mrs.  L.  C. 
Parker— Mrs.  H.  E.  G.  Arey. 


XIV  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  xxiv. 

Five  Famous  Women  of  Cleveland— Susan  Coolidge — Constance  Fenni- 
more  Woolson — Lydia  Hoyt  Farmer — Sarah  K.  Bolton — Lucy  Seaman 
Bainbridge. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Sixty  Well-known  Women  of  Culture — Twelve  Clubs  for  Intellectual  Ad- 
vancement— The  Columbian  Association. 

CHAPTER   XXVI. 

Mr>.  Mary  Mason  Fairbanks— Cleveland  Newspapers — Old  Round  Table — 
Julia  Vaughn  Willey — Harriet  Gaylord  Smith — Ohio  Farmer — Good 
Thomas  Brown— Twelve  Sprightly  Writers — Helen  Barron  Bostwick 
— Correspondence. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Mrs.  Harriet  J.  Kester — Cleveland  School  of  Art — Louise  F.  Randolph — 
Georgia  L.Norton — Patronesses — Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.F.  Olney — Suburban 
Ladies — Helen  Elizabeth  King — Luella  Varney — Emma  D.  Cleveland 
—  Katharine  H.  Clark— Fifteen  Artists— Caroline  L.  Ransom. 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Woman's  Medical  Work— Myra  K.  Merrick,  M.  I).— Eliza  J.  Merrick— Miss 
E.  Grisell— Mrs.  C.  A.  Seaman,  Founder  of  the  Woman's  Medical 
College — Finette  Scott  Seelye— Medical  Missionaries — Dr.  Martha  A. 
Canfield — Lillian  G.  Towslee,  M.  D. — Institutions. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Our  Pallas  Athenes — Mrs.  Frances  D.  Gage— Mrs.  Caroline  M.  Severance — 
The  First  Mrs.  D.  R.  Tilden— Mrs.  H.  H.  Little— Minervas  in  Council 
— Mrs.  Betsey  M.  Cowles — Mrs.  Louisa  Southworth — Mrs.  S.  M. 
Perkins — Mrs.  I).  Cadwell. 

CHAPTER  XXX 

A  Successful  Woman  of  Cleveland— Mrs.  Mar}-  S.  Cary— Mrs.  Cornelia 
Lossing  Tilden— Mrs.  C.  T.  Doan — Industrial  Pursuits — Miss  Nellie 
M.  Horton— Out-Door  Industries— Ella  Grant  Wilson. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MRS.  B.  ROUSE,  FOUNDER  OF  WOMAN'S  WORK  IN 
CLEVELAND — UNION  PRAYER  MEETING — THE 
LADIES'    TRACT   SOCIETY. 

W  /'OMEN'S  lives  are  richer  and  broader  in 
*  *  this  century  than  ever  before.  The  world 
is  educated,  now,  to  know  that  besides  keeping 
well  ordered  homes  and  caring  for  loYed  ones,  we 
may  work  for  humanity;  may  seek  our  own  im- 
proYement.  This  inner  and  outer  life,  happily 
combined,  prevents  narrowness;  removes  from  fri- 
volity and  unworthy  pursuits;  develops  unselfish- 
ness, furnishing  a  channel  for  the  outflow  of 
Christly  affection  toward  all  the  world. 

Cleveland  women  have  ever  been  foremost  in 
philanthropic  endeavor;  it  is  just  that  we  gather 
from  the  past  and  the  present  some  record  of  their 
fruitful  toil  in  the  white  harvest  field,  whither  we 
were  sent  to  glean.  In  these  days  of  God-speed  to 
all  good  work,  when  the  silver  and  the  gold  are- 
poured  into  willing  hands  wherewith  to  establish 


l6  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

dispensaries,  hospitals,  homes  for  the  homeless,  cen- 
ters of  relief,  reform,  and  means  of  educational  and 
industrial  advantage,  it  is  appropriate  to  review  the 
infancy  of  humanitarian  work  within  this  city's  limit. 
These  beginnings  imply  woman's  struggle  with 
poverty,  with  difficulty  almost  insurmountable. 

It  was  a  bright  October  morning  that  I  called 
upon  the  founder  of  woman's  work  in  Cleveland — 
Mrs.  Rebecca  Cromwell  Rouse,  then  upward  of 
four-score  years,  passing  her  evening  time  with  a 
daughter,  Mrs.  Loren  Prentiss.  She  was  born  in 
Salem,  Mass.,  October  30th,  1799  ;  her  childhood 
was  spent  in  affluence,  her  education  liberal.  With 
remarkable  intellectual  and  spiritual  gifts,  her 
mind  always  retained  the  culture  acquired  by  early 
vears  of  travel  and  familiaritv  with  nearlv  all  lands 
beneath  the  sun.  Endowed  with  Puritanic  energy, 
resolute  of  soul  and  studious  to  please  only  her 
Lord,  we  found  her  looking  backward  with  joy  and 
forward  with  rejoicing  when  she  should  enter  into 
the  King's  palace.  At  the  date  of  her  conversion, 
in  1810,  there  were  but  few  Sunday  schools  in 
America,  and  the  little  children  of  New  England 
churches  went  each  Sabbath  morning  to  recite  the 
Westminster  catechism  to  the  Seven  Deacons. 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  i; 

At  eighteen,  Miss  Rebecca  Cromwell  married 
Benjamin  Ronse,  a  young  man  in  the  business 
circles  of  Boston,  Mass.  In  1825,  they  removed  to 
the  City  of  New  York,  where,  under  the  lead  of 
Arthur  Tappan,  she  visited  the  byways  and  worst 
localities  of  the  metropolis.  In  time,  both  herself 
and  husband  decided,  upon  the  request  of  the 
American  Sabbath  School  Union,  to  go  as  mission- 
aries to  the  Western  Reserve,  with  residence  and 
headquarters  at  Cleveland,  O.  After  parting  with 
friends,  particularly  those  of  the  Delancy  Street 
Baptist  Church,  they  journeyed  many  clays,  arriv- 
ing at  this  port  October  19th,  1830.  At  that  time 
there  was  no  village  above  the  Public  Square,  the 
population  numbering  one  thousand.  Euclid  ave- 
nue was  known  as  the  Buffalo  road  and  Fairmount, 
the  road  to  Xewburgh.  They  stopped  on  that 
Sabbath  morning  at  Merwin's  Tavern,  a  frame 
building  painted  red,  on  the  present  site  of  Brat- 
■enahl's  Block,  Superior  and  South  Water  streets, 
the  latter  called,  then,  Vineyard  lane.  After  break- 
fast, Mrs.  Rouse  asked  the  landlord  if  there  were 
no  places  of  worship  in  the  village  and  received  for 
reply  that  a  few  Methodists  were  holding  a  prayer- 
meeting  in  the  upper  story  of  the  opposite  house. 


l8  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

They  crossed  the  street,  and  found  present  among 
other  few,  Mrs.  Daniel  Worley,  Joel  Sizer,  and 
young  Mr.  Bump,  the  school-master.  At  this  time, 
the  Episcopalians  had  a  small,  wooden  meeting- 
house, corner  of  St.  Clair  and  Seneca  streets,  with 
organized  parish  services  and  Sunday  school;  here, 
again,  female  piety  predominated,  there  being  but 
two  male  members.  This  was  Old  Trinity.  Dur- 
ing the  week  following  her  arrival,  Mrs.  Rouse 
gathered  about  her  several  good  women  for  relig- 
ious work,  at  her  own  hired  house,  temporarily 
occupied,  on  Superior  street,  near  the  later  Judge 
Bishop  Block. 

In  a  picture  owned  by  Mrs.  Rouse,  their  newly 
built  home  shows  favorably,  as  a  white  cottage  on 
the  exact  site  of  the  present  Rouse  Block.  The 
cottage  has  a  face,  apparently,  all  windows,  from 
the  fact  that  the  front  room  was  used  as  a  deposi- 
tory for  the  publications  of  the  American  Sunday 
School  Union  and  Tract  Society.  This  called 
forth  the  derisive  remark  from  main-  male  "  sin- 

J 

ners,"  then  resident  in  our  city,  that  "there  is 
more  religion  in  Rouse's  windows  than  in  the 
whole  village  besides." 

The  names  of  those  who  constituted  these  early 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  19 

assemblies  in  Cleveland  were  Mrs.  Joel  Scranton, 
Mrs.  I).  Worley,  Mrs.  Dr.  Long,  Mrs.  Chas.  Gid- 
dings,  Mrs.  Moses  White,  Mrs.  Gabberden,  Mrs. 
Edmund  Clark,  Mrs.  Geo.  Hoadley,  Mrs.  H.  P. 
Weddell,  Mrs.  John  M.  Sterling.  From  this  gath- 
ering grew  the  Woman's  Union  Gospel  work  of 
Cleveland,  which  now,  under  various  forms,  is  a 
crown  of  glory  upon  the  fair  brow  of  our  own 
Forest  Citv. 

October  30th,  1830,  Mrs.  Rouse  had  organized 
the  Ladies'  Tract  Society  of  the  Village  of  Cleve- 
land, auxiliary  to  the  parent  society  of  New  York, 
the  leader  being  its  representative  in  the  homes  of 
our  people. 


20  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 


CHAPTER  II. 

CLEVELAND  IN  180O — MRS.  JULIANA  WALWORTH 
LONG — MRS.  MARY  H.  SEVERANCE — HISTOR- 
ICAL   SKETCH — MR.    AND    MRS.    H.    B.    PAYNE. 

IV  /TRS.  Mary  H.  Severance,  an  elect  lady, 
-*-*-■-  whose  name  is  found  on  all  records  of  be- 
nevolence in  this  city,  whether  for  the  home  church, 
the  Foreign  Mission,  the  orphan,  the  needy,  or  the 
soldier,  furnishes  to  this  review  of  woman's 
work,  information  of  her  loved  and  venerated 
mother,  Mrs.  Dr.  Long,  wife  of  the  first  physician 
and  surgeon  that  came  to  this  city  and  count}'. 

What  with  Airs.  Severance's  graceful  narration, 
Rev.  Dr.  Hawks'  eloquent  tribute,  and  Hon.  Alfred 
Kelley's  reminiscences,  this  chapter  will  have  un- 
usual interest.  Necessarily,  allusion  must  be 
made  to  the  first  settlement  upon  the  Western 
Reserve,  and  to  the  planting  of  a  church  here,  for 
the  life  of  Juliana  Walworth  Long  has  been  co- 
extensive with  the  entire  historv  of  the  social  and 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  21 

religious  institutions  of  this  portion  of  Ohio.  She 
was  born  in  Aurora,  New  York,  September  19th, 
1794.  In  1799,  her  father,  Mr.  John  Walworth, 
made  a  tour  to  this  country.  Coming  to  Cleveland, 
he  stayed  two  weeks  with  Major  Lorenzo  Carter, 
who  was  then  living  in  a  log  house  situate  in  the 
northern  angle  formed  by  Cuyahoga  river  and 
Union  lane.  He  returned  home,  went  to  Connecti- 
cut and  purchased  a  tract  of  two  thousand  acres 
on  Grand  river,  in  the  present  township  of  Paines- 
ville.  February  27th,  1800,  he  left  Aurora  with 
his  wife,  four  children,  servants,  and  a  small  party 
of  friends,  and  proceeded  in  sleighs  to  Buffalo. 
Resting  there  a  few  days  they  continued  their 
journey,  driving  upon  the  ice,  camping  one  night 
on  shore,  spreading  their  beds  upon  hemlock 
boughs.  Leaving  his  family  at  Presque  Isle,  now 
Erie,  Mr.  Walworth  and  servant,  with  two  horses 
and  a  yoke  of  oxen,  made  their  way,  sixty  miles, 
through  the  wilderness  to  Grand  River,  his  house- 
hold goods  being  transported  from  Buffalo  in 
sleighs.  There  being  no  road,  this  journey  from 
Presque  Isle  occupied  five  and  a  half  days. 

Arriving,   their  nearest  neighbors   on    the   east 
were  fifteen  miles  distant,  and  no  road.     On  the 


22  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

west,  eight  miles  away,  was  the  lt  Marsh,"  now 
Mentor — a  settlement  of  five  families.  Thither, 
by  a  bridle-path,  Mr.  Walworth  went  for  food. 
Four  weeks  later  he  returned  to  Erie  for  his  family 
and  goods.  These  were  placed  upon  a  flat-boat, 
and  the  dear  ones  reached  their  destination  in  the 
wilderness,  April  7th,  1800,  where  they  lived  two 
weeks  in  a  tent  and  hut. 

About  this  time,  General  Edward  Payne  arrived 
with  several  workmen,  and  two  comfortable  houses 
were  erected.  His  name  wras,  without  doubt,  given 
to  the  town — Paynes ville.  In  1806,  Hon.  John 
Walworth,  grandfather  of  Mrs.  M.  H.  Severance, 
foreseeing  the  advantages  of  this  port  for  a  larger 
town,  removed  to  Cleveland,  exchanging  his  prop- 
erty with  Governor  Huntington,  occupying  a  block- 
house which  stood  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
present  American.  The  removal  thither  was  made 
in  a  boat,  which  upset,  en  route.  Air.  Walworth 
was  Postmaster,  Clerk  of  Court,  Recorder,  Col- 
lector of  Customs,  and  Associate  Judge.  He  is 
described  as  a  small  man  of  active  habits  and 
pleasing  countenance,  possessing  energy,  though 
compelled  to  struggle  against  a  tendency  to  con- 
sumption.    His  determined,  hopeful   character  is 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  23 

seen  in  the  fact  that  after  a  tedious  journey  in  the 
Spring  from  Aurora,  N.  Y.,  to  "  Grand  River,"  in 
the  township  of  Painesville,  in  sleighs  from  Buffalo 
and  no  roads,  he  wrote  back  to  a  Connecticut 
friend  a  cheerful  letter,  giving  the  name  "  Bloom- 
ing Grove  "  to  the  forest  whose  branches  over- 
shadowed his  lowly  dwelling. 

Mrs.  Walworth  is  remembered  as  a  kind,  judi- 
cious, dignified  woman,  spoken  of  with  great  re- 
spect by  all  persons  who  shared  her  hospitality. 
In  those  days  were  no  hotels  or  boarding-houses, 
and  the  few  resident  families  had  to  receive  all 
newcomers,  so  that  the  cares  of  early  housekeepers 
were  much  greater  than  those  of  the  present. 
Juliana  was  now  twelve  years  old.  She  received 
her  education  with  her  parents  and  at  the  little 
school  in  Painesville.  April  7th,  181 1,  she  was 
married  to  Dr.  David  Long,  late  of  Hebron,  N.  Y. 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Long  first  resided  in  a  frame  structure 
near  the  Lighthouse.  Afterwards,  they  lived  in  a 
dwelling  in  the  rear  of  the  American  ;  pasture 
grounds  extended  back  from  it  to  the  river.  The 
Doctor's  name  was  given  to  the  street  running  from 
South  Water  east  to  Seneca,  and  John  Walworth's 
name  appears  with  the  street  from  Central  Way  to 


24  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

Scowden.  We  have,  also,  Walworth  Place  and 
Walworth  Run.  In  1810,  there  were  but  three 
frame  dwellings  here  and  five  or  six  log  houses, 
and  in  181 2,  Mrs.  Long  relates  that  the  Public 
Square  was  only  partly  cleared,  and  had  in  it  many 
stumps  and  bushes.  In  1 831,  Dr.  Long  built  a  stone 
house,  with  ample  grounds,  corner  of  Superior  and 
Seneca  streets.  This  eminent  lady,  although  fra- 
gile physically,  possessed  unusual  energy  and  res- 
oluteness of  character  ;  self-reliant  and  decided,  she 
triumphed  over  bodily  delicacy,  and  attended  well 
to  her  household  management.  She,  with  her  hus- 
band, had  great  love  for  children.  P>esides  taking- 
good  care  of  her  own,  their  house  was  the  asylum 
for  many  homeless  ones.  Six  of  these  called  her 
mother,  and  received  from  her  a  mother's  love.  So 
proverbial  was  this  characteristic  that  a  dear  little 
boy  who  had  received  her  care,  temporarily,  upon 
hearing  of  some  orphan  child,  inquired,  l  Why 
don't  he  go  to  Aunty  Ongs  ?  '  Her  heart  and  hand 
were  given  to  every  work  in  which  God  could  be 
honored  by  doing  good  to  humanity.  Through 
her  husband  she  learned  much  of  the  needs  of  the 
sick,  and  in  these  days  of  skilled  nurses,  prepared 
delicacies  and  other  appliances,  one  can  hardly  un- 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  25 

derstand  how  much  care  was  given  in  the  early  davs. 
Though  of  nervous  temperament,  her  fortitude 
was  always  sufficient  for  demands  upon  the  emer- 
gency. A  boundless  benevolence  was  her  leading 
trait,  which,  combined  with  read}'  disposition  to 
sacrifice  self,  made  her  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
of  our  representative  women.  An  adopted  child 
says  that  she  would  work  for  others,  would  knit 
stockings  for  poor  children  when  she  could  not 
hold  up  her  head.  The  same  person  relates  that 
Dr.  Long,  having  once  returned  from  visiting  a 
patient  in  Xewburgh,  reported  that  the  sick  man 
needed  comforts  which  he  was  too  poor  to  pur- 
chase. These  Mrs.  Long  speedily  prepared,  and, 
with  another  lady,  drove  towards  the  sick  man's 
house.  As  they  were  descending  Clark's  Hill,  some 
part  of  the  harness  gave  way.  Her  friend  advised 
that  they  return  home.  Mrs.  Long's  answer  was, 
k  Xo,  the  man  needs  the  comforts  now,"  and,  tak- 
ing off  a  gingham  apron,  she  cut  its  strings,  tied 
up  the  harness  with  them  and  fulfilled  her  errand 
of  mercy.  It  is  said  of  her  that  in  the  last  war 
with  England,  and  in  that  against  the  Slaveholders' 
Rebellion,  she  did  what  she  could  to  aid  her 
country.     In  both  wars  she  prepared  lint  for  the 


26  WOMEN    OF    CLKYKLAXD 

wounded,  and  personally  ministered  to  them  and 
to  the  sick.  In  the  war  of  1S12,  though  the  scene 
of  conflict  wras  not  on  this  ground,  many  ill  and 
wounded  soldiers  were  brought  to  this  post  and 
her  visits  were  esteemed  only  second  to  her  hus- 
band's ;  in  fact,  she  supplemented  his  efforts. 
Mrs.  George  Wallace,  Mrs.  John  Walworth,  and 
Mrs.  Dr.  Long  refused  to  flee,  but  stayed  with  their 
husbands  after  Hull's  disgraceful  surrender  of  De- 
troit, when  it  was  supposed  Cleveland  would  be 
taken.  One  of  the  soldiers  on  his  dying  bed  gave 
Mrs.  Long  his  blanket,  which  she  religiously  pre- 
served. When  Sumter  was  fired  upon  and  the 
people  were  hastening  to  offer  gifts  for  their  sons 
and  brothers  in  the  field,  Mrs.  Long  brought  out 
that  cherished  blanket,  in  one  corner  of  which  wras 
wrought  "  1812,"  and  would  have  sent  it  for  some 
brave  boy,  had  she  not  been  persuaded  to  substitute 
other  gifts  in  its  place.  This  rare  woman  heard 
the  boom  of  Perry's  guns  in  the  engagement  that 
immortalized  his  name.  She  rejoiced  in  the  over- 
throw of  the  Rebellion. 

Mrs.  Long  heard  the  Gospel  chiefly  from  the 
missionaries  that  itinerated,  or  preached  a  part  of 
the  time  only  in  a  particular  locality.     The  first 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  2/ 

sermon  she  remembered  to  have  heard  was  in  a 
barn,  at  Euclid,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Badger ;  afterward 
she  worshipped,  with  others,  in  a  log  school-house 
on  the  south  side  of  St.  Clair  street,  near  the  site 
of  the  Kennard  House  ;  also  in  private  residences. 

Mrs.  Severance  says  that  her  mother  was  one  of 
the  first  ladies  in  Cleveland  to  banish  wines  and 
liquors  from  her  sideboard,  being  convinced  from 
Dr.  Lyman  Beecher\s  lectures  that  teetotalism  is 
the  only  right  course ;  she  was  ever  thereafter  a 
staunch  temperance  advocate.  The  latter  part  of 
her  life  was  full  of  good  works,  and  hundreds 
blessed  her  gentle  charities.  This  precious  leader 
died  in  July,  1866,  aged  72,  surrounded  by  a  host 
of  loving  friends  even  to  the  fcmrth  generation,  re- 
vered and  mourned  by  the  entire  community.  It 
is  well  to  refresh  our  minds  in  reviewing  the  career 
of  one  who  did  so  much  for  Cleveland,  she,  "  be- 
ing dead,  yet  speaketh." 

The  following  pioneer  sketch  is  given  in  connec- 
tion with  Mrs  Long :  Mr.  Job  V.  Stiles  located  in 
Cleveland  in  1796,  and  built  a  cabin  on  the  ground 
opposite  the  Weddell  House  on  Bank  street.  He 
was  the  first  white  settler  in  Cleveland.  The  same 
year,  Judge  Kingsbury  settled  at  Conneaut.     In 


2^  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

the  Spring  of  1797,  he  came  to  Cleveland,  put  up 
a  house  near  where  the  Post  Office  now  is,  but  in 
the  Autumn  removed  upon  the  ridge  of  the  Kins- 
man road.     Other  settlers  came  here  and  removed, 

ls  did  Mr.  Stiles.  It  was  thought  the  locality  was 
not  conducive  to  health,  as  ague  and  other  bilious 
diseases  prevailed.  This  retarded  progress.  Set- 
tlements were  begun  in  Xewburgh  and  Euclid  in 
[798.  So  late  as  July,  1801,  Rev.  Joseph  Badger, 
the  first  missionary,  but  not  the  first  minister  upon 
the  Reserve,  visited  Cleveland.  He  speaks  of 
lodging  in  Autumn   of  the  same   year   when  on  a 

:^it  to  the  Indians  on  the  Huron  and  the  Maumee 
at  [Major  Lorenzo  Carter's.  He  came  by  the  South- 
ern route,  passing  through  Pittsburgh  and  arriving 
at  the  cabin  of  Rev.  William  Wick,  at  Voungstown, 
in  the  latter  part  of  December,  1800.  On  the  last 
Sabbath  of  that  month  he  preached  his  first  ser- 
mon on  the  Reserve,  having  been  received  by  Mr. 
Wick  "  as  a  familiar  friend. "  Mr.  Badger  soon 
made  a  missionary  tour  through  the  infant  settle- 
ment and  preached  the  Gospel  to  the  scattered 
households  in    the   wilderness.      He  came  as   far 

vest  as  Cleveland,  and  went  from  here  to  Paines- 
ville. 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  29 

The  settlements,  separated  by  miles  of  unbroken 
forests  and  by  streams  not  yet  bridged,  consisted 
of  a  few  families,  usually,  from  one  or  two  to  five 
or  six  ;  at  the  utmost,  eleven.  Going  from  Cleve- 
land he  found  in  Euclid,  one  family ;  in  Chagrin, 
one ;  in  Mentor,  four  ( there  had  been  five,  one 
was  homesick  and  went  back  East  ) ;  in  Paines- 
ville,  two.  These  two  at  Painesville  were  Mr. 
John  Walworth's  and  Gen.  Edward  Payne's;  to 
them  he  preached.  He  must  have  been  the  first 
minister  whom  they  had  heard  since  coming  hither 
in  April,  1800,  fifteen  months  before. 

The  marriage  of  Henry  B.Payne  with  Mary  Perry, 
a  descendant  of  the  Commodore,  gives  lustre  to  local 
history.  Mrs.  Payne's  love  for  learning,  and  liber- 
ality to  our  School  of  Art ;  her  public  spirit  and 
lovely  character  make  for  herself  a  warm  place  in 
the  hearts  of  Clevelanders.  The  magnificent 
Perry-Payne  block,  situate  in  one  of  the  old  places 
of  Superior  street,  is  of  itself  a  memorial  to  pio- 
neer enterprise.  Mr.  and  Airs.  Dudley  Baldwin 
and  the  Wicks  leave  traces  of  splendid  ancestry 
and  of  their  own  thrift  in  this  metropolis  of  the 
Western  Reserve. 


3<D  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 


CHAPTER  III. 

MRS.   PHILO   SCOVILL — OLD    TRINITY — MRS.    NOBLE 
H-.  MERWIN — THE  LOG  COURT  HOUSE. 

A  TRS.  Philo  Scovill  was  born  December  27, 
^^^  1800.  Of  vigorous  health,  she  has  passed 
a  life-time  of  work  ;  first,  for  her  home  and  chil- 
dren, after  them  the  city's  welfare  and  her  church, 
then  the  orphan,  sick,  and  friendless. 

There  is  upon  our  list  of  honored  women  none 
more  public  spirited  and  wide-awake,  nor  one  more 
unselfish  than  our  venerable  friend,  the  last  of 
Cleveland's  pioneer  women  to  pass  away. 

With  characteristic  regard,  she  desired  this 
sketch  to  embody  a  history  of  Trinity  Parish  and 
its  charities,  rather  than  a  personal  record.  In 
fact,  a  tribute  to  her  must  be  an  outline  of  church 
history,  for  she  is  so  closely  identified  with  its  be- 
ginning, and  has  always  been  so  devoted  to  its 
progress,  that  she  is  frequently  called  "  Mother  of 
Old    Trinity."     Her  mother,    one  of  the    noblest 


ANT)   THEIR   WORK.  3 1 

women  of  the  Revolution,  left  to  the  daughter  a 
rare  heritage — common  sense,  energy  and  cheer- 
fulness. Judging  from  the  celerity  with  which  she 
thoroughly  informed  us  upon  difficult  points  in 
Cleveland's  past,  we  had  hoped  that  she  might  see 
a  birthday  in  1900.  Her  grandfather,  John  Walker, 
was  a  Tory  in  the  early  days  of  our  country,  and 
held  office  under  Government  in  Hartford,  Conn. 
His  daughter,  married  to  Benjamin  Bixby,  located 
on  Ohio  soil  at  New  Lisbon,  Columbiana  County, 
where  Mrs.  Scovill  was  born.  She  came  to  this 
city  August  16,  1816,  and  was  married  Februarv 
16,  1819.  For  several  years  thereafter  her  life  was 
full  of  home  duties,  her  attention  absorbed  with 
the  rearing  of  children,  devotion  to  her  husband's 
interests,  a  man  who  was  struggling  under  diffi- 
culties to  do  all  possible  for  the  town  in  which  he 
had  determined  to  reside. 

It  will  be  of  interest  to  know  that  in  1826,  after 
removing  a  crooked  rail  fence  from  the  lot,  Philo 
Scovill  built  and  occupied  the  Franklin  House, 
standing  on  the  present  site  of  Scovill  Block.  It 
was  the  first  three-storied  building  on  the  Western 
Reserve,  and  of  imposing  appearance'for  that  day. 
On    one  side   of  it  was   N.  E.    Crittenden's  little 


32  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

jewelry  shop.  On  the  other,  Dockstader  &  Tom- 
linsorTs  hat  store. 

During  the  Winter  of  1796-97,  just  three  people 
lived  in  onr  whole  city — Mr.  and  Mrs.  Job  Stiles 
and  Joseph  Landon.  Fifteen  persons  resided  here 
January  1st,  1798.  The  next  year  the  families  of 
Rodolphus  Edwards  and  Nathaniel  Doane  arrived, 
being  ninety-two  days  on  their  way  from  Con- 
necticut. 

In  1800,  with  accessions  to  the  XewT  England 
exodus  and  Ohio  immigration,  several  houses  were 
built  on  the  high  ground  east  of  the  Cuyahoga. 

According  to  the  record  and  tradition  furnished 
by  Mrs.  Scovill,  the  early  inhabitants  of  Cleveland, 
from  1796  through  the  next  two  decades,  did  little 
credit  to  their  Puritan  training.  In  less  than  five 
years  after  the  first  cabin  was  put  up,  a  distillery 
appeared,  but  no  house  of  worship.  Religion  be- 
came a  theme  of  coarse  jesting.  As  an  example, 
a  party  of  infidels  bore  in  mock  procession  through 
the  streets  the  effigy  of  Christ.  A  better  senti- 
ment awakened  first  in  the  women  of  the  period. 
Of  necessity,  then,  the  organization  of  churches 
must  be  included  in  this  history  of  mothers. 

The    first    printed    trace    we    have    of  religious 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  33 

services  here  is  in  the  records  of  the  Buckingham 
family,  furnished  by  Mrs.  N.  K.  McDole.  Mrs. 
Noble  H.  Merwin  (Minerva  Buckingham),  a  Pres- 
byterian lady,  and  her  husband  came  here  in  the 
Fall  of  18 1 5,  Cleveland  having  just  attained  the 
dignity  of  a  village,  with  30  families  including  150 
persons.  There  being  no  public  worship,  Airs. 
Merwin  and  her  family  inviting  the  neighbors,  led 
them  to  the  log  court  house  and  opened  her  Bible, 
leading  the  services  until  a  missionary  was  sent  to 
the  people.  Her  Christian  influence  was  sincerely 
felt.     She  died  at  an  early  date. 

Mrs.  Scovill  describes  the  famous  log  court 
house  as  two  stories  high  and  standing  where  the 
oldest  fountain  in  the  Public  Square  now  is.  At 
the  west  end,  lower  story,  was  the  jail,  with  debtors' 
and  criminals'  cells,  grated  windows  in  front ;  east 
end,  upper  story,  the  court  room.  At  the  landing 
of  the  inside  staircase,  a  fire-place,  sizzling  with 
green  oak  wood,  feebly  struggled  to  warm  the  in- 
stitution. This  was  the  assembly  room  for  every 
description  of  meeting  until  the  Academy  was 
built. 

Trinity  Parish  was  organized  at  the  residence  of 
Phineas  Shepherd,  November  9th,  1816.     At  this 


34  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

time  there  was  no  diocesan  organization,  nor  even 
missionary  society,  connected  with  Ohio.  Darins 
Cooper  was  appointed  to  read  service  March  2, 
181 7.  Rev.  Roger  Searle,  rector  of  St.  Peter's 
Parish,  Plymouth,  Conn.,  visited  Cleveland.  After- 
ward, he  reorganized  this  parish. 

Mr.  George  L.  Chapman,  who  was  present,  says 
the  reorganization  was  effected  at  the  house  of 
Phineas  Shepherd,  who  had  removed  to  Brooklyn, 
the  name  by  which  the  whole  tract  of  country 
west  of  the  Cuvahoga  was  called.  This  house 
was  of  logs,  standing  where  230  Pearl  street  now 
is.  There  were  thirteen  families  and  eleven  com- 
municants in  the  parish.  Dr.  Brown  states: 
"  September  27,  1819,  Bishop  Philander  Chase  first 
officially  visited  the  parish  and  confirmed  ten  per- 
sons. Rev.  Roger  Searle  made  annual  visitations. 
He  was  the  first  Episcopalian  preacher  in  the 
Northwest.  In  1827,  Rev.  Silas  C.  Freeman,  being 
duly  commissioned,  set  forth  to  secure  means 
toward  the  erection  of  a  church  edifice.  Western 
New  York  and  Boston  seem  to  have  contributed 
most  liberally.  A  lot  was  purchased  of  General 
Perkins,  corner  St.  Clair  and  Seneca  streets,  for 
$250,  and  a  frame  building  erected  by  White  & 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  35 

Hamblin,  at  a  cost  of  $3,070,  amid  more  struggles 
and  trials  than  would  be  known  in  erecting  all  the 
churches  in  the  city  at  present.  When  Trinity 
was  built  it  was  known  as  '  The  Church,'  and 
among  other  duties  which  devolved  upon  it  was  to 
show  to  all  the  people  whence  cometh  the  wind  ; 
hence,  on  each  of  the  four  pinnacles  was  planted  a 
weather-cock,  made  according  to  contract, '  of  sheet 
iron,  of  such  form  as  may  be  directed,  but  not  to 
be  so  large  or  expensive  as  the  one  on  the  court 
house.'  Such  taste  was  rebuked  bv  the  failure  of 
the  iron  birds  to  turn,  and  so  after  awhile  the  stub- 
born weather-cocks  were  removed." 

Until  the  church  was  erected,  services  were  held 
where  a  room  could  be  procured,  first  in  the  log 
court  house,  then  in  the  Academy,  and  at  length 
in  Free  Masons'  Hall.  All  persons  religiously  in- 
clined united  in  this  worship. 

The  corporation  of  Trinity  Parish  was  formed  in 
1828,  and  the  building  completed  ;  in  after  time 
cut  in  two,  separated,  and  the  extremes  united  by 
the  advice  of  Philo  Scovill.  The  names  of  the  in- 
corporators were :  Josiah  Barber,  Phineas  Shep- 
herd, Charles  Taylor,  James  F.  Clark,  Sherlock  J. 
Andrews    and  John   W.  Allen.      At  the    close    of 


36  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

1829,  Rev.  Mr.  Freeman,  overborne  with  missionary 
labor,  resigned  Trinity,  and  for  a  time  Rev.  William 
N.  Lyster  was  pastor. 

Do  not  imagine  we  have  wandered  away  from 
Mrs.  Scovill.  While  her  loved  Zion  was  in  prepa- 
ration, she  rocked  the  cradle,  spun  linen,  and 
studied  music.  The  occupant  of  the  cradle  at  that 
particular  juncture  was  her  daughter  Caroline,  who 
advanced  so  rapidly  that  at  three  years  old  she  knit 
lovely  yarn  into  strips  at  Miss  Beard's  school,  and 
at  five  read  the  English  reader.  She  is  now  Mrs. 
Bemis. 

Mr.  Herbert  C.  Foote  led  the  first  choir  in 
Old  Trinity.  Airs.  Foote,  a  small,  quaint  figure, 
was  leading  treble  ;  Mrs.  Scovill  stood  next. 

Let  us  glance  into  "  the  church  "  during  its 
earliest  Christinas  carols.  The  women  singers 
were  twelve  in  number,  six  of  them  married, 
dressed  in  black  with  bishop  sleeves,  white  caps 
and  poke  bonnets ;  six  young  ladies  arrayed  in 
white,  all  the  sweet  faces  with  woman's  crowning 
glory  combed  smoothly  adown  the  cheek  and  over 
the  ear.  In  their  hands,  all  in  a  line,  is  the  anthem 
prepared  for  the  occasion,  printed  on  fly-sheets, 

"  Strike  the  cymbal. 
Roll  the  timbrel." 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  37 

And  again, 

"  Hosanna  in  the  Highest." 

No  dim  religious  light  pervades  the  sanctuary, 
but  an  illumination  from  candelabra  of  wood  sus- 
pended from  the  ceiling,  perforated  and  holding  in 
pyramidal  shape  hosts  of  tallow  candles. 

Across  the  middle  of  the  eight  windows,  in  a 
wooden  frame,  are  lighted  candles.  The  interior 
of  the  edifice  is  grand  with  festoons  of  ground 
pine. 

From  the  vestibule,  stairs  at  either  side  lead  to 
the  gallery  at  the  door  end  ;  under  the  stairs,  on 
the  men's  side  of  the  house,  is  the  vestry,  out  of 
which  the  beloved  pastor  emerges,  wearing  the  first 
white  surplice,  for  all  preceding  missionaries  and 
bishops  were  robed  in  canonical  black.  As  the 
minister  slowly  passes  up  the  aisle  to  the  chancel, 
Miss  Sarah  Hyde,  with  rapt  expression,  leans  for- 
ward in  the  choir,  and  whispers,  "  Do  see  Mr. 
Ivyster  ;  doesn't  he  look  like  the  Lord  himself?  ' 

In  reviewing  Mrs.  Scovill's  career,  we  can  but 
be  impressed  with  the  nobility  of  her  character. 
Struggling  with  poverty,  she  was  brave  and  cheerT 
ful.  She  affirms  that  one  Winter  here  the  cor- 
poration lived  on  three  dollars,  this  amount  being 


38  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

kept  in  lively  circulation.  During  one  season 
Philo  Scovill  saw  but  two  silver  dollars.  It  was  a 
struggle  for  life  these  pioneers  had.  She  sustained 
her  husband,  brought  up  her  children,  ministered 
to  her  neighbors,  to  the  public,  the  Church  of 
Christ,  the  orphans,  and  in  a  later  day,  when  the 
Rebellion  broke  out,  she  nourished  the  Union  sol- 
dier. Dear,  last  pioneer  woman  of  Cleveland,  we 
salute  thee !  She  knew  how  to  bear  adversity,  but 
better  than  that,  she  knew  how  to  bear  prosperity. 
She  never  assumed  airs,  and  through  fourscore 
years  and  more,  her  good  sense  and  good  cheer 
have   made  her  eminent  among  our  women. 

In  the  language  of  her  pastor,  Rev.  J.  W. 
Brown,  D.  D.,  uttered  during  her  life-time: 
"  Sweetly  may  the  day  of  life  decline  with  thee, 
and  the  dawning  of  the  morrow  be  an  abundant 
entrance  into  life  eternal,  and  when  ours  shall  be- 
come a  tradition  of  the  past  for  the  remembrance 
of  those  who  come  after,  may  our  memory  be  as 
sweet  to  them,  and  Old  Trinity  be  as  precious  as 
the  memory  of  our  ancestry  and  Old  Trinity  of  the 
past  is  to  us!  " 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  39 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  WESTERN  RESERVE  —  BROOKLYN  —  MOSES 
CLEAVELAND — MRS.  STILES  AND  MRS.  Gl'NN — 
JOHN  JACOB  ASTOR'S  HOUSE — MAJOR  LORENZO 
CARTER — JUDGE  JOSIAH  BARBER  AND  WIFE — 
GEORGE  WATKINS — CHAS.  TAYLOR'S  FARM — 
LEVI  SARGENT — WALK-IN-THE-WATER. 

OKETCHING  pioneer  women  of  Cleveland  is 
^  fascinating  employment,  and  if  in  delineating 
them  we  occasionally  refer  to  their  husbands  and 
sons,  pardon. 

Ohio  City,  known  now  as  the  West  Side,  ob- 
tained its  charter  first,  and  is,  in  all  respects,  en- 
titled to  early  consideration.  The  treaty  between 
the  French  and  English  ceded,  in  1763,  the  terri- 
tory south  of  the  lakes  to  England.  Under  certain 
grants,  Connecticut  obtained  a  recognition  of  her 
claim  in  a  compromise,  by  which  a  tract  was  set 
off  to  her  on  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  con- 
taining 3,666,921  acres,  known  as  New  Connecti- 


40  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

cut,  or  the  Western  Reserve.  Cleveland  is  situ- 
ated precisely  in  the  center  of  this  Reserve,  sixty 
miles  from  each  extremitv. 

Moses  Cleaveland  was  here  in  1796,  two  years 
after  the  extinguishment  of  the  Indian  title  and 
before  there  was  a  single  white  settler  in  the  whole 
Northwestern  Territory. 

General  Moses  Cleaveland,  standing  in  the  Public 
Square  through  Winter's  snow  and  Summer's  rain, 
represents  no  myth.  He  was  the  son  of  Colonel 
Aaron  and  Thankful  Paine  Cleaveland,  born  Janu- 
ary 29th,  1754,  in  Canterbury,  Conn.  He  entered 
Yale  College  in  1777  ;  left  his  studies  to  join  the 
Continental  Army,  but  resigned  after  the  siege  of 
Yorktown,  in  October,  1781  ;  became  a  lawyer; 
married  Esther  Champion,  March  21st,  1794;  was 
appointed,  in  1796,  Superintendent  of  the  Connecti- 
cut Land  Co.,  which  purchased  the  Western  Re- 
serve. The  surveying  part}'  numbered  fifty-two 
persons,  of  whom  two  were  women — Mrs.  Job  V. 
Stiles  and  Mrs.  Elijah  Gunn.  Moses  Cleaveland 
died  in  his  native  town,  November  16th,  1806.  The 
Indian  title  upon  Ohio  City  was  not  extinguished 
until  July  4th,  1805. 

Away   back,    between  1783  and  1800,   a  block- 


AND    THEIR    WORK,  4 1 

house  was  built  as  a  trading  post  by  John  Jacob 
Astor,  at  the  outlet  of  the  old  river,  beyond  the 
present  location  of  the  water-works,  probably  at 
the  foot  of  Waverly  street.  It  was  one  of  the 
series  erected  throughout  the  West  by  this  enter- 
prising founder  of  the  American  Fur  Company, 
only  one  other  being  known  in  Ohio — at  Marietta, 
our  oldest  town.  Mr.  Astor  may  have  named  the 
immense  tract  of  land  lying  west  of  the  Cuyahoga 
— Brooklyn — in  honor  of  his  own  neighboring  city. 
If  so,  our  claim  is  fixed  to  exceedingly  blue  blood. 
This  ancient  and  honorable  block-house  has  a 
story,  as  related  by  Joel  Scranton  to  Robert  San- 
derson ;  it  suffered  vicissitudes.  Beavers  so  filled 
up  the  river  outlet  that  access  was  denied.  Then 
it  was  moved  to  the  little  piece  of  land,  called  in 
these  degenerate  times,  Whiskey  Island. 

About  sixty  years  after  that,  Government 
opened  the  river  straight  to  the  light-house  ;  then 
the  United  States  moved  the  block-house  to  the 
upper  end  of  the  pier.  Its  next  journey  was  to  the 
foot  of  Superior  street,  close  to  the  old,  red  ware- 
house. Its  roof  was  composed  of  eleven  courses 
of  shingles — one  or  two  sets  being  hewed  out  with 
a  broad-axe.     Within  the  century,  the  building  has 


42  WOMEN   OK   CLEVELAND 

again  been  moved  and  made  over ;  between  the 
joists  adhered  fur  and  wool — remains  of  Mr.  As- 
tor's  occupancy.  It  is  a  quaint  little  affair,  old,  un- 
painted,  with  windows  like  coarse  needles'  eyes ; 
rented  to  two  families,  Nos.  152  and  154  Hanover 
street,  the  property  of  Mrs.  Mary  Sanderson  Pol- 
lock, who,  with  her  sister,  Mrs.  Amelia  Sanderson 
Hubbell,  preserves  all  possible  trace  of  pioneer  ex- 
istence. In  1797,  Major  Lorenzo  Carter  built  a  log 
dwelling  under  the  hill  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
river ;  it  was  tavern  and  school-house  ;  about  its 
immense  fire-place  for  some  years  were  held  mer- 
ry-makings, social  gatherings  and  settlers'  coun- 
cils. In  1800,  or  earlier,  Samuel  P.  Lord  appeared 
as  land  owner  of  Brooklyn  township ;  he  left,  but 
we  have  his  four  children  as  ancestors — Mrs.  Judge 
Josiah  Barber,  Mrs.  Abigail  Randall,  Richard  Lord, 
and  S.  P.  Lord,  Jr.,  an  eccentric  character.  J.  H. 
Strong,  agent  of  these  lands,  or  one  of  his  family, 
gave  name  to  Strongsville.  There  arrived  in  these 
wilds,  in  1818,  from  New  England,  besides  Judge 
and  Mrs.  Barber,  the  Branch  family,  George  Wat- 
kins  and  Thos.  O.  Young. 

The  Watkins'  settled    at    Doan's   Corners.      Of 
this  party,  George  Watkins,  now  of  Logan  avenue, 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  43 

East  End,  is  sole  survivor.  The  Barbers,  Branches 
and  Kelloggs  bought  tracts  in  Brooklyn.  What  is 
now  the  South  Side  is  included  in  these  pioneers' 
farms,  extending  to  Clark  avenue.  Mr.  Epaphro- 
ditus  Ackley  owned  beyond  Walworth  Run  be- 
tween Scranton  and  Barber  avenues.  Including 
the  ground  now  occupied  by  Riverside  Cemetery, 
came  the  Brainards',  Aikins1,  Fosters'  and  Fishs' 
lands.  Charles  Taylor's  farm  ran  back  from  the 
present  State  street  to  the  river  bed,  including  one 
hundred  acres  on  the  plateau  overlooking  the  lake. 
Most  notable  of  the  old  mansions  near  the  ro- 
mantic John  Jacob  Astor  house  is  the  former 
residence  of  Mr.  Chas.  Taylor,  No.  386  Detroit 
street,  and  that  of  his  son,  DeWitt  Clinton,  two 
doors  away,  the  latter  almost  unchanged,  the  for- 
mer remodeled.  The  wing  ol  No.  384,  called  the 
"  East  Room,"  was  shared  with  the  public.  Clergy- 
men of  the  Episcopal  Church  preached  in  it ;  Sun- 
day schools  and  other  gatherings  were  held ;  in 
182 1,  Mr.  John  H.  Sargent  attended  Sabbath  school 
there.  Two  of  our  streets — Taylor  and  Clinton — 
were  named  by  this  pioneer.  Levi  Sargeant  came 
here  in  1818,  with  no  railroads,  steamboats  or  any- 
thing  else  to  make    civilization  easy.     The  next 


44  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

season,  however,  the  famous  boat,  Walk-in-the 
Water,  plied  in  Lake  Erie,  to  and  from  Buffalo. 
She  first  entered  Cleveland  harbor,  September  ist, 
1818.  Then  began  chopping,  clearing  and  build- 
ing. On  the  summit  of  a  formidable  hill,  now 
corner  of  Pearl  and  Franklin  streets,  Judge  Josiah 
Barber  erected  a  fortress  of  logs,  roomy  and  hos- 
pitable. The  teamsters  of  prairie-schooners,  or, 
huge  Pennsylvania  covered  wagons,  dreaded  this 
hill  worse  than  any  between  it  and  Wooster.  Be- 
hold onr  present  lovely  grade  of  Pearl  street ! 

Between  this  point  and  Jay  street  was  an  apple 
orchard ;  across  onr  present  Franklin  avenue 
stretched  a  plum  orchard,  while  the  underlying 
sand  was  adapted  to  the  growth  of  watermelons. 
The  first  frame  residence  in  Brooklyn  was  put  up 
by  Phineas  Shepard  in  1819.  The  house  still 
stands  as  No.  342  Pearl  street. 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  45 


CHAPTER  V. 

HEROIC  WOMEN  OF  CLEVELAND — ROSAMOND  SAR- 
GENT— THE  BLACK  BOTTLE — J  E  RUSH  A  T.  BAR- 
BER— MRS.  GEO.  L.  CHAPMAN — MRS.  ZERVIAH 
CHAMPION — MRS.  LUCY  SELDEN — MR.  AND  MRS. 
JOSIAH  BARBER,  JR. — MR.  AND  MRS.  RICHARD 
LORD. 

"  1\/T^  recollection  of  the  early  work  of  the 
■  ^  women  of  the  West  Side,"  says  Mr.  John 
H.  Sargent,  u  was  of  them  at  the  wash  tub,  cook- 
ing stove,  and  the  needle,  with  no  patent  wringers, 
no  hard  coal,  gas  stoves,  or  sewing  machines. 

u  The  women  of  those  days  were  strong  of  brain 
and  strong  in  arms,  and  used  to  exemplify  theory 
by  practice.  Their  names  I  now  recall  were  Mrs. 
Charles  Taylor,  Mrs.  Barber,  Mrs.  Shepard,  Mrs. 
Sargent,  Mrs.  Lord,  Mrs.  Tylee,  Mrs.  Tnttle  and 
Mrs.  Randall.  A  little  later,  some  one  of  them 
used  to  open  her  unfinished  house  every  Sabbath 
for  meetings.      There  was  one  among  them  that 


46  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

neither  I,  nor  the  poor  of  the  town,  could  ever 
forget,  for  she  never  forgot  me  or  them.  That 
woman  was  my  own  mother.' ' 

Rosamond  B.  Sargent  was  of  uncommon  in- 
tellect, possessing  "faculty"  in  eminent  degree, 
excelling  in  good  works,  pronounced  in  anti- 
slavery  sentiment,  and  not  a  whit  behind  the  tem- 
perance women  of  to-day.  Shoemaker  Smith  and 
his  black  bottle  wrere  the  disgrace  of  the  town, 
from  the  emptied  condition  of  one  and  the  full 
state  of  the  other.  He  frequently  lay  in  the  gutter 
with  icicles  appended  to  his  tangled  locks  or 
mingled  with  them.  She  warmed  and  fed  him, 
putting  him  into  one  of  her  neat  rooms,  trying  to 
reform  him.  Her  efforts  availed  only  temporarily; 
he  subsequently  died  in  the  sand. 

She  wrought  with  her  hands,  earning  enough  to 
take  her  back  to  New  Hampshire  for  a  little  vaca- 
tion. Mrs.  Sargent  was  a  grand  woman ;  bright, 
original,  a  true  child  of  the  Church  ;  a  communi- 
cant in  Old  Trinity.  It  was  very  pleasant  to  talk 
with  her  eldest  child,  Mrs.  Jerusha  T.  Barber,  who 
told  me  how  hard  the  pioneer  women  worked. 
There  were  no  hotels  ;  they  must  keep  open  house 
and  entertain  new-comers ;  that  in  her  childhood 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  47 

she  has  known  eight  persons  at  once  finding  lodg- 
ing on  straw  laid  upon  the  floor  of  her  mother's 
cellar  kitchen. 

I  asked  Mrs.  Barber  how  Cleveland  came  to  be 
"a  village,  six  miles  from  Newburg?"  She  says 
that  persons  coming  here  would  find  such  a  stretch 
of  sand  that  they  pushed  further  on  until  reaching 
arable  soil ;  that  they  planted  orchards  first  at 
Newburg,  and  the  Brooklyn  people  went  there  for 
fruit  until  their  orchards  were  sufficiently  advanced. 
When  that  had  been  accomplished,  their  young 
people  had  husking  and  paring  bees.  The  amuse- 
ments of  the  older  ones  were  limited ;  confined  to 
an  occasional  quilting  of  an  afternoon  and  playing 
whist  evenings.  These  women  used  to  carry  their 
washings  across  the  river  to  the  Flats  in  the  shade, 
where  was  an  undergrowth  of  grass.  In  her  young 
days,  Mrs.  B.  has  gathered  eight  quarts  of  huckle- 
berries at  once  in  our  present  Franklin  Court  and 
cranberries  in  the  outlying  marshes  of  Kennard 
and  adjacent  streets  ;  wild  strawberries  grew  every- 
where. She  spoke  in  high  terms  of  her  neighbors  : 
Mrs.  Charles  Taylor,  Mrs.  Abigail  Randall  and 
Mrs.  Reuben  Champion,  her  that  was  Zerviah 
Hvde. 


4<S  Wo.MKX    Of    Ci.KVKl-ANH 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Degnou  describes  the  excellent 
women  of  old  times  as  making  soap,  dipping  can- 
dles, or  running  them  into  moulds ;  curing  hams, 
spinning  wool,  weaving  cloth,  knitting  socks, 
making  their  own  garments  and  those  of  their 
husbands  and  sons. 

In  1824,  Judge  Josiah  Barber  had  moved  into 
his  new  and  aristocratic  brick  residence  in  the  apple 
orchard.  He  entertained  most  hospitably,  and 
being  first  incorporator  of  Trinity  Parish,  Bishop 
Chase,  on  his  visits  hither,  stopped  there  always. 
Jernsha  Barber,  nee  Sargent,  was  confirmed  in 
this  house  by  the  Bishop,  married  in  1825,  and 
went  to  live  on  one  of  the  South  Side  farms  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century.  She  was  a  model  pioneer 
woman,  always  ready  to  recall  "  Auld  Lang  Syne." 
She  resided  mostly  at  Collamer  with  her  daughter, 
Mrs.  James  McCroskey,  who  inherits  from  splendid 
stock  her  fondness  for  temperance  work.  Her  son, 
Hon.  Josiah  Barber,  resided  at  No.  129  Franklin 
avenue.  His  personal  history  would  read  like  a 
romance  ;  public-spirited,  noble-hearted — every- 
body's friend.  His  memory  was  a  treasure-house 
of  information — and  he  so  willing  to  impart.  As 
President  of  Riverside   Cemeterv  Association  and 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  49 

its  Superintendent,  lie  made  that  spot  a  lovely 
place  of  repose  for  our  dead.  His  wife  is  daughter 
of  the  chief  pioneer  in  Columbus,  O.,  inheriting 
the  enterprise  and  thrift  of  her  ancestors.  She  is 
devoted  to  her  husband's  .memory,  an  excellent 
neighbor,  and  possesses  first-class  executive  ability. 
Lucy  Sargent,  the  youngest  of  our  pioneer  women, 
married  Robert  C.  Selden,  a  man  of  remarkably 
good  principles,  who  died  not  long  since.  They, 
too,  occupied  a  suburban  farm.  His  family  are 
well  known  and  honored. 

We  pause  long  enough  to  introduce  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Richard  Lord,  who,  in  1826,  occupied  their  frame 
house,  corner  of  Pearl  and  Franklin  streets,  oppo- 
site Judge  Josiah  Barber's.  These  two  gentlemen 
were  brothers-in-law  and  had  bought  a  large  tract 
of  land  here ;  for  some  time  they  were  the  only 
male  members  of  Old  Trinity.  The  Lords  were 
truly  aristocratic,  living  stylishly,  owning  a  horse 
and  carriage,  keeping  one  servant ;  in  their  well- 
appointed  home  was  a  clavichord,  with  fluted  green 
silk  in  the  front  carvings,  culminating  in  a  central 
rosette  ;  this  keyed  instrument  resembled  an  up- 
right piano-forte. 

Mrs.    Stephen    N.    Herrick,    mother    of    Mrs. 


50  WOMEN  OF   CLEVELAND 

Eleanor  Seymour  and  Mrs.  Nancy  J.  Russell,  was 
niece  of  Mr.  Lord.  Some  time  since,  Mrs.  Russell 
presented  the  portrait  of  their  uncle  to  Judge  C. 
C.  Baldwin,  for  the  Western  Reserve  Historical 
Society,  and  it  hangs  now,  with  those  of  other 
pioneers,  in  those  rooms. 

Mrs.  Lord  was  fond  of  flower  culture,  obtaining 
seeds  and  bulbs  from  her  Eastern  home,  driving 
over  the  Alleghany  mountains  to  get  there,  and  as 
a  counterpart  to  the  plum  and  apple  orchards  of 
the  Barbers  she  had  a  profusion  of  bloom,  tulip 
and  oleander  being  specialties,  and  for  shrub, 
hazel  bushes.  The  garden  was  very  large,  taking 
in  a  slice  of  Pearl  street  back  through  Hicks. 
From  the  long  ago  is  wafted  to  us  the  breath  of 
the  lilac,  rose  and  honeysuckle,  of  apple-blossom, 
sweet-brier  and  mignonette.  A  coronal  of  flowers 
for  the  snow-white  heads  of  those  who  prepared 
the  way  for  our  elegant  homes  in  the  avenues  of 
the  beautiful  Forest  City! 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  5 1 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH — MRS.  ELISHA  TAY- 
LOR— MRS.  SAMUEL  STARKWEATHER — MRS.  C. 
M.  GIDDINGS — THE  FIRST  FOREIGN  MISSION- 
ARY SOCIETY — ITS  WORKERS — MRS.  ERASTUS 
F.  GAYLORD. 

~^HE  first  church  edifice  in  this  vicinity,  occu- 
A  pied,  probably,  by  several  denominations  in 
turn,  was  built  in  1817,  at  Euclid;  it  is  still  used 
as  a  house  of  worship.  The  first  sermon  preached 
in  Cleveland  was  by  a  Presbyterian — Rev.  Mr. 
Badger  ;  the  earliest  Sunday  school  was  established 
in  June,  1820.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Long,  with  their 
children,  were  members,  and  Elisha  Taylor,  Super- 
intendent. Persistent  effort  was  required  to  com- 
bat the  prejudices  and  overcome  the  indifference 
of  the  people.  Mrs.  Taylor  united  with  him  in 
bringing  their  characteristic  energy  to  bear  upon 
strengthening  the  religious  institutions  of  the 
place.     They  were  noted  for  hospitality,  and  readi- 


52  WOMEN    OF    CLKYKLAXI) 

ly  entertained  ministers  of  all  sects  who  occasion- 
ally preached  here.  The  First  Presbyterian  Church 
was  formally  organized  September  19th,  1820,  by 
Rev.  William  Hanford,  of  Hudson,  O.,  and  Rev. 
Randolph  Stone,  with  sixteen  members,  of  whom 
eleven  were  women  ;  for  a  time  the  little  society 
worshiped  in  the  log  conrt-honse.  In  the  Autumn 
of  1822,  they  removed  to  the  upper  room  of  the 
Academy,  just  built  on  the  site  of  the  present 
headquarters  of  the  Fire  Department ;  subsequent- 
ly, the  congregation  met  in  the  third  story  of  a 
building  erected  by  Dr.  Long,  on  Superior  street, 
near  the  American  House,  and  called  the  "  Gar- 
ret/1 Airs.  Long  lived  to  unite  with  her  people  in 
the  Old  Stone  Church  on  the  Public  Square, 
opened  in  1834,  the  society  having  been  incor- 
porated in  1827. 

An  early  worker  in  this  Sunday  school  and  mem- 
ber of  the  church  was  Miss  Julia  Judd,  born  in 
New  Britain,  Conn.,  in  1810,  came  here  in  1825, 
married  June  25th,  1828,  to  Samuel  Starkweather, 
a  prominent  young  man.  This  lady  is  brave 
enough  to  identify  herself  with  temperance  work, 
even  though  its  exigencies  demand  prayer  in  the 
saloons.     In  early  married  life,  with   others,   she 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  53 

had  wines  on  her  sideboard,  bnt  at  Jndge  Stark- 
weather's house-warming,  corner  of  Water  and 
Lake  streets,  observing  its  effect  upon  the  young 
men  present,  she  banished  the  use  of  all  intoxi- 
cating liquors  from  future  festivities. 

Mrs.  Charles  M.  Giddings  was  married  in  Detroit, 
Michigan,  August  1st,  1827,  removed  immediately 
to  Cleveland,  joined  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
in  183 1.  She  belonged  to  the  original  Ladies' 
Union  prayer  meeting,  organized  over  sixty  years 
ago.  She  was  a  sister  of  the  second  Airs.  Xoble 
H.  Merwin. 

This  record  cannot  be  complete  without  an  early 
Foreign  Missionary  Society ;  Airs.  Mary  H.  Sever- 
ance was  for  twenty  years  its  secretary.  The  first 
organized  effort  for  the  cause  of  Foreign  Missions 
was  made  in  1831,  by  the  formation  of  a  society  of 
less  than  a  dozen  young  ladies  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  was  auxiliary  to  the  American 
Board.  This  number  constituted  its  active  mem- 
bership ;  perhaps  as  many  more  married  ladies  be- 
came honorary  members,  and  proved  their  interest 
by  inviting  to  their  houses  the  little  band.  Miss 
Sarah  C.  Van  Tyne  was  its  first  directress  and 
Miss    Charlotte    Hutchings,    secretary.      Both    of 


54  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

these  left  for  foreign  fields ;  the  former,  as  Mrs. 
Adams,  labored  among  the  Zulus  of  Africa  ;  the 
latter,  for  a  number  of  years  in  Ceylon.  The  con- 
secration of  these  ladies  intensified  interest  in  the 
work,  and  the  society  was  regularly  sustained  by 
monthly  and  sometimes  fortnightly  meetings  for 
forty-two  years,  without  change  of  constitution, 
other  than  as  the  maidens  grew  into  matrons  the 
word  u  young  ''  was  dropped  from  its  title.  With 
the  growth  of  the  city  the  membership  increased, 
nntil  five  churches  were  represented,  and  the 
daughters  of  the  earlv  members  fell  into  line. 
From  one  of  Mrs.  Severance1  s  last  reports,  over 
$2,500  were  paid  to  the  American  Board.  This 
was  but  a  small  part  of  the  good  accomplished. 
There  was  an  outfitting  of  each  of  three  mission- 
aries ;  work  for  those  who  had  gone  out  ;  knowl- 
edge gained  of  the  needs  of  the  cause  and  its  rep- 
resentatives beyond  the  seas,  bringing  us  into 
greater  sympathy  with  them.  It  was  a  sort  of 
school  to  many  from  which  they  date  their  inter- 
est in  Missions.  Ministers  were  enlisted  and  often 
at  the  meetings  ;  sometimes  returned  missionaries 
favored  the  Society  with  their  presence.  The 
gatherings  were  so  enjoyable   that  they  are  now 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  55 

frequently  referred  to  as  the  "  dear  old  Society  we 
were  so  sorry  to  give  up."  In  1874,  it  seemed  best 
for  greater  enlargement  to  be  connected  with  the 
Ladies'  Board  of  Missions.  The  separate  societies 
formed  in  each  church  were  reorganized  as  a  Pres- 
bvterial  whole.  The  names  of  the  original  active 
members  were  Mrs.  Hutchings,  Misses  Fitch,  C. 
Wheeler,  S.  C.  Van  Tvne,  Isabella  and  Marv  Will- 
iamson,  Mary  Ann  Buxton,  Caroline  Baldwin,  C. 
Webb,  Mary  H.  Long,  R.  Miles,  Miss  Clisbee'. 
Among  the  honorary  members  were  Mrs.  P.  M. 
WTeddell,  Mrs.  David  Long,  Mrs.  S.  J.  Andrews, 
Mrs.  Samuel  Starkweather  and  Mrs.  C.  L.  Lathrop. 
These,  with  names  of  Mrs.  John  A.  Foot,  Mrs.  J. 
T.  Avery  and  of  Mrs.  William  Day,  are  fragrant 
with  precious  deeds.  To  complete  the  roll  of  those 
who  for  years  were  associated,  would  be  pleasant, 
but  too  lengthy.  Many  of  them  have  finished 
their  course,  leaving  blessed  memories. 

Mrs.  Erastus  F.  Gaylord,  born  in  1801,  in  Madi- 
son, N.  Y.,  was  the  daughter  of  General  Erastus 
Cleveland,  of  that  place ;  educated  at  Litchfield, 
Ct,  and  married  in  1823.  She  and  her  husband 
celebrated  their  golden  wedding  in  '73,  and  we  did 
predict  for  them  a  diamond  anniversary,  but  death 


56  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

called  too  soon.  Mr.  Gavlord,  oil  this  festal  dav, 
looked  as  though  he  had  stepped  out  of  a  picture. 
Mrs.  Gavlord  had  courage  ;  she  prayed  for  the 
freedom  of  the  slave  and  for  the  triumph  of  reform. 

She  was,  of  course,  a  temperance  advocate,  and 
tells  us  of  her  friend,  Mrs.  Dr.  H.  dishing,  a  lady 
whose  name's  mention  cannot  fail  to  call  forth  a 
sigh  of  regret  at  her  early  loss,  as  she  was  one  of 
the  honored  movers  in  a  society  of  ladies  which  ex- 
acted a  pledge  of  each  member,  not  only  to  refrain 
from  the  use  of  stimulating  drinks,  but  to  discour- 
age the  use  of  the  same,  socially,  in  every  possible 
wav.  Mrs.  Gavlord  loved  little  children,  and  was 
ready  to  help  all  good  work.  She  was  keen  in- 
tellectually, and  quick  at  repartee  ;  her  bojis  mots 
were  the  delight  of  friends ;  her  latest  ought  to 
go  into  history.  At  her  grandson's  wedding — 
that  of  young  Mr.  Newberry  and  Miss  Paige  Eells 
— General  Garfield  was  receiving  with  family 
friends.  When  Mrs.  Gaylord  made  her  adieux  to 
the  President-elect,  she  said :  "  My  leave-taking 
to  you  is  pax  fibi\  but  I  suppose  many  would  say 
instead  :  '  Remember  me  when  thou  comest  into 
thy  kingdom  ! ' " 

This  veteran   stated  that  her  first  sight  of  the 


AND    THEIR   WORK. 


0/ 


Forest  City  in  1835  was  of  a  cluster  of  houses  oc- 
cupying parts  of  Superior,  Ontario,  St.  Clair,  Eu- 
clid, and  Seneca  streets ;  and  she  had  pride  that 
this  little  one  expanded  so  rapidly  into  Ohio's  sec- 
ond cit\\  Mrs.  Gavlord  took  great  interest  in  this 
history  of  women's  work  in  Cleveland  and  often 
wrote  to  me  during  its  progress.  Penned  by  her 
own  hand,  I  give  this  quaint  morceau  by  Cowper, 
on  .  seeing  some  names  of  little  note  in  British 
print : 

''  Oh,  fond  attempt  to  give  a  deathless  lot 
To  names  ignoble,  born  to  be  forgot ! 
In  vain,  recorded  on  historic  page 
They  court  the  notice  of  a  future  age, 
Those  twinkling  tiny  lustres  of  the  land 
Drop  one  by  one  from  Fame's  neglecting  hand. 
Lethean  gulfs  receive  them  as  they  fall 
And  dark  oblivion  soon  absorbs  them  all  !  ' 


5'S  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MRS.  GRACE  JOHNSTON — THE  METHODIST  EPISCO- 
PAL CHURCH — MRS.  ELIZA  T.  WORLEY — MRS. 
B.  ROUSE — THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH — MRS.  WILL- 
IAM T.  SMITH  — MRS.  C.  A.  SEAMAN  —  FIRST 
CONGREGATIONAL,  PLYMOUTH,  BOHEMIAN, 
POLISH  AND  SWEDISH  MISSIONS — GERMAN 
WORK — MRS.    J.    ROTHWEILER. 

"^HE  writer  of  this  history  is  sure  that  the 
mysterious  unknown  who  traversed  these 
wilds  previous  to  Rev.  Mr.  Badger's  time — i8or — 
with  exhortation  "  to  flee  the  wrath  to  come  "  was 
of  the  Methodist  persuasion,  for,  on  the  green 
earth  is  hardly  a  spot,  this  side  of  Anam,  to  which 
the  itinerant  preacher  has  not  penetrated.  We 
know  that  some  one  established  Divine  Service  in 
Euclid  before  the  beginning  of  this  century,  but 
of  him  is  no  trace;  there  is  a  record  that  in  1822, 
Captain  William  C.  Johnston  moved  from  Detroit 
to  Cleveland  ;  his  wife,  Mrs.  Grace,  was  a  member 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  59 

of  tht-  [Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  remained 
the  only  one  in  the  place  for  some  years.  Her 
daughter  is  Mrs.  E.  J.  H.  Cridland,  of  this  city. 
In  [823,  Cleveland  was  made  a  preaching  place 
and  attached  to  Hudson  Circuit.  History  further 
develops  that  a  gentleman  residing  in  one  of  the 
eastern  cities,  and  owning  real  estate  in  Cleveland, 
being  desirous  to  see  Methodism  established  here 
in  1820,  sent  to  a  person  living  in  the  place  a  deed 
of  the  lot  corner  of  Ontario  and  Rockwell  streets, 
for  a  meeting-house,  but  no  one  being  found  wall- 
ing to  pay  the  recorder's  fee,  or  even  the  postage 
upon  the  mailed  packages,  the  deed  was  returned 
to  the  donor.     ( )  tempora  !     O  mores  ! 

In  1S27,  a  class  was  formed  of  five  women  and 
two  men.  Of  these,  Andrew  Tomlinson  was 
leader ;  the  others  were  Grace  Johnston,  Eliza 
Wdrley,  Elizabeth  Southard,  Rev.  Joel  Sizer  and 
wife,  and  Lucy  Knowlton. 

In  the  same  year  a  class  was  formed  at  Doan's 
Corners  of  eleven  women  and  nine  men. 

After  vicissitudes  of  "  Euclid  and  Cleveland  Cir- 
cuit," and  others  not  interesting  to  the  general  pub- 
lic, a  lot  was  secured,  corner  St.  Clair  and  Wood 
streets,  then  the  suburbs  of  the  city. 


60  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

Nearly  all  the  ground  north  to  the  lake  shore 
was  covered  with  oak  trees  and  bushes ;  in  like 
manner  east  to  Erie  street,  beyond  which  lay  avast 
quagmire,  partly  cleared,  enlivening  the  town  at 
spring-tide  and  during  the  night  with  frog-bass  and 
tree-toad  contralto. 

Not  until  April,  1841,  was  there  on  this  lot  a 
church  finished  and  dedicated.  Never  did  a  de- 
nomination struggle  more  fiercelv  with  adversity. 
Its  people  worshiped  wherever  room  could  be  pro- 
cured ;  latterly  in  a  hall  upon  the  second  floor  of  a 
building  on  the  north  side  of  Superior  street,  west 
of  the  Park. 

In  1893,  are  twenty-five  Methodist  houses  of 
worship,  and  in  the  First  Church,  so  compassed 
about  is  it  with  "  modernitv "  that  we  doubt 
whether  John  Wesley  would  know  even  the  altar 
rail !  The  real  cathedral  tint,  too,  prevails  through 
stained  window-glass  of  Munich. 

