Two sisters and a brother lived with their parents in the country near
what is now the town of Beloit, Wisconsin. They had many pleasures in
their free, healthy life, and they were all fond of writing down in
diaries accounts of their plays, their hopes, and their plans. One day
the older of the two girls wrote:
"I once thought I should like to be Queen Victoria's maid of honor;
then I wanted to go and live in Cuba; next I made up my mind that I
would be an artist; next that I would be a mighty hunter of the
prairies--but now I suppose I am to be a music teacher, simply that
and nothing more."
She never became any of these things, but she did grow into such a
wise and noble woman that the entire world recognized the good she did
and was glad to honor her. The little girl's name was Frances Willard,
and the great office that was hers in later life was the presidency of
the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.
Frances' father and mother moved to Wisconsin from the State of New
York when their children were very small. Then the new home seemed to
be in the wilderness, and the family were indeed pioneers. Frances had
a genius for planning the most exciting games. She was always the
leader of the three, and delighted in organizing her willing playmates
into Indian bands, or into daring sailors of unknown seas. The other
two children called her Frank, and were glad to have her "think up"
wonderful plays.
[Illustration: FRANCES E. WILLARD
Founder of the
World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union]
One day long before Frances was twelve years of age her sister wrote
in her journal, "Frank said we might as well have a ship if we did
live on shore; so we took a hen coop pointed at the top, put a big
plank across it, and stood up, one at each end, with an old rake
handle apiece to steer with. Up and down we went, slow when it was a
calm sea and fast when there was a storm, until the old hen clucked
and the chickens all ran in and we had a lively time. Frank was
captain and I was mate. We made out charts of the sea, rules about how
to navigate when it was good weather and how when it was bad. We put
up a sail made of an old sheet and had great fun, until I fell off and
hurt me."
So you see they must have had many daring adventures. Frances longed
for a horse to ride, but there was none the children could have. This
did not discourage her in the least. She wanted to ride and so she
decided to train their pet calf. The calf's name was Dime, and Frances
said, "Dime is an unusually smart calf, she can be trained so we can
ride her." So she proceeded to do it and the children rode Dime to
their hearts' content.
But all of their play was not out of doors. Mr. and Mrs. Willard had
brought with them from their old home many books, and the children
liked to spend hours reading in their library. The father and mother
taught them and encouraged them to study. Frances liked to write,
and, as she was a neat and orderly girl, she did not want her books
and papers disturbed. In her sister Mary's journal we read how she
managed to have her belongings untouched:
"Today Frank gave me half her dog Frisk that she bought lately, and
for her pay I made a promise which mother witnessed and here it is:
"I, Mary Willard, promise never to touch anything lying or being upon
Frank Willard's writing desk which father gave her. I promise never to
ask either by speaking, writing, or signing, or in any other way, any
person or body to take off or put on anything on said stand and desk
without special permission from said Frank Willard. I promise never to
touch anything which may be in something upon her stand and desk. I
promise never to put anything on it or in anything on it; I promise if
I am writing or doing anything else at her desk to go away the moment
she tells me to. If I break the promise I will let the said F. W. come
into my room and go to my trunk or go into any place where I keep my
things and take anything of mine she likes. All this I promise unless
entirely different arrangements are made. These things I promise upon
my most sacred honor."
As Frances grew older she longed to travel. She had a great desire to
take a large part in the work of the world; but this did not seem
possible for two reasons. First, she had no money, and in the second
place, she lived in such an out of the way settlement that a journey
to the great cities of the world seemed to be nothing but a pleasant
dream that would never come true.
Once in one of these moments of longing, she wrote,
"Am I almost of age,
Am I almost of age,
Said a poor little girl,
And she glanced from her cage.
How long will it be
Before I shall be free,
And not fear friend or foe?
And I some folks could know
I'd not want to be of age,
But remain in my cage."
This was her first poem, and she grew very fond of writing and then
reading aloud her own efforts. The children printed a paper, and
Frances was the editor. While writing articles to appear in it she
would often retire to a seat high up in a favorite tree. On the tree
she hung a sign,
"The Eagle's Nest
Beware."
You may be sure the other children left her undisturbed until her
important writing was finished.
But it was not long before Frances went out into the world of which
she dreamed and wrote, for she was not eighteen years old when she
began teaching. This experience gave her great pleasure. She liked
her pupils and was earnest and enthusiastic. There were two questions
that she kept always before her pupils: "What are you going to be in
the world, and what are you going to do?" Every one who ever had
Frances Willard for his teacher heard these two questions many times,
and numerous young people were influenced by her to lead earnest,
helpful lives.
During one of her summer vacations, she made the acquaintance of a
warm-hearted, generous girl who became one of her closest friends.
This young girl, of about the same age as Frances Willard, had no
mother. Her father, who was exceedingly wealthy, was deeply immersed
in his business, so his daughter was glad to have her new friend with
her often.
One day she thought, "How splendid it would be for us to go abroad."
To think was to act with her, and almost before Frances knew it they
had started for Europe. They remained there three years and during
that time visited many remote places seldom seen by the average person
traveling in foreign lands. Frances Willard wrote many accounts of
their experiences which were published in American magazines.
Upon her return to the United States she lectured about her journey
and became such an excellent public speaker that every one wanted to
hear her on any subject she chose, so she continued to lecture after
she ceased giving her travel talks. It is estimated that she spoke on
an average of once a day for ten years.
Meanwhile, she was made president of a college for young ladies in the
town of Evanston, Illinois. Later she became a member of the faculty
of Northwestern University in the same community. Here she brought
wonderful help to her students, and they said of her that she was so
interesting "she turned common things to gold."
But her life was not to be given entirely to teaching, and after a few
years she was drawn into the temperance work. This was then in its
beginning. Liquor was sold freely in every state, and there were no
laws regulating its sale or distribution.
Miss Willard saw the sorrow and suffering caused by intemperance and
she determined to war against this great evil. Her first work was done
with what was called the Woman's Crusade. Bands of women met and
prayed in front of saloons. Often they asked to hold brief services in
the saloons and then they urged men to give up drinking. Going to
these places and praying in public was distasteful to her, but Miss
Willard felt she must do so.
Soon, because of her zeal, the Chicago branch of the Woman's Christian
Temperance Union gave her an office. From that time she rose rapidly
from office to office in the great organization until she was made
World President of the International W. C. T. U. in 1879. She brought
the necessity for temperance before the people of the United States as
they had never seen it before, and always she said to them with
tongue and pen, "Temperance is necessary for God and Home and Native
Land."
She went over the entire country speaking to thousands of persons and
turning their thoughts toward the great cause. Little by little she
gained ground, made progress, and could say of the spread of interest:
"It was like the fire we used to kindle on the western prairie, a
match and a wisp of dry grass was all that was needed, and behold the
magnificent spectacle of a prairie on fire, sweeping across the
landscape swift as a thousand untrained steeds and no more to be
captured than a hurricane."
Today the results of Frances Willard's work are seen in the great and
growing interest in prohibition. What was to her a dream is coming to
pass; what she hoped for will, in all probability, soon be a reality,
and her great achievement lies in having made the question, "Shall we
permit our homes and our country to be ruined by intemperance?" one of
national importance, a question that every citizen of the United
States must answer.
In Statuary Hall of our Nation's Capitol, where stand the statues of
those persons whose deeds have earned them the right to fame and
honor, there is only one statue of a woman. That woman is Frances E.
Willard.