recommending an amendment so radical and sweeping in the
changes which it will create if finally adopted by the
people, are briefly these: The question of granting the
right of suffrage to women equally with men, is one that has
been seriously and widely agitated for years, and while,
like other political reforms which change in any
considerable degree the old and established order of things,
it has met with strong opposition, on the other hand it has
been ably advocated by men and women distinguished alike for
their intellectual ability and their excellent judgment.
Although we believe that there should be certain necessary
and proper restrictions to the exercise of the elective
franchise, we are of the opinion that there are reasonable
grounds to doubt whether the distinction of sex in the
matter of voting, is not, in a large measure, a fictitious
one. The interests of women in all matters pertaining to
good government are certainly identical with those of men.
In the matter of property their rights conceded by law are
equal, and in some respects superior to those of men; and if
the principle of no taxation without representation is a
just one as applied among men, it would seem that it might
in justice be extended to women. As the reasons given above
are strongly urged by the advocates of woman suffrage, and
as several petitions, numerously signed by citizens of the
State, asking for some action on the part of the House in
this matter, are in the hands of the committee, we have
deemed it advisable, although not equally agreed as to the
main question involved, to recommend the passage of the
resolution by the House, in order that the people of the
State may have an opportunity of expressing their will at
the ballot-box as to the expediency of extending the right
of suffrage to women.
SAMUEL H. BLACKMAN, _Chairman of Committee on State Affairs._
JAMES BURNES, _Chairman of Committee on Elections._
Report accepted, and joint resolution placed on the general
order.
On March 18 the following joint resolution passed the House
by a vote of 67 to 27, and passed the Senate by a vote of 26
to 4,[310] proposing an amendment to section I of article
VII. of the constitution, in relation to the qualification
of electors:
_Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the
State of Michigan_, That at the election when the amended
constitution shall be submitted to the electors of this
State for adoption or rejection, there shall be submitted to
such electors the following propositions, to be substituted
in case of adoption, for so much of section I, of article
VII., as precedes the proviso therein, in the present
constitution of this State as it now stands, and substituted
for section I, article VII., in said amended constitution,
if the latter is adopted, to wit:
SECTION 1. In all elections, every person of the age of
twenty-one years who shall have resided in this State three
months, and in the township or ward in which he or she
offers to vote ten days next preceding an election,
belonging to either of the following classes, shall be an
elector and entitled to vote:
_First_--Every citizen of the United States; _Second_--Every
inhabitant of this State, who shall have resided in the
United States two years and six months, and declared his or
her intention to become a citizen of the United States
pursuant to the laws thereof, six months preceding an
election; _Third_--Every inhabitant residing in this State
on the twenty-fourth day of June, one thousand eight hundred
and seventy-five.
Said proposition shall be separately submitted to the
electors of this State for their adoption or rejection, in
form following, to wit: A separate ballot may be given by
every person having the right to vote, to be deposited in a
separate box. Upon the ballot given for said proposition
shall be written, or printed, or partly written and partly
printed, the words, "Woman Suffrage,--Yes"; and upon ballots
given against the adoption thereof, in like manner, the
words, "Woman Suffrage,--No." If at said election a majority
of the votes given upon said proposition shall contain the
words, "Woman Suffrage,--Yes," then said proposition shall
be substituted for so much of section I, of article VII., as
includes the proviso therein in the present constitution of
the State as it now stands, or substituted for section I, of
article VII., in said amended constitution, if the latter is
adopted.
This bill was promptly signed by Governor Bagley, and from that
hour the attention of the advocates of suffrage for women was
centered on Michigan.
The submission of this amendment to a vote of the people, gave an
unusual interest and importance to the annual meeting held at
Lansing, May 6, 1874,[311] at which plans were to be made, and
money raised for a vigorous campaign throughout the State. The
large number of women ready to do the speaking, and the equally
large number of men ready to make generous contributions, were
most encouraging in starting. Women who could not aid the cause
in any other way cast their gold watches into the treasury. From
the large number of letters received at this convention we may
judge how thoroughly aroused the friends were all over the
country. Lydia Maria Child wrote:
It is urged, that if women participated in public affairs,
puddings would be spoiled, and stockings neglected.
Doubtless some such cases might occur; for we have the same
human nature as men, and men are sometimes so taken up with
elections as to neglect their business for a while. But I
apprehend that puddings and stockings, to say nothing of
nurseries, suffer much greater detriment from the present
expenditure of time and thought upon the heartless
ostentation of parties, and the flounces and fripperies of
fashion, than can possibly accrue from the intellectual
cultivation of women, or their participation in public
affairs. Voting is a mere incident in the lives of men. It
does not prevent the blacksmith from shoeing horses, or the
farmer from planting fields, or the lawyer from attending
courts; so I see no reason why it need to prevent women from
attending to their domestic duties. On certain subjects,
such as intemperance, licentiousness and war, women would be
almost universally sure to exert their influence in the
right directions, for the simple reason that they peculiarly
suffer from the continuance of these evils. In the discharge
of this new function, they would doubtless make some
mistakes, and yield to some temptations, just as men do. But
the consciousness of being an acknowledged portion of the
government of the country would excite a deeper interest in
its welfare, and produce a serious sense of responsibility,
which would gradually invigorate and ennoble their
characters.
THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON wrote: I believe that we fail to
establish a truly republican government, or to test the
principle of universal suffrage, so long as we enfranchise
one sex only.
A. BRONSON ALCOTT wrote: * * * Where women lead--the best
women--is it unsafe for men to follow? Woman's influence
cannot be confined to her household; woman is, and will be,
womanly wherever placed. No condition can unsex the sexes.
The ten commandments will not suffer in her keeping. Her
vote will tell for the virtues, against the vices all. Plato
said: "Either sex alone is but half itself." Socially, we
admit his assertion, and are just beginning to suspect that
our republican institutions need to be complemented and
rounded with woman's counsels, and administrations also.
Good republicans are asking if our legislation is not
unsettled, demoralized by the debauchery of hasty politics,
by private vices, and the want of manly integrity, woman's
honor. Let our courtesy to women be sincere--paid to her
modesty as to her person; her intelligence as to her
housekeeping; her refining influence in political as in
social circles. Where a husband would blush to take his wife
and daughters, let him blush to be seen by his sons. "Revere
no god," says Euripides, "whom men adore by night." And
Sophocles: "Seek not thy fellow-citizens to guide till thou
canst order well thine own fireside." Mrs. Alcott and Louisa
join in hearty hopes for your success.
EDNA D. CHENEY wrote: * * * How I long for the time when
this question being settled, we can all go forward, working
together, to discuss and settle the really great questions
of political and social economy, of labor, of education, and
the full development of human life in State and society.
JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER wrote: * * * I hope and trust the
electors will be wise and generous enough to decide it in
your favor. Were I a citizen of the State I should esteem it
alike a duty and a privilege to vote in the affirmative.
ASA MAHAN, president of Oberlin College, wrote: The cause
which has called you together is a very plain one. It is
simply this, whether "taxation without representation" is
tyranny to all but one-half of the human race, and the
principle that rulers derive their authority to make and
administer law from the consent of the governed, holds true
of the white man and the black man, of man native or foreign
born, and even of the "heathen Chinee," if he belong to the
male sex, and is a lie in its application to woman.[312]
Dr. Stone, of Kalamazoo, read an able report of what had been
done, and all it was necessary to do if the friends desired to
carry the pending amendment. The following extract will give some
idea of the momentous undertaking in canvassing a State:
When the governor decided to call an extra session of the
legislature, so as to submit the new constitution to a
popular vote next November, the committee had but little
time for the circulation of petitions; but enough was done
to secure the vote in favor of submission. This was the more
easily accomplished because we have in the present
legislature so many warm and active friends, who gave that
body no rest until their point was carried. And here we find
ourselves suddenly brought into a campaign almost as novel
as momentous, with scarce a precedent to guide us. We ask
the electors of Michigan to share their civil and political
power with those who have always been denied all electoral
rights--to vest the popular sovereignty not merely in
themselves, in a quarter of a million of men, as hitherto,
but in half a million of men and women, and so make our
State what it is not now, a truly republican commonwealth.
We have a great work before us, and no time should be lost
in organizing a general canvass of the entire State.
Competent lecturers should be employed wherever hearers can
be found, and money raised to defray the expenses. Printed
documents too, must be circulated; arguments and conclusions
framed by those who have thought on these subjects for men,
and sometimes for women, who are too indolent to think for
themselves. And there are many other things which we must do
before the November election; ballots must be furnished for
every township and polling place, especially affirmative
ballots, and placed in the hands of all the voters. The
Executive Committee cannot be ubiquitous enough to
discharge all these multifarious duties. We therefore
suggest that there be appointed during this meeting,
_First_, a Committee on Finance. _Second_, a Committee on
Printed Documents. _Third_, a Committee on Lecturers.
_Fourth_, a County Committee of perhaps three persons in
each county, who shall have power also to appoint a
sub-committee in each township. Whether so many distinct
committees will be needed, or more than one class of duties
can be entrusted to the same committee, the association can
determine. We do not want too much, nor too complicated
machinery, but just enough to accomplish the work. We must
fall into line; woman expects every man to do his duty;
surely she will not fail to be true to herself.
Representatives from the different counties gave their names[313]
as ready to begin the work arranged by the several committees.
With this large and enthusiastic convention the campaign may be
said fairly to have opened at Lansing early in May, a political
organization being formed of Republicans and Democrats alike,
representing nearly every district in the State. Governor Bagley
having promptly signed the bill, and his wife being an earnest
advocate of the measure, the social influence of the family was
all in the right direction. The influence of the church, too, was
in a measure favorable. The Methodist denomination, in its
general conference, passed a resolution indorsing woman suffrage.
Mrs. Stanton, in a letter to the _Golden Age_, said:
During the time I spent in Michigan, speaking every night
and twice on Sunday to crowded houses, I had abundant
opportunities of feeling the pulse of the people, both in
public and private, and it seemed to me that the tide of
popular thought and feeling was running in the right
direction. The people are beginning to regard the idea of
woman's equality with man as not only a political, but a
religious truth, Methodist, Congregational, Presbyterian,
Baptist and Unitarian churches being all alike thrown open
to its consideration. Sitting Sunday after Sunday in the
different pulpits with reverend gentlemen, my discourses
given in the place of the sermon, in the regular services, I
could not help thinking of the distance we had come since
that period in civilization when Paul's word was law, "Let
your women keep silence in the churches." Able men and women
are speaking in every part of the State, and if our triumph
should not be complete at the next election, at all events a
great educational work will have been accomplished in the
distribution of tracts, in the public debates, and in
reviewing the fundamental principles of our government and
religion. Being frequently told that women did not wish to
vote, I adopted the plan of calling for a rising vote at the
close of my lectures, and on all occasions a majority of the
women would promptly rise. Knowing that the men had the
responsibility of voting before their eyes, and might be
diffident about rising, I reversed the manner of expression
in their case, requesting all those in favor of woman
suffrage to keep their seats, and those opposed to rise up,
thus throwing the onerous duty of changing their attitudes
on the opposition. So few arose under such circumstances
that it was somewhat embarrassing for those who did.
Those who were engaged in the canvass[314] had enthusiastic
meetings everywhere. They not only filled all their regular
appointments, but spoke in the prisons, asylums; even the deaf
and dumb were refreshed with the gospel of woman suffrage. The
press, too, was generally favorable, though the opposition
magnified the occasional adverse criticisms out of all proportion
to their severity and number. Towards the last of September Miss
Anthony, by invitation of Mrs. Briggs and Mrs. Bliss of Grand
Rapids, came into the State and remained until election day. She
often brought down the house with her witty comments on the
criticisms of the press.[315]
Everything that could be done was done by the friends of the
amendment throughout the State; meetings held and tracts on every
phase of the question scattered in all the most obscure
settlements; inspiring songs sung, earnest prayers offered, the
press vigilant in its appeals, and on election day women
everywhere at the polls, persuading voters to cast their ballots
for temperance, moral purity and good order, to be secured only
by giving the right of suffrage to their mothers, wives and
daughters. But the sun went down, the polls were closed, and in
the early dawn of the next morning the women of Michigan learned
that their status as citizens of the United States had not been
advanced one iota by the liberal action of their governor, their
legislature, the appeals of the women nor the votes of 40,000 of
the best men of the State.
When the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the national
constitution were passed, many advocates of suffrage believed
that the right was conferred on women. In a letter to a State
convention held at that time, Wendell Phillips said:
The new phase of the woman movement--that claiming the right
to vote under the fourteenth amendment--is attracting great
attention in Washington. Whether it ever obtains judicial
sanction or not, it certainly gives a new and most effective
means of agitation. The argument of the minority report,
understood to be written by General Butler, is most able. *
* * The statement of the argument, and the array of cases
and authorities, are very striking. Nothing more cogent can
be imagined or desired. When two years ago a Western
advocate of woman's rights started this theory, we never
expected to see it assume such importance.