The  Epworth  Memorial  Church  on  Willson 
avenue,  corner  of  Prospect  street,  so  named  be- 
cause, in  the  old  edifice,  situated  on  the  site  of  this 
new  one,  was  born  the  Epworth  League,  at  the 
historic  convention  of  Young  People's  Societies, 
May  14th,  1889.     It  is  built  of  marble  and  a  gem 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  6l 

of  architectural  art — Norman,  bordering  on  mod- 
ernized Romanesque,  lofty  gable  with  combination 
interior ;  groined  arches,  converging  in  a  dome 
that  might  befit  the  Mosqne  of  Omar,  or  astonish 
the  Abyssinian  queen,  in  a  degree  fully  equal  to 
her  view  of  the  glories  of  Solomon's  Temple,  as 
she  came  up  from  Sheba  to  Jerusalem.  In  the 
auditorium  will  be  placed  a  fine  large  memorial 
window — the  upper  part  in  shape  of  the  Epworth 
wheel,  with  divisions  for  departments  of  work, 
symbolized  by  appropriate  Scripture  illustrations 
and  texts.  Rev.  B.  F.  Dimmick,  the  pastor,  di- 
rects this  enterprise,  and  the  younger  generation 
ablv  second  his  most  deserving  effort. 

What  would  the  fathers  and  mothers  in  our 
Israel  think  to  see  it?  Truly,  the  circuit  rider 
with  pony  and  saddlebags,  emerging  from  the  wil- 
derness, could  not  recognize  his  own  Zion.  Eet  us 
return  to  our  beloved  pioneer  : 

Eliza  Tomlinson  Worley  was  a  noble  early 
woman  of  the  First  Church,  and  paid  the  initial 
dollar  toward  the  erection  of  an  edifice.  She  was 
wife  of  a  leading  man  in  this  town,  Daniel  Worley, 
postmaster  and  member  of  the  first  Board  of  Edu- 
cation. 


62  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

She  was  born  in  Maryland,  July  20th,  1797. 
From  infancy  her  education  was  religions,  and  her 
father's  house  the  home  of  Methodist  bishops  and 
other  clergy.  At  fifteen,  she  united  with  the  so- 
ciety and  indicated,  as  was  the  fashion  in  early 
times,  to  what  communion  she  belonged  by  her 
garb,  so  that  in  after  years  her  young  daughter, 
Mrs.  George  P.  Burwell,  of  this  city,  was  wont  to 
amuse  herself  hours  at  a  time  by  putting  on  and 
walking  about  in  her  mother's  Methodist  dresses. 

In  1815  she  married,  and  left  her  childhood 
home  w7ith  a  large  family  party  for  Cleveland,  O. 
Incredible  hardships  were  endured  en  route,  and 
at  Portage  three  of  their  number  were  buried.  The 
survivors  regaining  health,  flatboats  were  built,  on 
which  the  journey  was  continued.  Coming  down 
the  Cuyahoga  they  landed  at  this  wharf  in  May, 
1824.  Foremost  in  all  good  works,  the  sick  and 
the  needy  blessed  her.  She  ardently  supported 
the  Ladies'  Union  Prayer  Meeting  of  sixty  years 
ago. 

Even  in  old  age  the  young  were  fond  of  her,  so 
bright  and  cheerful,  so  genial  and  sympathetic  was 
she — the  mother  of  eleven  children,  thev  all  re- 
vered  her. 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  63 

In  advanced  life  she  was  a  saintly  looking 
woman,  and  this  appearance  was  heightened  by 
her  graceful  wearing  of  the  softest  of  lace  and 
muslins,  with  steel  gray  dress  fabrics. 

She  went  swiftly  to  her  rest  from  the  residence 
of  her  daughter  ;  hers  is  the  oldest  memorial  win- 
dow in  the  First  Methodist  Church. 

Other  memorial  windows  are  for  Mary  Grandy 
Winslow,  Cornelia  Cowles,  Margaret  Johnson, 
Martha  Peet. 

"  Mother  Pritchard  "  was  universally  beloved  ; 
so  also  was  a  late  coiner,  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Fletcher, 
for  years  principal  of  a  ladies'  Bible  class  and 
president  of  the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  So- 
ciety, in  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

She  was  born  in  Hancock,  N.  H.,  November 
22d,  1801.  Her  parents  removing  to  the  Green 
Mountain  State,  she  finished  her  school-days  but 
not  her  studies  at  Windsor  and  Chester,  Female 
Seminaries  of  Vermont.  At  sixteen  years  of  age, 
she  commenced  teaching,  and  held  for  seven  years 
an  important  position,  taking  meanwhile  the  Cam- 
bridge course  of  mathematics,  and  abstruse  natural 
science  under  Major  Stevens. 

Brought  up  in  Calvanistic  belief,  she  estrayed 


64  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

from  so  rigid  a  faith,  and  in  May,  1819,  was  admit- 
ted to  the  Methodist  communion,  of  which  she 
was  justly  a  representative  member.  In  March, 
1825,  sne  niarried  Rev.  I).  L.  Fletcher,  and  for 
fifteen  years  was  the  zealous,  untiring  wife  of  a 
pioneer  preacher. 

( )f  vigorous  health,  she  continued  to  study  and 
teach  during  forty-five  years,  acquiring  a  familiar 
knowledge  of  Latin,  French,  Spanish  and  Italian, 
and  becoming  proficient  in  sketching.  She  has 
been  principal  of  Ohio  seminaries,  and  opened  the 
Ladies'  College  of  Jackson,  Miss.,  before  the  war, 
herself  delivering  courses  of  lectures  before  the 
pupils.  As  a  Biblical  scholar  she  was  superior,  hav- 
ing been  for  fiftv  years  in  charge  of  Bible  classes. 
Not  only  with  severer  studies  was  she  occupied. 
She  practiced  successfully  les  beaux  arts,  a  set  of 
china  comprising  two  hundred  pieces  having  been 
decorated  by  her  skillful  fingers,  in  almost  as  many 
different  patterns.  The  representation  of  a  tea- 
plant  upon  an  antique  bowl,  moss  roses  upon  saucer 
and  plate,  and  pitcher-plant  upon  pitchers,  indicate 
the  work  of  an  artist.  The  fortunate  daughter  of 
this  rare  mother  is  Mrs.  Joseph  Ingersoll. 

A    fruitful    source    of   inspiration    during    past 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  65 

• 

months  has  been  my  own  loved  mother's  narration 
of  removal  from  New  York  to  pioneer  life  at  Ann 
Arbor,  Michigan ;  how  she  and  her  sister  founded 
there  the  church  of  her  choice  ;  how  mother  cap- 
tivated the  young  minister  sent  on  as  missionary  to 
the  Northwestern  Territory ;  how  she  became  a 
Methodist  preacher's  wife,  and  what  a  time  of  it 
she  had  teaching  school  to  eke  out  father's  salary 
of  $80  per  year  ! 

Mother's  pictured  face  smiles  upon  me,  now, 
from  the  wall. 

"  How  fast  the  river  runs  between  its  green 
banks  and  the  rushes  !  It's  very  near  the  sea ;  I 
hear  the  waves  !  How  green  the  banks  are  now  ;; 
how  bright  the  flowers  growing  on  them,  and  how 
tall  the  rushes!  Who  is  standing  on  the  shore?  I 
know  her  by  the  face !  But  the  portrait  on  the 
wall  is  not  divine  enough  !  The  light  about  the 
head  is  shining  on  me  as  I  go  !  " 

The  first  Baptist  meeting  was  held  here  in  1832, 
in  the  old  Academy,  by  Rev.  Richmond  Taggart. 
The  earliest  society  of  this  communion  was  formed 
in  the  Fall  of  1833,  with  fourteen  members,  eight 
of  whom  were  ladies :  Mrs.  B.  Rouse,  Mrs. 
Griffiths,  Mrs.  Melvin,  Mrs.  Milo  Hickox,  Mrs.  H. 


66  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

Ranney,  Mrs.  C.  A.  Seaman,  Mrs.  Perlee  Abbey, 
Mrs.  Belden.  In  that  same  year,  the  Baptist  Church 
was  formally  organized  with  twenty-seven  mem- 
bers. The  first  edifice,  corner  Champlain  and 
Seneca  streets,  was  dedicated  by  Rev.  Elisha 
Tucker.  Its  early  Foreign  Missionary  Society  or- 
ganized in  1833 — Mrs.  B.  Ronse,  President.  This 
denomination  here  includes  many  honorable  names 
of  the  past  and  present — brave  and  persistent 
Christian  laborers.  Among  them  are  Rev.  and 
Mrs.  S.  W.  Adams — always  loved  and  venerated. 
Eldest  of  all  is,  probably,  Mrs.  William  T.  Smith, 
everywhere  enrolled  in  Woman's  Union  Gospel 
Work,  from  membership  in  the  Moral  Reform  So- 
ciety to  the  chairmanship  of  a  modern  Friendly 
Inn  Committee.  She  was  horn  in  Stonington, 
Conn.,  March  6th,  1814;  educated  and  married  in 
Rochester,  removing  to  Cleveland  in  1836 ;  the 
wife  of  a  cheery,  business  man,  mother  of  eight 
children,  yet  ever  ready  to  labor  among  almost 
hopeless  cases ;  prompt,  fervent  and  forgetting 
self.  A  son,  Frank,  a  Union  soldier,  and  her 
daughter— Mrs.  H.  A.  Sherwin,  are  among  the  gos- 
pel workers  of  to-day. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Seaman  came  here  in   1833, 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  67 

when  the  Academy  was  used  as  a  place  of  worship 
by  the  few  Baptist  villagers  ;  this  excellent  couple 
are  among  the  constituent  members  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church. 

A  seemingly  authentic  record  states  that  the 
First  Congregational  Church  was  organized  in 
January,  1852,  with  thirty-nine  members,  and 
Plymouth,  a  few  months  later  with  thirty.  Ober- 
lin  was  the  center  and  source  of  Congregational- 
ism, in  Northern  Ohio,  so  that  this  denomination 
hardly  belongs  to  good  old  times.  It  does  a  glori- 
ous work  ;  and  is  pre-eminently  a  home  missionary 
church.  Bohemian  women  of  Cleveland  are  being 
evangelized  through  Christian  agencies ;  that  of 
Mrs.  Clara  H.  Schauffler  is  extensive  and  effectual. 
The  Bible  Readers'  Home  and  Training  School 
sends  out  helpers  who  distribute  tracts,  relieve  the 
destitute  and  otherwise  aid  humanity.  The  chief 
Bible  reader  is  Miss  Reitinger,  who  holds  gospel 
services.  An  Industrial  Union  is  connected  with 
the  Mission ;  Mrs.  Schauffler  has  a  girls'  club  ; 
missionary  and  educational  training  is  extended  to 
the  Polish  population.  The  Congregationalists 
have  also  a  Swedish  beginning.  This  noble 
church  is  first  in  reforms ;  a  right  hand  of  power 


68  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

in  everything  that  helps  the  world  to  better  liv- 
ing. 

The  Disciple  Church  of  Cleveland  was  organ- 
ized in  February,  1842,  in  a  little  chapel  on  Ver- 
mont street,  with  fourteen  members,  of  whom  Mrs. 
R.  A.  Cannon  is  the  only  survivor  among  the 
women  present. 

The  German  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was 
formed  in  1846,  Mrs.  Jacob  Rothweiler  being  an 
earnest  pioneer  in  that  branch.  Her  daughter, 
Louise,  is  missionary  in  Corea. 

German  Protestant  Churches  here  of  all  varie- 
ties number  -fifty;  the  women  in  each,  so  far  as 
can  be  ascertained,  are  organized  into  one  Aid 
Society,  which  assists  the  local  work. 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  69 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

OHIO  CITY — THE  FIRST  SEWING  CIRCLE — MISS 
HARRIET  BARBER  —  THE  FLATS  —  COLUMBUS 
BLOCK — THE  FORMATION  OF  CHURCHES — MRS. 
ABIGAIL  RANDALL — MRS.  ALFRED  DAVIS  — 
MRS.  CHAS.  WINSLOW — SIXTEEN  WOMEN  OF 
CLEVELAND — AN  AFTER-DINNER  COFFEE. 

A  LL  the  section  west  of  the  Cuyahoga  was 
^  *  called  Brooklyn,  until  1831.  Throughout 
the  country,  land  began  to  rise  in  value,  noticeably, 
wherever  it  was  supposed  a  city  might  be  laid  out ; 
the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga  offering  inducement. 
The  stimulus  supplied  by  internal  improvements, 
especially  canals,  was  the  cause.  An  association, 
known  as  the  Buffalo  Company,  bought  Lorenzo 
Carter's  farm — a  tract  west  of  the  Cuyahoga,  and 
Ohio  City  was  planned.  Albany  and  Vermont 
men  were  also  enthusiastic,  Connecticut  having 
pioneered.  Old  Trinity,  corner  of  St.  Clair  and 
Seneca  streets,  was  then  the  only  church.     Our  en- 


;0  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

terprising  people  walked  over  the  hills,  or  were 
ferried  across  the  river  to  service  either  there  or 
to  the  "  Academy."  Among  these  were  Mrs. 
Rosamond  Sargent  and  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Geo.  L. 
Chapman — exemplary  church  women.  These  two 
dear  people  constantly  ministered  to  the  ill  and 
destitute.  In  those  days  were  no  skilled  profes- 
sional nurses,  and  a  large  part  of  the  duty  of 
benevolent  women  was  to  watch  at  night  w7ith  the 
sick.  In  1832  came  cholera,  and  Mrs.  Chapman 
was  thus  occupied  as  often  as  every  other  night ; 
east  of  the  Cuyahoga,  Mrs.  B.  Rouse  was  equally 
devoted  and  heroic.  Dr.  Theodore  Sterling  recalls 
many  touching  incidents  of  their  fidelity  to  the 
suffering. 

As  far  back  as  1825,  sewing  societies  for  the 
fitting  out  of  missionaries,  home  and  foreign,  or 
the  filling  of  boxes  for  the  frontier,  existed  in  each 
church.  The  first  sewing  circle,  composed  of 
ladies  irrespective  of  sect,  for  the  making  up  of 
garments  for  the  city's  poor,  was  formed  in  Colum- 
bus Block,  in  1832 ;  of  this,  Mrs.  Richard  Lord 
was  President ;  Harriet  Barber,  Secretary,  and 
Mrs.  Chapman,  Treasurer. 

The   celebrated  years   of  1835  and   1836,  when 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  J I 

speculation  raged  more  fiercely  throughout  the 
United  States  than  at  any  period  before  or  since, 
touched  with  rosy  fingers  the  west  side  of  the 
Cuyahoga.  In  these  "flush  times,"  the  Flats  be- 
came the  source  of  much  of  our  city's  wealth. 
Manufactories  and  lumber  yards,  then,  like  the 
"  mustard  seed,"  have  grown  into  trees,  on  whose 
branches,  extending  into  the  avenues  and  parks, 
sing  the  birds  of  progress.  The  Flats  are  historic 
ground.  Main  street  was  the  thoroughfare  through 
the  Buffalo  Company's  allotment,  which  included 
the  valley  at  the  base  of  the  hills,  from  the  foot  of 
Hanover  street,  on  the  west,  to  the  river  on  the 
east.  The  corner  of  Main  and  Elm  streets  seems, 
then,  to  have  been  the  center  of  prosperity.  On 
Detroit  street  hill  was  the  Columbus  Block,  popu- 
lous with  stores  and  offices,  occupying  which  were, 
among  others,  W.  T.  Ward  and  Co.,  Gilman  Fol- 
som,  Judge  Foot,  C.  h.  Russell.  Now,  too,  were 
our  people  strong  enough  to  organize  their  own 
parish.  Brooklyn,  having  given  birth  to  Trinity, 
prepared  for  the  incoming  of  the  pioneer  Saint  of 
Holy  Writ.  On  a  record,  yellow  with  age,  I  find 
that  in  a  hall  in  Columbus  Block,  a  meeting  was 
"  holden,"  January  4th,   1836,  which  adopted  the 


72  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

following,    with    six    articles    of    association     ap- 
pended : 

"We,  the  inhabitants  of  the  village  of  Brooklyn, 
being  desirous  of  promoting  the  spiritual  good  of 
our  fellow  creatures  and  of  advancing  the  Re- 
deemer's kingdom  in  the  world,  do  hereby  organ- 
ize ourselves  into  a  parish  agreeably  to  the  doc- 
trines, worship,  usages  and  regulations  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America.  The  style  of  this  parish  shall  be  the 
wardens  and  vestry  of  St.  John's  Church."  Rev. 
L.  Davis  was  chairman  of  the  meeting.  The  war- 
dens and  vestrymen  incorporated,  March  12th, 
1836.  Easter  Monday,  March  27th,  the  corpora- 
tion decided  to  bnild  a  house  of  public  worship  in 
Ohio  City,  on  land  given  by  Judge  Josiah  Barber, 
on  the  present  corner  of  Wall  and  Church  streets. 
A  lot  adjoining,  for  a  rectory,  on  which  St.  John's 
Chapel  now  stands,  was  donated  by  Abigail  Ran- 
dall, sister  of  Richard  Lord.  This  lady,  whose 
acts  of  benevolence  were  absolutely  without  os- 
tentation, was  a  benefactor  of  the  town.  And 
thus,  as  a  city,  we  come  into  possession  of  the 
present  old  cathedral-like  structure,  ivy-covered 
without,  but   modern  within.      Meantime,  in  1834, 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  73 

Mrs.  Burton  and  her  two  daughters ;  a  family 
named  Conklin,  and  William  Warmington,  who 
built  the  first  frame  house  on  Franklin  avenue, 
join  together  and  form  a  nucleus  for  a  Methodist 
Church ;  the  first  sermon  being  preached  by  Rev. 
Daniel  M.  Conant  in  Mr.  Warmington's  home, 
then  on  Detroit  street.  For  the  three  succeeding 
years,  1834-1837,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  Ohio  City  was  a  part  of  Brunswick  Circuit. 
Until  1837,  services  were  held,  alternating  with 
the  L  niversalists,  in  a  small  brick  school-house  on 
Vermont  street,  used  for  a  long  time  as  the  Eighth 
Ward  voting  place. 

December  15th,  1834,  a  lot  was  bought  for  a  new 
house  of  worship,  north-east  corner  of  Hanover 
and  Church  streets ;  June  30th,  1836,  a  brick  edi- 
fice was  begun.  In  November,  the  walls  were 
ready  for  the  roof.  A  terrible  storm  blew  them 
down ;  despair  seized  upon  the  little  band,  in- 
cluding Ambrose  Anthony,  Diodate  Clark,  Capt. 
Alfred  Davis  and  wife — the  latter,  formerly  Miss 
Bessie  Sessions,  a  well-known  young  lady.  Under 
the  greatest  financial  stress,  they  began  the  work 
of  reconstruction.  The  city  council,  just  organ- 
ized, offered  them  a  room  in  Columbus  Block,  on 


74  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

Detroit  street  hill,  provided  the  Methodist  society 
would  furnish  seats.  The  offer  was  gladly  accept- 
ed. In  a  short  time,  the  Columbus  Block  was 
burned  and  the  infant  struggling  church  sent  back 
to  the  school-house.  In  November,  1838,  they  oc- 
cupied the  basement  on  Hanover  street.  Ten 
years  afterward  they  moved  into  the  audience 
room.  The  society  continued  to  worship  there  un- 
til December,  1869,  when  it  was  merged  into  the 
Franklin  Avenue  M.  E.  Church,  now  the  largest 
of  that  denomination  in  this  fair  city. 

A  Presbyterian  Society  was  formed  December 
21st,  1835,  by  Father  Keep.  Of  this,  Misses  Cor- 
delia Buxton  and  Catharine  Taylor,  now  Mrs.  S.  H. 
Sheldon  and  Mrs.  M.  Lufkin,  are  the  surviving  char- 
ter members.  Later,  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stephen 
N.  Herrick,  the  Folsoms,  and  twenty-five  more;  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Newton  were  among  the  faithful  early — 
the  mantle  of  the  mother  envelopes  her  daughter, 
Mrs.  Dr.  Dutton.  Mrs.  Lucy  Webb,  mother  of  the 
first  Mrs.  Robt.  Sanderson,  is  mentioned  as  one 
leaving  an  impress  upon  the  times  in  which  she 
lived.  Mrs.  Chas.  Winslow,  a  thoroughly  Christian 
woman,  Mrs.  Pickands,  Mrs.  Slaght,  Ladies  Fol- 
som,  at  later  date,  were  included ;  also,  the  first 
Mrs.  Dr.  Tilden,  gifted  and  beautiful. 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  75 

Resuming  our  sketch  of  Mrs.  Chapman  ;  zeal- 
ously she  labored  for  St.  John's  ;  loved,  venerated 
through  a  long,  useful  life,  abounding  in  good 
deeds  ;  most  fragrant  of  these  was  the  sending  of 
flowers  to  sick-rooms ;  she  wrote  a  book  of  poems 
and  several  sketches,  and  in  society  none  surpassed 
her  in  suavity  and  grace.  I  used  to  admire  her  at 
an  after-dinner  coffee,  for  example :  with  white 
cap  and  kerchief,  a  dress  of  black  or  gray  satin, 
perfectly  white  rolls  of  hair  crowning  a  sweet  face 
glowing  with  enthusiasm  in  recalling  the  activities 
of  pioneer  life,  and  all  the  while  knitting  up 
threads  of  gold  on  golden  needles — the  web  sure 
to  prove  little  socks  or  mittens  for  some  favored 
child. 


76  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  FEMALE  CHARITABLE  SOCIETY  OF  OLD  TRINI- 
TY— MORAL  REFORM  SOCIETY — THE  SOCIAL 
EVIL — MATERNAL  ASSOCIATION — MRS.  S.WILL- 
IAMSON— MRS.  LOUISA  PICKANDS. 

r^HE  Female  Charitable  Society  of  Trinity 
-*■  Church  was  formed  December  26th,  1837. 
The  following  ladies  held  positions  :  President, 
Airs.  Lyman  Kendall  ;  Vice-President,  Mrs.  Levi 
Tucker,  wife  of  the  Baptist  minister  ;  Secretary, 
Mrs.  Edmund  Clark ;  Treasurer,  Mrs.  Hobart 
Ford  ;  Directresses,  Mrs.  Ahaz  Merchant,  Mrs.  J. 
Whiting,  Mrs.  E.  F.  Gardner,  Airs.  Dr.  Mills,  Mrs. 
C.  L.  Lathrop,  Mrs.  S.  Ford,  Mrs.  John  Shelley. 

The  Association  did  good  work  among  the  des- 
titute, and  often  met  in  the  Baptist  Church,  corner 
of  Champlain  and  Seneca  streets.  Mrs.  B.  Har- 
rington, a  lady  distinguished  for  charitable  work, 
succeeded  Mrs.  Ford  as  Treasurer,  and  served 
faithfully     for     years     in     the     successors,     viz.  : 


AXD    THEIR   WORK.  *]J 


u 


Domestic  Missionary  Society  of  Trinity  Church," 
and  the  "  Ladies'  Beneyolent  Society  of  Trinity 
Parish,' '  which  latter  culminated,  in  1856,  in  a  per- 
manent institution. 

The  records  are  obscure  of  the  early  formation 
of  general  organizations  of  ladies,  but  we  in- 
fer from  a  letter  written  by  Mrs.  M.  B.  Tolbut, 
Secretary  of  the  Moral  Reform  Society  of  Clari- 
don,  Geauga  Count)*,  to  the  same  society  in  Cleve- 
land, that  of  the  first  mentioned,  several  auxiliaries 
were  formed  in  Ohio,  during  1837  and  1838,  and 
that  the  Parent  Society  existed  in  New  York. 
Their  organ  was  the  Advocate  and  Guardian,  their 
object  to  inculcate  virtue  and  good  morals  and  to 
save  young  women  from  ruin. 

The  first  definite  statement  we  have  is  the  fol- 
lowing :  At  a  meeting  of  ladies  of  Cleveland,  held 
June  24th,  1840,  the  Female  Moral  Reform  Society 
was  reorganized,  the  constitution  of  the  Parent 
Society  adopted,  and  the  following  persons  elected 
officers  : 

First  Directress,  Mrs.  Lathrop  ;  Second  Di- 
rectress, Mrs.  J.  M.  Sterling ;  Secretary  and  Treas- 
urer, Mrs.  M.  S.  Curry.  The  alternates  were,  re- 
spectively :     Mrs.  Wade,  Mrs.  Seymour,  Mrs.  Gay- 


78  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

lord.  Board  of  Managers:  Mrs.  William  T. 
Smith,  Ladies  Hickox,  Goodman,  Wightman, 
Chandler,  Rockwell,  Sonthworth,  Avery,  Sexton, 
Sloane,  Taylor,  Pearsons,  Foot.  The  following 
names  of  members  are  found  on  the  register,  many 
of  whom  are  yonng  ladies  :  Mrs.  M.  W.  Bnrnham, 
Ellen  Gunning,  Elizabeth  Whittlesey,  Romelia 
Hanks,  Cornelia  M.  Sackrider,  Eliza  Duty,  Marga- 
ret Sheldon,  Manchester,  F.  C.  Fairchild,  Sarah  T. 
Fisk,  Mrs.  W.  H.  Otis,  Mrs.  S.  J.  Andrews,  Mrs.  S. 
C.  Aikin,  Mrs.  Pritchard,  Mrs.  S.  E.  Hutchinson, 
Mrs.  Long,  Mrs.  Severance,  Mrs.  L.  A.  Penfield, 
Mrs.  M.  Cutter,  Mrs.  Brainard,  Mrs.  John  Day, 
Julia  DeForest,  Jane  Searles,  Harriet  Malvin, 
Maria  Sutherland,  Amelia  Beebe,  Catherine  Brown, 
Harriet  Hurst,  Mary  and  Amanda  Burns,  Mary 
Ager,  Mary  Jones,  Silas  Belden,  Mrs.  Fitch,  E. 
Mcintosh,  Julia  Rector,  O.  Clarke,  Edw.  Fair- 
child,  Lucy  A.  Cutter.  The  list  of  officers  for 
1841  is  Mrs.  Edward  Wade,  Mrs,  Seymour,  Mrs. 
E.  F.  Gaylord. 

In  a  minute  signed  by  Maria  B.  Fairchild,  Sec- 
retary, written  September  14th,  1842,  is  the  follow- 
ing :  "In  consequence  of  a  suggestion  from  the 
society  in  Troy,  after  some  discussion  it  was 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  JO, 

"  Resolved,  That  a  Moral  Reform  Convention  for 
the  State  of  Ohio  be  held  in  Cleveland,  on  the  sec- 
ond Wednesdav  of  October. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  be  directed  to 
write  a  notice  of  this  convention,  to  be  published 
in  the  Advocate  of  Moral  Reform,  Oberlin  Evangel- 
ist and  Ohio  Observer. 

"  Resolved,  That  Miss  Morgan  be  invited  to 
spend  the  Winter  with  us  in  prosecuting  the  labors 
of  missionary." 

Mrs.  Sloane  was  appointed  to  communicate  with 
the  F.  M.  R.  S.  of  Buffalo,  X.  Y.,  October  12th, 
1843 ;  this  society  seemed  to  receive  an  impetus  by 
the  election  of  Mrs.  B.  Rouse,  Mrs.  M.  M.  Herrick 
and  Mrs.  M.  E.  Williamson  to  its  leading  offices. 
The  latter  is  the  wife  of  S.  Williamson,  Esq.,  then 
young,  well  educated  and  public-spirited.  She  is 
yet  heartily  engaged  in  all  good  work.  As  Secre- 
tary and  Treasurer  of  this  organization,  she  pre- 
sents full  minutes,  and  is  unusually  business  like 
in  detail.  The  ladies  sustained  their  work  by  the 
payment  each,  annually,  of  sums  ranging  from 
twelve  and  a  half  to  fifty  cents.  The  efficiency  of 
this  band  of  ladies  is  fully  attested  by  a  narrative 
given  entire  in  Mrs.  Rouse's  diary,  extracts  from 
which  are  presented : 

October  30th  :     Was  visited  early  this  morning 


a 


No  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

by  two  gentlemen,  residents  of  Cleveland,  who 
have  just  landed  from  a  steamer,  saying  that  at 
Erie  they  were  called  upon  to  see  a  young  woman 
in  the  ladies'  cabin  who  had  a  few  minutes  previ- 
ous, told  some  of  the  members  that  she  was  being 
forcibly  taken  away  and  did  not  wish  to  go  further 
with  the  person  by  whom  she  was  accompanied. 
Upon  inquiry,  they  elicited  some  items  of  her  per- 
sonal history  :  She  lived  in  Franklin,  Vt.  Her 
father  was  a  farmer.  Owing  to  the  opposition  of 
an  older  sister,  she  had  been  forbidden  by  the 
father  to  marry  the  man  of  her  choice,  and  the 
mother,  to  soften  grief  and  divert  her  mind,  caused 
her  to  go  to  Whitehall,  N.  Y.,  where  were 
family  friends.  After  a  week  she  fell  in  with  a 
wicked  woman,  who  enticed  her,  under  pretense  of 
visiting  the  City  of  New  York,  into  a  house  of  in- 
famy. After  three  days  and  nights  of  wretched- 
ness, upon  her  earnest  pleading  she  was  taken 
from  this  place,  only  to  find  herself  in  the  hands  of 
a  deceiver,  who,  by  promising  to  take  her  to  a 
place  of  safety  from  which  she  could  return  home, 
had  brought  her  aboard  this  steamer.  After  se- 
curing passage,  she  found  she  was  to  be  taken  to 
the  Copper  Mine  Region,  Lake  Superior.     Know- 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  Si 

ing  not  what  to  do  in  her  anguish,  she  had  con- 
fided in  the  passengers,  and  by  a  salutary  course  of 
procedure,  these  two  gentlemen  had  rescued  and 
taken  her  in  charge  until  arriving  at  the  Cleveland 
pier,  and  then  bringing  her  to  the  American  House, 
they  placed  the  unfortunate  woman  in  the  keeping 
of  the  President  of  this  Society."  -Mrs.  Rouse 
adds:  "  October  31  : — I  have  seen  and  conversed 
with  this  young  woman  and  to-day  took  her  to  my 
own  house.  She  is  a  good-looking,  artless  country 
girl,  unsuspecting  and  entirely  ignorant  of  the  art 
and  deception  with  which  we  all  are  daily  sur- 
rounded. We  are  wishing  to  send  her  to  her 
parents,  to  whom  the  gentlemen  on  the  boat  wrote 
before  they  landed,  and  I  am  anxiously  waiting  to 
find  some  one  to  protect  her  as  far  as  Whitehall  or 
Albanv." 

Then,  as  now,  was  sin  abroad  in  the  land,  and 
these  dear  women  knew  instinctively  that  the  only 
safeguard  for  young  people  is  within  the  sheltering 
arms  of  "  home,  sweet  home,"  and  they  did  what  in 
them  lay  to  save  the  unsuspecting  and  misguided, 
to  restore  them  to  their  own  firesides.  If  parents 
in  these  days  would  screen  their  children  from 
these   dangerous  influences,  would  erect  an  altar 


82  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

within  the  household  about  which  the  children 
might  cluster,  and  endeavor  to  make  home  such  in 
the  fullest  sense — the  one  spot  in  all  the  world 
most  attractive  to  the  child — and  then,  by  affec- 
tionate and  effective  discipline,  train  their  girls 
and  boys  to  love  purity  and  to  avoid  even  the  ap- 
pearance of  evil,  there  would  not  now  be  heard  the 
lamentation  coming  up  from  all  over  the  country, 
and  especially  from  cities,  that  our  young  girls  are 
daily  and  nightly  preparing,  on  the  streets,  for 
lives  of  abandonment  and  disgrace ;  our  police 
would  not  have  to  be  called  in  to  enforce  family 
discipline ;  houses  of  refuge,  reformatories  and  re- 
treats would  not  be  filled  as  they  are  now. 
Solomon  w7as  wiser  than  us  of  to-day. 

The  last  written  trace  of  the  F.  M.  R.  S.  we  find 
Wednesday,  January  10,  1844,  and  copy  verbatim 
Mrs.  Williamson's  minutes:  ''Monthly  meeting 
held  in  the  vestry  of  Stone  Church ;  reading  by 
the  directress  and  prayer  by  Mrs.  Townsend ;  min- 
utes read  by  the  secretary  ;  committees  called  upon 
to  report ;  the  committee  to  solicit  subscriptions 
for  the  support  of  a  missionary  being  still  unpre- 
pared to  report  satisfactorily,  was  discharged, 
particularly  in  consideration  of  the  city's  being  at 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  S3 

present  visited  by  a  committee  from  the  Martha 
Washington  and  Dorcas  Society,  which  committee 
is  expected  to  report  to  the  Moral  Reform  Society 
all  such  objects  as  would  properly  come  under  its 
care. 

"  Remarks  were  then  made  by  Mrs.  Fitch  ;  the 
Constitution  was  read,  and  a  few  names  secured  as 
members,  the  petitions  to  the  Legislature  circu- 
lated, and  the  meeting  adjourned."  We  conclude 
that,  by  mutual  agreement,  this  early  society  was 
merged  in  the  new  project  for  relieving  the  desti- 
tute of  the  city  and  at  the  same  time  ministering 
to  the  spiritual  needs  of  those  visited,  and  that  the 
"  faire  gospellers'1  united  with  the  Martha  Wash- 
ington and  Dorcas  Society. 

In  1837,  and  continuing  through  1840,  a  number 
of  ladies  formed  the  "  Maternal  Association ' 
of  Ohio  City,  Mrs.  Louisa  Pickands,  president. 
The  society  published  a  magazine  which  met  the 
want  of  the  day.  Mothers  met  once  a  week  for 
prayer  and  consultation  upon  the  best  methods  of 
training  children,  etc.  The  inference  is,  that  our 
present  u  mothers'  meetings"  are  not  a  new  feat- 
ure,— only  "  revised  and  improved."  We  see  the 
names  of  ladies  prominent  in  these  early  societies 


84  W'OMKN    OF    CLEVELAND 

also  prominent  in  those  of  later  date ;  for  the 
workers  in  any  good  cause  are  found  doing  all  they 
can  to  help  other  enterprises  whose  aim  is  to  lift 
up  humanity.  It  is  a  delight  to  look  into  the  faces 
of  these  veterans  who  "  count  it  all  joy  "  to  reach 
out  a  hand  to  those  who  fall. 

Doing  good  is  a  better  cosmetic  than  paste  or 
powder ;  it  leaves  its  impress  on  every  feature  of 
the  face ;  there  is  a  softened  radiance,  a  peculiar 
expression,  011  these  countenances  that  needs  no 
sculptured  Madonna  for  a  model.  It  is  a  light 
shining  within  a  vase  of  alabaster — the  soul  illu- 
minating brow,  eye  and  lip.  Such  faces  they  have 
who,  in  the  Revelation  of  St.  John  the  Divine, 
"follow  the  Lamb  whithersoever  He  goeth." 


AND   THEIR    WORK.  8=; 


CHAPTER  X. 

OHIO  CITY — SOME  PROMINENT  MEN  AND  HOW 
THEY  FOUND  THEIR  WIVES — GOING  A  MAY- 
ING— MRS.  D.  P.  RHODES — MRS.  BELDEN  SEY- 
MOUR— MRS.  MARY  A.  DEGNON — MRS.  J.  H. 
SARGENT — MRS.  G.  W.  JONES — TWENTY-FIVE 
WOMEN  OF  CLEVELAND — MRS.  W.  B.  CASTLE 
— MRS.  KATE  NEWELL  DOGGETT. 

^THHE  original  Judge  Josiah  Barber  was  unspar- 
*■  ing  in  liberality — a  benefactor — a  strict 
churchman,  the  host  and  intimate  friend  of  Bishop 
Chase.  His  wife  was  Abigail  Gilbert ;  her  only 
daughter  married  Mr.  Robert  Russell  in  Conneticut, 
who  died.  She  rejoined  her  father,  Judge  Barber, 
here,  with  three  small  children,  of  whom  were  Sophia 
Lord  and  Charlotte  Agusta.  These  two  daugh- 
ters, grown  into  elegant,  cultured  women,  became 
active  participants  in  the  social  world  of  Ohio 
City. 

In     1827,    while    yet   a  frontier  town,  William 


86  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

B.  Castle  removed  from  Toronto,  C.  W.,  with  his 
father.  In  time  he  associated  with  himself  Chas. 
M.  Giddings,  Norman  C.  Baldwin,  and  other  prom- 
inent men,  in  establishing  the  first  lumber  yard  in 
Cleveland,  foundation  of  a  grand  factor  in  the 
city's  enterprise — still  retaining  interests  in  Can- 
ada. In  1835,  from  Sudbury,  Vt.,  appeared  a 
young  man  of  indomitable  energy  who  preferred 
Western  enterprise  to  Eastern  luxury — Mr.  Daniel 
P.  Rhodes,  pioneering  in  the  coal  trade  here ;  he 
was  broad,  sympathetic,  kind  to  everybody,  doing 
much  to  build  up  the  city  west  of  the  Cuyahoga, 
led  the  people  in  persistent  demand  for  convenient 
access  to  Superior  street.  Would  he  might  have 
seen  our  magnificent  viaduct  !  He  associated  with 
him  Mr.  J.  F.  Card;  together  they  developed  the 
mineral  resources  of  Tuscarawas  and  Stark  coun- 
ties. Others  eminent  besides  those  mentioned  were 
Col.  Brunson,  David  Griffith,  the  two  Wards,  uncles 
of  Mr.  Belden  Seymour.  Mrs.  Judge  Foot,  Mrs. 
Chas.  Rhodes,  Mrs.  Griffith,  Mrs.  Seth  Johnson, 
Mrs.  Capt.  Sweet,  were  quiet,  retiring  women,  but 
of  the  best,  and  formed  a  little  coterie  on  the  pres- 
ent Washington  street.  Mrs.  Eleanor  H.  Seymour, 
and  her  sister,    Mrs.   Nancy  J.  Russell,  give   very 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  87 

clear  description  of  the  farms  on  Detroit  Road  in 
Barber  and  Lord's  allotment.  Needham  Stand- 
art  had  a  house  so  large  that  Rosamond  Sar- 
gent always  called  it  "  Castle  Needham.1'  Airs. 
Standart  was  an  elegant  woman. 

Mr.  Jackson's  farm,  where  lived  Julia  and  Mary  ; 
Mr.  Herrick's,  father  of  Eleanor  and  Nancy,  and 
Mr.  Hnrd's;  Dr.  Kirtland's,  in  Rockport ;  Catharine 
Taylor  Lnfkin  gathered,  in  1829,  wild  roses  grow- 
ing in  the  marsh  close  to  their  farm  ;  this  marsh 
extended  np  to  Gordon  avenue ;  even  later  the 
children  on  Detroit  Road  played  in  the  woods 
where  Altenheim  and  the  Elliott  property  are  now, 
culling  Indian  pipe,  ferns  and  forget-me-nots.  In 
good  old  times  they  had  May-pole  dances,  there,  on 
the  first  day  of  that  month,  a  crowned  queen,  with 
maids  of  honor  dressed  in  white,  the  boys  making 
an  arbor,  covered  with  boughs,  and  often  a  throne 
of  twigs  with  a  buffalo  robe  carpet ;  other  parties 
the  young  folks  had,  beginning  at  6  p.  m.  and 
breaking  up  at  9  o'clock. 

Air.  and  Mrs.  John  Deguon  came  from  New  York  ; 
he  was  superintendent  of  the  Cuyahoga  Furnace 
Foundry,  of  which  Elisha  Sterling  may  have  been 
first  proprietor ;   among  successors    to  its    owner- 


88  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

ship  were  Mr.  Win.  B.  Castle  and  Mr.  J.  F.  Hollo- 
wav. 

Mrs.  Degnon  wrought  among  the  sick  and  desti- 
tute ;  once  after  making  a  muslin  shroud  for  the 
dead,  she  inquired  of  a  maiden  daughter  for  a 
warm  flat-iron  to  press  seams ;  the  reply  was,  "  I 
can  get  you  nothing;  I'm  a  mourner."  No.  223 
Hanover  street,  one  of  the  oldest  houses  on  the 
West  Side,  was  their  former  home ;  she  and  her 
daughters,  Mary  and  Eliza,  reside  in  the  stately 
brick  near  by.  Mrs.  Degnon  says  that  all  the 
women  of  early  times  were  united ;  standing 
shoulder  to  shoulder  in  good  work  and  domestic 
helpfuless. 

Those  were  glowing"  davs  in  the  "  thirties."  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  T.  P.  Handy  were  among  the  singers  in 
Old  Stone  Church,  coming  here  in  1832  ;  they  sang 
in  stately  oratories,  bearing  part  in  Handel's 
"  Creation  ;"  their  duets  are  recalled  even  now.  In 
the  choir  of  St.  John's  Episcopal  Church  were  Mr. 
W.  B.  Castle,  Captain  Lord,  Daniel  Tyler,  and  his 
sister,  Elizabeth,  Sophia  Lord  Russell,  Julia  WTard, 
Mary  Newell ;  Dr.  Hill  played  the  organ.  His 
wife  is  mentioned  with  pleasant  recollection.  Mr. 
Geo.  L.  Chapman  was  chorister.     The  young  peo- 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  89 

pie  married ;  Sophia  Lord  Russell  became  Mrs. 
Daniel  P.  Rhodes ;  her  sister,  Charlotte,  Mrs. 
Hatch.  Mr.  John  H.  Sargent  asked  Miss  Julia 
Jackson  to  share  his  fortunes,  and  her  sister  is 
Mrs.  Standart,  of  Toledo ;  Eleanor  Herrick  and 
Belden  Seymour;  Nancy  J.  Herrick  and  Mr. 
Russell,  brother  of  Mrs.  S.  B.  Prentiss.  C.  L. 
Russell,  of  another  family,  married  Miss  Lucy 
Winslow.  In  1838,  Herman  A.  and  H.  B.  Hurlbut 
were  here,  the  Willards,  and  young  L.  L.  Davis  ; 
M.  B.  Scott,  who  married  a  sister  of  S.  Williamson. 
In  1839,  the  Hartnells  came  to  this  city  from 
England. 

Representing  interests  in  Albany,  were  General 
and  Mrs.  Waller,  taking  high  rank  from  the  first; 
central  figures  in  the  picture  of  long  ago ;  with 
them  a  step-daughter,  Mary  Newell,  and  in  time 
her  sister,  Kate  Newell  Horton.  The  great-grand- 
parents of  these  sisters  on  both  sides  were  minis- 
ters ;  Colonel  Williams,  a  maternal  grandfather,  in 
the  Continental  Army,  as  also  in  that  of  18 12. 
George  Newell,  their  father,  was  a  graduate  of 
Burlington,  Vt.,  an  ancestor,  Nath.  Newell,  in  the 
china  trade.  These  sisters  were  highly  educated  ; 
Kate,    a   linguist ;    Mary,  from   the   seminaries    of 


90  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

Middlebury  and  Burlington.  The  latter  was  born 
Sept.  ii,  1818,  at  Charlotte,  Vt. 

The  Ohio  City  Exchange,  corner  of  Main  and 
Center  streets,  with  its  mahogany  balustrades,  was 
the  most  elegant  building  west  of  Albany. 

July  4,  1838,  occurred  its  opening — a  gala  day 
in  our  history — by  Low  and  Atherton.  At  high 
noon  was  a  banquet,  attended  by  guests  from  De- 
troit, Erie,  Sandusky,  Buffalo.  Before  the  dinner 
was  a  boat  ride  through  the  old  river  bed  into  the 
Lake,  making  a  complete  circuit.  Mary  Newell 
was  in  high  spirits  and  danced  every  figure,  despite 
the  protest  of  Mrs.  H.  A.  Hurlbut  that  "it  would 
not  do."  On  a  bright  day  in  1840,  Mary  Newell 
was  married  to  W.  B.  Castle  in  St.  John's  Church  ; 
the  occasion  was  a  grand  one  ;  he  fair,  she  dark, 
with  flashing  black  eyes  and  curls  floating  to  her 
waist.  She  wore  a  wreath  of  orange  buds,  which 
the  writer  touched  on  a  snowy  day  in  January, 
1893,  and  the  beautiful  wedding  dress,  too,  of  white 
brocaded  satin,  garnished  with  silk  blonde,  a  long 
white  blonde  veil,  white  kid  gloves  and  satin 
vslippers,  a  la  mode.  The  same  day  I  saw  her 
mother's  wedding  gown  of  white  levantine  silk, 
and  an  aunt's,  of  china  crepe,  and  a  marvel  of  art 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  91 

in  embroidery,  of  Mrs.  Doggett's  own  work — dear 
relics  of  joyous  youth,  preserved  as  only  Mrs. 
Castle  knows  how.  The  young  married  people 
of  that  period  had  sleigh  rides,  lake  sails  and 
always  dancing.  The  Exchange  might  tell  how 
those  gay  troops  of  wit  and  beauty  laughed,  sang, 
and  what  merry-go-rounds  there  were  on  "light, 
fantastic  toe." 

Mr.  W.  B.  Castle  became  a  representative  man 
in  everv  respect,  cultured,  devout,  and  one  of  the 
best  mayors  we  ever  had;  he  did  much  to  develop 
the  iron  and  lumber  interest.  The  Rhodes  and 
Castles  excelled  in  church  work,  in  hospitality, 
good  cheer.  Marriage  alliances  were  formed  ; 
Kitty  Castle  becoming  Mrs.  R.  R.  Rhodes.  An 
intimate  friend  of  these  ladies  is  Mrs.  Judge 
Bolton,  long  connected  with  Lakeside  Hospital 
and  Aged  Women's  Home.  A  younger  Miss 
Castle  is  now  Mrs.  C.  C.  Bolton ;  another,  Mrs.  D. 
Z.  Norton.  Fannie  Rhodes,  a  beautiful  character, 
died,  and  much  brightness  went  out  with  her. 
James  F.  Rhodes  married  Anna  Card.  They  live 
in  Cambridge,  Mass.  Mr.  Rhodes  has  written  a 
United  States  history  that  gives  him  place  among 
American  authors.     All  the  wives  of  these  gentle- 


92  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

men  take  appropriate  place  among  the  women  of 
Cleveland. 

We  are  informed  that  in  1808,  Lorenzo  Carter 
built  here  a  freight  boat,  designed  for  the  lake 
trade  ;  she  was  named  the  "  Zephyr."  We  have 
two  shipbuilders  here  now,  Messrs.  J.  F.  Pank- 
hurst  and  H.  D.  Cofhnbnry,  whose  wives  are  repre- 
sentative Cleveland  women  in  high  social  position ; 
bnt  the  shipbuilder  whom  everybody  remembers  as 
a  standby  in  the  past  is  Capt.  G.  W.  Jones,  coming 
to  Ohio  City  in  1841  ;  built,  in  1835,  the  first  mer- 
chant vessel  for  Lake  Superior,  named  "  John 
Jacob  Astor,"  which  took  the  place  of  the  Bateau, 
in  carrying  supplies  to  Indian  traders.  On  her 
first  trip,  in  September  of  that  year,  Stanard  Rock 
was  discovered,  on  which  is  built  a  light-house. 
Mrs.  Jones  was  public-spirited  ;  out  among  the 
poor,  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  Woman's 
Medical  College  and  of  the  Orphan  Asylum. 
Later  on,  in  1852,  we  have  two  sisters,  Mrs.  Mc- 
Neil and  Mrs.  Purdy,  wives  of  eminent  dealers  ; 
these  ladies  are  well  known  and  honored ;  their 
husbands,  with  Mr.  J.  A.  Redington  and  Capt.  W. 
B.  Guyles,  go  through  our  streets,  familiarly 
known,  even  to  the  children. 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  93 

Mrs.  Judge  Coffinbury  and  Mrs.  A.  H.  Dela- 
mater  remain  to  lis  reminders  of  the  strong  busi- 
ness career  of  two  noble  men  passed  away,  and  by 
their  own  excellent  qualities  attach  us  to  the  past 
and  present  of  their  lives  among  us. 

Of  all  our  women,  none  excel  Mrs.  John  H.  Sar- 
gent in  originality  and  intelligence.  To  this  day 
she  is  studying  French  and  in  her  grand  children 
lives  her  youth  over  again.  She  has  the  good 
sense  to  go  through  Europe  dressed  in  strong 
cloth,  with  only  a  valise  for  baggage.  She  has 
actually  kissed  the  blarney  stone,  has  kept  house 
in  Rome,  and  brought  back  relics  from  nearlv  all 
lands.  Her  "Mater  Dolorosa,"  from  a  Spanish 
cathedral,  a  painting  two  hundred  years  old,  is  a 
Mexican  treasure.  Entering  fully  into  the  ludi- 
crous, she  and  Mrs.  Degnon  cannot  be  forgotten  as 
Betsey  Prig  and  Sairy  Gamp. 

Mrs.  Castle's  sister,  Kate  Newell  Horton's  first 
school  was  in  Columbus  block,  afterward  in  the 
basement  of  Saint  John's  Episcopal  Church.  April 
27,  1857,  she  opened  a  school  for  young  ladies  and 
misses  at  41  Walcott  street,  corner  of  Indiana,  in 
Chicago,  111. 

Rev.  Henry  Bannister's  reminiscences  of  Mrs. 


94  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

Doggett  at  Cazenovia  Seminary  were  such  as  to  re- 
veal the  promise  of  her  early  prime.  She  was, 
intellectually,  a  Margaret  Fuller  type  of  woman. 
With  great  sorrows  in  her  first  marriage ;  her 
motherly  devotion  to  an  unfortunate  little  daugh- 
ter, dying  very  young,  is  spoken  of  by  her  friends 
as  partaking  of  the  moral  sublime.  She  had  the 
pushing  spirit  of  the  West,  and  that  strange,  sad 
episode  over,  left  Cleveland.  Mr.  William  E. 
Doggett  was  one  of  Chicago's  most  public-spirited 
citizens.  He  was  the  first  to  give  the  South  Side 
people  the  benefit  of  open-air  concerts  on  the  lake 
front,  a  boon  highly  appreciated  by  all  classes. 
Some  years  since  he  was  shipwrecked  on  Lake 
Erie,  and  was  taken  to  a  house  in  almost  lifeless 
condition,  and  regaining  consciousness  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Kate  Newell  Horton,  whom  he 
afterward  married  in  St.  John's  Episcopal  Church, 
Cleveland,  Ohio.  He  was  a  wealthy  and  accom- 
plished  merchant,  one  of  God's  noblemen,  dowrered 
in  equal  measure  with  the  manhood  of  strength 
and  gentleness.  Her  marriage  with  this  rare 
character  introduced  her  to  a  life  almost  ideal. 
Theirs  was  the  only  true  alliance — a  union  of 
minds  and  hearts  as  well  as  hands.     Added  to  this 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  95 

summit  level  of  earthly  happiness  was  a  tasteful 
and  luxurious  home,  lofty  and  assured  social  posi- 
tion, wide  opportunities  for  culture  and  benefi- 
cence. These  were  studiously  improved,  and  the 
years  flowed  full,  deep  and  rich, — "the  ripe,  round, 
mellow  years  of  life's  sunny  prime."  A  Chicago 
friend  states  that  this  hospitable  couple  resided  at 
the  south-west  corner  of  Michigan  avenue  and 
Harmon  court,  in  which  elegant  mansion  all  the 
more  prominent  artists,  singers,  literary  people, 
and  actors  were  greeted  in  an  intellectual  atmos- 
phere rather  rare  in  those  days ;  banquets  being 
given  in  all  departments  of  the  magic  realm  of  the 
ideal.  Mrs.  Doggett  was  a  devotee  of  art  and  has 
published  in  book  form  several  fine  essays  that 
have  had  a  large  sale.  She  was  for  several  terms 
president  of  the  Woman's  Congress  ;  the  founder  of 
the  Fortnightly  Club  of  Chicago  and  Cleveland, 
and  a  prominent  member  of  the  Academy  of 
Sciences ;  also  an  active  member  of  the  American 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science.  Mrs. 
Doggett  was  often  heard  on  the  lecture  platform, 
and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Beethoven  Society 
of  Chicago  and  of  the  Chicago  Philosophical  Soci- 
ety.    She    translated  the  "  Grammar  of  Painting 


96  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

and  Engraving,"  by  a  celebrated  French  author, 
Charles  Blanc,  writing  much  and  ably  upon  cog- 
nate themes.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that 
west  of  Boston  she  was  without  an  equal  among 
women  as  authority  in  matters  of  taste.  Her  lect- 
ures were  illustrated  by  a  superb  collection,  made 
in  Italy  and  France,  and  she  freely  gave  them. 
Mrs.  Doggett  was  a  pronounced  friend  of  the 
u  woman  movement"  in  all  its  noblest  phases. 
She  died  in  Cuba,  ten  years  ago. 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  9; 


CHAPTER  XL 

MRS.  J.  A.  HARRIS — "THE  DEAR  OLD  MARTHA 
WASHINGTON  AND  DORCAS  " — MRS.  C.  A.  DEAN 
— MRS.  A.  H.  BARNEY — MRS.  J.  E.  LYON — 
MRS.  WILLIAM  MITTLEBERGER  —  REPORT  OF 
FIFTY  YEARS  AGO  —  PROTESTANT  ORPHAN 
ASYLUM — MRS.  STILLMAN  WITT — SOPHIA  L. 
HEWITT — LADIES'    TEMPERANCE    UNION, 

TI  70MEN  who  combine  quick  intelligence 
^  *  with  cool  judgment,  an  absolute  unselfish- 
ness with  power  to  discern  the  genuine  in  human 
nature,  are  born  for  leadership.  No  matter  how 
nearly  perfect  their  domestic  qualities  may  be, 
they  cannot,  if  they  would,  confine  their  influence 
simply  to  the  home  circle.  They  belong  to  the 
public,  and  the  record  of  their  li\Tes  is  a  record  of 
the  progress  of  good  work  in  the  cities  where 
they  reside.  Such  a  woman  is  Mrs  J.  A.  Harris. 
Possessed  in  the  past  of  vigorous  health  and  a 
flow  of  animal  spirits,  warm-hearted  and  sympa- 


98  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

thetic,  she  has  been,  from  her  early  residence 
here,  a  favorite.  The  writer  of  this  sketch  well 
remembers,  when  a  young  girl,  of  dropping  into 
a  called  meeting  of  the  women  of  Cleveland,  at 
the  Old  Stone  Church  parlors.  Mrs.  Ronse  was 
presiding  over  a  choice  assembly  of  ladies.  Mrs. 
Harris  spoke  and  everybody  listened,  and  for  the 
instant,  there  was  to  me  no  other  person  present 
in  the  room;  her  voice  was  so  clear  and  distinct 
and  her  presence  so  commanding.  Withal,  a 
practical  good  sense  pervaded  her  utterance,  and 
unusual  kindness  shone  in  every  feature  of  her 
face. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  A.  Harris  came  here  in  1837, 
occupying  their  cottage  on  Bank  street  upon  the 
exact  site  of  the  present  Harris  Block.  April  1st, 
Mr.  Harris  connected  himself  with  the  Cleveland 
Herald,  and  from  that  date,  he  and  his  wife  estab- 
lished intimate  relations  with  the  people  of  Cleve- 
land. They  were  singularly  alike — both  possessed 
of  extreme  kindness  of  heart,  of  unusual  energy 
and  of  proverbial  cheerfulness.  Old  residents 
cannot  fail  to  recollect  their  gayety  of  tempera- 
ment and  vivacity  during  the  prime  of  life. 
Public-spirited,  they  identified  themselves  with  all 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  99 

good  causes  outside  of  church  lines,  and  were 
always  noted  for  their  strict  temperance  princi- 
ples. They  were  full  of  help  and  encouragement 
for  young  persons  beginning  an  honorable  career. 
Youthful  writers  and  artists  will  gratefully  recall 
the  kind  words  bestowed  by  them.  Identified 
with  early  woman's  work,  Airs.  Harris'  especial 
forte  was  in  entertainments.  Full  of  ingenuity 
and  adaptability,  she  could  charm  a  city  with  her 
skillfully  devised  and  attractive  methods  of  re- 
plenishing a  depleted  treasury.  With  character- 
istic energy,  our  friend'  has  all  through  the  years 
not  abated  a  tithe  of  her  vigorous  aid,  but  helps 
us  of  to-day.  She  is,  even  now,  vice  president  of 
the  Early  Settlers'  Association. 

Temperance  Work  of  Fiftv  Years  Ago. — 
The  Washingtonian  movement  originated  with 
seven  hard  drinkers  wTho,  occasionally,  met  in  a 
tavern  in  Baltimore,  in  1840  ;  then  and  there  resolv- 
ing that  they  would  drink  no  more.  They  formed 
on  the  spot  a  society  for  the  propagation  of  total 
abstinence  among  those  who,  with  themselves, 
had  been  addicted  to  the  excessive  use  of  stimu- 
lants. This  movement  spread  over  the  land,  re- 
claiming thousands,  and  the  rushing  wave  struck 


■■■ 


IOO  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

Cleveland.  As  may  be  supposed,  there  were  in 
this  city  ladies  brave  and  womanly  enough  to 
identify  themselves  with  the  temperance  cause, 
and  the  feminine  counterpart  of  this  great  move- 
ment crystalized  here,  during  1843,  m  tne  Martha 
Washington  Society,  for  the  retarding  of  intem- 
perance, to  which  was  added  systematic  labor  for 
the  inevitable  result  of  this  vice,  viz :  poverty  of 
every  description  ;  and  with  the  example  before 
them  of  that  good  woman  of  Joppa,  full  of  alms- 
deeds,  who  was  always  making  "  coats  and  gar- 
ments,' '  the  women  with  one  accord  organized  a 
Relief  Society  in  connection  ;  hence  we  have  the 
celebrated  Martha  Washington  and  Dorcas 
Societv,  with  the  following  officers  :  First  direct- 
ress, Mrs.  Benjamin  Rouse;  second  directress,  Mrs. 
J.  A.  Harris ;  secretary,  Mrs.  William  Mittle- 
berger ;  treasurer,  Mrs.  C.  A.  Dean.  To  Mrs. 
Rouse  and  Mrs.  Harris  was  delegated  at  the  first, 
by  common  consent,  the  Martha  Washington  part, 
and  day  after  day  these  two  blessed  women  fol- 
lowed up  drinking  men,  whether  in  shop,  store  or 
office,  soliciting  their  names  to  the  temperance 
pledge  and  to  membership ;  often  followed  by 
twenty  or  more,  rough  in  appearance  but  appar- 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  IOI 

ently  sincere,  who  wished  to  sign  the  pledge. 
The  degraded  of  onr  sex  they  tried  to  help  into  a 
better  life,  and  did  all  in  their  power  to  uplift 
every  species  of  abandoned  humanity.  Ladies 
adapted  to  other  branches  of  work  were  busy, 
cutting,  making  and  refitting,  soliciting  for  means 
and  with  other  detail  known  only  to  patient,  per- 
sistent Christian  women.  The  records  of  this 
Society  are  wonderful.  Mrs.  Rouse  describes 
minutely  what  was  done,  apparently  each  day  for 
these  six  years,  and  her  journal  for  this  period 
would  itself  compose  a  volume.  We  see  from 
various  sources  that  this  organization  had  the 
entire  confidence  of  the  citizens  generally;  judges, 
lawyers,  doctors,  merchants  of  all  sorts,  mechanics, 
and  other  laborers  gave  their  mite,  or,  of  their 
abundance.  One  dollar  in  those  days  was  as 
munificent  a  gift  as  ten  dollars  now.  These 
good  ladies  took  as  donations,  merchandise  of 
every  sort,  and  seemed  particularly  grateful  for 
wood.  One  item  among  at  least  five  thousand 
pathetic  notes  is  this :  "  Mr.  Brown  gave  us 
twenty  cords  of  four- foot  wood.  A  noble  dona- 
tion, and  from  a  stranger  in  our  city,  too." 

All  possible  sects  and  nationalities  likely  to  be 


102  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

included  among  the  destitute  of  any  city  shared 
in  the  liberal  outflow  of  these  Christian  hearts, 
even  Indians  coming  in  for  a  share.  In  a  letter 
written  to  the  ladies  October  25th,  1847,  by  Alvan 
Coe,  mention  is  made  of  four  aboriginal  youths, 
who  had  left  their  friends  and  come  here  to  be 
instructed.  Mr.  Coe  compares  the  Society  to  the 
daughter  of  Pharaoh,  who  found  in  the  Ark 
among  the  flags,  a  Moses — "  Moses  "  in  this  case 
meaning  the  four  impecunious  native  Americans  : 
Pen-go,  Mish-keau,  Sno-bin-a,  Was-so-gum,  the 
last  mentioned  having  been  received  into  Mrs. 
Rouse's  home.  Mr.  Coe  speaks  of  the  thrill  of 
jov  that  will  go  from  wigwam  to  wigwam  as  these 
poor  converted  Indian  mothers  hear  of  the  kind- 
ness of  ladies  in  Cleveland. 

One  of  the  rare,  delightful  things  about  this 
Societv  is  the  exceeding  love  for  it  that  all  the 
workers  bore,  and,  to  the  praise  of  womankind  be 
it  said,  that  not  one  word  of  jar  or  dissension  was 
ever  heard  among  them.  The  reason  is  because 
they  loved  it  for  the  work's  sake,  never  thinking 
of  position  or  other  advantages  to  be  gained. 

We  continue  these  annals  from  the  "  dear  old 
Martha    Washington    and    Dorcas "  —  the    one,    a 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  103 

comparatively  modern  lady  walking  beside  her  of 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  in  perfect  harmony. 
Thus  it  is  that  Christ  doth  inspire  all  of  every  age 
to  work  for  others,  and,  in  so  doing,  saith  :  "  In- 
asmuch as  ye  have  done  it  nnto  one  of  the  least  of 
these  ye  have  done  it  nnto  me." 

One  of  the  choice  spirits  among  early  workers 
of  onr  city  was  Mrs.  C.  A.  Dean,  treasurer  of  this 
remarkable  Society  when  it  met  in  an  upper  room 
of  Miller's  Block.  kk  In  works  of  charity  she  shone 
like  a  star."  Among  other  enthusiastic  partici- 
pants were  Mrs.  Elisha  Taylor,  Mrs.  A.  H.  Barney, 
of  New  York,  and  her  sister  Mrs.  J.  E.  Lyon,  one 
of  the  active  women  of  Oswego,  X.  Y.  The  last 
mentioned  two  were  sisters  of  James  J.  Tracy,  of 
this  city. 

From  November  4,  1848,  to  November  10,  1849, 
Mrs.  J.  E.  Lyon  was  its  secretary.  In  a  note  to 
the  writer  of  this  series,  Mrs  Lyon  says :  "  The 
work  of  that  period  was  dear  to  all  our  hearts, 
and,  so  far  as  I  can  recollect,  our  noble,  indefati- 
gable president,  Mrs.  Rouse,  was  head  and  front. 
Many  a  poor  wanderer  was  rescued  from  destruc- 
tion by  her  untiring  care  and  vigilance." 

Mrs.  Lyon's  report  for  1849  is  as  follows  : 


104  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

11  Tlie  past  year  has  been  one  of  unusual  suffer- 
ing and  sorrow  among  the  poor  of  our  city.  The 
Winter,  so  extremely  cold  and  long,  found  them 
not  as  well  supplied  at  its  commencement  as  some 
of  the  most  thrifty  and  industrious  always  try  to 
be.  Scarcity  of  work  last  Autumn,  as  well  as 
extreme  sickness  prevented  this,  so  that  many 
who  had  never  begged  before,  and  whom  nothing 
but  starvation  could  have  induced  to  do  it,  had 
this  year  to  be  assisted  by  us.  During  the  Sum- 
mer months  that  dreadful  scourge,  the  cholera,  in 
its  sad  ravages  brought  suffering  and  death  upon 
many  poor  families  who  had  no  one  but  us  to  rely 
on  for  help. 

"  The  calls  upon  our  president  have,  of  course, 
been  increasing,  and  as  no  case  has  received  aid 
without  her  personal  inspection  of  the  premises 
of  the  applicant,  and  obtaining  an  exact  knowl- 
edge of  their  destitution  and  worthiness,  we  can 
well  imagine  what  her  labors  must  have  been,  and 
what  a  tax  upon  her  time,  strength  and  sympa- 
thies ! 

"  Mrs.  Rouse  has  been  for  six  years  the  presi- 
dent, and  has  a  large  part  of  the  real  labor  to 
perform.     All  that  we  have  been  able  to  do  this 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  105 

vear  in  assisting  her  is  to  meet  one  afternoon 
each  week  during  the  Fall  and  Winter  months,  to 
make  and  mend  garments  for  her  to  distribute. 
This  is  her  manner  of  work  :  When  application 
is  made,  she  visits  the  family  who  require  aid — 
perhaps  they  live  on  the  flats,  under  the  hill,  or  on 
the  hill,  down  by  the  pier,  often  up  in  Jerusalem, 
or  in  Oregon  street — finds  out  their  condition, 
inquiring  what  they  most  need,  whether  worthy  or 
unworthy  of  assistance.  If  the  former,  she  comes 
up  to  our  rooms,  in  the  third  story  of  Miller's 
Block,  weighs  out  the  quantity  she  deems  neces- 
sary for  their  wants  ;  of  candles,  flour,  meal  and 
meats,  selects  the  garments  they  need,  puts  them 
all  in  her  carriage,  and  starts  off  again  for  desti- 
tute places,  ready  to  begin  the  work  of  distribu- 
tion. Perhaps  she  finds  the  people  in  the  coldest 
day  of  Winter  without  a  stick  of  wood.  It  would 
be  a  sad  task,  indeed,  were  we  not  cheered  by  the 
thankful  and  Christian  deportment  of  man}'  who 
bless  and  pray  for  us.  Mrs.  Rouse  now  feels  that 
it  will  be  utterly  impossible  for  her  to  accept  the 
office  of  president  the  coining  vear.  Wrho  of  us 
stands  ready  to  fill  her  place  ?  Who  of  us  has  the 
self-denial  necessary  to  give  up  our  time  to  visit- 


106  WOMEN    OF   CLEVELAND 

ing  and  supplying  these  poor  distressed  creatures 
and  relieving  them  ;  to  have  our  homes  besieged 
at  all  hours  of  the  day  by  the  sick,  the  lame,  the 
halt  and  the  blind  ?  Can  we  not  have  some  per- 
manent mode  of  relief?  We  need  in  our  city  a 
House  of  Refuge,  an  Orphan  Asylum,  where  the 
children  of  drunken  parents  and  orphans,  left 
houseless  by  the  desolating  scourge  that  has 
visited  our  shores  during  the  past  summer,  may 
find  a  home.  Mrs.  Rouse  proposes  that  we  tem- 
porarily hire  a  house  for  that  purpose,  secure  a 
competent  person  to  take  charge  under  our  super- 
vision, and  have  these  dear,  lonely  children  where 
they  can  be  trained  for  usefulness  and  happiness. 
This  would  be  also  a  kind  of  office  where  the  poor 
could  apply  and  to  which  we  could  all  go  and 
share  in  lightening  the  labors  of  our  president, 
and  at  a  future  time  may  we  not  hope  that  some 
of  our  benevolent  and  wealthy  citizens  will  give 
us  a  lot  of  ground  in  a  convenient  localitv  and 
funds  to  erect  thereon  a  good,  substantial  building 
as  a  fixed  abode  for  orphan  children  ?  This  will 
require  an  increase  of  subscriptions  ;  but  a  little 
more  from  each  one  would  enable  us  to  make  at 
least  a  beginning  in  this  noble  enterprise. 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  107 

"  The  number  of  families  who  have  applied  for 
assistance  during  the  past  year  is  231,  consisting 
of  1,051  individuals;  the  quantity  of  flour  given 
out  is  2,632  lbs. ;  beef  and  pork,  254  lbs. ;  sugar, 
280  lbs.  ;  fish,  415  lbs.  ;  candles,  325  lbs. ;  rice, 
227  lbs.  ;  coffee,  165  lbs.  ;  tea,  19  V2  lbs.  ;  bushels 
of  meal,  23  ;  number  of  garments  distributed,  736  ; 
comforters  for  beds,  26  ;  pairs  of  shoes  and  stock- 
ings, 99  ;  number  of  loads  of  wood,  59/ ' 

Mrs.  William  Mittleberger  was  one  of  the  rarest 
of  its  workers,  her  enthusiasm  kindled  even  after 
thirty  years  had  passed,  at  the  mere  mention  of 
the  Society's  name.  Her  eyes  sparkled  and  her 
cheeks  glowed  as  the  old  memories  came  trooping 
about  her  pillow.  Upon  her  and  Mrs.  A.  H.  Bar- 
ney fell  the  task  of  soliciting  funds  for  its  main- 
tenance. Leonard  Case,  Jr.,  was  the  first  person 
to  give  a  ten  dollar  bill.  The  books  of  the  treas- 
urer show  that  the  business  men  must  nearlv  all 
have  contributed  either  money  or  merchandise. 
Without  design  of  invidious  mention,  we  are  glad 
to  record  that  the  husband  of  our  gray-haired 
friend,  Mrs.  W.  T.  Smith,  seemed  in  those  days  to 
be  very  liberal  in  the  line  of  shoes.  From  1843 
to  1852,  this  Society  absorbed  all  woman's  work 


io8  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

into  its  own  and  included  the  second  visitation  of 
cholera,  during  which  its  usefulness  as  well  as  its 
labors  were  wonderfully  increased. 