In accordance with this opinion, certain women resolved to apply
for registration, and offer their votes. On March 25, 1871,
Catherine A. F. Stebbins and Mrs. Nannette B. Gardner of Detroit
made the attempt to have their names regularly enrolled as
legally qualified voters. Mrs. Stebbins, accompanied by her
husband, made application in the fifth ward to have her name
registered, but was refused. She then proposed to her friend,
Mrs. Gardner, to make the trial in her ward, to which she
assented. Accordingly, they went to the first district of the
ninth ward, where Peter Hill was the enrolling officer. Mrs.
Gardner gave her name, saying she was a "person" within the
meaning of the fourteenth amendment, and that she was a widow,
and a tax-payer without representation. Mr. Hill, seeing the
justice of her demand, entered her name upon the register.
This action took some of the board of registration by surprise,
and a motion was made to erase her name, but was decided in the
negative.[316] The board was now asked for a decision in regard
to Mrs. Stebbins' name, as the question very naturally suggested
itself to the inspectors, if one woman can vote why not another.
Mrs. Stebbins was notified that her case would have a hearing.
When asked to submit her reasons for demanding the right to vote,
Mrs. S. stated that she asked it simply as the right of a human
being under the constitution of the United States. She had paid
taxes on personal and real estate, and had conformed to the laws
of the land in every respect. Since the fourteenth amendment had
enfranchised woman as well as the black man, she had the
necessary qualifications of an elector.
A long debate followed. Inspectors Bagg, Hill and Folsom argued
in favor of the petitioner; Allison, Brooks, Henderson and Hughes
against. The opposition confessed that the negro had voted before
the word "white" had been expunged from the State constitution;
but that was done from a "political necessity." The question of
acceptance being put to vote, was negatived--13 to 10. This was
counted a victory, and stimulated the opposition to make another
effort to strike Mrs. Gardner's name from the register; but
failing in that, the board adjourned. There was now much
curiosity to know if Alderman Hill would have the nerve to stand
by his initiative; but with him the Rubicon was passed, and on
April 3, Messrs. Hill and Durfee accepted Mrs. Gardner's vote,
Mr. Bond protesting. The Detroit _Post_ gave the following
account:
Mrs. Gardner arrived at the polls of the first precinct of
the ninth ward at about half-past ten o'clock in a carriage,
accompanied by her son, a lad of ten years, Mrs. Starring
and Mrs. Giles B. Stebbins. Barely a dozen by-standers were
present, and the larger part of these were laboring men. No
demonstration followed the appearance of the ladies, the men
remaining quiet, and contenting themselves with comments
_sotto voce_ on this last political development, and with
speculations as to how the newly enfranchised would vote.
Mrs. Gardner presented herself at the polls with a vase of
flowers and also a prepared ballot, which she had decorated
with various appropriate devices. The inspectors asked the
questions usually put to all applicants, and her name being
found duly registered, her ballot was received and deposited
in the box. There was no argument, no challenge, no
variation from the routine traversed by each masculine
exerciser of the elective franchise. Mrs. Gardner voted, as
we understand; for the Republican candidates generally, with
one Democrat and one lady.
At Battle Creek, Mrs. Mary Wilson voted at the election of 1871.
When she registered, she was accompanied by her lawyer.
In the fall of 1872, Peter Hill again registered Mrs. Gardner,
and received her vote. Mr. Hill had been exposed to many
animadversions for his persistence, and as an acknowledgment of
her appreciation of his course, Mrs. Gardner presented him a silk
banner suitably inscribed. A city paper gives this account of it:
Mrs. Gardner, who has for years been a recognized voter in
the ninth ward of Detroit, again voted on Tuesday. She came
on foot, with Mrs. Stebbins, in a drenching rain, as no
carriage could be obtained. After voting, she presented a
beautiful banner of white satin, trimmed with gold fringe,
on which was inscribed, "A Woman's Voting Hymn." The reverse
side, of blue silk, contained the dedication: "To Peter
Hill, Alderman of the Ninth Ward, Detroit. First to Register
a Woman's Vote. By recognizing civil liberty and equality
for woman, he has placed the last and brightest jewel on the
brow of Michigan."
The city board now felt called upon to pass a vote of censure
upon Mr. Hill's action. The record runs thus:
Canvasser BAXTER: _Resolved_, That the act of the inspectors
of election of the first district of the ninth ward, in
receiving the vote of Mrs. Nannette B. Gardner at the
election just passed, is emphatically disapproved by this
board, on the ground that said act is a plain violation of
the election laws and constitution of the State of Michigan,
and is liable to lead to the grossest abuses and
complications.
Canvasser FULDA moved to lay the resolution on the
table--lost. Adopted as follows: _Yeas_--Langley, Flower,
House, Lichtenberg, Phelps, Parsons, Christian, Allison,
Buehle, Dullea, Daly, Barbier, Baxter--13. _Nays_--Wooley
and Fulda--2.
CHAS A. BORGMAN, _Secretary_.
PHILO PARSONS, _Chairman_.
Mrs. Stebbins attempted to register at this election with the
same result as before. Upon the fourth of November she provided
herself with a sworn statement that she had been "wrongfully
prevented" the record of her name, and offered her vote at the
polls, calling attention to the "enforcing act," provided for
such cases. It had no terror, however, for the valiant inspectors
of the fifth ward. In the fall of 1873, there was the following
correspondence between the board and the city counselor:
_Hon. D. C. Holbrook, City Counselor_: DEAR SIR:--Mrs. Giles
B. Stebbins has applied to this board and demands the right
to register. This board has declined to grant the request on
the ground that it does not believe her to be a legal
elector. Mrs. Stebbins would have all the required
qualifications of an elector, but for the fact of her being
a woman, and we therefore respectfully request that you
instruct us as to our duty in the premises. Very
respectfully,
S. B. WOOLLEY,
ALBERT BOTSFORD,
_Inspectors of First Ward_.
Woman cannot be enrolled or registered. Let her try it
on.[317]
_Oct. 24, 1873._ D. C. HOLBROOK, _City Counselor_.
In company with Mrs. H. J. Boutelle, Mrs. Stebbins offered her
vote in the fifth ward. Mr. Farwell was in favor of receiving it,
and wished to leave the question to a dozen responsible citizens
whom he called in as referees, but Col. Phelps would not be
influenced by the judgment of outsiders, and would not agree to
the proposal.[318]
Mrs. Gardner's name was retained on the ward voting list, and she
voted every year until she left the city for the education of her
children.
Before the University at Ann Arbor was opened to girls in 1869,
there had been several attempts to establish seminaries for girls
alone.[319] But they were not successful for several reasons. As
the State would not endow these private institutions, it made the
education of daughters very expensive, and fathers with
daughters, seeing their neighbors' sons in the State University
educated at the public expense, from financial considerations
were readily converted to the theory of coeducation. Again the
general drift of thought was in favor of coeducation throughout
the young western States. Then institutions of learning were too
expensive to build separate establishments for girls and boys,
and the number of boys able to attend through a collegiate course
could not fill the colleges ready for their reception. Hence from
all considerations it was a double advantage both to the State
and the girls, to admit them to the universities.
James A. B. Stone and Mrs. Lucinda H. Stone went to Kalamazoo in
1843, immediately after his election to take charge of the
Literary Institute. The name was afterwards changed to Kalamazoo
College. It is the oldest collegiate institute in the State,
having been chartered in 1833, and was designed from the outset
for both sexes. In the beginning it did not confer degrees, but
was the first, after Oberlin, to give diplomas to women.
Kalamazoo was an object of derision with some of the professors
of the University, because it was, they averred, of doubtful
gender. But a liberal-minded public grew more and more in favor
of epicene colleges. Literary seminaries had been established for
coeducation at Albion, Olivet, Adrian and Hillsdale, but some of
their charters were not exactly of a collegiate grade, and it was
doubtful whether under the new constitution, new college charters
would be granted, so that Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor had the field.
In January, 1845, a bill was introduced in the legislature to
organize literary institutions under a general law, no collegiate
degrees being allowed, unless on the completion of a curriculum
equal to that of the State University. The championship of this
bill fell to Dr. Stone, for while it would have no special effect
on Kalamazoo, it concerned the cause of coeducation in the State,
and the friends of the University made it a kind of test of what
the State policy should be in reference to the higher learning
for women. Dr. Tappan, then the able president of the University,
appeared at Lansing, supported by Rev. Dr. Duffield and a force
of able lawyers, to oppose it, and the far-seeing friends of
education in the legislature and in the lobby, rallied with Dr.
Stone for its support. For several weeks the contest was carried
on with earnestness, almost with bitterness, before the
legislative committees, before public meetings called in the
capitol for discussion, and on the floor of both houses. Dr.
Tappan made frantic appeals to Michigan statesmen not to disgrace
the State by such a law, which he prophesied would result in
"preparatory schools for matrimony," and, shocking to
contemplate, young men would marry their classmates. Among the
friends of the measure present, were President Fairfield,
Professor Hosford, and Hon. Mr. Edsell, of Otsego, all graduates
of Oberlin, who had married their classmates, and "been glad ever
since." They replied, "What of it? Are not those who have met
daily in the recitation-room for four years, as well prepared to
judge of each other's fitness for life-companionship, as if they
had only met a few times at a ball, a dress party, or in private
interview?" The legislature was an intelligent one, and the bill
passed amid great excitement, crowds of interested spectators
listening to the final discussions in the lower House. Governor
Bingham was friendly to the bill from the first. After its
passage, he sent a handsome copy signed by himself and other
officers, to Dr. and Mrs. Stone, at Kalamazoo, to be preserved as
a record of the Thermopylae fight for coeducation in Michigan.
Rev. E. O. Havens succeeded Dr. Tappan in the presidency, and was
supposed to be less strong in his prejudices, but when efforts
were made to open the doors to both sexes, he reported it
difficult and inexpedient, if not impossible. But he counted
without the broad-minded people of Michigan. A growing conviction
that the legislature would stop the appropriations to the
University unless justice was done to the daughters of the State,
finally brought about, at Ann Arbor, a change of policy. Under
the light that broke in upon their minds, the professors found
there was really no law against the admission of women to that
very liberal seat of learning. "To be sure, they never had
admitted women, but none had formally applied." This, though
somewhat disingenuous, was received in good faith, and soon
tested by Miss Madeline Stockwell, who had completed half her
course at Kalamazoo, and was persuaded by Mrs. Stone to make
application at Ann Arbor. Mrs. Stone knew her to be a thorough
scholar, as far as she had gone, especially in Greek, which some
had supposed that women could not master. When she presented
herself for examination some members of the faculty were far from
cordial, but they were just, and she entered in the grade for
which she applied. She sustained herself ably in all her studies,
and when examined for her degree--the first woman graduate from
the literary department--she was commended as the peer of any of
her class-mates, and took an honorable part in the commencement
exercises. Moreover, she fulfilled the doleful prophecy of Dr.
Tappan, as women in other schools had done before her, and
married her class-mate, Mr. Turner, an able lawyer.
The statement by the faculty, or regents, that "no woman had
formally applied," was untrue, as we shall see. The University
was opened to them in 1869; eleven years before, Miss Sarah
Burger, now Mrs. Stearns, made the resolve, the preparation, and
the application to enter the University of Michigan; and young as
she was, her clear-sightedness and courage called forth our
admiration. As a child, in Ann Arbor, from 1845, to 1852, she had
often attended the commencement exercises of the University, and
on those occasions had felt very unhappy, because all the culture
given to mind and heart and soul by this institution was given to
young men alone. It seemed a cruel injustice to young women that
they could not be there with their brothers, enjoying the same.
In connection with her efforts and those of her friends to enter
those enchanted portals, she bears grateful testimony to the
discussions on the question of woman's rights, as follows:
When it was my blessed privilege to attend a women's rights
convention at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1853,--and it was a grand
meeting--where dear Lucretia Mott, Ernestine L. Rose,
Frances D. Gage, Antoinette Brown, Lucy Stone, and others,
dwelt upon the manifold wrongs suffered by women, and called
upon them to awake and use their powers to secure justice to
all, I felt their words to mean that the Michigan University
as well as all others, should be opened to girls, and that
women themselves should first move in the matter.
Thus aroused, though but sixteen years old, she resolved at once
to make application for admission to the State University. Early
in the autumn of 1856, she entered the high school at Ann Arbor,
and studied Greek and Latin two years, preparatory to taking the
classical course. Four young ladies besides herself, recited with
the boys who were preparing for college, and they were all
declared by a university professor who had attended frequent
examinations, to stand head and shoulders in scholarship above
many of the young men. Miss Burger wishing as large a class as
possible to appeal for admission, wrote to a number of classical
schools for young women, asking cooeperation, and secured the
names of eleven[320] who would gladly apply with her. In the
spring of 1858, she sent a note to the regents, saying a class of
twelve young ladies would apply in June, for admission to the
University in September. A reporter said "a certain Miss B. had
sent the regents warning of the momentous event." At the board
meeting in June, the young ladies presented their promised letter
of application, and received as reply, that the board should have
_more time to consider_. In September their reply was, that it
seemed inexpedient for the University to admit ladies at present.
In the meantime, a great deal had been said and done on the
subject; some members of the faculty had spoken in favor, some
against. University students, and citizens of Ann Arbor also
joined in the general discussion. The subject was widely
discussed in the press and on the platform; members of the
faculty and board of regents applied to the presidents of
universities east and west, for their opinions. The people of
Michigan, thus brought to consider the injustice of the exclusion
of their daughters from this State institution, there was offered
for signature during the winter of 1859, the following petition:
_To the Regents of the University of Michigan:_
The undersigned, inhabitants of ----, in the county of ----,
and State of Michigan, respectfully request that young women
may be admitted as students in the University, for the
following among other reasons: _First_--It is incumbent on
the State to give equal educational advantages to both
sexes. _Second_--All can be educated in the State University
with but little more expense than is necessary to educate
young men alone. _Third_--It will save the State from the
expenditure of half a million of dollars, necessary to
furnish young ladies in a separate institution with the
advantages now enjoyed by young men. _Fourth_--It will admit
young ladies at once to the benefits of the highest
educational privileges of the State.
Among the most active in lectures, debates, circulation of
petitions and general advocacy were James B. Gott, Judge Edwin
Lawrence, Giles B. Stebbins and O. P. Stearns, the last at that
time a student, since a lawyer, and the husband of Mrs. Sarah
Burger Stearns of Minnesota.
In the spring of 1859 formal application was again made to the
regents by a class of young ladies, only to receive the same
answer. But the discussion was not dropped; indeed, that was
impossible. Some of the most intelligent on this question believe
that the final admission of women to the University was due to a
resolve on the part of the people of the State to place upon the
board of regents, as the terms of old members expired, men well
known to be favorable. On the election of Professor Estabrook of
the State Normal School there was one more noble man "for us,"
who, with other new members, made a majority in favor of justice.
In the autumn of that year (1869) young women were admitted to
full privileges in Michigan University, and, like political
freedom in Wyoming, it has for years been confessed to have
yielded only beneficent results. As long ago, however, as the
first application was made (1858) women were permitted to attend
certain lectures. They could not join a class or read a book, but
it was the custom for them to go and listen to the beautiful and
highly instructive lectures by Professor Andrew D. White on
history, sculpture, and mediaeval architecture, and they highly
appreciated the privilege.
In March, 1869, President Havens said in the House of
Representatives at Lansing, "he believed the University should be
opened to those who desired to obtain the benefit of the branches
of education which they could not obtain elsewhere." The Rev.
Gilbert Haven wrote to the American Society's meeting held in
Detroit, in 1874: "I have been identified with your cause through
its evil report, and, I was going to add, good report, but that
part has not yet very largely set in. I also had the honor to
preside over the first ecclesiastical body that has, just now,
pronounced in your favor." This church assembly was the Methodist
State Association, which adopted the following in October, 1874,
without a negative vote, though several of the delegates refused
to vote:
WHEREAS, The legislature of Michigan, at its recent session,
has submitted to the electors of the State a proposition to
change the State constitution so as to admit the women of
Michigan to the elective franchise; therefore,
_Resolved_, That this convention recognizes the action of
the legislature as a step toward a higher and purer
administration of the government of our country, and we hope
the provision will be adopted.
But the above was not the strongest utterance of Bishop Gilbert
Haven. Once at an equal rights society convention in the Academy
of Music, Brooklyn, where from floor to ceiling was gathered an
admirable and immense audience, with profound respect I heard
these memorable words:
"I shall never be satisfied until a _black woman_ is seated in
the presidential chair of the United States," than which no more
advanced claim for the complete legal recognition of woman has
been made in our country.
In February, 1879, a spirited debate took place in the
legislature upon an amendment to the Episcopal Church bill, which
struck out the word "male" from the qualification of voters. The
Detroit _Post and Tribune_ says a vigorous effort was made to
defeat the measure, but without success. The justice of allowing
women to take part in church government was recognized, and the
amendment carried.
We have written persistently to leading women all over the State
for facts in regard to their local societies, and such responses
as have been received are embodied in this chapter. We give
interesting reports of a few of the county societies in which
much has been accomplished.
Of the work in Quincy Mrs. Sarah Turner says:
We never organized a woman suffrage society, although our
literary club has done much for the cause in a general way.
We had crowded houses on the occasions of a very able speech
from Elizabeth Cady Stanton and a most spirited one from
Miss Phoebe Couzins. For the past eight years a dozen
tax-paying women of this town have availed themselves of the
privilege granted them years ago, and voted at the school
meetings; and two years ago a woman was elected member of
the school-board.
Lansing reports for January, 1871, Mrs. Livermore's lecture
on "The Reasons Why" [women should be enfranchised]; the
organization of a city society with sixty members at the
close of the annual meeting of the State Association held in
that city in March; a lecture from Mrs. Stanton before the
Young Men's Association; the adoption of a declaration of
rights by the Ingham County Society, March, 1872, signed by
169 of the best people of the county. In 1874, of the many
meetings held those of Mrs. Stanton and Miss Couzins are
specially mentioned.
The St. Johns society, formed in 1872 with six members,
reported sixty at the State annual meeting of 1874, and also
$171.71, raised by fees and sociables, mainly expended in
the circulation of tracts and documents throughout the
county.
From Manistee Mrs. Fannie Holden Fowler writes:
In the campaign of 1874 Hon. S. W. Fowler, one of the
committee for Northern Michigan appointed by the State
Society, canvassed Manistee county and advocated the cause
through his paper, the _Times and Standard_. The election
showed the good of educational work, as a large vote was
polled in the towns canvassed by Mr. Fowler, two of them
giving a majority for the amendment. In an editorial, after
the election, Mr. Fowler said: "The combined forces of
ignorance, vice and prejudice have blocked the wheels of
advancing civilization, and Michigan, once the proudest of
the sisterhood of States, has lost the opportunity of
inaugurating a reform; now let the women organize for a
final onset." However, no active suffrage work was done
until December 3, 1879, when Susan B. Anthony was induced to
stop over on her way from Frankfort to Ludington and give
her lecture, "Woman Wants Bread; Not the Ballot." She was
our guest, and urged the formation of a society, and through
her influence a "Woman's Department" was added to the _Times
and Standard_, which is still a feature of the paper. In the
following spring (April, 1880), Elizabeth Cady Stanton gave
her lecture, "Our Girls," with two "conversations," before
the temperance women and others, which revived the courage
of the few who had been considering the question of
organization. A call was issued, to which twenty-three
responded, and the society was formed June 8, 1880,[321]
adopting the constitution of the National and electing
delegates to attend a convention to be held under the
auspices of that association the following week at Grand
Rapids. The society at once made a thorough canvass of the
city, which resulted in the attendance of seventy tax-paying
women at the school election in September, when the first
woman's vote was cast in Manistee county. Each succeeding
year has witnessed more women at the school election, until,
in 1883, they outnumbered the men, and would have elected
their ticket but for a fraud perpetrated by the old
school-board, which made the election void.
In August 1881, Mrs. May Wright Sewall delivered two
lectures in Manistee. In February 1882, a social,
celebrating Miss Anthony's birthday, was given by the
association at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Fowler, and was
voted a success. Through the untiring efforts of Mrs. Lucy
T. Stansell, who was also a member of the Ladies' Lever
League, Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert gave a Manistee
audience a rich treat in her "Homes of Representative
Women," and her conversation on suffrage elicited much
interest.
During the autumn of 1882, petitions asking for municipal
suffrage were circulated. The venerable Josiah R. Holden of
Grand Rapids, father of Mrs. Fowler, then in his 88th year,
obtained the largest number of signatures to his petition of
any one in the State. A bill granting municipal suffrage to
women was drawn by Mrs. Fowler, introduced in the
legislature by Hon. George J. Robinson, and afterwards
tabled. At the session of 1885 a similar bill came within a
few votes of being carried.
In Grand Rapids there was no revival of systematic work
until 1880, when the National Association held a very
successful two days' convention in the city. In response to
a petition from the society, the legislature in the winter
of 1885 passed a law, giving to the tax-paying women of the
city the right to vote on school questions at the charter
elections. At the first meeting a hundred women were
present, and hundreds availed themselves of their new power
and voted at the first election.
The State Society held its annual meeting at Grand Rapids,
October 7, 8, 9, 1885, at which the address of welcome was given
by Mrs. Loraine Immen, president of the City Society,[322] and
responded to by Mrs. Stebbins of Detroit.[323]
The only religious sect in the world, unless we except the
Quakers, that has recognized the equality of woman, is the
Spiritualists. They have always assumed that woman may be a
medium of communication from heaven to earth, that the spirits of
the universe may breathe through her lips messages of loving
kindness and mercy to the children of earth. The Spiritualists in
our country are not an organized body, but they are more or less
numerous in every State and Territory from ocean to ocean. Their
opinions on woman suffrage and equal rights in all respects must
be learned from the utterances of their leading speakers and
writers of books, from their weekly journals, from resolutions
passed at large meetings, and from their usage and methods. A
reliable person widely familiar with Spiritualism since its
beginning in 1848, says that he has known but very few
Spiritualists who were not in favor of woman suffrage; that all
their representative men and women, and all their journals
advocate it, and have always done so; that expressions in its
favor in public meetings meet with hearty approval, and that men
and women have spoken on their platforms, and held official
places as co-workers in their societies through all of these
thirty-seven years. All this has taken place with very little
argument or discussion, but from an intuitive sense of the
justice and consequent benefits of such a course. A single
testimony, of many that might be given from their writings, must
suffice. In the _Religio-Philosophical Journal_, Chicago, Ill.,
November 22, 1884, its editor, J. C. Bundy, says: "Although not
especially published in the interest of woman, this journal is a
stalwart advocate of woman's rights, and has for years given
weekly space to 'Woman and the Household,' a department under the
care of Mrs. Hester M. Poole, who has done much to encourage
women to renewed and persistent effort for their own
advancement."
It has been the custom of some of our journals to ask for letters
of greeting from distinguished people for New Year's day. We find
the following in the _Inter-Ocean_: "Sojourner Truth, the Miriam
of the later Exodus, sends us this remarkable letter. She is the
most wonderful woman the colored race has ever produced, and thus
conveys her New Year's greeting to our readers:
"DEAR FRIENDS: More than a hundred New Years have I seen
before this one, and I send a New Year's greeting to one and
all. We talk of a beginning, but there is no beginning but
the beginning of a wrong. All else is from God, and is from
everlasting to everlasting. All that has a beginning will
have an ending. God is without end, and all that is good is
without end. We shall never see God, only as we see him in
one another. He is a great ocean of love, and we live and
move in Him as the fishes in the sea, filled with His love
and spirit, and His throne is in the hearts of His people.
Jesus, the Son of God, will be as we are, if we are pure,
and we will be like him. There will be no distinction. He
will be like the sun and shine upon us, and we will be like
the sun and shine upon him; all filled with glory. We are
the children of one Father, and he is God; and Jesus will be
one among us. God is no respecter of persons, and we will be
as one. If it were not so, there would be jealousy. These
ideas have come to me since I was a hundred years old, and
if you, my friends, live to be a hundred years old, too, you
may have greater ideas than these. This has become a new
world. These thoughts I speak of because they come to me,
and for you to consider and look at. We should grow in
wisdom as we grow older, and new ideas will come to us about
God and ourselves, and we will get more and more the wisdom
of God. I am glad to be remembered by you, and to be able to
send my thoughts; hoping they may multiply and bear fruit.
If I should live to see another New Year's Day I hope to be
able to send more new thoughts.
SOJOURNER TRUTH.
"_Grand Rapids, Mich._, Dec. 26, 1880."
This was accompanied by a note from her most faithful friend,
Mrs. Frances W. Titus, relating matters of interest as to her
present circumstances. She also said: "We have recently another
proof that she is over one hundred years old. Mention of the
'dark day' May 19, 1780, was made in her presence, when she said,
'I remember the dark day'; and gave a description of that
wonderful phenomenon. As the narrative of Sojourner's life has
long been before the public, we prefer to anything this latest
thought of hers, standing then on the verge of the life of the
spirit."
Sojourner was long a resident and laborer in reform in Michigan,
from which State she went out to the District of Columbia to
befriend her people, as well as to other distant fields. She went
to help feed and clothe the refugees in Kansas in 1879-80, and in
reaching one locality she rode nearly a hundred miles in a lumber
wagon. She closed her eventful life in Battle Creek, where she
passed her last days, having reached the great age of one hundred
and ten years.
Mrs. Laura C. Haviland is another noble woman worthy of
mention. She has given a busy life to mitigating the
miseries of the unfortunate. She helped many a fugitive to
elude the kidnappers; she nursed the suffering soldiers, fed
the starving freedmen, following them into Kansas,[324] and
traveled thousands of miles with orphan children to find
them places in western homes. She and her husband at an
early day opened a manual-labor school, beginning by taking
nine children from the county-house, to educate them with
their own on a farm near Adrian. Out of her repeated
experiments, and petitions to the legislature for State aid,
grew at last the State school for homeless children at
Coldwater, where for years she gave her services to train
girls in various industries.