Miss  Anne  Walworth,  a  worker  of  1872,  states 
that  "  one  branch  of  the  Martha  Washington 
Society  "  was  provision  for  needy  little  ones. 
"  The  most  loathsome  places  in  the  city  were 
visited,  particularly  those  about  the  canal,  and 
children  were  often  found,  especially  during  and 
after  the  cholera  of  1849,  *n  a  deplorable  state  of 
destitution.  The  want  of  .1  place  where  such 
might  be  sheltered  was  greatly  felt,  and  an 
attempt  was  made  by  the  ladies  of  this  city  to 
provide  for  it  by  the  establishment  of  a  kind  of 
temporary  home  under  the  roof  of  a  pious  and 
humble  couple,  who,  for  a  small  sum  paid  weekly, 
were  willing  to  take  a  dozen  or  more  poor  chil- 
dren to  board  and  care  for.  Means  to  accomplish 
this  were  obtained  by  collections  made  from  time 
to  time  upon  business  streets.  Our  first  Asylum 
was  in  a  very  plain  house  upon  the  site  of  the 
present  City  Hall.  As  time  went  on,  the  need  of 
a  permanent  establishment  became  apparent,  until 
at  last  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  call  the  atten- 
tion of  the  public  to  the  subject. 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  IO9 

u  A  meeting  of  citizens  was  therefore  held  in 
the  Stone  Church,  January  22,  1852,  at  which  it 
was  resolved  to  organize  an  institution  for  the 
purpose  of  sheltering  orphan  and  destitute  chil- 
dren, to  be  called  the  Cleveland  Protestant  Orphan 
Asylum.  A  committee  of  gentlemen  drew  up  a 
plan  for  work,  which  was  handed  to  a  committee 
of  ladies  to  be  executed. 

"  A  dwelling  house  was  found  for  rent,  corner  of 
Erie  and  Ohio  streets,  and  as  the  feeble  associ- 
ation was  hesitating  in  regard  to  this  expense,  a 
noble  woman  of  Cleveland,  Mrs.  Stillman  Witt, 
stepped  forward  and  pledged  its  payment. 

1  A  self-sacrificing  Christian  lady,  whose  name 
should  never  be  forgotten  in  the  annals  of  this 
Asylum,  offered  her  gratuitous  services  as  matron 
and  teacher.  The  lady  to  whom  the  institution 
is  thus  indebted  is  Miss  Sophia  L.  Hewitt. 

"  The  house  was  furnished  by  contributions 
from  the  garrets  and  store  rooms  of  its  friends, 
and  April  21,  1852,  eleven  children,  none  of  them 
over  eight  years  of  age,  were  transferred  to  this 
lowly  asylum  on  Erie  street." 

We  close  this  narration  with  a  letter  written  in 
1880  to  Mrs.  L.  Prentiss  by  Mrs.  Mittleberger,  in 


HO  WOMEN    OF   CLEVELAND 

which  is  foreshadowed  the  establishment  of  this 
first  charity  of  Cleveland,  the  outcome  of  the 
Martha  Washington  and  Dorcas  Society. 

"  Mrs.  Ronse  gave,  in  person,  to  the  poor,  here, 
there  and  everywhere,  in  all  winds  and  weathers, 
first  visiting  applicants  for  aid.  Sometimes  the 
dear  woman,  in  spite  of  vigilance,  would  be  im- 
posed upon,  as  it  is  easy  to  recall  her  entertaining 
accounts  of  such  cases.  The  securing  of  money 
fell  upon  a  few  of  us,  who  did  not  find  the  task  an 
easy  one.  As  Cleveland  charities  have  grown  and 
multiplied  till  now  they  are  sustained  by  magnifi- 
cent and  almost  spontaneous  liberality,  we  have 
often  smiled  at  the  thought  of  ever  having  gone 
round  from  office  to  office  through  Superior  and 
Water  streets,  then  down  on  the  dock,  often 
mounting  outside  stairways  and  always  choosing 
some  cold,  stormy  Fall  day  to  ask  for  $i  subscrip- 
tions to  the  dear  old  Martha  Washington  and 
Dorcas  Society.  If  ever,  after  some  earnest  ap- 
peal, a  kind-hearted  donor  handed  out  a  $5  or  $10 
bill,  what  commenting  and  rejoicing  there  would 
be  for  days  after !  Once  there  was  much  merri- 
ment caused  by  a  question  asked,  '  if  the  Presi- 
dent received  a  salarv  for  her  services  ?  '      How 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  Ill 

little  that  interrogator  dreamed  of  the  kind  of 
salary  the  dear,  earnest  worker  did  have  then,  and 
has  had  all  during  the  years  of  service,  for  her 
continued  labors  of  love.  The  Master  whom  she 
served  is  the  only  one  who  knows.  I  have  been 
trying  to  think  why  onr  Society  ever  disbanded. 
Was  it  not  because  it  was  supplanted  by  another 
charity  to  which  it  gave  birth  ?  The  quick  ear  of 
Mrs.  Ronse  and  others  in  their  rounds  of  visita- 
tion among  the  poor  and  suffering  caught  the  cry 
of  the  children,  and  she  could  not  rest  until  an 
effort  was  made  to  hush  it,  and  a  few  of  them 
were  gathered  together  under  one  roof. 

"The  Society  left  a  most  creditable  record, 
which  it  is  pleasant  to  know  will  in  part,  at  least, 
soon  be  given  to  the  public  in  the  history  that  is 
beins;  written  of  the  earlv  work  of  Cleveland 
women.  A  happy  thought  it  was  that  led  to  such 
an  undertaking  !  " 

This  movement  having  crystalized,  there  was 
organized,  June  27th,  1850,  the  Cleveland  Ladies' 
Temperance  Union,  with  the  pledge  that  intox- 
icating liquors  should  not  be  used  as  a  beverage, 
nor  as  an  article  of  entertainment. 

Directors — Mrs.   B.   Rouse,    Mrs.  J.    A.    Harris, 


112  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

Mrs.  J.  Lyman  ;  Treasurer — Mrs.  C.  D.  Bray  ton  ; 
Secretaries — Miss  M.  A.  Brayton  and  Mrs.  Win. 
Warren. 

Managers — Mrs.  E.  T.  Sterling,  Mrs.  Win.  Alit- 
tleberger,  Mrs.  E.  F.  Gaylord,  Mrs.  H.  F.  Brayton, 
Mrs.  Levi  Benedict,  Mrs.  M.  C.  Sloane,  Mrs.  Joel 
Scranton,  Mrs.  Kelsey,  Mrs.  Elisha  Taylor,  Mrs. 
S.  Williamson,  Mrs.  B.  M.  Williams,  Miss  Eliza 
P.  Otis. 

Committee  on  Lectures — Mrs.  S.  B.  Canfield, 
Mrs.  S.  C.  Aiken,  .Airs.  S.  W.  Adams,  Mrs.  WTm. 
Day,  Airs.  G.  B.  Perry,  all  of  these  wives  of  cler- 
gymen. 

Committee  on  Collections — Mrs.  M.  C.  Sloane, 
Mrs.  E.  Taylor,  Airs.  L.  Benedict. 

January  ist,  1853,  this  Society  enrolled  fourteen 
hundred  members. 


AM)    THEIR    WORK.  113 


CHAPTER   XII. 

A  PHANTOM  CHARITY — MRS.  CHARLOTTE  DEG- 
MKIEK — MRS.  JACOB  LOWMAN — THE  RAGGED 
SCHOOL — CHILDREN'S  AID  SOCIETY — TRINITY 
CATHEDRAL  HOME — MRS.  JOHN  SHELLEY — 
MRS.  HARVEY  RICE — MRS.  O.  A.  BROOKS — 
MRS.  N.  W.TAYLOR — ORPHAN  ASYLUM  WORK- 
ERS—  MARY  CHAMPION  —  MRS.  ELIZA  JEN- 
NINGS— MRS.  LEWIS  BURTON — MRS.  M.  WET- 
MORE — MRS.    JULIA   BEDELL. 

A  LMOST  another  early  benevolence,  a  minute 
^*  of  which  is  furnished  by  Mrs.  S.  Williamson 
— Protestant  Home  for  Friendless  Strangers — con- 
cerning whose  fate  we  can  obtain  no  tidings.  It 
seems,  like  Melchisedek,  to  have  no  father  or 
mother,  neither  beginning  nor  end  of  days.  We 
should  pronounce  it  a  phantom,  did  not  its  visible 
constitution  look  sadly  at  us  out  of  its  hollow 
eyes.  We  can  not  withhold  a  surmise  that  this 
skeleton  ought  to  be  clothed  with  the  substance  of 
the  modern  Bethel. 


[14  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

In  1853,  Mrs.  Charlotte  Degmeier,  wife  of  a 
German  Methodist  minister  stationed  in  this  city, 
seeing  the  great  number  of  neglected  children 
here,  conceived  the  project  of  a  School  and  Relief 
Society,  directing  her  attention  more  particularly 
to  those  of  her  own  nationality.  Gathering  to- 
gether boys  and  girls  in  the  old  brick  building, 
corner  of  Detroit  and  Pearl  streets,  she  began  her 
labors  of  love,  with  the  co-operation  of  the  follow- 
ing ladies  :  Mrs.  Alf.  Davis,  Mrs.  Horace  Benton, 
Mrs.  W.  P>.  Guyles,  Mrs.  John  Cannon,  and  others. 

Subsequently,  Mrs.  Degmeier  purchased  a  build- 
ing  on  Main  street  and  to  it  removed  her  school; 
the  Relief  Society  meeting  for  sewing  at  private 
houses  in  Ohio  City.  Xot  far  from  this  date,  Rev. 
D.  Prosser  established  a  Ragged  School,  corner  of 
Water  and  Canal  streets ;  his  pulpit  was  an  in- 
verted flour  barrel,  from  which  he  preached  to  the 
u  great  unwashed.'"  This  effort  for  the  rescue  of 
destitute  children  was  warmly  seconded  by  Mrs. 
Harriet  Sanford  Mitchell  and  Mrs.  Abby  Fitch 
Babbitt.  Mrs.  Charlotte  Degmeier,  removing  from 
Cleveland  to  Dayton,  sold  her  Main  street  building, 
and  the  Ohio  City  undertaking  was  merged  into 
the  Ragged  School  enterprise.     As  the  work  pro- 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  115 

gressed,  Messrs.  G.  W.  Whitney,  Samuel  Foljambe 
and  A.  W.  Brockway  became,  in  1855,  identified 
with  the  leadership  of  its  various  departments  of 
Sabbath  labor,  and  Mrs.  Jacob  Lowman,  whose 
labors  among  idle  and  destitute  children  and  youth 
were  a  marvel ;  Mrs.  John  Hale,  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Staats,  Mrs.  Marble,  Robert  Waterton  and  daugh- 
ters, Miss  Nellie  Wick,  Miss  Mary  B.  Janes,  and 
did  others  contributed  clothing,  taught  classes,  and 
missionary  work  among  tenement  house  population. 
The  school  and  relief  headquarters  were  by  this 
time  located  in  a  large  brown  house  on  Champlain 
street,  not  far  from  the  present  site  of  the  Central 
Police  Station,  built  by  benevolent  citizens  for 
this  mission.  Manv  of  these  children,  coming 
from  the  unemployed  and  vicious  classes,  it  seemed 
imperative  that  a  missionary  be  appointed  to  visit 
the  homes  of  the  abandoned.  Robert  Waterton 
was  chosen,  and  proved  to  be  the  man  for  the 
place.  Having  the  correct  idea  of  labor  for  those 
people,  he  opened  a  brush  factory  on  Champlain 
street,  still  continuing  the  religious  exercises  on 
Sunday.  Mr.  Waterton  had  the  confidence  of  the 
community,  and  when  the  work  had  in  turn  been 
given   up  by  the   Methodists  and  by  the   Young 


Il6  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

Men's  Christian  Association,  he  laid  it  before 
Harvey  Rice  and  T.  P.  Handy.  These  benevolent 
men  aided  Mr.  Waterton's  efforts,  and  in  1857  the 
Children's  Aid  Society  was  formed,  and  in  1865 
incorporated  under  the  State  law,  with  a  Board  of 
Trustees  and  the  institution  called  the  Industrial 
School,  set  in  operation  under  the  efficient  man- 
agement of  Robert  Waterton,  receiving  generous 
assistance  from  citv  and  countv  authorities. 

A  wealthy  Methodist  lady,  Mrs.  Eliza  Jennings, 
became  interested  in  him  and  his  work,  from  the 
fact  that  in  an  earlier  day  Mr.  Waterton  attended 
upon  the  sick  and  dying  bed  of  her  husband,  and 
in  his  simple,  hearty  fashion  led  Mr.  Jennings  to 
Christ.  As  a  token  of  her  appreciation  she  'pre- 
sented their  homestead — a  large  house  and  twelve 
acres  on  Detroit  street — to  the  Children's  Aid 
Society,  and,  in  1868,  Mr.  Waterton,  with  his  own 
and  his  large  adopted  family,  occupied  the  prem- 
ises. Subsequently  Leonard  Case  presented  the 
Society  with  twenty  acres  of  valuable  land  adjoin- 
ing. Amasa  Stone,  Esq.,  added  the  gift  of  an 
elegant  building,  suitable  for  the  noble  under- 
taking. Leffingwell  Chapel  was  given  by  a  lady ; 
women  aided  the  work  ahvavs. 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  117 

The  Children's  Aid  Society  now  possesses  on 
Detroit  street  every  advantage  for  destitute  boys 
and  girls,  its  Home  being  accessible  by  the  Lake 
Shore  Railroad  and  West  Side  Street  Railway.  The 
project  is  supported  solely  by  its  own  indus- 
tries and  by  voluntary  contributions  from  city  and 
country  ;  citizens,  not  only  east  of  the  Cuyahoga, 
but  from  the  West  and  South  Sides,  give  it  their 
liberal  and  hearty  sympathy.  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Will- 
iam Sampson,  Superintendent  and  Matron,  are 
well  fitted  for  their  arduous  tasks.  From  the 
records,  the  writer  judges  that  one  hundred  and 
fifty  bovs  and  girls  are  there  cared  for  yearly.  In- 
dustry  is  inculcated  as  a  cardinal  virtue,  and  the 
farm  gives  opportunity  for  boys  to  cultivate  a  habit 
of  manual  labor. 

The  institution  knows  no  sect  or  nationality  and 
has  a  Christ-like  mission,  viz.:  To  benefit  the 
neglected,  destitute  and  homeless  children  of 
Cleveland  and  vicinity,  who  are  over  four  and  less 
than  sixteen  years  of  age,  by  receiving,  maintain- 
ing and  instructing  them  in  the  branches  of  a 
common  school  education,  and  in  the  principles  of 
sound  morality,  with  habits  of  industry,  until  they 
can  maintain  themselves  or  be  provided  with 
homes  in  good  families. 


nN  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

Many  ladies  identified  with  the  three  charities 
named  in  this  and  the  previous  chapter  have  place 
here.  The  Children's  Hospital  in  the  Protestant 
Orphan  Asylum  is  a  memorial  for  Mary  Clark 
Brayton,  wife  of  Dr.  Alleyne  Maynard.  The  fur- 
nishing of  this  hospital  was  entrusted  to  Mrs.  S. 
M.  Hanna,  who  does  valiant  service  wherever  en- 
listed. Mrs.  T.  S.  Paddock,  Mrs.  G.  W.  Jones, 
Airs.  Horace  Benton,  Mrs.  Jason  Canfield,  Airs. 
John  Poole,  Mrs.  Randall  P.  Wade,  Airs.  Thomas 
AVilson,  Airs.  C.  W.  Lepper,  Airs.  H.  Chisholm  are 
all  friends  of  the  orphan,  with  others  whose  names 
have  not  come  to  us.  Omission  must  not  be  made 
of  Airs.  Julia  Warren  Shunk,  matron  of  the  Asy- 
lum, and  of  Aliss  AI.  J.  Weaver  ;  they  both  leave 
ineffaceable  impress  upon  children.  Like  Alade- 
moiselle  Baptistine,  Aliss  W.'s  whole  life  has  been 
1  but  a  succession  of  pious  works,  producing  upon 
her  a  kind  of  transparent  whiteness — the  beauty 
of  goodness — a  little  earth  containing  a  spark." 
A  venerable  member  was  Airs.  Harvey  Rice,  born 
in  Putney,  Vt.,  in  1812 ;  came  to  Cleveland  in 
1833  ;  in  1840,  married  Hon.  Harvey  Rice.  She 
felt  for  twenty  years  a  practical  interest  in  the 
Children's  Aid  Society,  and  Industrial  School,  be- 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  119 

ing  equally  devoted  to  Trinity  Church  Home  for 
Sick  and  Friendless. 

Mrs.  Eliza  Jennings,  Mrs.  Lewis  Burton  and 
Mrs.  Minerva  Wetmore  are  daughters  of  Judge 
Wallace,  of  Canfield,  Mahoning  County,  Ohio. 
The  last  mentioned  of  these  sisters  is  a  worker  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  like  Airs. 
Burton,  active  in  the  reforms  of  the  day.  The 
first  of  these  ladies  was  born  in  1808,  in  Columbi- 
ana county ;  after  marriage,  residing  in  Virginia. 
Mrs.  Jennings  possessed  unusual  vigor  and  energy, 
excelling  in  business  traits,  was  a  lady  of  travel 
and  culture  ;  in  manner,  stately  and  courteous ; 
in  Christian  character,  richly  endowed,  public- 
spirited  and  benevolent.  Giving  to  the  Methodists 
of  Illinois  their  Seminary  at  Aurora,  it  was  named 
in  her  honor,  "Jennings  Institute."  We  are 
lareelv  indebted  to  her  munificence  for  the  second 
charity  mentioned  here,  and  for  the  Home  for  In- 
curables on  the  grounds  directly  adjacent  to  and 
west  of  the  Industrial  School  building.  This  emi- 
nent woman  died  after  a  brief  illness  at  the  resi- 
dence of  her  sister,  Mrs.  Minerva  Wetmore,  Sun- 
day morning,  September  25th,  1887,  aged  76.  The 
younger  sister,  Jane,  is  fitted  to  be  the  wife  of  Rev. 


120  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

Lewis  Burton,  I).  D.,  the  beloved  senior  rector  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  this  city ;  for 
twenty-four  years  rector  of  St.  John's  Church  ;  the 
founder  of  St.  Mark's,  and  its  present  rector 
emeritus.  This  beautiful  edifice  is  built  largely 
through  the  good  management  and  liberality  of 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Burton,  with  the  untiring  assistance 
and  self-denying  labor  of  Rev.  F.  M.  Hall,  his 
vestrymen  and  other  members  ;  prominent  among 
these  is  Mrs.  J.  C.  Williams,  abounding  in  good 
works.  The  children  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Burton,  of 
Mrs.  Wetmore  and  of  Mrs.  Williams,  are  an  honor 
to  the  homes  which  nourished  and  sent  them  forth 
to  make  this  world  better.  In  connection  should 
be  mentioned  the  lovely  character  and  unusual 
beneficence  of  Julia,  the  invalid  wife  of  Bishop  G. 
T.  Bedell,  who  was  one  of  the  rarest  women  of 
Cleveland. 

Trinity  Church  Home  for  Sick  and  Friendless 
was  opened  in  1856,  with  Mrs.  Philo  Scovill  Presi- 
dent of  its  Board  of  Managers.  This  Home  was 
secured  to  Trinity  Parish  through  Rev.  Dr.  Bolles, 
and  afterwards  more  favorably  located  by  Mr. 
Scovill.  A  beloved  worker  in  this  charitv  was 
Mrs.  John  Shelley,  a  lady  of  refined   taste,  a  good 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  121 

housekeeper,  a  faithful  mother;  one  who  loved 
nature  and  cultivated  flowers  ;  yet  was  she  devoted 
to  the  needy,  to  the  orphan.  Avoiding  publicity, 
she  served  the  Church  with  true  devotion,  giving 
generously.  Active  in  all  good  work,  her  specialty 
was  the  Diet  Kitchen,  which  she  founded  for  fur- 
nishing nourishment  to  the  destitute  sick.  Her 
daughter,  Mrs.  E.  C.  Pechin,  states  that  the  Home 
is  the  result  of  a  bequest  left  to  Trinity  Church  by 
Mr.  William  Stubbs,  an  Englishman,  who,  desiring 
to  benefit  his  fellow  creatures,  left  all  that  he  had 
— $4,000 — to  the  establishment  of  such  a  Home. 
This  institution  has  been  in  active  operation  since 
December,  1856,  and  now  numbers  twelve  inmates. 
While  under  the  direction  and  management  of  a 
Board  of  Managers  belonging  to  Trinity  Parish 
(this  being  one  of  the  requirements  of  Mr.  Stubbs' 
will),  the  Home  has  extended  its  benefits  to  all 
denominations.  It  has  no  endowment  fund,  and 
is  entirely  supported  by  free-will  offerings  from 
members  of  Trinity  Cathedral,  and  a  few  others. 
It  is  certainly  a  charity  that  deserves  to  be  more 
widely  known  and  appreciated  by  the  general 
public.  It  is  located,  now,  corner  of  Euclid  ave- 
nue and  Perry  street.     With   the   wife  of  Bishop 


122  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

Leonard  president  of  its  Board  of  Managers,  the 
indwellers  of  the  Home  are  under  the  direct  care 
of  the  Sisterhood  of  the  Blessed  Nativity,  con- 
nected with  Trinity  Cathedral.  The  other  twenty- 
three  members  of  the  Board  of  Control  are :  Mrs, 
N.  W.'  Taylor,  Mrs.  George  Avery,  Mrs.  George 
B.  Ely,  Mrs.  Mary  S.  Pechin,  Mrs.  J.  T.  Wann, 
Mrs.  Mary  S.  Bradford,  Mrs.  W.  A.  Ludlum,  Mrs. 
Bailey,  Mrs.  E.  S.  Flint,  Mrs.  William  Edwards, 
Airs.  Emily  Brainerd,  Mrs.  H.  M.  Brainard,  Mrs. 
James  H.  Lee,  Mrs.  R.  D.  Lowe,  Mrs.  O.  A. 
Brooks,  Mrs.  Gaylord,  Mrs.  I.  M.  Himes,  Mrs.  Bnrt 
Parsons,  Airs.  Ansel  Roberts,  Mrs.  Sarah  Haydn, 
and  Miss  Katharine  Mather  ;  from  St.  Paul's 
Church,  Mrs.  D.  Z.  Norton  and  Mrs.  A.  C.  Hord ; 
from  Grace,  Miss  Handerson ;  from  St.  John's, 
Airs.  R.  R.  Rhodes ;  and  from  Emanuel,  Mrs.  Geo. 
Deming.  Of  these  ladies  should  be  mentioned 
Airs.  O.  A.  Brooks  and  Airs.  N.  W.  Taylor,  whose 
long  services  for  Trinity  and  its  charities  have  won 
for  them  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  all  communicants. 
The  generosity  of  Air.  and  Airs.  S.  L.  Alather  and 
their  devotion,  is  shared  by  their  family  who  live 
to  perpetuate  the  good  begun  by  the  departed. 
Alary   Champion   was   the  first  child  baptized    in 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  1 23 

Old  Trinity.  Her  father's  beautiful  home  stood 
on  the  site  of  Huron  Street  Hospital.  The  Cham- 
pions were  an  old  family,  connected  with  which 
are  many  prominent  names,  the  founder  of  our 
city  leading  them  all. 


124  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
soldiers'  aid    society    OF    NORTHERN    OHIO  — 

DEAR  MRS.  PRESIDENT  —  MARY  CLARK  BRAY- 
TON — ELLEN  F.  TERRY — MRS.  WILLIAM  MEL- 
HINCH — MISS    SARA    MAHAN. 

"T  is  said  that  among  the  centers  of  supply  and 
-*•  distribution  of  the  United  States  Sanitary 
Commission  none  accomplished  so  much  as  the 
Soldiers'  Aid  Society  of  Northern  Ohio,  headquar- 
ters at  95  Bank  Street.  This  extraordinary 
efficiency  was  due  almost  wholly  to  the  energy  and 
business  ability  of  its  officers.  The  one  thing  we 
admire  most  of  all  is  the  privilege  of  looking  over 
the  record  *  of  women  who  do  something  in  the 
world  ;  therefore  are  we  proud  to  present  the  work 
and  its  results  of  this  celebrated  Society,  composed 
entirely  of  ladies ;  organized  at  Chapin's  Hall, 
April  20,  1861,  five  days  after  the  President's  proc- 
lamation for  troops. 

Mr.  H.  F.  Brayton  gave  the  writer  access  to  these  records. 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  1 25 

No  constitution  or  by-laws  were  ever  adopted, 
and  beyond  a  verbal  pledge  to  work  for  the 
soldiers  while  the  war  should  last,  and  a  fee  of 
twenty-five  cents  monthly,  no  form  of  membership 
was  prescribed,  and  no  written  word  held  the  as- 
sociation together  to  its  latest  dav.  Its  sole 
cohesive  power  was  the  bond  of  a  common  and 
undying  patriotism. 

In  October,  1861,  it  was  offered  to  the  United 
States  Sanitary  Commission  as  one  of  its  receiving 
and  distributing  branches,  and  the  following  month 
its  name  was  changed  from  the  Soldiers'  Aid 
Society  of  Cleveland  to  that  which  stands  at  the 
head  of  this  article.  In  1862  and  1863,  the  number 
of  its  auxiliaries  was  525.  None  of  these  ever 
seceded  or  became  disaffected,  but  throughout  the 
war  the  utmost  cordiality  prevailed  between  them 
and  the  central  office.  In  the  five  years  from  its 
organization  to  April,  1866,  this  Society  had  col- 
lected and  disbursed  $130,405.09  in  cash,  and 
$1,000,003  in  stores,  making  a  grand  total  of 
$1,133,405.09.  This  amount  was  received  mainly 
from  contributions,  though  the  excess  over  $1,000,- 
000  was  mostly  made  from  the  proceeds  of  exhibi- 
tions, concerts,  and    the    Northern    Ohio  Sanitary 


126  WOMEN    OF   CLEVELAND 

Fair,  held  in  February  and  March,  1864.  The  net 
proceeds  of  this  bazar  were  $79,000.  Supplies 
and  necessary  funds  were  forwarded  to  the 
western  depot  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  at 
Louisville,  except  in  few  instances  where  they 
were  required  for  the  eastern  armies.  The  recep- 
tion, repacking  and  forwarding  of  this  vast  quan- 
tity of  stores,  as  well  as  all  the  correspondence 
required  with  the  auxiliaries,  and  with  the  western 
depot,  and  the  bookkeeping  necessary  in  conse- 
quence, involved  a  great  amount  of  labor,  which 
was  performed  with  the  utmost  cheerfulness.  Not 
only  were  the  services  connected  with  the  actual 
needs  of  the  war,  but  among  its  additional  institu- 
tions and  operations,  the  most  important  was  the 
"  Soldiers'  Home,"  established  near  the  old  rail- 
road depot,  x\pril  17th,  1861,  as  a  lodging  room  for 
disabled  soldiers  in  transit,  having  in  connection  a 
system  of  meal  tickets,  given  to  deserving  soldiers 
of  this  class."  In  October,  1863,  the  Soldiers1  Home 
was  Opened,  a  building  235  feet  by  25  feet,  erected 
and  furnished  with  funds  obtained  through  personal 
solicitation  of  ladies,  maintained  until  June  1, 
1866,  affording  special  relief  to  56,520  registered 
inmates,  to  whom    were  given  111,707  meals,  and 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  127 

29,973  lodgings,  at  a  cost  of  $27,408.  Xo  govern- 
ment support  was  received  for  this  Home,  and  no 
rations  drawn  from  the  commissary.  The  lady 
officers  gave  it  daily  personal  attention,  directing 
its  management  and  appointing  its  officials.  They 
established  a  Hospital  Directory  for  the  soldiers 
of  Northern  Ohio,  recording  promptly  the  condition 
and  location  of  sick  and  wounded  men,  from  re- 
turns received  from  all  hospitals  in  which  they 
were  found.  In  May,  1865,  an  employment  agency 
was  opened  and  continued  for  six  months ;  205 
discharged  soldiers  were  pnt  into  business  situa- 
tions by  their  personal  efforts;  the  families  of  the 
disabled  men  were  cared  for  again  and  again, 
many  of  them  being  regular  pensioners  of  the 
ladies'  bounty.  Its  surplus  funds,  June  1,  1866, 
$9,000,  were  used  in  the  settlement  of  soldiers' 
war  claims,  bounties,  back  pay,  pensions,  etc.,  free 
of  charge  to  the  claimant.  The  secretarv  and 
treasurer  were  daily  in  attendance  as  clerks. 

The  admirable  management  and  detail  of  this 
grand  work,  even  to  the  shipping  and  other  busi- 
ness of  a  great  receiving  and  forwarding  house, 
show  what  woman,  in  emergency,  may  do. 

Before    officers    were    permanently    appointed, 


128  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

.Mrs.  B.  Rouse,  .Mrs.  S.  B.  Page,  Mrs.  C.  I),  and 
Miss  Mary  Clark  Bray  ton,  Mrs.  George  A.  Bene- 
dict, Mrs.  J.  A.  Harris,  Mrs.  H.  L.  Whitman,  Mrs. 
C.  A.  Terry,  Mrs.  Dr.  Long,  Mrs.  Lewis  Severance, 
Mrs.  Philo  Scovill  and  Mrs  E.  F.  Gaylord  were 
prominent  in  labor  for  Camp  Taylor  and  in  dis- 
bursing funds  raised  for  the  benefit  of  volunteers1 
families.  At  length  were  chosen,  president,  Mrs. 
Rebecca  Cromwell  Rouse  ;  secretary,  Mary  Clark 
Brayton ;  treasurer,  Miss  Ellen  F.  Terry ;  vice- 
presidents,  Mrs.  William  Melhinch,  Mrs.  John 
Shelley,  Mrs.  Lewis  Burton. 

Chairmen  of  Standing  Committees — Mrs.  Joseph 
Perkins,  Mrs.  Charles  Hickox,  Mrs.  Joseph  Lyman, 
Mrs.  M.  C.  Younglove,  Mrs.  D.  Howe,  Mrs.  J.  A. 
Harris,  Mrs.  Hiram  Griswold,  Mrs.  W.  P.  South- 
worth,  Mrs.  D.  Chittenden,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Chase,  Mrs. 
S.  Belden,  Mrs.  Peter  Thatcher.  Mrs.  William 
Mittleberger,  assisted  by  ladies  mentioned,  can- 
vassed the  city  for  funds. 

The  Sanitary  Fair  was  probably  the  largest  en- 
tertainment of  the  kind  ever  given  in  Ohio.  It 
were  vain  to  enumerate  the  ladies  who  took  part 
in  this  and  other  devices  for  securing  money,  or 
even  to  mention    those    enrolled  in  committees  ; 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  129 

they  number  hundreds.  Every  part  of  the  city  was 
represented  by  true  women,  who  in  their  country's 
peril  were  worthy  of  husbands,  brothers,  and  sons, 
whom  they  had  bidden  to  go  to  the  front,  and,  if 
need  be,  come  home  on  their  shields.  Grand, 
glorious  women  !  The  State  of  Ohio  is  proud  be- 
yond expression  of  their  patriotism. 

The  entire  time  of  the  four  first  mentioned  offi- 
cers, viz :  Ladies  Rouse,  Brayton,  Terry  and  Mel- 
hinch,  was  given  daily  to  this  work  from  8  o'clock 
a.  M.  to  6  p.  M.,  or  later,  for  five  and  a  half  years. 
These  being  in  circumstances  of  wealth  or  inde- 
pendence, no  salary  asked  or  received,  no  traveling 
expenses  were  charged  to  the  Society,  although  the 
president  visited  repeatedly  every  part  of  our  terri- 
tory, organizing  and  encouraging  auxiliaries. 
Both  secretary  and  treasurer  went  more  than 
once  to  the  front  of  the  armv  and  to  the  large  gener- 
al  hospitals  in  southern  cities.  All  these  ladies 
were  equal  to  the  emergency,  and  no  sires  of  the 
revolution  could  have  had  more  loyal  daughters 
than  these. 

It  is  impossible  to  present  the  sum  total  of  the 
president's  work.  Once,  she  had  three  gun  boats 
at  her  service  on  the   Ohio  river,  and  was   aboard 


130  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

one  of  them  when  mattresses  were  hung  about  the 
pilot  house  to  shield  the  pilot  from  rebel  bullets. 
Her  visits  to  Louisville,  Pittsburgh  Landing, 
and  Perrvville  can  never  be  forgotten.  An  en- 
thusiastic  friend,  writing  of  her  in  1867,  furnishes 
a  just  tribute:  "She  is  of  tireless  energy  and  ex- 
haustless  sympathy  for  every  form  of  human  suffer- 
ing. For  forty  years  she  has  been  the  foremost  in 
all  benevolent  movements  among  the  ladies  of 
Cleveland,  spending  most  of  her  time  and  income 
in  the  relief  of  the  unfortunate  ;  yet  she  is  entirely 
free  from  personal  ambition  and  love  of  power  or 
notoriety.  She  is  a  descendant  of  Oliver  Crom- 
well,  and  has  much  of  his  energy  and  strength  of 
endurance,  but  is  remarkablv  unselfish  and  ladv- 
like.  It  is  due  to  her  efforts  that  there  was  not  a 
town  of  any  size  in  the  region,  to  which  the 
Soldiers'  Aid  Society  of  Northern  Ohio  looked  for 
its  contributions,  which  had  not  its  Aid  Society, 
or  Alert  Club,  or  both.  Though  plain  and  polite 
in  person,  she  possessed  the  rare  ability  of  in- 
fluencing those  whom  she  addressed.  Earnestly 
patriotic  herself,  she  never  failed  to  inspire  those 
who  listened  with  the  resolution  to  do  all  possible 
for  their  countrv." 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  131 

The  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Soldiers' 
Aid  Society  were  young  ladies  of  wealth,  high 
social  position,  of  accomplished  education,  fond  of 
intellectual  pursuits,  and  of  modest,  retiring  dis- 
position. During  the  whole  of  the  war  they  iso- 
lated themselves  in  the  one  work  of  caring  for 
soldiers.  They  had  sufficient  executive  ability  to 
have  conducted  the  enterprise  of  a  large  mercan- 
tile establishment ;  and  the  perfect  system  and 
order  apparent  in  their  transaction  of  business 
would  have  done  honor  to  any  mercantile  house  in 
the  world.  After  the  war  was  over  they  acted  as 
clerks  of  the  Free  Claim  Agency,  for  recovering 
soldiers'  dues  from  the  government.  From  earlv 
morn  until  evening,  and  sometimes  far  into  the 
night,  Miss  Brayton  is  said  to  have  toiled  in  the 
Aid  rooms,  or  elsewhere,  conducting  the  immense 
correspondence  of  the  Society,  and  contributing  to 
the  Cleveland  newspapers  on  topics  connected 
with  the  work.  Not  one  of  these  ladies  received  a 
dollar  of  pay. 

Now,  in  her  turn,  superintending  and  purchasing 
supplies  for  the  Soldiers'  Home,  looking  out  for  a 
place  for  some  partially  disabled  soldier,  or  re- 
lieving the  wants  of  his   family  ;  at  rare  intervals 


132  WOMEN    OF   CLEVELAND 

varying  her  labors  by  a  journey  to  the  front-,  or  a 
temporary  distribution  of  supplies  at  hospitals  in 
Nashville,  Huntsville,  Bridgeport  or  Chattanooga, 
and  then  having  ascertained  by  personal  inspec- 
tion what  was  most  necessary  for  the  comfort  and 
health  of  the  army,  returning  to  her  work,  and  by 
eloquent  and  admirable  appeals  to  the  auxiliaries, 
securing  and  promptly  forwarding  necessary  stores. 
Her  untiring  energy  impaired  her  health  repeated- 
ly, but  she  would  never  lay  down  her  work  so  long 
as  there  was  opportunity  of  serving  her  country's 
defenders. 

Mary  Clark  Brayton  was  born  in  Albany,  in  1833. 
In  1840,  her  mother  married  Dr.  Charles  D.  Bray- 
ton, of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  subsequently  Miss 
Mary  Clark  adopted  the  name  by  which  she  is 
universallv  known.  She  was  married  to  Dr. 
Alleyne  Maynard,  October  21st,  1875,  and  died 
July  1 2th,  1878. 

Miss  Ellen  F.  Terry  was  a  daughter  of  Dr. 
Charles  A.  Terry,  then  Professor  in  the  Cleveland 
Medical  College.  Her  mother  wras  one  of  the 
sweetest  spirits  in  a  choice  circle  of  Old  Trinity's 
Parish.  Miss  Terry  kept  the  books  of  the  Soldiers' 
Aid  Society,  of  itself  a  great  labor,  made  all  dis- 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  133 

bursements  of  cash,  and  did  her  whole  work  with 
a  neatness,  accuracy  and  dispatch  that  would  have 
done  honor  to  anv  business  man  in  the  country. 
No  monthly  statement  of  accounts  from  any  of  the 
branches  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  reporting 
to  its  Western  office  at  Louisville  were  drawn  up 
with  such  careful  accuracy  and  completeness  as 
those  from  the  Cleveland  branch,  although  in  most 
of  them  experienced  and  skillful  male  accountants 
were  employed  to  make  them  up.  Miss  Terry 
also  superintended  the  building  of  the  Soldiers' 
Home,  and  took  her  turn  with  Miss  Brayton  in  its 
management.  She  also  assisted  in  other  labors  of 
the  Society,  and  made  occasional  visits  to  the  front 
and  the  hospitals.  A  lady  residing  in  our  city, 
who  could  always  be  counted  on  to  "  stay  by  the 
stuff"  in  absence  of  chief  officers  at  the  front,  was 
Mrs.  Rosamond  Dexter  Melhinch.  Having  no 
family  cares,  and  boarding  at  the  American  House, 
Mrs.  Melhinch  put  on  her  hat  and  shawl  the  in- 
stant Sumter  was  fired  upon,  and  scarce  took 
them  off  until  the  Rebellion  was  subdued.  Brain, 
heart  and  hands  all  enlisted,  she  sewed  during  the 
war,  and  for  four  months  of  the  time  sustained  the 
brunt   of  receiving  troops,  seeing  that  meals  were 


134  WOMEN    OF   CLEVELAND 

properly  served,  and  that  anxious  friends  who 
were  apt  to  come  in  any  hour  of  the  day  or  night 
were  helped  and  comforted.  Supplying  the  sick 
at  the  hospital  on  the  pier  with  food,  beds  and 
medical  attendance,  she  was  often  up  until  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  Brave,  patriotic  woman  ! 
She  lost  her  health,  but  has  never  murmured  on 
that  account.  She  helped  everywhere  with  shears, 
needle,  and  all  implements  of  woman's  work  that 
furnish  physical  relief.  What  soldier  that  has  re- 
ceived a  u  comfort  bag"  and  bundle  of  warm 
underwear,  but  that  has  grateful  remembrance. 
Mrs.  Melhinch  relates  that,  bv  wav  of  diversion 
from  her  accustomed  duties,  one  morning  she  and 
Miss  Ellen  Terry  went  out  to  solicit  funds  for  the 
construction  of  the  pier  Hospital,  and  in  the  short 
time  they  were  out  collected  $1,800.  Mrs.  Mel- 
hinch  speaks  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  business 
men  of  the  city,  who  always  responded  liberally  to 
the  ladies'  call  for  help,  regarding  at  this  crisis 
vox  fe mince,  vox  Dei. 

In  August,  1864,  a  small  printing  office  with  a 
hand-press  was  attached  to  the  rooms  ;  the  ladies 
learned  how  to  set  type  and  work  the  press,  issu- 
ing weekly  bulletins  to  their  auxiliaries,  to  stimu- 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  I35 

late  and  encourage  effort.  For  two  years,  from 
October,  1862,  two  columns,  weekly,  were  con- 
tributed to  the  Cleveland  Leader,  by  the  ladies, 
for  the  benefit  of  the  auxiliaries,  keeping  them  to 
the  highest  condition  of  patriotic  activity,  but  the 
fair  corps  editorial,  with  their  stirring  appeals, 
digests  of  business,  sanitary  news,  home  relief  re- 
ports and  condensed  letters  from  the  front,  often 
overrun  the  allotted  columns,  and  a  regular  office 
with  unlimited  capacities,  by  way  of  space, 
was  provided,  and  the  ladies  issued  circulars  and 
bulletins  ad  libitum.  Those  who  assisted  in  this 
department  at  different  times  during  the  earlier 
years  of  the  war  were  Misses  Mary  Shelley,  Carrie 
Grant,  Georgia  Gordon,  Helen  Lester,  Nellie  Rus- 
sell, Clara  Woolson,  Nettie  Brayton,  Mrs.  George 
S.  Mygatt  and  Mrs.  Frank  W.  Parsons.  The  in- 
voicing and  registering  had  become  too  important 
to  be  left  to  the  changing  hands  of  volunteer  com- 
mittees, and  Miss  Sara  Mahan,  whose  valuable 
services  had  for  some  months  been  given,  was, 
from  August  1,  1862,  employed  as  foreman  of  the 
printing  office.  Mrs.  Miller  and  Miss  Carrie  P. 
Younglove  cheerfully  gave  their  services,  and  Miss 
Ruth  Gillett  was  employed  to  assist  Miss  Mahan. 


136  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

Conceive  of  the  number  of  cards,  bill  forms, 
price  lists  of  material,  letter  heads,  blanks,  circu- 
lars and  bulletins  issued  by  these  ladies,  until  the 
close  of  the  war.  The  total  amount  of  reporters' 
bulletins  and  documents  of  the  General  Commis- 
sion issued  by  the  Cleveland  branch  is  74,725. 
This,  added  to  29,525  copies  of  the  Society's  own 
publications,  makes  the  total  of  104,300,  exclusive 
of  minor  print,  and  of  several  thousand  copies  of 
Loyal  League  publications  from  Philadelphia, 
Xew  York  and  Boston  houses. 

We  must  here  acknowledge  the  services  of  Mrs. 
George  Willey,  Mrs.  John  M.  Sterling,  Jr.,  Miss 
Vaughan,  Miss  Stewart,  Misses  Anna  Baldwin  and 
Annis  Carter,  members  of  the  Document  Commit- 
tee, for  more  than  two  years  of  its  heaviest  duties. 
During  1869,  Misses  Mary  Bray  ton  and  Ellen  Terry 
prepared  a  general  history  of  the  Society,  and  ac- 
counts of  special  relief — a  great  labor — in  book 
form:  "Our  Acre  and  its  Harvest,"  dedicated  to 
the  "  Branches  of  the  Vine."  Mrs.  Miller,  alluded 
to  as  one  of  Miss  Mahan's  assistants,  was  after- 
ward matron  of  the  Soldiers'  Home,  at  Dayton, 
to  which  our  Aid  Society  gave  $5,000,  for  the  sup- 
port of  its  members.     We  believe  that  most  of  the 


AXD    THEIR   WORK.  137 

ladies  mentioned  as  connected  with  this  marvelous 
printing  office  still  reside  here.  One  of  them,  Miss 
Gordon,  married  a  Belgian  Count,  and  died  a  few 
years  since. 

Mary  Shelley  is  our  Mrs.  E.  C.  Pechin,  foremost 
in  charitable  and  patriotic  endeavor.  The  central 
figure  in  this  branch  is  the  indefatigable  laborer, 
Miss  Sara,  daughter  of  Rev.  Asa  Mali  an,  for- 
merly president  of  Oberlin  College,  and  later  of 
London,  England.  Mrs.  Mahan,  her  mother,  was 
a  Dix,  relative  of  the  governor,  famous  for  his  ut- 
terance, "If  any  man  hauls  down  the  American 
flag,  shoot  him  on  the  spot." 

When  yet  a  young  girl,  Miss  Sara  taught  the 
Lake  Superior  government  school,  at  Bay  City, 
Wis. ;  was  noted  for  quick  intelligence  and  execu- 
tive power,  always  attracting  admiration  by  her 
courage  and  fearlessness.  She  excelled  in  out-door 
sports,  and  was  an  accomplished  horsewoman  ; 
had  her  own  sledge  and  dogs  up  there,  which  she 
managed  with  much  skill.  She  is  remembered  as 
the  first  lady  skater  on  Cleveland  ice,  and  those 
here  during  the  Rebellion  will  not  forget  how 
speedily  she  came  to  business  with  her  horse  and 
phaeton.     Close    application    to    writing    and  the 


T3-s  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

work  of  the  printing  office  so  impaired  her  eyes 
that  at  28  years  she  was  forced  to  wear  glasses 
suited  to  a  person  of  75,  and  constant  standing  in- 
duced lameness,  so  that  she,  the  fleet  and  athletic, 
often  went  upon  crutches.  Despite  these  disabili- 
ties, at  the  close  of  the  war  she  went  into  business, 
in  Chicago,  exhibiting  remarkable  ability.  Subse- 
quently, she  established  a  boarding  and  day  school 
at  Bay  City,  but  was  finally  obliged  to  succumb  to 
exhausted  nature,  dying  a  martyr  to  her  country, 
in  this  city,  January  22,  1875,  aged  34  years,  at  the 
residence  of  her  sister,  Mrs.  W.  C.  North.  Both 
Mrs.  Maynard  and  Miss  Mahan  died  for  the  Union 
cause  as  much  as  any  soldier  ever  did  in  battle. 
Either  of  them  would  have  been  a  Joan  of  Arc,  in 
the  siege  of  Orleans. 

The  War  and  the  Claim  Agency,  the  duties  of 
which  last  were  relinquished  in  1867,  draw  a  red 
line  between  woman's  earlier  work  and  her  work 
of  to-dav  in  this  city. 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  1 39 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

DORCAS — MRS.  J.  ROSS — MRS.  J.  S.  WHITE — LADIES' 
BETHEL  AND  MISSION  AID  SOCIETY — MRS.  H. 
CHISHOLM  —  REBECCA  —  RAILROAD  WOMAN'S 
UNION — WOMAN'S  REPOSITORY — WOMAN'S  EN- 
CHANGE — FIFTY  WORKERS — SECRET  ORDERS 
— MINED  SOCIETIES — LIDA  BALDWIN  INFANTS' 
REST — THE  CURE  FOR  POVERTY. 

A  FAVORITE  Relief  Society  is  "  Dorcas," 
*■  named  by  Mrs.  J.  A.  Harris,  upon  its  organi- 
zation in  1867,  when  the  Allopaths  and  Home- 
opaths decided  each  to  go  separate  ways,  and  have 
hospitals  of  their  own.  A  few  ladies  of  the 
Willson  Street  Hospital  found  themselves  with 
sick  people  to  be  cared  for.  Mrs.  H.  H.  Little 
was  the  first  president,  a  lady  of  extended  reputa- 
tion for  philanthropy  and  advanced  views  on  the 
woman  question.  Mrs.  C.  E.  Wyman,  the  present 
beloved  head  of  the  Society,  states  that  u  the  suc- 
cess of  Dorcas  was  assured  from  the  beginning  ;  for 


140  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

the  ladies  who  took  up  the  work  were  possessed  of 
characteristics  that  mean  permanence  and  ad- 
vancement." Besides  the  ladies  named,  Mrs.  A. 
Mcintosh,  Mrs.  J.  Ross,  Mrs.  W.  T.  -Smith,  Mrs. 
W.  B.  Hancock,  Mrs.  Peter  Thatcher,  Mrs.  J. 
Richards,  Mrs.  Horace  Fuller,  Mrs.  M.  H.  Nyce, 
Mrs.  Sarah  W.  Mansfield,  and  Sarah  L.  Chittenden 
are  enrolled.  In  1872,  Mrs.  Joshua  Ross  was 
chosen  to  preside.  During  the  illness  and  death 
of  her  husband,  the  untiring  Mrs.  W.  C.  Xorth 
supplied  her  place  until  1877.  Mrs.  Charles  L. 
and  Mrs.  J.  H.  Rhodes,  Mrs.  N.  A.  Gilbert,  Mrs. 
A.  B.  Foster,  Mrs.  Castle,  Mrs.  Dr.  Leggett,  and 
her  mother,  Mrs.  O.  C.  Whitney,  Mrs.  Dr.  Gerould, 
Mrs.  Dr.  Prentice,  Mrs.  W.  G.  Rose,  Mrs.  F.  W. 
Pelton,  Mrs.  L.  A.  Benton,  Mrs.  M.  C.  Worthing- 
ton  have  been,  and  most  of  them  still  are,  excep- 
tionally faithful.  Mrs.  J.  S.  White  is  very  success- 
ful in  raising  money  and  in  carrying  forward  the 
religious  work  of  the  institution  maintained :  the  In- 
valids1 Home,  No.  600  East  Madison  avenue,  Mrs.  M. 
C.  Worthington,  chairman.  The  aim  of  the  "  Mod- 
ern "  Dorcas  is  to  aid  destitute  women  and  chil- 
dren, to  help  the  sick  of  both  sexes,  and  in  exigency 
it  has  been  known  to  pay    the  rent  of  distressed 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  141 

women.  Its  latest  enterprise,  to  establish  this  hos- 
pital for  incurables,  is  a  grand  undertaking,  and 
has  the  fullest  sympathy  of  our  best  citizens. 
Mrs.  Joshua  Ross  deserves  extended  notice.  In 
1874,  she  was  chosen  president  of  the  Ladies' 
Christian  Union,  the  auxiliary  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A., 
holding  its  work  for  eight  years.  During  that 
time  she  was  on  the  executive  committee  of  the 
Bethel  Relief  Association,  and  on  the  purchasing 
and  soliciting  committees  of  the  Aged  Woman's 
Home,  and  chairman  of  the  Domestic  Missionary 
Society  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church.  After 
fourteen  years  of  leadership  in  Dorcas,  she  re- 
signed, and  Mrs.  B.  D.  Babcock  became  a  loved 
president.  In  1887,  Mrs.  C.  E.  Wyman  was  elected 
chairman,  and  is  distinguished  for  ability  and  de- 
votion. 

November  14,  1867,  a  large  number  of  ladies 
representing  the  different  churches  of  the  city 
assembled  on  Spring  street  for  the  purpose  of 
forming  the  Ladies1  Bethel  and  Mission  Aid 
Society,  designed  to  co-operate  with  and  extend 
the  interests  of  the  Bethel  Union,  organized  Jan- 
uary 31,  1867.  Its  object  was  to  afford  Christian 
sympathy  and  material  aid  to  the  needy  connected 


142  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

with  the  mission,  and,  as  far  as  practicable,  to  visit 
and  relieve  the  families  of  the  poor.  The  officers 
were:  president,  Mrs.  B.  Ronse ;  vice  president, 
Mrs.  S.  Williamson ;  secretary,  Mrs.  John  Poole ; 
Board  of  Managers,  the  three  officers  and  Mrs.  D. 
A.  Shepard,  Mrs.  H.  Newberry,  Mrs.  L.  M. 
Hnbby,  Mrs.  E.  C.  Pope,  Mrs.  G.  L.  Chapman, 
Mrs.  W.  B.  Gnyles,  and  Mrs.  H.  Chisholm.  In 
1880,  the  last  mentioned  was  president  of  the 
Society,  a  lady  whom  the  orphan,  the  needy,  the 
betraved  and  abandoned  have  reason  to  revere  and 
love,  and  whom  such  call  "  friend,"  is  surely  a 
friend  of  Him  who    gave    his    life    for    humanity. 

Yet  another  Relief  Association  is  "  Rebecca," 
formed  in  1S73,  which  does  all  it  can  to  aid  those 
less  fortunate  than  themselves.  Mrs.  E.  A.  Wil- 
son, of  WTade  Park  avenue,  is  its  secretary,  with 
headquarters  in  City  Hall. 

In  1878,  the  Railroad  Woman's  Union  organized 
to  render  aid  socially,  religiously  and  charitably 
to  all  classes  of  railway  employees.  This  agency 
is  still  effective. 

The  Woman's  Repository  was  established  in 
December,  1880,  by  Mrs.  G.  V.  R.  Wickham,  who, 
in  writing  out  the  needs  of  working  women   for 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  143 

one  of  the  city  dailies,  saw  the  necessity  for  a 
center  of  deposit  for  woman's  handwork.  For  two 
years,  Mrs.  Wickham  gave  her  services  ;  afterward, 
Mrs.  R.  R.  Rhodes,  Mrs.  J.  C.  Delamater,  Mrs.  F. 
L.  Tnttle  assumed  the  management.  What  beau- 
tiful embroideries  there  were,  from  elegant  sofa 
pillows  to  initials  for  hat-bands,  painting  on  velvet 
and  silks,  knitted  and  wrought  lace,  dainty  silk 
mittens,  invalids'  slippers,  pressed  and  framed 
sea-mosses,  dolls  in  full  dress,  crocheted  woolen 
goods,  widows'  caps  and  sweeping  caps,  all  sorts 
of  plain,  made-up  material,  baby  carriage  blankets, 
etching,  stamping  and  pinking.  A  little  French 
woman,  through  this  agency,  was  able  to  bury  a 
helpless  daughter  outside  the  potter's  field.  A 
woman  who  had  lost  six  children  and  her  husband 
was  face  to  face  with  death  in  the  taking  of  her 
seventh  by  consumption.  Being  a  good  cook,  the 
management  told  her  to  bring  of  her  best  work. 
They  sold  for  her,  weekly,  twenty-one  dozen  of 
doughnuts,  at  eighteen  cents  per  dozen,  twenty 
loaves  of  bread,  at  twelve  cents  the  loaf.  Many 
more  instances  of  help  might  be  given.  Why  that 
Repository  should  not  have  lived,  we  never  knew. 
At  present,  we  have  a    struggling   Woman's   Ex- 


144  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

change,  high  up  in  the  Kendall  Block,  opened  in 
[890  by  the  ladies  of  Grace  Church  (Protestant 
Episcopal),  and  eminently  worthy  of  patronage. 
Miss  H.  F.  Handerson  is  president  of  its  Board; 
her  associates  are  Mrs.  E.  W.  Worthington,  wife 
of  the  rector,  Mrs.  Kemmer,  and  Mrs.  William 
Bowler. 

There  are  nine  secret  societies  in  Cleveland,  in- 
cluding thousands  of  members ;  the  Pythian  Sis- 
ters alone  have  four  hundred  and  twenty-seven ; 
then,  there  are  the  Daughters  of  Rebecca,  the 
Eastern  Star,  seven  posts  of  the  Woman's  Relief 
Corps,  Daughters  of  Veterans,  the  Daughters 
of  St.  George,  the  Ladies  of  Honor,  Woman's 
Protestant  Association,  and  Chosen  Friends. 
The  tendency  of  the  times  is  to  organize 
and  fraternize.  Comradeship  and  that  "  fellow 
feeling  which  makes  us  wondrous  kind '  fill  our 
lodges  and  halls  with  women  who  find  in  their 
home  lives  a  lack  of  the  social  element,  so  neces- 
sary to  happiness.  Airs.  Louise  K.  Sherman,  an 
earnest  Christian  woman,  is  my  ideal  realized  of  a 
Pythian  Sister;  Airs.  Louisa  Roland,  Mrs.  Crane, 
widow  of  one  of  our  brave  colonels,  and  many 
other  ladies  work  in  the  Relief  Corps. 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  I45 

Several  organizations  exist  with  ladies  npon 
their  Boards  of  Management ;  "  Lakeside/'  a  Prot- 
estant hospital,  has  twenty-four ;  Huron  Street 
Hospital  is  largely  controlled  and  maintained  by 
ladies,  the  Humane  Society,  or  S.  P.  C.  A.,  with  a 
UC'  annex;  little  children  as  well  as  domestic 
animals  being:  shielded  from  cruelty.  An  attache 
of  this  organization  is  vers*  attractive,  The  Lida 
Baldwin  Infants'  Rest,  a  beautiful  building  on 
Cedar  avenue,  near  Bell,  completed  and  occupied 
January  1,  1892.  This  charity  was  located  by  Mr. 
H.  R.  Hatch,  a  well-known  philanthropist  here,  as 
a  memorial  for  his  wife,  who,  in  her  life-time  was 
very  desirous  to  do  for  children,  but  on  account  of 
deafness,  was  deprived  of  that  pleasure.  Most 
appropriately  does  this  excellent  and  charming 
work  bear  the  girl-name  of  Mrs.  Hatch. 

The  Jones  Home  for  Friendless  Children,  on 
Pearl  street,  is  a  well  placed  beneficence.  Airs.  S. 
C.  Moore  is  chairman  of  its  Board.  Other  mixed 
charities  there  are,  which  may  not  now  claim  at- 
tention. 

The  West  Side  Fraucn  Verein,  organized  in 
1876,  is  prosperous ;  composed  of  three  hundred 
German    ladies,    Mrs.    John    Meckes,    president. 


146  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

Altenheim   is    their    institution;    an    exceedingly 
valuable  property. 

Several  smaller  benevolent  societies  of  various 
nationalities  exist  unrecorded,  save  in  their  good 
deeds ;  among  these  the  "  Oakdale  Benevolent/' 
organized  in  1891,  and  "  S.  S.  S.,n  a  mystery  of 
effort  on  the  South  Side. 

The  writer  finds  two  causes  which  tend  to  im- 
poverish a  large  proportion  of  our  population. 
They  are  :  first,  intemperance  in  general ;  secondly, 
the  sufferings  of  under-paid  women  in  the  lower 
grades  of  labor.  To  shut  the  breweries  and 
saloons,  to  treat  drunkenness  as  a  crime,  to  oblige  a 
man  by  law  to  support  his  family,  and  for  us  to 
give  work  at  living  wages  to  women,  would  solve 
the  problem  now  puzzling  so  many  philanthro- 
pists. Sewing  schools,  employment  bureaus,  edu- 
cation of  the  masses,  the  prosecution  of  radical 
temperance  work,  the  centralization  of  power  in 
churches  and  Sunday  schools,  any  provision  for 
neglected,  or  abandoned  children,  for  adults,  sick 
or  helpless,  and  the  aged,  or  to  redeem  fallen  hu- 
manity, are  deserving  our  noblest  liberality  and 
highest  Christian  effort. 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  147 


CHAPTER   XV. 

SARAH  E.  FITCH — THE  WOMAN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSO- 
CIATION —  THE  RETREAT — ITS  FOUNDER  — 
MRS.  MERIBAH  FARMER  AND  MRS.  TATUM — 
MRS.  A.  P.  DUTCHER — THE  BOARDING  HOME 
—  HOME  FOR  AGED  WOMEN — DAY  NURSERY 
AND  FREE  KINDERGARTEN  BRANCH  ASSOCIA- 
.  TION — THE  EDUCATIONAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL 
UNION — ELIZA  JENNINGS  HOME  FOR  INCUR- 
ABLES— HONORABLE    MENTION. 

A  T  /TE  are  glad  to  know  that  taking  up  the  work 
*  of  to-dav  will  afford  ua  fountain  and  sev- 
enty  palm  trees"  to  thirsty  readers  and  faint  pil- 
grims, not  so  much  for  the  manner  of  this  pen's 
utterance  as  for  its  subject,  always  beloved  by  the 
citizens  of  Cleveland,  viz.,  the  work  of  its  women. 
We  delineate  in  this  chapter  her  who  for  years 
has  stood  in  this  city  at  the  head  of  laborers  for 
humanity,  Miss  Sarah  E.  Fitch,  president  of  the 
Woman's  Christian  Association.     She  possesses  the 


148  WOMEN    OF   CLEVELAND 

rare  grace  of  modesty  with  much  dignity.  Hers 
is  an  unwavering  faith,  an  absolute  evenness  of 
temper  under  all  provocation  to  the  reverse.  She 
is  unselfish,  hence  love  for  human  souls  and  patient 
sacrifice  mark  every  step  of  her  way.  Entirely 
wanting  in  any  form  of  self-aggrandizement,  she 
possesses  in  eminent  degree  the  love  of  women 
everywhere;  of  those  who  meet  her  in  the  councils 
of  association  work,  and  of  any  who  are  touched, 
even  remotely,  by  her  influence — but  especially 
does  she  live  in  the  hearts  of  the  women  of  Cleve- 
land, whether  they  occupy  the  drawing  rooms  of 
the  avenues,  or  the  close  apartments  of  tenement 
houses.     Best  of  all,  the  fallen  love  her. 

One  of  our  cherished  writers,  Mrs.  Fairbanks, 
long  connected  with  her  in  membership  in  that 
grand  old  church — the  First  Presbvterian — leaves 
this  line:  "It  is  a  gracious  privilege  to  testify  to 
the  worth  and  wrork  of  Cleveland's  noblest  wom- 
an." Mrs.  Mary  H.  Severance  adds  a  laurel  leaf 
to  our  wreath  of  testimonial,  having  known  her 
from  childhood.  Miss  Fitch  consecrated  herself  to 
good  work  in  youth  ;  her  first  efforts  were  in  the 
Sunday  school.  In  looking  after  children  in  their 
homes,  the  needs  of  the  poor  and  sorrowing  were 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  1 49 

revealed  to  her  and  so  aroused  her  sympathies  as  to 
lay  the  foundation  for  these  succeeding  years  of 
charitable  and  helpful  labors.  The  great  secret 
of  her  success  as  teacher  and  leader  in  these 
varied  ways  of  usefulness  from  the  first  seems  to 
have  been  due  to  unimpassioned,  excellent  judg- 
ment and  steady  perseverance,  self-abnegation  and 
whole-souled  devotion  to  work.  This  made  her  a 
helper  to  her  pastors,  Rev.  Dr.  Aikin,  Rev.  Dr. 
Goodrich,  and  their  successors.  Dr.  G.  once  said, 
"It  would  be  like  losing  my  right  arm  to  have  Miss 
Fitch  laid  aside."  Mrs.  S.  truly  states:  "Others 
mav  have  had  more  brilliant  talents,  but  verv  few 
have  been  so  steadfast  and  true  to  their  convic- 
tions of  duty,  and  so  successful  in  winning  the 
respect  and  confidence  of  the  varied  classes  to 
whom  she  has  been  a  blessing." 

When  the  Woman's  Christian  Association  was 
formed  here  in  November,  1868,  by  H.  Thane 
Miller,  of  Cincinnati,  Sarah  E.  Fitch  was  unani- 
mously chosen  president. 

This  is  the  oldest  branch  of  entire  woman's 
work  here  now  in  active  and  progressive  labor,  ex- 
cept the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Cleveland 
Protestant  Orphan   Asylum ;  its  growth  has  been 


150  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

marvelous.  We  may  add  that  the  Young  Ladies' 
Branch,  Mrs.  J.  B.  Perkins,  president,  was  organ- 
ized in  1 881,  and  devoted  to  work  for  children.  It 
included  also  the  Flower  Mission. 

Miss  Fitch,  the  wise  counselor  and  head  of  this 
beneficent  and  systematic  labor  bestowed  by  scores 
of  Christian  women,  would  desire  that  no  words  of 
eulogy  be  pronounced  upon  herself,  but  good 
angels  looking  down  write  her  name  in  the  Lamb's 
Book  of  Life  as  she  goes  patiently,  quietly  upon  her 
way,  herself  a  ministering  spirit  to  the  sin-laden. 

Especially  it  is  her  favorite  work  to  call  such  as 
the  Countess  de  Gasparin,  in  her  address  to  the 
fallen  women  of  Paris,  would  turn  aside  from  the 
second  death. 

"  God  made  thee  to  be  a  good  daughter,  a  worthy 
wife.     It  was  for  this,  thy  mother  prayed. 

"  You  feel  it ! 

lk  If  you  could,  if  you  durst,  you  would  flee  from 
the  cursed  house,  the  fetid  slum. 

"  The  debauchery  shop  is  a  horror  to  you  ;  it 
fills  you  with  nausea,  you  are  afraid  ! 

uTis  hell  itself! 

"If  you  could,  if  you  durst,  you  would  cross  the 
infamous  threshold. 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  15 1 


u 


My  child,  come  !  I  know  the  one  who  will 
save  you. 

"  Come,  my  child  !  He  who  is  called  Jesus,  the 
vSon  of  God,  He  despises  you  not. 

<l  My  child!  I  laid  hold  on  your  hand,  to  lead 
you  out  of  darkness.  Let  us  speed  on  to  the 
light.  Come  !  the  night  has  passed,  the  day  has 
dawned. 

lk  Look  onward  !  Before  you  is  the  good  way  ; 
before  you,  the  pure  future  ;  before  you  is  heaven." 

Best  of  all,  to  the  contrite  Magdalen,  Christ 
said,  ki  Woman,  sin  no  more ;  thy  faith  hath  saved 
thee." 

The  records  of  the  Retreat  read  like  a  romance. 
This  chronicle  would  not  lay  bare  the  secrets  of  a 
single  unhappy  life  there  registered.  We  all  know 
too  little  of  this  mission  with  the  Scarlet  Letter. 
Many  who  come  here  are  very  young  girls,  who 
have  erred  through  lack  of  parental  restraint,  and 
have  but  just  begun  a  sinful  life  ;  others,  again, 
are  incorrigible,  and  to  free  them  from  the  power 
of  evil  associates,  are  placed  here  by  their  parents. 
More  than  half  of  the  thousand  girls  here  rescued 
from  publicity  of  shame  might  carry  this  plaint, 
written  bv  one  of  their  number : 


152  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

If  I  should  die  to-night, 

Even  hearts  estranged  would  turn  once  more  to  me. 

Recalling  other  days  remorsefully, 

The  eyes  that  chill  me  with  averted  glance, 

Would  look  upon  me,  as  of  yore,  perchance 

And  soften  in  the  old  familiar  way, 

For  who  could  war  with  dumb,  unconscious  clav  ? 

So,  might  I  rest,  forgiven  of  all, 

"  Oh  !  friends,  I  pray  to-night, 

Keep  not  your  kisses  for  my  dead,  cold  brow. 

The  way  is  lonely,  let  me  feel  them  now, 

Think  gently  of  me,  I  am  travel-worn  ; 

My  faltering  feet  are  pierced  with  many  a  thorn. 

Forgive,  oh !  hearts  estranged  and  give,  I  plead. 

When  dreamless  rest  is  mine, 

The  tenderness  for  which  I  long  to-night." 

The  work  of  Sarah  E.  Fitch  and  of  Sarah  O. 
Peck  lie  close  to  the  heart  of  the  Crucified  One, 
dear  women  !  so  sacred  is  it  we  may  scarce  unveil 
its  depth. 

The  Retreat  encourages  no  idlers.  It  is  a  bee- 
hive for  industrv  ;  evervbodv  must  have  something 
to  do.  Beautiful  hand-work  and  painting  with  the 
needle,  the  care  of  plants  which  convert  the  re- 
ception room  into  a  bower  of  tropical  beauty  ;  all 
arts  of  skilled  house wiferv  are  here  taught  and 
practiced. 

The  matron,  Miss  Sarah  O.  Peck,  born  in  Mich- 
igan, and  educated  at   Vassar,  gives  her  life-work 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  153 

to  these  girls ;  her  sympathy  and  faith   render  her 
a  power  in  the  institution. 

Another  lady — one  of  the  Board  of  Managers 
from  the  first,  who  has  always  been  interested  in 
girls'  reform — taught  the  Bible  class  when  the 
Retreat  was  simply  a  private  house  at  267  Perry 
street — Mrs.  Dr.  A.  P.  Dntcher.  She  has  passed 
into  the  skies,  leaving  a  memory  absolutely  fra- 
grant. She  devoted  all  her  energies  to  reclaiming 
the  unfortunate  who  came  within  reach.  While 
the  Retreat  was  on  Perry  street  it  was  within  a 
few  doors  of  her  residence.  Then  her  visits  to  the 
inmates  were  dailv  and  her  influence  for  o-ood  can- 
not  be  overestimated.  She  took  the  inmates  to 
her  home,  taught  them  sewing  and  different  work, 
read  to  them  from  good  books,  and  cheered  them 
with  her  sweet,  sunny  smile  that  always  beamed 
with  Divine  love.  Sometimes  Mrs.  Dutcher  would 
take  an  inmate  to  her  home,  share  her  bed  with 
her,  become  her  inseparable  companion,  striving 
bv  night  and  dav  to  direct  the  thoughts  of  the 
erring  one  to  things  higher  and  holier  than  this 
life.  Such  women  may  leave  but  a  faint  impres- 
sion on  the  external  affairs  of  the  world,  but  in 
the  hearts  of  the  few  who  feel  their  holv  influence 


154  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

they  leave  an  impress  that  enchains  us  to  them  in 
the  better  world  to  which  Mrs.  Dntcher  has  been 
called.  Her  daughter,  Mrs.  J.  C.  Covert,  is  en- 
listed in  the  same  reform. 

At  the  opening  of  that  work  for  fallen  women, 
the  chairman  of  its  Board  of  Managers  was  Mrs. 
Meribah  Farmer,  a  minister  in  the  Society  of 
Friends.  Her  private  charities  were  numerously 
known  to  intimate  associates.  She,  too,  is  among 
the  hospital  workers  of  the  past. 

The  founder  of  the  Retreat  is  a  niece  of  Mrs. 
Farmer-Hannah  B.  Tatum,  also  a  minister  among 
the  Friends,  who,  in  her  loved  mission  work  in 
houses  of  ill-fame  in  this  city,  felt  the  need  of  a 
home  to  which  to  invite  those  girls  who  desired  to 
reform.  She  enthusiastically  laid  the  subject  be- 
fore the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Woman's 
Christian  Association,  and  they  were  able  to  re- 
spond, in  1869,  through  the  beneficence  of  a  well- 
known  citizen,  who  paid  the  rent  of  their  little 
building.  Several  of  the  first  inmates  were  some 
with  whom  Mrs.  Tatum  had  prayed  and  plead  in 
their  abodes  of  shame.  Six  months  after  its  open- 
ing this  lady  became  matron,  but  in  one  year  re- 
signed, to  engage   in   outdoor  philanthropy.     Her 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  155 

labors  in  Ohio  and  the  South  are  well  known.  Her 
voice  has  singular  sweetness  and  power,  and  her 
saintly  face  and  Quaker  garb  render  her  a  marked 
woman  in  assemblies. 

The  Woman's  Christian  Association  owns  prop- 
erty valued  in  the  aggregate  at  $200,000  and  up- 
wards. Its  headquarters  are  the  parlors  of  the 
"  Home,"  at  Xo.  16  Walnut  street. 

This  ;v  Home  '  has  the  same  relation  to  our 
Association  and  to  Cleveland  that  the  Margaret 
Louise  Home,  Xo.  14  East  16th  Street,  bears 
to  the  City  of  Xew  York,  and  to  its  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
It  is  simply  an  attractive  boarding  place  for 
vounor  women  who  are  self-sustaining:.  Its 
privileges  are  especially  available  to  persons 
seeking  employment,  or  as  a  stopping-place,  until 
permanent  quarters  are  obtained.  Music  and  a 
choice  library,  a  substantial  table,  and  a  matron's 
careful  attention  render  the  Home  such  as  its 
name  implies.  The  munificence  of  Stillman  Witt 
gave  the  grounds  and  original  house  to  our  city, 
in  1868 ;  since  the  death  of  this  gentleman,  Mrs. 
Witt  has  made  additions  and  other  improvements, 
until  now  the  building  presents  an  imposing  ap- 
pearance.    It  is  filled  to  overflowing  with  boarders 


156  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

and  needs  still  further  enlargement.  Mr.  E.  I. 
Baldwin  has  filled  one  large  case  with  encyclo- 
paedias and  other  standard  books  of  reference, 
poetry  and  the  best  of  fiction. 

The  head  of  the  committee  controlling  the  Wal- 
nut street  "  Home '  is  Mrs.  E.  H.  Huntington, 
the  eminent  president  of  the  Woman's  Foreign 
Missionary  Society,  of  Cleveland  Presbytery.  She 
and  Mrs.  James  Barnett,  two  old-time  friends  of 
Miss  Fitch,  are  at  her  side  through  the  years.  All 
of  the  institutions  pertaining  to  the  Association 
are  well  furnished  throughout,  exponent  of  the 
wealth  and  liberality  of  leading  citizen^.  Of 
these,  a  universal  favorite  with  Cleveland  people 
is  the  Aged  Woman's  Home,  on  Kennard  street, 
with  whose  origin  is  connected  an  interesting  fact. 
Mrs.  Dr.  Lewis  Burton,  one  of  the  oldest  members 
of  the  Association,  in  her  missionary  visits  at  the 
Infirmary,  occasionally  encountered  women  of  re- 
finement, condemned  by  circumstances  to  spend 
unhappy  lives  in  the  dreary  companionship  of 
ordinary  paupers.  "  It  seems  to  me,"  said  Mrs. 
Burton,  one  day,  in  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of 
Managers,  "that  we  need  in  Cleveland  a  home  for 
aged  women."     The    ladies  took   the   suggestion 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  157 

into  consideration,  and  as  a  result  there  was 
opened  in  July,  1877,  another  magnificent  "Home," 
thus  making  possible  an  old  age  of  comfort  to 
many  a  lonely  woman.  This  has  been  accom- 
plished through  the  liberal  devising  of  our  la- 
mented townsman,  Amasa  Stone.  Mrs.  Stone 
was  also  deeply  interested  in  this  benevolence,  as, 
also,  her  daughter,  Mrs.  John  Hay. 

A  glance  inside  the  Kennard  street  mansion 
reveals  most  attractive  rooms  ;  the  larger  sleeping 
apartments  each  contain  large  closets  and  two 
beds  ;  the  smaller,  one.  There  are  rocking-chairs 
and  lounges,  soft  carpets  and  foot-stools.  Comfort, 
even  luxury  is  in  every  appointment.  It  is  alto- 
gether probable  that  the  aged  ones  residing  here 
— at  least  the  majority  of  them — have  never  before 
enjoyed  a  tithe  of  such  embarras  dc  richesse.  Those 
aged  veterans  who  choose  to  work  are  busied  with 
piecing  quilts,  with  making  aprons,  with  dressing 
dolls,  all  of  which  are  kept  constantly  on  sale  at 
the  institution.  The  entrance  fee,  entitling  one  to 
life  residence,  is  $150,  but,  in  order  to  enter,  each 
must  be  sixty  years  of  age  and  citizens  of  Cleve- 
land or  its  immediate  vicinity  for  a  period  of  five 
years.     Women  of  property  are   admitted  on  con- 


158  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

(litionthatatdecea.se  their  investments  accrue  to 
the  association  for  this  Home's  maintenance.  Af- 
fairs are  administered  by  a  committee  of  compe- 
tent ladies,  who  have  secured  as  matron  Mrs. 
Comstock,  a  woman  of  dignified  presence  and  keen 
appreciation  of  the  untiring  efforts  of  the  noble 
women  in  charge  for  those  residing  under  their 
roof-tree.  She  is  fitted  for  this  delicate  and  un- 
usually responsible  position,  being  prudent,  just, 
and  humane.  Any  one  is  happy  here  who  is 
happy  anywhere  ;  some  people  always  are  discon- 
tented, even  under  fortunate  and  fostering  circum- 
stances. 

Mrs.  Eliza  Kingsley  Arter  is  chairman  of  the 
Controlling  Committee,  and  Mrs.  C.  E.  Lowman, 
secretary —  two  names  well  known  in  Methodist 
circles.     Mrs.  H.  A.  Griffin,  too,  is  here. 

In  1882,  the  Young  Ladies'  Branch  was  merged 
into  the  Dav  Nursery  and  Free  Kindergarten 
Association,  a  beautiful  and  favorite  charity,  pre- 
sided over  by  Mrs.  M.  E.  Rawson  ;  Carolyn  Kel- 
logg Cushing,  secretary.  The  nurseries  are  five  : 
Perkins,  the  gift  of  the  lamented  Joseph  Perkins; 
Louise,  aided  by  Mrs.  J.  J.  Tracy  ;  Wade,  pre- 
sented and  supported  in  part  by   Mr.  J.  H.  Wade  ; 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  1 59 

Bethlehem,  supported  by  Mrs.  Flora  Stone  Mather, 
who  owns  the  building ;  Mary  Whittlesey  Memor- 
ial, the  benefaction,  in  every  sense,  of  Miss  Florence 
Harkness.  This  branch  association  supplements 
all  beneficence  bv  vigilance  and  admirable  man- 
agement  in  collecting  and  disbursing  funds. 

In  1886,  the  Woman's  Christian  Association 
established  a  new  branch,  the  "  Educational  and 
Industrial  Union,"  for  the  encouragement  and 
training  of  self-sustaining  young  women.  This 
important  department  grows  in  usefulness,  and  we 
hope  at  an  early  day  to  see  a  building  erected 
commensurate  to  its  needs.  Mrs.  Levi  T.  Scho- 
field,  a  noble  woman,  is  in  charge,  assisted  by  the 
excellent  judgment  and  generous  aid  of  Mrs.  Geo. 
W.  Gardner.  Mrs.  S.  S.  Gardner  and  Mrs.  Sanborn 
render  efficient  service.  Miss  Clara  A.  Urann, 
chairman  of  the  Class  Committee,  has  been  of 
invaluable  help  in  organizing  and  maintaining  a 
course  in  English  Literature.  Mrs.  Annie  E.  Hull 
is  a  host  in  herself;  bright,  energetic  and  hopeful. 
Instruction  is  given  in  plain  cooking,  dress-fitting 
and  making,  milliner}',  penmanship,  elocution, 
physical  culture,  literature,  music — vocal,  piano, 
and  guitar ;  the  common  branches  taught  in  the 
free  classes. 


160  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

The  youngest  institution  of  the  association  is 
the  Eliza  Jennings  Home  for  Incurables,  on 
Detroit  Road,  West  Cleveland,  established  in  1887, 
and  bearing  the  dear  name  of  its  founder.  Of  this, 
Mrs.  A.  P.  Buel  is  chairman,  and  Mrs.  L.  Lescelles, 
secretary.  It  is  a  quiet,  charming  hospital.  Rose 
Day  there,  on  ua  perfect  day  in  June,"  is  a  luxury. 

The  workers  in  this  very  large   Society  include 

• 

now,  and  have  included  in  past  years,  the  most 
active  and  influential  in  the  whole  city.  Some  of 
them  are  quite  advanced  in  life  ;  not  a  few  are 
widows  of  wealth)"  and  public-spirited  citizens. 
Women  of  culture,  of  unaffected  modesty,  are  upon 
its  committees.  Unanimity  and  sweetness  of  spirit 
characterize  their  deliberations.  Their  methods 
are  conservative. 

The  missionary  spirit  of  some  of  its  representa- 
tives seems  to  pervade  with  odor  of  spikenard  the 
by-ways  of  our  city  and  those  centers  wherein  the 
helpless  and  dependent  are  gathered  together. 

Of  these  are  Miss  Valentine  and  Mrs.  Robinson, 
Bible  readers  ;  Mrs.  S.  W.  Adams  and  Mrs.  James 
Galbrath. 

Mrs.  Flora  Stone  Mather  has  a  record  in  philan- 
thropy remarkable   for  so  young  a  woman.     Her 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  l6l 

work  appears  especially  in  the  Young  Ladies' 
Branch  and  in  the  Young  Ladies'  Temperance 
League ;  the  munificence  of  her  beloved  father  is 
continued  in  her  interest  in  the  Industrial  Home, 
and  in  the  College  for  Women.  Carrie  Younglove 
Abbott,  secretary  of  the  Association,  is  beneficent 
and  painstaking. 

There  are  hosts  of  loved  women  connected  with 
the  Association  who  should  be  mentioned  in  this 
history,  but  to  review  their  labors  would  require 
another  full  chapter. 

We  have  here  in  official  position,  Mrs.  S.  Will- 
iamson, one  of  the  early  workers  ;  Airs.  L.  Austin, 

the  relative  and  Cleveland  hostess  of  ex-President 

» 

and  Mrs.  R.  B.  Hayes  ;  Mrs.  R.  R.  Sloan,  Mrs.  H. 
C.  Haydn,  Mrs.  E.  Curtis,  Mrs.  Standart,  Airs. 
William  Meriam,  the  corresponding  secretary  ;  and 
Miss  C.  M.  Leonard,  the  faithful  treasurer. 

We  find  Mrs.  Sabin  and  Mrs.  Senter,  Airs.  B.  S. 
Coergswell,  eminent  in  missionary  effort  at  the 
Workhouse,  and  in  all  good  enterprises  connected 
with  Plymouth  Congregational  Church.  Enrolled 
in  these  lines  of  beautiful  endeavor  are  ladies  west 
of  the  Cuyahoga. 

Among  these  officers  are  the  wife  and  daughter 


162  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

of  Rev.  J.  A.  Thome,  the  slave's  advocate  and  so 
long  pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  of 
this  city.  Anna  Thome  is  known  now  as  Mrs. 
Dr.  Bovnton. 

Here  are  Mrs.  E.  C.  Beach,  Mrs.  A.  H.  Potter, 
Mrs.  C.  W.  Lepper,  for  many  years  a  director. 

Names  synonymous  with  good  work  and  liberal 
giving  are  those  of  Mrs.  D.  P.  Eells,  Mrs.  J.  H. 
Wade,  and  Mrs.  Judge  Bolton. 

Intellectual  women  are  among  these  numbers. 
The  utterances  of  her  who  first  edited  and  of  those 
who  afterward  edited  their  paper,  the  Earnest 
Worker,  are  wise,  hopeful,  and  often  entertaining. 
It  was  a  journal  of  high  order  of  merit,  and  beauti- 
ful in  appearance.  Its  columns  delighted  all 
philanthropic  hearts  among  us.  Emma  Janes,  its 
first  editor,  is  the  Washington  correspondent  of 
leading  American  journals. 

Mrs.  Howard  M.  Ingham,  who  for  ten  years 
edited  this  paper,  has  force  and  executive  ability. 
She  was,  as  well  the  secretary  of  the  Association. 
For  accuracy,  fidelity  and  general  efficiency  she  is 
unexampled.  Her  report,  read  by  herself  at  the 
Societv's  fifteenth  anniversarv,  is  one  of  the  ablest 
papers  on  record  among  our  workers.     She  wrote 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  l6l 


3 


the  history  of  the  Association  for  its  twentieth 
anniversary.  Twice  has  her  talent  been  called 
into  requisition  at  sessions  of  the  International 
Conference  of  the  Association.  She  was  for  years 
a  beloved  secretary  in  the  Woman's  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society.  In  Sabbath-school  and  mothers' 
meetings,  she  excels  in  Bible  instruction.  She  was 
president  of  the  Young  Ladies'  Temperance 
League,  and  of  the  Educational  and  Industrial 
Union.  Better  than  anything  else  that  may  be 
said,  she  is  a  devoted  wife  and  mother  and  a  help- 
ful friend. 

For  literary  and  philanthropic  industry,  none 
exceed  Mrs.  Emma  H.  Adams,  here  enrolled.  Her 
contributions  to  the  Society's  paper,  to  our  dailies, 
to  the  religious  periodicals  of  Ohio,  and  to  St. 
Nicholas,  and  other  magazines,  give  her  rank 
among  the  brain  of  Cleveland.  The  circulars  writ- 
ten  by  her  and  published  in  the  legal  department 
of  our  temperance  work  stirred  the  whole  State  to 
regard  the  duty  of  the  hour.  She,  now,  travels  in 
the  northwest,  and  writes  books. 

Mrs.  L.  A.  Ferguson  is  on  the  Association's  roll. 
She  has  spent  much  time  in  foreign  lands,  and 
bears  the  culture  of  such  rare  opportunity.     Over 


164  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

her  initials  she  has  delighted  the  reading  public 
with  bright  letters  of  travel  and  essays  upon  art, 
literature  and  kindred  subjects. 

Mrs.  M.  E.  Rawson  is  among  our  original 
thinkers  and  forceful  writers. 

There  are  no  more  brilliant  women  among  us 
than  was  Mrs.  J.  C.  Delamater  and  is  Mrs.  N.  Coe 
Stewart.  Both  of  them  were,  respectively,  chair- 
men of  the  Department  of  Entertainments  for  Self- 
Supporting  Women,  participated  in  by  the  city's 
best  talent,  and  thoroughly  enjoyed  by  those  for 
whom  they  are  instituted. 

The  labor  of  Mrs.  Delamater  and  of  Mrs.  Stewart 
was  manifold.  They  have  delighted  immense 
audiences  by  tuneful  utterance  for  "  the  good,  the 
true,  the  beautiful."  Enthusiastic  in  tempera- 
ment, unselfish,  amiable,  and  cheerful,  they  have 
won  friends  everywhere. 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  1 6 


0 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

[If  there  be  a  touch  of  the  auto-biographical  in  this  history, 

pardon,  dear  reader.] 

WOMAN'S  TEMPERANCE  CRUSADE — ITS  MARVELOUS 
OUTCOME — THE  WORKERS — MRS.  S.  W.  DUN- 
CAN —  LEAGUE  ORGANIZATION  —  DEALERS' 
PLEDGE  —  MR.  JOSEPH  PERKINS  —  RIVER 
STREET  FRIENDLY  INN — MRS.  JOHN  COON — 
THE  OPEN  DOOR. 

A  MOVEMENT,  led  by  Mrs.  Eliza  J.  Thomp- 
^  *-  son,  arose  in  Hillsboro,  O.,  December  23, 
1874,  of  entering  saloons  with  a  band  of  women, 
who  prayed,  sang,  and  implored  the  proprietor  to 
give  up  his  business.  This  impulse  seized  Christian 
people  at  Washington  C.  H.,  and  rapidly  spread 
among  the  towns  north  and  south  in  our  State. 
The  ladies  of  Cleveland,  regarding  each  other  with 
apprehension,  said,  "  Can  this  wave  strike  the 
cities?  We  think  not."  Mrs.  Sarah  K.  Bolton 
(Mrs.  C.  E.)  at  that  time  was  secretary  of  the 
Woman's    Christian   Association,  and    the    writer, 


l66  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

chairman  of  its  Missionary  Committee.  Mrs.  Bol- 
ton  said:  "It  w//.s7  come  to  the  cities  and  onr 
Association  will  inaugurate  the  movement  here." 
She  urged  with  persistence  that  I  go  out  into  the 
State  and  observe  the  work.  A  well  organized 
band  at  Berea,  O.,  led  by  Mrs.  W.  D.  Godman, 
claimed  my  attention  for  a  day,  and  its  work  fascin- 
ated me;  we  went  into  saloons,  kneeling  on  the 
floor,  then  held  a  prayer-meeting  just  outside  the 
only  brewery  there,  while  the  discomfited  Teuton, 
who  rented  the  premises,  remonstrated  from  an 
upper  window.  Similar  exercises  were  held  in  a 
billiard  hall,  one  of  the  men  present  joining  in  the 
hymn,  kk  Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee."  At  request 
of  Miss  Sarah  E.  Fitch,  President  of  the  Woman's 
Christian  Association,  the  day's  history  was  pre- 
sented, March  10,  1874,  at  a  called  meeting  of 
ladies  in  the  First  Baptist  Church,  corner  of  Euclid 
avenue  and  Erie  street,  supplemented  by  exhor- 
tation from  Mrs.  Moses  Hill.  The  audience  was 
large  and  the  services  notably  full  of  inspiration. 
A  paper  setting  forth  the  necessity  of  aggressive 
work  against  the  liquor  traffic  had  been  prepared 
by  three  ladies  of  the  Executive  Committee,  con- 
vened at  No.  16  Walnut   street,   March  3rd.     Fri- 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  l6~ 

day,  March  13th,  a  League  was  organized  for  work 
in  this  city,  Miss  Sarah  E.  Fitch,  president ;  "Sirs. 
W.  A.  Ingham,  secretary.  The  ladies  of  various 
denominations  were  intensely  interested,  assem- 
bling daily  for  prayer  and  conference,  either  in  the 
church  named  or  in  the  First  Presbyterian,  or  in 
the  old  chapel  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation. After  a  resolution  to  commence  street 
crusade  work,  a  leader  was  appointed  under  the 
following  instructions  : 

( 1 )  That  no  band  should  enter  any  premises 
unless  by  consent  of  the  proprietor. 

(2)  Xor,  for  the  present,  be  without  police  pro- 
tection. 

(3)  To  be  accompanied,  always,  by  reporters, 
that  we  might  be  properly  represented  before  the 
public. 

Rigidly  carrying  out  these  instructions  by  the 
authorized  band  leaders,  prevented  the  excesses 
occurring  in  many  other  cities,  and  resulted  in  the 
high  standing  of  the  Cleveland  work.  It  will  be  re- 
membered that  the  women  composing  this  League 
were  of  social  position,  wives  of  men  who  were 
commercially  a  power  in  the  city. 

After  the  mavor  decided  to  enforce  the  sidewalk 


1 68  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

ordinance,  through  the  counsel  of  the  Advisory 
Committee  of  ten  gentlemen  who  had  consulted 
the  best  legal  talent  here,  we  had  a  right  to  occupy 
the  pavement  a  short  time  to  converse  with  the 
dealers,  also  to  enter  unoccupied  ground,  or  by  in- 
vitation any  building  contiguous  to  a  saloon. 
March  17,  representatives  of  six  denominations,  to 
the  number  of  twenty-two,  went  out  from  an  assem- 
bly of  six  hundred  Christian  women  for  the  pur- 
pose of  holding  saloon  prayer-meetings.  So  far  as 
can  now  be  recalled,  these  are  the  ladies,  with  ten 
others,  carriages  having  been  provided  :  Mrs.  W. 
T.  Smith,  Mrs.  John  Coon,  Mrs.  Warrick  Price, 
Mrs.  Hannah  Tatum,  Mrs.  W.  P.  Cooke,  Airs.  S. 
W.  Adams,  Mrs.  N.  Coe  Stewart,  Airs.  Geo.  E. 
Hall,  Mrs.  R.  F.  Smith,  Airs.  S.  Starkweather, 
Mrs.  R.  D.  Noble,  with  the  writer  as  leader.  A 
great  crowd  of  people  gathered  about  the  doors  of 
a  gilded  saloon  in  the  Public  Square,  in  which 
more  young  men  had  been  ruined  than  the 
churches  were  able  to  save.  We  stood  in  front  of 
a  bar  ;  the  Scriptures,  a  part  of  Isa.  28th  :  "  Woe  to 
the  crown  of  pride,  to  the  drunkards  of  Bphraim," 
were  read  by  the  band  leader.  Mrs.  Stewart 
begun   the  hymn,  which   we  all   sang,   "There  is 


AXD    THEIR   WORK.  1 69 

a  fountain,  filled  with  blood!"  Mrs.  John  Coon 
offered  a  fervent  prayer  and  endeavored  to  per- 
suade the  deathly  pale  bar-tender  to  give  up  selling 
liquor.  The  next  day  seventeen  ladies  left  the 
First  Baptist  Church  with  similar  intent  and  ac- 
complished their  work  in  two  great  hotels  and  four 
saloons.  The  daughters  of  Rev.  Dr.  Wolcott  sang, 
Miss  Duty  read  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son. 
West  Side  workers  were  equally  engaged.  Eight- 
eenth Ward  ladies  held  similar  services  two  weeks 
before  we  began  in  the  central  part  of  the  city. 
After  March  19,  the  greatest  excitement  prevailed 
throughout  Cleveland,  and  for  six  weeks  the  liquor 
traffic  was  shaken  to  its  center.  The  voice  of  God 
was  heard  above  the  confusion  that  reigned  in  the 
past.  Pulpit  thundered  to  pulpit  the  denuncia- 
tions of  the  book  against  the  sin  of  intemperance. 
Multitudes  gathered  in  the  churches  to  hear  elo- 
quent men  talk  of  the  great  evil  that  holds  our 
city  in  its  grasp.  Brave  women  prayed,  sung,  and 
exhorted  in  wigwams,  billiard  rooms,  and  before 
saloon  bars.  The  streets  were  filled  with  proces- 
sions of  temperance  societies,  mostly  of  the  Romish 
Church,  which  favored  the  revival  in  extraordinary 
demonstrations  of  numbers  of  men,  marshaled  in 


t;o  WOMEN    OF   CLEVELAND 

line  and  gay  with  scarfs  and  banners.  In  these 
days,  too,  God  was  blasphemed,  sudden  judgments 
overtook  the  violently  profane  in  onr  streets. 
The  avenger  seemed  to  be  in  the  midst,  and 
flashes  of  his  sword  disclosed  to  wicked  men  their 
danger.  Wholesale  dealers  blanched  as  they  saw 
women  by  hundreds  pouring  into  their  strong- 
holds ;  the  retailer  held  on  to  the  railing  of  his 
counter  with  ashen  face,  and  some  men,  who  had 
not  forgotten  a  mother's  prayers,  actually  wept. 
A  few  venders  not  wholly  lost  to  good  influences 
arranged  to  sell  out  or  close  up,  declaring  theirs 
to  be  a  vile  business.  Men  who  drank  staid  more 
at  home,  and,  for  the  first  time  in  years,  looked 
tenderly  upon  the  wan  faces  of  toiling  wives  and 
on  their  own  little  children,  old  before  their  time 
with  want  and  sorrow.  Hundreds  signed  the 
temperance  pledge,  and  some  were  converted  like 
Saul  of  Tarsus,  who,  in  an  earlier  crusade,  was 
convicted  in  the  midst  of  a  riotous  mob  by  the 
audible  prayer  of -the  martyr  Stephen.  Out  of 
the  three  thousand  women  leagued  together  to 
suppress  intemperance  in  our  eighteen  wards,  but 
few  hundreds  were  engaged  in  street  work.  The 
quiet  conservatives  impressed  their  carriages  into 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  171 

service,  waiting  upon  property  owners,  laboring 
with  them  concerning  the  wrong  of  leasing  houses 
or  lands  for  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors.  One 
gentle  lady,  Mrs.  S.  Williamson,  by  her  potent  in- 
fluence with  such,  closed  up  seven  of  the  worst 
saloons  in  Union  Lane.  Others  of  our  number 
wrought  among  drunkards  and  their  families,  per- 
suading to  sobrietv  of  living ;  and  our  voting- 
ladies  drew  off  into  a  powerful  league  for  the  aid 
of  children  of  inebriate  fathers  and  mothers,  and  to 
discourage  social  drinking  among  the  upper  classes. 
Wherever  were  great  bodies  of  men,  in  hospitals,, 
manufactories,  vessels  at  the  docks,  depots,  halls 
in  which  were  convened  brotherhoods  of  various 
orders,  all  were  visited,  and  thousands  invited  by 
woman's  voice  in  supplication  to  newness  of  life. 
The  might  of  prayer  prevailed  throughout  the 
city ;  the  tide  of  evil  swept  back,  as  Israel's  chil- 
dren passed  by  ;  and  for  a  time  the  Promised  Land 
seemed  so  near  that  we  forgot  the  intervening 
wilderness.  In  June,  1874,  the  State  League  was 
formed  at  Springfield,  O.,  and  early  in  November, 
the  Woman's  Temperance  League  of  Cleveland 
was  reorganized  auxiliary  thereto,  with  Mrs.  S.  W. 
Duncan  as  president  and  treasurer.  The  follow- 
ing officers  and  committees  were  selected  : 


I  72  WOMEN    OF   CLEVELAND 

Vice  Presidents:  Mrs.  S.  W.  Adams,  Mrs.  H.  C. 
Ford. 

Corresponding  Secretary  :    Mrs.  W.  A.  Ingham. 

Recording  Secretary :  Miss  F.  Jennie   Duty. 

Assistant  Secretaries :  Mrs.  E.  H.  Adams  and 
Mrs.  J.  C.  Delamater. 

Executive  Board :  Mrs.  Joseph  Perkins,  Mrs.  S. 
Williamson,  Mrs.  E.  P.  Morgan,  Mrs.  Win.  T. 
Smith,  Mrs.  S.  H.  Sheldon,  Miss  Sarah  E.  Fitch, 
and  the  officers,  ex  officio  members  of  Executive 
Committee. 

(i).  Standing  Committees. — Street  Work: 
Mrs.  W.  A.  Ingham,  Mrs.  S.  W.  Adams,  Mrs.  W. 
P.  Cooke,  Mrs.  N.  Coe  Stewart,  Mrs.  John  Coon, 
Mrs.  Lewis  Burton,  Mrs.  C.  E.  Bolton. 

(2).  Relief:  Mrs.  C.  E.  Bolton,  Mrs.  Samuel 
Williamson,  Mrs.  Horace  Benton,  Mrs.  R.  D.  Xoble, 
Mrs.  Geo.  E.  Hall,  Mrs.  Stillman  Witt,  Mrs.  Lester 
L.  Hickox. 

(  3  ).  Drinking  Fountain  :  Mrs.  Chas.  H.  Strong, 
Mrs.  A.  P.  Massey,  Mrs.  Geo.  Worthington  (  Mrs. 
M.  C),  Mrs.  A.  H.  Delamater,  Mrs.  W.  P.  South- 
worth,  Mrs.  J.  E.  Colby,  Mrs.  S.  Starkweather. 

(4).  Friendly  Inn:  Mrs.  James  Mason,  Mrs. 
Geo.  H.  Ely,  Mrs.  W.  P.  Cooke,   Mrs.   H.  C.  Ford, 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  1 73 

Mrs.  Geo.  Worthington,  Mrs.  John  Coon,  Miss  F. 
Jennie  Duty. 

Ward  Committees  (appointed  in  March). — 
1  st  Ward,  Mrs.  Allen  T.  Brinsmade,  Miss  F.  J. 
Duty  ;  2nd,  Mrs.  G.  W.  Whitney ;  3d,  Mrs.  John 
Seaman  ;  4th,  Mrs.  Willard  W.  Partridge ;  5th, 
Mrs.  C.  E.  Wheeler;  6th,  Mrs.  Robt.  Hanna,  Mrs. 
B.  S.  Coggswell ;  7th,  Mrs.  W.  B.  Porter  ;  8th,  Mrs. 
Geo.  Presley,  Mrs.  J.  N.  Glidden ;  9th,  Mrs.  Geo. 
T.  Chapman,  Mrs.  A.  Davis ;  10th,  Mrs.  Lewis 
Burton;  nth,  Mrs.  J.  D.  Sholes,  Mrs.  T.  K. 
Dissette  ;  12th,  Mrs.  Jacob  Klein  ;  13th,  Mrs.  Jason 
Canfield,  Mrs.  N.  Coe  Stewart ;  14th,  Mrs.  J.  H. 
Tagg,  a  veteran  worker  of  the  Methodist  Church  ; 
15th,  Mrs.  C.  H.  Strong;  16th,  Mrs.  C.  L.  More- 
house; 17th,  Mrs.  C.  E.  Bolton;  18th,  Airs.  Elroy 
M.  Curtis. 

The  eighteen  chairmen  of  Ward  Committees 
had  selected  aids  to  the  number  of  one  hundred 
to  visit  women,  irrespective  of  sect  or  nationality, 
as  far  as  possible,  and  urge  them  to  enlist  in  sup- 
pressing intemperance,  in  whatever  way  they 
might  elect,  and  to  see  also  that  our  pledge  books 
circulated  in  all  eligible  places. 

Observing   the    character   of    the    crowds    that 


174  WOMEN    OH    CLEVELAND 

daily  followed  in  street  work,  and  noting  the  in- 
terest of  the  general  public,  Mr.  Perkins  saw  that 
we  needed  the  temperance  pledge  with  us  con- 
stantly ;  so  he  ordered,  early  in  the  crusade,  books 
beautifully  bound  in  leather ;  printed  on  one  side 
was,    "Druggists'   and  Dealers'    Pledge,'     on    the 

reverse,  "Citizens'  Pledge,  No. ."     Inside,  the 

gilt  edged  blank  leaves  were  prefaced  by : 

PLEDGE. 

The  subscribers,  residents  in 

dlerclanb, 

desirous  of  aiding  the  cause  of 

(Temperance, 

and  of  thus  banishing  from  the  community  that  which  is  so  destructive 
to  private  happiness  and  public  prosperity,  do  hereby 

piebgc  ©urselrcs, 

not  to  manufacture,  sell,  or  furnish  to  others, 

3nto.xtcattug   itquors, 

distilled,  malt," or  vinous,  to  be  used  as  a  beverage,  nor  to 

£ease  any   Property 

for  such  purpose,  by  agent  or  otherwise. 

On  the  reverse  side  for  citizens,  the  same,  except 
that  the  word  "use'  was  employed  instead  of 
"  sell." 

Drawing-room  lectures  were  instituted  by  Mrs. 
Duncan,  in  aid  of  the  Friendly  Inn  fund.  River 
Street  Inn  had  been  opened  previous  to  this  time 
in   Brinkerhoff's  saloon,   afterwards  in   a  commo- 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  1 75 

dious  building,  with  Mrs.  John  Coon  in  charge. 
Miss  S.  L.  Andrews,  and  Belle  Brayton,  Mrs.  R. 
D.  Noble,  Mrs.  Geo.  E.  Hall  and  her  sister  Mrs.  C. 
B.  Hanna,  Mrs.  W.  T.  Smith,  Mrs.  S.  Starkweather, 
Mrs.  T.  D.  Crocker,  Mrs.  J.  S.  Prather,  Mrs.  J.  H. 
Burridge. 

Other  inns  were  established,  respectively  on  St. 
Clair  street,  near  the  wire  mills,  at  Central  Place, 
on  Pearl  street.  Reading  rooms,  possibly,  with 
facilities  for  public  worship,  were  located  at  the  East 
End,  on  the  South  Side,  in  the  eighteenth  ward 
and  in  Rock's  Block,  Woodland  avenue.  Rev. 
and  Mrs.  Samuel  W.  Duncan,  removing  to  Cincin- 
nati, various  changes  occurred  in  the  methods  and 
management  of  city  work.  Mothers'  meetings 
and  Yoke  Fellows'  or  reformed  men's  services 
originated  at  Central  Place  Inn,  and  were  adopted 
at  the  various  centers,  together  with  gospel  tem- 
perance meetings  on  Sundays,  all  led  by  earnest, 
self-sacrificing  women,  who,  in  this  world,  may  not 
see  the  results  of  their  patient  seed-sowing,  but 
which  cannot  fail  to  be  full  of  fruition.  Thousands 
of  souls  were  preached  unto,  who  else  would 
have  heard  but  little  of  Christ ;  spirits  in  prison, 
bound   by    the    chains    of  habit.     Verily,  He   did 


1 76  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

send  us  kk  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  preach 
deliverance  to  the  captives."  A  marvelous  revival 
of  spiritual  power,  especially  among  the  inebriate 
class,  was  manifest  for  full  six  years  after  the  cru- 
sade. Visitation  in  homes  of  the  intemperate,  and 
in  resorts  of  the  depraved,  as  also  in  police 
stations,  jail  and  the  workhouse,  with  reforms 
generally  among  criminal  classes,  were  instituted  ; 
Bible  readings  in  various  centers,  and  distribution 
of  temperance  literature;  indeed,  all  practical 
agencies  for  evangelization  have  been  adopted  by 
volunteer  missionaries.  Cooking  schools,  sewing 
and  kitchen  garden  classes  for  girls,  bands  of  hope 
and  evening  instruction  for  boys,  temperance  and 
Sabbath-schools  for  both  sexes,  and  it  may  be 
other  methods  for  children  are  still  successfullv 
carried  forward  by  enthusiastic  leaders. 

The  Open  Door,  established  in  1877,  was  an  in- 
stitution in  which  anv  homeless  woman  might  find 
temporary  shelter,  including  released  female  pris- 
oners from  the  workhouse  ;  the  latter  remaining 
until  labor  was  provided  for  them.  This  useful 
charity  was  an  outgrowth  of  the  missionary  work 
of  Central  Place  Inn,  which  is  designed  to  reach 
the  population  living  in  the  vicinity   of  the  Hay- 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  1 77 

market,  Commercial  street,  and  other  unevangel- 
ized  localities — a  wide  and  fertile  field.  The  Open 
Door  was  the   necessary  complement  to  the  Inns. 

Teaching  to  the  children  the  pernicious  effects 
of  alcohol  upon  the  human  system,  cannot  fail  to 
help  the  reform,  from  a  new  and  living  direction. 
Gradually  other  lines  of  work,  usually  those 
planned  by  State  and  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  be- 
came prominent.  Whenever  the  traffic  in  intoxi- 
cating liquors  is  attacked  there  is  perceptible  a 
wide-spread  growth  of  total  abstinent  sentiment 
among  the  people.  The  headquarters  for  State 
work  were  located  in  1882,  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
building,  corner  of  Euclid  avenue  and  Sheriff 
street. 

Probably  the  severest  and  most  effectual  labor 
ever  performed  by  women  of  Ohio,  since  the  days 
of  the  Sanitary  Commission,  during  the  Rebellion, 
was  accomplished  at  these  headquarters,  in  1883 
and  '84,  by  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Woodbridge,  president ; 
Miss  F.  Jennie  Duty,  secretary ;  Mrs.  E.  J.  Phin- 
ney,  treasurer,  and  later  corresponding  secretary, 
and  their  assistants,  in  a  campaign  for  Constitu- 
tional Prohibition.  For  nearly  twenty  years  the 
city  temperance  women  have  been  before  the  pub- 


178  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

lie  ;  printed  mention  is  not  adequate  description  of 
their  labors.  The  extended  mission  and  well- 
known  names  of  Miss  Duty  and  Mrs.  Prather  ;  the 
less  conspicuous,  though  effective  work  of  Mrs. 
E.  Chittenden,  Mrs.  W.  W.  Partridge,  Mrs.  Mary 
Hubbell,  Mrs.  E.  C.  Pope,  Mrs.  J.  S.  White,  Mrs. 
Dr.  Keeler,  Mrs.  W.  T.  Smith,  Mrs.  R.  D.  Noble, 
Mrs.  A.  D.  Morton,  Mrs.  E.  C.  Beach,  Mrs.  Potter 
and  Miss  Pollock,  with  that  of  Mrs.  William  Tay- 
lor, the  eloquent  Bible  reader,  and  others,  are 
well  known.  More  laborious  toilers  than  these  do 
not  exist,  who,  as  Sarah  Smiley  says,  "  fish  in  cess- 
pools for  souls."  We  have  a  sense  of  the  fitness  of 
things  in  mention  of  the  missionary  effort  at  the 
workhouse,  by  Mrs.  B.  S.  Coggswell,  and  in  St. 
Clair  Street  Inn,  of  Mrs.  C.  E.  Wheeler  ;  of  the  un- 
tiring labor  of  Mrs.  H.  C.  Ford,  Mrs.  Comstock, 
and  Anna  Edwards,  of  the  East  End ;  of  patient 
Mrs.  F.  W.  Reeder  and  Mrs.  Dr.  Sheppard,  on  the 
South  Side ;  of  West  Side  ladies  in  Pearl  Street  Inn ; 
of  sweet  Minnie  Gillette  and  Anna  Penfield,  every- 
where throughout  Ohio.  Shall  we  at  this  moment 
be  unmindful  of  the  magnificent  leadership  of  Mrs. 
W.  P.  Cooke,  during  the  crusade  proper,  in  March 
and  April,  1874?     A  noble  woman,  whose  unselfish 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  1 79 

labor  for  her  own  church,  during  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  needs  among  her  friends  no  marble  or 
granite  reminder.  Other  band  leaders  were  Mrs. 
John  Coon  and  Miss  Sarah  L.  Andrews ;  Mrs. 
Sarah  K.  Bolton  and  Mrs.  Duncan ;  Mrs.  S.  W. 
Adams  and  Miss  Duty;  Mrs.  H.  C.  Haydn,  Mrs. 
S.  H.  Lee,  Mrs.  H.  M.  Ingham,  Mrs.  Dr.  Burton, 
Airs.  A.  A.  Brackenridge,  Mrs.  N.  Coe  Stewart, 
Miss  Emma  Janes,  and  Mrs.  James  Galbrath, 
Mrs.  Moses  Hill,  Mrs.  William  Morgan,  Miss  Sarah 
Fitch,  Mrs.  H.  C.  Ford,  Mrs.  Brigham,  Mrs.  Wm. 
Bucher,  Airs.  J.  E.  Stephens,  Mrs.  Gilbert,  Mrs. 
Detchon,  Miss  Josephine  Hillsdale,  Mrs.  B.  Excell, 
Mrs.  J.  Canfield,  Miss  Stork,  Mrs.  Delamater. 

One  day,  Mrs.  Wheeler  and  Airs.  W.  B.  Porter 
had  led  a  band  of  women  to  upper  St.  Clair  street. 
Three  savage  dogs  were  set  upon  these  martyr 
spirits  by  a  saloon-keeper.  Both  these  ladies 
since  that  memorable  day  have  passed  into  the 
skies.  Mrs.  Porter  was  then  so  fragile  and  delicate 
that  the  winds  of  heaven  could  not  touch  her 
roughly.  The  daughter  of  a  Presbyterian  mission- 
ary, herself  born  on  heathen  soil,  she  had  all  the 
fire  that  burned  in  her  father's  heart,  in  the  far-off 
lands   of  the   Orient.     Do   you  suppose  that  this 


180  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

frail  little  apostle  and  her  gentle  band  withdrew 
at  the  approach  of  these  furious  beasts  ?  No  ;  in 
the  same  spirit  of  loving  kindness  in  which  they 
sought  to  dissuade  the  saloon-keeper  from  his  work 
of  death,  they  called  to  the  dogs,  patted  their 
heads,  and  sang  such  heavenly  music  that  the 
animals  crouched  at  the  feet  of  the  women,  and 
became  by  far  the  most  respectably  behaved  and 
attentive  of  the  crowd.  "  My  God  hath  sent  his 
angel  and  hath  shut  the  lions'  mouths !  "  The 
saloon-keeper  alluded  to  was  afterward  converted, 
joined  our  forces,  and  his  saloon  was  for  a  time  the 
St.  Clair  Street  Inn. 

On  Good  Fridav,  the  anniversarv  of  the  cruci- 
fixion  of  our  Lord,  we  determined  to  move  upon 
the  German  saloons,  knowing  that  of  all  the  days 
of  the  year,  that  is  the  one  on  which  the  hearts  of 
those  people  may  be  touched.  So,  with  the 
prayers  and  benediction  of  a  Nast  and  Nachtrieb 
upon  us,  we  solemnly  set  forth  in  various  direc- 
tions from  the  First  Baptist  Church.  Two  of  the 
leaders,  Mrs.  S.  K.  Bolton  and  Mrs.  H.  M.  Ingham, 
accompanied  a  band  into  Woodland  avenue  and 
Cross  streets  ;  they  received  a  partial  shower  of 
stones,  but  no  physical  injury  was  sustained.     The 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  l8l 

same  day,  Mrs.  Coon  and  Mrs.  Cooke,  with  twenty 
others,  stopped  before  a  noted  saloon  in  an  uptown 
street.  Here  impious  roughs  had  a  painting  of 
Christ — the  Ecce  Homo — crowned  with  thorns, 
elevated  upon  a  pole,  and  draped  in  black,  held  up 
to  be  jeered  at  by  the  blaspheming  crowd.  "  They 
crucified  the  Son  of  God  afresh  ;  they  put  him  to 
open  shame."  Looking  on  the  patient  face,  up- 
lifted there,  and  then  down  through  the  years,  we 
felt  that  he  would  have  again  prayed,  "Father,  for- 
give them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do." 
"  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will   draw   all  men  unto 


me." 


l82  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

WOMAN'S  TEMPERANCE  CRUSADE — SPECIAL  MEN- 
TION—  MR.  W.  H.  DOAN — OUR  DEAD — MRS. 
JOSEPH    PERKINS — PEARL    STREET    INN. 

I  ^ARLY  in  the  chapter,  Thursday,  March  19th, 
*^*     was  mentioned.     Forty  of  us  went  on  that 

J 

date,  opposed,  though  unharmed,  through  Ontario 
street ;  withdrawing  to  the  Public  Square,  from 
the  steps  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building  great  crowds 
of  people  were  exhorted  by  eloquent  women  to  a 
better  life.  Just  here,  permit  me  to  say  that  this 
Association,  ever  ready  to  aid  reforms,  opens  its 
doors  and  lends  protection  to  all  who  need 
defense  ;  in  performance  of  noble  work  for  human- 
ity, these  young  men  are  untiring.  On  this  Thurs- 
day, violence  met  an  unauthorized  band  of  ladies 
in  the  Eleventh  Ward  on  Lorain  street.  Friday, 
the  20th,  a  company,  with  their  lives  endangered, 
went  up  Garden  street  and  held  glorious  meetings. 
Before  departure,  a  few  leaders  were  summoned  to 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  183 

Mayor  Otis'  office  to  receive  information  from  him 
and  from  a  Police  Commissioner  that  a  proclama- 
tion would  soon  be  issued  enforcing  the  sidewalk 
ordinance.  The  following  Monday,  after  the  issue 
of  the  proclamation,  those  of  the  West  Side  ladies 
who  had  waited  upon  the  Lord,  came  forth  with 
strength  renewed ;  "  they  mounted  up  on  wings 
as  eagles ;  they  ran  and  were  not  weary ;  walked 
and  fainted  not."  The  same  day,  two  hundred 
and  sixteen  of  us  went  out  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  and  called  upon  the  wholesale  dealers 
of  Water  and  Bank  streets  ;  Mrs.  Emma  White 
Perkins  in  the  forefront,  led  the  singing.  Not 
long  afterward  fifteen  hundred  women  assembled 
in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  ;  five  hundred  of 
them,  led  by  Mrs.  W.  A.  Ingham  and  Mrs.  S.  W. 
Duncan,  called  upon  the  wholesale  dealers  in  Mer- 
win  and  River  streets.  Can  we  forget  how  the 
stately  Episcopalian,  Mrs.  William  Mittleberger, 
or  the  cultured  Baptist,  Mrs.  Lucy  Seaman  Bain- 
bridge,  of  Rhode  Island,  with  others  of  our  own 
number,  exhorted  to  newness  of  life  the  vast 
crowd  surrounding  the  wharf?  One  bright  after- 
noon a  praying  band  went  through  River  street, 
lined    with   saloons  and  sailors'  boarding  houses. 


184  WOMKX    OF    CLEVELAND 

Refused  admission  at  many  doors,  they  passed  on, 
patient  and  calm.  One  saloon-keeper  relented 
and  sent  for  the  ladies  to  come  back.  Entering, 
they  saw  four  men  playing  cards,  the  chief  of 
whom,  with  long  gray  hair,  filthy,  ragged,  forlorn, 
blasphemed  Christ  at  sight  of  his  followers.  The 
leader  of  the  band,  Mrs.  Coon,  approached  him, 
and  with  angelic  sympathy,  laid  her  hand  on  his 
shoulder,  saying :  "  My  brother,  did  you  know 
that  Christ  died  for  you  ?  "  Awe-struck,  he  ceased 
to  blaspheme,  and  turned  deadly  pale.  The  next 
day  in  another  den  the  same  band  met  him  again. 
He  became  a  clean,  respectable  man,  and  was  for 
a  time  a  member  of  the  Euclid  Avenue  Congrega- 
tional Church.  He  was  Colonel  Westbrook,  of 
Virginia,  and  prominent  in  the  Confederate  service. 
May  1st,  1874,  a  large  audience  gathered  in 
First  Presbyterian  Church  to  hear  numerical 
results.  The  Praying  Bands  had  visited  three 
distilleries,  eight  breweries,  thirty  drug  stores, 
thirty-five  hotels — ten  of  these  had  abolished  a 
bar  —  fortv  wholesale  dealers,  eleven  hundred 
saloons ;  had  held  seventy  out-door  services,  also 
in  the  wigwams  on  Garden  and  St.  Clair  streets, 
in    Carleton   Hall,  Broadway,   on   the    tug    "  Cru- 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  185 

sader,"  and  in  a  number  of  warehouses  and  offices 
into  which  we  had  been  invited  to  pray  for  neigh- 
boring liquor  sellers  refusing  us  admission ;  Mrs. 
Moses  Hill  and  one  or  two  more  had  held  service 
in  engine  houses  and  Foresters1  Lodge.  Total 
number  of  dealers  who  had  signed  the  pledge, 
seventy-five ;  property  owners,  two  hundred ;  citi- 
zens, ten  thousand. 

Among  the  helps  to  our  cause  we  acknowledged 
the  noon  meetings  at  the  Stone  Church  parlors ; 
the  citizens'  mass  meetings ;  the  workers'  gather- 
ings Saturday  afternoons ;  the  pastors,  a  powerful 
adjunct;  the  sweet  singers  of  the  various  churches; 
generous  citizens  ;  the  Cleveland  press.  It  is  our 
conviction,  that  a  few  should  have  special  men- 
tion :  Mrs.  S.  P.  Churchill,  for  her  singing  each  day 
through  the  movement ;  Mrs.  S.  W.  Duncan  had 
executive  ability  and  skill  in  developing  ways, 
means  and  results  ;  during  her  stay  here,  in  and 
after  1874,  she  was  an  incentive  to  labor  and  a 
practical  exponent  of  ideas  advanced  to  others ; 
Rev.  A.  J.  F.  Behrends,  D.  D.,  Rev.  H.  C.  Haydn, 
D.  D.,  Rev.  C.  S.  Pomeroy,  D.  D.,  Rev.  S.  W.  Dun- 
can, Rev.  S.  Wolcott,  D.  D.,  Bishop  R.  Dubs, 
Messrs.  Joseph   Perkins,  J.  D.  Rockefeller,  W.  A. 


1 86  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

Ingham,  S.  H.  Sheldon,  and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  were 
a  right  arm  of  power. 

Mr.  W.  H.  Doan,  eminent  in  Cleveland  for 
good  works,  ever  ready  with  purse  and  a  kind 
word  to  aid  our  cause,  always  maintained  that 
through  the  influence  of  the  Temperance  Crusade 
he  established  the  People's  Tabernacle  in  Ontario 
street.  For  years  this  was  a  center  of  reform,  and 
through  Mr.  C.  E.  Bolton  the  great  building  was 
a  source  of  education  to  thousands  of  working 
men  and  their  families,  as  well  as  of  entertain- 
ment and  good  cheer  to  the  general  public. 
These  two  men  gave  an  uplift  to  effort  for  the 
whole  people.  Mrs.  Doan  is  yet  with  us ;  Mr. 
Doan's  sisters — all  widows,  are  here,  and  in  good 
work :  Caroline  Doan  Walters,  Mrs.  Harriet 
Sprague,  Mrs.  Lucy  Miller,  Mrs.  Martha  Mc- 
Reynolds.  Several  ladies,  Miss  Sarah  L.  Andrews 
and  others,  are  active  now,  elsewhere.  A  large 
number  of  our  Crusaders  and  later  workers  have 
laid  down  the  Cross  to  wear  the  Crown  :  Mrs.  A. 
R.  Thomas,  Mrs.  William  Mittleberger,  Rev.  Fred- 
erick Brooks,  Mrs.  G.  H.  Haskell,  Mrs.  Robert 
Hanna,  Mrs.  E.  P.  Morgan,  Mrs.  H.  R.  Hoising- 
ton,  Mrs.  E.  D.  and  J.  C.  Delamater,  Mrs.  A.  A. 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  187 

Brakenridge,  Mrs.  Mary  Hubbell,  Mrs.  R.  San- 
derson, Mrs.  C.  E.  Wheeler,  Mrs.  W.  B.  Porter, 
Mrs.  Dr.  Keeler,  Mrs.  J.  F.  C.  Hayes,  Miss  Belle 
Brayton,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Perkins,  Mr.  W.  H. 
Doan,  Mrs.  William  Taylor  and  her  son,  Mr.  J.  L. 
Taylor,  with  many  more. 

Mrs.  Moses  Hill,  unusually  gifted  in  prayer  and 
exhortation,  went  from  her  elegant  home  in  Kal- 
amazoo, Mich.,  to  the  "many  mansions." 

When  I  looked  upon  Mrs.  John  Coon  with  a 
lily  in  her  hand,  so  beautifully  placed  for  burial 
by  the  loving  touch  of  Mrs.  L.  T.  Schofield  and 
Mrs.  Alice  M.  Claflen,  I  recalled  her  thrilling 
voice  in  those  prayers  that  arrested  many  a  wan- 
dering soul,  and  longed  for  the  hour  when  we 
shall  greet  each  other  on  the  "shining  shore." 

Two  women  of  Cleveland,  one  departed,  and 
one  in  the  shadow  of  three-score  and  ten,  gave 
themselves  to  this  great  work: 

Mrs.  Joseph  Perkins. —  The  subjoined  was 
furnished  by  her  intimate  friend,  Miss  Mary  H. 
Ingersoll,  a  lady  connected  with  good  work,  both 
in  the  Presbvterian  Church  and  in  the  various 
associations  of  which  she  is  a  member.  Miss 
IngersoH's  excellent  judgment  and  helpful  intelli- 


1 88  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

gence  are  well  known  to  Cleveland  workers :  Mrs. 
Perkins  was  born  in  Culpepper  county,  Va.,  where 
for  several  generations  her  maternal  ancestors  had 
lived.  Her  great  grandmother,  Betty  Washington, 
was  a  sister  of  General  George  Washington,  and 
her  grandfather,  Colonel  Howell  Lewis,  was  the 
favorite  among  his  nephews,  indeed  the  only  one 
mentioned  in  his  will.  Mrs.  Perkins'  father, 
Robert  McAnery  Steele,  was  of  Scotch  parentage ; 
he  died  when  she  was  but  six  years  old.  Seven 
years  later  her  mother  removed  to  Marietta,  O.,  in 
order  to  secure  better  educational  advantages  for 
her  children.  Mrs.  Perkins,  after  her  marriage, 
resided  in  Warren  until  1851,  when  she  removed 
to  Cleveland.  Of  her  noble  and  useful  life  here, 
many  delight  to  testify.  Her  home  was  truly  the 
center  of  that  life ;  but  this  did  not  mean  a  selfish 
absorption  in  the  interests  of  her  family  in  order 
to  secure  for  them  the  highest  social  honors  and 
distinctions.  Her  great  ambition  for  her  children 
was  that  they  should  become  useful  Christians, 
and  for  this  she  faithfully  labored  to  train  them. 
While  very  conscientious  in  discharging  her  duties 
as  mistress  of  a  large  household,  her  care  for  the 
comfort   and   happiness    of    every    member   of   it 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  1 89 

awakened  in  those  employed  by  her  the  warmest 
affection  ;  touching  instances  of  this  have  recently 
come  to  my  knowledge.  Her  hospitality  was  gen- 
erous and  cordial,  even  to  those  who  came  as 
strangers,  but  who  went  away  filled  with  delight- 
ful remembrance  of  her  gracious  welcome  and 
kindly  courtesy.  The  prominent  place  she  held 
in  church,  of  which  for  twentv-five  vears  she  was 
a  member,  was  accorded  her  because  of  what  she 
was,  not  because  of  her  wealth  or  social  position. 
The  following,  from  the  Ladies*  Society  of  this 
church,  will  show  the  estimate  of  Mrs.  Perkins' 
character  of  those  bv  whom,  outside  of  her  own 
family,  she  was  best  known  and  most  beloved : 
"  Her  quick  perception  of  what  was  right,  and  her 
unwavering  adherence  to  it,  gave  great  value  to 
her  judgment;  her  decisions,  always  promptly 
reached,  were  expressed  with  great  deference  for 
those  who  differed  from  her,  while  her  inimitable 
humor  was  a  charm  to  which  all  yielded."  Con- 
nected with  Mrs.  Perkins  in  church  work,  it  was 
repeatedly  my  privilege  to  go  with  her  to  homes 
of  poverty.  The  entire  absence  of  anything  like 
ostentation  or  condescension  in  her  manner,  her 
ready  sympathy  with  sorrow   or   misfortune,  her 


190  WOMKN    OF    CLEVELAND 

unaffected  interest  in  the  details  of  want  and  woe, 
and  the  rare  good  sense  of  the  advice  she  gave 
and  the  plans  for  relief  she  proposed,  won  my 
warmest  love  and  admiration.  In  her  position,  as 
one  of  the  managers  of  the  Retreat,  the  strength 
and  beauty  of  Mrs.  Perkins'  character  were  very 
clearly  shown.  Longing  with  a  true  mother-love 
to  help  the  unfortunate  inmates  of  that  home, 
giving  them  generously  of  her  sympathy  and 
encouragement,  she  labored  to  awaken  in  them  a 
love  for  purity  and  true  womanliness,  and  a  trust 
in  the  Divine  strength,  as  the  only  hope  for  a 
restored  womanhood.  Her  last  purchases  were 
Christmas  gifts  for  these  girls ;  and  to  many  of 
them  the  cherished  remembrance  from  so  true  a 
friend  will  doubtless  prove  the  inspiration  to  hope, 
in  the  struggle  toward  a  better  life.  Mrs.  Perkins 
was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Woman's  Chris- 
tian Temperance  League,  chairman  of  its  first 
Executive  Committee,  and,  until  prevented  by 
protracted  illness  in  her  family  and  her  own 
declining  health,  actively  engaged  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  its  work.  The  characteristics  of  Mrs. 
Perkins  most  strongly  impressed  on  those  associ- 
ated with  her  in  these  various  benevolent  enter- 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  191 

prises,  are  :  an  excellent  judgment ;  a  sympathy 
responsive  to  every  just  appeal ;  wit,  quick  and 
sparkling,  but  never  caustic,  and  beautifying  all, 
a  Christian  faith  and  love,  not  paraded,  but  sus- 
taining and  controlling.  The  desire  that  she 
might  learn  the  lesson  which  the  All-wise  Teacher 
intended  in  her  discipline  of  sorrow  and  bereave- 
ment seemed  at  last  granted.  She  was  able  to 
feel, 

"  111  that  He  blesses  is  our  good, 
And  unblest  good  is  ill ; 
And  all  is  right  that  seems  most  wrong, 
If  it  be  His  sweet  will." 

Very  evident  and  wonderfully  beautiful,  as  re- 
vealed during  the  last  few  months  of  her  life,  was 
the  ripening  of  the  "  fruits  of  the  Spirit "  in  her, 
until  an  almost  angelic  sweetness  smiled  in  her 
face  even  through  the  lines  of  pain  and  weariness. 
Surely  among  all  the  descendants  of  the  family 
most  honored  in  our  land,  none  are  worthier  than 
Martha  Steele  Perkins,  and  what  makes  her  most 
worthy  our  admiring,  reverent  love,  is  not  that 
she  was  a  Washington,  but  that  as  wife,  as  mother, 
as  friend,  she  was  a  Christian. 

Friendly  Inn  Work.  —  From  1876-82,  the 
Pearl  Street  Inn  was  a  phenomenal  success.    At 


192  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

the  close  of  the  first  twelve  months  the  restaurant 
paid  into  the  Ladies'  Treasury  $130.  For  years 
the  Saturday  night  boys'  class  had  a  remarkable 
career.  Miss  Ada  Jones — now  wife  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Bonnell — was  leader  and  inspiration.  Street  chil- 
dren came  in,  acquired  temperance  instruction 
and  book  knowledge ;  were  informed  upon  every- 
day topics  and  heard  parliamentary  drill.  Miss 
Jones  possessed  tact,  ability,  adaptation.  Many 
young  business  men  now  point  to  those  years  as 
the  seed-sowing  time  of  their  lives,  and  acknowl- 
edge thrift  and  prosperity  through  those  influences. 
The  Girls'  Sewing  School  and  Knitting  Class, 
superintended  on  Saturday  afternoons  by  Miss 
Lina  Moore,  now  Mrs.  N.  S.  Amstutz,  Mrs.  H.  C. 
Spooner  and  Miss  Nellie  Hutchings,  with  a  corps 
of  faithful  assistants,  were  full  of  results.  Scien- 
tific temperance  instruction  simplified  was  given 
at  each  session.  Mothers'  meetings,  enrolling  two 
hundred  and  seventy,  were  held  Wednesdays,  in 
charge  of  the  chairman,  Mrs.  W.  A.  Ingham. 
Many  wives  of  drunkards,  and  others  who  felt  the 
need  in  their  own  lives  of  spiritual  uplifting,  came 
to  the  chapel  to  listen  to  Bible  readings  by  Mrs. 
Lewis  Burton,   Mrs.  H.  M.  Ingham,  Mrs.  H.  Ben- 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  193 

ton,  Mrs.  S.  H.  Lee,  Mrs.  Hayes,  Mrs.  Sanderson, 
and  other  ladies ;  prayer  and  song  were  inter- 
spersed ;  Miss  Ellen  Turner,  now  Mrs.  Chas.  Luck, 
organist.  A  hearty  experience  meeting  and  plain 
lunch  followed.  The  sunshine  of  that  mothers' 
meeting  still  pervades  some  lives.  Among  the 
best  missionary  workers  in  this  department  were 
Mrs.  E.  D.  Delamater  and  Mrs.  Jas.  Mclntyre  ; 
Mrs.  Campbell  was  our  canal-boat  visitor.  The 
reformed  men's  meetings  had  power  ;  *  at  one  time, 
three  hundred  were  connected  with  this  Inn.  Our 
own  gospel  temperance  pledge,  cottage  prayer- 
meetings,  anniversary  suppers,  and  every  agency 
known  to  Christian  women  prevailed.  The  In- 
dustrial Committee,  presided  over  by  Mrs.  Smith 
Moore,  conducted  the  annual  "  Mothers'  Fair,"  in 
which  Mrs.  John  Grant  and  Mrs.  J.  D.  Bothwell, 
aided  by  citizens  generally,  helped  on  the  reform. 
Pearl  Inn  was  the  pioneer  in  this  city  of  dime  en- 
tertainments. Fine  talent,  aided  by  amateur  be- 
ginners among  girls  and  boys,  brought  out  choice 
music,  readings,  recitations  and  tableaux ;  the 
physical  effect  of  alcohol  on  brain,  nerves  and 
blood  were  given  by  ladies. 

*  Held  on   Sabbath  afternoons.     Miss  Emma  Warner,  now 
Mrs.  Lemperley,  played  the  organ. 


194  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

Thousands  of  persons  were  supplied  with  ice- 
water  in  the  heat  of  Summer,  with  literature  at  all 
seasons,  and  invited  to  reading  room  privileges. 
Drawing  room  assemblies  were  held  at  the  resi- 
dence of  the  chairman,  who  during  this  glad  har- 
vest in  the  white  fields  of  suffering  humanity, 
made  herself  familiar  with  the  coffee  house  sys- 
tems of  England  and  Scotland,  and  went  "  crusad- 
ing '  with  ladies  of  London  in  Shoreditch.  In 
all,  one  thousand  persons  were  enrolled  as  regular 
attendants  in  the  various  departments  of  Pearl 
Inn  ;  each  one  having  influence  in  some  home, 
or  work-shop  and  on  the  streets.  This  center 
of  education  and  reform  lives  now  only  in  memory 
— for  the  chairman  could  no  longer  bear  the  phys- 
ical and  financial  strain  resulting  from  being  the 
bearer  of  most  of  the  heavy  burden  of  work  after 
the  first  five  years  of  this  Inn's  history.  The 
neighboring  churches  are  stronger  in  missionary 
effort,  through  its  agency ;  the  number  redeemed 
by  its  influence  will  only  be  known  when  "  the 
books  are  opened." 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  1 95 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

ST.  CLAIR  STREET  INN— MRS.  M.  C.  WORTHING- 
TOX — CENTRAL  FRIENDLY  INN — MISS  F.  JEN- 
NIE DUTY  —  COLUMBIAN  STATISTICS  —  MRS. 
EMMA  C.  WORTHINGTON — THE  W.  C.  T.  U.  OF 
TO-DAY — NATIONAL  W.  C.  T.  U — WOMEN  OF 
THE    SALVATION   ARMY — OUR   Y'S. 

/^VNE  of  the  worst  saloons  of  St.  Clair  street 
^^  was  rented,  June  15th,  1874,  by  Mrs.  Maria 
C.  Worthington  and  other  benevolent  ladies  for  a 
reading  room.  Two  of  these  helpers  were  Mrs. 
C.  E.  Wheeler,  of  precious  memory,  and  Mrs. 
James  Mason.  Pictures,  mottoes  and  brackets 
ornamented  the  renovated  walls  ;  plants  and  vines 
the  windows  ;  papers,  magazines  and  books  wTere 
on  the  tables.  Religious  services  were  held  Sab- 
bath afternoons  and  Wednesday  evenings ;  socia- 
bles, Saturday  evenings.  Later  on,  lodgings  were 
furnished.  These  ladies  laid  much  stress  upon 
attractive  boarding  homes  for  voung  men.     During 


196  WOMEN    OF   CLEVELAND 

the  first  two  years,  three  hundred  meetings  were 
held .  for  prayer  and   conference  ;  sixty  sociables  ; 
mothers'    meetings    established ;   twenty  of   them 
held;    nin?  hundred    families   visited;    nineteen 
hundred  pledges  obtained ;  ninety  saloons  called 
upon ;    thirteen    closed ;    five   keepers    and    their 
wives  leading  new  lives  ;  forty  drunkards  reformed 
and  fourteen  hundred  tracts  and  papers  distributed, 
besides  a  good  work  among  boys  and   young  men. 
Mary  Andrews,  from  China,  often  gave  Bible  read- 
ings.     More    room    was  required    and    furnished. 
Mrs.  Worthington  purchased  the  ancient  Waring 
Street  Methodist  Church  building  and  presented 
it  to  her    Board.     A    great  work    progressed  for 
years.     Men  reformed  and  women  helped  by  the 
Inn,  grew  self-sustaining  and  were  in  their  places, 
as  work  people,  living  comfortably;  many  railroad 
men's  families  came  to  reside  in  the  vicinity.     Mrs. 
Worthington  greatly  needed  relief  from  the  heavy 
burdens    imposed    by    exigencies    of    temperance 
work  in  the  old  Fifth  and  Seventh  Wards.     Aged 
sick  women   found  in  distress  were  cared  for  by 
these  elect  women,  and  in  time  given  quarters  in 
rented  rooms  on  Hamilton  street.     From  this  be- 
ginning came  the  Invalids'  Home.    Airs.  Worthing- 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  197 

ton  laid  before  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associ- 
ation the  need  of  their  special  line  of  work  in  the 
changing  population  of  that  section.  They  ac- 
cepted her  proposition,  taking  all  services,  except 
those  of  the  children  ;  these  little  ones,  neighbor- 
ing pastors  placed  in  their  own  Sunday  schools. 
When  all  arrangements  were  definitely  made,  this 
excellent  woman  made  a  gift  of  the  St.  Clair 
Street  Inn  building  to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  it  be- 
came known  as  the  Alabama  Street  Branch  Station. 
Mrs.  Worthington  was  born  at  Dorset,  Vt.,  in 
181 7.  Surrounded  by  mountains,  she  from  child- 
hood drank  in  elevation  of  soul  from  the  air  of  the 
peaks,  so  that  when  reverses  came  to  her  father — 
Mr.  Blackmer — she  was  ready  for  any  emergency, 
teaching  first,  a  country  school ;  then  the  primary 
department  of  the  Bennington  Seminary,  herself 
taking  lessons  in  the  higher  classes.  In  1836,  her 
family  removed  to  Cleveland  ;  the  father  engag- 
ing in  business,  in  a  house  on  the  site  now  oc- 
cupied by  the  W.  P.  Southworth  Co.  Just  in  the 
rear  was  a  little  white  chapel  in  the  midst  of  a 
cluster  of  dwellings.  In  this  chapel,  Miss  Black- 
mer opened  a  private  school,  which  was  in  a  short 
time  absorbed  in  the  newly  established  free  school 


198  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

system.  This  young  lady  did  mission  work  in 
rooms  provided  at  the  foot  of  Superior  street,  for 
the  Sunday  instruction  of  the  children  of  sailors  ; 
her  class  were  all  converted ;  Father  Taylor 
being  in  the  prime  of  his  street  labors  here.  His 
successor  was  Rev.  Win.  Day,  who  became  chap- 
lain to  the  lake  marine  corps,  and  the  Bethel  was 
built  where  Hotel  Pence  now  stands. 