Mrs. Sybil Lawrence, a woman of strong character, and
charming social qualities, exerted a powerful influence for
many years in Ann Arbor. Being in sympathy with the suffrage
movement, and in favor of coeducation, she did all in her
power to make the experiment a success, by her aid and
counsels to the girls who first entered the University. Her
mother, sister, and nieces made a charming household of
earnest women ready for every good work. Their services in
the war were indispensable, and their sympathies during the
trying period of reconstruction were all on the side of
liberty and justice.
There are many other noble women in Michigan worthy of mention
did space permit, such as Miss Emily Ward, a woman of remarkable
force of character and great benevolence; Mrs. Lucy L. Stout, who
has written many beautiful sentiments in prose and verse: Eliza
Legget and Florence Mayhew, identified with all reform movements;
Mrs. Tenney, the State librarian; and Mrs. Euphemia Cochrane, a
Scotch woman by birth, who loved justice and liberty, a staunch
friend alike of the slave and the unfortunate of her own sex.
Under her roof the advocates of abolition and woman suffrage
always found a haven of rest. Henry C. Wright, Wendell Phillips,
William Lloyd Garrison, Sojourner Truth, Theodore Tilton,
Frederick Douglass, Abbey Kelley and Stephen Foster could all
bear testimony to her generous and graceful hospitality. She was
president of the Detroit Woman Suffrage Association at the time
she passed from earth to a higher life.
FOOTNOTES:
[305] Having made many lyceum trips through Michigan, I have had
several opportunities of meeting Mrs. Stone in her own quiet home,
and I can readily understand the wide influence she exerted on the
women of that State, and what a benediction her presence must have
been in all the reform associations in which she took an active
part. I always felt that Michigan would be a grand State in which
to make the experiment of woman suffrage, especially as in
Mrs. Stone we had an enthusiastic coaedjutor. In paying this
well-deserved tribute to Mrs. Stone, I must not forget to mention
that Mrs. Janney of Flint, a woman of great executive ability,
started the first woman's reading-room and library many years
ago.--[E. C. S.
[306] A sketch of this brilliant Polish woman, who has taken such
an active part in the woman suffrage movement, both in this country
and England, will be found in Volume I., page 95.
[307] The speakers at the Battle Creek convention were Miriam M.
Cole, editor of _The Woman's Advocate_, Dayton, Ohio; Mary A.
Livermore, editor _Woman's Journal_, Boston; Hannah Tracy Cutler,
Illinois; Rev. J. M. McCarthy, Saginaw; Mrs. J. C. Dexter, Ionia;
Mrs. D. C. Blakeman, Lucinda H. Stone, Kalamazoo; Adelle Hazlett,
Hillsdale; Rev. J. S. Loveland, D. M. Fox, Battle Creek; Mary T.
Lathrop, Jackson. Letters of sympathy were received from B. F.
Cocker and Moses Coit Tyler, professors of the Michigan State
University. The officers of the State association were:
_President_, Professor Moses Coit Tyler, Ann Arbor;
_Vice-President_, Lucinda H. Stone; _Recording Secretary_, Mary T.
Lathrop; _Corresponding Secretary_, Euphemia Cochran, Detroit;
_Treasurer_, Colin Campbell, Detroit; _Executive Committee_, Dr. S.
B. Thayer, Frances W. Titus, Battle Creek; Eliza Burt Gamble, East
Saginaw; Catharine A. F. Stebbins, Detroit; Hon. J. G. Wait,
Sturgis; Mrs. D. C. Blakeman, Kalamazoo; Mrs. L. H. T. Dexter,
Ionia.
[308] The speakers at the Northwestern convention were Mrs.
Hazlett, the president; Hon. C. B. Waite, Professor D. C. Brooks,
Chicago; Susan B. Anthony, Celia Burleigh, New York; Lillie
Peckham, Wisconsin; Mrs. Lathrop, Jackson; Giles B. Stebbins, Adam
Elder, J. B. Bloss, Detroit. Letters were reported from Henry Ward
Beecher, Wendell Phillips, Rev. E. O. Haven, Professor B. F.
Cocker, Moses Coit Tyler, Mrs. Livermore, Lucy Stone, H. B.
Blackwell, Mrs. Josephine Griffing, T. W. Higginson, Theodore
Tilton, Phoebe Couzins, Anna E. Dickinson, Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
Miriam M. Cole and Rev. Robert Collyer. The officers elected were:
_President_, Mrs. A. M. Hazlett, Michigan; _Recording Secretary_,
Mrs. Rebecca W. Mott, Chicago; _Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs.
Harriet S. Brooks, Chicago; _Treasurer_, Hon. Fernandol Jones,
Chicago; _Vice-Presidents_, J. B. Bloss, Michigan; Mrs. Myra
Bradwell, Illinois; Mrs. E. R. Collins, Ohio; Mrs. Dr. Ferguson,
Indiana; Miss Phoebe Couzins, Missouri; _Executive Committee_, C.
B. Waite, Chicago; Colin Campbell, Detroit; Mrs. Francis Minor,
Missouri; Madame Anneke, Wisconsin; Mrs. Charles Leonard and Mrs.
E. J. Loomis, Chicago.
[309] _President_, Mrs. A. H. Walker; _Corresponding Secretary_,
Lucinda H. Stone; _Recording Secretary_, Mrs. S. E. Emory;
_Treasurer_, Mrs. E. Metcalf; _Executive Committee_, Dr. J. A.B.
Stone, Mrs. Frances Titus, Mrs. O. A. Jennison, Mrs. C. A. F.
Stebbins, Mrs. D. C. Blakeman, Mrs. L. B. Curtiss, Dr. J. H.
Bartholomew.
[310] The following named representatives voted _yea_: Messrs,
Armstrong, Bailey, Bartholomew, Blackman, Briggs, Brown, Brunson,
Buell, Burns, Cady, Carter, Chamberlain, Collins, Dintruff, Drake,
Drew, Edwards, Fancher, Ferguson, Garfield, Gravelink, Gilmore,
Goodrich, Gordon, Green, Haire, Harden, Hewitt, Hosner, Howard,
Hoyt, Kellogg, Knapp, Lamb, Luce, E. R. Miller, R. C. Miller,
Mitchell, Morse, O'Dell, Parker, Parsons, Pierce, Priest, Remer,
Rich, Robinson, Sanderson, Scott, Sessions, Shaw, Smith, Taylor,
Thomas, Thompson, VanAken, VanScoy, A. Walker, F. Walker, Walton,
Warren, Welch, Welker, Wheeler, Withington, Wixon, Speaker--67. The
following named Senators voted _yea_: Messrs. Anderson, Beattie,
Brewer, Butterfield, Childs, Clubb, Cook, Crosby, Curry, DeLand,
Ely, Goodell, Gray, Hewitt, Isham, Lewis, Mickley, Mitchell,
McGowan, Neasmith, Prutzman, Richardson, Sparks, Sumner, Sutton,
Wells--26.
[311] Officers of the Michigan State Woman Suffrage Association:
_President_, Hon. Jonas H. McGowan, Coldwater; _Vice-Presidents_,
Rev. Richmond Fiske Jr., Grand Haven, Mrs. John J. Bagley, Detroit;
_Recording Secretary_, Mrs. N. Geddes, Lenawee; _Secretary and
Treasurer_, George H. Stickney, Grand Haven; _Executive Committee_,
Chairman, Hon. William M. Ferry, Grand Haven; First District--Giles
B. Stebbins, Z. R. Brockway, Wayne; Second District--Hon. Charles
E. Mickley, Lenawee, Mrs. M. A. Hazlett, Hillsdale; Third
District--Hon. W. H. Withington, Jackson, Morgan Bates, Calhoun;
Fourth District--James H. Stone, Kalamazoo, Miss Sarah Clute, St.
Joseph; Fifth District--Hon. B. A. Harlan, Mrs. M. C. Bliss, Kent;
Sixth District--Hon. I. H, Bartholomew, Ingham, Mrs. A. Jenney,
Genesee; Seventh District--Hon. J. C. Lamb, Lapeer, J. P. Hoyt,
Tuscola; Eighth District--Hon. C. V. DeLand, Saginaw, Hon. J. D.
Lewis, Bay; Ninth District--Hon. E. L. Gray, Newaygo, Mrs. J. G.
Ramsdell, Grand Traverse; _Vice-Presidents by Congressional
Districts_, First District--Mrs. Eliza Leggett, Hon. W. N. Hudson,
Wayne; Second District--Hon. W. S. Wilcox, Lenawee, Hon. Talcott E.
Wing, Monroe; Third District--Mrs. Ann E. Graves, Calhoun, Mrs.
Mary Lathrop, Jackson; Fourth District--Hon. Levi Sparks, Berrien,
Rev. H. C. Peck, Kalamazoo; Fifth District--Hon. S. L. Withey, Hon.
James Miller, Kent; Sixth District--Hon. Randolph Strickland,
Clinton, C. F. Kimball, Oakland; Seventh District--Hon. Ira
Butterfield, Lapeer, John M. Potter, Macomb; Eighth District--Hon.
Ralph Ely, Gratiot, Mrs. S. M. Green, Bay; Ninth District--Elvin L.
Sprague, Grand Traverse, S. W. Fowler, Manistee.
[312] Among many others were letters from Amos Dresser, Parker
Pillsbury, Henry B. Blackwell, Rev. S. Reed, of Ann Arbor, William
Lloyd Garrison, Lucy Stone, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Lucretia Mott,
Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Dr. Henry B. Baker, Miriam M. Cole,
Margaret V. Longley, Abby and Julia Smith, of Glastonbury, Conn.,
A. C. Voris, from the Ohio constitutional convention, Hon. J. Logan
Chipman.
[313] The following persons were announced and requested to
communicate at once with the Executive Committee, George H.
Stickney, Secretary, Grand Haven, Mich.: _Allegan_, Mrs. E. S.
Nichols; _Barry_, Mrs. Goodyear; _Bay_, Mrs. S. M. Green, Mrs.
Judge Holmes; _Berrien_, Hon. Levi Sparks, O. E. Mead; _Branch_,
Mrs. Celia Woolley, Mrs. H. J. Boutelle; _Calhoun_, W. F. Neil,
Mrs. Judge Graves, Morgan Bates, Dr. G. P. Jocelyn; _Cass_, Mr.
Rice, William L. Jaques; _Chippewa_, Mrs. Charles G. Shepherd;
_Clinton_, Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Gole; _Eaton_, J. Chance, Hon. A. K.
Warren, Mrs. J. Musgrave, Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Foote; _Genesee_, Mrs.
D. Stewart; _Grand Traverse_, Hon. W. H. C. Mitchell, Hon. J. G.
Ramsdell; _Gratiot_, Hon. Ralph Ely; _Hillsdale_, Mrs. M. A.
Pendill, Mrs. Dr. Swift, Mrs. E. Samm; _Ingham_, Dr. I. H.
Bartholomew, Mrs. O. A. Jenison, A. R. Burr; _Ionia_, Mrs. A.
Williams, Mrs. Chaddock, Mr. J. B. Smith; _Isabella_, Mrs. Douglas
Nelson; _Jackson_, Mrs. Mary Lathrop, Fidus Livermore; _Kalamazoo_,
J. H. Stone, Col. F. W. Curtenius, Merritt Moore. Dr. N. Thomas;
_Kent_, Mrs. E. L. Briggs, E. G. D. Holden, E. P. Churchill;
_Lapeer_, Hon. J. C. Lamb, Mrs. J. B. Wilson; _Lenawee_, Mrs. Dr.
Fox, Mrs. F. A. Rowley, Hon. Charles E. Mickley; _Livingston_, E.
P. Gregory; _Macomb_, Mrs. Ambrose Campbell, Daniel B. Briggs;
_Manistee_, S. W. Fowler, Hon. B. M. Cutcheon, T. J. Ramsdell;
_Marquette_, Sidney Adams, Hiram A. Burt; _Mason_, Mr. Foster;
_Midland_, Dr. E. Jennings, Mrs. Sumner; _Missaukee_, S. W. Davis;
_Monroe_, Hon. J. J. Sumner; _Montcalm_, Mr. J. M. Fuller;
_Muskegon_, Lieutenant-Governor H. H. Holt, Mrs. O. B. Ingersoll,
Mrs. Barney; _Newaygo_, Hon. E. L. Gray, Mrs. Lucy Utley;
_Oakland_, Mrs. D. B. Fox, J. Holman, jr., Mrs. Alexander;
_Oceana_, John Halsted; _Osceola_, B. F. Gooch; _Ottawa_, Dwight
Cutler, Mrs. W. C. Sheldon; _Roscommon_, Messrs. Davis & Hall;
_Saginaw_, Mrs. Whiting, Mrs. Gamble, J. F. Driggs, W. P. Burdick;
_Shiawassee_, Mrs. Dr. Parkill, J. H. Hartwell, Hon. J. M. Goodell,
Dr. King; _St. Clair_, Hon. B. W. Jenks; _St. Joseph_, W. S. Moore,
Mrs. Mary Peck; _Tuscola_, Mrs. J. P. Hoyt; _Van Buren_, Mr. and
Mrs. C. D. Van Vechten, A. S. Dyckman, Hon. S. H. Blackman;
_Washtenaw_, Mrs. Israel Hall, Mrs. Seth Reed, D. Cramer, Mary E.