Mr.  George  Worthington,  an  industrious  young 
man,  came  here  in  1837,  from  Syracuse,  N.  Y., 
doing  an  infinitesimal  trade  in  hardware  and  jew- 
elry on  the  Square,  just  where  our  Court  House 
now  is.  He  invited  Miss  Blackmer  to  share  his 
destiny.  Economical  and  prosperous,  Mr.  Worth- 
ington bought  in  time  a  plat  of  ground  on  Euclid 
1  avenue,  only  two  residences  being  in  sight,  those 
of  Messrs.  Irad  Kellev  and  Horace  Weddell. 
Mrs.  W.  was  a  devoted  wife  and  mother,  strictly 
domestic,  and  helped,  largely,  by  her  frugality  and 
attention,  in  amassing  the  fortune  which  came  de- 
servedly. In  1874,  she  was  an  ardent  crusader ; 
all  the  nobility  of  her  nature  asserted  itself,  and 
without  intention  of  her  own  she  stood  a  central 
figure  in  the  temperance  movement.  She  always 
had  a  too  modest  estimate  of  her  own  abilities  and 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  199 

worth  ;  seeking  retirement,  her  good  deeds  are 
known  to  the  recipients  of  her  ever-abonnding 
charity.  Of  deeply  spiritual  nature  and  habit,  she 
has  been  greatly  sought  for  as  leader  in  the  benev- 
olent work  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 
but  pursuing  the  'even  tenor  of  her  way,'  has 
built  up  a  grand  work  for  the  city  she  loves  so 
well.  In  her  errands  of  mercy  for  the  Invalids' 
Home,  with  which  she  is  closely  connected,  Mrs. 
Chas.  L.  Rhodes,  a  noble  worker,  is  usually  her 
companion. 

Central  Friendly  Inn  was  established  September 
7th,  1874 — a  new  building  was  occupied  April 
22nd,  1888.  This  was  the  gift  of  many  people, 
Messrs'.  Joseph  Perkins  and  J.  D.  Rockefeller  be- 
ing large  donors.  It  is  located  on  Broadway, 
corner  of  Central  avenue,  in  a  section  of  the  city 
needing  just  such  a  mission  station.  "Not  willing 
that  any  should  perish,"  is  the  motto,  of  the  insti- 
tution, which  contains  reading  rooms  for  men,  for 
boys,  eighteen  lodgings,  facilities  for  cooking  and 
sewing  schools,  kitchen  garden  classes,  coffee  room 
and  carpenter  shop.  The  chapel  is  large  and  com- 
modious ;  Miss  F.  Jennie  Duty,  leader  and  super- 
intendent ;  a  lady  of  means,  education,  and  con- 


200  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

nected  with  one  of  the  old  families  of  Cleveland, 
who  gives  her  life  to  temperance  work.  Nine 
gospel  meetings,  varying  in  character,  are  held 
each  week,  besides  those  for  mothers  and  children. 
It  is  estimated  that  at  least  twenty-two  hundred 
visits  are  made  bv  several  laborers,  each  vear. 
Reformed  men  are  a  Bine  Ribbon  Band,  a  Band  of 
Hope  for  girls  and  boys ;  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  young  men  and  women  enrolled  in  a  "Y," 
for  social,  temperance  and  philanthropic  purposes; 
a  W.  C.  T.  U.,  for  mothers  and  women  in  general; 
these  meetings  are  all  inspiring  ;  anniversary  oc- 
casions, delightful  with  flowers  and  music,  experi- 
ence and  Bible  reading.  All-day  services  on 
special  dates  are  crowded  with  people  who  need  to 
be  touched  by  the  power  of  the  Gospel.  Central 
Friendly  Inn  is  a  noble  beneficence  ;  a  beacon- 
light  on  a  rocky  shore,  preventing  total  wreck  of 
storrn-tossed  souls.  Mrs.  Lucy  Galbraith,  Mrs.  E. 
Chittenden,  Mrs.  Byrnes,  Miss  Hatch,  Miss  L.  T. 
Guilford,  Mrs.  Herbert  Hill,  Mrs.  Dr.  Brockett,  Mrs. 
A.  D.  Morton,  are  enrolled  here  among  self-forgetful 
workers.  Mrs.  Anna  S.  Prather  has  helped  this 
institution  in  the  past,  by  her  readiness  in  gather- 
ing funds;  she  is  now  president  of  the  Doan  Union 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  201 

at  Music  Hall.  Central  Inn  belongs  to  the  present 
and  we  trust  to  the  future. 

The  successor  of  River  Street  Station  is  the 
Floating  Bethel  Chapel,  that  of  the  South  Side 
Sewing  School  and  reformatory  work,  the  Erin 
Avenue  Baptist  Church. 

We  do  not  think  that  sufficient  emphasis  has 
been  given  to  the  results  of  the  woman's  crusade 
in  Cleveland,  in  producing  the  great  and  varied 
benevolences  growing  out  of  the  movement.  The 
Columbian  ingathering  of  1893  shows  the  strength 
of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union ; 
both  branches.  The  Xon-Partisan  includes  the 
Central  Inn  Union,  Miss  F.  Jennie  Duty,  chair- 
man, and  Miss  Delia  Hatch,  secretary;  Music  Hall 
(Doan),  Mrs.  J.  S.  Prather,  Mrs.  H.  M.  Ingham  ; 
Hough  Avenue,  Mrs.  C.  W.  Haight;  South  Cleve- 
land, Mrs.  A.  B.  Caine ;  Bohemian  and  German 
Young  Women's  Unions;  Cyril  and  Central  Inn 
uY's"  and  the  "Other  Y's."  These  nine  all  re- 
port at  No.  513  Arcade;  Miss  Mary  E.  Ingersoll, 
president,  Miss  F.  E.  Huntington,  secretary.  The 
institutions  maintained  are  Central  Friendly  Inn, 
Woodland  Avenue  and  Willson  x\venue  Reading 
Rooms;  the  two  latter  in  charge  of  Mrs.   Emma 


202  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

C.  Worthington  and  Miss  Anna  Edwards,  respect- 
ively. Mrs.  Worthington's  successful  labor  in  the 
Boys1  Reformatory  is  well  known  ;  this  wTas  for 
years  connected  with  the  Workhouse.  Miss  Anna 
Edwards  is  a  lecturer  and  organizer,  being  an 
original  crusader.  Carroll  Street  Mission,  Miss  M. 
Ingham;  Training  Home  for  Friendless  Girls,  Mrs. 
B.  S.  Coggswell.  Abont  three  thousand  persons 
assemble  in  these  institutions  each  week  for  re- 
formatory, educational  and  preventive  work.  The 
extinction  of  the  liquor  traffic,  reformation  of  the 
intemperate,  education  of  public  sentiment,  in 
addition  to  direct  personal  effort,  are  aims  of  the 
Union. 

The  National  Non-Partisan  Union  was  formed 
here  in  1889 ;  holding  annual  session  in  this  city 
in  November,  1892  ;  Mrs.  E.  J.  Phinney  and  Mrs. 
H.  M.  Ingham,  both  of  Cleveland,  president  and 
secretary. 

The  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  To-dav.— Of  these,  in 
Cleveland  are  six  ;  and  a  membership  of  some 
hundreds,  with  Sunday  services  at  the  Jail,  lunch 
for  self-sustaining  young  women  at  No.  8  Euclid 
avenue,  distribution  of  temperance  literature,  lec- 
tures, etc.     Here  are  Mrs.  R.  A.  Campbell,  Mrs.  C. 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  203 

E.  Tillinghast,  Mrs.  A.  R.  Singletary,  Mrs.  Harriet 

D.  Comnberry,  Mrs.  Alice  Terrell,  Mrs.  D.  W. 
Gage,  Mrs.  J.  Ellston,  Mrs.  Virginia  Stevens,  Mrs. 
T.  K.  Doty,  Mrs.  G.  P.  Oviatt,  Mrs.  J.  Ellston,  Mrs. 

E.  T.  Silver,  Mrs.  R.  A.  Cannon  and  Miss  Lucy 
Jordan,  of  Rockport.  Mrs.  H.  E.  Hammond,  dis- 
trict president,  Mrs.  E.  S.  Gillette,  hopeful  for  final 
victory  ;  Mrs.  J.  T.  Foote  and  Mrs.  S.  M.  Perkins 
have  labored  faithfullv  all  these  vears.  Mrs.  Geo. 
Preslev  has  freelv  given  of  her  means  and  of  home 
light  for  the  cause ;  beloved,  earnest,  patient. 
Besides  a  hundred  others,  is  Mrs.  E.  O.  Buxton, 
the  persistent,  successful  friend  of  young  women. 

Just  here,  in  close  sympathy,  we  are  exalted  to 
high  privilege  in  placing  the  most  self-sacrificing 
of  all  the  women  of  Cleveland,  those  of  the  Salva- 
tion Army.  Heat,  frost,  darkness,  physical  suffer- 
ing are  to  these  undaunted  souls  a  mere  bagatelle; 
they  are  toiling  in  the  slums,  while  we  sit  at  com- 
fortable fire-sides  ;  they  bear  the  persecution  of  the 
ungodly,  while  we  linger  in  stately  halls,  or  in  ex- 
clusive circles,  entertaining  and  being  entertained. 
On  their  brows  rests  the  crown  of  thorns;  for 
them  is  the  cross,  the  spear,  the  nails;  and  for 
them  in  the  resurrection  shall  be  the  glory. 


204  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

The  "  Y"  movement  began  in  Cleveland  in 
1874,  and  spread  throughout  the  country;  becom- 
ing a  department  of  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  in 
1880.  Of  these  are  here,  five  unions,  doing  ex- 
cellent work,  by  creating  healthy  sentiment  among 
young  men  and  women.  The  West  Side  UY'  is 
strong ;  organized  by  Mrs.  Buxton,  and  now  pre- 
sided over  by  Miss  Iyuella  Bradley,  who  gives 
promise  of  extended  usefulness.  The  East  End 
"  Y'  is  large,  influential  and  persevering.  All  to- 
gether in  one  great  assembly,  our  girls  are  "  an 
army  with  banners." 

November  20th,  1874,  the  National  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  was  formed  in  the 
Superior  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  preliminaries 
having  been  arranged  in  August  previous  at  Lake 
Chautauqua,  N.  Y.,  by  seven  ladies,  of  whom  the 
writer  of  this  history  is  one  ;  it  is  now  the  largest 
organization  of  women  known,  with  forty  depart- 
ments of  work  steadily  developing.  Its  headquar- 
ters are  located  in  the  Woman's  Temple,  Chicago. 
The  results  of  the  crusade — that  Pentecost  of 
power,  are  not  yet  fully  apparent.  We  consider  it 
the  beginning  of  the  greatest  moral  movement  of 
the    centurv.     It   has  done   more  to  advance  the 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  205 

cause  of  woman  and  of  practical  Christianity  than 
any  combined  forces  of  previous  years.  It  has 
become  of  national  and  international  significance, 
and  a  World's  Christian  Temperance  Union  is 
formed.  Discerning  eyes,  watching  closely  the 
times,  must  see  that  the  influence  of  our  work 
penetrates  everywhere.  It  is  deft,  abounding  in 
tact,  marvelously  thorough,  and  uncompromisingly 
persistent.  The  Home  Protection  Movement  is 
sweeping  upon  us.  To  my  mind,  you  may  find  it 
thus  described  in  Isaiah,  the  prophet  :  u  Behold, 
.1  will  make  thee  a  new,  sharp  threshing  instru- 
ment, having  teeth ;  thou  shalt  thresh  the  moun- 
tains and  beat  them  small,  and  shalt  make  the 
hills  as  chaff.  Thou  shalt  fan  them  and  the  wind 
shall  carry  them  away  ;  the  whirlwind  shall  scatter 
them."  The  world  moves.  Reforms  know  only 
advance. 


2o6  WOMEN    OF   CLEVELAND 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

CHURCH  SOCIETIES — FIFTY  NOBLE  WOMEN — COL- 
UMBIAN STATISTICS — PRESBYTERIAN  WORK — 
W.  H.  M.  S. — MRS.  LUCY  WEBB  HAYES — EPISCO- 
PAL CHURCH — MRS.  C.  S.  BATES — CONGREGA- 
TIONAL— MRS.  J.  G.  W.  COWLES — MISSIONARIES 
AT  HOME — MISS  S.  C.  YALENTINE — MISS  SARAH 
L.  ANDREWS — McALL  MISSION — KING'S  DAUGH- 
TERS—  MRS.  CONWAY  W.  NOBLE — WOMAN'S 
COUNCIL — ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH — MRS. 
T.  J.  MOONEY — MISS  JOANNA  O'MARA — HEBREW 
WOMAN'S  WORK — MRS.  MANUEL  HALLE — BO- 
HEMIAN HUNDREDS — MARIE  HAJEK. 

r  1  ^HE  writer,  haYing  wrought  in  her  own  city, 
^  for  near  a  quarter-century,  in  the  deepest  and 
strongest  of  causes,  both  home  and  foreign,  may 
with  authority  hold  that  the  Church  ought  to  be  the 
central  power  in  the  redemption  of  humanity ; 
herein  should  be  a  concentration  of  loYe,  of  Christian 
activitY-     From  each  of  these   one    hundred    and 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  20J 

sixty  Protestant  churches  of  Cleveland  is  con- 
stantly lent  a  hand  to  the  struggling,  despairing, 
unfortunate  ;  for  they  have  facilities  for  reaching, 
spiritually,  the  young  and  old,  rich  and  poor, 
ignorant  and  learned.  Christ,  the  great  Head, 
came  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost.  "  The  disciple 
must  not  be  above  her  Lord."  With  Sabbath  and 
week-night  services  crowded,  Sunday  schools  filled 
with  little  ones  brought  hither  by  missionary  visit- 
ation, met  by  teachers,  so  intent  upon  their  work 
that  it  is  but  a  labor  of  love  to  guide  young  feet  in 
the  way  of  life,  scarce  opportunity  would  be 
afforded  for  a  great  number  of  expensive  outside 
organizations.  There  are  twenty  churches  in  this 
city  fulfilling  our  ideal.  Of  one,  its  missionary 
work,  home  and  foreign,  is  thoroughly  systema- 
tized and  well  managed ;  its  Ladies'  Benevolent 
Society,  organized  in  1872,  numbering  seventy, 
expends  $500  per  year  in  relief,  in  contributions  to 
a  reading  room,  day  nursery,  a  Friendly  Inn  and 
two  hospitals,  besides  sending  boxes  of  supplies 
to  the  frontier.  The  Sundav  school  is  of  mag- 
nificent  proportions,  and  has  its  own  sewing  circles. 
Bible  instruction  centers  there.  The  latter,  and 
the  sewing  school   as  well,   were   for  a  long  time 


208  WOMEN    OK    CIJAKLAND 

conducted  by  one  of  Cleveland's  remarkable 
women,  Mrs.  William  Taylor,  of  precious  memory. 
The  great  chorus  choir  is  a  complete  musical 
society.  The  ample  audience  room  is  plainly  fur- 
nished, yet  bears  the  impress  of  the  cultured, 
devout  brain  and  soul  of  the  originators.  The 
people  love  to  go  there  to  hear  a  genuine  gospel. 
The  Second  Presbyterian  Church  has  a  ladies' 
society,  almost  equal  in  ability  and  results.  The 
Woman's  Benevolent  Association  of  our  Church  of 
the  Forefathers,  Plymouth,  organized  in  1853,  is  a 
grand  center  of  distribution.  WTell  may  Mrs.  J.  G. 
W.  Cowles  say  of  it  to  the  Columbian  Association 
that  filling  a  blank  for  statistics  feebly  portrays 
the  amount  of  help  extended  to  Chinese,  to  Indians, 
to  Southern  Negroes,  and  to  the  various  charities 
of  the  city.  This  society's  dear  little  sister  of  dis- 
tant Franklin  Avenue  Congregational,  with  its  ten 
members  in  each  auxiliary,  counts  for  just  as  much 
with  our  Lord,  who,  "with  equal  eye,"  regards  a 
giant  or  a  sparrow.  The  Women's  Association  of 
Pilgrim  Church  is  unique,  with  its  hundred  mem- 
bers and  manifold  method;  its  object  being  to 
increase  the  efficiency  of  the  distinctive  work  of 
the  women  of  the  church.     Among  its  committees 


AND   THEIR   WORK,  20g 

are  one  on  Sewing  Circle;  on  Sewing  School;  on 
Hospitality;  on  Visitation;  on  Home  and  City- 
Missions;  on  Foreign  Missions.  What  grand 
anniversaries  are  in  store  for  this  youthful  organi- 
zation, we  leave  Mrs.  A.  M.  Emerson,  Miss  Kate 
Maclnnes,  Mrs.  J.  M.  Curtiss,  Mrs.  E.  E.  Coe,  and 
their  associates  to  unfold. 

The  Scranton  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  with  more 
pluck  than  many  better  known  and  larger  temples, 
has  a  Ladies'  Aid  Society  that  paid  $180  toward 
expenses,  and  a  Missionary  Circle,  adding  over  half 
a  hundred  dollars  to  home  and  foreign  work,  as 
recorded  by  Mrs.  W.  H.  Ferris. 

Mrs.  Lloyd  Darsie  says  of  the  Disciple  churches: 
"  The  aid  given  to  Foreign  Missions  is  necessarilv 
scattered  in  all  countries.  The  home  work  is 
more  especially  devoted  to  evangelizing  the  city, 
starting  new  missions  and  helping  to  sustain  those 
already  in  being.  The  societies  show  healthful 
growth  since  the  date  of  their  organization,  twelve 
years  ago ;  on  an  average  trebling  the  original 
membership.  In  eight  churches  we  have  sixteen 
women's  societies,  in  the  city  of  Cleveland,  expend- 
ing annually  the  sum  of  three  thousand  dollars, 
equally  divided  between  home  and  foreign." 


2IO  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

From  the  rectory  of  St.  Paul's  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  come  delightful  statistics  of  all 
the  parishes  of  Cleveland,  so  clothed  with  beautiful 
substance  by  Mrs.  C.  S.  Bates  that  we  actually  see 
wide-spread  activities  in  full  operation.  Mrs. 
Theodore  Bury,  a  well-known  woman  of  Cleveland, 
stands  for  the  Senior  Missionary  Society  of  St. 
Paul's;  Mrs.  W.  G.  Yates,  the  Woman's  Auxiliary, 
raising  very  nearly  $1,000  per  year;  there  is 
the  Frederick  Brooks  Mission  Circle  and  the 
Girls'  Mission  Band,  all  in  this  great  church ; 
the  Ladies'  Guilds,  of  Newburgh,  of  St.  Peter's, 
of  St.  James',  of  all  Saints',  and  the  five  societies 
of  St.  Mary's  by  Elise  Keppler  and  her  associates, 
the  Girls'  Friendly  Societies  of  St.  John's,  of  Grace, 
the  Marie  Louise  of  St.  Luke's,  "Woman's 
Auxiliaries,"  "Parish  Aids,"  the  "Altar  Guilds," 
the  "  Little  Helpers,"  of  a  dozen  others,  not  omit- 
ting the  Frauen  Verein  of  Christus  Kirche,  nor  the 
Guild  of  St.  Andrews-in-the-East. 

Trinity  Cathedral  has,  besides  its  institution,  a 
Woman's  Auxiliary  and  a  branch  or  Sewing 
Circle,  "Daughters  of  the  Church,"  which  makes 
garments  for  any  poor  clergyman's  family,  or  out- 
of-the-way  church  schools,  also  the  "Ministering- 


i       AND   THEIR   WORK.  211 

Children."  Epiphany  has  its  "Dorcas,"  for 
benevolence;  "Woman's  Guild,"  missionary; 
"Thimble  Society,"  for  general  work. 

In  direct  line  with  the  mother  church  comes 
the  Methodist  Episcopal,  with  its  two-score  and 
five  mission  auxiliaries  and  "Aids,"  including  these 
elect  women:  Mrs.  H.  J.  Caldwell,  Mrs.  F.  S. 
Hoyt,  Mrs.  H.  Benton,  Mrs.  W.  M.  Bayne,  Mrs.  A. 
T.  Brewer,  Mrs.  John  Mitchell,  Mrs.  W.  M.  Reese, 
Mrs.  M.  R.  Dickey,  Miss  Jane  Henderson,  Mrs.  A. 
Sherman,  Mrs.  O.  E.  Clapp,  Mrs.  L.  Lazier,  Mrs. 
O.  L.  Doty,  Mrs.  C.  J.  Werwage,  Mrs.  A.  R.  Tim- 
mins,  Airs.  Baldwin,  the  noble  giver,  and  a  host, 
east  of  the  Cuyahoga.  There  is  no  more  ap- 
propriate place  to  review  the  history  of  the  Wom- 
an's Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  to-day. 

In  1857,  the  revolt  of  the  native  Indian  soldiers, 
or  Sepoys,  in  the  Bombay,  Madras  and  Bengal 
armies,  rendered  necessary  a  reorganization  of  the 
whole  East  Indian  army.  It  was  transferred  with 
the  government  of  India  to  England's  crown,  and 
the  Christian  monarch,  Victoria,  became  its  Em- 
press. With  the  greater  infusion  of  the  European 
element  in  the  high  places  of  the  Orient  came 
desire   on  the  part  of  Rajahs    and   others    of  the 


212  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

upper  classes  to  have  their  seraglios  and  harems 
open  to  instruction  in  domestic  arts  of  the  women 
occupying-  them.  -Next  came  the  demand  for 
medical  ladies  to  visit  these  native  women  in  sick- 
ness. These  points  being  gained,  religious  in- 
struction would  be  easily  introduced.  This  is  said 
to  be  the  immediate  origin  of  the  great  modern 
movement. 

The  wife  of  a  missionary  of  India  made  her 
husband  a  pair  of  slippers,  which  were  seen  and 
admired  by  a  native  prince.  He  desired  the 
woman  who  made  the  pretty  shoes  to  visit  the 
Zenana,  where  lived  his  favorite  wife,  and  show 
her  how  to  make  a  pair  for  him.  Gladly  the  invi- 
tation was  accepted,  for  as  the  bright  floss  was 
woven  into  velvet,  the  Christian  wife  spake  to  the 
heathen  princess  of  Christ. 

The  practical  outcome  of  the  East  Indian  revo- 
lution was  the  planting  of  auxiliaries  in  every 
church  all  over  our  land,  whose  object  is  to  raise 
funds  to  send  out  ladies  adapted  to  various  depart- 
ments of  the  work. 

Mrs.  T.  C.  Doremus,  of  New  York, — mother  of 
us  all — founded,  in  1861,  the  "Woman's  Union 
Missionary  Society  for  Heathen  Lands." 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  213 

The  demand  for  laborers  so  increased  that  the 
denominations,  separating,  instituted  distinct 
branches,  as  follows:  In  1868,  Woman's  Board  of 
Missions,  auxiliary  to  the  American  Board,  Con- 
gregational; Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  1869;  the 
same  for  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  1870;  Baptist, 
1871;  other  churches  later.  In  1870,  the  Methodist 
women  of  Cleveland  inaugurated  the  movement 
here  and  in  leading  towns  of  Northern  Ohio.  A 
platform  meeting  in  which  six  ladies  took  part 
was  held  in  the  First  Methodist  Church,  Cleveland, 
September  19th,  of  that  year,  in  presence  of  an 
immense  audience,  many  members  being  present 
of  the  Erie  Annual  Conference  then  in  session 
here.  The  enthusiam  kindled  that  evening 
diffused  in  all  directions,  and  similar  meetings 
were  held  wherever  practicable.  This  occasion 
was  memorable  from  the  fact  that  it  was  the  first 
time  that  religious  women  had  ever  addressed  a 
mixed  audience  in  Cleveland.  Mrs.  Moses  Hill 
made  a  fervent  prayer,  Mrs.  T.  S.  Paddock  read 
the  Scriptures,  another  lady,  the  hymns.  Mrs. 
Mary  J.,  wife  of  Bishop  Clark,  read  a  paper  upon 
the  necessity  for  this  society.     Annie  Howe,  widow 


214  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

of  Bishop  Edward  Thomson,  read  a  poem  pre- 
pared for  this  meeting,  entitled  "The  Master  hath 
need  of  the  Reapers."  Mrs.  W.  A.  Ingham  pre- 
sided and  addressed  the  people  upon  the  "Women 
of  the  Orient. "  The  Presbyterian  ladies  of  North- 
ern Ohio  remodeled  their  old-time  missionary 
societies,  or  formed  new  ones,  and  other  denom- 
inations followed.  Mrs.  H.  D.  Sizer  reports  forty- 
six  home  missionary  auxiliaries  in  this  Presbytery, 
helping  in  educational  and  relief  work  among  the 
alien  population  of  the  United  States,  and  diffus- 
ing Christianity  among  exceptional  classes.  Miss 
Julia  Haskell  states  that  there  are  in  the  same 
territory  forty-four  Foreign  Missionary  Societies, 
maintaining  a  missionary  in  Syria,  Bible  women 
in  Africa  and  China,  Zenana  work  in  India, 
scholarships  and  schools  in  South  America,  China, 
and  other  distant  lands. 

A  legion  of  earnest  women  are  enlisted  in  foreign 
and  home  agencies  among  Presbyterians,  Episco- 
palians, Congregationalists,  Baptists,  Friends, 
Disciples,  Methodists,  throughout  the  city,  an  at- 
tempt at  mention  would  be  to  essay  counting  the 
innumerable  multitude  upon  the  heavenly  hills. 

The    Methodist    Woman's    Home     Missionary 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  215 

Society  was  formed  in  1882,  auxiliaries  being 
organized  here  by  Mrs.  E.  L.  Rust,  National  Cor- 
responding Secretary ;  Mrs.  Lucy  Webb  Hayes, 
our  President,  though  not  a  Cleveland  woman,  was 
a  neighbor,  residing  at  Spiegel  Grove,  Fremont, 
O.,  and  often  visited  our  societies.  She  was  a 
devout  Christian,  a  liberal  giver  and  a  graceful, 
cultured  ladv.  Her  motto,  uDo  unto  others  as  ve 
would  that  they  should  do  unto  you,"  was  her  rule 
of  life;  how  much  we  loved  her,  she  will  know  bye 
and  bye.  I  asked  Mrs.  H.  C.  McCabe,  of  Dela- 
ware, O.,  to  furnish  a  tribute  to  Mrs.  Hayes,  and 
she  responded,  "We,  whose  eyes  were  illumed  by 
the  baptismal  light  of  the  Temperance  Crusade, 
recognize  with  delight  as  our  head,  her  who  so 
modestly,  but  triumphantly  led  our  cause  up  to 
the  highest  place  on  earth  and  maintained  it  there, 
despite  the  traditions  of  the  White  House,  and 
customs  of  courts,  old  as  the  world.  While  we  of 
Ohio  were  following  Jesus  of  Nazareth  through  the 
streets  and  into  the  saloons,  lifting  our  eyes,  we 
suddenly  saw  him  enter  the  palace  of  the  nation; 
one  of  our  number  having  meeklv  and  faithfully 
followed  Him  there.  Then,  we  acknowledged  the 
token   and  said,  'Now   is    the  beginning   of  that 


2l6  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

auspicious  day  when  the  kingdoms  of  this  world 
shall  be  the  Lord  Christ's.'  And  at  the  moment 
when  this  little  sister,  whose  initials  are  W.  H.  M. 
S.,  put  her  head  above  the  waves  for  recognition, 
proposing  not  only  to  carry  temperance,  but  a 
whole  gospel  into  the  darkened  homes  of  our  own 
land  to  lift  them  up  into  the  mountain  of  holiness, 
who  comes  to  stand  by  us  in  work  for  our  country, 
but  this  faithful  woman  who  followed  Jesus  into 
the  Home  at  the  Capitol?" 

The  Local  Missionary  Union  was  organized  by 
a  number  of  ladies,  of  whom  was  Mrs.  Emily  G. 
Cory,  in  January,  1888;  the  Deaconess'  Home  in 
May,  1889.  In  the  latter  are  enrolled  as  leaders, 
Mrs.  F.  A.  Arter,  Mrs.  E.  C.  Brainard,  Mrs.  G.  H. 
Foster,  Mrs.  Levi  Gilbert,  Mrs.  T.  M.  Irvine. 

Miss  S.  C.  Valentine,  a  devoted  missionary  of  the 
Woman's  Christian  Association,  and  of  the  Euclid 
Avenue  Baptist  Church,  states  that  there  are  in 
Cleveland  forty  Bible  readers,  deaconesses  and 
missionaries;  besides  all  the  volunteer  effort  of 
devoted  members  who  visit,  relieving  want,  uplift- 
ing "hearts  bowed  down."  The  very  essence  of  con- 
secration and  self-denial  is  found  in  Miss  Sarah 
L.  Andrews'  work  at  her  home,  and    Bible-house, 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  217 

Faith  Rest  and  School-room.  A  sewing  school  of 
three  hundred  and  fifty  girls  on  Saturday,  sixty 
street  boys  on  Sabbath,  large  classes  during  the 
week  of  Italians  and  Chinese,  and  every  day  Bible 
study,  reach  hundreds  of  people.  To  meet  current 
expenses,  in  order  that  all  this  may  be  free  to  re- 
cipients, she  has  a  day-school  of  thirty  girls  pre- 
paring for  Wellesley  and  Vassar.  Her  personality, 
which  is  Christ-likeness,  pervades  each  feature  of 
the  great  work.  Four  of  the  day  pupils  are  pre- 
paring for  endeavor  in  foreign  lands.  Associated 
with  Miss  Andrews  is  Mrs.  Thompson  and  a  few 
devout  assistants. 

The  McAll  Mission,  thus  named  from  the 
founder,  was  organized  in  Cleveland  in  1885,  hav- 
ing a  present  membership  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty.  Its  object  is  to  give  a  pure  gospel  to  the 
working  people  of  France,  and  is  carried  on  at 
stations  similar  to  our  Friendly  Inns,  in  Paris  and 
other  cities.  Mrs.  Lucretia  R.  Garfield  is  president, 
Mrs.  Lydia  Hoyt  Farmer,  secretary,  and  Mrs.  P. 
M.  Hitchcock,  treasurer  of  the  Local  Auxiliary. 
The  ladies  here  contribute  over  $700  annually,  to 
the  maintenance  of  the  Salle  Cleveland,  of  our 
share  in  Sunday  schools,  Free  Dispensaries,  Pub- 


2l8  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

lication  and  Repair  funds.  Cleveland  women  have 
given  $527  to  the  Mission  boat  for  the  Seine. 
Features  of  the  work  are  religious  meetings,  dis- 
tribution of  Christian  literature,  including  one 
hundred  and  seventeen  thousand  tracts  and  illus- 
trated papers,  voluntary  offerings  from  America, 
Great  Britain,  and  the  Continent,  carry  forward 
this  grand  scheme  for  evangelization.  With  many 
others,  Mrs.  G.  M.  Barber,  one  of  the  Board  of 
Managers,  is  strongly  interested  in  this  Branch, 
furnishing  these  statistics.  She  is  a  ladv  of 
broad  culture,  public  spirit  and  a  friend  to  every 
good  cause. 

The  "King's  Daughters,"  whose  headquarters 
are  in  New  York,  was  originated  some  years  since 
by  Mrs.  Margaret  Bottome,  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  as  the  result  of  a  conversation  with 
Edward  Everett  Hale,  after  the  publication  of  his 
"Ten  times  one  is  ten,"  a  delineation  of  the  Harry 
Wadsworth  people  who  "  do  good,  as  they  have 
opportunity."  It  is  a  sisterhood  working  through 
tens  and  circles  of  young  women  whose  free- 
masonry is,  that  everywhere  among  them  is  "a 
cheerful  outlook,  a  perfect  determination  to  relieve 
suffering,  and  a  certainty  that  it  can  be  relieved,  a 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  2IO, 

sort  of  sweetness  of  disposition  coming  from  the 
habit  of  looking  across  the  line,  as  if  death  were 
little  or  nothing;  with  that,  a  disposition  to  be 
social,  to  meet  people  more  than  half  way."  In 
fact,  a  translation  of  "faith,  hope,  charity;  these 
three."     The  rule  of  life  is  : 

Look  forward,  not  back, 
Look  up,  not  down, 
Look  out,  not  in, 

And  lend  a  hand. 

The  badge,  a  maltese  cross,  to  be  worn  always 
abont  the  person,  stamped  with  the  initials  of  the 
Waldenses'  watch-word,  Ix  His  Name.  The 
largest  circle  in  this  city  is  that  of  which  Mrs. 
Conway  W.  Noble  is  centre,  meeting  in  the 
Chapel  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  on  the 
second  Sabbath  evening  of  each  month.  The 
Bible  readings  by  Airs.  Noble  are  helpful ;  the 
prayers  and  testimony  of  the  members,  genuine. 
The  beneficence  of  all  the  tens  and  circles  is  wide- 
spread ;  no  ostentation  is  permitted.  Meetings 
are  not  reported.  "Rainbow  Cottage,"  affording 
aid  to  poor  children  after  illness,  is  a  miniature  in- 
stitution cared  for  bv  a  circle  of  twelve,  of  which 
Miss  Marguerite  Pechin  and  Miss  Marion  Parsons 


220  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

are  centres.    Mrs.  Noble  is  president  of  the  Order 
here. 

Possibly,  the  latest  organization  among  us,  is 
the  Woman's  Council,  formed  early  in  1893, 
assembling  in  the  building  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association.  Its  aim  is  eminently 
praiseworthy,  the  spirit  excellent.  Rev.  H.  C. 
Haydn,  D.  D.,  and  Rev.  Win.  Knight  are  advisory. 

The  remainder  of  this  chapter  is  given  to  statis- 
tics which  come  with  the  Columbian  ingathering. 

Women  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  are  in- 
cluded in  the  following:  Altar  Societies,  Societies 
of  the  Sacred  Heart,  Holy  Childhood,  Holy 
Angels,  Saints  Agnes,  Angela,  Cecelia;  Children 
of  Mary,  Young  Ladies'  Sodalities,  Third  Order  of 
Saint  Francis,  Our  Lady  of  Dolores,  Saints  Joseph, 
Mary,  Alexis,  Leonardo,  Elizabeth,  Beatrice,  Holy 
Rosary,  Christian  Mothers,  Ladies'  Aid  and 
Ladies'  Total  Abstinence  of  St.  Patrick's,  Young 
Ladies'  Total  Abstinence,  Circle  of  Mercy,  Ladies 
of  Charity,  with  a  total  membership  of  twenty 
thousand. 

Communities:  Ursuline  Sisters,  established 
here,  1850;  Ladies  of  Sacred  Heart  of  Mary,  1851; 
Sisters  of  Charity,  1851;  Sisters  of  Good  Shepherd, 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  221 

1869;  Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor,  1870;  Sisters  of 
St.  Joseph,  1872;  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,  1874; 
Poor  Clares,  1877;  Franciscan  Sisters,  1884.  In- 
stitutions in  charge  of  Communities  are  four 
Academies,  four  Hospitals,  three  Orphan  Asylums, 
three  Reformatories. 

Mrs.  T.  J.  Mooney,  a  lady  of  ability  and  devo- 
tion, has  furnished  these  statistics  through  a  per- 
sonal canvass  of  twenty-eight  parishes. 

Miss  Joanna  O'Mara  makes  mention  of  two 
Literary  Societies  among  Roman  Catholic  young 
ladies,  St.  Monica's  and  St.  Angela's  Reading 
Circles. 

Hebrew  ladies'  societies  :  Daughters  of  Israel, 
i860 ;  Hungarian  Ladies'  Benevolent,  1867 ;  La- 
dies' Benevolent,  1874;  Ladies'  Sewing,  1885; 
Deborah  Lodge,  1885;  Austrian-Hungarian  La- 
dies, 1889;  Ladies' Charitable,  1891.  Total  mem- 
bership, eight  hundred  and  seventy.  Besides 
meeting  the  requirements  of  general  relief  work,, 
these  ladies  help  the  Montefiore  Home  and  Jewish 
Orphan  Asylum  to  thousands  of  dollars.  These 
statistics  are  received  through  the  courtesy  of  Mrs. 
M.  Halle.  Nationalities  included  in  these  two  great 
factors  of  our  population  are  English,  Irish,  Ger- 


2  22  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

man,  French,  Hungarian,  Slav,  Bohemian,  Polish, 
Russian. 

Italian,  Afro-American  and  "secular'  women 
fail  to  report  any  organization  whatever. 

The  following  deserves  mention  :  Grand  Lodge 
of  Bohemian  Ladies'  Societies  of  Ohio,  with  head- 
quarters at  Cleveland  ;  membership,  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  ;  Corresponding  Secretary,  Marie  Hajek, 
149  Croton  street. 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  223 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  PIONEER  SCHOOLS  OF  CLEVELAND  —  THE 
FIRST  SCHOOL  HOUSE — MRS.  IRENE  HICKOX 
SCRANTON — MRS.  MARY  SCRANTON  BRADFORD 
—  THE  FIRST  FREE  SCHOOL  —  SEVENTEEN 
NOTED*TEACHERS. 

In  1800,  a  township  school  was  organized,  and 
five  children  taught  by  Sara  Doane. 

In  1802,  a  few  little  ones  gathered  in  Major 
Carter's  log  residence,  about  Miss  Anna  Spafford, 
who  instructed  them  in  the  a,  b,  c's,  reading  and 
ciphering. 

Cuyahoga  county  was  organized  in  1809; 
Cleveland  had,  in  1810,  fifty-seven  inhabitants,  but 
the  oldest  among  them  cannot  tell  who  taught  the 
school  that  winter.  I  venture  to  assert  that  it  was 
some  grand  woman,  and  am  only  sorry  that  her 
name  is  consigned  to  oblivion ;  the  writer  asked 
Mr.  Geo.  Watkins,  of  Logan  avenue,  not  long  ago, 
"  Can  you  tell  me  of  some  specially  bright  woman 
of    the    earlv   time    that   I    mav  mention    her?" 


224  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

His  eye  sparkled  more   than  usual   as  he  replied, 
"  All  of  them,  ma'am." 

Cleveland  was  incorporated  as  a  village,  Decem- 
ber 23d,  1814.  In  1816,  the  trustees  of  the  town 
laid  out  Euclid,  St.  Clair,  Bank,  Wood  and  Bond 
streets,  also  a  road  around  the  Public  Square,  and 
St.  Clair  Lane.  This  corporation  became  owner 
of  a  real  school  house  during  the  Winter  of  1816-17. 
It  stood  in  a  grove  of  oak  trees  on  St.  Clair  street, 
at  the  east  side  of  the  lot  now  occupied  by  the 
Kennard  House.  It  was  built  of  logs,  and  was  in 
size,  24x30  feet ;  one  of  its  extremes  was  occupied 
by  a  fire-place  and  chimney  ;  the  other,  enlivened 
by  two  windows  of  twelve  lights  each,  placed 
high ;  its  front  side,  neatly  set  in  a  frame  of  ^1 
fence,  was  similarly  glazed,  and  had  a  door  in  ad- 
dition. Judging  from  exterior  appearance,  the 
boys  of  that  period  snow-balled  and  coasted,  or 
played  at  leap-frog  and  walked  on  stilts,  furnishing 
proof  of  the  truth  of  the  astute  remark  that  "  boys 
will  be  boys."  During  its  first  season,  the  following 
persons  patronized  this  minute  institution :  Mr. 
Merwin  sent  two  children  ;  Mr.  Williamson,  two ; 
Mr.  Shepard,  two  ;  Major  Carter,  two ;  Dr.  Long, 
one  ;  Mr.  Ockembaugh,  who  kept  the  jail,  one,  and 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  225 

Mr.  Henderson,  one.  The  school  was  taught  for 
several  years  by  private  teachers,  who  managed 
affairs,  backed  by  no  formidable  Board  of  Educa- 
tion. Previous  to  June  13th,  1817,  the  fair  instruct- 
ress' salary  was  paid  by  the  carrying  out  of  the  fol- 
lowing original  and  appropriate  measure  :  All  the 
bachelors  of  the  settlement  were  taxed  a  certain  sum 
per  capita,  unwilling  contributors  were  they  to  the 
public  weal,  in  the  advancement  of  knowledge. 
Ashbel  Walworth,  Thomas  and  Irad  Kelley,  Philo 
Scovill,  Stephen  A.  Dudley,  Thomas  O.  Young. 
The  amount  of  tax  paid  cannot  be  found  in  any 
tradition,  but  from  the  fact  that  these  gentlemen, 
not  long  after,  changed  estate,  we  judge  that 
economy  may  have  been  a  motive.  After  the  last 
mentioned  date,  other  means  were  devised  for  the 
support  of  the  school,  and  we  find  the  names  of 
twenty-five  citizens  pledged  to  pay  the  sum  total 
of  $198.70.  It  is  darkly  hinted  the  bachelors 
aforesaid  got  their  money  back,  but  that  we  will 
not  credit.  In  1819,  a  larger  and  better  building 
was  put  up  opposite  the  primeval  log  school  house, 
made  of  brick  and  called  the  "  Academy. "  It  was 
45x25  ;  the  lower  floor  being  divided  into  two  de- 
partments, and    the    upper   room  used  for  church 


226  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

and  town  hall  purposes.  Authentic  records  show 
that  for  twelve  or  fifteen  years  the  Academy  or 
High  School  was  kept  up.  The  exemplary  girls 
and  boys  of  the  period,  from  both  sides  of  the  river, 
all  attended  school  together,  those  west,  being 
ferried  across  the  Cuyahoga,  their  light  steps  tend- 
ing towards  the  Academy,  located  on  the  present 
site  of  the  headquarters  of  the  Fire  Department, 
St.  Clair  street. 

Pioneer  children  at  school  !  How  it  stirs  the 
blood  to  review  old  times.  Parties  residing  in 
different  sections  of  the  village,  having  small 
children,  maintained  private  primary  departments. 
Among  the  teachers  of  this  epoch,  who  endeared 
themselves,  particularly  to  their  pupils,  mention 
should  be  made  of  Miss  Eliza  Beard,  of  the  x\cad- 
emy,  who  afterward  went  to  Green  Bay,  Wis.,  Miss 
Roscoe  and  Miss  Fuller,  who  subsequently  resided 
in  Ashtabula.  Ohio  City  was  a  little  in  advance  ; 
Eliza  Sargent  (afterward,  Mrs.  Geo.  L.  Chapman) 
was  one  of  the  earliest  teachers — the  school-house 
being  about  where  the  Cuyahoga  Steam  Furnace 
Foundry  now  is.  The  writer  copied  the  following 
sometime  ago  from  a  worn  and  yellow  paper, 
folded  without  envelope,  after  the  fashion  of  sixty 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  22/ 

years  ago  :  "  This  may  certify  that  from  personal 
acquaintance  I  believe  that  Miss  Eliza  Sargent 
possesses  a  good  moral  character,  and  having  ex- 
amined her,  consider  that  she  is  qualified  to  teach 
a  district  school."  Josiah  Barber, 

One  of  the  School  Examiners. 
Brooklyn,  December  20th,  1828. 

Mr.  John  Sargent  showed  me,  a  few  evenings 
since,  a  map  of  the  United  States  and  Territories, 
drawn  in  the  same  year  by  himself,  with  pen  and 
ink — -very  curious  and  interesting — Cleveland  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  city  in  1836.  In  that  year 
was  instituted,  east  of  the  Cuyahoga,  the  first  free 
school.  A  mission,  Sunday  and  day  school,  or- 
ganized in  the  old  Bethel  building,  in  the  year 
1833  or  '34,  sustained  as  a  charity  for  two  or  three 
years  by  voluntary  subscription,  passed  for  support 
to  the  City  Council ;  hence  was  developed  the  first 
public  school  of  Cleveland.  It  is  impossible  to 
find  the  names  of  lady  teachers,  until  the  beginning 
of  the  winter  term,  December  10th,  1840,  when 
we  find  recorded,  Elizabeth  Armstrong,  Abby 
Fitch,  Louisa  Kingsbury,  Sophia  Converse,  Emma 
Whitney,  Sarah  M.  Thayer,  Louisa  Snow,  Caro- 
line  Belden,   Julia   Butler,   Maria   Sheldon,  Eliza 


228  WOMEN    OF   CLEVELAND 

Johnson.  A  sketch  of  one  pioneer  teacher  suffices 
for  all ;  virtually  the  same  elements  make  up  the 
character  of  each. 

The  pioneer  Hickox,  of  this  Western  Reserve, 
came  with  sons,  daughters,  and  other  kinsmen  to 
Trumbull  county  in  1816.  The  immediate  cause 
of  his  removal  was  financial  failure,  induced  by 
unduly  speculating  in  patent  rights — the  "  old, 
old  story,"  told  over  and  over  again  in  this  Nation 
from  its  infancy,  and  will  continue  to  be  told  until 
the  heavens  vanish. 

Xot  finding  in  the  orchards  of  this  new  land  the 
lusciousness  that  marked  the  golden  sweets,  the 
greenings,  and  rareripes  of  his  native  State,  the 
only  son  volunteered  to  walk  back  to  Connecticut 
and  procure  grafts  wherewith  to  inoculate  the  sour 
apple  trees  of  these  wilds.  The  young  man 
plucked  a  stout  staff  from  a  yellow  willow  tree 
growing  beside  a  New  England  stream,  in  order 
that  his  steps  might  be  staid  upon  the  long  journey 
of  return.  On  arriving,  he  set  his  willow  staff 
deeply  in  the  wet  soil  of  the  new  settlement.  It 
grew  to  be  a  tree  of  such  generous  circumference 
that  it  could  scarcely  be  spanned  by  the  stalwart 
arms  of  the  heroic  planter.     Do  you  wonder  that 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  229 

in  due  time  the  metropolis  of  the  Western  Reserve 
came  to  be  called  the  Forest  City? 

"  He  that  plants  trees  loves  his  race." 

It  may  be  well  to  remark  that  the  grafts  brought 
by  young  Hickox  produced  delightful  fruit,  and 
from  this  beginning  came  those  famed  apples  of 
Northern  Ohio,  second  only  to  the  golden  ones  of 
the  Hesperides. 

A  sister  of  this  brave  pedestrian,  named  Irene, 
youngest  but  one  of  seven  daughters,  born  among 
the  Catskills  in  Durham,  N.  Y.,  was  a  promising 
child.  At  the  age  of  twelve  years  she  became 
singularly  dull  in  appearance.  Her  mother,  fearing 
loss  of  intellect,  permitted  her  to  go  with  Irene's 
married  sister,  Mrs.  Thomas  Merritt,  to  Clinton, 
N.  Y.,  to  try  the  effect  of  being  placed  in  school. 
It  was  discovered  that  her  despondency  arose  from 
intense  anxiety  as  to  the  means  of  obtaining  an 
education,  for  she  brightened  at  once.  From  that 
moment  on  she  shone  like  a  star.  The  tender  and 
sensitive  little  one  had  found  her  normal  atmos- 
phere.    She  was  a  natural  student. 

Passing  over  the  years,  we  are  informed  by  a 
pupil  of  this  rare  teacher,  Mrs.  L.  C.  Parker, 
daughter  of  Hon.  Mr.  Andrews,  of  Kinsman,  that 


230  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

Irene  Hickox  came  to  Kinsman,  Trumbull  county, 
in  the  Spring  of  181 7,  teaching  school  there  three 
successive  summers.  She  was  a  person  of  rare 
mental  endowment,  and  her  patrons  were  not  slow 
to  appreciate  her  worth.  They  felt  the  need  of 
higher  educational  advantages,  and  sought  through 
her  the  fulfillment  of  their  project.  At  the  in- 
stance of  Mr.  Andrews,  she  went  East '  in  the 
Autumn  of  1820,  and  entered  the  Female  Academy 
at  Litchfield,  Conn. 

Returning  to  Kinsman  in  due  time,  she  opened 
a  boarding  school  for  voting  ladies.  In  those  days 
it  was  a  venture,  an  experiment,  but  it  proved  a 
success.  Daughters  of  prominent  men  became 
members  of  her  school.  Ashtabula,  Austinburg, 
and  Morgan,  on  the  North  ;  New  Lisbon,  Warren, 
Parkman,  and  adjoining  townships  patronized  the 
academy.  One  serious  hindrance  was  a  lack  of 
suitable  buildings. 

In  the  meantime  Warren  had  come  to  the  front 
and  secured  the  teacher,  Miss  Irene,  but  the  les- 
sons she  taught  in  Kinsman  are  ineffaceable. 
She  made  everything  in  school  a  success.  History, 
philosophy  and  rhetoric  were  favorite  studies, 
painting    and    map-drawing    received    attention; 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  23 1 

composition  and  letter- writing  were  always  deemed 
of  great  importance. 

At  seventeen,  she  became  an  earnest  Christian, 
hence  a  missionary  zeal  was  infused  in  all  the  re- 
ligious exercises  connected  with  school-day  life. 
To  early  pupils,  her  memory  is  most  precious. 

Her  tact  and  talent  gained  wide  reputation,  and, 
as  may  have  been  anticipated,  her  services  were 
secured  in  Cleveland.  She  opened  a  school  for 
girls  in  a  wooden  building  not  far  from  the  present 
location  of  the  American  House,  and  afterwards 
further  up  Superior  street,  near  the  Public  Square. 

Mrs.  Mary  H.  Severance  and  Miss  Sarah  Fitch, 
at  that  time  very  young  children,  remember  her 
as  a  most  wise  and  loving  instructor  ;  so,  also,  do 
Mrs.  Dudley  Baldwin  and  Mrs.  Alex.  Sackett.  The 
latter  speaks  particularly  of  her  teacher's  re- 
quirements of  neatness  in  penmanship.  There 
was  a  strife  between  herself  and  another  school 
girl  as  to  which  should  have  the  tidier  copy-book. 
These  copy-books  were  covered  with  white  bristol- 
board,  and  tied  with  blue  ribbon. 

Irene  Hickox  is  remembered  bv  all  as  most  at- 
tractive  in  manner  and  kind  in  instruction,  "  one 
of  the  best  women  in  the  world."     She]  taught*her 


232  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

pupils  that  so  long  as  life  should  last,  they  must 
keep  on  improving,  that  their  education  could 
never  be  finished.  Her  addresses  to  scholars  are 
yet  preserved,  admirably  composed,  the  penman- 
ship almost  perfect,  on  sheets  of  note  paper,  yellow 
with  age.  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  transcribe,  ver- 
batim, one  of  these : 

"  My  Dear  Girls  :  It  is  hoped  that  all  who  become  members 
of  this  school  will  merit  the  approbation  of  their  parents  and 
friends,  and  honor  the  institution  by  diligent  attention  to 
their  studies,  and  a  strict  observance   of  the  following  rules : 

"  Article  1.  You  are  expected  to  rise  every  morning  by 
6  o'clock. 

"Art.  2.  It  is  expected  you  will  attend  meeting  every 
Sabbath,  unless  prevented  by  sickness,  or,  requested  by  your 
parents  or  friends  to  be  absent. 

"  Art.  3.  You  must  always  treat  your  parents  and  teachers 
with  respect,  and  be  polite  and  obliging  to  your  companions. 
You  must  endeavor  at  all  times  to  preserve  a  cheerful  temper 
and  modest  deportment,  never  giving  way  to  anger  or  fret- 
fulness,  though  your  companions  be  provoking,  or  your  les- 
sons difficult,  and  never  indulge  in  rude  and  boisterous 
manners. 

"  Art.  4.  You  must  never  permit  yourself  to  slander  your 
companions  or  any  of  your  acquaintance,  as  this  is  a  mean  and 
despicable  vice,  and  discovers  low  breeding  and  a  bad  heart. 

"  Art.  5.  You  must  never  tell  a  lie,  though  it  should  appear 
more  advantageous  than  to  speak  the  truth. 

"  Art.  6.  You  must  provide  yourselves  with  books,  pens, 
paper,  and  other  articles  you  make  use  of  in  school. 

"  Art.  7.  You  must  neither  tell  each  other  nor  look  in  your 
books  when  reciting  your  lessons. 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  233 

"  Art.  8.  You  must  neither  leave  your  seats,  whisper,  nor 
speak  loud  to  each  other  without  liberty. 

"  Art.  9.  If  you  leave  your  seats,  whisper,  or  speak  loud 
without  liberty,  you  become  debtors  to  your  teacher  ;  if  you 
do  not,  your  teacher  will  give  you  credit ;  and  if,  at  the  close 
of  the  week,  the  credit  is  in  your  favor,  you  will  be  rewarded 
with  a  holiday. 

"  Studies  of  the  Studies  of  the 

First  Class.  Second  Class. 

Spelling.  Spelling. 

Reading.  Reading. 

Writing.  Writing. 

Geography.  Geography. 

Grammar.  Grammar." 

Arithmetiek. 
History. 
Rhetorick. 
Nat.  Philosophy. 
Chymistry. 
Mor.  Philosophy. 

In  1828,  she  married  Mr.  Joel  Scranton,  a  dry 
goods  merchant  here.  For  their  wedding  tour 
they  went  to  New  York  by  way  of  the  New  York 
&  Erie  Canal,  and  bought  furniture  there  at  an 
auction  sale,  for  the  young  merchant  had  limited 
means.  On  their  return,  they  went  to  house- 
keeping in  a  small  story-and-a-half  dwelling,  cor- 
ner of  Bank  and  Johnson  streets.  In  1833,  they 
moved  upon  a  farm  not  far  from  the  village,  there 
being  no  buildings  in  the  immediate  vicinity  ex- 


234  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

cept  a  paper-mill.     This  tract  of  land  is  now  well 
known  as  Scranton's  Flats. 

Mrs.  Joel  Scranton's  name  is  recorded  by  Mrs. 
B.  Rouse  in  her  diary  as  one  of  the  original  prayer- 
meeting  established  October  30,  1830. 

She  entered  into  eternal  life  in  1858.  Her 
daughter,  Mrs.  Mary  S.  Bradford,  of  Euclid  avenue, 
is  patriotic  and  public-spirited  ;  one  of  the  benevo- 
lent women  of  Old  Trinity,  actively  engaged  in  its 
parish  work,  its  Church — Home  for  Sick  and 
Friendless  ;  among  the  poor  of  the  city  she  is  a 
welcome  visitant.  She  was  closely  identified  wTith 
the  Diet  Dispensary  and  Cleveland  Humane 
Society.  Her  benefactions  are  far-reaching.  Es- 
pecially does  she  help  children  who  need  a  friend ; 
taking  them  in  childhood,  bestowing  upon  them  a 
mother's  love  in  nurture  and  education ;  almost 
invariably  her  proteges  became  useful  men  and 
women.  She  has  founded  several  seminaries,  is 
president  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Cleveland 
School  of  Art ;  its  constant  patron  and  benefactor. 
The  writer  has  alluded  to  her  public  labors.  Her 
private  charities  are  widespread  ;  simple,  unosten- 
tatious, beloved,  she  goes  quietly  on  her  way. 

Mrs.    Scranton   requested   her   pastor    if  called 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  235 

to  officiate  at  her  funeral,  to  announce  no  eulogy 
upon  her  life  ;  she  never  desired  publicity.  Mrs. 
Bradford  may  well  sav  that  "  in  the  dear  home 
circle  she  was  the  light,  and  life,  and  crown. 

"  In  Paradise  I  trust  the  same  group  gather 
around  her  with  one  exception,  and  this,  her  last 
surviving  daughter,  turns  with  eagerness  to  that 
home  beyond,  as  in  former  years  to  the  earthly 
fireside. 

"  The  evening  twilight  comes  on  and  I  quicken 
my  footsteps,  as  they  bend  homeward,  where  a 
mother's  hearty  welcome  awaits  me,  and  in  which 
the  intelligent  care  of  our  household  queen  is  sure 
to  make  heart's-ease  for  all." 


236  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 


CHAPTER  XXL 

THIRTY  NOBLE  WOMEN  OF  CLEVELAND — EIGHT 
HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY-TWO  TEACHERS  OF 
TO-DAY  —  MISS  ELLEN  G.  REVELEY  —  MRS. 
LUCRETIA  R.  GARFIELD  —  MRS.  REBECCA  D. 
RICKOFF. 

OEVERAL  brave  spirits  now  in  the  activities 
^  of  Christian  work  here,  other  choice  ones 
within  the  golden  pale  of  Cleveland  society,  were 
formerly  numbered  among  the  teachers  of  our 
public  schools.  One  of  them  is  the  wife  of  a  lib- 
eral and  wealthy  citizen  of  the  United  States  and 
of  Cleveland,  who  still  preserves  her  simplicity  and 
sweetness  and  who  educates  her  children  to  work 
in  mission  schools — Mrs.  J.  D.  Rockefeller.  As  I 
sit  at  my  study-table,  fifteen  faces  come  before  me, 
recognized  as  the  centers  of  lovely  homes  in  our 
city,  besides  a  very  few  who  are  still  teaching,  or 
have  retired  but  a  short  time  since  from  their  pro- 
fession.    These  are  said  to  have  done  their  work 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  237 

well  in  the  past ;  it  is  hoped  they  have  not  retro- 
graded as  the  years  advance. 

Mrs.  Philo  Chamberlin,  a  devoted  member  of 
Trinity,  living  in  affluence,  was  always  helpful  to 
those  who  needed  the  inspiration  of  appreciation 
and  encouragement.  Occupying,  now,  an  impor- 
tant position  in  one  of  her  beloved  church  institu- 
tions, she  shows  the  sublimity  of  faith  and  courage 
in  the  desolation  of  bereavement.  Mrs.  George 
Deming,  Mrs.  E.  R.  Perkins,  Mrs.  Emma  Deitz 
Freeman,  Mrs.  Judge  Hale  and  Mrs.  Carrie  Newton 
Clarke  are  more  esteemed  for  themselves  than  for 
their  elegant  belongings ;  Miss  Anna  Rearden, 
educating  a  brother  who  attained  eminence  on  the 
Pacific  Coast  in  the  legal  profession;  Mrs.  Moses 
G.  Watterson,  Mrs.  Sarah  Wood  Keffer,  Mrs.  A. 
G.  Hopkinson,  Mrs.  J.  J.  Elwell,  now  in  the  upper 
realm,  Mrs.  Emily  H.  Buffett,  Kate  White,  Mary 
Haver,  Mrs.  Caroline  Heminway,  Mary  C.  C. 
Lane,  Emily  Stow,  Ann  Eliza  Hall,  Sarah  Fisk 
Prentiss,  with  good  Mr.  Fry,  Mary  S.  Webster, 
Nancy  Merrill  Wilber,  Harriet  Vail,  Sophia  Colby, 
Miss  Hosford,  Mrs.  W.  A.  Ingham. 

None  that  knew  her  can  forget  dear  Julia  Beebe, 
bright,   merry,   fascinating,  who,  after  rejecting  a 


238  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

half-dozen  lovers,  became  Mrs.  Wilson,  of  Hart- 
ford, Connecticut,  and  who  now  sleeps  in  Woodland 
Cemetery.  Well  do  I  remember  with  what  pathos 
she  gathered  together  one  evening  the  letters  of  a 
well-known  gentleman,  an  ardent  admirer,  whom 
she  could  not  wed  on  account  of  his  intemperate 
habits.  She  read  them  all,  wept  over  them,  made 
a  little  bonfire  in  the  grate,  warmed  herself  thor- 
oughly over  their  embers,  and  retired  to  forgetful- 
ness,  then  and  evermore,  of  the  writer. 

The  beautiful  Eliza  Janes  gave  the  flower  of  her 
youth  to  these  schools.  So,  too,  did  the  Barnett 
girls,  Martha  and  Carrie.  The  three  were  cul- 
tured, winning,  beloved  of  those  so  fortunate  as  to 
know  them,  and  laid  to  rest  all  too  early. 

Nor  was  there  lacking  among  these  teachers  the 
spice  of  romance.  Louise  Tozier,  tired  of  north- 
ern winds,  sighed  for  the  sunny  South.  After  a 
marvelously  attractive  correspondence  on  the  sub- 
ject with  Dr.  A.  L.  Telfair,  president  of  the  Board 
of  Education  at  Raleigh,  N.  C,  she  concluded  to 
superintend  only  little  Telfairs  and  their  father 
during  the  remainder  of  her  pilgrimage. 

Louisa  Sxow  Willett. — Upon  application  for 
information  concerning  our  teachers,  to  Andrew 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  239 

Freese,  Esq.,  founder  of  our  High  School,  and  first 
superintendent  of  public  instruction,  whose  wife, 
to-day,  ranks  high  among  our  intellectual  women ; 
he  cheerfully  named  Louisa  Snow.  She  was 
teacher  of  a  girls'  school  in  the  old  Academy,  in 
1840 ;  was  well  educated  and  had  great  no- 
bility of  soul ;  a  most  self-sacrificing  person.  She 
saved  not  a  cent  of  her  salary,  spending  all  upon 
charitable  objects,  mostly  on  persons  in  destitute 
circumstances.  She  used  often  to  call  upon  the 
Superintendent,  to  go  with  her  in  search  of  some 
poor  creature  of  whom  she  had  heard,  and  when 
found  would  perhaps  use  every  penny  she  had  to 
afford  comfort,  or  take  a  shawl  from  her  own 
shoulders  to  wrap  about  a  shivering  sick  mother  or 
child.  It  was  said  she  could  keep  scarcely  any 
clothing  for  herself — giving  it  away  until  her 
friends  remonstrated  with  her  for  dressing  so 
plainly.  She  never  taught  school  a  month  when 
she  was  not  helping  one  or  more  of  her  pupils  to 
books,  perhaps  clothing,  for  which  they  were  too 
poor  to  provide  themselves.  Miss  Louisa  Snow 
was  a  Baptist  girl,  and  a  few  of  the  older  members 
of  that  church  must  remember  that  she  was  active 
in  all  good  things.     She  married  an  excellent  man, 


240  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

Mr.  Willett,  but  he  died  a  month  afterwards.  She 
went  to  Madison,  Wis.,  and  there  opened  a  school 
for  young  ladies,  which,  of  course,  was  not  a  finan- 
cial success  ;  then  adopted  a  little  orphan  boy,  the 
son  of  Elder  Tucker,  a  once  famous  Baptist 
preacher  here,  and  this  boy  she  educated.  To  en- 
able her  to  send  him  to  college  she  removed  to 
Alton,  111.,  where  the  Baptists  have  an  institution. 
She  is  now  old  and  by  no  means  rich,  but  still 
active  in  benevolence.  Within  the  past  ten  years, 
hearing  of  a  lady  (Mrs.  C.  A.  Dean),  formerly  a 
teacher  in  the  Rockwell  street  school  in  this  city, 
who  married  in  affluence  but  was  then  sick  in  St. 
Louis,  and  living  in  great  destitution,  she  went 
down  to  that  city  and  found  her  in  a  miserable 
garret  almost  blind,  and  her  sense  of  hearing 
greatly  impaired.  Louisa  Snow  Willett  took  her 
(Mrs.  D.)  to  her  own  home  in  Alton,  nursed  and 
comforted  her  as  only  such  as  she  could  do,  until 
she  slept  to  awaken  nevermore. 

No  development  that  the  writing  of  this  history 
brings  forth  has  so  stirred  my  own  soul  as  Mr. 
Freese's  recital  of  Mrs.  Dean's  reverses,  for  I  well 
remember  how  affectionately  this  same  Mrs.  D. 
and  her  husband  took  Julia  Beebe  and  myself  to 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  2zj.I 

their  own  beautiful  home  when  we  were  young 
girls,  alone  here,  undergoing  the  rigid  preparation 
required  of  candidates  for  teachers'  positions. 

Emily  L.  Bisseix. — One  other  must  be  men- 
tioned ere  we  complete  this  record  of  yesterday — 
Emily  L.  Bissell,  who  gave  almost  ten  years  to  the 
West  Side  as  Principal  of  Sheldon,  or  Orchard 
street  school,  and  ranked  deservedly  among  the 
foremost  of  our  instructors.  She  died  in  1871.  Her 
funeral  was  held  in  her  own  beloved  church,  St. 
John's  Episcopal.  The  place  of  the  dead  was 
glorified  and  the  remains  enwrapped  in  a  robe  of 
snowy  flowers,  so  many  loving  hands  were  there, 
to  leave  token  within  the  chancel.  Particularly, 
at  the  funeral  services,  did  the  Sabbath  school  and 
those  heavy-laden  with  poverty  mourn  her  de- 
parture. One  from  lowly  life  was  especially  noted, 
a  poor  girl,  pale  with  sickness  and  once  severely 
crippled,  to  whom  Miss  Bissell  had  gone  weekly 
to  read  the  Bible.  She  sat  with  flowing  eyes  and 
quick  ear  to  catch  every  word  uttered  by  the  min- 
ister concerning  her  friend,  who  no  more  should 
bring  to  her  the  word  of  life. 

After  the  ravages  of  fire  in  the  Northwest,  Miss 
Bissell  was  first  to  bring  to  our  Relief  Association 


242  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

contributions  from  pupils,  and  so  great  an  abund- 
ance of  clothing  that  our  Industrial  School  also 
shared.  Her  fatigue,  exhaustion  even,  were  very 
apparent  on  that  still  November  night  as  she 
placed  in  my  hands  the  strong  box  of  pennies  and 
nickels,  with  the  request  that  the  children  of  Wis- 
consin, her  own  State,  be  recipients  of  the  collec- 
tion. Unsparing  to  herself,  faithful,  suffering  with 
physical  pain,  her  life  was  shortened  by  the  ardu- 
ous duties  of  her  profession.  Richly  endowed 
with  intellectual  gifts,  she  had  a  place  among  our 
writers.  She  prepared  a  Sabbath-school  book  in 
manuscript  only  a  short  time  previous  to  her  death. 
Her  contributions  to  magazine  literature  were 
noted  for  terseness,  originality,  and  strength.  Her 
article  entitled,  "  Fiftv-two  Reasons  for  Not  At- 
tending  the  Prayer-meeting,"  has  been  copied  into 
almost  every  religious  newspaper,  irrespective  of 
denomination. 

After  all,  it  is  not  mental  ability,  it  is  not  skill 
as  educators  that  causes  any  of  us  to  live  in  the 
hearts  of  our  fellows ;  it  is  whether  we  have  done 
anything  for  "the  least  of  these,  my  brethren. " 
Those  having  the  mark  of  the  Lamb  in  their  fore- 
heads stand  forth  glowing  in  light,  when  all  others 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  243 

fade  ill  darkness.  The  toilsome,  way-worn  pil- 
grimage of  Emily  Bissell,  and  of  scores  besides, 
are  exchanged  for  rest  and  the  glory  of  the  upper 
sanctuary.  "  Mother,  dear  Jerusalem,"  receives 
to  herself,  and  crowns  with  stars  those  from  all 
professions  and  from  any  condition  who  live  not 
for  themselves. 

Onr  teachers  of  to-day  are  noble,  true  and  faith- 
ful ;  to  select  names  for  mention  among  the  eight 
hundred  and  twenty-two  lady  instructors  in  Public 
schools  here  would  neither  be  just  nor  courteous. 
Miss  Ellen  G.  Reveley  is  eminent  in  good  work, 
outside  of  her  position  as  Normal  teacher,  Super- 
visor and  one  of  the  Council  for  the  Woman's 
College.  "  Mary  Cleveland,"  of  the  East  Indies, 
named  and  supported  by  this  lady,  is,  herself,  by 
this  time  a  missionary  in  the  Orient. 

The  participation  that  President  and  Mrs.  Gar- 
field shared  during  their  earlier  years  in  the  noble 
work  of  teaching  induces  me  to  present  here  a 
beloved  woman  of  Cleveland,  whose  life  record 
the  people  claim.  As  instructor,  she  has  shown 
herself  true  ;  and,  during  a  late  epoch  in  history, 
is  chosen  by  the  American  people  as  a  representa- 
tive wife  and  mother ;  through  this  we  hope  to  in- 


244  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

cite  many  young  girls  having  no  dowry  of  lands  or 
of  gold  to  the  same  earnest  purpose  and  heroic 
endeavor.  Miss  Rudolph  was  a  farmer's  daughter  ; 
one  of  the  memorable  hundred  and  two  students 
attending  the  Eclectic  Institute  at  Hiram,  Ohio, 
during  its  first  term,  her  name  appearing  in  its 
earliest  catalogue,  and  in  each  one  thereafter  until 
1854-55,  covering  a  period  of  five  years.  She  was 
a  good  student  and  obtained  an  excellent  educa- 
tion. She  left  Hiram  to  enter  the  public  schools 
of  Cleveland.  Among  many  applications  for  posi- 
tions, one  came  from  a  friend  in  Hiram,  saying: 
"  There  is  a  remarkable  girl  here  at  school  bv  the 
name  of  Lucretia  Rudolph.  I  think  she  would 
like  a  situation  as  teacher  in  Cleveland,  but  she  is 
too  modest  to  venture  a  personal  application.  Can 
you  write  an  encouraging  word  ?  '  The  reply  of 
Mr.  Freese  was  in  substance  :  "  Tell  her  to  come," 
naming  the  day  regularly  set  for  examination  of 
candidates.  There  were  as  many,  perhaps,  as  fif-  v 
teen  or  twenty  who  appeared  on  the  fixed  date. 
Papers  were  distributed  and  the  work  of  question- 
ing and  answer  proceeded.  The  replies  of  Miss 
Rudolph  were  unusually  correct.  The  examining 
committee  granted  her  a  certificate  of  the  highest 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  245 

grade.  She  was  assigned  to  Brownell  street  school, 
in  one  of  the  primary  departments,  and  from  the 
outset  was  a  success,  although  distrustful  of  her 
own  abilities,  and  needed  encouragement.  At 
length  she  gained  confidence,  and  in  a  month  her 
excellence  was  recognized.  She  was  quiet,  modest, 
had  much  refinement,  and  always  spoke  to  her 
pupils  in  words  of  the  greatest  kindness.  They 
all  loved  her  dearly.  She  left  Cleveland  to  become 
the  wife  of  James  A.  Garfield.  In  after  years,  she 
taught  her  children  well. 

It  is  obvious  that,  as  farmer's  daughter,  student, 
teacher,  the  wife  of  a  poor  man  laboring  in  his 
profession,  Mrs.  Garfield  possessed  and  practiced 
those  traits  that  make  a  noble  woman.  She  was 
in  eminent  degree  a  companion  to  her  husband, 
sharing  his  love  of  knowledge.  Together  they 
read,  their  minds  advancing  equally.  They  loved 
their  friends,  and  inspired  affection  in  all  whom 
they  knew ;  their  refined,  intellectual  home  circle 
was  a  center  of  culture  and  comradeship  in  Ohio, 
and  in  the  Nation's  Capital  after  General  Garfield 
entered  upon  the  life  of  statesman.  In  old  time  it 
has  been  said,  "  School  teachers  become  poor 
housekeepers."     That   saying   is    effectually    dis- 


246  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

proved  by  the  well  ordered  and  lovely  homes  of 
those  of  our  number  who  are  now  wives  of  mer- 
chants, professional  and  other  business  men  of 
Cleveland.  No  mistress  presides  more  gracefully 
than  these,  and  we  know  to  a  certainty  that  their 
larders  are  full,  side-boards  radiant  with  well-kept 
silver,  and  their  nurseries  and  drawing  rooms 
marvelously  cared  for.  The  names  of  these  should 
be  reserved  for  the  records  of  coming  years. 
We  are  glad  that  the  hundreds  of  Cleveland  pub- 
lic school  teachers  were  permitted  on  that  memor- 
able Monday,  in  1881,  to  make  the  bed  of  flowers 
whereon  President  Garfield  was  laid  to  rest.  The 
perfume  of  tuberose,  jessamine,  arbor  vitae,  and 
buds  of  white  roses  but  faintly  typify  the  wealth 
of  love  bestowed  upon  the  great  teacher  and  his 
wife  who  went  out  from  us  years  agone.  Mrs. 
Garfield  has  been  for  a  long  time  president  of  our 
McAll  Mission. 

Mrs.  Rebecca  D,  Rickoff,  who  gave  her  best 
years  to  Cleveland,  should  be  included  among  us, 
being  recognized  all  over  the  country  as  an  author- 
ity in  educational  work.  Her  friends  consider 
rarest,  her  reading-charts  for  use  in  primary  schools, 
published    by  the  Appletons   and  superbly  illus- 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  247 

trated.  She  is  of  just  repute  as  a  literary7  woman, 
being  both  poet  and  artist.  In  one  of  her  articles 
to  a  leading  journal  she  traces  delicately  and  brill- 
iantly the  close  analogy  between  the  relations  of 
lyric  and  dramatic  poetry  to  those  of  water  color 
and  oil  painting.  She  describes  pictures  well. 
Her  poems  are  life-like,  vivid,  imaginative. 


248  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

MISS  LINDA  T.  GUILFORD — MRS.  ELIZA  CLARK — 
THE  WOMAN'S  COLLEGE — MRS.  FLORA  STONE 
MATHER  —  OUR  MUSICIANS  —  SUBURBAN 
SCHOOLS — MRS.    A.    A.    F.    JOHNSTON. 

A  /TINE  is  a  rare  privilege — that  of  studying  the 
•^  record  of  so  many  noble  lives  ;  to  none  do 

I  turn  with  more  grateful  appreciation  than  to  this 
one,  for  it  is  absolutely  devoted  to  the  good  of 
others ;  self-abnegation,  patience,  heroism,  em- 
bodied in  her  who  gave  almost  a  life-time  to  the 
instruction  of  the  children  of  our  best  citizens. 
As  an  educator,  thorough,  persevering,  and  emi- 
nently conscientious,  she  laid  deep  foundations  in 
the  youthful  mind  and  heart.  Endowed  with  the 
rare  gift  of  inspiring  in  her  scholars  enthusiasm 
for  study,  they  became  ideal  students.  She  has 
been  one  of  the  moral  and  intellectual  forces  of  our 
city,  and  to-day  her  magnetic  presence  and  mold- 
ing  influence    stamp    themselves    upon    society ; 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  249 

many  of  the  present  mothers  were  her  pupils,  and 
to  the  training  which  they  received  is  Cleveland 
largely  indebted,  for  she  possessed  the  power  of 
forming  character.  Mrs.  J.  B.  Meriam,  a  repre- 
sentative of  her  oldest  classes,  gave  the  writer  a 
history  of  Miss  Guilford's  school,  from  its  begin- 
ning in  an  empty  hotel,  corner  of  Prospect  and 
Ontario  streets,  October  16th,  1848,  until  it  be- 
came the  Cleveland  Academy,  with  Stillman  Witt, 
president  and  treasurer,  and  Joseph  Perkins, 
secretary,  of  its  Board  of  Trustees,  but  this  and 
much  more  is  written  by  Miss  Guilford  herself. 
Her  printed  roll  of  pupils  numbers  fourteen  hun- 
dred, including  names  known  now  in  every  State 
of  the  Union.  Hundreds  of  others  are  among  our 
substantial  citizens,  whose  children  revere  this  in- 
structor ;  we  will  give  but  a  glimpse  into  the  inner 
life  of  the  school. 

The  study  of  Latin  was  insisted  on  unless  the 
parents  objected,  which,  at  that  period,  was  fre- 
quently the  case.  Arithmetic,  grammar,  and  the 
Bible  were  the  leading  studies  ;  reading  and  spell- 
ing were  required  daily,  of  all.  These,  with 
geography,  United  States  history,  and  frequent 
composition  writing,  occupied  almost  exclusively 


250  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

the  attention  of  the  school.  For  many  years  there 
was  little  attempt  at  teaching  the  natural  sciences 
or  any  other  of  the  higher  English  branches, 
though  the  teachers  employed  were  all  graduates 
of  eastern  schools  of  repute  ;  but  the  ground  was 
taken  that  such  studies  require  more  maturity  of 
mind  than  is  usually  found  in  girls  before  the  age 
of  eighteen.  It  was  the  definite  aim  to  teach 
thoroughly  the  most  important  things  ;  to  awaken, 
if  possible,  a  love  of  study,  and  to  keep  the  pupil 
from  superficiality.  At  that  period,  there  were 
comparatively  few  in  Cleveland  who  made  educa- 
tion a  matter  of  pretense.  The  children,  like  their 
parents,  were  for  the  most  part  in  earnest,  breath- 
ing in,  with  the  air  of  their  native  State,  the  spirit 
of  buoyant  life  and  enterprise — purified  and  tem- 
pered by  the  higher  principles  of  rectitude  and 
responsibility  inherited  from  New  England 
ancestry. 

Among  devoted  teachers  are  Miss  S.  E.  Hoising- 
ton,  afterward  Mrs.  Stoddard,  of  Independence, 
Kansas,  where  she  died;  Miss  L.  Peabody,  of 
Oxford,  Ohio ;  Miss  M.  R.  Barron,  now  Mrs.  M. 
E.  Rawson,  and  Mrs.  K.  Kellogg,  both  of  Cleve- 
land ;    Miss    E.  L.  Fox,  of  the  Cooper  Institute, 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  25 1 

New  York.  In  1868,  Miss  Mary  E.  Ingersoll  be- 
came connected  with  the  school,  and  in  1872,  Miss 
Sarah  L.  Andrews ;  the  latter  teaches  a  limited 
number  of  pupils,  in  her  own  building,  at  276 
Huntington  street,  taking  the  "  Cleveland  Acad- 
emy," when  Professor  Bridgman  left.  We  believe 
that  between  1872  and  1874  Miss  F.  A.  Fuller  had 
charge  of  the  primary  department.  The  first  class, 
numbering  three,  graduated  in  1867. 

In  these  days  of  universal  Bible  study  among 
Christians,  it  is  refreshing  to  know  that  this 
eminent  educator  forty  years  ago  made  the  Script- 
ures a  constant  text-book.  Direct  instruction  was 
given  from  its  pages,  and  strict  examinations  re- 
quired therein.  The  Monday  morning  exercise 
was  sermon  recitation,  the  girls  being  required  to 
give  synopses  of  sermons  preached  the  day  previous 
from  the  various  pulpits.  So  many  were  there  in 
attendance  at  the  Academy  connected  with  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church  that  its  discourse  was 
given  in  sections  by  several  misses.  This  whole 
exercise  on  the  part  of  the  pupils  was  a  labor  of 
love  and  entered  into  with  wonderful  readiness. 
During  her  days  of  teaching,  Miss  Guilford  went 
twice  to  Europe,  bringing  back  with  her  the  cul- 


252  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

ture  of  foreign  lands,  and  the  last  two  years  of  in- 
struction were  devoted  to  an  art  class,  composed  of 
former  pnpils. 

One  of  the  principles  instilled  into  the  hearts  of 
those  nearest  her  was  kindness  to  the  unfortunate. 
As  much  as  possible,  she  was  foremost  in  good 
works — the  organization  of  the  Young  Ladies' 
League  for  temperance  education  was  largely 
effected  by  her.  She  gives  time  and  means  to  the 
instruction  of  young  men  and  boys  in  the  Friendly 
Inns.  Since  Mrs.  Arey's  residence  in  Baltimore, 
Miss  Guilford  has  been  president  of  our  Press 
Club. 

A  red-letter  day  in  Cleveland's  history  was 
October  24th,  1892  ;  the  dedication  of  the  new 
building,  composing  the  Woman's  College,  known 
as  Clark  Hall  and  Guilford  Cottage,  President  C. 
F.  Thwing,  chairman  of  the  day.  A  choir  of 
ladies'  voices  from  the  Conservatory  of  Music  sang 
delightfully,  and  later,  two  young  ladies  led  a  triple 
quartet  in  "  What  beam  so  bright?"  Eliza  Clark, 
a  noble  woman  of  Cleveland,  gave  the  beautiful 
hall  in  which  Alice  Freeman  Palmer,  ex-president 
of  the  Wellesley  College,  made  a  fine  address. 
Guilford    Cottage,    cozy    and    fresh,    floating    the 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  253 

college  colors,  was  filled  with  visitors  to  welcome 
the  auspicious  opening.  Mrs.  Worcester  Reed 
Warner  reported  in  a  business  way  for  the  Build- 
ing Committee.  Mrs.  Flora  Stone  Mather  be- 
stowed a  name  in  brief,  appropriate  remarks. 
"  This  house  is  called  Guilford  Cottage  in  grateful 
and  loving  acknowledgment  of  the  debt  which 
this  community  owes  to  her  who  bears  that 
good  Saxon  name."  Miss  Guilford  responded 
entertainingly.  Mrs.  Mather  is  noble  in  charities, 
in  helpfulness  everywhere  and  crowns  her  past 
by  loyalty  to  the  College,  making  it  possible 
by  her  generosity  for  this  charming  cottage  to 
be  added  to  the  cause  of  higher  education  for 
woman.  It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the 
students  realize  their  indebtedness  to  those  noble- 
minded  donors,  and  they  pledge  themselves  to 
secure  the  greatest  possible  growth  in  unselfish, 
cultured  womanhood. 

This  pen  would  be  glad  to  pay  a  tribute  to  our 
music  teachers  and  musicians,  vocal  and  instru- 
mental, of  this  city,  who  have  done  and  do  now 
most  beautiful  work.  Julia  Somerville,  at  home 
under  Italian  skies,  Ella  Russell,  in  St.  Peters- 
burgh,  and  others  throughout  Europe.     At  home, 


254  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

we  have  Mrs.  Henry  Perkins,  Birdie  Hale  Britton, 
and  her  sisters,  Alary  and  Emma,  Mrs.  S.  C.  Ford, 
Mrs.  C.  B.  Ellinwood,  and  a  troop,  besides,  whose 
melody  fills  earthly  choirs,  reminding  us  of  what 
we  may  hear  in  putting  on  immortal  youth  "  in 
the  land  that  is  fairer  than  day." 

The  sacred  oratorios  and  college  glee  clubs 
of  Oberlin  have  always  been  a  delight 
to  Clevelanders,  and  in  turn  our  city  is 
a  source  of  enjoyment  to  that  cultured  community. 
Suffer  the  writer  to  mention  Airs.  A.  A.  F.  John- 
ston, well  known  from  the  sensible  and  polished 
addresses  she  has  frequently  made  us.  She  has 
held  for  twenty  years  the  position  of  principal  of 
the  Ladies'  Department  of  Oberlin  College.*  She  is 
also  professor  of  Mediaeval  History,  and  is  remark- 
able in  many  directions,  being  an  interesting 
speaker ;  a  forceful  writer.  Her  success  in  man- 
agement and  in  moulding  the  lives  of  hundreds  of 
voting  women  is  phenomenal.  She  has  a  passion 
for  travel  and  has    been    abroad    several    times. 


-Rev.  John  J.  Shipherd,  the  founder  of  Oberlin  College,  selected  its  site 
in  August,  1832  ;  all  students,  irrespective  of  race,  sex,  nation  or  sect  were 
welcomed.  The  name  is  in  honor  of  a  Strasburg  minister  who  gave  his 
life  to  a  broad  philanthropy.  Mother  Shipherd  had  recognition  in 
Oberlin's  semi-centennial,  1882. 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  255 

Northern  Ohio  is  rich  in  schools ;  onr  own  here, 
Oberlin,  Painesville,  Hiram,  all  have  strong  at- 
tractions for  the  girls  and  boys  of  the  period. 
Very  dear  to  the  writer  is  her  own  Alma  Mater, 
the  Ohio  Weslevan  at  Delaware. 


2S6  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

EARLY  LITERARY  WOMEN  OF  CLEVELAND — MRS. 
MARIA  M.  HERRICK — MRS.  L.  C.  PARKER — MRS. 
H.  E.  G.  AREY. 

'  I  ^HE  West  Side  claims  our  oldest  literary  lady, 
-^  for  there,  six  of  her  best  years  were  passed; 
an  admirable  woman,  excelling  in  those  qualities 
which  make  the  mother  at  home  a  power  where- 
ever  she  may  be,  and  yet  who,  in  her  quiet  way, 
found  time  to  work  for  others.  She  is  the  sister 
of  Mrs.  A.  S.  Hunt,  so  long  an  enthusiastic 
missionary  with  her  husband  in  China  and  India; 
and  is  also  related  to  the  first  Cleveland  girl  who 
sailed  to  the  Orient.  This  lady  edited  the  earliest 
magazine  published  here,,  from  1837  through  1840, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Maternal  Association  of 
Ohio  City,  "  Mothers'  and  Young  Ladies1  Guide," 
read  in  many  households,  and  its  editress  enshrined 
in  many  hearts — Mrs.  Maria  M.  Herrick,  over  four- 
score and  ten  years  of  age.     Through  a  fall  from 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  257 

a  carriage,  long  ago,  she  became  prematurely  in- 
firm, and  now,  sitting  in  her  pleasant  apartments 
on  Prospect  street,  waits  for  that  hour  when,  with 
the  loved  and  lost,  she  shall  put  on  immortal 
youth.  This  first  magazine  was  published  in 
Tremont  Block,  Main  street.  It  is  an  established 
fact  that  the  West  and  South  Sides  from  that  day 
to  this  furnish  a  fair  share  of  the  literary  and 
much  of  the  musical  talent  of  Cleveland.  Mrs. 
Herrick  came  to  Detroit  street,  Ohio  City,  from 
Utica,  N.  Y.,  in  November,  1836.  Being  in  full 
mental  vigor,  she  wrote  many  of  the  articles  that 
graced  her  columns.  Looking  over  the  venerable 
pages,  some  moons  ago,  I  traced  the  devotional 
spirit  and  practical  sense  of  the  writer  in  several 
of  her  contributions  and  transcribe  a  few  of  their 
subjects:  u  Duties  of  Mothers,"  "Family  Govern- 
ment," "  To  Young  Ladies,"  "  First  at  the  Sep- 
ulchre," "Similitude,"  "The  Nourished  Plant,"  "A 
Word  in  Season,"  "  Self  Consecration,"  "  Sewing 
Societies,"  "  An  Orphan's  Tale  '  (a  serial).  An 
extract  from  Philo's  pen  cannot  fail  to  awaken 
merry  thought,  in  a  piece  entitled  *  Fashion  : ' 
"  The  writer  well  remembers  when  tight  sleeves 
were  k  all  the  go,'  but  anon,  the  word  of  command 


258  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

was  given,  and  oh!  what  a  change!  How  rapid 
the  transition  through  all  the  grades,  from  'mutton 
leg'  to  the  extra  'bishop.'  What  innumerable 
yards  of  silk  were  used  to  make  a  covering — for 
what?  For  Mount  Etna?  Xo,  for  a  lady's  arm. 
And,  still,  the  sleeves,  like  the  waters  of  the  Deluge, 
continued  to  increase  until  they  required  almost 
as  many  extra  women  to  carry  them  as  it  did 
Queen  Esther's  train  of  old,  and  the  fair  beauty 
resembled  more  a  wasp  attached  to  two  balloons, 
than  aught  else  in  the  heavens  above,  the  earth 
beneath,  or  the  waters  under  the  earth.  And  this 
was  the  fashion  !  But  now  (1840),  the  smaller  the 
sleeve,  the  greater  the  beauty.  What  is  to  come 
next,  Heaven  only  knows!"  She  is  not  aware  of 
the  publication  of  this  slight  tribute,  but  we  do 
not  consent  that  her  name  be  omitted  from  the 
roll  of  women  who  have  helped  Cleveland,  and 
o-ive  her  a  merited  place  in  the  history  of  our 
work.  On  the  last  page  of  Vol.  I.  of  the  Guide  is 
a  stanza  appropriate  to  her  and  to  other  dear  gray- 
haired  ones  whom  we  all  love  : 

"  As  one  who,  when  the  sun  goes  down, 

Still  lingers  on  the  rosy  West, 
Shaping  the  shady  clouds,  to  crown 

Some  vision  of  the  dreamer's  breast, 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  259 

So  I,  in  memory's  sunset  sky, 

Do  shape  and  fashion  things  as  bright, 

And  build  me  bowers  that  seem  to  lie 
Beyond  the  reach  of  woe  and  night." 

Mrs.  L.  C.  Parker. — A  half  hour  was  spent 
ten  years  ago  with  this  lady,  a  friend  of  the  moth- 
ers of  Mrs.  Mary  H.  Severance  and  Mrs.  Mary 
Scranton  Bradford,  herself  the  mother  of  Mrs. 
Louise  Barrett,  a  rare  woman  of  Cleveland  and  a 
fine  musician.  She  had  always  lived  upon  the 
Western  Reserve,  which  may  be  the  reason  that 
we  seldom  find  a  person  of  three-score  and  ten  so 
delightful  in  conversation  as  Mrs.  Parker — fanciful, 
practical,  scientific,  vivacious,  as  befits  her  theme. 
She  was  fond  of  the  literature  of  the  day  and 
wrote  reminiscence  of  early  workful  years,  ex- 
celling in  epistolary  correspondence.  Hers  was 
the  power  to  fascinate  little  children  and  older 
people  with  relation  of  well  remembered  tales 
and  poems.  Lying  upon  the  center  table  was 
a  page  just  written  to  a  nephew,  an  active 
business  man  residing  on  one  of  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  who  had  informed  her  of  his  Hawaiian 
laborers,  his  lumber  mills,  and  of  lassoing  wild 
cattle,  and  I  brought  the  page  home  with  me. 
Here  it  is : 


260  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

u  Lorin,  Dear:  Away  up  in  the  mountain 
tops,  looking  off  on  the  vast  expanse  of  water  sep- 
arating you  from  kith  and  kin.  Eloha !  We  are 
not  separated  in  thought,  hardly  in  vision,  for  do 
we  not  see  you  careering  down  the  hill-side  and 
away  ?  Your  letter  brought  to  mind  lines  from 
Scott's  Marmion : 

'The  Scots  can  rein  a  mettled  steed, 

And  love  to  couch  a  spear. 
St.  George  !  a  stirring  life  they  led 

That  have  such  neighbors  near.' 

When  your  father  crossed  the  Equator  on  his 
first  voyage  to  the  Islands,  he  finished  '  Rokeby,' 
and  pronounced  it  one  of  Scott's  best.  It  has 
beautiful  passages  and  their  interest  is  enhanced 
a  hundred  fold  by  the  recollection  of  your  father's 
voice  and  manner,  in  reading  aloud  to  us  ladies — 
his  audience  on  board  the  brig — becalmed  as  we 
were,  a  few  degrees  from  the  Equator.  Every 
breeze  wafted  from  Micronesia  is  laden  with  per- 
fume. I  remember  so  distinctly  away  back  in  the 
days  of  Obookiah  and  the  sailing  of  the  first  mis- 
sionaries in  1 819,  that  at  times  I  almost  fancy  my- 
self, like  Cleopatra's  needle,  inscribed  all  over  with 
histories  of  the  long  ago." 

Mrs.  H.  E.  G.  Arev—  The   ability  of  this  lady 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  26 1 

was  acknowledged  in  Northern  Ohio  forty-seven 
rears  ago,  and  until  very  recently  Cleveland  has 
been  honored  by  her  presence  and  work.  She  has 
the  love  of  a  large  circle,  being  at  home  in  all 
activities,  her  pen  moving  most  briskly,  perhaps, 
for  reforms,  for  literature  and  art.  Upon  solicita- 
tion, Airs.  Arey  has  furnished  a  sprightly  bit  of 
history.  "  Upon  the  infantile  formation  of  letters 
into  words,  I  began  to  write  and  my  copy-book 
made  the  back-ground  of  remarkable  effusions, 
much  to  the  amusement  of  my  tall,  leather-jack- 
eted teacher.  These  efforts  jingled,  but  beyond 
that  they  were  indescribable.  My  friends  were 
first  alarmed  by  a  brilliant  fiasco  upon  the  burning 
of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  followed  by  the  transla- 
tion of  '  Whittington  and  his  Cat.'  Learning  to 
read  at  the  age  of  three  and  one-half,  the  writing 
came  two  years  later.  I  remember  when  seven  or 
eight,  my  father  offered  me  a  pair  of  red  morocco 
shoes  if  I  would  go  through  Murray's  Grammar  in 
six  weeks ;  lost  it  by  a  week,  but  got  the  shoes. 
All  my  subsequent  delinquencies  in  that  branch 
must  be  attributed  to  this  breach  of  modern  rule. 
I  came  to  Cleveland  in  1844,  having  given  up  a 
nearly    completed     college     course     at     Oberlin, 


262  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

through  failure  of  the  eyes.  After  a  time,  I  took 
charge  of  the  Department  of  Mathematics  in  Miss 
Fuller's  school  (Episcopalian)  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Square.  Close  beside  this  building  stood 
another,  Mrs.  William  Day's  school  (Presbyterian). 
Mrs.  D.  was  wife  of  the  first  Bethel  Chaplain,  and 
her  husband  a  brother  of  Rev.  Dr.  Aikin's  wife. 
Miss  Catharine  Jennings,  a  class-mate  at  Oberlin, 
came  as  Mrs.  Day's  assistant,  and  when  two  or 
three  years  later  Mrs.  Dav  retired  from  teaching, 
Miss  Jennings  and  I  took  charge  there.  My  con- 
tinuance was  limited  by  marriage.  Miss  Jennings 
went  into  the  high  school,  upon  its  opening.  Sub- 
sequently, she  sailed  for  Syria,  as  wife  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Parsons,  a  missionary  afterwards  murdered  in 
Turkey.  She  then  taught  a  girl's  school  in  the 
land  of  her  adoption.'1  Mrs.  Arey  was  formerly 
Miss  Harriet  H.  Grannis,  writing  for  the  press  from 
childhood.  She  and  Constance  Fennimore  Wool- 
son  are  relatives,  and  are  descended  from  the  Stun- 
ners, of  Boston,  a  well-known  family  in  old  colonial 
times.  Mrs.  Arey's  early  education  was  received 
under  English  oversight  in  Canada.  Mr.  Grannis, 
senior — her  father — was  a  member  of  that  Pro- 
vincial   Parliament  prorogued    by    Lord    Gosford, 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  263 

previous  to  the  Canadian  Rebellion.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Arey's  marriage  and  removal  to  Buffalo 
occurred  in  1848.  A  few  years  later  she  edited  a 
periodical  for  children,  out  of  which  grew  the 
Home  Monthly,  a  domestic  magazine,  the  first  of 
its  kind.  She  sought  to  reach  the  serious  work  of 
women  in  the  household,  finding  something  which 
would  elevate  and  purify  what  else  might  be 
cheerless  drudgery,  and  also  help  mothers  in  the 
training  of  children.  In  this  editorial  work  she 
gathered  about  her  a  corps  of  contributors,  among 
whom  were  Helen  Barron  Bostwick  and  Emily  E. 
Bissell.  In  1864,  Professor  Arey  took  charge  of 
the  State  Normal  School  at  Albany,  X.  Y.  Three 
years  later,  taking  with  her  their  youngest  child, 
she  went  back  to  teaching.  Removing:  later  to 
Cleveland,  Professor  Arey  having  been  called  to 
the  head  of  our  own  Normal  School,  with  Miss 
Ellen  G.  Reveley  as  assistant.  Mrs.  Arey's  keen- 
est life  sorrows  have  been  the  recent  death  of  a 
favorite  grandchild,  and  the  earlier  demise  of  an 
only  daughter,  her  companion,  friend  and  helper 
at  every  step  ;  possibly,  the  school  room  on  that 
account  seemed  attractive  as  a  means  of  absorp- 
tion, and  because  young  girls  trooped  so  lovingly 


264  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

about  her.  Especially  among  the  latter  has  been 
her  work,  and  her  aim  to  use  such  influence  as 
elevates  home  life,  believing  if  households  are 
pure,  society  cannot  take  a  much  lower  plane. 
She  was  the  progressive,  helpful  president  of  the 
Cleveland  Woman's  Press  Club  from  its  beginning 
until  her  removal  to  Baltimore.  Its  ten  members 
grew  into  a  prosperous  organization,  being  now 
one  of  the  International  League  of  Press  Clubs ; 
during  its  first  two  vears,  the  onlv  association  of 
pen-women  in  Ohio.  None  of  us  present  at  its 
annual  banquet  in  1890,  at  her  charming  home,  can 
forget  the  unique  and  beautiful  occasion,  made 
such  by  the  combined  skill  of  herself,  daughter, 
and  Mrs.  G.  V.  R.  Wickham.  Mrs.  Arey  gave  at- 
tention to  decorative  art.  Her  mementoes  to  friends 
were  the  work  of  her  own  skilled  fingers,  through 
an  eye  capable  of  blending  colors.  In  addition  to 
other  duties,  she  was  president  of  the  Art  and 
History  Club,  but  lived  not  alone  in  the  ideal,  for 
one  line  of  endeavor,  as  she  herself  says,  "  grew  out 
of  an  attempt  to  solve  the  problem,  (  What  is  to  be 
done  with  humanity  at  its  worst?'  A  volume  of 
her  early  poems  lies  upon  my  table ;  from  one  en- 
titled "  The  New  Year,"  I  gather  expressions  typ- 
ical of  the  author's  own  beautiful  life  among  us. 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  265 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

FIVE  FAMOUS  WOMEN  OF  CLEVELAND  —  SUSAN 
COOLIDGE — CONSTANCE  FENNIMORE  WOOLSON 
— LVDIA  HOVT  FARMER — SARAH  K.  BOLTON — 
LUCY    SEAMAN    BAINBRIDGE. 

"  There  thev  stand, 

Shining  in  order  like  a  living  hymn 

Written  in  light." 

OUSAN  COOLIDGE.— This  lady,  a  charming 
^^  writer,  widely  known  by  her  nom  dc  plume,  was 
born  in  Cleveland  and  lived  here  during  the  early- 
years  of  her  life.  Her  birthplace  was  a  large,  old- 
fashioned  honse  on  Enclid  avenue,  situated  near 
where  the  residence  of  Mrs.  Amasa  Stone  now 
stands.  She  is  Miss  Sarah  Coolidge  Woolsey,  of 
choice  ancestry  and  parentage.  Her  father — de- 
ceased— was  brother  of  ex-President  Woolsey,  of 
Yale  College,  and  also  a  brother  of  Theodore  Win- 
throp's  mother.  Her  mother  is  Jane  Andrews 
Woolsey,  only  sister  of  the  late  Hon.  S.  J.  Andrews, 


266  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

of  this  city.     Removing  to  New  Haven,  it  is  said, 
some  years  were  spent  there. 

Having  traveled  extensively  in  onr  own  and 
foreign  lands,  Susan  Coolidge  with  her  mother  and 
one  sister,  Mrs.  and  Miss  Woolsey,  went  to  reside 
in  Newport,  Rhode  Island.  They  are  accustomed 
to  the  mode  of  living  of  families  in  the  highest 
circles,  who  are  above  the  affectation  of  show. 
They  have  a  lovely,  artistic  home,  a  suite  of  rooms 
fitted  up  with  antique  furniture.  From  the  win- 
dows is  an  outlook  upon  Narragansett  Bay. 

Miss  Coolidge  is  verv  successful  in  the  culture  of 
flowers ;  the  scarlet  geranium,  the  golden  nastur- 
tium, the  coleus  of  many  hues  bloom  in  brilliant 
parterre  under  her  skillful  nurture,  and,  with  such 
neighbors  as  she  has,  may  we  not  hope  that  the 
aesthetic  sunflower  and  the  snowy  lily  thrive? 
This  lady  sketches  and  paints  with  great  skill. 
She  is  tall  and  elegant  in  figure,  with  dark  eyes 
and  silver  speech,  indeed,  her  charms  of  conversa- 
tion are  the  delight  of  friends.  Her  lovely  home 
is  a  center  of  intellectual  culture,  and  the  coterie 
of  literary  friends  who  summer  on  the  Bay  must 
make  of  life  something  above  the  average.  With 
this   gifted    lady,    literature    is    a   pastime.      Her 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  267 

books  are  mostly  stories  for  children:  "The  New 
Year's  Bargain"  is  a  decided  favorite.  In  it,  each 
month  of  the  year  tells  its  own  story  to  two  little 
German  girls,  "What  Katy  Did,"  u  What  Katy 
Did  at  School,"  "Nine  Little  Goslings,"  "Cross- 
patch,"  "Eyebright,"  are,  all  of  them,  greatly 
loved  by  the  little  ones.  Of  course  she  is  a  con- 
stant contributor  to  the  St.  Nicholas  Magazine. 
She  has  recently  revised  and  edited  the  ki  Life  and 
Letters  of  Mrs.  Delaney,"  as  well  as  the  "Memoirs 
of  Madame  d' Arblay."  These  give  a  charming 
description  of  English  court  life  and  circles  of 
rank  in  the  time  of  George  III.  and  Qneen  Char- 
lotte, one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  She  writes 
for  the  Century  Magazine,  and  for  the  New  York 
Independent. 

Susan  Coolidge  traveled  in  a  Pullman  car,  when 
railroads  and  cars  were  new,  with  "H.  H."  (Helen 
Hunt)  to  California.  Their  letters,  addressed 
respectively  to  the  Independent  and  Christian 
Union,  were  very  witty  and  rich  in  description. 
One  of  her  books  entitled  "Verses,"  bound  in 
cream  and  gold,  lies  upon  my  table.  Within  is  the 
"Legend  of  Kintu,"  "In  the  Mist,"  "Angelus," 
"  Savoir  cyest  Pardonner"  and  other  true  and  beau- 


268  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

tiful  poems.  Of  these,  I  choose  one,  perhaps  her 
most  celebrated,  "The  Cradle  Tomb,  Westminster 
Abbey,  1606;  by  Susan  Coolidge,  1872."  It  is 
prefaced  by  the  following  note:  "Two  American 
girls  on  their  visit  to  Westminster  Abbey,  in  1876, 
were  attracted  to  the  Cradle  Tomb  in  Henry  the 
Seventh's  Chapel.  Near  by,  on  a  card,  they  found 
a  manuscript  copy  of  the  following  verses  at- 
tributed, simply,  to  'An  American  Lady.'  On 
their  return  to  America,  thev  learned  that  the 
poem  was  written  by  Susan  Coolidge  and  printed 
in  the  Century  Magazine,  and  that  it  had  been 
copied  and  placed  in  the  Abbey  at  the  instance  of 
Lady  Augusta  Stanley.  Several  friends  of  these 
travelers,  on  hearing  of  this  incident,  have  asked 
for  a  copy  of  the  verses,  and  to  gratify  them,  an 
edition  has  been  privately  printed  in  Baltimore  at 
Christmas,  1877:" 

THE    CRADLE   TOMB   IN   WESTMINSTER   ABBEY. 

A  little  rudely  sculptured  bed, 

With  shadowing  folds  of  marble  lace, 

And  quilt  of  marble,  primly  spread 
And  folded  round  a  baby's  face. 

Smoothly  the  mimic  coverlet, 
With  royal  blazonries  bedight, 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  269 

Hangs,  as  by  fingers  set, 

And  straightened  for  the  last  good-night. 

And  traced  upon  the  pillowing  stone 

A  dent  is  seen,  as  if  to  bless 
That  quiet  sleep,  some  grieving  one 

Had  leaned,  and  left  a  soft  impress. 

It  seems  no  more  than  yesterday 

Since  the  sad  mother,  down  the  stair 

And  down  the  long  aisle  stole  away, 
And  left  her  darling  sleeping  there. 

But  dust  upon  the  cradle  lies, 

And  those  who  prized  the  baby  so, 
And  decked  her  couch  with  heavy  sighs, 

Were  turned  to  dust  long  years  ago. 

Above  the  peaceful  pillowed  head 

Three  centuries  brood;  and  strangers  peep 

And  wonder  at  the  carven  bed ; 
But  not  unwept  the  baby's  sleep, 

For  wistful  mother-eyes  are  blurred 
With  sudden  mists,  as  lingerers  stay, 

And  the  old  dusts  are  roused  and  stirred 
By  the  warm  tear-drops  of  today. 

Soft,  furtive  hands  caress  the  stone, 
And  hearts,  o'erleaping  place  and  age, 

Melt  into  memories,  and  own 
A  thrill  of  common  parentage. 

Men  die,  but  sorrow  never  dies, 
The  crowding  years  divide  in  vain, 


270  WOMEN    OF  'CLEVELAND 

And  the  wide  world  is  knit  with  ties 
Of  common  brotherhood  in  pain. 

Of  common  share  in  grief  and  loss, 
And  heritage  in  the  immortal  bloom 

Of  love,  which,  flowering  round  its  cross, 
Made  beautiful  a  baby's  tomb. 

Although  many  pleasant  things  have  been 
written  and  will  continue  to  be  written  of  this, 
our  own  Cleveland  child  of  song  and  story,  she 
yet  shrinks  from  public  mention.  An  unusual 
fondness  for  retirement  prevents  her  being  known 
under  any  save  the  unassuming  name  she  adopts. 

An  equally  gifted  and  eminent  woman,  whom 
the  writer  well  remembers  at  the  Rockwell  street 
grammar  school,  is  Constance  Fennimore  Woolson. 
This  promising  writer  was  born  in  Claremont, 
New  Hampshire,  but  removed  at  a  very  early  age 
to  this  city.  Her  father  will  be  remembered  as  C. 
J.  Woolson,  of  the  firm  of  Woolson  &  Hitchcock, 
stove  merchants,  of  Cleveland.  Through  him, 
Constance  is  descended  from  the  Peabodys  of  New 
England,  a  family  among  whose  direct  posterity 
rank  some  of  the  strong  workers  of  the  age.  Her 
mother  was  a  niece  of  Fennimore  Cooper.  She 
was  known  among  her  sisters  as  a  quiet,  thought- 
ful child,  flashing  at  rare  intervals  into  enthusiasm, 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  27 1 

as  something  touching  or  artistic  came  in  her  way. 
She  talked  but  little  ;  this  quietude  remained  with 
her  as  she  grew  to  mature  life,  impressing  an  ob- 
server with  the  idea  that  the  highways  and  by- 
ways of  her  thinking  were  not  trodden  by  every 
casual  acquaintance.  The  greater  part  of  her 
school  life  was  spent  in  Cleveland,  but  the  special 
preparation  for  the  work  she  has  since  done  was 
outside  of  school  room  walls,  and,  indeed,  outside 
the  city's  smoke.  When  her  father's  health  began 
to  fail,  she  set  out  in  the  family  carriage;  together 
they  iw  weut  gypsying"  wherever  their  horses'  heads 
were  turned,  down  among  the  valleys  of  the  Buck- 
eye State,  any  and  everywhere  out  of  the  mire  and 
dust  of  travel,  wherever  anything  quaint  or 
picturesque  was  to  be  found,  subjects  for  weeks 
together  of  the  King  of  Zoar,  or  tarrying  at  another 
place  in  which  the  more  curious  studies  of  human 
life  were  presented.  Again,  whole  seasons  would 
be  spent  at  Mackinaw,  or  in  out-of-the-way  places 
on  the  upper  lakes.  From  these  out-door  studies 
she  gleaned  for  the  future,  as  our  artists  do  in 
their  summer  wanderings  over  hill  and  dale.  In 
these  resorts,  her  best  character  studies  were  un- 
doubtedly first  embodied. 


2/2  WOMEN    OK    CLEVELAND 

It  was  in  one  of  these  remote  sojournings  that 
news  came  to  her  of  her  father's  last  illness.  She 
took  the  first  boat  for  Cleveland,  hearing  nothing 
more  until  arriving  here  at  midnight.  Upon  being 
driven  to  her  home,  she  learned  first  of  her 
bereavement  when  she  laid  her  hand  in  the  dark- 
ness on  the  crape-muffled  handle  of  the  door  bell. 
It  is  believed  that  subsequent  to  her  father's  death, 
her  writings  were  given  to  the  public.  Soon  after 
this  time,  she  went  south  with  her  mother,  spend- 
ing Winters  in  Florida,  rarely  coming  further  north 
than  the  Sulphur  Springs  of  Virginia. 

After  the  loved  mother's  death,  she,  her  sister, 
and  niece  went  to  Europe,  and  notes  of  travel 
came  back  to  friends.  The  special  point  of  ex- 
cellence in  her  work  is  thought,  by  those  best 
qualified  to  determine,  to  be  in  quaint  character 
sketches.  Each  line  is  a  study  from  one  whose 
eye  sees  far  below  the  surface.  Those  who  give 
to  her  writings  the  highest  meed  of  praise  come 
from  the  leading  critics  of  the  day. 

The  list  of  her  principal  works  is:  u Rodman 
the  Keeper,"  comprising  her  southern  sketches; 
"Castle  Nowhere,'1  includes  her  Mackinaw  stories; 
"The  Old  Stone  House;"  "Anne,"  a  serial  in  Har- 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  2  73 

per^s  Magazine.  A  volume  of  short  articles  may 
have  preceded  these. 

Miss  Woolson  spent  one  Winter  at  Sorrento,  the 
birthplace  of  Tasso.  In  addition  to  the  beauty  of 
the  scenery  and  the  delights  of  the  climate,  she 
undoubtedly  finds  in  the  quaint  characters  about 
her,  new  subjects  for  study,  rare  models  for  the 
touches  of  her  facile  pen.  A  thorough  cosmopoli- 
tan, she  sees  always  the  human  pulse  beating 
under  whatever  guise. 

No  national  prejudice,  no  unblending  habits  of 
criticism  dim  her  keen  power  of  observation  when 
new  phases  of  character  are  presented  for  dissec- 
tion. Her  sketches,  gleaned  from  a  residence 
South,  show  this  trait,  and  from  the  rare  homes 
she  is  making  for  herself  in  the  Old  World,  we 
may  hope  for  still  richer  presentations. 

In  the  Spring  of  1883,  she  joined  her  sister  and 
went  to  Switzerland,  where  she  finished  her  work 
in  hand,  "Anne,"  and  one  other.  "Horace  Chase," 
is  the  title  of  her  new  novel,  beginning  January  1, 
1893,  m  Harper's  Magazine.  The  opening  scenes 
of  the  story  are  in  Asheville,  N.  C,  soon  after  the 
close  of  the  war. 

Mrs.    Lydia    Hoyt  Farmer  is  a  daughter  of 


2-74  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

Hon.  James  M,  Hoyt,  sister  of  Rev.  Wayland  Hoyt, 
D.  D.,  of  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  and  of  Colgate  Hoyt, 
of  New  York,  and  of  Messrs.  James  H.  and  Elton 
Hoyt.  Her  husband  is  a  son  of  Mrs.  Meribah  and 
the  late  James  Farmer,  all  of  them  well  known 
residents  of  Cleveland.  Mrs.  Farmer  is  poet,  art- 
ist and  Christian,  as  well  as  an  accurate  historical 
and  biographical  writer.  The  following  is  a  list 
of  her  books  ;  certainly,  none  of  us  are  more  in- 
dustrious than  she  :  "Boys'  Book  of  Famous 
Rulers,"  published  in  1886;  "  Girls'  Book  of  Fa- 
mous Queens,"  1887,  giving  information  regarding 
the  various  epochs  in  which  all  these  rulers  lived, 
noting  the  important  events  of  their  lives.  "  A 
Story  Book  of  Science, "  18S6;  opening  to  youth 
a  rich  fund  of  knowledge,  concerning  the  creatures 
of  sea  and  earth,  as  well  as  of  plant  and  insect 
life;  "The  Prince  of  the  Flaming  Star,"  a  fairy 
operetta,  1887  ;  a  striking  example  of  the  author's 
diversified  gifts,  the  words,  music  and  illustrations 
all  being  from  her  facile  hand.  The  operetta  is  in 
four  acts  ;  act  first,  introducing  us  to  the  fairy 
realms  of  heaven;  second,  to  Titania's  kingdom 
on  earth;  third,  to  the  "Flower  Court,"  and 
fourth,  to  a  scene  of  general  rejoicing  among  the 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  275 

fairies  of  both  spheres.  "Life  of  LaFayette ;  the 
Knight  of  Liberty  in  Two  Worlds  and  Two  Cen- 
turies," 188S;  a  most  valued  and  entertaining  book 
and  a  much  needed  one,  as,  in  literature,  there  was 
no  adequate  biography  of  this  brave  French  Gen- 
eral, so  dear  to  the  United  States.  In  1889,  sne 
published  "A  Short  History  of  the  French  Revo- 
lution," being  selections  from  the  principal  French 
historians  interwoven  with  the  text.  Carlyle  is 
the  favorite  in  quotation,  with  Thiers,  Michelet, 
Lamartine,  Louis  Blanc,  Henri  Martin,  Van  Laun 
and  others  to  form  a  group  about  him.  It  is  the 
story  of  the  revolution  of  1789.  In  the  same  year, 
'k  A  Knight  of  Faith,"  written  in  answer  to  the 
widely  read  u  Robert  Elsmere."  It  is  a  wholesome 
book,  showing  the  perfect  development  of  a 
Christian  character,  which  a  father  may  well  put 
into  the  hands  of  sons  and  daughters  as  a  counter- 
acting influence  to  the  sceptical  literature  of  the 
day.  For  this,  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  gives  her 
hearty  recognition.  In  1890,  "  A  Moral  Inher- 
itance/ '  For  two  years,  Mrs.  Farmer  has  been 
preparing  a  religious,  historical  novel,  entitled, 
■"  The  Doom  of  the  Holy  City:  Christ  and  Caesar," 
founded   upon   the  destruction   of  Jerusalem,  the 


276  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

beautiful.  Her  work  par  excellence,  upon  which 
are  bestowed  time  and  painstaking,  is  the  National 
Exposition  souvenir,  "  What  America  Owes  to 
Woman,"  which  is  progressing  rapidly  and  will  be 
a  source  of  pride  to  Cleveland  and  to  the  gifted 
author  and  compiler. 

Lucy  Seaman  Bainbridge. — This  lady  was  born 
at  the  old  homestead,  65  Seneca  street,  educated 
at  Cleveland  Central  High  School  and  at  Ipswich, 
Mass.,  and  came  out  a  "healthy,  sensible,  compan- 
ionable woman."  During  the  war,  she  went  to 
Washington,  D.  C,  with  her  mother,  and  from  there 
to  the  front  as  a  member  of  the  Christian  commis- 
sion ;  then  to  Acquia  Creek  to  meet  the  boat- 
loads of  wounded ;  going  back  to  Washington 
with  them,  tried  to  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  those 
poor  fellows  packed  in  rows  on  the  floor.  This 
first  effort  being  acceptable,  she  was  urged  to  keep 
on,  and  for  some  time  worked  within  sound  of  the 
cannonading  at  the  front,  living  in  a  tent,  and 
laboring  all  day  long  in  giving  drink,  food  and 
medicine,  or  wetting  the  dried  wounds  of  poor, 
maimed,  suffering  men  just  brought  from  the 
battle-field.  After  dusk  came  the  duty  of  writing 
for  the  soldiers  to  anxious  wife  or  mother.     Lucy 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  277 

Seaman  regards  these  weeks  under  a  Virginia's 
Summer  sun  as  among  the  most  precious  of  her 
life.  September,' 1866,  she  married  Rev.  William 
F.  Bainbridge,  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church,  in 
Erie,  Pa.  During  the  year  that  followed,  they  vis- 
ited England,  Scotland,  France,  Switzerland,  and 
Germany ;  made  a  specialty  of  an  Egypt  and 
Palestine  tour,  being  two  months  tenting  and 
traveling  on  horseback  in  the  Holy  Land, 
going  as  far  east  as  Constantinople,  and  north  as 
St.  Petersburg.  Called  to  the  Central  Baptist 
Church  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  in  1869,  she  had  ten 
busy  years  as  pastor's  wife,  and  Sunday  school 
worker.  In  1874,  on  a  visit  here,  she  joined  two 
processions  of  ladies  holding  saloon  prayer-meet- 
ings, and  otherwise  assisted  us.  Home  again,,  to 
lead  the  forces  of  her  own  city  and  to  organize  a 
club  of  reformed  men,  whose  reputation  for  ex- 
cellent service  reached  us.  This  labor  she 
laid  down  to  travel,  and  her  book,  "Round  the 
World  Letters,"  is  one  delightful  result.  Here  is 
a  bit  of  description:  "WTe  were  in  Agra,  the  city 
of  the  Taj;  entered  the  gateway,  and  passed 
Taj  through  the  avenue  of  cypresses  toward  this 
mausoleum,  built  by  Shah  Jehan  to  the' memory 


278  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

of  his  beloved  wife,  Xoor-Jehan,  'the  light  of  the 
world/  kA  poem  in  marble,'  'The  sigh  of  a 
broken  heart/  'A  floating  palace  in  the  air,'  'The 
spirit  of  some  happy  dream/  It  is  the  mausoleum 
of  a  woman,  the  most  exquisitely  beautiful  tomb  in 
all  the  world,  and  built  by  the  emperor  of  a  people 
who  despise  women,  and  whose  holy  book  does 
not  recognize  that  they  possess  souls.  Napoleon's 
crypt.  Prince  Albert's  memorial,  Charlottenberg's 
tomb,  are  far  outrivaled -in  pathos  of  beauty  by 
the  Taj  where  sleeps  the  inmate  of  a  harem,  a 
simple  woman,  whose  life  was  spent  behind  the 
screens  of  an  Indian  palace.  The  whole  building, 
as  one  looks  upon  it,  seems  to  float  in  the  air  like 
an  autumn  cloud." 

Then  follows  a  detail  of  luxurious  word-painting 
of  the  exquisite  marble  screens  and  carving,  the 
mosaics  of  precious  stones,  the  traceries,  the  Orient- 
al glory  of  this  "work  of  art  possessed  of  life  and 
perfect/'  whose  domes,  crescents,  minarets,  and 
terraces  seemed  to  her  like  "  a  castle  of  pearl  and 
burnished  silver." 

Mrs.  Bainbridge's  description  of  jungle  life  is  the 
best  I  have  ever  read.  Of  course,  as  may  be  ex- 
pected, Mrs.  Bainbridge  visited  some  of  the  Zenanas 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  2 79 

of  India  and  looked  upon  the  "golden  lily  foot1'  of 
the  aesthetic  Chinese  wife,  was  refreshed  by  the 
height  of  style  on  Japanese  young  ladies  as  to 
their  back  hair,  done  up  in  form  of  a  half-open 
fan,  or  butterfly  secured  with  hair-pins  of  flowers 
or  golden  balls. 

But  these  things  did  not  move  her.  She  was  not 
so  absorbed  with  the  bangle  bracelets  of  the  fair  ones 
of  Delhi,  nor  with  the  shopping  of  the  sheeted 
Moslem  girls  in  the  bazaars,  nor  yet  with  the  blue 
feather,  pink  flowers,  and  yellow  kid  gloves  of  the 
fascinating  Syrian,  on  a  ground  of  plum  color, 
scarlet  and  drab  at  the  Pasha's  garden  reception, 
but  that  she  could,  with  her  husband,  visit  nearly  a 
thousand  missionaries  in  their  various  fields  of 
labor,  and  ride  through  the  jungles  to  caress  the 
resting  place  of  the  heroic  pioneer  woman  mission- 
ary of  America  to  India — Ann  Haseltine  Judson. 
Xor  did  our  gentle  crusader  fail  to  note  the  mar- 
velous work  of  one  temperance  woman  at  Bareilly. 

It  must  be  that  Cleveland  Baptists  have  a  just 
pride  in  their  Sabbath  school  child,  Lucy,  who 
resides  now  in  Brooklvn,  X.  Y.  Permit  me  to 
assure  our  readers  that  the  Cleveland  woman 
abroad  is  always  a  wide-awake  and  far-seeing 
creature  of  intelligence. 


280  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

Mrs.  Sarah  K.  Bolton. — Her  first  published 
poem  was  in  the  Waver ly  Magazine,  when  she 
was  fifteen.  At  this  time  she  became  a  member 
of  the  family  of  her  uncle,  Colonel  H.  L.  Miller,  a 
lawyer  of  Hartford,  whose  extensive  library  was 
a  delight,  and  his  house  a  center  for  those  who 
loved  scholarship  and  refinement.  The  aunt,  a 
descendant  of  Noah  Webster,  was  a  woman  of 
wide  reading,  exquisite  taste,  and  social  prom- 
inence. Here  the  young  girl  saw  Harriet  Beecher 
Stowe,  Mrs.  Sigourney,  and  others  like  them, 
whose  lives  to  her  were  a  constant  inspiration.  She 
graduated  from  the  seminary  founded  by  Catharine 
Beecher.  Sarah  became  a  practical  and  brilliant 
scholar.  Motley,  Prescott,  Guizot,  Hallam,  and  the 
best  essayists  were  her  special  favorites.  So  closely 
did  she  read  that  for  some  months  her  sight  was 
endangered. 

A  small  book  of  her  poems  was  now  published 
of  the  Appletons,  and  a  serial  novel  in  a  New  Eng- 
land paper. 

Soon  after,  she  married  Mr.  Charles  E.  Bolton,  a 
graduate  of  Amherst  College,  and  they  removed  to 
Cleveland,  O.  In  this  city,  remarkable  for  its 
benevolences,  she  soon  became  the  first  secretary 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  281 

of  the  Woman's  Christian  iVssociation,  using  much 
of  her  time  in  visits  among  the  poor.  This  is  not 
strange,  as  during  all  her  school  life  she  was 
deeply  interested  in  such  work — persuading  some 
of  her  wealthy  friends  to  educate  the  brightest  of 
the  boys  in  her  mission  Sunday  school  class,  and 
reading  each  Saturday  to  a  poor  blind  woman. 

The  writer  well  remembers,  in  the  early  days  of 
her  Cleveland  work,  Mrs.  Bolton's  charitable  in- 
tent ;  how  she  took  clothing  from  her  own  person 
wherewith  to  invest  the  chilly,  delicate  women 
who  came  to  her  for  relief.  In  one  family,  where 
death  had  come  for  the  first  time  and  taken  a 
pretty  child,  and  the  young  wife  was  wretched 
because  she  had  no  picture  of  her  infant,  Mrs. 
Bolton  dressed  the  little  one  in  the  white  clothes 
of  her  own  baby,  had  the  father  take  her  in  his 
arms  to  a  photographer,  and  a  good  likeness  was 
obtained,  as  if  in  life.  The  poor  mother  was  com- 
forted. Mrs.  Bolton  placed  the  dead  in  the  coffin 
she  had  purchased ;  with  her  own  hands  screwed 
down  the  lid,  and  then  she  helped  at  the  simple 
burial.  A  picture  of  the  sweet-faced  child  has 
always  been  in  her  own  home. 

When,  in  1874,  the  temperance  crusade  began 


282  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

in  Hillsboro1,  ().,  she  was  one  of  the  first  to  take 
up  the  work,  having  found,  naturally,  in  her  labors 
among  the  poor,  that  poverty  is  too  often  the  result 
of  drink.  For  several  months,  through  Northern 
Ohio,  she  spoke  at  evening  meetings,  going  with 
the  praying  bands  to  the  saloons  during  the  day. 
Indeed,  she  led  the  first  crusade  in  Northern  Ohio, 
which  began  in  Berea.  With  scarcely  an  excep- 
tion, her  gentleness  and  Christian  spirit  paved  the 
way  for  earnest  conversation  and  blessed  results. 
The  latter  was  true,  also,  in  this  city;  and  she  was 
soon  appointed  assistant  corresponding  secretary 
of  the  National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union. 

Invited  to  Boston,  to  become  one  of  the  editors 
of  the  Coiigrcgationalist,  a  most  useful  and  re- 
sponsible position,  she  proved  herself  an  able 
journalist.  Always  suggestive  in  plans,  careful  lest 
feelings  be  unnecessarily  wounded,  and  untiring 
in  her -work,  she  made  many  friends  among  those 
best  known  in  literature.  She  has  passed  some 
years  abroad,  enjoying  the  wrild  scenery  of  Norway 
and  Russia,  and  the  art  of  classic  Rome.  Her 
only  child  spent  his  vacation  with  her  in  seeing 
the    old  world,    and    together  they  often    wralked 


AND    THEIR  WORK.  283 

eighteen  miles  a  day.  Here  she  was  fortunate  in 
meeting  Jean  Ingelow,  Christina  Rosetti,  Robert 
Browning,  Dinah  Maria  Mulock,  Frances  Power 
Cobbe,  and  many  others  whom  the  world  delights 
to  honor.  She  made  an  especial  study  of  woman's 
higher  education  in  the  universities  of  Cambridge, 
Oxford,  and  elsewhere,  preparing  for  magazines 
several  articles  on  this  subject,  as  well  as  on 
woman's  philanthropic  and  intellectual  work ; 
also,  what  is  being  done  for  the  mental  and  moral 
help  of  the  laboring  people  by  their  employers, 
reading  a  paper  011  this  subject  at  a  meeting  of  the 
American  Social  Science  Association,  held  at  Sara- 
toga. Much  material  was  also  gathered  on 
Technical  Education,  a  matter  of  growing  impor- 
tance in  this  country,  and  for  biographical  and 
descriptive  work. 

Mrs.  Bolton  has  written:  "How  Success  is 
Won,"  "  Poor  Boys  and  Girls  who  became  Fa- 
mous," "Stories  from  Life"  (fiction),  "Social 
Studies  in  England,"  "  Famous  American  Au- 
thors," "  From  Heart  and  Nature  "  (poems),  half 
the  book  written  by  her  son,  Charles  Knowles 
Bolton,  Harvard  College,  class  '90;  "Famous 
American  Statesmen,"  "Some  Successful  Women," 


284  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

"  Famous  Men  of  Science,"  "  Famous  English 
Authors  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,"  "  Famous 
European  Artists,"  "  Famous  English  Statesmen  of 
Queen  Victoria's  Reign,"  "  Famous  Types  of 
Womanhood,"  and  for  at  least  forty  journals  pub- 
lished in  New  York,  Boston  and  Ohio. 

It  will  not  be  amiss  for  me,  a  friend  of  long 
standing,  who  has  loved  her  from  the  very  first,  to 
sav  that  in  manner  Mrs.  Bolton  is  refined  and  win- 
some,  full  of  good  cheer,  treating  the  lowest  with 
as  much  courtesy  as  the  higher  born.  Her  home 
has  the  pleasant  accompaniments  of  a  student's 
life — books  and  pictures.  About  her  writing  table 
are  portraits  of  Emerson,  Longfellow,  and  Victor 
Hugo,  all  personally  known  to  her,  and  pictures 
of  the  homes  of  Tennyson  and  Ruskin.  She  is  in 
her  prime,  giving  promise  of  much  valuable  liter- 
ary work,  and  is  one  of  the  most  vigorous  of  our 
Pallas  Athenes. 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  285 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

SIXTY  WELL  KNOWN  WOMEN  OF  CULTURE  — 
TWELVE  CLUBS  FOR  INTELLECTUAL  AD- 
VANCEMENT— THE    COLUMBIAN   ASSOCIATION. 

{~~^  LEVEL  AND  is  noted  among  cities  for  its  large 
^-^  number  of  bright  women.  Airs.  Sarah  E. 
Bierce,  of  the  Plain  Dealer  editorial  staff,  and 
secretary  of  the  Northern  Ohio  Woman's  Press 
Association,  states  that  thirty-five  of  these  write 
books.  We  have  a  reserve  force,  aside  from  the 
eight  already  delineated  ;  first  of  whom  in  mention 
is  May  Alden  Ward,  an  elegant  pen  woman  and  still 
a  student ;  for  the  most  part  of  the  literature  of 
Continental  and  Southern  Europe ;  known  and 
appreciated  here  by  scholars  and  writers,  she  has  a 
fine  reputation  among  the  Boston  literati.  Her 
books  are  "  Life  and  Works  of  Dante,"  "  Life  and 
WTorks  of  Petrarch,"  "  Studies  in  French  and  Ger- 
man Literature."  Her  parlor  lectures  are  greatly 
enjoyed.     Kate  H.  S.  Avery,    well-informed    and 


2.X6  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

brilliant,  wields    a    sprightly  pen;  is   looking  up 

11  those  Revolutionary  dames,  our  foremothers," 
indeed,  she  is  constantly  engaged  in  historical  and 
genealogical  research ;  in  the  latter,  Elizabeth 
Clifford  Neff  is  interested ;  our  other  Xeff,  called 
in  her  girlhood,  Lizzie  Hyer,  writes  short  stories, 
and  is  a  witty,  impromptu  talker.  Mrs.  Xeff 
has  forever  rescued  mothers-in-law  from  obloquy, 
by  her  eloquent  defense  of  Dona  de  Perestrello, 
who  sustained  that  relation  to  Christopher  Colum- 
bus;  truthfully  stating  that  only  the  irony  of  fate 
compelled  Spain  to  be  step-mother  of  these  new 
lands,  for,  had  there  been  no  Isabella,  America 
would  have  been  discovered  through  the  persistent 
aid  to  the  great  navigator  of  this  Italian  cavalier's 
widow,  who  placed  in  his  hands  all  the  papers, 
charts,  journals  and  memoranda  of  the  lamented 
Perestrello. 

Two  of  the  most  valued  members  of  our  widely 
known  Press  Club  are  May  Alden  Ward  and  Lizzie 
Hyer  Neff,  graduates  of  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  Univer- 
sity. Jessie  Glasier,  her  mother  Mrs.  Eliza  Gla- 
sier,  and  Estelle  Bone,  sparkle  in  the  newspapers ; 
Clara  A.  Urann  is  author  of  a  "  Course  in  English 
Literature,"  gathering   flowers    under    Christmas 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  287 

snows,  giving  most  instructive  and  entertaining 
lectures.  Miss  S.  A.  Wilson  is  a  diligent  writer  for 
Epworth  Leagues,  Sunday  schools  and  Bible  study. 
She  and  Miss  Clara  G.  Tagg  are  acknowledged 
leaders  in  religious  and  intellectual  circles. 

Mrs.  M.  M.  Caton  has  just  issued  a  "  Commercial 
Speller,"  the  product  of  a  year's  work — having 
original  features,  systematically  graded,  and  so  far 
as  known  to  the  writer,  the  only  business  college 
text-book  compiled  by  an  Ohio  woman.  She  re- 
cites well,  and  so  does  Miss  Kate  Parmalee.  We 
may  as  well  attempt  to  count  the  stars  in  mid- 
winter skies  as  to  enumerate  all  the  bright  women 
of  Cleveland.  Of  these  is  Miss  Emma  Perkins, 
teacher  of  Latin  in  Woman's  College  of  Western 
Reserve  University,  a  fine  essayist  and  superior 
scholar,  graduating  at  Vassar  with  the  first  honor 
of  her  class.  Mrs.  S.  T.  Paine  is  a  lady  of  excellent 
ability;  a  fine  Secretary.  Mrs.  H.  M.  Ingham  is 
a  gifted  writer ;  adapted  to  editorship.  Mrs, 
Gertrude  Van  R.  Wickham  writes  for  St.  Nicholas, 
the  local  papers,  and  other  journals;  Anna  M. 
Pratt  furnishes  charming  poems  for  this  same 
Saint.  Adele  Thompson  is  delightful.  Mrs.  B.  F. 
Taylor,    a  brilliant   writer,  is  a  fit  companion  for 


288  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

the  poet-editor  of  Chicago,  who  wrote  "There  is  a 
Magical  Isle  up  the  River  of  Time."  Mrs.  A.  M. 
Burns  furnishes  stories  for  a  New  England  journal. 
Her  review  of  current  literature  for  our  Press  Club, 
at  its  January  meeting,  was  remarkable  for  taste 
and  beauty.  Ella  S.  Webb  is  a  practical  writer  for 
Leisure  Hours,  in  Philadelphia.  Sarah  E.  Chand- 
ler, Mrs.  Chas.  Ruprecht,  Anna  E.  Treat,  Laura 
Rosamond  White  and  Emma  Scarr  Booth  are 
familiar  names  in  city  journalism. 

Hanna  A.  Foster,  a  poet,  and  Jane  Eliot  Snow, 
write  and  lecture  equally  well ;  they  are  pro- 
nounced temperance  women.  Four  ministers' 
wives  distinguish  themselves  in  a  literary  way — 
Mrs.  P.  E.  Kipp,  Mrs.  M.  C.  Hickman,  Mrs.  Mar- 
garet B.  Peeke,  Mrs.  J.  G.  Fraser.  Our  educational 
writers  are  Miss  Harriet  L.  Keeler,  Miss  Ellen  G. 
Reveley,  Miss  L.  T.  Guilford,  Mrs.  Mary  E.  M. 
Richardson.  The  latter  delights  a  large  circle  of 
friends  with  holiday  booklets.  Mrs.  W.  C.  Weedon 
collects  legends  ;  Helen  M.  Houk  sets  us  out  hand- 
somely in  the  Plain  Dealer.  Mrs.  B.  D.  Babcock 
writes  gracefully  ;  her  papers  on  ceramic  art,  illus- 
trated by  porcelain  and  pottery,  charm  her  friends. 
Mrs.  G.  A.  Robertson,  Martha  Canfield,  M.  D.,  and 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  289 

Etta  L.  Gilchrist,  M.  D.,  have  original  ideas  and 
know  how  to  express  them.  Alice  Webster,  Els- 
beth  B.  Black,  Belle  K.  Adams  and  several  more 
are  a  credit  to  onr  city  by  their  industry  with  pen 
and  brush.  Helen  Watterson  Moody  belongs  to 
us.  Mrs.  C.  C.  Burnett  is  a  pioneer  in  literary 
societies,  and  skilled  in  planning  for  their  success. 
Mrs.  W.  G.  Rose  is  thinker,  writer,  reformer  and 
president  of  our  largest  club — Sorosis,  organized 
in  1891,  numbering  over  two  hundred  members ; 
out  of  which  has  come  the  "  Poet's  Corner,"  in 
charge  of  Mrs.  Lvda  C.  Sevmour,  and  the  Natural 
Science  Club,  organized  in  1892 ;  Mrs.  A.  D. 
Davidson,  of  Oberlin,  and  Mrs.  N.  Coe  Stewart, 
president  and  secretary.  Mrs.  Rose  has  afforded 
rare  intellectual  feasts,  at  two  or  three  Sorosis 
banquets ;  notably,  that  of  October,  1892 ; 
"  Woman  "  was  the  subject  considered.  Mrs.  Emily 
G.  Cory,  resident  abroad  for  three  years,  spoke 
upon  the  "  Women  of  Germany;  "  Luella  Varney, 
our  sculptor,  living  for  the  most  part  in  Rome,  the 
"Women  of  Italy."  Harriet  Taylor  Upton  fur- 
nished a  remarkable  paper  upon  the  "  Women  of 
Washington,  D.  C."  Mrs.  L.  Dautel,  toast  mistress, 
and  our  own  Mrs.  M.  G.  Browne,  both  having  done 


29O  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

much  to  develop  Sorosis,  gave  polished  utterance 
upon  "American  Women;"  Mrs.  Lydia  Hoyt 
Farmer,  "  Mrs.  Mal-a-prop." 

Three  ladies,  wives  of  physicians,  Mrs.  H.  F. 
Biggar,  Mrs.  D.  H.  Beckwith,  and  Mrs.  T.  P.  Wil- 
son read  the  best  literature,  and  delight  select  cir- 
cles with  admirable  papers  upon  historical  and 
social  topics.  The  wives  of  some  of  the  professors 
and  editors  in  town,  and  Mrs.  Cadv  Stalev  write 
with  beauty  and  thoroughness  upon  exposition  and 
general  subjects. 

Our  clubs  are  numerous  and  excellent,  doing 
fine  literary  work,  with  conversations  and  discus- 
sions that  indicate  deep  study  and  patient  thought ; 
Monday  Club,  organized  in  1877  ;  East  End  Con- 
versational, 1878;  Nineteenth  Century,  1880; 
Western  Reserve,  1882  ;  merged  into  Sorosis  in 
1891 ;  Press  Club,  1886;  Cleveland  Literary  Guild, 
1889 ;  the  President,  Mrs.  O.  C.  Lawrence  and 
several  of  the  members  recite  well ;  Daughters  of 
the  American  Revolution,  1891 ;  Journalists'  Club, 
1892 ;  a  talented  coterie  from  this  organization 
edit,  publish  and  write  for  the  Household  Realm. 
Alice  Webster,  founder;  Mrs.  Belle  K.  Adams, 
editor.     Clara  Freeman,  Mrs.  Perkins,  Miss  Black, 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  291 

Marion  L.  Campbell,  Nellie  X.  Amsden  and  Vir- 
ginia Reid  are  contributors.  These  ladies  are 
also  included  on  the  staff  of  other  newspapers. 

There  are  at  least  one  French  and  two  German 
clubs.  Apparently,  the  only  one  now  to  be  desired 
is  the  "Twentieth  Century,"  which  may  Miss 
Katharine  Wilcox,  of  Genesee  avenue,  find  as  she 
did  the  other  twelve  in  her  walks  about  town ! 

The  Columbian  Association  was  formed  Novem- 
ber 7th,  1892,  to  continue  until  May  1st,  1893,  for 
the  purpose  of  collecting  statistics  of  woman's 
work  in  this  city ;  the  departments  being  Philan- 
thropy, Education,  Literature,  Art,  Industrial 
Pursuits.  Women  of  Cleveland — Protestant,  Rom- 
an Catholic  and  Jewish,  came  forward  nobly ; 
so  responsive  were  they  that  results  in  detail  must 
add  considerably  to  the  World's  Fair  Encyclo- 
paedia. In  connection  with  this  ingathering, 
valuable  papers  are  presented  upon  topics  per- 
taining to  the  early  history  of  America  and  to  the 
Columbian  Exposition. 


292  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

MRS.  MARY  MASON  FAIRBANKS — CLEVELAND  NEWS- 
PAPERS— OLD  ROUND  TABLE — JULIA  VAUGHN 
WILLEY — HARRIET  GAYLORD  SMITH  —  OHIO 
FARMER — GOOD  THOMAS  BROWN — TWELVE 
SPRIGHTLY  WRITERS — HELEN  BARRON  BOST- 
WICK — CORRESPONDENCE. 