Foster; _Wayne_, Mrs. C. A. F. Stebbins, Colin Campbell, G. W.
Bates, Lucy L. Stout.
[314] Miss Eastman, Miss Hindman, Phoebe Couzins, Margaret W.
Campbell, Elizabeth K. Churchill, Lelia Partridge, Mrs. Hazlett,
Mrs. Samms, Miss Matilda Victor; George W. Julian of Indiana, Giles
B. Stebbins and Clinton R. Fisk, representing the Michigan
Association, and the following among volunteer workers: B. A.
Harlan of Grand Rapids, Mrs. Hathaway of Cass county, Mrs. Judge
Fuller, the Hon. J. H. McGowan and Mrs. Boutelle of Branch county;
Mrs. L. A. Pearsall of Macomb, Mrs. F. W. Gillette of Oakland, Miss
Strickland of Clinton, J. B. Stone of Kalamazoo, Mrs. Lucy L. Stout
of Wayne, and the Rev. T. H. Stewart of Indiana.
[315] It was in this campaign that an editor in a Kalamazoo journal
said: "That ancient daughter of Methuselah, Susan B. Anthony,
passed through our city yesterday, on her way to the Plainwell
meeting, with a bonnet on her head looking as if she had recently
descended from Noah's ark." Miss Anthony often referred to this
description of herself, and said, "Had I represented 20,000 votes
in Michigan, that political editor would not have known nor cared
whether I was the oldest or the youngest daughter of Methuselah, or
whether my bonnet came from the ark or from Worth's.--[E. C. S.
[316] The inspectors voting were: _Yeas_--Adams, Baxter, Brooks,
Dullea, Henderson, Smith. _Nays_--Bragg, Balch, Barclay, Barry,
Bond, Christian, Hill, Hughes, Langley, Mahoney, O'Keefe,
Sutherland.
[317] We can easily see how little the opponents who talk so much
of chivalry, respect women or themselves, by the language they use
when they are opposed on this very question.
[318] Mrs. Boutelle and Mrs. Stebbins were in the polling place two
or three hours, while Mr. Farwell made efforts to gain favorable
opinions enough to convert Colonel Phelps; many excellent men were
in favor of her vote. The ladies lunched from a daintily filled
basket, prepared by the wife of inspector Farwell.
[319] Miss Abby Rogers, Miss Delia Rogers, Miss Emily Ward, and
Miss Clapp, were all deeply interested in establishing a seminary
where girls could have equal advantages with students in the
university. This seminary was in existence ten years, but without
State aid the struggle was too great, and Miss Abby Rogers, the
founder, abandoned the undertaking.
[320] The names of the eleven young women Mrs. Stearns is unable to
recall.
[321] The officers of the Manistee Society are (1885): _President_,
Mrs. Lucy T. Stansell; _Corresponding Secretary_, Fannie Holden
Fowler; _Recording Secretary_, Miss Nellie Walker; _Treasurer_,
Mrs. Susan Seymour.
[322] The officers of the Grand Rapids Society are: _President_,
Mrs. Cordelia F. Briggs; _Vice-Presidents_, Loraine Immen, Emma
Wheeler; _Treasurer_, Mrs. Henry Spring; _Secretary_, Mrs. J. W.
Adams.
[323] Following is a complete list of all officers elected in 1885:
_President_, Mrs. Mary L. Doe of Carrollton; _Vice-President_, Mrs.
Loraine Immen of Grand Rapids; _Recording Secretary_, Mrs. H. S.
Spring of Grand Rapids; _Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. Fannie H.
Fowler of Manistee; _Treasurer_, Mrs. C. A. F. Stebbins of Detroit;
_Advisory Committee_, Mrs. E. L. Briggs of Grand Rapids, and Mrs.
S. E. V. Emery of Lansing; _Executive Committee_--First District,
Mrs. Harriet J. Boutell of Detroit; Second District, Mrs. Annette
B. Gardner Smith of Ann Arbor; Fifth District, Mrs. Emily H.
Ketchum of Grand Rapids; Sixth District, Francis M. Stuart of
Flint; Eighth District, Mrs. Frances C. Stafford of Milwaukee;
Ninth District, Col. S. W. Fowler of Manistee; Eleventh and Twelfth
Districts, Mrs. R. A. Campbell, Traverse City.
[324] Spending the summer of 1865 at Leavenworth, I frequently
visited Mrs. Haviland, then busily occupied in ministering to the
necessities of the 10,000 refugees just then from the Southern
States. On May 29, I aided her in collecting provisions for the
steamer, which was to transport over a hundred men, women and
children, for whom she was to provide places in Michigan. I shall
never forget that day nor the admiration and reverence I felt for
the magnanimity and self-sacrifice of that wonderful woman.--[S. B.
A.
CHAPTER XLII.
INDIANA.
The First Woman Suffrage Convention After the War, 1869--Amanda
M. Way--Annual Meetings, 1870-85, in the Larger
Cities--Indianapolis Equal Suffrage Society, 1878--A Course of
Lectures--In May, 1880, National Convention in
Indianapolis--Zerelda G. Wallace--Social Entertainment--Governor
Albert G. Porter--Susan B. Anthony's Birthday--Schuyler
Colfax--Legislative Hearings--Temperance Women of Indiana--Helen
M. Gougar--General Assembly--Delegates to Political
Conventions--Women Address Political Meetings--Important Changes
in the Laws for Women, from 1860 to 1884--Colleges Open to
Women--Demia
Butler--Professors--Lawyers--Doctors--Ministers--Miss Catherine
Merrill--Miss Elizabeth Eaglesfield--Rev. Prudence Le Clerc--Dr.
Mary F. Thomas--Prominent Men and Women--George W. Julian--The
Journals--Gertrude Garrison.
This was one of the first States to form a Woman Suffrage
Society[325] for thoroughly organized action, with a president,
secretary, treasurer, and constitution and by-laws. From October,
1851, this association held annual meetings, sent petitions and
appeals to the legislature, and had frequent hearings at the
capitol, diligently pressing the question of political equality for
woman for ten consecutive years. Then, although the society did not
disband, we find no record of meetings or aggressive action until
1869, for here, as elsewhere, all other interests were forgotten in
the intense excitement of a civil war. But no sooner were the
battles fought, victory achieved, and the army disbanded, than
woman's protests against her wrongs were heard throughout the
Northern States; and in Indiana the same Amanda M. Way who took the
initiative step in 1851 for the first woman's convention, summoned
her coaedjutors once more to action in 1869[326], and with the same
platform and officers renewed the work with added determination for
a final victory.
For this interesting chapter we are indebted to Mrs. May Wright
Sewall, who has patiently gathered and arranged this material, and
laid it, as a free gift, at our feet. Those who have ever attempted
to unearth the most trivial incidents of history, will appreciate
the difficulties she must have encountered in this work, as well as
in condensing all she desired to say within the very limited space
allowed to this chapter. Mrs. Sewall writes:
The first convention after the war, June 8, 9, 1869, was held in
Masonic Hall, and continued two days. The Indianapolis _Journal_
devoted several columns daily to the proceedings, closing with
the following complimentary editorial:
As a deliberative assembly it compared favorably with the
best that have ever been conducted by our own sex. To say
that there was as much order, propriety and dignity as
usually characterizes male conventions of a political
character is but to put the matter in a very mild shape.
Whatever was said, was said with earnestness and for a
purpose, and while several times the debate was considerably
spiced, the ladies never fell below their brothers in sound
sense. We have yet to see any sensible man who attended the
convention whose esteem for woman has been lowered, while
very many have been converted by the captivating speeches of
Mrs. Cole, Mrs. Swank and Mrs. Livermore.
In the _Sentinel_ of June 11, 1869, an editorial appeared whose
evident object was to reaessure the public mind and to restore to
peace and confidence any souls that might have been agitated
during the convention by so unusual and novel an exercise as
thought. The nature of the sedative potion thus editorially
administered to an alarmed public may be inferred from this
sample:
No amount of human ingenuity can change the arrangement of
nature. The history of the race furnishes the evidence that
the species of man and woman are opposite. The distinctions
that now exist have existed from the time that the "Lord God
caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam," and said: "Thy
desire shall be to thy husband; he shall rule over thee."
This brief story comprises the history of man and woman, and
defines the relations which shall ever exist between them.
When woman ceases to be womanly, woman's rights associations
become her fitting province.
The editor of the _Journal_ at that time was Colonel W. R.
Holloway, the present very liberal manager of the _Times_. The
editor of the _Sentinel_ was Joseph J. Bingham. The State was
then Republican, and as the organ of that party the _Journal_
probably had the larger number of readers.
The State Woman Suffrage Association convened in Indianapolis,
June 8, 1870, and held a two days' meeting. The _Journal_
contains, as usual, a full report. The _Sentinel's_ tone is quite
different from that which distinguished its utterances the
preceding year. Its reports are full and perfectly respectful.
This convention is memorable as that at which the Indiana Society
became auxiliary to the American Association. The records show
that this union was accomplished by a majority of _one_, the
ballot on the proposition standing 15 for and 14 against. As soon
as the union was thus effected the following was adopted:
_Resolved_, That this association is in favor of the union
of the National and American Associations as soon as
practicable.
On the same day Judge Bradwell of Chicago submitted a resolution
favoring the union of the two national societies, which was laid
on the table. Of the annual meetings from 1871 to 1878 the
Indianapolis papers contain no reports, save the briefest mention
of those of 1873-4. From 1878 to 1885 short but fair reports may
be found. Since 1870, the conventions of this society[327] have
been held in different towns throughout the State.[328] The
minutes show that the propriety of withdrawing from the American
Association and remaining independent was brought before the
convention of 1871, under the head of _special business_; that it
was decided to postpone action until the next annual meeting, and
to make the matter of withdrawal a special order of business, but
it does not appear that from that time the subject has ever been
broached. At the annual meeting of 1875, held at a time when
preparations for celebrating our national centennial were in
progress, the following resolution was passed:
_Resolved_, That we congratulate the voters of the United
States on their enjoyment of the right of suffrage, and
commend them for the great centenary celebration of the
establishment of that right, which they are about to have.
But we do earnestly protest against the action of the
Indiana legislature by which it made appropriations for that
purpose of moneys collected by taxing women's property.
In November, 1878, the ninth annual meeting of the American
Association was held in Indianapolis, by invitation from the
State Society.[329]
In the month of March, 1878, some very mysterious whisperings
advertised the fact that there was to be a meeting of the ladies
of Indianapolis known to have "advanced ideas" concerning their
sex. In response to a secretly circulated summons, there met at
No. 18 Circle Hall nine women and one man, who, though not
mutually acquainted, were the most courageous of those to whom
the call had come. Probably each of the ten often thinks with
amusement of the suspicious glances with which they regarded one
another. As a participant, I may say that the company had the air
of a band of conspirators. Had we convened consciously to plot
the ruin of our domestic life, which opponents predict as the
result of woman's enfranchisement, we could not have looked more
guilty or have moved about with more unnatural stealth. That
demeanor I explain as an unconscious tribute to what "Madam
Grundy" would have thought had she known of our conclave.
At that meeting one point only was definitely settled; which was,
whether the new society should take a name which would conceal
from the public its primary object, or one which would clearly
advertise it. The honesty of the incipient organization was
vindicated by its deciding upon the latter. I do not record in
detail the initiative steps of this flourishing society in order
to awaken in its members any humiliating memories, but because
the fact that ten conscientious, upright persons could thus
secretly convene in an obscure room, and that such a question
could agitate them for more than two hours, is the best
indication that could be given of the conservative atmosphere
which enveloped Indianapolis, even as late as 1878. The next
meeting was appointed for April 2, at the residence of Mrs.
Zerelda G. Wallace. Notices were inserted in the papers, and in
the meantime some pains was taken to secure not only the presence
of persons who had not previously been identified with any reform
movement, but also that of some well-known friends. It was
attended by twenty-six men and women, representing various
religious and political parties, most of whom enjoyed the
advantages of education and social position, and resulted in a
permanent organization under a constitution whose first article
is as follows:
This organization shall be known as the Indianapolis Equal
Suffrage Society, and shall consist of such men and women as
are willing to labor for the attainment of equal rights at
the ballot-box for all citizens on the same conditions.
On the principle that that which has some restrictions is most
desired, membership was at first hedged about with certain
formalities. While most reform organizations welcome as members
all who will pay their annual fee and subscribe to the
constitution, this society requires that the names of candidates
be presented at one meeting and formally balloted on at the next,
thus providing a month for consideration. Since 1878 this
society[330] has held forty-three public meetings, and
distributed throughout the city several thousand tracts. At
intervals the society has engaged speakers from abroad. Miss
Anthony gave her "Bread and Ballot" to a large audience in
Masonic Hall, and many date their conversion from that evening.
Mrs. Stanton has appeared twice under the auspices of the
society. On the first occasion it secured for her the court-room
in which the upper house of the general assembly was then
sitting. Tickets of admission were sent to all the members of
both houses. Her lecture on "The Education of Girls," made a
profound impression. On her second appearance she spoke in the
First Christian Church, on "Boys." For Miss Frances E. Willard,
Robert's Park Church was obtained, and thus suffrage principles
were presented to a new class of minds. Mrs. J. Ellen Foster
spoke on "Women before the Law," in the Criminal-court room. The
society made every effort to secure the general attendance of
members of the bar. Before one of its regular meetings in the
Christian chapel, Mrs. Louise V. Boyd read a very bright paper on
"A Cheerful Outlook for Women." At its present parlors, Mrs.
Harbert delivered an address for the benefit of the suffrage
campaign in Oregon.
In May, 1880, this society invited the National Association to
hold its annual convention in Indianapolis. Entertainment was
provided for eighty-seven delegates, besides the friends who came
from different parts of the State. In Park Theatre, the largest
auditorium of the city, eloquent voices for two days pleaded the
cause of freedom. The reports in the city press were full and
fair, and the editorials commendatory. The fact that the
_Sentinel_ contained a long editorial advocating the doctrines of
equal suffrage, shows the progress since 1869. The evening after
the convention a reception was given to the members and friends
of the National Association in the spacious parlors of Mrs. John
C. New.
From its origin the Indianapolis society has held aloof from all
formal alliances. Thus it has been free to work with individuals
and organizations that have woman suffrage for their aim. It
habitually sends delegates to the State annual conventions, and
in those of the American and National it is usually represented.
In December, 1880, the society issued a letter, secured its
publication in the leading papers of the State, and addressed a
copy to each member of the General Assembly, in order to advise
that body that there were women ready to watch their official
careers and to demand from them the consideration of just claims:
INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 22, 1880.
DEAR SIR: The Equal Suffrage Society of Indianapolis, in
behalf of citizens of Indiana who believe that liberty to
exercise the right of suffrage should neither be granted nor
denied on the ground of sex, would respectfully notify you
that during the next session of the State legislature it
will invite the attention of that body to the consideration
of what is popularly called "The Suffrage Question." The
society will petition the legislature to devote a day to
hearing, from representative advocates of woman suffrage,
appeals and arguments for such legislation as may be
necessary to abolish the present unjust restriction of the
elective franchise to one sex, and to secure to women the
free exercise of the ballot, under the same conditions and
such only, as are imposed upon men. To this matter we ask
your unprejudiced attention, that when our cause shall be
brought before the legislature its advocates may have your
cooeperation.
Very respectfully yours, ZERELDA G. WALLACE, _President_.
MAY WRIGHT SEWALL, _Secretary_,
By order of the Equal Suffrage Society of Indianapolis.
The society has lately taken a new departure, giving lunches,
parties and literary entertainments, to which invitations[331]
are issued, by the officers, thus becoming a factor in the social
life of the city. The invitation, programme, and press comments
of its last entertainment indicate the character of these
reuenions, and the esteem in which they are held. These occasions
have been the means of securing for the society greater popular
favor than it has hitherto enjoyed. At the conclusion of the
formal toasts, the president called upon Gov. Albert G. Porter,
who had come in a few minutes before. He thanked the meeting for
its reference to what he had done for the cause of equal
suffrage, and announced that while he remained governor of
Indiana he would do all he could for the rights of women.[332] He
referred to the progress made, and to the refining influence that
women would have on political matters. Of all the social
entertainments given, none has secured more converts than the
celebration of Susan B. Anthony's sixty-second birthday. The
arrangements for this event were placed in the hands of Mrs. Mary
E.N. Carey and Mrs. May Wright Sewall. The following account,
prepared by the author of this chapter for the Indianapolis
_Times_ of February 18, 1882, will sufficiently indicate the
spirit of the occasion:
The anniversary was a unique event. A number of invitations
were issued to citizens interested in suffrage who were not
formally connected with the association. As a result, on the
evening of February 15, there were gathered in the spacious
parlors of Dr. Carey's hospitable home, one hundred and
fifty persons representing the best circles of Indianapolis
society. A portrait of Miss Anthony rested upon an easel,
conspicuously placed, that all might see the serene face of
the woman who for thirty years has preached the gospel of
political freedom, and expounded the constitution of the
United States in favor of justice to all. The programme was
somewhat informal, all but two of the speeches[333] being
spontaneous expressions of admiration for Miss Anthony and
her fidelity to principle. There were two regrets connected
with the programme. These were caused by the absence of Gov.
Porter and Hon. Schuyler Colfax; but the gracious presence
of Mrs. Colfax was a reminder of her husband's fidelity to
our cause, and Mrs. Porter's sympathetic face was a scarcely
less potent support than would have been a speech from the
governor. Just before the close of the meeting the following
telegram was sent to Miss Anthony:
_Susan B. Anthony, Tenafly, New Jersey_.
The Indianapolis Equal Suffrage Society, in meeting
assembled with many friends sends you greeting on this
anniversary occasion, in recognition of your devotion to the
cause of women.
MAY WRIGHT SEWALL, _Secretary_.
To report the details of this social gathering would be
wearisome, but some reflections to which the occasion gave rise
may be permitted. One lady upon seeing the invitation to the
meeting exclaimed: "This little bit of paper is an indication of
a higher civilization than I supposed we had yet entered upon.
Until recently it has been like the betrayal of a secret for a
woman, particularly for an unmarried woman, to have a birthday."
This exclamation but expresses a historical fact and a prophetic
truth. So long as woman's only value depended upon physical
charms, the years which destroyed them were deemed enemies. The
fact that an unmarried woman's sixty-second birthday can be
celebrated, shows the dawning of the idea that the loss of youth
and its fresh beauty may be more than compensated by the higher
charms of intellectual attainments. The time will never come when
women, or men either, will delight in the possession of
crows-feet, gray hairs and wrinkles; but the time will come, aye,
and now is, when they will view these blemishes as but a petty
price to pay for the joy of new knowledge, for the deeper joy of
closer contact with humanity, and for the deepest joy of worthy
work well done.
The first legislative hearing since 1860, was that granted
January, 1871, to Miss Amanda Way and Mrs. Emma B. Swank. The two
houses received them in joint session, the lieutenant-governor and
speaker of the house occupying the speaker's desk. Mr. William
Cumback introduced Miss Way, who read the following memorial:
_Mr. President and Gentlemen_--We come before you as a
committee appointed by the Woman Suffrage Association to
memorialize your honorable body in behalf of the women of
Indiana. We ask you to take the necessary steps to so amend
the State constitution as to secure to women the right of
suffrage. We believe the extension of the full rights of
citizenship to all the people of the State, is in accordance
with the fundamental principles of a just government. We
believe that as woman has an equal interest with man in all
public questions, she should therefore have an equal voice
in their decision. We believe that as woman's life,
prosperity and happiness are equally dependent upon the
order and morality of society, she should have an equal
voice in the laws regulating her surroundings. We believe
that as woman is human, she has human needs and rights, and
as she is held responsible to law, she should have an equal
voice in electing her law-makers.
We believe that the interests of man and woman are equally
improved in securing to both equal education, a place in the
trades and professions, equal honor and dignity everywhere;
and as the first step to this end is equality before the
law, we, your petitioners, ask that you extend to the women
of Indiana the right of suffrage, and thus enable one-half
the citizens of the State to protect themselves in their
most sacred rights.
Miss Way spoke briefly to the points in the memorial, urging the
legislators to give to women the same chances for improvement,
the same means for defense, and the same weapons for protection
that they have secured to themselves. Mrs. Swank also made a
logical and eloquent speech. No action was taken by the
legislature.
On January 22, 1875, the two houses of the General Assembly
convened in joint session, to receive petitions from the
"Temperance Women of Indiana," who were on this occasion
represented by Mrs. Zerelda G. Wallace, Mrs. Avaline and Mrs.
Robinson, who had been appointed by the State Temperance
Association. Mrs. Wallace read a memorial and stated that it was
signed by 10,000 women, and then argued its various points and
pleaded for the action of the "Honorable Body." Mrs. Avaline and
Mrs. Robinson followed in briefer, but not less earnest appeals.
The only answer elicited by these ladies was the assurance made
by Dr. Thompson, a member of the Senate, that he and his
colleagues were there, "not to represent their _consciences_, but
to represent their _constituents_," whose will was directly
opposed to the petition offered.
On January 3, 1877, a resolution to the effect that the
fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the Constitution of the
United States give the ballot to women, came to its third reading
in the lower House. On that occasion, Mrs. Wallace and Dr. Mary
F. Thomas represented the women of Indiana, and Mrs. Mary A.
Livermore was present to lend the assistance of her oratory. The
speeches created a profound impression, but neither native nor
foreign eloquence was able to secure the requisite vote. When the
ayes and nays were called, the resolution was lost--51 to 22.
On February 24, 1879, once again in joint session, the General
Assembly received a committee appointed by the State Association
and the Equal Suffrage Society of Indianapolis, to support
woman's claim to the ballot. Mrs. Wallace, Dr. Mary F. Thomas,
Mary E. Haggart and Amy E. Dunn, each spoke at length on the
points clearly set forth in the memorial. Whatever arguments
could reach the intellect, whatever could touch the
sensibilities, were urged by these ladies on that occasion, and
the gentlemen did not fail to compliment their abilities,
although the exercise of them had no palpable effect upon
legislation.
Before the General Assembly of 1880-81, had convened, it was
known by its members-elect that the women of the State would be a
constant factor in their deliberations. They had been notified of
this intention by the circular letter from the City Society, and
by the published fact that the State Association had already
appointed representatives, whose duty it should be to secure a
hearing for such an amendment to the constitution of the State as
should enable women to vote. As soon as the legislature
assembled, committees on women's claims were appointed in both
branches; Simeon P. Yancey being the chairman of the Senate, and
J. M. Furnas of the House, committee. Two points had been
determined upon. These were to try to secure the passage of a
bill which should immediately authorize women to vote for
presidential electors, and such an amendment to the constitution
of the State as should enable women to exercise the right of
suffrage on all questions.
In connection with the first of these points the name of Helen M.
Gougar deserves especial mention. At the Washington convention of
the American Association, Mr. Blackwell suggested that the States
try to secure the electoral ballot for women, and as soon as Mrs.
Gougar returned she urged the members of the legislature to take
the matter up. At her suggestion, Dr. Mary F. Thomas addressed a
letter to W. D. Wallace, esq., a prominent lawyer of Lafayette,
asking him if, in his opinion, the extension of the electoral
ballot to women would be incompatible with the present
constitution of the State; in reply to this Mr. Wallace set forth
an exhaustive argument,[334] proving the entire constitutionality
of such an act. Five thousand were printed and gratuitously
distributed throughout the State.
The Committee on Women's Claims in both Houses met at sundry
times with members of the Suffrage Association to discuss the
merits of these bills and to become familiar with the arguments.
During the regular session Mrs. Wallace and Mrs. Gougar spent two
consecutive weeks in attendance at the legislature, watching the
attitude of the different members and lobbying, in the good sense
of that word. The immediate object was to secure the passage of
the electoral bill, for that once gained, and women by act of the
legislature made voters upon the most important question, it was
reasonably thought that the passage of the amendment would be
thereby facilitated. A hearing was granted on February 16, 1881,
and the House took a recess to listen to the speeches of the
women appointed by the State Association, Mrs. Haggart and Mrs.
Gougar. The next day, February 17, the Senate afforded a similar
opportunity, and the same ladies addressed that body.
In addition to the faithful exertions of Mrs. Wallace and Mrs.
Gougar, and the public hearing granted by both houses, much quiet
but most effective work was done with individual members. To no
one is more due than to Paulina T. Merritt, whose reputation for
intelligent charity is widely known. Mrs. Merritt was a frequent
attendant upon the sessions of the legislature and her untiring
efforts in private conversations with members were invaluable. In
spite of all these influences, when the electoral bill was
brought to a vote upon its third reading, it was lost on the
ground that it was unconstitutional.
At the special session all efforts centered upon the bill for
amending section 2, of article II., of the State constitution, so
as to give women the right to vote in all elections. Mrs. Wallace
and Mrs. Gougar gave another week to the work, and on April 7 the
bill was brought to a vote in the House, and passed--ayes 62,
nays 24; in the Senate, on April 8, it also passed--ayes 25, nays
18; and so the first entrenchment was won.