'T  is  impossible  to  reYiewthe  history  of  woman's 
^  literarY  work  in  this  city  without  also  review- 
ing  in  brief  the  history  of  those  newspapers  which 
have  fostered  most  a  love  of  literature  and  the  ex- 
ercise of  gifts  in  expression.  The  Cleveland  Her- 
ald is  the  oldest  newspaper  here,  beginning  as  a 
weekly  in  18 19.  In  1836,  the  Daily  Gazette  made 
an  appearance.  March  22,  1837,  it  was  consoli- 
dated with  the  Herald,  published  by  Whittlesey  & 
Hull.  Mr.  Hull  soon  gave  place  to  J.  A.  Harris. 
Upon  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Whittlesey,  the  name 
of  Gazette  was  dropped.  Subsequently,  Mr.  Harris 
admitted   to   partnership  with    him  A.   W.   Fair- 


I  AND   THEIR   WORK.  293 

banks,  and  afterwards  George  A.  Benedict.  Janu- 
ary 7th,  1842,  Messrs.  J.  W.  and  N.  A.  Gray  bought 
the  Cleveland  Advertiser  and  converted  it  into  the 
Cleveland  Plain  Dealer.  From  personal  knowl- 
edge, it  may  be  truly  said  that  Mr.  J.  W.  had  a 
keen  appreciation  of  wit  and  genius,  whether  in 
man  or  woman,  and  was  one  of  the  most  genial  of 
hosts  ;  he  and  Mrs.  Gray  being  the  soul  of  kind- 
ness to  the  lady  teachers  who  had  charge  of  their 
children — Josie  and  Eugene.  Bishop  W.  E.  Mc- 
Laren was  on  the  staff  of  that  paper  in  1853  and 
'54.  Chas.  F.  Browne,  a  well-known  humorist, 
began  his  career  with  the  Plain  Dealer. 

The  Cleveland  Leader  was  the  result  of  combin- 
ing the  True  Democrat,  an  anti-slavery  paper, 
started  in  1846  by  Bradburn  and  Vaughn,  and  the 
Forest  City,  organ  of  the  "Silver  Gray  Whigs," 
issued  in  1852  by  Joseph  Medill.  The  marriage 
took  place  in  October,  1853.  Mr.  Medill  associated 
with  him  Mr.  Edwin  Cowles.  In  1855,  Messrs. 
Medill  and  Vaughn  removed  to  Chicago  and  be- 
came connected  with  the  Tribune  of  that  city. 
The  Leader  has  always  been  noted  among  Cleve- 
landers  for  its  fearless,  outspoken  utterance,  and 
espousal  of  woman's  cause. 


294  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

One  of  the  charming  ladies  of  that  golden  age 
writes  me  thus  of  the  editor  of  the  oldest  news- 
paper and  of  some  of  the  contributors:  "Among 
those  who  had  much  to  do  with  developing  the 
literary  taste  and  ability  of  Cleveland  women  dnr- 
ing  the  period  of  which  I  write,  should  certainly 
be  mentioned  the  well  remembered  and  beloved 
editors  of  the  Cleveland  Herald,  Messrs.  J.  A. 
Harris,  George  A.  Benedict  and  J.  H.  A.  Bone  ; 
with  them  should  be  included  the  warm  hearted 
and  genial  proprietors  of  the  True  Democrat, 
Messrs.  John  C.  Vaughn  and  Thomas  Brown.  I 
am  sure  that  many  a  literary  aspiration  was 
awakened  and  encouraged  through  the  graceful 
writing  and  commendatory  words  of  these  very 
men.  In  those  days  were  fewer  outlets  for 
womanly  sentiment  than  now.  The  voting  girl 
who  reached  forth  to  something  beyond  the  mo- 
notonous routine  of  society  life  could  not  then,  as 
now,  occupy  herself  with  the  fascinating  varieties 
of  art  culture.  Somehow,  while  she  might  shrink 
from  public  criticism  and  had  little  courage  to  as- 
sert herself,  there  was  an  irresistible  desire  to 
prove  herself,  and  so  had  recourse  to  her  pen. 
Many  Clevelanders  of  those  earlier  days  will  recall 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  295 

the  friendly  comments  of  the  city  papers,  upon 
giving  place  to  a  poem  or  a  story  over  some  girlish 
signature,  paying  a  partial  and  enconraging  tribute 
to  home  talent.  The  Old  Round  Table,  at  which 
Mr.  J.  A.  Harris  was  once  the  good  King  Arthur, 
succeeded  by  the  no  less  benignant  Mr.  Benedict, 
held  many  a  page  of  manuscript  that  but  for  their 
lenient  judgment  would  never  have  made  a  record 
for  its  author,  and  through  the  sanctum  of  the 
True  Democrat  came  often  to  the  public  eye  some 
dainty  sentiment  in  prose  or  verse,  of  so  much  ex- 
cellence as  to  compel  the  fathoming  of  the  nam  de 
plume.  It  does  not  follow  that  these  various 
writers  became  Sapphos,  but  it  is  a  pleasant  fact 
to  record  that  Cleveland  owes  much  of  her  repu- 
tation now  for  cultivated  women  and  lovely 
homes,  the  latter  graced  by  refinement  and  minis- 
tered unto  with  elegance,  to  that  same  literary 
coterie  which  long:  since  laid  down  the  lvre  of 
poesy  for  the  distaff  of  domestic  life. 

"  Frequenters  at  the  hospitable  fireside  of  Mrs. 
George  Willey  have  no  need  to  be  reminded 
that  she  was  one  who  once  sang  in  '  tune- 
ful numbers,'  and,  though  afterward  she  left  her 
harp  unstrung,  they  will   believe  that  the  spirit  of 


296  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

poetry  diffused  itself  throughout  her  nature.  She 
was  the  daughter  of  one  of  those  early  patrons  of 
Cleveland  literature,  Mr.  John  C.  Vaughn,  and  in- 
herits from  both  parents  her  intellectual  birthright. 
Mr.  Vaughn  was  himself  a  brilliant  writer  during 
his  conspicuous  career  as  editor  and  politician, 
and  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Willey  will  be  recalled  as 
a  woman  of  unusual  talent/' 

Mrs.  Charles  Gilman  Smith,  now  of  Chicago, 
justly  ranks  among  the  shining  lights  of  Cleveland 
societv.  The  more  familiar  name  of  Harriet  Gay- 
lord  will  bring  back  to  manv  here  the  vision  of  the 
brilliant  girl  whose  sparkling  repartee  is  to  this 
day  quoted  among  her  friends  as  the  best  bon  mots. 
The  mother,  Mrs.  Erastus  F.  Gaylord,  has  already 
been  referred  to  in  a  previous  chapter  as  a  woman 
of  rare  native  endowment.  It  is  full  praise  to  say 
that  the  mantle  of  the  mother  has  fallen  upon  her 
daughters ;  the  oldest  sister  of  Mrs.  Smith,  the 
wife  of  Professor  John  Newberry,  holds  acknowl- 
edged place  among  Cleveland's  most  intellectual 
women.  Few  ladies  not  devoted  to  a  literary 
career  have  so  industriously  pursued  literature  as 
a  pastime.  Although  Mrs.  Smith  has  been  for 
many  years  connected  with   the  most  cultivated 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  297 

circles  of  Chicago,  an  active  and  creditable  mem- 
ber of  the  widely  known  Fortnightly  of  that  city, 
her  friends  here  still  name  her  as  one  whose  quick 
improvisations  and  piquant  wit  made  her  the  Ma- 
dame de  Stael  of  former  days. 

Among  the  most  graceful  writers  of  this  epoch 
and  one  whom  we  all  love  and  honor,  is  Mrs.  Mary 
Mason  Fairbanks.  With  the  outflow  of  her  gifted 
pen  we  are  more  or  less  familiar ;  she  composes 
with  equal  facility  in  verse  or  prose.  Her  first 
attempt  was  a  little  essay  on  "Woman,"  and  came 
to  the  Round  Table  in  this  wise  :  Harmon  Kings- 
bury, Esq.,  being  a  guest  at  her  father's  house, 
found  it  in  a  composition  book  lying  on  a  table  in 
his  room,  and  forthwith  hastened  with  it  from  Mr. 
Mason's  to  dear  Thomas  Brown,  of  the  True  Dem- 
ocrat. It  was  a  modest  setting  forth  of  a  school- 
girl's views  of  what  woman's  sphere  should  entail, 
its  signature  being  her  given  name  transposed  into 
"Myra." 

A  writer  for  the  same  columns,  the  redoubtable 
Frances  D.  Gage,  veiled  by  a  homely  nom  de  plume, 
attacked  the  little  essay.  In  defense,  "  Myra,"  by 
her  charming  reply,  was  brought  to  the  front,  and 
there  she  has  staved  ever  since.     The  Herald  did 


29s  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

its  utmost  to  indicate  appreciation  of  her  gifts;  it 
married  her.  Mrs.  A.  \V.  Fairbanks  was  one  of 
the  "Innocents  Abroad  "  upon  the  memorable  ex- 
cursion of  the  Quaker  City  to  the  Orient,  and  her 
letters  to  the  Cleveland  press  during  the  six  months1 
jaunt  were  the  delight  of  her  friends.  Mr.  S.  L. 
Clemens,  known  to  the  world  as  "Mark  Twain," 
claims  her  as  a  special  personal  friend,  and  is  a 
welcome  household  guest;  she  was  president  of  the 
"Cleveland  Fortnightly  Club."  during  its  exist- 
ence, and  her  philanthropic  traits  had  sway  as 
president  of  our  Diet  Dispensary.  Mrs,  Fairbanks 
wrote  an  inside  history  of  our  oldest  Presbyterian 
church,  of  which  she  is  an  active  member,  highly 

esteemed  for  its  authenticity  as  a  quarter  century's 

J 

record,  as  well  as  for  its  literary  merit.  She  is  a 
many-sided  person,  not  a  particle  narrow — her 
own  home  is  graced  as  but  few  are  capable ;  as  wife 
and  mother  we  can  attest  her  excellence.  In  her 
delightful  boudoir  at  the  Weddell  House,  among 
gems  of  art  from  the  old  world,  stood  the 
identical  Round  Table  of  the  palmy  days  of  yore. 
She  says  of  it:  "Mr.  Harris  gave  it  personality, 
and  to  it  when  absent,  always  addressed  his  letters. 
One  of  the  institutions  of  the  Herald,  it  was  re- 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  299 

garded  with  a  tender  reverence  by  all  the  attaches 
of  that  paper  after  their  beloved  chiefs  had  '  gone 
hence.'  The  dear  old  table  is  to  me  full  of  senti- 
ment. It  is  like  Thackeray's  cane-bottomed  chair 
in  its  marks  of  age,  but  the  marks  and  marrings 
of  the  years  that  are  fled  and  the  fingers  that  lie 
idle,  now,  are  all  precious  to  me  as  mosaics." 

The  Ohio  Farmer. — The  first  agricultural  pa- 
per printed  in  the  United  States  was  the  American 
Farmer,  published  at  Baltimore,  Maryland,  in  1818. 
Probably  the  next  was  the  Ohio  Cultivator,  at 
Columbus,  in  1848,  by  Hon.  J.  C.  Bateham,  whose 
esteemed  widow  is  active  in  the  work  of  to- 
day, residing  in  Kentucky.  This  was  merged 
into  the  Ohio  Farmer  and  Mechanic ls  Assistant, 
which  made  its  weekly  appearance  in  this  city  in 
1852,  under  the  genial  proprietorship  of  Thomas 
Brown,  who  brought  to  it  as  former  editor  of  the 
True  Democrat  the  prestige  of  success,  and  a  large 
acquaintance  with  the  Cleveland  public.  It  be- 
came very  popular  in  this  city  and  throughout  our 
own  and  other  States  as  a  family  newspaper,  de- 
voted to  agriculture,  horticulture,  mechanic  arts, 
literature,  domestic  economy,  social  improvement, 
and  general  intelligence. 


300  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

Thomas  Brown  can  never  be  forgotten,  he  had 
so  truly  a  friendly  side  for  the  world  and  did  so 
much  to  encourage  and  develop  youthful  talent. 
With  such  an  editor  in  a  field  of  so  wide  a  scope, 
the  Ohio  Farmer  became  a  cradle  of  feminine  2;en- 
ius.  Among  the  contributors  to  its  first  year's 
columns  are  the  names  of  Mrs.  H.  M.  Tracy, 
Rosella  Rice,  Hester  A.  Benedict,  Mrs.  F.  S.  Wads- 
worth,  Mary  Moreland,  Mrs.  Frances  D.  Gage,  Mrs. 
C.  E.  Snow,  Fannie  B.  Ward,  and  others.  Will 
some  one  please  inform  me  who  "Dora''  is,  and 
also,  "Little  Home  Body?'"  Even  Mrs.  Bateham 
cannot  tell. 

A  frequent  name  in  the  Ohio  Fanner  attaining 
celebrity  is  that  of  Mrs.  Helen  L.  Bostwick.  A 
Ravenna  editor  has  the  honor  of  first  encouraging 
this  lady — by  publishing  in  the  Western  Reserve 
Cabinet  and  Visitor  a  poem  of  unusual  merit,  uThe 
Death  of  the  Flowers,1 '  written  by  her  at  sweet 
sixteen,  with  the  signature  "Nina"  affixed;  her 
name  then  being  Helen  Louise  Barron.  She  mar- 
ried Mr.  Edmund  Bostwick  and  resided  partly  in 
Cleveland,  especially  after  his  death.  During  the 
first  year's  existence  (1852  J  of  Mr.  Brown's  paper, 
she  wrote  "  Mary  Jones'   Response,"  relating  to  a 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  301 

housewife's  preparation  for  the  city's  annual  rural 
festival.  Here  is  a  specimen  stanza,  addressed 
evidently  to  Mr.  Jones  : 

"  Aud  now  about  this  Cleveland  Fair, 

When  you  may  wish  to  go 

On  pleasure  jaunts,  you'll  seldom  find 

That  I  will  answer  'No.' 

I'm  sure  the  girls  can  keep  the  house, 

And  Will  can  keep  the  farm, 

And  if  you'll  send  away  the  cheese 

There'll  nothing  come  to  harm." 

As  time  advanced,  Mrs.  Bostwick  took  a  deserved 
place  among  our  writers,  becoming  a  contributor 
to  leading  papers  and  magazines  ;  several  volumes 
of  her  writings  have  been  published.  She  was 
greatly  sought  after,  and  her  pen  generous  in  re- 
sponse. Afterward  she  married  J.  F.  Bird,  M.  D., 
an  eminent  physician  of  Philadelphia,  a  gentleman 
of  tine  attainments  and  literary  culture,  attracted 
to  her  writings  first.  She  presides  in  his  elegant 
home,  with  all  the  more  charm,  perhaps,  from  hav- 
ing in  former  days  tasted  of  sorrow,  and,  possibly, 
poverty. 

Miss  L.  E.  Noble,  of  Brecksville,  O.,  kindly 
responds  to  my  inquiry  as  to  the  identity  of  one  of 
the  most  charming  writers  of  former  times. 


302  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 


u 


A  lady  known  to  many  as  Mary  E.  H.  Miller, 
but  to  the  readers  of  the  early  weekly  newspapers 
and  monthly  magazines  as  '  Little  Home  Body/ 
and  'Mrs.  Colonel  Calico,'  was  a  favorite  newspaper 
writer;  some  of  her  pieces  were  signed  'M.' 

Mrs.  Mary  Hayes  Honghton,  of  Wellington,  O., 
a  member  of  our  own  Press  Club,  adds  her  tribute 
to  good  Thomas  Brown  and  his  paper : 

"  Mv  father  subscribed  for  the  Genesee  Farmer 
before  the  Ohio  Cultivator,  and  we  had  the  Ohio 
Farmer  as  long  as  Thomas  Brown  edited  the  con- 
solidation. He  gave  us  the  choicest  '  Random 
Gems '  and  selections  from  new  books,  and  was 
more  careful  of  the  contents  of  his  paper  than  are 
most  agricultural  journalists.  I  shall  never  cease 
to  cherish  his  memory  for  the  enjoyment  the  Ohio 
Farmer  of  those  days  gave  me  and  the  pains  the 
editor  took  to  cultivate  the  taste  of  his  readers. 

"  It  is  a  pity  more  care  is  not  used  at  present  to 
give  the  rural  population  a  choice  variety  of  news- 
paper matter. 

"  Mrs.  Harriet  M.  Tracy,  afterward  Mrs.  Cutler, 
was  the  pioneer  editor  of  the  Woman's  Depart- 
ment ;  she  called  herself  'Aunt  Patience.' 

"  Mrs.  Bateham    was,  in  earlier   life,  widow   of 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  303 

Rev.  Mr.  Cushman,  who  died  at  Hayti,  I  think  ; 
she  is  daughter  of  Mrs.  Professor  Cowles,  of  Ober- 
lin.  She  always  interested  me,  then  the  merest 
child,  in  the    Cultivator ;  nothing  escaped  me. 

"  Helen  Barron  Bostwick  was  delightfully  enter- 
taining. Do  you  remember  her  verses  about  the 
boy  '  Jimmy  ? ' 

"  '  Our  Jimmy  has  gone  for  to  live  in  a  tent, 
Since  they  grafted  him  into  the  army. 

He  finally  puckered  up  courage  and  went, 
When  the}-  grafted  him  into  the  army.'  " 


304  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

MRS.  HARRIET  J.  KESTER — CLEVELAND  SCHOOL  OF 
ART — LOUISE  F.  RANDOLPH — GEORGIA  L.  NOR- 
TON—  PATRONESSES  —  MR.  AND  MRS.  C.  F. 
OLNEY — SUBURBAN  LADIES  —  HELEN  ELIZA- 
BETH KING  —  LUELLA  VARNEY  —  EMMA  D. 
CLEVELAND  —  KATHARINE  H.  CLARK  —  FIF- 
TEEN ARTISTS — CAROLINE  L.  RANSOM. 

r  I  "HE  towns  of  Northern  Ohio  have  friendship 
*■  for  Cleveland,  and  we  reciprocate  through 
some  bright  woman  resident  in  each  of  them  who 
flits  in  and  out  of  our  circles.  Mrs.  A.  A.  F.  John- 
ston and  Mrs.  A.  D.  Davidson  attach  us  to  Oberlin  ; 
Mrs.  Emma  White  Perkins,  to  Akron ;  Mrs.  El- 
well,  to  Willoughby ;  Mrs.  Garfield,  to  Mentor ; 
Misses  Mary  Evans,  Louise  F.  Randolph,  and 
Mrs.  Casement,  to  Painesville.  Miss  Fanny  Hayes 
and  her  mother's  precious  memory  to  Fremont ; 
Harriet  Taylor  Upton,  to  Warren ;  several 
of    culture     to     Wellington     and    Berea.      Miss 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  305 

Randolph  has  taken  many  of  our  girls  abroad 
and  so  long  lectured  before  the  School  of  Art 
that  she  has  place  among  the  women  of  Cleve- 
land. In  1882,  Mrs.  S.  M.  Kimball  determined 
to  have  a  School  of  Design,  and  induced  several 
ladies  to  join  her.  For  a  time,  one  pupil  was 
instructed  in  a  small  studio  at  her  residence,  by 
Mrs.  Harriet  J.  Kester,  a  charming  woman  and 
fine  instructor,  who  was  one  evening  crowned 
with  a  golden  laurel  wreath,  by  Mrs.  H.  B.  Payne, 
at  her  own  home,  in  presence  of  patrons  and 
friends.  Before  this,  classes  were  formed  in  the 
City  Hall  and  it  arose  in  November,  1822,  to  the 
dignity  of  the  Western  Reserve  School  of  Design 
for  Women,  with  two-score  or  more  of  founders  and 
trustees.  The  progress  made  by  the  students,  the 
essays  written  by  them,  their  improvement  because 
of  conversations  upon  topics  pertaining  to  higher 
education  and  their  advancement  through  personal 
character-building,  insisted  upon  by  their  sincere 
and  elegant  principal,  were  gratifying  to  the  citi- 
zens in  charge.  Besides  several  gentlemen,  Mrs. 
Mary  S.  Bradford,  Mrs.  Payne,  Mrs.  L.  E.  Holden, 
Mrs.  R.  C.  Parsons,  Mrs.  Wm.  Bingham,  Mrs.  E. 
B.  Hale,  Mrs.  P.  M.   Hitchcock,   Mrs.    Stevenson 


306  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

Burke,  Mrs.  Mary  S.  Cary,  our  Oriental  and 
European  traveler,  Mrs.  T.  D.  Crocker,  Miss  Anne 
Walworth,  Mrs.  R.  P.  Ranney,  Mrs.  G.  W.  Little, 
Mrs.  J.  M.  Adams,  Mrs.  Harriet  D.  Comnbury, 
Mrs.  C.  C.  Burnett,  Mrs.  Alice  M.  Clanen,  Mrs. 
Kimball  and  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Sheridan,  Mrs.  W. 
W.  Armstrong,  Mrs.  C.  B.  Lockwood,  Mrs.  South- 
worth,  Mrs.  J.  S.  Casement  and  Mrs.  Castle  all 
love    the  school  and  work  for  it. 

We  would  gratefully  acknowledge  the  aid  of 
Professor  and  Mrs.  C.  F.  Olney — themselves  a  means 
of  culture  to  the  whole  city.  In  their  home  and 
newly  placed  collection  of  the  best  in  art  is  cen- 
tered an  inspiration  to  achieve  "the  good,  the  true, 
the  beautiful ;"  this,  combined  with  a  delightful 
hospitality,  renders  them  a  power  not  only  in  the 
section  of  the  city  where  they  reside,  but  to  all 
our  educational  agencies.  The  Cleveland  School 
of  Art,  with  over  one  hundred  pupils,  is  now  in 
the  Kelley  Homestead,  on  Willson  avenue,  living 
from  year  to  year  in  hope  of  endowment.  In  the 
city  are  several  fine  galleries  of  paintings,  a  legacy 
from  Mr.  Kelley  for  an  art  museum,  and  a  late 
(1892)  Christinas  present  from  Mr.  J.  H.  Wade  of 
three  and  three-fourths  acres  in  College  Reserve 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  7>°7 

of  his  park.  These  gifts  animate  the  ladies  of  the 
Board  of  Management  as  to  the  future  of  the 
school.  A  delightful  experience  was  when  Miss 
Louise  F.  Randolph  spoke  in  City  Hall,  during 
twenty  weeks,  to  students  and  citizens  upon  art- 
history,  illustrated  by  photographs,  with  other 
pictures  and  fragments  of  the  antique.  In  that 
golden  time,  the  writer  was  her  guest  at  Lake  Erie 
Seminary,  where  many  Cleveland  girls  have 
studied,  and  saw  there  Venus  put  the  little  lulus  to 
sleep  upon  the  sweet  Marjoram ;  Raphael's  master- 
pieces; a  collection  of  Thorwaldsen's  and  some  of 
Lucca  Delia  Roblitfs  round  canvas  ;  Sevres  ware 
from  Paris  and  the  Temple  of  Minerva,  remarkable 
for  its  entablature ;  representing  that  astute  equal- 
rights  champion  as  goddess  of  the  household  arts. 
A  rare  May  concert  took  place,  in  which  the 
garnet  in  the  girls'  drapery  and  in  the  bloom  of 
their  bouquets  made  the  chorus  look  like  a  troupe 
of  angels  floating  in  on  a  rose-tinted  cloud.  Out 
of  the  whole  of  the  delicious  evening's  music, 
nothing  was  half  so  beautiful  as: 

"  On  either  side  the  river,  lie 

Long  fields  of  barley  and  of  rye 

That  clothe  the  wold  and  meet  the  sky ; 


308  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

And  thro'  the  field  the  road  runs  by 

To  many-towered  Camelot. 
And  up  and  down  the  people  go, 
Gazing  where  the  lilies  blow, 
Round  our  island  there  below 

The  island  of  Shallot." 

Miss  Georgia  L.  Norton,  a  capital  principal, 
conies  to  us  from  the  Massachusetts  State  Normal 
School,  with  courage,  persistence,  ability ;  not  only 
as  artist,  but  as  business  woman.  So  thorough- 
ly is  she  mistress  of  the  situation  that  we 
mav  consider  her  in  every  way  a  woman  of  Cleve- 
land.  Miss  Cook  is  abroad  ;  Miss  Waldeck,  most 
accomplished  and  thorough ;  Miss  Temple  gives 
promise  of  success.  Gentlemen  are  also  in  the 
Faculty.  The  work  of  the  school  is  highly  es- 
teemed by  critics  and  connoisseurs.  In  the  city 
are  thirty  professional  lady  artists,  all  indus- 
trious and  praiseworthy.  Miss  A.  Copeland  has 
a  rich  collection,  from  a  classic  Iyaocoon  to  crim- 
son gladioli  and  purple  lilacs.  Miss  Emma 
Lane's  pictures  are  beautiful ;  a  friend's  portrait ; 
white  satin  for  white  lilies  on  a  baby's  white 
casket.  She  designed  the  frontispiece  for  the 
second  edition  of  Lorna  Doon.  Miss  E.  B.  Black 
has  "faculty"  and  good  sense,  can  teach  classes, 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  309 

"fire"  china,  or  write  art-notes  for  a  local  news- 
paper. She  executes  commissions  in  New  York. 
Anna  Cahoon  will  be  proficient  in  mural  decora- 
tion. Miss  Noble  has  fine  landscapes ;  Mrs. 
Ehret,  lovely  china;  Miss  Worrallo,a  water-colorist; 
Addie  Strong  is  an  accomplished  wood-carver; 
Miss  Whittlesey,  Helen  and  Mattie  Olmsted  have 
exquisite  variety  in  heads  and  water-colors,  and 
are  popular  instructors  in  their  art.  The  last 
mentioned  two  ladies  have  studied  abroad.  The 
Misses  Morse,  Miss  Cook,  and  Jessie  Eyears  are 
now  in  continental  galleries.  Anna  B.  Little  pro- 
duces fine  heads.  Luella  Varney,  our  sculptor, 
spends  much  of  her  time  at  the  Piazza  Cappuccini, 
Rome.  Her  work,  a  part  of  which  is  a  bust  of 
"  Mark  Twain,"  was  easily  accepted  in  the  Colum- 
bian Exposition.  Mrs.  Helen  Olmsted  has,  also, 
there  a  portrait-bust. 

Miss  Emma  D.  Cleveland. — One  of  the  most 
earnest  and  enthusiastic  of  the  ladv  artists  here  is 
Miss  Emma  Douglass  Cleveland.  She  studied 
landscape  exclusively,  with  Mr.  R.  Way  Smith, 
bringing  to  her  work  intelligent  appreciation  and 
intense  love  for  art.  She  achieves  results  through 
honesty  of  purpose  ;  is  quick  to   perceive  the  ex- 


3IO  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

pressive  and  dramatic  in  nature.  She  has  studied 
in  New  York  with  Mr.  F.  C.  Jones,  hut  more  re- 
cently has  worked  alone  in  her  studio  at  the 
charming  home  of  her  father,  667  Prospect  street. 
Miss  Cleveland  is  a  frequent  exhibitor  at  the 
Rochester  Art  Club,  and  has  had  work  shown  at 
the  National  Academy  of  Design.  Her  picture 
called  "A  Door-yard  at  Hague,"  Lake  George,  N. 
Y.,  receives  favorable  comment. 

Helen  Elizabeth  King. — This  lady  painted, 
ten  years  ago,  with  Mr.  R.  Way  Smith  ;  art  is  her 
vocation.  Fond  of  studies  in  animals,  she  makes  a 
specialty  of  dogs.  Under  her  hand,  the  celebrated 
pointer,  "  Maxim,"  was  a  notable  success.  Her 
sheep  are  so  natural  and  woolly  that  they  all  but 
step  out  of  the  picture.  She  was  a  student  at  the 
Adelphi  Art  School,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  and  of  Mr.  J. 
D.  Smellie,  one  of  the  best  landscape  painters  in 
the  country  ;  a  pupil,  also,  at  the  Sherwood,  in  New 
York,  and  later  of  the  League,  Washington,  D.  C. 
For  several  years,  she  has  had  large  classes  from 
among  our  best  people,  giving  ample  satisfaction. 
Her  work  has  ready  sale.  Mrs.  King's  recent  copy 
of  Daniel  Huntington's  portrait  of  General  Sher- 
man, to  be  placed  in  the    Ohio    Building   at    the 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  311 

Columbian  Exposition,  is  one  of  the  best  extant — 
not  altogether  a  copy,  either,  as  Senator  Sherman 
suggested  changes. 

Katharine  H.  Clark. — Associated  with  Mrs. 
King,  in  City  Hall,  this  lady  devotes  her- 
self to  porcelain  decoration,  having  studied  in 
Cincinnati,  New  York  and  Washington.  Her 
specialties  are  Royal  Worcester  and  Dresden 
styles,  one  of  her  instructors  having  lived  a  score 
of  years  in  the  Royal  Worcester  pottery,  England. 
Her  aim  is  to  have  work  compare  favorably  with 
imports.  These  ladies,  both,  are  earnest,  sincere 
artists,  having  come  to  their  present  skill  and 
reputation  over  no  flowery  highway  of  ease ;  yet 
they  work  on  with  steady  courage. 

The  pioneer  artist  of  this  city  was  a  Miss  Cleve- 
land, who  painted  in  water-colors.  The  date  of 
her  beginning  cannot  be  ascertained,  but  she  was 
here  when  Miss  Caroline  L.  Ormes  Ransom  opened 
a  studio  in  November,  i860,  corner  of  Superior  and 
Seneca  streets.  After  Miss  Cleveland  retired,  Miss 
Ransom  was  the  only  artist  in  the  city  for  years, 
and  the  studio  was  frequented  by  residents  and 
strangers ;  in  fact,  there  seemed  to  be  no  other 
place  for  visitors  to  see  a  painting.     Art  is  of  slow 


312  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

growth  in  the  Forest  City,  toward  which  nature 
has  been  lavish.  This  artist,  by  education,  ability, 
high  character  and  sweetness  of  temper  brought 
in  contact  the  culture  of  the  Western  Reserve. 
Her  first  portrait  to  which  publicity  was  given 
was  of  Hon.  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  from  life,  and 
finished  under  Daniel  Huntington,  which  was  in 
the  Academy  of  Design,  Exhibition  of  1859,  beside 
one  of  her  preceptor's,  and  elicited  praise  from 
critics.  Miss  Ransom  had  many  orders  for  oil  paint- 
ings upon  her  first  arrival  here  ;  Governor  Brough, 
Judge  Payne  and  wife,  Mrs.  D.  R.  Tilden,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Philo  Chamberlin,  and  others,  the  most 
notable  among  them  being  that  of  the  eminent 
naturalist,  Dr.  J.  P.  Kirtland,  now  owned  by  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Pease.  In  the  Autumn  of  1863, 
General  James  A.  Garfield  sat  for  his  in  military 
dress.  This  portrait,  purchased  by  Mrs.  Garfield, 
now  hangs  in  the  family  home  at  Mentor,  O.,  with 
those  of  two  deceased  children  and  of  Grandma 
Garfield  ;  the  three  pieces  executed  by  the  same 
hand.  This  sketch  would  be  too  lengthy  if  men- 
tion were  made  of  all  who  sat  to  Miss  Ransom. 
State  officials  and  citizens  in  high  position ;  one  of 
these  is  an  admirable    portrait   of  Colonel    Chas. 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  313 

Whittlesey,  president,  then,  of  the  Western  Re- 
serve Historical  Society;  another  of  Hon.  T.  P. 
Handy  in  the  Bank  of  Commerce  ;  of  William  Case 
in  Case  Library ;  two  of  Salmon  P.  Chase.  In 
1867,  she  went  to  Europe,  where  two  most  valued 
years  were  passed.  Her  work  soon  attracted  the 
attention  of  Professor  Schnoor,  painter  to  King 
John  of  Saxony.  Her  "  Hagar  and  Ishmaeln 
caused  him  to  grant  her  any  desired  privileges  in 
the  Royal  Gallery  of  Dresden,  even  to  paint  the 
heads  of  "  Mother  and  Child,"  in  the  Sistine  Ma- 
donna. Her  copy  of  the  Delia  Nolle  of  Correggio, 
made  in  that  gallery,  fascinated  all  who  looked 
upon  it,  even  the  writer  of  this  history,  who  after 
sitting  in  u  Miss  Ransom's  Studio,'1  upon  her 
return  to  Cleveland,  by  the  light  that  filled  the 
manger  from  the  Child's  head  could  go  home  and 
weave  a  story.  The  picture  passed  the  most 
cultured  criticism.  From  that  time  the  copyist 
was  creator. 

Miss  Ransom  is  of  revolutionarv  ancestry ;  in 
1840,  her  father  was  a  wealthy  business  man  in 
Grand  River,  Ashtabula  county,  O.  Fond  of 
books  and  learning,  Caroline  received  from  him  as 
liberal  an   education   as  the    times    and    situation 


314  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

would  permit  for  women.  Her  mother  was  beau- 
tiful and  cultured,  and  from  her  the  child  was  predis- 
posed to  art,  taking  lessons  in  linear  drawing  and 
flowTer  painting  from  strolling  teachers.  In  Latin, 
Greek  and  the  Natural  Sciences  she  afterward 
distanced  her  male  class-mates  at  Grand  River 
Institute.  Graduating,  she  accepted  the  chair  of 
instruction  in  these  twro  languages  and  became 
principal  of  the  ladies'  department ;  remaining 
two  years,  broadening  her  knowledge  of  the 
classics.  It  was  in  her  to  paint;  she  essayed  heads, 
succeeded.  Horace  Greeley  and  her  mother  wrere 
old  friends.  He  and  his  sister,  Mrs.  John  F.  Cleve- 
land, prepared  the  way  for  this  ambitious  young 
woman  in  New  York  galleries  and  in  those  literary 
circles  of  which  Mrs.  C.  wras  leader  and  soul. 
Durand,  President  of  the  National  Academy  of 
Design,  was  chosen  her  teacher.  Miss  Ransom 
became  famous ;  wre  are  justly  proud  of  her 
genius  and  achievements.  In  1885,  she  opened  a 
studio  at  Washington,  D.  C,  which  naturally,  in 
time,  was  a  center  for  culture.  Her  art  and  liter- 
ary receptions  there  are  a  feature  in  capitol  circles. 
She  is  loved  because  of  her  nobility  of  soul.  Not 
only  is  she  artist,  but  poet  and  philanthropist. 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  315 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

WOMAN'S  MEDICAL  WORK  —  MYRA  K.  MERRICK, 
M.  I). — ELIZA  J.  MERRICK — MISS  E.  GRISELL 
— MRS.  C.  A.  SEAMAN,  FOUNDER  OF  THE 
WOMAN'S  MEDICAL  COLLEGE — FINETTE  SCOTT 
SEELYE  —  MEDICAL  MISSIONARIES  —  DR. 
MARTHA  A.  CANFIELD — LILLIAN  G.  TOWSLEE, 
M.    D. — INSTITUTIONS. 

A  /TYRA  K.  MERRICK,  M.  D.,  (R.)  our  pioneer 
^*  -*-  lady  physician,  studied  in  Hyatt's  Academy 
Rooms,  New  York,  prior  to  the  opening  of  medical 
colleges  to  women ;  afterward  pursuing  a  course 
in  Nichols'  Hydropathic  Institute  ;  next  followed 
training  with  Professor  Ives,  of  Yale  College. 
The  Central  Medical  College  of  New  York  by  this 
time  opened  its  doors  to  women  and  she  matricu- 
lated in  1 85 1,  graduated  and  received  the  medal 
of  highest  honor,  locating,  in  August,  1852,  on 
Miami  (now  Sheriff)  street,  Cleveland;  being  the 
first  woman  physician  in  the  State  of  Ohio.     She 


316  WOMEN    OF    CLF.VKLAXD 

found  it  no  easy  task  to  open  a  path  for  herself  in 
which  other  women  could  walk.  Unselfishly  she 
has  sought  for  her  own  sex  more  liberal  advan- 
tages in  education,  more  practical  and  personal 
observation  of  disease,  more  gracious  professional 
recognition,  and  that  a  heartier  welcome  from  the 
city  be  accorded  other  women  students  and  practi- 
tioners. This  is  the  key  to  her  useful,  enthusiastic 
career.  In  1876,  she  became  President  of  the 
Woman's  Medical  College,  was  one  of  the  first  in 
raising  funds  for  Huron  Street  Hospital,  and  for 
years  a  member  of  its  staff.  In  1879,  she  founded 
the  Free  Medical  and  Surgical  Dispensary  for 
Women  and  Children,  of  which  she  is  still  Presi- 
dent. This  Institution,  171  Prospect  street,  affords 
aid  to  the  needy  sufferer,  and  trains  mind,  heart 
and  hand  of  the  many  students  who  have  served 
as  resident  physicians.  During  the  fourteen  years 
of  its  existence,  the  total  number  of  patients  treated 
has  been  57,270;  of  these,  1,322  are  surgical  cases. 
Mrs.  Merrick  retired  from  public  life  in  1890. 
Eliza  J.  Merrick,  M.  D.,  her  daughter-in-law,  has 
taken  her  practice  ;  lecturing  on  diseases  of  chil- 
dren at  the  Cleveland  Medical  College. 

An  elegant  woman,  tall,  stately,  belonging  to  the 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  317 

Society  of  Friends,  attracted  my  admiration  when  a 
young  girl  here  in  1855,  because  she  drove  so 
splendid  a  horse  and  had  a  unique  profession  ;  she 
was  a  doctor — Miss  Elizabeth  Grisell — not  a  Quaker 
as  to  the  cut  of  her  garb  ;  she  wore  lovely  grays  and 
lavenders  and  had  breezy  ways — one  of  the  most 
delightful  ladies  ever  at  home  in  Cleveland ;  but 
she  did  not  long  remain  under  the  chilling  in- 
fluence of  our  lake  winds.  She  returned  to  her  own 
home  in  Salem,  O.,  became  a  member  of  County 
and  State  Medical  Associations,  and  when  for  her 
own  health's  sake  she  practiced  some  years  on  the 
Pacific  Coast,  she  joined  a  similar  Society  for  Cali- 
fornia. There  is  a  bit  of  romance  in  Miss  Grisell's 
early  life,  which  determined  the  direction  of  her 
future  effort.  Tenderlv  attached  to  a  voun? 
physician,  her  fiance,  he  suddenly  died,  and  the 
strongest  tribute  of  affection  she  could  pay  was  to 
take  up  his  life  work ;  to  pursue  it  until  the  close 
of  her  own  career.  She  graduated  at  Cleveland 
and  Philadelphia,  guided  here  by  H.  A.  Ackley 
and  Elisha  Sterling,  M.  D.  Across  the  continent, 
she  was  very  successful,  and  in  Salem  is  greatly 
beloved  and  sought  for.  Her  specialty  is  the  ills 
to  which  her  own  sex  are  subjected — womanly, 
true,  unselfish,  she  wears  a  crown  invisible. 


31 8  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

The  story  of  Mrs.  C.  A.  Seaman's  (H.)  life  is  a 
faithful  delineation  of  a  pioneer  woman  physician's 
trials  and  final  triumph  over  prejudice.  She  was 
born  in  Vermont,  in  1816,  removing  with  her  par- 
ents to  Rochester,  N.  Y.  At  seventeen,  she  was 
married  to  John  Seaman  ;  together  they  started 
to  make  their  own  home  in  the  village  of  Cleve- 
land, near  Newburgh.  Those  were  the  days  of 
stage-coaches  and  calashes.  Mrs.  Seaman  often 
described  her  wedding  bonnet  as  an  immense 
green  affair  like  a  buggy  top.  Cleveland  then 
numbered  sixteen  hundred  people.  Buying  a  lot 
on  Seneca  street,  bordered  by  pasture  land 
and  a  large  field  of  corn,  they  put  up  a  small 
house.  Her  voice  was  heard  in  the  little 
church  choir  and  in  the  Sunday  school;  children 
came ;  five  were  taken  out  of  eight.  For  years  she 
had  been  reading  medical  works ;  seeking  health 
at  a  water  cure,  she  had  access  to  the  physician's 
library,  studying  to  her  heart's  content.  Visiting 
Philadelphia  in  1857,  she  used  her  small  strength 
in  going  for  exercise  to  a  medical  college,  to  which 
women  were  admitted.  Returning  home,  Mrs. 
Seaman  attended  the  Cleveland  Homoeopathic 
College.     Here  she  received  instruction,  studying 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  31 9 

by  herself,  too,  without  neglect  of  the  household, 
finding  time  to  invite  to  her  home,  young  men 
from  the  College,  who  needed  a  mother's  counsel. 
Examinations  successfully  passed,  her  thesis  excel- 
lent, she  received  her  degree.  Now,  what  was  she 
to  do  with  it  ?  Her  heart  yearned  over  the  hosts 
of  women,  suffering  as  she  had  for  so  many  years ; 
meanwhile  her  friends  laughed  at  Mrs.  Seaman's 
doctoring  whim,  just  as  they  did  when  she  bought 
the  first  sewing  machine  used  in  Cleveland. 
Women  had  not  then  reached  their  present  posi- 
tion ;  she  was  many  years  in  advance  of  her  age. 
Once,  when  in  an  Eastern  city,  after  the  M.  D. 
had  been  granted  her,  although  she  never  used  it, 
an  old  friend,  a  distinguished  clergyman,  sent  word 
as  she  waited  in  his  parlor,  "  I  cannot  come  down 
to  see  even  so  dear  a  friend  as  Mrs.  Seaman, 
having  so  unsexed  herself  as  to  accept  a  de- 
gree." That  discourtesy  caused  her  much  anguish. 
Public  men  and  social  leaders,  now,  take  broader 
views  of  woman's  work.  Friends,  though  they 
looked  with  distrust  upon  women  physicians,  were 
glad  to  ask  advice ;  always  lovingly,  freely 
given ;  even  strangers  asked  her  to  come  to  them 
in  emergency ;  this  grew  until  medicines  and  time 


320  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

were  consumed,  yet,  no  one  thought  of  paying  a 
woman.  After  a  time,  she  entered  a  practice 
which  was  not  all  gratuitous.  Women  in  ill  health 
came  to  her  from  city  and  country  until  she  had  a 
sanitarium.  Her  Christian  character  was  shown 
in  the  taking  into  a  sunny  back  room,  a  poor 
woman  from  the  lane,  drawn  and  contorted  ;  her 
children  placed  in  country  homes,  her  husband,  a 
laborer,  who  must  leave  her  to  be  cared  for  day- 
times by  people  in  the  same  tenement  house. 
With  difficulty  she  was  brought  over  and  patiently 
cared  for,  a  chair  on  wheels,  then  crutches,  finally 
a  cane  were  provided  :  for  two  years,  this  grateful 
creature  was  a  part  of  the  home.  Hundreds  of 
women  were  helped  to  do  duty  more  bravely,  as 
mother,  wife  and  daughter,  through  Mrs.  Seaman's 
influence  and  ministry.  The  overwhelming  pur- 
pose of  her  heart,  in  later  years,  was  to  encourage 
young  ladies  to  study  medicine.  When  the 
Cleveland  College  denied  to  women  this  opportun- 
ity, she  felt  that  upon  her  rested  the  task  of  helping 
to  organize  and  establish  a  school  especially  for 
women.  Mrs.  Seaman  was  the  first  president  and 
burden-bearer  ;  about  that  time  she  led  in  the  mat- 
ter of  beginning  a  hospital  where  women  patients 


AXD   THEIR   WORK.  32 1 

could  be  privileged  to  call  in  other  than  male 
physicians.  Such  a  place  was  located  in  a  rented 
building  in  a  park,  between  St.  Clair  and  Lake 
streets.  Her  home  was  always  open  to  the  unfor- 
tunate, the  tempted  and  tried.  Mrs.  Seaman's 
counsel  to  her  children  was,  "  Make  the  world  bet- 
ter for  your  having  lived."  She  died  July  10th, 
1869,  at  the  home  of  her  daughter,  in  Providence, 
R.  I. 

Finette  Scott  Seelye,  M.  D.,has  always  been  high- 
ly regarded  in  Cleveland.  A  farmer's  daughter,  in 
straightened  circumstances,  she  earned  money  by 
teaching,  helped  a  brother  to  an  education  and 
aided  a  sister  in  study.  In  her  girlhood  she  was 
highly  esteemed  in  Illinois ;  through  skill  of  her 
own  she  managed  to  acquire  a  medical  education 
in  Xew  York;  begun  practice  in  Litchfield,  Conn.; 
came  to  this  city  as  assistant  physician  at  the 
Water  Cure,  and  fortunately  married  Dr.  T.  T.. 
Seelye.  She  was  the  leading  spirit  among  women 
in  her  quarter  of  Cleveland,  helped,  encouraged 
all  young  ladies  who  struggled  with  povertv  in 
acquiring  an  education,  especially,  medical ;  she 
aided  financially  any  who  needed ;  established  a 
sewing  school,  worked  in  Friendly  Inns,  was  a  fine 


322  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

housekeeper  and  good  mother,  and  read  a  great 
deal  of  solid  literature  ;  was  fond  of  the  Greek 
poets.  She  was  the  center  of  reading  and  social 
circles. 

We  have  been  honored  in  Cleveland  with  the 
sojourn  of  several  medical  missionaries,  and  of 
dear  Mary  Andrews,  not  a  physician,  who  gives 
her  life  to  the  Celestial  Empire.  Sigourney  Trask 
came  here  through  the  influence  of  Mrs.  Moses 
Hill,  who  cared  for  her  while  attending  lectures 
and  afterward  secured  her  the  assistant  matron- 
ship  of  the  Retreat,  where  she  did  good  work. 
She  spent  ten  years  in  Foo  Chow,  China.  Mary 
A.  Gault,  M.  D.,  went  to  Japan ;  Dr.  Madge  Dixon 
Mater  to  Chefoo,  China,  in  charge  of  the  Presbv- 
terian  Hospital ;  Alice  M.  Harris,  M.  D.,  to  a 
similar  position  in  Sierra  Leone,  Africa  ;  Anna  K. 
Scott,  M.  D.,  went  to  heathen  lands  under  Baptist 
auspices.  Two,  at  least,  have  gone  from  Cleveland 
Dispensary  to  Tacoma,  Wash. ;  one  to  Portland, 
Ore.  We  may  delineate  a  single  beloved  life,  be- 
cause in  its  devotion  to  India,  she  found  a  grave 
at  the  foot  of  the  Himalayas — Mary  Frances, 
daughter  of  Dr.  T.  T.  Seelye.  She  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Presbvterian  Church  at  the  a^e  of  four- 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  323 

teen,  went  to  school  in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  and  Cleve- 
land, O. ;  graduating  at  "  Maplewood,"  Pittsfield, 
Mass.,  entered  society  here  with  zest ;  during  the 
Summer  of  1867,  she  read  a  book  entitled  "  The 
College,  the  Market,  the  Court,"  by  Mrs.  Dall; 
from  this  she  had  serious  thought  of  an  earnest 
life-work.  With  the  approval  of  her  parents,  she 
attended  a  partial  course  of  lectures  at  the  Woman's 
Medical  College,  founded  by  Mrs.  C.  A.  Seaman, 
and  determined  to  finish  her  course  and  devote  her 
life  to  practice.  Mary  left  in  1868  for  Philadelphia. 
During  that  year  a  friend  gave  her  to  read  "Links," 
a  publication  of  the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary 
Society.  In  these  was  urged  the  great  need  of 
woman  physicians  in  heathen  lands,  and  Miss- 
Seelye  decided  that  to  be  her  field.  From  this 
time  her  studies  had  that  tendency ;  her  father 
providing  for  all  expense  in  preparation.  She  re- 
ceived a  degree  in  1870,  then  went  to  Boston 
Woman's  Hospital  for  practice.  [Meantime  the 
Presbyterian  Church  gave  her  urgent  call  to  go  to 
Calcutta  as  missionary  physician,  which  she  joy- 
fully accepted.  She  never  faltered,  was  always 
cheerful ;  sailed  September  6th,  1871,  arriving  in 
the  East  Indies    December   2nd ;    commenced  at 


324  WOMEN    OF' CLEVELAND 

once  to  study  the  language.     Overborne  by  study, 
work  and  the  climate,  she  was  ordered  to  a  health 
resort  May   17th,   1875;  died  at    Mussoorie,  June 
9th,     singing    ''Jesus    is    near    and    very    dear." 
It    is    sufficient    to    say    that    Miss    Seelye's    life 
and    conduct    very    convincingly    showed    to    all 
who  knew  her  how  a  Christian  lady  of  refined  and 
elegant  manners  can  practice  as  a  physician  among 
her  own  sex,  and   at  the   same   time  maintain  all 
true   womanlv  disrnitv   and  modestv  of  character. 
In  her  case,  the  question  of  sex  in  relation  to  the 
practice  of  the  medical  profession  was  simply  lifted 
above  all  discussion.     Xo  one  was  ever  reminded 
by  her  conversation   or  behavior  that  she  was  a 
physician ;  and    among    even    her   most    intimate 
friends   she  scarcely  ever  referred  to  matters  con- 
nected with   her  profession.     She  had  chosen  the 
work  of  her  life   from    the  purest  and  worthiest 
motives,  and   simply   used  all  her  medical  knowl- 
edge and  skill   in   seeking,  with   womanly   tender- 
ness and  sympathy,  to  lessen  the  sufferings  of  her 
fellow  creatures.     Miss  Seelye  never   forgot  that 
she  was  a  Christian  missionary    as    well  as  physi- 
cian,   and    she    used  all    opportunities    that    the 
exercise    of   her   profession    gave    for    ministering 


I 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  325 

comfort  to  the  souls  as  well  as  the  bodies  of  those 
whom  she  visited. 

Lillian  G.  Towslee,  M.  D.,  (R.)  one  of  our 
younger  physicians,  whose  specialty  is  diseases  of 
women  and  general  practitioner,  a  student  of  the 
New  York  Polyclinic,  and  at  the  New  York  In- 
firmary for  Women,  is  assistant  to  the  Chair  of 
Gynaecology,  Medical  Department  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Wooster,  and  Visiting  Physician  to  Hospital 
for  Women  and  Children.  She  is,  also,  a  member 
of  the  State  Committee  of  Medical  Department  of 
Q.  I.  A.,  which  holds  its  Congress  in  the  third 
week  of  June,  1893,  at  Chicago,  for  which  she 
writes  a  paper  on  Endometritis.  Dr.  Towslee  is 
an  exception  to  most  physicians  among  women, 
as  she  is  fond  of  surgery  and  believes  sex  is  no  bar 
to  rapid  and  skillful  operation  in  major  as  well  as 
minor  operations.  She  performed  the  first  la- 
peratomy  ever  done  at  the  Hospital  for  Women 
and  Children  by  a  woman.  She  entered  Oberlin 
College  in  1876  ;  graduating  from  the  Conservatory 
of  Music  in  1882.  Dr.  Towslee  had  the  honor  of 
being  invited  to  write  an  article  for  the  Western 
Reserve  Medical  Journal,  on  "Why  Women  should 
Practice  Medicine,"  from  which  the  following  are 


^26  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 


J 


taken  :  "  Gynaecological  work  is  woman's  especial 
sphere  and  in  it  she  is  pre-eminently  successful. 
As  a  rule,  woman  can  be  freer  with  one  of  her  own 
sex ;  not  the  same  restraint.  A  woman  under- 
stands the  sensitiveness  of  a  woman  and  appreci- 
ates the  suffering  she  endures  better  than  is  possi- 
ble for  a  man.  The  latter  cannot  in  all  cases 
equal  a  thoroughly  trained  and  equipped  woman, 
for  she  is  especially  fitted  to  treat  diseases  peculiar 
to  the  sex.  Of  her  adaptability — "  Women  are 
especially  adapted  to  care  for  the  sick.  The  same 
qualities  that  make  women  good  nurses,  help  to 
make  them  good  physicians ;  even  men  do  not 
want  men  nurses ;  that  field  is  abandoned  to  us ; 
one  of  the  best  things  that  can  be  said  of  any 
physician  is,  that  he  is  as  tender  hearted,  careful 
and  sympathetic  as  a  woman."  Again — "To 
gain  any  standing  a  woman  was  obliged  to  com- 
pete with  the  better  class  of  physicians,  and  thus 
show  her  ability  to  practice  medicine.  She  at  first 
met  with  great  opposition.  Men  did  not  want  her 
in  the  profession  and  placed  every  obstacle  in  her 
path.  She  has  fought  her  way  step  by  step  and 
won  the  day.  It  was  hard  to  enter  a  field  so  thor- 
oughly occupied  by  men  and  win  a  place  for  her- 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  327 

self.  That  she  has  been  able  to  do  this  is  proof  of 
her  ability.  We  are  glad  the  long  waged  battle  is 
won  and  that  henceforth  professional  qualification, 
and  not  sex,  is  to  be  the  test  of  standing  in  the 
medical  world.  The  successful,  educated,  prac- 
tical female  physician  is  no  longer  sni  generis" 
Martha  A.  Canfield,  (H.)  Professor  in  the  Home- 
opathic College,  states  that  in  this  city  are  twenty- 
one  practicing  physicians  here  among  women, 
besides  all  who  have  retired,  or  removed  from  the 
city,  one  skillful  pharmacist,  one  dentist.  Dr. 
Towslee  gives  four  Medical  Colleges  in  Cleveland  ; 
three  admit  women  students,  a  total  of  forty-five. 
Three  hundred  women  are  acting  as  nurses ;  one- 
third  of  these  are  private  attendants  ;  one  hundred 
in  hospitals,  fifty  in  homes ;  while  the  same  num- 
ber are  not  trained  but  do  good  work.  In  the 
various  hospitals  of  the  city,  during  one  year  have 
been  4,255  patients ;  of  whom  2,202  are  charity, 
and  of  this  last  number  two-thirds  are  women 
sufferers.  The  writer  asked  this  physician  to  ex- 
press herself  upon  physical  culture,  and  her  reply 
is  :  "  This  justly  commands  present  attention  ;  we 
are  especially  glad  that  the  Public  Schools  adopt 
so  healthful   a  branch.     The  trouble  with  women 


328  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

often  is  that  they  do  not  take  enough  ont-door 
exercise  ;  exercise  being  required  to  secure  proper 
circulation,  nutrition  and  building  up  of  the  tis- 
sues, which  are  the  component  parts  of  a  healthy 
body.  A  teacher  of  physical  culture  should  be 
trained  in  the  anatomv  of  the  human  bodv,  and  to 
be  thorough,  ought  to  be  a  physician.  Capability 
of  giving  proper  instruction  on  this  line  should 
imply  a  knowledge  of  physiology ;  the  gymnasia 
of  our  country  recognize  this  fact  and  demand  that 
instructors  take  a  medical  course."  Cleveland  has 
several  teachers  of  this  important  department  of 
education,  among  whom  are  Mrs.  Lee  Caldwell, 
now  in  Europe ;  Anna  P.  Tucker,  Rose  Evelyn 
Knestrick,  Mrs.  F.  W.  Roberts,  and  still  others. 

Maternity  Home,  (H.)  Mrs.  T.  P.  Wilson,  Presi- 
dent, and  Mrs.  D.  H.  Beckwith,  an  active  Manager, 
wTith  ten  other  ladies,  constituting  a  Board  of  Con- 
trol, does  excellent  work.  The  only  hospital  in  the 
city  exclusively  for  women  and  children  was  in- 
corporated in  1887,  with  the  signatures  of  Mrs. 
Antoinette  Muhlhauser,  now  Treasurer,  and  four- 
teen other  ladies,  with  two  male  physicians.  All 
the  managers  are  women,  one-fourth  of  whom  are 
American  born  German  Hebrews  ;  the  remainder 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  329 

of  different  nationalities  and  sects.  Mrs.  Darius 
Cadwell  has  been  President  from  the  beginning. 
The  Association,  from  its  original  eighteen  mem- 
bers, has  now  over  five  hundred.  Connected  with 
the  institution  is  a  training  school  for  nurses.  Mrs. 
J.  S.  Wood,  the  Secretary,  has  increasing  interest 
in  this  hospital. 


330  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

OUR  PALLAS  ATHEXES — MRS.  FRANCES  D.  GAGE — 
MRS.  CAROLINE  M.  SEVERANCE — THE  FIRST 
MRS.  D.  R.  TILDEN — MRS.  H.  H.  LITTLE — 
MINERVAS  IN  COUNCIL — MISS  BETSEY  M. 
COWLES — MRS.  LOUISA  SOUTHWORTH  —  MRS. 
S.    M.    PERKINS — MRS.    D.    CADWELL. 

"  Valiant,   conquering,  frightening  with   the  sight    of  her 
aegis,  whole  crowds  of  heroes  who  vexed  her." 

~^HERE  have  been  and  still  are  among  us, 
-^  grand  souls  that  strive  for  the  laboring  wom- 
an ;  to  whom  the  daughter  of  toil  is  even  more 
dear  than  the  child  of  luxury  ;  who  have  given 
years  of  thought  to  the  amelioration  of  her  condi- 
tion, achieving  at  the  same  time  immortality  by 
unflinching  bravery  in  the  forefront  of  battle  for  a 
principle.  Airs.  Frances  Dana  Gage  is,  probably, 
eldest  of  these,  one  not  a  resident  of  Cleveland, 
who  at  intervals  spent  considerable  time  here  and 
some  way  loved  to  think  this  city  her  headquarters, 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  331 

and  who  constantly  wrote  for  onr  papers.  Indeed, 
no  "  pent  up  Utica  "  contracted  her  powers ;  the 
whole  world  seemed  hers  to  live  in.  She  was  born 
in  Ohio  in  1808,  is  known  as  a  writer  of  articles 
for  the  young—  and  very  attractive  they  were,  too, 
— over  the  signature  of  "  Aunt  Fanny.' '  This 
name  was  appended  to  a  taking  serial  in  the  Ohio 
Farmer  in  1852,  entitled  u  A  Housekeeper  Abroad." 
At  forty  years  of  age,  and  ever  afterward,  she  was 
a  distinguished  advocate  of  total  abstinence  and 
equal  rights,  and  an  opponent  of  slavery,  enduring 
persecution  for  her  vigorous  speech.  She  gave  six 
stalwart  sons  to  her  country  during  the  war  of  re- 
bellion, and  bestowed  her  own  services  in  care  of 
the  sick  and  wounded  of  the  Union  army.  She 
was  at  one  time  an  editor  of  note.  A  Titaness  in 
mind  and  body,  she  can  never  be  forgotten  in  this 
or  any  other  city  in  which  her  influence  is  or  has 
been  exercised.     She  resided  later  in  Missouri. 

Forty-five  years  ago,  Airs.  Caroline  M.  Severance 
was  a  prominent  literary  and  philanthropic  woman 
resident  in  Euclid  avenue.  In  1848  or  1849,  sne 
addressed  our  Legislature  in  behalf  of  the  rights 
of  women  to  hold  their  own  inherited  property 
and  earnings,  and  was  listened  to  with  great  re- 


332  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

spect,  living  to  see  the  amendments  made  which 
she  advocated.  She  also  lectured  before  a  popular 
society  here,  and  although  her  matter  and  manner 
were  genuinely  refined,  she  was  obliged  to  bear 
the  opprobrium  experienced  by  most  reformers. 
After  a  residence  in  Boston,  she  removed  to  Cali- 
fornia. She  thus  addresses  the  New  England 
AVomanls  Club  at  a  reunion  :  "  The  dear  old  club; 
I  have  thanked  my  God  at  every  remembrance  of 
it  in  the  days  of  my  exile,  even  in  the  wonder- 
land of  California.  For  here  we  have  known  that 
contact  of  heart  with  hearts  made  wise  by  the  ex- 
perience of  womanhood,  that  tender  charity  for  all 
honest  endeavor,  that  sympathy  of  aim  which 
forms  true  fellowship,  and  supplementing  the  sweet 
home  affections  make  life  worth  living. 

kk  Here,  too,  we  have  had  the  comedy  of  our 
committee  work — the  memorable  dress  committee, 
for  instance,  on  which  some  of  us  have  served. 
And  the  wit  which  never  wounds  of  our  club  teas, 
and  poetical  picnics — shall  we  ever  grow  too  old 
to  remember  and  be  merry  over  them  ?  The  dear 
old  club!" 

The  following,  written  by  Kate  S.  Woods,  was 
read  at  the  same  reception: 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  333 

"  Commerce  may  bring  us  wonders, 

And  the  islands  of  the  sea 

Send  us  their  spicy  treasures, 

Or  mines,  their  ores  set  free  ; 

But  better  far  than  spices, 

Or  gold,  or  gems  you  send, 

Oh,  Southern  California, 

That  gem  of  gems — a  friend." 

Mrs.  Daniel  R.  Tilden  was  eminent  among 
Cleveland  woman  and  one  of  the  social  and  intel- 
lectual forces  of  her  time.  Possessing  deep  sym- 
pathy, elegant  manner,  fine  taste  and  peculiarly 
sensitive  touch,  she  was  of  the  temperament  and 
presence  to  draw  closely  to  herself  those  about 
her ;  in  truth  a  magnetic  current  seemed  to  flow 
through  the  atmosphere  which  she  created.  Mrs. 
Tilden  entered  fully  into  the  lives  and  souls  of 
women  and  held  advanced  views  in  reference  to 
their  enfranchisement  in  a  day  when  it  was  not 
popular  to  do  so.  Her  home  was  her  realm,  and 
the  avant  couriers  of  the  "  woman's  kingdom  " 
came  to  burnish  their  armour  in  the  charmed  cir- 
cle of  which  she  was  the  center.  Lucretia  Mott 
was  her  guest.  Mary  A.  Livermore  held  her  first 
drawing  room  reception  at-  Mrs.  Tilden's.  This 
was  because   the  hostess  was  impelled  to  do  all 


334  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

possible  for  the  opening  of  untried  avenues  for 
women's  effort  to  earn  an  honest  livelihood.  She 
saw  their  struggle  with  needle  and  yard-stick,  then 
almost  the  only  implement  in  feminine  hands  ; 
she  longed  for  our  elevation  by  development  of 
heart,  brain  and  muscle.  To  dignify  labor  in  its 
higher  and  lower  grades  was  her  aim.  She  was 
an  inspiration  to  young  girls  to  be  more  than  non- 
entities or  playthings.  By  helpfulness  in  all  direc- 
tions, she  caused  many  to  become  teachers,  artists, 
musicians.  Mrs.  Tilden  loved  her  work  for  its 
own  sake.  No  shadowT  of  desire  for  show  or  no- 
toriety marred  her  motives.  Her  personality  was 
lost  in  the  grandeur  of  her  cause — hence  hers  was 
a  silent,  permeating  force.  Ample  in  mental  en- 
dowment, she  loved  literature  and  art ;  was  a  con- 
noisseur in  the  latter,  and  gave  to  it  much  time 
and  attention.  The  cultivation  of  the  beautiful 
in  all  forms  was  to  her  a  pastime.  She  read  ap- 
preciatively Jean  Paul  Richter  and  other  German 
authors,  and  her  letters  to  her  daughters  and 
friends  were  rich  in  thought  and  feeling. 

Mrs.  Tilden  was  born  September  17th,  181 2,  at 
Concord,  New  Hampshire ;  coming  of  that  rare 
Scotch  ancestrv  who  w^ent  to  the  North  of  Ireland. 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  335 

She  married  Judge  Tilden  in  1840,  and  died  March 
7th,  1872.  Free  in  spirit  as  the  hills  whence  her 
fathers  came,  and  as  those  hills  which  they  sought 
in  New  England,  she  was  anti-slavery  to  the 
heart's  core,  and  her  great  soul  anticipated  the  day 
when  chains  should  fall  from  American  serfs. 
William  Lloyd  Garrison  and  other  advocates  were 
welcome  guests  at  this  center  of  hospitality,  and 
during  the  war  of  the  rebellion  she  was  present  at 
the  last  gathering  of  her  peers  in  Boston.  The 
friend  of  the  common  people,  they  loved  her,  and 
after  death,  poor  women,  among  whom  she  had 
been  a  ministering  spirit,  came,  bringing  their  little 
ones  to  look  upon  the  dear  face.  If  so  beloved  by 
the  populace,  what  was  she  to  her  children  ?  To 
them  she  was  a  constant  stimulus  ;  more  than  that, 
she  was  part  of  their  being.  Her  daughters, 
known  to  the  writer  from  childhood,  will  pardon 
me,  surely,  for  this  reference.  Two  of  them  have 
traveled  or  resided  for  years  in  Europe  or  South 
America.  Rose  Tilden,  sweet  as  the  name  she 
bears,  unexcelled  in  breadth  of  culture,  is  perfectly 
at  home  in  French  language  and  literature.  Gam- 
betta's  speeches  before  the  Senate,  in  the  Palais 
de  Luxembourg,  and  the  lectures  of  Henri  Martin 


336  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

Guizot,  Jr.,  and  Renan,  in  the  Cours  de  Sor bonne, 
are  to  her  equally  familiar  with  those  of  American 
statesmen,  at  Washington,  or  our  own  scientists 
and  philosophers  on  Cleveland  platforms. 

Mrs.  H.  H.  Little  was  another  leader  among 
women,  exerting  a  wide  social  influence  in  favor  of 
the  advancement  in  every  particular  of  woman's 
cause.  Her  death  is  said  to  have  occurred  in  1875. 
She  had  started  for  a  pleasure  tour  of  the  upper 
lakes ;  on  reaching  Detroit  was  stricken  with 
deadly  illness.  After  being  conveyed  home,  she 
was  insensible  for  a  short  time  and  passed  away, 
leaving  a  vacancy  not  easily  filled  in  a  circle  of 
earnest,  workful  people. 

The  first  of  the  gatherings  of  women  for  the  dis- 
cussion of  equal  rights  was  held  at  Seneca  Falls, 
N.  Y.,  in  1848,  in  pursuance  of  a  call  issued  by 
Lucretia  Mott  and  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton ;  the 
former  presided  over  the  convention.  The  next  of 
which  we  can  find  trace  was  held,  probably  in 
1850,  at  Salem,  Ohio  ;  its  presiding  officer  being 
Miss  Betsey  M.  Cowles,  a  lady  of  much  ability,  and 
on  whose  account  a  momentary  digression  may  be 
pardoned.  She  possessed  the  rare  faculty  of  molding 
character,    impressing   her    views    and    teachings 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  337 

very  strongly  upon  young  girls.  Judging  from  the 
amount  of  good  work  accomplished -by  one  of  my 
friends  in  this  citv,  who  came  at  a  verv  earlv  asre 
under  Miss  Cowles'  tuition,  we  should  say  'twere 
pity,  indeed,  that  more  ladies  had  not  been 
subjected  during  their  teens  to  the  educating  in- 
fluence of  this  grand  woman. 

Xo  printed  record  of  any  other  convention  of 
women  is  observed  until  1852.  Mrs.  C.  M.  Sever- 
ance, in  a  letter  to  good  Thomas  Brown's  paper, 
the  Ohio  Farmer,  describes  a  gathering  of  much 
interest  in  Mt.  Gilead,  Ohio,  in  October  of  that 
year,  after  the  handing  to  the  Boston  City  Treas- 
urer of  a  protest  against  paying  her  taxes,  by  Dr. 
Harriet  Hunt,  a  distinguished  lady  of  international 
reputation  as  an  advocate  of  equal  rights.  This 
protest  containing  a  very  forcible  argument,  was 
printed  in  the  leading  newspapers  of  the  United 
States.  Mrs.  Severance  writes  that  at  this  conven- 
tion were  present,  among  others,  Mrs.  E.  Oakes 
Smith,  Mrs.  Nichols,  of  Vermont,  Pauline  M.  Davis, 
Ernestine  L.  Rose,  Lucretia  Mott,  Antoinette  L. 
Brown,  Lucy  Stone,  all  earnest,  cultivated  women, 
the  two  latter,  graduates  of  Oberlin  College. 
Greetings  and  a  highly  appreciative  letter   were 


338  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

read  from  Mrs.  D.  R.  Tilden,  of  Cleveland.  Mrs. 
Frances  D.  Gage,  the  presiding  officer,  delivered  a 
powerful  address  upon  the  "  Legal  and  Political 
Disabilities  of  Women."  Mrs.  Severance  further 
states  that  at  this  time  bnt  three  professors'  chairs 
in  this  country  were  occupied  by  women,  and  also, 
that  the  resolutions  in  regard  to  the  opening  of 
colleges,  avocations,  and  professions  to  our  sex 
provoked  spirited  discussions  from  a  lawyer  or 
two,  and  a  physician  present ;  furthermore,  that 
these  gentlemen  were  completely  worsted  by  the 
effective  rejoinders  of  Mrs.  Gage.  Later  on  in  the 
meeting  the  subject  of  compensation  of  woman's 
labor  being  presented,  as  if  to  shame  his  legal 
brethren,  L.  A.  Hine,  Esq.,  recited  with  dramatic 
force,  Hood's  "  Song  of  the  Shirt."  The  large 
audience  wept  as  he  pictured  the  slender  creature 
"  sewing  at  once  with  a  double  thread  a  shroud  as 
well  as  a  shirt."  It  was  an  eloquent  finale  to  the 
meeting. 