No one believed that the bill to amend the constitution would
have passed had it not been preceded by the battle over the
electoral bill and the consequent education of the General
Assembly in regard to this great question of political rights.
Immediately a conference was held as to the proper manner of
expressing our gratitude to the committees on women's political
claims. It was at first thought the recognition should come from
the Equal Suffrage Society, but it was finally considered wiser
to have a reception given the honorable body by a voluntary
committee of women who should act quite independently of any
society.[335]
The passage of the amendment by the legislature of 1881 gave the
advocates of our cause a common objective point, and the efforts
of all during the two years immediately succeeding were directed
toward securing the election of such a legislature as might be
relied upon to repass the bill in 1883. The State society at its
annual meeting enlarged its central committee and instructed it
to arrange meetings in various parts of the State, to send out
speakers, and to organize local societies.[336] This committee
prepared a letter, for general distribution, indicating to the
women of the State their duty in the premises, and suggesting
various lines of work. Blanks for a special petition to the
General Assembly were sent to every township, which were
industriously circulated and numerously signed.
In the spring of 1882 the officers of the State society issued a
call for a mass-meeting, to which "all women within the
boundaries of the State who believed in equal suffrage, or were
interested in the fate of the pending amendment," were invited.
The meeting was held on May 19, at the Grand Opera House, and
the attendance exceeded the most extravagant hopes of those who
had called it. If any came to scoff, they remained to participate
with pride in this remarkable convention, which is yet frequently
referred to as the largest and most impressive meeting ever held
in the Hoosier capital. The call had invited those who could not
attend the meeting to manifest their sympathy by sending
postal-cards to the corresponding secretary. These were received
in such numbers for several days that Mrs. Adkinson and the
half-dozen clerks appointed to assist her in counting them,
unable to bring in a full report, announced at the close of the
evening session, that having reached 5,000, they desisted from
further enumeration.
No effort was spared to make the demonstration truly
representative of the suffrage interest throughout the State. All
the sessions were presided over by Mrs. Sewall, who called the
roll by congressional districts, some one of whose
representatives responded. The ease and dignity with which women,
many of whom had never spoken before any audience save their own
neighbors gathered in Sunday-school or prayer-meeting, reported
the status of their respective communities on the suffrage
question, was matter of astonishment as well as of
admiration.[337] So exceptional in all regards was the conduct of
the meeting that the papers united in expressing surprise at the
strength of the suffrage sentiment in the State as indicated by
the mass-convention.
This meeting of May 19, 1882, struck the key on which the friends
in the State spoke during the summer and fall of that year. Large
numbers of societies were organized and numerous meetings held;
the immediate object being to secure the election of a
legislature that should vote to submit the amendment passed by
the General Assembly of 1881 to the decision of what is mis-named
"a popular vote." The degree to which this action influenced the
politicians of the State cannot be accurately known, but we are
compelled to believe that it was one of the causes which induced
the Republicans in convention assembled to declare for the
"submission of the pending amendments." The Republican State
convention was held August 8, 1882, and the first plank in the
platform reads thus:
_Resolved, First_--That reposing trust in the people as the
fountain of power, we demand that the pending amendments to
the constitution shall be agreed to and submitted by the
next legislature to the voters of the State for their
decision thereon. These amendments were not partisan in
their origin, and are not so in character, and should not be
made so in voting upon them. Recognizing the fact that the
people are divided in sentiment in regard to the propriety
of their adoption or rejection, and cherishing the right of
private judgment, we favor the submission of these
amendments at a special election, so that there may be an
intelligent decision thereon, uninfluenced by partisan
issues.
At the mass-meeting of May 19, Mrs. P. T. Merritt of
Indianapolis, Mrs. M. E. M. Price of Kokomo, and Mrs. J. C.
Ridpath of Greencastle were appointed as delegates to the
different political State conventions. As a Republican, Mrs.
Merritt was received with great courtesy and accorded time to
speak. Her address was characterized by sound logic and dignity
of expression, and was reported in full with the rest of the
proceedings of the Republican convention. As a prohibition
amendment had also been passed by the legislature of 1881, the
interests of suffrage and prohibition in the campaign of 1882
were identical. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Indiana
sent Mrs. Helen M. Gougar to the Republican State convention, by
which she was respectfully received and which she ably addressed.
The advocates of suffrage did not content themselves during the
summer of 1882 by merely holding suffrage meetings proper, and
addressing political bodies, but they sought every opportunity to
reach the ears of the people for whatever purpose convened. The
Equal Suffrage Society received from the managers of the Acton
camp-meeting a place on their programme; accordingly Mrs. Haggart
and Mrs. Gougar, as delegates, addressed immense audiences. Both
of these ladies labored indefatigably, discussing the question of
submission of the amendments before Sunday-school conventions,
teachers' associations, agricultural fairs, picnics and
assemblies of every name. Others rendered less conspicuous, but
not less earnest or constant service; and when the political
campaign proper opened, it was evident that every candidate would
firmly and unreservedly answer the challenge: "Submission, or
non-submission?"
For the first time in the history of Indiana, women were employed
by party managers to address political meetings and advocate the
election of candidates. Mrs. Gougar addressed Republican rallies
at various points; she and Mrs. Haggart together made a canvass
of Tippecanoe county on behalf of the Republican candidate for
representative in the General Assembly, Captain W. De Witt
Wallace, who was committed not only to the submission of the
amendments, but also to the advocacy of both woman suffrage and
prohibition. The animosity of the liquor league was aroused, and
this powerful association threw itself against submission. The
result was the election of a legislature containing so large a
Democratic majority that there was no ground for hoping that the
amendments would be re-passed and sent to the voters of the State
for final adoption or rejection.
Though the submission of the amendments was one of the chief
issues in the campaign, many candidates who pledged themselves on
the ground that they involved questions which it was the
privilege of the voters to decide, reserved their own opinions
upon their merits. There were, however, candidates who openly
espoused woman suffrage _per se_.[338] Knowing that a majority of
the members of the General Assembly were pledged to vote down the
pending amendments, the friends tacitly agreed to maintain a
dignified silence toward that body concerning them. The Suffrage
Society at the capital, however, appointed a committee[339] to
watch the interests of woman in the legislature; and through its
influence, special committees on women's claims were obtained in
both Houses. Disappointed by the result in the legislature of
1883, but not discouraged, the society continued to labor with
undiminished zeal, and sought every legitimate opportunity to
prove woman a factor in State politics.
Several weeks prior to the Republican nominating convention at
Chicago, June 3, 1884, this society appointed committees to
correspond with each of the gentlemen prominently named as
candidates for nomination to the office of president, and also
appointed committees[340] to press upon the attention of the
different parties the political claims of women. The society
instructed each committee to carry on its work according to the
united judgment of its members and continue it until the close of
the legislative session of 1885. The committee appointed to
communicate with the Republicans addressed a letter to each of
the thirty delegates sent by Indiana to the nominating convention
at Chicago. They also addressed letters to the Republican State
central committee, and through the courtesy of Mr. John
Overmeyer, chairman, they were given an opportunity to appear
before the committee on resolutions. Mrs. Sewall presented a
resolution, and in a brief speech urged its adoption and
incorporation into the platform of the Republican party. Mrs.
Merritt and Mrs. Sewall were offered an opportunity to speak
before the convention, which they declined in the belief that it
was a greater gain to the cause to appear before the resolution
and platform committee than before the convention itself.
To what an appalling degree women were discriminated against by
the law prior to 1860, may be inferred from subsequent
legislative enactments. At almost every sitting of the biennial
legislature, since 1860, some important change will be observed.
In 1861 was passed the following:
AN ACT _to enlarge the Legal Capacity of Married Women whose
Husbands are Insane, and to enable them to Contract as if
they were Unmarried._
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the
State of Indiana: That all married women, or those who may
hereafter be married, whose husbands are or may be insane,
are, during the continuance of such insanity, hereby enabled
and authorized to make and to execute all such contracts,
and to be contracted with in relation to their separate
property, as they could if they were unmarried, and they may
sue and be sued as if they were _sole_.
The legislature of 1863 was undisturbed by any question
concerning women. In 1865 the legislature discriminated against
women by the passage of a very long act, prescribing the manner
in which enumerations of _white male citizens_ shall be made;
thus implying that a _white male citizen_ is an honorable and
important person, whose existence is to be noted with due care;
with a care that distinguishes him equally above the _white
female_ and the _black male_ citizen, and in effect places these
two unenumerated divisions of human beings into one class.
Another act of 1865 reaeffirmed an act of 1852 which prescribed
the classes of persons capable of making a will, from which
married women were excluded.
[Illustration: May Wright Sewall]
The legislature of 1867 passed an act in regard to conveyance of
lands by wives of persons of unsound mind, which read as follows:
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Indiana:
That in cases where the guardian of any person of unsound
mind, under the direction of any court of competent
jurisdiction has made, or may hereafter make, sale of any
lands of such person of unsound mind, the wife of such
person of unsound mind may by her separate deed release and
convey all her interest in and title to such land, and her
deed so made shall thereafter debar her from all claim to
such land, and shall have the same effect on her rights as
if her husband had been of sound mind and she had joined
with such husband in the execution of such conveyance.
In 1869, an act passed by the legislature of 1852, providing for
the settlement of a decedent's estate, was so amended as to
provide that the widow might select articles to the value of
$500, or receive the first $500 derived from the sale, or in case
it was worth no more than $500, might hold it. In 1871 the
amendment of 1869 was further amended so that in case the
personal property was less than $500 the deficit could be a lien
on the real estate, to be settled with other judgments and
mortgages.
In 1873 the possible ability of women to serve the State
officially was recognized by the passage of the following bill:
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Indiana:
That women are hereby declared to be eligible to any office,
the election to which is or shall be vested in the General
Assembly of this State; or the appointment to which is or
shall be vested in the governor thereof.
SEC. 2. The foregoing shall not include women who shall
labor under any disability which may prevent them from
binding themselves by an official bond.
The legislature of 1873 also passed an act regulating the liquor
traffic, in which it is formally provided that a wife shall have
the same right to sue, to control the suit, and to control the
sum recovered by the suit, as a _feme sole_.
In 1875 an act passed the General Assembly making it impossible
to sell real property in which a woman has, by virtue of her
marriage; an inchoate right, for less than four-ninths of its
appraised value: and also providing that upon the sale of any
piece or aggregate of pieces of real property not exceeding
$2,000, the wife has her absolute right; and moreover providing
that in case of a judicial sale, the wife's inchoate interests
become absolute, and she may demand a partition.
In 1877 the General Assembly passed an act enabling married women
whose husbands are insane to sell and to convey real-estate
belonging to such married women, in the same way as if _femes
soles_.
When the act for establishing a female prison passed the
legislature of 1860, it provided that the board managing its
affairs should consist of three men, who should be assisted by an
advisory board composed of one man and two women. By the
legislature of 1877 this section was so amended as to make the
managing board consist of women exclusively, and the advisory
board was abolished.[341]
Of all the changes effected in the statutory law of Indiana since
1860, the following is the most important and may be regarded, so
far as women are concerned, the measure of the highest
legislative justice thus far attained in any State. This bill was
prepared by Addison C. Harris, then representing Indianapolis in
the State Senate, and was approved March 25, 1879:
AN ACT _concerning Married Women--Approved March 25, 1879:_
SEC. 1.--Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State
of Indiana: A married woman may bargain, sell, assign and
transfer her separate personal property the same as if she
were _sole_.
SEC. 2.--A married woman may carry on any trade or business,
and perform any labor or service on her sole and separate
account. The earnings and profits of any married woman
accruing from her trade, business, services or labor, other
than labor for her husband or family, shall be her sole and
separate property.
SEC. 3.--A married woman may enter into any contract in
reference to her personal estate, trade, business, labor or
service, and the management and improvement of her separate
real property, the same as if she were _sole_; and her
separate estate, real and personal, shall be liable therefor
on execution or other judicial process.
SEC. 4.--No conveyance or contract made by a married woman
for the sale of her lands or any interest therein, other
than leases for a term not exceeding three years, and
mortgages on lands to secure the purchase money of such
lands, shall be valid, unless her husband shall join
therein. Provided, however, that if she shall have attempted
to convey her real estate or shall have agreed to convey the
same, and shall have received the whole or any part of the
consideration therefor, the person paying such
consideration, or the person for whose benefit the same was
paid, shall have the right to sue and recover judgment
therefor, and the same may be enforced against the property
of such married woman.
SEC. 5.--A married woman shall be bound by the covenants of
the title in a deed of conveyance of her real property.
SEC. 6.--A married woman may bring and maintain an action in
her own name against any person or body corporate for
damages for any injury to her person or character, the same
as if she were _sole_; and the money recovered shall be her
separate property, and her husband in such case shall not be
liable for costs.
SEC. 7.--Whenever the husband causes repairs or improvements
to be made on the real property of the wife, with her
knowledge and consent thereto in writing, delivered to the
contractor or person performing the labor or furnishing the
material, she shall alone be liable for material furnished
or labor done.