Other  hearts-of-oak  there  are  among  us  who, 
through  the  chillness  of  unpopular  favor,  have 
stood  for  this  principle.  Foremost  among  these 
is  Mrs.  Louisa  South  worth  (nee  Stark),  who 
was  born   in  Canajoharie,  Montgomery  County,  N. 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  339 

Y.,  March  2nd,  1831  ;  educated  at  Whitesboro, 
Miss  Stark  came  to  Cleveland  in  1853,  to  look  up 
business  interests  connected  with  inheritance  from 
the  Champion  estate,  and  a  romantic  incident 
attaching  to  the  visit,  led  to  her  marriage  with 
Mr.  W.  P.  South  worth,  December  20th,  1855,  who 
at  that  time  being  her  senior  by  twelve  years,  was 
a  respected  and  successful  builder,  owning  a 
stone-vard.  During  her  early  years  as  wife  and 
matron  she  was  thoroughly  domestic,  but  always 
public  spirited ;  a  faithful  worker  during  the 
Northern  Ohio  Sanitary  Commission,  being  the 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  bandages.  Upon 
the  impairment  of  eyesight,  obliged  to  abandon  the 
more  feminine  occupations,  she  took  in  remarkable 
degree  to  reading  through  the  eyes  of  others. 
She  became  interested  in  the  suffrage  question 
from  seeing  how  a  friend  of  hers,  'Sirs.  Monroe,  was 
likely  to  stand  in  the  law  after  becoming  a  widow 
and  losing  her  only  child,  Keokuk,  seventeen  and 
one-half  years  of  age,  too  young  to  make  the 
mother  her  legal  heir.  To  Ohio's  praise,  be  it 
said,  that  she  was  one  of  the  first  States  in  the 
Union  to  change  the  Statute,  making  a  childless 
widow,  her  husband's  heir ;  so  thoroughly  aroused 


34-0  WOMEN   OF    CLEVELAND 

was  she  upon  this  advanced  question  that  she  has 
come  to  believe  that  woman  should  be  man's  equal. 

Mrs.  Southworth  is  philanthropic,  doing  much 
for  the  uplifting  of  humanity ;  is  a  patron  of 
art  and  literature,  writes  for  the  press  upon  burn- 
ing questions  concerning  women.  It  is  thought 
that  her  articles  in  local  journals,  after  Adelbert 
College  closed  its  doors  to  girls,  had  much  to 
do  with  opening  Western  Reserve  University  to 
the  higher  education  of  young  ladies. 

Three  years  ago,  Miss  Mary  Garrett,  of  Balti- 
more, Md.,  formed  committees  throughout  the 
country  to  raise  a  fund  to  secure  the  opening  of 
the  Johns  Hopkins  Medical  School  to  women. 
For  this  city,  Mrs.  Louisa  Southworth  was  chosen 
chairman  by  Miss  Garrett.  On  examination  of 
the  documents  sent  her,  Mrs.  S.  found  that  the 
use  of  the  proposed  fund  was  to  be  entirely  at  the 
discretion  of  the  trustees,  and  declined  to  serve, 
unless  there  were  some  guarantee  that  women 
should  never  be  excluded  from  equal  privileges. 
Miss  Garrett  had  already  given  largely,  but  seeing 
the  force  of  this  suggestion  she  added  another 
$100,000,  with  the  express  condition  that  it  should 
revert  to  her  or  her  heirs  if  women  were  ever  ex- 


AND    THEIR    WORK.  341 

eluded  from  equal  privileges.  Mrs.  Southworth's 
great  work  now  is  the  Ohio  Enrollment,  the 
object  of  the  canvass  being  to  secure  autographs 
of  all  adult  persons  favoring  equal  suffrage. 
Twenty-five  thousand  such  names  have  been  se- 
cured up  to  January  1st,  1893 — these  have  been 
registered  in  type-writing,  classified  according  to 
Congressional  districts,  counties  and  towns,  upon 
separate  sheets  held  together  by  a  brass  binder 
which  permits  of  their  re-arrangement  at  any  time  ; 
this  plan  of  Mrs.  Southworth's  for  Ohio  is  recom- 
mended bv  the  twentv-fifth  annual  convention  of 
the  X.  S.  A.  for  adoption  throughout  the  country. 
Permit  the  writer  to  add  that  these  type- written 
books  are  presented  annually  to  the  State  Legisla- 
ture and  to  Congress,  as  indicating  the  trend  of 
public  sentiment,  with  the  new  signatures  con- 
stantly received. 

Airs.  Southworth's  daughters  are  among  the 
city's  young  ladies  who  live  not  to  themselves. 
Mr.  W.  P.  Southworth  in  his  lifetime  instituted  re- 
forms in  commercial  transactions ;  the  one  price 
and  cash  systems  being  introduced  by  him ;  i.  e., 
the  same  profit  on  all  goods.  The  accident  of 
taking  a  stock  of  groceries   as  payment  of  a  debt 


342  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

turned  the  tide  of  his  pursuits.  The  first  paving 
of  Euclid  avenue  and  the  construction  of  the  oldest 
Columbus  street  bridge  were  accomplished  under 
his  direction.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Southworth  are 
enrolled  among  the  city's  benefactors ;  that  is 
sufficient  praise ;  no  fulsome  words  are  necessary 
in  the  record  of  their  lives. 

Mrs.  Mary  S.  Fraser,  a  lawyer,  works  constantly 
to  forward  the  day  when  women  shall  have  the 
franchise. 

Mrs.  Sarah  M.  Perkins,  a  woman  of  ability  and 
perseverance,  is  another  valiant.  She  is  State 
Superintendent  of  infirmary  work  for  the  W.  C.  T. 
U.,  and  as  a  visitor  to  the  shut-in-ones  in  these 
institutions,  sees  many  evils  that  ought  to  be 
remedied,  and  has  the  moral  courage  to  bring  these 
things  to  the  notice  of  State  officials.  She  be- 
lieves that  women  should  have  more  power  to 
protect  their  homes  from  intemperance  and  other 
vices,  and  hence  ought  to  have  the  ballot. 

She  was  born  near  Cooperstown,  N.  Y.,  edu- 
cated in  the  public  schools,  and  commenced 
teaching  at  eighteen ;  taught  in  Western  Massa- 
chusetts two  years,  and  attended  the  Winter  school 
at  the  old  Academy  in  Adams.     In  1847,  she  was 


AND   THEIR  WORK.  343 

married  to  Rev.  Orren  Perkins  and  resided  many 
years  in  New  England.  Then,  for  some  time  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Perkins  had  charge  of  the  large  seminary 
in  Cooperstown,  N.  Y.  She  has  lived  in  Cleveland 
twelve  years,  and  has  been  successful  as  a  lecturer 
and  also  as  an  editor.  She  publishes  the  Trite 
Republic,  a  paper  that  is  growing  in  favor  with  the 
people,  and  has  become  a  financial  success.  Mrs. 
Perkins  has  written  seven  books  for  young  people. 
Mrs.  D.  Cadwell,  of  intellectual  force,  is  a 
veteran  in  these  ranks.  Staunch,  fearless,  inde- 
pendent ;  kind  to  the  unfortunate,  abounding  in 
practical  philanthropy,  being  of  New  England 
descent,  her  father  having  left  Saybrook,  Conn.,  at 
sixteen  years  of  age,  purchasing  a  heavily  timbered 
farm  in  an  Ohio  wilderness,  known  now  as  the  West- 
ern Reserve.  Her  mother's  ancestor  was  a  soldier 
of  the  revolution,  a  kin  to  the  famous  Montgomery, 
who  fell  at  Quebec.  She  is  one  of  a  large  family  of 
healthy,  happy  children,  brought  up  in  the  simple 
ways  of  country  living,  where  little  girls  wore  pink 
sun-bonnets  to  church.  Alas  !  now-a-days,  she  can- 
not tell  her  own  hat  from  others,  a  la  mode.  Having 
the  independence  of  her  forefathers,  she  contends 
for  this  maxim,  "No  taxation  without  representa- 


344  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

tion;  "  for  years  she  has  been  a  tax  payer.  She  is 
one  of  the  active  workers  of  the  Cleveland  Hospit- 
al for  Women  and  Children,  and  President  of  its 
Board  of  Managers.  She  is  one  of  those  great- 
hearted women  who  carry  huge  baskets  of  supplies 
to  the  unfortunate.  Mrs.  Cadwell  has  many  warm 
friends  among  onr  citizens ;  among  German  Jew- 
esses she  is  greatly  beloved.  These  brave  women 
are  not  a  lonely  minority  ;  the  present  great  upris- 
ing indicates  the  march  of  progress  on  every  line  for 
the  elevation  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  and  through 
them  the  people  of  all  lands. 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  345 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

A  SUCCESSFUL  WOMAN  OF  CLEVELAND — MRS.  MARY 
S.  CARY — MRS.  CORNELIA  LOSSING  TILDEN — 
MRS.  C.  T.  DOAN — INDUSTRIAL  PURSUITS — 
MISS  NELLIE  M.  HORTON — OUT-DOOR  INDUS- 
TRIES— ELLA  GRANT  WILSON. 

A  /TANY  ladies  delineated  in  this  book  are 
^  business  women,  at  least,  might  be,  if  cir- 
cumstances require.  It  is  our  purpose  to  present 
here  a  representatiYe  woman  of  CleYeland  who 
has  become  by  her  own  tact  and  ability  a  financial 
success,  Mrs.  Mary  S.  Cary,  daughter  of  Mr.  J.  G. 
Stockly,  and  his  wife,  Cleotrine  Duchatel.  Her 
father  was  a  pioneer  in  the  shipping  and  coal  in- 
terests of  Xorthern  Ohio ;  of  an  old  Virginia 
family,  and  her  mother  from  near  Montreal.  Her 
grandfather  was  captain  of  an  East  Indiaman, 
sailing  from  Philadelphia,  being  among  the  first 
to  unfurl  the  American  flag  in  the  harbor  of 
Canton.     Her  grandmother,    Mary    Stockly,    was 


346  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

one  of  the  remarkable  women  of  her  time.  As 
a  school  girl,  Mary  Stockly,  the  younger,  was 
quick  to  learn,  sprightly,  affable  and  greatly 
beloved.  Her  marriage  to  John  E.  Cary,  a  rising 
yonng  lawyer,  occurred  September  1,  1852,  in  this, 
her  native  city.  Mr.  Cary  died  in  1874,  leaving 
her  with  three  daughters  and  two  sons.  From 
this  time  she  developed  practical  business  traits. 
In  1875,  she  increased  five-fold  her  husband's 
original  investment  in  the  Telegraph  Supply  Co., 
then,  soon  after,  united  with  a  rival  company  and 
in  1876,  supplied  largely  the  capital  required  for 
the  Brush  electric  light  system,  and  with  her 
brother,  Geo.  W.  Stockly,  Esq.,  was  the  means  of 
its  re-organization  ;  herself  becoming  director  from 
1875-89.  Her  wealth  is  wisely  used ;  public- 
spirited  and  generous,  she  has  pride  in  her 
city  ;  one  of  the  founders  of  its  School  of  Art, 
permeating  Cleveland  culture  with  the  warm  at- 
mosphere of  geniality  and  power  of  giving  enjoy- 
ment to  others.  Inheriting  from  her  grandfather 
a  love  for  the  sea  and  foreign  countries,  she  resides 
with  her  children  much  of  the  time  in  European 
capitals,  having  twice  made  the  circuit  of  the 
globe.      Being  an  especial  admirer  of  Japan  and 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  347 

its  people,  her  address  not  long  since  upon  the 
"  Houses  and  Homes  of  the  Japanese,"  before  the 
Cleveland  Sorosis,  was  a  revelation  to  its  auditors. 
Her  own  home  in  boudoir,  library  and  drawing  room 
is  a  picture  of  Oriental  magnificence.  There  is  a 
Tabero  with  the  crest  of  the  Tokugawa  dynasty,  a 
muirimofw  of  the  same  period,  vases  of  bronze  and 
in  sang  dn  boe itf  and  blue  Xankin,  plaques  of  Hi- 
bachi,  Satsuma,  Kutini,  Kyoto,  Banquo,  Nibes- 
himi  and  Hiroto  ware  in  many  forms.  One  sees 
there  a  suit  of  knight's  armor  with  numerous 
spears  and  swords  of  those  famous  two-s worded 
warriors,  Chinese  ear-rings  from  Ning-po,  Daimios 
toilet  sets,  teakwood  cabinets,  a  cloisonnier 
from  Peking,  and  from  India  carved  sandal-wood ; 
ivorv  and  Cashmere  enamel.  On  everv  hand  are 
beautiful  embroideries  illustrating:  legendarv  and 
mythological  lore,  as  well  as  Kimonos,  Obis, 
Fukea  and  Kakimono.  The  unselfish  nature  of 
the  hostess  makes  her  residence  the  delight  of 
friends. 

Mrs.  Cornelia  Lossing  Tilden  is  a  lady  of  splen- 
did accomplishments  and  at  the  same  time  en- 
dowed with  business  qualities.  Her  attire  quaint, 
harmonious  and    elegant,    bespeaks    her    Quaker 


34S  WOMEN   OF   CLEVELAND 

origin.  In  Judge  Tilden's  life-time,  their  home 
was  exquisite  in  furnishing  and  arrangement. 
She  is  well-known  in  art  and  literary  circles ;  ever 
ready  to  encourage  woman's  advance.  Familiar 
with  European  countries,  she  resides  at  present  in 
Spain. 

Mrs.  C.  T.  Doax. — The  lady  whom  we  cheer- 
fully include  among  our  successful  women  is  said 
to  be  the  first  piano  merchant  in  America.  Her 
methods  are  conscientious  and  her  career  among 
us  honorable  in  marked  degree,  a  brief  narra- 
tive of  which  may  afford  a  not  unpleasing  variety 
to  this  book  full  of  Cleveland  women.  Mrs.  C.  T. 
Pease,  while  on  a  visit  to  her  brother  in  Cleveland, 
in  1871,  decided  to  remove  here  and  go  into  the 
piano  business.  She  returned  to  New  York  to 
find  the  company  where  her  funds  were  invested 
had  failed,  receiving  only  a  small  per  cent.  She 
then  took  charge  of  a  store  at  613  Broadway,  New 
York,  at  $125  per  month,  until  she  had  saved 
enough  to  pay  her  own  and  two  children's  ex- 
penses for  six  months,  and  buy  one  piano ;  meeting 
with  opposition,  as  her  friends  said,  "  no  woman 
had  ever  gone  independently  into  the  business, 
and  in  the  quiet  manner  in  which  she  proposed  to 


AND   THEIR   WORK.  349 

carry  it  on,  she  could  never  succeed."  Physical 
weakness  also  supervened  and  for  five  years  she 
was  able  to  give  very  little  attention  to  the  pur- 
suit. She  commenced,  however,  in  1872,  purchas- 
ing outright  from  the  manufacturers  in  New  York 
and  Boston,  instead  of  on  consignment,  or  com- 
mission, and  with  no  assistance;  depending  entirely 
upon  her  own  quiet  method  and  exertions.  The 
business  grew  to  many  thousands  per  year.  She 
was  enabled  to  finish  her  daughter's  education 
and  assist  her  son  through  Yale  College.  In  1879, 
she  married  Mr.  E.  W.  Doan,  and  though  never 
strong  has  attended  to  household  and  social  duties 
in  a  remarkable  manner,  managing  a  general 
agency  for  two  New  York  piano  firms,  besides  her 
own  business  here.  All  this  does  not  seem  to  in- 
terfere with  her  benevolent  and  church  duties, 
her  great  love  for  children  and  the  temperance 
cause.  She  sells  and  ships  pianos  as  far  west  as 
Olympia,  Wash.,  San  Francisco,  to  the  Eastern 
States  and  to  prominent  people  in  Washington, 
D.  C.  Her  home  on  Euclid  avenue  is  delightful. 
Fond  of  flowers  and  skilled  in  housewifery,  few 
excel  her  in  everv-dav  living. 

Miss  Nellie  M.  Horton,  Business  Manager  and 


35°  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

Assistant  Secretary  in  a  profitable  branch  of  the 
Beeman  Chemical  Co.,  is  in  the  front  rank  of  bus- 
iness women,  enjoying  a  large  income  from  oppor- 
tune suggestion.  By  the  way,  she  states  that  she 
prefers  employing  lady  stenographers,  they  "  are 
more  reliable,  willing  and  obliging;'  also,  "  We 
have  a  young  lady  traveling  for  us  selling  goods ; 
she  visits  the  wholesale  trade  ;  her  salary  is  $75 
per  month  and  expenses,  which  include  bills  at  the 
best  hotels,  laundry,  bath.  Unlike  men,  there  are 
no  charges  for  incidentals  in  her  expense  reports/' 
The  city  is  full  of  able,  self-sustaining  women ; 
among  stenographers  we  may  mention,  Ella  Tilden, 
Mrs.  S.  Louise  Patteson ;  the  latter  is  one  of  the 
Woman's  Advisory  Council  of  the  World's  Con- 
gress of  her  profession. 

The  latest  statistics  give  twelve  thousand  three 
hundred  women  wage-workers  employed  in  Cleve- 
land in  twenty-five  different  industries.  This  pen 
would  reach  each  one  of  these,  if  possible,  with 
congratulation  for  abilitv  to  earn  her  own  living, 
wishing  her  God-speed  in  glorious  endeavor. 
There  are  now  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  oc- 
cupations open  to  woman,  as  against  seven  at  the 
beginning  of  the   century.      The   distaff  and   the 


AND    THEIR   WORK.  35 1 

spindle  were  once  distinguishing  implements  of 
the  lady  of  the  house ;  later,  needle  and 
wash-board  necessarily  became  the  means  of  live- 
lihood to  thousands.  Xow  the  gateway  to  compe- 
tence opens  widely.  Shall  we  enter  ?  Women  as 
printers  are  exceedingly  careful,  delicate  and 
accurate  ;  type-writing,  telegraphy,  telephony 
come  naturally  to  her.  Our  Schools  of  Design  are 
at  the  front  in  all  great  cities ;  fitting  us  to 
produce  patterns  in  fabrics,  or  metals,  in  wood- 
carving  and  repousse,  and  decoration  in  a  score  of 
fashions.  The  Philadelphia  School  furnishes 
looms,  warp  and  filling  for  weaving  carpets  after 
the  girl's  own  choice  of  model. 

We  cannot  linger,  though  greatly  would  we  en- 
jov  it.  Out-door  industries  beckon  us  to  life  on  a 
grand  scale,  to  health  of  body  and  soul ;  bee-cul- 
ture, care  of  domestic  animals  and  poultry.  Mid- 
die  Morgan,  the  celebrated  stock  reporter,  is  an 
instance,  how  thoroughly  a  woman  may  become 
conversant  with  horses.  Tree-planting,  floricul- 
ture, fruit  raising,  or  even  gleaning  in  the  harvest 
field,  with  Ruth,  all  invite  us  to  "  lend  a  hand." 

Having  heard  much  of  the  chrysanthemum  and 
rose  shows  of  the  Jennings  avenue  conservatories, 


352  WOMEN    OF    CLEVELAND 

I  went  over  and  found  not  only  the  elegant  varie- 
ties that  Japanese  and  Chinese  are  able  to  evolve 
from  the  chrysanthemum,  but  in  a  separate  visit 
went  to  Ella  Grant  Wilson's  propagating  beds 
where  were  growing  two  hundred  species  of  this 
marvelous  genus.  Two  young  ladies  were  clean- 
ing up  tubers,  placing  offsets  by  themselves  and 
otherwise  preparing  for  luxurious  Spring  growth. 
Mrs.  Wilson  has  become  celebrated  ;  her  carpet 
beds  in  our  cemeteries  and  on  some  of  our  lawns 
are  a  triumph  of  floral  art.  Her  decoration  of  the 
Garfield  arch  would  of  itself  have  rendered  her 
famous.  She  was  a  little  West  Side  girl  once, 
growing  geraniums  in  her  mother's  kitchen 
windows. 

We  leave  this  fascinating  subject  of  woman's 
work.  The  early  days  of  the  nineteenth  century 
were  full  of  splendid  achievement.  Dinah  Maria 
Muloch  wrote  of  the  Woman's  Kingdom ;  what 
she  and  other  workers  labored  to  usher  in,  we  who 
are  privileged  to  write  and  to  work  now,  see  this 
kingdom  established,  au  fin  du  sieclf. 


INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


PAGE. 

Abbott,  Mrs.  Carrie  Y 161 

Abbev,  Mrs.  Perlee 66 

Aeklev,  Mr.  E 43 

Ackley,  H.  A.,  M.  D 317 

Adams,  Mrs.  Belle  K 289,  290 

Adams,  Mrs.  E.  H 163,  172 

Adams,  Mrs.  Jarvis  M 306 

Adams,  Mrs.  .Sarah 54 

Adams,  Rev.  S.  W 66 

Adams,  Mrs.  S.  W....112,  160,  168,  179 

Ager,  Mary 78 

Aikin,  Rev.  S.  C .' 149,  262 

Aikiti,  Mrs.  S.  C 78,  112 

Aikins,  Mr 43 

Alien,  John  W 35 

Amsden,  Nellie  X 291 

Andrews,  Hon.  S.  J 35,  265 

Andrews,  Mrs.  S.  J 55,  78 

Andrews,  Miss  Sarah  E. 

175,  179,  186,  216,  251 

Andrews,  Miss  Mary 196,322 

Anthony,  Ambrose 73 

Are}',  Mrs.  H.  E.  G 252,  260-264 

Armstrong,  Elizabeth 227 

Armstrong,  Mrs.  W.  W 306 

Arter,  Mrs.  Eliza  K 158,  216 

Astor,  John  Jacob 41,  42 

Austin,  Mrs.  E 161 

Avery,  Mrs.  Kate  H.  S 285 

Averv,  Mrs.  George 122 

Avery,  Mrs.  J.  T 55 

Babbitt,  Mrs.  A.  Fitch 114 

Babcock,  Mrs.  B.  D 141,  288 

Badger,  Rev.  Joseph 27,  28,51,  58 

Bailey,  Mrs 122 

Bainbridge,  Mrs.  L.  S 1S3,  276-279 

Baldwin,  Miss  Anna 136 

Baldwin,  Caroline 55 

Baldwin,  Judge  C.  C 50 

Baldwin,  Dudley 29 

Baldwin,  Mrs.  Dudley 29,  231 

Baldwin,  Mr.  E.I 156 

Baldwin,  Mrs.  E.  D. 211 

Baldwin,  Norman   C 86 

Barber,  Mrs.  G.   M 217 

Barber,  Miss   Harriet 70 

Barber,  Judge  Josiah 

42,  48,  72,  85,  229 
Barber,  Mrs.  Judge  Josiah 42 


PAGE. 

Barber,  Mrs.  Jerusha  T 46,  47,  48 

Barber,  Josiah 35,  48 

Barber,  Mrs.  J 49 

Barnett,  Mrs.  Jas 156 

Barnett.  Martha  and  Carrie 238 

Barney,  Mrs.  A.  H 103,  107 

Barrett,  Mrs.  Eouise 259 

Bateham,  Hon.  J.  C 299 

Bateham,  Mrs.    J.  C 300,302 

Bates,  Mrs.  C.  S 210 

Bavne,  Mrs.  \V.  M 211 

Beach.  Mrs.  E.  C 162,  178 

Beard,  Miss  Eliza 36,  226 

Beckwith,  Mrs.  D.  H 290,  328 

Bedell,  Bishop  G.  T 120 

Bedell,  Mrs.  Julia 120 

Beebe,   Amelia 78 

Beebe,  Julia 237,  240 

Behrends,  A.J.  F.,  D.D 1S5 

Belden,  Caroline 227 

Belden,  Silas 78 

Belden,  Mrs.  Silas 66,  78,  128 

Bemis.  Mrs.  Caroline 36 

Benedict,  Geo.  A 293,  295 

Benedict,  Mrs.  Geo.  A 128 

Benedict,  Hester  A 300 

Benedict,  Mrs.  L 112 

Benton,  Mrs.  Horace. ..114, 172,  192,211 

Benton,  Mrs.  L.  A 140 

Bierce,  Mrs.  S.  E 285 

Biggar,  Mrs.  H.  F 290 

Bingham,  Mrs.    Win 305 

Bissell,  Miss  Emily  S 241-243 

Bixby,  Benj 31 

Black,  Elizabeth  B 289,  290,  30S 

Bolles,  Rev.  Dr 120 

Bolton,  Mrs.  Judge 91,  162 

Bolton,  Mrs.  C.  C 91 

Bolton,  Mr.  C.  E 280 

Bolton,  Mrs.  Sarah  K. 

165,  172,  179,  180,  280-284 

Bolton,  Chas.  Kuowles 2S3 

Bone,  J.  H.  A 294 

Bone,  Miss  Estelle 286 

Booth,  Emma  Scarr 288 

Bostwick,  Mrs.  Helen 300,  303 

Bothwell,  Mrs.  J.  D 193 

Bowler,  Mrs.  Win 144 

Boynton,  Mrs.  Anna 162 

Bradburn,  Mr,  Chas 293 


354 


INDEX   OF    NAMES. 


PAGE. 

Bradford,  Mrs.  Mary  S. 

122,  234,  235,  259,  305 

Bradley,  Miss  Luella 203 

Brainard,  Mr 43,  78 

Brainard,   Mrs.  E 122 

Brainard,  Mrs.  E.  C 216 

Brainard,  Mrs.  H.  M 122 

Brakenridge,  Mrs.  A.  A 179,  187 

Branch,  Mr 42 

Brayton,  Belle 175,  187 

Brayton,  Mrs.  C.  D 112,  128,  132 

Brayton,  H.  F 124 

Brayton,  Mrs.  H.  F 112 

Brayton,  Miss  M.  A 112 

Brayton,  Mary  Clark 

118,  128,  132,  136,  138 

Brayton,  Nettie 135 

Brewer,  Mrs.  A.  T 211 

Brigham,  Mrs. 179 

Brinsmade,  Mrs.  A.  T 173 

Britton,  Birdie  Hale 254 

Brockway,  A.  W 115 

Brockett"  Mrs.  Dr 200 

Brooks,   Rev.  Frederick 186 

Brooks,  Mrs.  O.  A 122 

Brough,  Gov 312 

Browne,  Chas.  F 293 

Browne,  Mrs.  M.  G 289 

Brown,  Catharine 78 

Brown,  Rev.  J.  W.,  D.D 34,  38 

Brvinson,  Col 86 

Bucher,  Mrs.  Win 179 

Buel,  Mrs.  A.  P 160 

Buffett,  Mrs.  Family  H 237 

Bump,  Young  Mr 18 

Burke,  Mrs.  Stevenson 306 

Burnett,  Mrs.  C.  C 289,  306 

Burnham,  Mrs.  M.  W 78 

Burns,  Mrs.  A.  M 288 

Burns,  Mary  and  Amanda 78 

Burridge,   Mrs.  J.  H 175 

Burton,  Rev.  Lewis,  D.D 120 

Burton,  Mrs.  Lewis 

119,  120,  128,  156,  172,  179,  192 

Burton,  "Mother," 73 

Burwell,  Mrs.  Geo.  P 62 

Bury,  Mrs.  Theo  210 

Butler,  Julia 227 

Buxton,  Miss  Cordelia 74 

Buxton,  Mrs.  E.  0 203,  204 

Buxton,  Mary  Ann 55 

Byrnes,  Mrs 200 

Cadwell,  Mrs.  Darius 329,  343,  344 

Cahoon,  Miss  Anna 309 

Caine,  Mrs.  A.  B 201 

Caldwell,  Mrs.  H.J 211 

Caldwell,  Mrs.  Lee 328 


PACK. 

Campbell,  Mrs 193 

Campbell,  Miss  Marion  L 291 

Campbell,  Mrs.  R.  A 202 

Canfield,  Mrs.  Jason...... 118,  173,  179 

Canfield,  Martha,  M.  D 28S,  327 

Canfield,  Mrs.  S.  B 112 

Cannon,  Mrs.  John 114 

Cannon,  Mrs.  R.  A 68,  203 

Card,  J.  F 86 

Card,  Miss  Anna 91 

Carter,  Miss  Annis 135 

Carter,   Maj.  Lorenzo 

21,  28,  42,  91,  223,  224 

Cary,  Mrs.  MaryS 306,  345-347 

Case,  Leonard 107,  116 

Castle,  W.  B 86,88,90,  91 

Castle,  Mrs.  W.  B 91,  306 

Caton,  Mrs.  M.  M 287 

Champion,  Ksther 40 

Champion,  Mary 122 

Champion,  Reuben 47 

Champion,  Mrs.  Reuben 47 

Chamberlin,  Mrs.  P 237,  312 

Chandler 

Chandler,  Mrs.  S.  E 288 

Chapman,  Geo.  L 34,  88,  226 

Chapman,  Mrs.  Geo.  L.  .  ..70,  75.  142 

Chase,  Mrs.  J.  H 128 

Chase,  Bishop  Philander 34,  48 

Chase,  Salmon  P 312 

Chisholm,  Mrs.  H 118,  142 

Chittenden,  Mrs.  D 128 

Chittenden,  Mrs.  E i78>  20° 

Chittenden.  Mrs.  S.  L 140 

Churchill.  Mrs.  S.  P 185 

Claflen,  Mrs.  Alice  M 187,  306 

Clapp,  Mrs.  O.  E 211 

Clark,  Mrs.  Carrie  N 237 

Clark.  Diodate 73 

Clark.  Mrs.  Edmund 19,  76 

Clark,  Mrs.  Eliza 252 

Clark,  James  F 35 

Clark,  Katharine  H 311 

Clarke,  0 78 

Cleveland,   Col.  Aaron 40 

Cleveland,  Mrs.  Aaron 40 

Cleveland,  Emma  D 309 

Cleveland,  Gen.  Erastus 55 

Cleaveland.  Moses 40. 

Cleveland,  Miss 311 

Clisbee.  Miss 55 

Coe,  Alvan 102 

Coe,  Mrs.  E.  E 209 

Coffinbury,   H.  D 92 

Coffinburv,  Mrs.  H.  D 92,  203,  306 

Coffinburv,  Mrs.  A.  M 93 

Coggswefl,  Mrs.  B.  S..161,  173, 178,  202 
Colby,  Mrs.  J.  E 172 


INDEX    OF    NAMES. 


355 


PAGE. 

Colby,  Miss  Sophia 237 

Cook,  Miss  Frances  E 308 

Cooke,  Mrs.  W.  P 168,  172,  178,  181 

Coolidge,  Susan 265-270 

Comstock,  Mrs.  E.  0 158 

Comstock,  Mrs.  L.  M 178 

Conant,  Rev.  D.  M. 73 

Conklin 73 

Coon,  Mrs.  John 

16S,  172,  181,  1S4,  187 

Cooper,  Rev.  Darius 34 

Converse,  .Sophia 227 

Copeland,  Miss  A 308 

Cory,  Mrs.  Emily  G 216,  289 

Covert,  Mrs.  J.  C 154 

Cowles,  Miss  Betsey 336 

Cowles,  Mrs.  Cornelia 63 

Cowles,  Mrs.  J.  G.  W 208 

Cowles,  Mrs.  Professor 303 

Crane,  .Mrs.  Col 144 

Cridland,  Mrs.  E.J.  H 59 

Crittenden,  N.  E 31 

Crocker,  Mrs.  T.  D 175,  306 

Curry,  Mrs.  M.  S  77 

Curtis,  Mrs.  Elroy 161,  173 

Curtiss.  Mrs.  J.  M 209 

dishing,    Mrs.  Carolyn  K 158 

dishing,  Mrs.  E 56 

Cutter,  Lucy  A 78 

Cutter,  M.  M 78 

Darsie,  Mrs.  Lloyd 209 

Dautel,  Mrs.  L 289 

Davis,  Capt.  Alfred 73 

Davis,  Mrs.  Alfred 73,114,  173 

Davis,  Rev.  L 72 

Davis,  L.  L... 89 

Davidson,  Mrs.  A.  D 289,  304 

Dav,  Mrs.  John 78 

Day,  Rev.  Wm 198 

Day,  Mrs.  Wm 55,  112,  262 

Dean,  Mrs.  C.  A 100,  103,  240 

De  Forest,  Julia 78 

Degmeier,  Mrs.  C 114 

Degnon,  Mr.  John 87 

Degnon,  Mrs.  Mary  A 48,  88,  93 

Degnon,  Mary  and  Eliza 88 

Delamater,  Mrs.  A.  H 93,  172 

Delamater,  Mrs.  E.  D 186,  193 

Delamater,  Mrs.  J.  C. 

143,  164,  172,  186 

Deming,  Mrs.  George 122,  237 

Detcheon,  Mrs 179 

Dickey,  Mrs.  M.  R 211 

Dimmick,  Rev.  B.  F 61 

Dissette,  Mrs.  T.  K 173 

Doan,  Mrs.  C.  T 348 

Doane,  Nath 32 


PAGE. 

Doane,   Sara 223 

Doan,  W.  H  186,  187 

Doan,  Mrs.  W.  H 186 

Dockstader,  Mr 32 

Doggett,  Wm.  E 94 

Doggett,  Kate  Newell.. ..89,  91,  93-96 

Doty,  Mrs.  O.  L 211 

Doty,  Mrs.  T.  K 203 

Dubs,  Bishop  R 185 

Dudlev,  Stephen  A 225 

Duncan,  Rev.  S.  W 175,  185 

Duncan,  Mrs.  S.  W. 

171,  174,  179,  183.  185' 

Dutcher.   Mrs.  A.  P 153 

Dutton,  Mrs.  Dr 74 

Duty,  Mrs.  Eliza 78 

Duty,  Miss  F.  Jennie 

169,  172,  173,  177,  179,  199,  201 

Edwards,  Miss  Anna 178,  202 

Edwards,  Rodolphus 32 

Kdwards,  Mrs.  William 122 

Eells,Mrs.  D.  P 162 

Eells,  Miss  Paige 56 

Ehret,  Mrs.  Dr 309 

Ellinwood,  Mrs.  C.  B 254 

Ellston,  Mrs.  1 203 

Elwell,  Mrs.  A 304 

Elwell,  Mrs.  J.J 237 

Ely,  Mrs.  Geo.  H 172 

Ely,  Mrs.  Geo.  B 122 

Emerson,  Mrs.  A.  M 209 

Evans,  Miss  Mary 304 

Excell,   Mrs.  B 179 

Eyears,  Miss  Jessie 309 

Fairchild,  Edw 78 

Fairchild,  F.  C 78 

Fairbanks,  A.  W 292 

Fairbanks,  Mrs.  A.  W 148,  297 

Farmer,  Lydia  Hoyt 

217,  273-276,  290 

Farmer,  Mrs.  Meribah 154,  274 

Ferguson,  Mrs.  L.  A 163 

Ferris,  Mrs.  W.  H 209 

Fisk,  .Sarah  T 78 

Fitch,  Mrs 78,  83 

Fitch,  Sarah  E. 

147-156,  166,  172,  179,  231 

Fletcher,  Mrs.  Mary  A 63,  64 

Flint,  Mrs.  E.  S 122 

Folsom,  Gilman 71 

Folsom,  Ladies 74 

Foljambe,  Samuel 115 

Foote,  Herbert 36 

Foote,  Mrs.  Herbert 36 

Foote,  Mrs.  J.  T 203 

Foot,  Mrs.  John  A 55,  78 


35^ 


INDKX    OF    NAMES. 


PAGE. 

Foot,  Judge 71 

Foot.   Mrs.  Judge 86 

Ford.  Mrs.  Hobart 76 

Ford,  Mrs.  H.  C 172,  178,  179 

Ford,  Mrs.  S 76 

Ford,  Mrs.  S.  C 254 

Foster,  Mrs.  A.  B 140 

Foster,  Mrs.  G.  H 216 

Foster,  Miss  Hanna  A 288 

Fox,  Mrs.  L.  L 250 

Fraser,  Mrs.  J.  G 288 

Fraser,  Mrs.  Mary  S 342 

Freeman,  Clara 290 

Freeman,  Mrs.  Kmma  D 237 

Freeman,  Rev.  Silas  C 34,  36 

Freese,  Andrew 239 

Freese,  Mrs.  Andrew 239 

Fry,  Good  Mr 237 

Fuller,  Miss  F.  A 330,  338 

Fuller,  Mrs.  Horace 140 

Gage,   Mrs.  Frances  D 330,  338 

Gage,  Mrs.  D.  W 203 

Galbrath,  Mrs.  Jas 160,  179,  200 

Gardner,  Mrs.  E.  F 76 

Gardner,  Mrs.  G.  W 159 

Gardner,  Mrs.  S.  S 159 

Garfield,  James  A 56,  243,  312 

Garfield,  Mrs.  James  A. 

217,  243-246,  304 

Gault,  Mary  A.,  M.  D 322 

Gavlord,  E.  F 56,  112 

Gaylord,  Mrs.  E.  F. 

55,  56,  57,  77,  78,  128,  296 

Gaylord,  Mrs 122 

Gerould,  Mrs.  Dr 140 

Giddiugs,  C.  M 86 

Giddings,  Mrs.  C.  M 19,  53 

Giddings,  Hon.  J.  R 312 

Gilbert,   Mrs 179 

Gilbert,  Miss  Abigail 85 

Gilbert,  Mrs.  Levi 216 

Gilbert,  Mrs.  X.  A 140 

Gilchrist,  Etta  L.,  M.  D 289 

Gillette,  Mrs.  E.  S 203 

Gillette,  Miss  Marv 178 

Gillett,  Miss  Ruth" 135 

Glasier,  Mrs.  Eliza 286 

Glasier,  Miss  Jessie 286 

Godman,  Mrs.  W.  D 166 

Goodman,  Mrs 78 

Goodrich,  Rev.  Dr 149 

Gordon,  Miss  Georgia 135 

Grant,  Carrie 135 

Grant,  Mrs.  John 193 

Gray,  J.  W 293 

Gray,  Mrs.  J.  W 293 

Gray,  N.  A 293 


PAGE. 

Griffin,  Mrs.   H.  A 158 

Griffith,  David 86 

Griffith,  Mrs.  David 65.  86 

Grisell,  Miss  E.,  M.  D 317 

Griswold,  Mrs.  Hiram 128 

Guilford,  Miss  L.  T...200,  248-252,  288 

Gunn,  Elijah 40 

Gunn,  Mrs.  Elijah 40 

Gunning,  Ellen 78 

Guvles,  Capt.  W.  B 92 

Guyles,  Mrs.  Capt.  \V.  B 114,  142 

Haight.  Mrs.  C.  W 201 

Hajek,   Marie 222 

Hale,  Mrs.  E.  B 305 

Hale,  Mrs.  John 115 

Hale,  Mrs.  John  C 237 

Hale,  Mary  and  Emma 254 

Hall,  Miss  Ann  Eliza 237 

Hall,  Rev.  F.  M 120 

Hall,  Mrs.  Geo.  E 168,  172,  175 

Halle,  Mrs.  Manuel 221 

Hammond,  Mrs.  H.  E 203 

Hancock,  Mrs.  W.  B 140 

Handerson,  Miss  H.  F 122,  144 

Handv,   T.  P 116,  312 

Handy,    Mrs.  T.  P 88 

Hanford,  Rev.  Win 52 

Hanks,  Romelia 78 

Hanna,  Mrs.  C.  B 175 

Hanna,  Mrs.  Robt 173,  186 

Hanna,  Mrs.  S.  M 118 

Harkuess,  Miss  Florence 159 

Harrington,  Mrs.  B 76 

Harris,  Alice,  M.  D 322 

Harris,  J.  A 98,  292,  294 

Harris,  Mrs.  J.  A. 

97,  100,  in,  128,  139 

Hartnells,  The 89 

Haskell,  Mrs.  G.  H 186 

Haskell,  Miss  Julia 214 

Hatch,  Mrs.  C.  A 89 

Hatch,  Miss  Delia 200,  201 

Hatch,  Mr.  H.  R 145 

Hatch,  Lida  Baldwin 145 

Haver,  Mary 237 

Hawks,  Rev.  Dr * 20 

Hay,  Mrs.  John 157 

Hayes,  Ex-President 161 

Hayes,  Mrs.  Lucy  Webb 

161,  215,  304 

Hayes,  Miss  Fanny 304 

Hayes,  Mrs.  J.  F.  C 187,  193 

Haydn,  Rev.   H.  C,  D.  D 185,  220 

Haydn,  Mrs.  H.  C 161,  179 

Haydn,  Mrs.  Sarah 122 

Hemenway,  Mrs.  C 237 

Henderson,  Mr 225 


INDEX   OF   NAMES. 


357 


PAGE. 

Henderson,  Miss  Jane 211 

Herrick,  Miss  Eleanor 87,  89 

Herriek,  Mrs.  M.  M 79,  256-258 

Herrick,  Miss  Nancy  J 87,  89 

Herrick,  S.  N 49,74,  87 

Herrick,  Mrs.  S.  N 49,  74,  87 

Hewitt,  Miss  Sophia  L 109 

Hickox,  Mr 229 

Hickox,  Mrs.  Chas 128 

Hickox.  Mrs.  L.  L 172 

Hickox,  Mrs.  Milo 65,  78 

Hickman,  Mrs.  M.  C 288 

Hill,  Dr.  and  Mrs 88 

Hill.  Mrs.  Herbert 200 

Hill,  Mrs.  Moses 

166,  179,  187,  213,  322 

Himes,  Mrs.  I.  M 122 

Hinsdale,  Miss  J 179 

Hitchcock,  Mrs.  P.  M 217,  305 

Hoadley,  Mrs.  Geo 19 

Hoisington,   Mrs.  H.  R 186 

Hoisington',  Miss  S.  E 250 

Holden,  Mrs.  I,.  E 305 

Holloway,  J.  F 88 

Hopkinson,  Mrs.  A.  G 237 

Hord,  Mrs.  A.  C 122 

Horton,  Miss  Nellie  M 350 

Hosford,  Miss  Frances  J 237 

Houghton,  Mary  Hayes 302 

Houk,  Miss  Helen  M 288 

Howe,  Mrs.  D 128 

Hoyt,  Hon.  J.  M 274 

Hoyt,  Mr.  Colgate 274 

Hoyt,  Messrs.  E.  and  J.  H 274 

Hoyt,  Wavland,  D.  D 274 

Hovt,  Mrs".  F.  S 211 

Hubbell,  Mrs.  A.  S 42 

Hubbell,  Mrs.  Mary 178,  187 

Hubby,  Mrs.  L.  M 142 

Hull,  Mrs.  Annie  E 159 

Hull,  Mr 292 

Hunt,  Mrs.  A.  S 256 

Hunt,  Harriet,  Dr 

Hunt,  Helen  (H.  H.)  267 

Huntington,  Miss  F.  E 201 

Huntington,  Mrs.  E.  H 156 

Hurd,  Mr 87 

Hurlbut,   Mrs.  H.  A 89,  90 

Hurlbut,  Mrs.  H.  B 89 

Hurst,  Harriet 78 

Hutchings,  Miss  C 53 

Hutchings,  Miss  Nellie 192 

Hutchings,  Mrs 55 

Hutchinson,   Mrs.  S.  E 78 

Hyde,  Miss  Sarah 37 

Hyde,  Miss  Zerviah 47 

Ingersoll,  Mrs.  Joseph 64 


PAGE. 

Ingersoll,  Miss  Mary  E...187,  201,  251 
Ingham,  Mrs.  Howard  M. 

162,  179,  180,  192,  201,  202,  287 

Ingham,  Miss  M 202 

Ingham,  W.  A 186 

Irvine,  Mrs.  T.  M 216 

Jackson,  Mr 87 

Jackson,  Miss  Julia 87,  89 

Jackson,  Miss  Mary 87,  89 

Janes,  Eliza  R " 238 

Janes,  Emma 179 

Janes,  Mary  B  115 

Jennings,  Mrs.  Eliza 116,  1*19 

Jennings,  Catharine 262 

Johnson,  Eliza 228 

Johnson,  Mrs.  Margaret 63 

Johnson,  Mrs.  Seth 86 

Johnston,  Mrs.  A.  A.  F 254,  304 

Johnston,  Mrs.  Grace 58,  59 

Johnston,  Capt.  Wm.  C 58 

Jones,  Miss  Ada 192 

Jones,  Capt.  Geo.  W 92,  118 

Jones,  Mrs.  Geo.  W 92 

Jones,  Mary 78 

Jordan,  Miss  Lucy 203 

Keeler,  Mrs.  Dr 178,  187 

Keeler,  Miss  H.  L 288 

Keep,  "Father" 74 

Keffer,  Mrs.  Sarah  W 237 

Kelley,  Alfred 20 

Kelley,  Irad 198,  225 

Kelley,  Mr.  H 306 

Kellogg,  Mr 43 

Kellogg,  Miss  Kate 250 

Kelsey,  Mrs 112 

Kemmer,  Mrs 144 

Kendall,   Mrs.  Lyman 76 

Keppler,  Miss  Elise 210 

Kester,  Mrs.  Harriet  J 305 

Kimball,  Mrs.  S.  M 305,  308 

King,  Mrs.  Helen  E 309 

Kingsbury,  Judge 27,  297 

Kingsburv,  Louisa 227 

Kipp,  Mrs".  P.  E 288 

Kirtland,  Dr 87,-312 

Klein,  Mrs.  Jacob 173 

Knestrick,  Rose  Evelyn 328 

Knight,  Rev.  William 220 

Knowlton,  Lucy 59 

Landon,  Joseph 32 

Lane,  Miss  Emma 308 

Lane,  Mrs.  Mary  C.  C 237 

Lathrop,   Mrs.  C.  L 55,76,  77 

Lawrence,  Mrs.  O.  C 290 

Lazier,  Mrs.  L 211 


35§ 


INDEX   OF   NAMES. 


PAGE. 

Lee,  Mrs.  H.  J 122 

Lee,  Mrs.  S.  H 179,  193 

Leggett,  Mrs.  Dr 140 

Leonard,  Miss  C.  M 161 

Leonard,  Mrs.  Wm.  (Bishop) 122 

Lepper,  Mrs.  C.  W 118,  162 

Lester,  Miss  Helen 135 

Little,  Miss  Anna  B 309 

Little,  Mrs.  G.  W 306 

Little,  Mrs.  H.  H 139,  336 

Lockwood.  Mrs.  C.  B 306 

Long,  Dr.  David 23,  24,  51,  224 

Long,  Mrs.  David..i9-27,  51,  55,  78, 128 

Lord,  Richard 42,  49,  88 

Lord,  Mrs.  Richard 45,  49,  50,  70 

Lord,   .Samuel  P.,  Sr 42 

Lord.  Samuel  P.,  Jr... 42 

Lowe,  Mrs.  R.  D 122 

Lowman,  Mrs.  Jacob ...   115 

Lowmau,  Mrs.  C.  E 158 

Ludlum,  Mrs.  W.   A 122 

Lufkin,  Mrs.  Cath.  T 87 

Lyman,  Mrs.  Joseph in,  128 

Lyon,  Mrs.  J.  E 103 

Lyster,  Rev.  W.  N 36,  37 

Mahan,  President 137 

Mahan,  Miss  Sara...  135,  136,  137,  138 

Malvin,  Harriet 78 

Manchester,  Mrs 78 

Mansfield,   Mrs.  S.  W 140 

Marble,  Mrs 115 

Marvin,  Mrs.  A.J... 68 

Mason,  Mrs.  James 172,  195 

Massey,   Mrs.  A.  P 172 

Mater' Madge  D.,  M.  D 322 

Mather,   Mr.  and  Mrs.  S.  L 122 

Mather,  Flora  Stone 159,  160,  253 

Mather,  Mrs.  Katharine 122 

Maynard,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Alleyn 

118,  132 

McCabe,  Mrs.  H.  C 215 

McCroskey,   Mrs.  Jas 48 

McDole,    Mrs.  N.  K 33 

Mcintosh,   Mrs.  A 140 

Mcintosh,   E 78 

Mclnnes,  Miss  Kate 209 

Mclntyre,  Mrs.  Jas 193 

McLaren,  Bishop  W.  E 293 

McNeil,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C 92 

McReynolds,   Mrs.  M 186 

Meckes.  Mrs.  John 145 

Medill,  Joseph 293 

Melhinch,  Mrs.  R.  D 128,  133,  134 

Melvin,  Mrs 65 

Merchant,  Mrs.  Ahaz 76 

Merrick,  MyraK.,  M.  D 315 

Merrick,  Eliza  J.,  M.  D 315 


PAGE. 

Merriam,   Mrs.  J.  B 249 

Merriam,  Mrs.  Wm 161 

Merritt,   Mrs.  Thos 229 

Merwin,  Noble  H 17,  224 

Merwin,  Mrs.  Noble  H 33,  53 

Miles,  R 55 

Mills,  Mrs.  Dr 76 

Miller,  Mrs.  Lucy 135,  136,  186 

Miller,  Mary  E-  H 302 

Mitchell,   Mrs.  H.  S 114 

Mitchell,  Mrs.  John 211 

Mittleberger,  Mrs.  Wm. 

100,  107,  109,  112,  128,  183,  186 

Moody,  Helen  Watte.rson 289 

Mooney,  Mrs.  T.  J '. 221 

Moore'Mrs.  S.  C 145 

Moore,   Mrs.  Smith 193 

Moore,  Miss  Lina 192 

Morehouse,  Mrs.  C.  L 173 

Moreland,   Mary 300 

Morgan,  Mrs.  E.  P 172,  186 

Morgan,  Mrs.  Wm 179 

Morse,  Miss 309 

Morton,  Mrs.  A.  D 178,  200 

Mother,  My 65 

Muhlhauser,  Mrs.  F 328 

Mygatt,  Mrs.  Geo.  S 135 

Neff,  Miss  Elizabeth  C 286 

Neff,  Mrs.  Lizzie  Hyer 286 

Newberry,  Mrs.  H 142,  296 

Newberry,  Mrs.  A.  S 56 

Newell,  George 89 

Newell,  Nath 89 

Newell.  Miss  Mary 88,89,90 

Newton,  Mr.  and  Mrs 74 

Noble,  Mrs.  Conway  W 219,  220 

Noble,  Miss  L.  E 301 

Noble,  Mrs.  Roland  D. 

168,  172,  175,  178 

Noble,  Miss 309 

North,  Mrs.  W.  C 130 

Norton,  Mrs.  D.  Z 91,  122 

Norton,  Miss  Georgia  L 308 

Nyce,  Mrs.  M.  H ,  140 

Ockembaugh,  Mr 224 

Olmsted,  Mrs.  Helen 309 

Olmsted,  Miss  Mattie 309 

Olney,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  F 306 

O'Mara,  Miss  Joanna 221 

Otis,   Miss  Eliza  P 112 

Otis,  Mrs.  W.  H 78 

Oviatt,  Mrs.  G.  P 203 

Paddock,  Mrs.  J.  deW 118,  213 

Page,  Mrs.  S.  B 128 

Paine,  Mrs.  S.  T 287 


INDEX   OF   NAMES. 


359 


PAGE. 

Pankhurst,  J.  F 92 

Pankhurst,  Mrs.  J.  F 92 

Parker,  Mrs.  L.  C 229,  259 

Parmalee,  Miss  Kate 287 

Parsons,  Mrs.  Burt 122 

Parsons,  Mrs.  F.  W 135 

Parsons,  Mrs.  R.  C 305 

Parsons,  Miss  Marion 219 

Partridge,  Mrs.  W.  W 173 

Patteson,  Mrs.  S.  Louise 350 

Payne,  Gen.  Edw 22,  29 

Payne,  H.  B 29 

Payne,  Mrs.  H.  B 29,  304 

Peabody,  Miss  L 250 

Pearson,  Mrs 78 

Pease,  Mrs 312 

Pechin,  Mrs.  E.  C 121,  122,  137 

Pechin,  Miss  Marguerite 219 

Peck,   Miss  S.  0 152 

Peeke,  Mrs.  M.  B 288 

Peet,  Mrs.  Martha 63 

Pelton,  Mrs.  F.  W 140 

Penfield,  Miss  Anna 178 

Penfield,  Miss  L.  A 78 

Perkins,  Miss  Emma 287 

Perkins,  Mrs.  E.  R 237 

Perkins,  Mrs.  Henry 183,  254,  304 

Perkins,  Joseph 

158,  174,  185,  187,  199,  249 
Perkins,  Mrs.  Joseph 

128,  172,  187-191 

Perkins,  Mrs.J.B 150 

Perkins,  Mrs.  S.  M 203,  342,  343 

Perrv,  Commodore 29 

Perry,  Mrs.  G.  B 112 

Phinney.  Mrs.  E.J 177,  202 

Pickands,  Mrs.  Louisa 74,  83 

Pollock,  Mrs.  Marv  S 42 

Pollock.  Miss 178 

Poole,  Mrs.  John 118,  142 

Pomeroy,  Rev.  C.  S.,  D.  D 185 

Pope,  Mrs.  E.  C 142,  178 

Porter,  Mrs.  \V.  B 173,  179,  187 

Potter,  Mrs.  A.  D 162,  178 

Prather,  Mrs.  Anna  S 175,  200,  201 

Pratt,  Anna  M 287 

Prentiss,  Mrs.  L 16,  109 

Prentiss,  Mrs.  S.  B 89 

Prentiss,  Mrs.  Sarah  F 237 

Prentice,  Mrs.  N.  B 140 

Presley,  Mrs.  Geo 173,  203 

Price,  Mrs.  Warrick 168 

Pritchard,  "Mother" 63,  78 

Prosser,  Rev.  D 114 

Purdy,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  N 92 

Randall,  Mrs.  Abigail. ..42,  45,  47,  72 
Randolph,  Miss  Eouise  F....304,  307 


PAGE. 

Ranney,  Mrs.  H 66 

Ranney,  Mrs.  R.  P 306 

Ransom,  Miss  C.  E 311-314 

Rawson,  Mrs.  M.  E 158,  164,  250 

Rearden,  Miss  Anna 237 

Rector,  Julia 78 

Rediugton,  Mr.  J.  A 92' 

Reeder,  Mrs.  F.  W 178 

Reese,  Mrs.  W.  M 211 

Reid,  Miss  Virginia 291 

Reitinger,  Mrs 67 

Revelev,  Miss  Ellen  G 243,  288 

Rhodes,  Mrs.  Chas 86 

Rhodes,  Mrs.  C.  L 140,  199 

Rhodes,  Daniel  P 86 

Rhodes,  Mrs.  D.  P 89 

Rhodes,  Miss  Fanny 91 

Rhodes,  Mr.  Jas.  F 91 

Rhodes,  Mrs.  J.  H 140 

Rice,  Hon.  Harvey 116 

Rice,  Mrs.  Harvey 118 

Rice,  Rosella 300 

Richards,  Mrs.  J 140 

Richardson,  Mrs.  M.  E.  M 288 

Rickoff,  Mrs.  Rebecca  D 246 

Roberts,  Mrs.  Ansel 122 

Roberts,  Mrs.  F.  W 328 

Roberts,  Mrs.  G.  A 288 

Rockefeller,  J.  D 1S5,  199 

Rockefeller,  Mrs.  J.  D 236 

Roland,  Mrs.  Louise 144 

Roscoe,  Miss : 226 

Rose,   Mrs.  W.  G 140,  289 

Ross,  Mrs.  Joshua 140,  141 

Rothweiler,  Mrs  J 68 

Rothvveiler,  Louise 68 

Rouse,  Benj 17,   18 

Rouse,  Mrs.  B 16,  17,  65,  66, 

70,  79,  100,  in,  128,  140,  142,  234 

Ruprecht.  Mrs.  Chas 288 

Russell,  Charlotte  A 85 

Russell,  Ella 253 

Russell,  Mrs.  N.J so,  86 

Russell,  Robt 85 

Russell,  Mrs.  Sophia  L 8j,  88 

Rust,  Mrs.  E.  L "215 

Sabin,  Mrs 161 

Sackett,  Mrs.  Alex 231 

Sackrider,  Cornelia  M 78 

vSampson,   Rev.  and  Mrs.  Win,.,   117 

Sanborn,  Mrs 159 

.Sanderson,  Robt 41 

Sanderson,  Mrs.  R 74,  187,  193 

.Sargent,  Levi 43 

Sargent,  Mrs.  Rosamond 

45,  46,  70,  87 
Sargent,  John  H 43,  45,  89,  93,  227 


3<5° 


INDEX   OF   NAMES. 


PAGE. 

Sargent,  Mrs.  J.  H 93 

Schauffler.  Mrs.  Clara  H 67 

vSchofield,  Mrs.  Levi  T 159,  187 

Scott,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  M.  B 89 

Scott,  Anna  K.,  M.  D 322 

Scovill,  Philo 31,  38,  225 

Scovill,  Mrs.  Philo 30-38,  120,  12S 

Scranton,  Joel 41,  233 

Scranton,  Mrs.  Irene  H. 

19,  ii2,  230-234 

Seaman,  John 66 

Seaman,  Mrs.  John 173 

Seaman,  Mrs.  C.  A 66,  318-321 

Seaman,  Messrs.  C.  J.  and  E 321 

Searle,  Rev.  Roger 34 

vSearl^.    Mrs.  Jane 78 

Seelye,  Mrs.  Finette  S 321 

Seelve,  Marv.  M.  D 322-325 

Selden,  Robt.  C 49 

Selden,  Mrs.  Robt.  C 49 

Senter,  Mrs 161 

Severance,  Mrs.  Marv  H. 

20,  27,  53,  78,  148,  231,  259 

Severance,  Mrs.  S.  L 128 

Severance.  Mrs.  C.  M 331 

Sexton.  Mrs 78 

Seymour,  Belden 89 

Seymour,  Mrs.  Belden 50,  86 

Seymour,  Mrs.  Ljda  C 289 

Seymour,  Mrs 77,  78 

Sheldon,  Maria 227 

Sheldon,  S.  H 186 

Sheldon,  Mrs.  S.  H 172 

Shelley,  Mrs.  John 76,  120 

Shelley,  Miss  Mary 135 

Shepard.   Mrs.  D.  A 142 

Shepard,  Phineas 33,  35,  44,  224 

Shepard,  Mrs.  Phineas 45 

Sheppard,  Mrs.  W.J 178 

Sheridan,  Mrs 306 

Sherman,  Mrs.  Adeline 211 

Sherman,  Mrs.  L.  K 144 

Sherwin,  Mrs.  H.  A 66 

Shipherd,  Rev.  J.  J 254 

Shipherd,  '•Mother" 254 

Sholes,  Mrs.  J.   D 173 

Shunk,  Mrs.  Julia 118 

Silver,  Mrs.  E.  T 203 

Siugletary,  Mrs.  A.  R 203 

Sizer.   Mrs.  H.  D 214 

Sizer,  Joel 18,  59 

Sizer,  Mrs.  Joel 59 

Slaght,  Mrs 74 

Sloane,  Mrs.  M.  C 78,  79,  112 

Sloane,  Mrs.  R.  R 161 

Smith,   Mrs.  H.  Gaj'lord 296 

Smith,   Frank 66 

Smith,  R.  Way 309,  310 


PAGE. 

Smith,  Mrs.  R.  F 168 

Smith,  Shoemaker 46 

Smith,  Wm.  T 66,  107 

Smith,  Mrs.  Wm.  T...78,  168,  172, 175 

Snow,  Mrs.  C.  E 300 

Snow,  Jane  Eliot 288 

Snow,  Miss  Louisa 227 

Somerville,  Julia 253 

Southard,  Mrs.  E 597 

Southworth,  Mrs.  E 78 

Southworth,  W.  P 197,  339 

Southworth,  Mrs.  Louisa 

1 28,  172,  306,  338-342 

Southworth,  Misses 341 

Spafford,  Anna 223 

Spooner,  Mrs.  H.  C 192 

Sprague,  Mrs.  Harriet 186 

Staats,  Mrs.  Elizabeth 115 

Stalej-,  Mrs.  Cady 290 

Standart,  Xeedham 87 

Standart,  Mrs.  N.  M 87 

Standart,  Mrs 161 

Starkweather,  Sam'l 52 

Starkweather,  Mrs.  S 

52,  168,  172,  175 

Sterling,  Elisha  T 87 

Sterling,  Mrs.  Elisha  T 112 

Sterling,  Mrs.  John  M 19,  77,  135 

Sterling,  Dr.  Theodore 70,317 

vStephens.  Mrs.  J.  E 179 

Stevens,  Mrs.  Virginia 203 

Stewart,   Miss 135 

Stewart,  Mrs.   X.  Coe 

164,  168,  172,  179,  289 

Stiles,  Job  V 27,  28,  32 

Stiles',   Mrs.  Job  V 32,40 

Stockley,  J.  G 345 

Stockley,  Geo.  W 345 

Stone,  Amasa 116 

Stone,  Mrs.  Amasa 265 

Stone,  Rev.  Rudolph 52 

Storke,  Miss  Helen 179 

Stow,  Miss  Emily 237 

.Strong,  Miss  Addie 309 

Strong,  Mrs.  C.  H 172,  173 

Strong,  J.  H 42 

Stubbs,  Mr.  Wm 121 

Sutherland,  Maria 78 

.Sweet,  Mrs.   Capt 86 

Tagg,   Mrs.  J.  H 173 

Tagg,  Miss  Clara  G 289 

Taggart,  Rev.  R 65 

Tatum,  Mrs.  H.  B 154,  168 

Taylor,   Mrs.  B.  F 287 

Taylor,  Chas 35,  43 

Taylor,  Mrs.  Chas 45,47 

Taylor,  Elisha 51 


INDEX    OF    NAMES. 


361 


PAGE. 

Tavlor,  Mrs.  Elisha....5i,  78,  103,  112 

Tavlor,  Mrs.  N.  W 122 

Tavlor,  Mrs.  Wm 178,  187,  208 

Tavlor,  Mr.  J.  L 187 

Taylor,  "Father" 198 

Temple,  Miss 308 

Terrell,  Mrs.  Alice 203 

Terry,  Dr.  C.  A 132 

Terry,  Mrs.  C.  A 128 

Terrv,  Miss  Ellen... .128,  132,  134,  136 

Thatcher,  Mrs.  Peter 128 

Thayer,  Sarah  M 227 

Thome,  Rev.  J.  A 162 

Thome,  Mrs.  J.  A 162 

Thomas,  Mrs.  A.  R 186 

Thompson,  Mrs.  Eliza  J  165 

Thompson,  Mrs 217 

Thompson,  Adele 287 

Thomson,  Mrs.  Annie  H 213 

Thwing,  President  C.  F 252 

Tilden,   Mrs.  D.  R 333-336,  338 

Tilden,  Rose 335 

Tilden,  Judge 347 

Tilden,  Mrs.  C.  Lossing 347,  348 

Tilden,  Mrs.  Dr 74 

Tilden,  Ella 350 

Tillinghast,  Mrs.  C.  E 203 

Timmius,  Mrs.  A.  R 211 

Tolbut,   Mrs.  M.  B 77 

Tomlinson,  Andrew 32,  59 

Townsend,  Mrs 79 

Towslee,  Lillian  G.,  M.  D 325-328 

Tozier,  Miss  Louise 238 

Tracy,  Mrs.  H.  M 300,  302 

Tracv,  J.  J 103 

Tracy,  Mrs.  J.  J 158 

Trask,  Sigournev 322 

Treat,  Anna  E  ..." 288 

Turner,  Miss  Ellen 193 

Tvlee,  Mrs      45 

Tvier,  Daniel 88 

Tyler,  Elizabeth 88 

Tucker,  Mrs.  Anna  P 328 

Tucker,  Rev.  Elisha 66 

Tucker,  Mrs.  Levi 76 

Tuttle,  Mrs 45 

Tuttle,  Mrs.  F.  L 143 

Twain,  Mark 298,  309 

Urann,  Miss  Clara  A 159,  286 

Upton,  Mrs.  Harriet  T 289,  304 

Vail,  Harriet 237 

Valentine,  Miss  S.  C 160,  216 

Van  Tyne,  Miss  Sarah  C 53 

Varney,  Miss  Luella 2S9,  309 

Vaughn,  J.  C 293,  296 

Vaughn,  Miss 136 


PAGE. 

Wade,  Mrs.  E.  H 77,  78 

Wade,  Mr.  J.  H 158,  306 

Wade,  Mrs.  J.  H 162 

Wade,  Mrs.  R.  P m8 

Wadsworth,  Mrs.  F.  S 300 

Waldeck,  Miss  Nina 308 

Walters,  Mrs.  Caroline  D 1S6 

Wallace,  Mrs.  Geo 26 

Wallace,  Judge.. 119 

Waller,  General  and  Mrs 89 

Walworth,  John 22,  23,  29 

Walworth,  Mrs.  John 23,  26 

Walworth,  Mrs.  Ashbel 225 

Walworth,  Miss  Annie 108,  306 

Ward,  H.  and  W.  T  71,  86 

Ward,  Miss  Julia 88 

Ward,  F'annie  B 300 

Ward,  Mrs.  May  Alden 285,  286 

Warner,  Miss  Emma 193 

Warner,  Mrs.  W.  R 253 

Warmington,  Mr.  Wm 73 

Waterton,  Robt 115,   116 

Waterton,  Misses 115 

Watkins,  George 42,  223 

Watterson,  Mrs.  M.  G 237 

Weaver,  Miss  M.  J 11S 

Webb,  Mrs.  Ella  S 288 

Webb,  C 55 

Webb,  Mrs.  Lucy 74 

Webster,  Miss  Alice 289 

Webster,  Mary  S 237 

Weddell,  Horace 198 

Weddell,  Mrs.  H.  P 19 

Weddell,  Mrs.  P.  M ^s 

Weedon,   Mrs.  W.  C 28S 

Werwage,  Mrs.  C.  J 211 

Wetmore,  Mrs.  Minerva 119,  120 

Wheeler,  Mrs.  C.  E..  178,  179,  195 

White,  Mrs.  J.  S 140 

White,  Miss  Kate 237 

White,  Laura  R 2S7 

White,  Mrs.  Moses 19 

Whiting,  Mrs.  J 76 

Whittlesey,  Col.  Chas 313 

Whittlesey,  Miss 309 

Whittlesey,  Mr 292 

Whitney,  Mr.  G.  W 115 

Whitney,  Mrs.  G.  W 173 

Whitney,  Mrs.  O.  C 140 

Whitney,  Miss  Emma 227 

Wick,  Miss  Nellie 115 

Wick,  Rev.  Wm 28 

Wickham,  Mrs.  G.  V.  R. 

142,  143,  264,  287 

Wightman,   Mrs 78 

Wilber,  Mrs.  N.  M 237 

Wilcox,   Miss  Katharine 291 

Williams,  Colonel 89 


362 


INDEX   OF    NAMES. 


PAGE. 

Williams,  Mrs.  B.  M 112 

Williams,  Mrs.  J.  C 120 

Williamson,  S 79,  224 

Williamson,  Mrs.  M.  E. 

79,  82,  112,  113,  142,  161,  171,  172 

Williamson,  Isabella 55 

Williamson,  Mary 55 

Willards,  The 89 

Willey,  Mrs.  Geo 136,  295 

Willson,  Mrs.  E.  A 142 

Wilson,  Mrs.  Ella  Grant 352 

Wilson,  Mrs.  Thos 118 

Wilson,  Mrs.  T.  P 290,  328 

Wilson,  Miss  S.  A 287 

Winslow,  Chas 

Winslow,  Mrs.  Chas 74 

Winslow,  Mrs.  Mary  G 63 

Witt,  Stillman 249 

Witt,  Mrs.  Stillman 

109,  155,  172.  249 
Wolcott,  Rev.  S.,  D.  D 185 


3 


PAGK. 

Wolcott,  Misses 169 

Wood,   Mrs.  J.  S 329 

Woodbridge,  Mrs.  Mary  A 177 

Woolsey,  Jane  Andrews 265 

Woolson,  Clara 135 

Woolson,  Constance  F....262,  270-273 

Worley,   Daniel 61 

Worley,  Mrs.  Daniel.. 18,  19,  59,  61-63 

Worrallo,  Miss 309 

Worthington,  Mrs.  E.  C 201 

Worthington,  Mrs.  E.  W 144 

Worthington,  George 198 

Worthington,  Mrs.  M.  C 

140,  172,  173,  195,  197-199 
Wyman,  Mrs.  C.  E 139,  141 

Yates,  Mrs.  W.  G 210 

Young,  Thos.  0 42,  225 

Younglove,  Mrs.  M.  C 128 

Younglove,  Miss 135 

Y.  M.  C.  A 177,  182,  186,  197