SEC. 8.--A husband shall not be liable for any debts
contracted by the wife in carrying on any trade, labor or
business on her sole and separate account, nor for
improvements made by her authority on her separate real
property.
SEC. 9.--Whenever a judgment is recovered against a married
woman, her separate property may be sold on execution to
satisfy the same, as in other cases. Provided, however, that
her wearing apparel and articles of personal adornment
purchased by her, not exceeding two hundred dollars in
value, and all such jewelry, ornaments, books, works of art
and _virtu_, and other such effects for personal or
household use as may have been given to her as presents,
gifts and keep-sakes, shall not be subject to execution. And
provided further, that she shall hold as exempt, except for
the purchase money therefor, other property to the amount of
three hundred dollars to be set apart and appraised in the
manner provided by law for exemption of property.
SEC. 10.--A married woman shall not mortgage or in any
manner encumber her separate property acquired by descent,
devise or gift, as a security for the debt or liability of
her husband or any other person.
The legislature of 1881 enacted the following, which is really a
sequence of the property-rights statute of 1879:
A married woman may sue alone when: _First_--The action
concerns her own property. _Second_--When the action is
between herself and her husband. But in no case shall she
be required to sue or defend by guardian or next friend,
unless she be under twenty-one years.
It further enacted, making it section 28, to act 38, that:
When a husband or father has deserted his family, or is
imprisoned, the wife or mother may prosecute or defend in
his name any action which he might have prosecuted or
defended, and shall have the same powers and rights therein
as he might have had.
The legislature of 1881 also passed the following:
AN ACT _to Authorize the Election of Women to School
Offices_:
SEC. 1.--Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Indiana,
that any woman, married or single, of the age of twenty-one
years and upwards, and possessing the qualifications
prescribed for men, shall be eligible to any office under
the general or special school laws of the State.
SEC. 2.--That any woman elected or appointed to any office
under the provisions of this act, before she enters upon the
discharge of the duties of her office, shall qualify and
give bond as required by law; and such bond shall be binding
upon her and her securities.
The following, enacted by this same legislature of 1881, would
indicate that fidelity to his domestic obligations is not even
yet esteemed in man as a virtue of high order; the value attached
to the fidelity can be measured by the penalty incurred by
infidelity, which is thus stated:
Whoever without cause deserts his wife or children, and
leaves wife and child or children as a charge upon any
county of this State, shall be fined not more than $100 nor
less than $10.
As has been indicated in another connection, it was the
legislature of 1881 which distinguished itself by passing a bill
for amending section 2 of article II. of the State constitution
so as to give women the right to vote in all elections. The
legislature of 1883 did nothing to further ameliorate the legal
condition of women; and the highest legal rights enjoyed by women
of Indiana are indicated in the foregoing recital of legislative
action upon the subject from 1860 to 1884 inclusive.
For some years after public schools were established in Indiana,
women had no recognition. I am told by a reliable gentleman, Dr.
R. T. Brown, who served from 1833 to 1840 as examiner in one of
the most advanced counties of the commonwealth, that during that
period no woman ever applied to him for a license to teach, and
that up to 1850 very few were employed in the public schools. At
that time it was permitted women to teach "subscription" schools
during the vacations, for which purpose the use of the district
school-house was frequently granted. It was by demonstrating
their capacity in this unobtrusive use of holidays, that women
obtained employment in the regular schools. The tables show that
in 1861 there were 6,421 men and 1,905 women employed in the
primary schools, and 128 men and 72 women in the high schools.
From that time up to 1866, owing to the war, the number of men
decreased while that of women rapidly increased. The tables for
that year show 5,330 men and 4,163 women in the schools. The
number of men employed in 1880 was 7,802, of women, 5,776. While
the very best places are held by men, the majority of the
second-rate places are filled by women, and men fill a majority
of the lowest places. The average daily wages received by men
engaged in the public schools in 1880 was $1.86, while the
average daily wages of women was $1.76.
Of the twenty-six academies, colleges and universities, all are,
with two notable exceptions--Hanover and Wabash--open to women.
Of these, Butler, at Irvington, formerly known as the
Northwestern Christian University, was the first to admit women
to a "female course," which its managers arranged to meet the
needs of the female mind. In its laudable endeavor to adapt its
requirements to this intermediate class of beings, the university
substituted music for mathematics, and French for Greek. Few,
however, availed themselves of this course, and it was utterly
rejected by Demia Butler, a daughter of the founder of the
institution, who entered it in 1860, and graduated from what was
then known as the male course, in 1864, thus winning the right to
be remembered as the first woman in Indiana to demonstrate the
capacity of her sex to cope with the classics and higher
mathematics. From that time the "female course" became gradually
less popular, until it was discarded. One after another, private
and denominational schools have fallen into line, until nearly
all of them are open to women without humiliating conditions.
Up to 1867 the Indiana University exhibited the anomaly of a
great institution of learning supported by the State, and
regarding itself as the crown of the public-school system, free
to but one-half of the children of the commonwealth. Since that
date it has been open equally to both sexes in all three of its
departments--the State Normal School, located at Terre Haute, the
Agricultural College, located at Lafayette and commonly known as
Purdue University, and the State University proper, including
literary and scientific departments located at Bloomington. Of
this last branch, 30 per cent. are women. That there is no longer
any discrimination in these higher institutions of learning is
not true. Girls must always feel that they are regarded as
belonging to a subordinate class, wherever women are not found in
the faculty and board of managers. The depressing influence of
their absence in superior positions cannot be measured.
Very few women are found in college faculties in Indiana, and
none on boards of trustees. Those most conspicuous in ability are
Mrs. Sarah A. Oren,[342] who, having served two successive terms
as State librarian, was called from that position to fill a chair
at Purdue University, where she remained several years; Miss
Catharine Merrill, professor of English literature in Butler
University, who throughout her term of service from 1869 to 1883
enjoyed the deserved reputation of being one of the strongest
members of the faculty;[343] and Miss Rebecca I. Thompson, who is
professor of mathematics at Franklin College, the leading Baptist
school in the State. The women occupying these conspicuous
positions are all identified with the suffrage movement;
Professor Thompson, of Franklin, is the president of the Johnson
County Suffrage Association. Miss N. Cropsey has served the cause
of public education in Indianapolis in some capacity for twenty
years, and has for several years been superintendent of the
primary schools, a place which she fills with acknowledged
ability. Miss Cropsey is another living denial of the common
assertion, that only half-cultured and ill-paid women want the
ballot.
Of the four medical colleges in Indianapolis, two admit women and
two exclude them. No theological school in the State receives
women, nor does the only law school, which is located at
Indianapolis; but its former president, Hon. James B. Black, told
me that it was ready to receive them upon application.
Formerly, many questions now decided by the board of trustees of
each school district, were directly settled by the people
themselves at the annual school meeting. For instance, the
teacher for the coming term was elected from among the candidates
for that place; the salary to be paid, the length of term, the
location of the school-house, were all questions to be decided by
ballot. I have reliable authority for the assertion that in some
parts of the State, as early as 1860, widows, and wives whose
husbands were necessarily absent from the school meetings, voted
upon these questions. During the years of the war this practice
became very common, but fell into disuse upon the return of
peace.
There are many physicians in Indiana enjoying the merited esteem
of their respective communities and having a lucrative practice.
The most notable example of success in this profession is Dr.
Mary F. Thomas of Richmond.[344] Another living testimony to
woman's right in the medical profession is Dr. Rachel Swain of
Indianapolis, whose patrons are among the first families of the
city. By zealous devotion to her profession she has secured the
respect and social recognition of the community in which she
moves. As an avowed friend of suffrage, whose word in season is
never lacking, Dr. Swain carries a knowledge of our principles
into circles where it would otherwise slowly penetrate. Dr. Mary
Wilhite of Crawfordsville ranks with the best physicians of that
city. In her practice she has gained a competence for herself and
disseminated among her patients a knowledge of hygienic laws that
has improved the health and the morals of the community to which
she has ministered. She, too, advocates political equality for
woman. Dr. Sarah Stockton of Lafayette settled in Indianapolis in
the autumn of 1883, and was soon, on the petition of leading
citizens, including both men and women, appointed as physician to
the Woman's Department of the Hospital for the Insane. Her
professional labors at the hospital and in general practice
indicate both learning and skill. In November, Dr. Marie Haslep
was elected attendant physician at the Woman's Reformatory, a
State institution having some four hundred inmates, where her
services have been characterized by faithfulness and caution.
Elizabeth Eaglesfield, a graduate of the law department of
Michigan University, was admitted to the bar of Marion county in
the spring of 1885, and is the first woman to open an independent
law-office in this State.
Very few women have served in the ministry. The only one who ever
secured any prominence in this profession was Miss Prudence
LeClerc, who was pastor of the Universalist church in Madison in
1870-71, and served parishes at different points in
south-eastern Indiana until her death in 1878. Miss LeClerc
frequently spoke at suffrage conventions, and called meetings
wherever she preached, instructing the people in the philosophy
of this reform.
To obtain accurate statistics as to the professions and
industries is extremely difficult, as the year 1881 was the first
in which the State considered women at all. That year the head of
the bureau of statistics sent to each town and county
commissioner certain sets of questions relative to women's
occupations. The grace with which they were received, the
seriousness with which they were considered, the consequent
accuracy with which they were answered, may be inferred from the
fact that one trustee replied, "The women in our county are
mostly engaged in baby-tending," and that his response was
generally copied by the press as a manifestation of brilliant
wit. Although some commissioners felt their time too valuable to
spend in gathering information relative to the work of women,
from the reports of those who seriously undertook to canvass this
matter, a table has been arranged and published, which, though
incomplete, must be regarded, both in variety of occupations and
in the numbers of women registered, as a most favorable showing
for this Western State. The total number of women engaged outside
of home, in non-domestic and money-making industries, is 15,122;
the number of industries represented by them is 51. Add to these
the number of teachers, and we have over 20,000 women in the
trades and professions denied the ballot, that sole weapon
pledged by a republic to every citizen for the protection of
person and property.
Of the men and women prominent in this movement since 1860, whose
names are not mentioned in the first volume, the one meriting the
first place is beyond doubt Dr. R. T. Brown of Indianapolis. He
has the longest record as an advocate of suffrage to be found in
the State. As a speaker in the first Harrison campaign (1836) he
advocated suffrage without regard to sex. Engaged as a teacher or
inspector in the public schools in the early years, Dr. Brown
argued the adaptation of women to the teacher's profession, and
insisted that salaries should be independent of sex; and in many
individual cases where he had authority, women secured this
recognition before it was generally admitted even in theory to be
just.
When, in 1855, the Northwestern Christian (now Butler) University
was founded, Dr. Brown, as one of the trustees, advocated
coeducation; in 1858 he took the chair of natural science, and in
that branch taught classes of both sexes until 1871. In 1868 he
was active in organizing the Indiana Medical College on the basis
of equal rights to women, and filled the chair of chemistry until
1872; in 1873 he was appointed to the chair of physiology, which
he held until 1877, and then resigned because the board of
trustees determined to exclude women. This proves that Dr.
Brown's devotion to the doctrine of equal rights is of that rare
degree which will bear the crucial test of official and pecuniary
sacrifice. He has been an active member of the State and city
suffrage associations from the beginning.
The name of Mary E. Haggart first appears as a member of the
State Association at the convention held in Indianapolis in 1869.
In 1870, Mr. Hadley made a speech in the State Senate against
woman suffrage, to which Mrs. Haggart wrote an able reply which
was published and widely commented on by the press of the State.
Her next notable effort was in a discussion through several
numbers of the _Ladies' Own Magazine_, published by Mrs. Cora
Bland, where she completely refuted the objections urged by her
opponent, a literary gentleman of some note. Mrs. Haggart has
addressed the legislatures of her own State, of Massachusetts,
Rhode Island and Kentucky, as well as the Judiciary Committee of
the House of Representatives at the hearing granted the National
Association. She seldom speaks without the most careful
preparation, and never without manifesting abilities of the
highest order. Perhaps no woman in the State, as a speaker, has
won higher encomiums from the press or has better deserved them.
The first active step taken in suffrage by Mrs. Florence M.
Adkinson (then Miss Burlingame) was to call a convention in
Lawrenceburg. In 1871, 1872, she gave several lectures on
suffrage and temperance in Ohio, and held a series of meetings in
southeastern Indiana. Though an acceptable speaker, it is as a
writer that Mrs. Adkinson is best known; she is an officer in
both the State and the city organizations, and in every capacity
serves the cause with rare fidelity.
The name of Lizzie Boynton of Crawfordsville frequently occurs in
suffrage reports between 1865 and 1870. She was a member of the
State Association and a frequent speaker at its conventions.
Besides working in that body, she assisted in the organization of
the local society at Crawfordsville, wrote poems, stories,
essays, and won high rank in the State in literature and reform.
From mature womanhood her record as Mrs. Harbert belongs to
Illinois rather than Indiana.