That of the majority, recommended its passage, while the

minority opposed it on the ground that it would be

inadvisable to introduce opposing measures into the House

and thus create new divisions in politics and a new cause of

excitement; but principally upon the claim that in the

territory where female suffrage had obtained "for a period

of two years" the experiment had been disastrous, the

"interests of the territory damaged in emigration," and the

administration of justice hindered in the courts. This

report was signed by Senators J. C. Myers and S. B. Taylor,

who had persistently refused to listen to argument or

information on the subject. As soon as the report was made,

the senators were informed of their glaring mistake as to

the length of time the women of Wyoming had voted, and

information was laid before them proving that the results in

that territory had been in every way beneficial,[468] but

they refused to withdraw or change their report.

The parliamentary tactics and watchfulness of Senators

Doane, Coon, Smith, White, Dinsmore, Harrington and Tefft

carried the bill through the bluster of the minority to its

final vote; by twenty-two for to eight against.[469] When

Senator Howe's name was called he offered the following

explanation:

The question of submitting this proposition to a vote of the

people is not to be regarded as a pleasantry, as some

members seem to think. However mischievously the experiment

of giving the suffrage to women may operate, the power once

given cannot be recalled. I have endeavored to look at the

question conscientiously. I desire to keep abreast of all

legitimate reforms of the day. I would like to see the moral

influence of women at the polls, but I would not like to see

the immoral influence of politics in the home circle. The

Almighty has imposed upon woman the highest office to which

human nature is subject, that of bearing children. Her life

is almost necessarily a home life; it should be largely

occupied in rearing and training her children to be good men

and pure electors. Therein her influence is all-powerful.

Again, I incline to the belief that to strike out the word

'male' in the constitution would not change its meaning so

as to confer the suffrage upon women. I am not acquainted

with half a dozen ladies who would accept the suffrage if it

were offered to them. They are not prepared for so radical a

change. For these reasons, briefly stated, and others, I

vote _No_.

Mr. Turner explained his vote as follows:

Our wives, mothers and sisters having an equal interest with

us in the welfare of our commonwealth, and being equal to

ourselves in intelligence, there appears no good reason why

the right to vote should be withheld from them. The genius

of our institutions is opposed to taxation without

representation; opposed to government without the consent of

the governed, and therefore I vote _Aye_.

The act was then signed by the president of the Senate and

speaker of the House, and sent to Gov. Nance. The latter,

who, although not personally an advocate of the measure, had

given all courtesy and assistance to its supporters, signed

it promptly. To take a bill like this, which even a minority

are anxious to defeat, through the intricate course of

legislation requires work, watchfulness and the utmost tact

and discretion on the part of its friends in both Houses.

The suffrage association immediately arranged to begin a canvass

of the State. The vice-president was appointed State organizer

and entered upon the duties of the office by forming a society at

Beatrice, March 5. The next step was to secure ample and

unimpeachable testimonials from Wyoming, which were printed in

_Woman's Work_, and then spread broadcast in leaflet form.

Lectures were given, and societies and working committees formed

as rapidly as possible. The _Western Woman's Journal_, a neat

monthly magazine, was established in May, by Hon. E. M. Correll,

and a host of women suddenly found themselves gifted with the

power to speak and write, which they consecrated to the cause of

their civil liberties.

The Thayer County Association, as the elder sister of the

numerous family now springing up, maintained its prominence as a

centre of activity and intelligence. Barbara J. Thompson,

secretary from its organization, wrote at this time of the

enthusiasm felt, and of the willingness of the women to work, but

added, "nearly all our women are young mothers with from one to

five children, and these cannot do anything more than attend the

meetings occasionally when they can leave the children." This

might have been said of any society in the State, and this fact

must be considered in judging from their achievements of the zeal

of the Nebraska women. Few, comparatively, could take a public

part, and all others were constantly reckoned by opponents as

unwilling or indifferent. Thayer County Association celebrated

the Fourth of July in a novel manner, making every feature an

object lesson. _Woman's Work_ gave an account of it at the time,

which is quoted to give a pleasant glance backward at the

enthusiasm and interest that marked the work of this society:

We found to our surprise that the women of Thayer county had

in charge the whole celebration. The Fourth dawned cool and

clear, and with news of the improvement of Garfield,

everybody felt happy. The procession, marshaled by ladies on

their handsome horses, and assisted by Senator C. B. Coon,

was formed in due time, and presented a very imposing

appearance. The band wagon was followed by nearly a hundred

others, and among the novelties of the occasion was the

boys' brigade, consisting of a score of little fellows,

some with drums and some with cornets, who played in quite

tolerable time. The States were represented to indicate

their progress with regard to equal rights. Young men

represented those wherein no advance had been made; young

women those where school suffrage had been granted to women;

and Wyoming Territory was represented by two, a man and a

woman. The little girls were all dressed in the appropriate

colors, the wagons were gaily decorated, and the procession

well managed. After singing and prayer, the president, Mrs.

Ferguson, gave a short address. Mrs. Vermilion, who is a

direct descendant of one of the signers of the Declaration

of Independence, read the Woman's Declaration of

Independence and Bill of Rights, a document couched in such

forcible terms as Hancock, Adams & Co., would use if they

were women in this year of our Lord 1881. Then followed the

oration of the day, delivered by Mrs. Colby, and for the

audience it had at least two points of interest: First, that

the woman suffrage society had acted in defiance of

precedent, and had engaged a woman as their orator; and

secondly, that it was given from the standpoint of a citizen

and not of a woman. There being nothing in the address on

the matter of woman suffrage, the society desired the

speaker to address them in the evening on that subject.

Accordingly a meeting was held, and despite the fatigue of

the day, there was a good attendance and considerable

interest. A good dinner was provided on the grounds, and

afterwards they had singing and speaking. Mr. Hendershot

addressed the children. It will be an item of interest to

the readers of the _Express_ that the W. S. A. of Thayer

county have had some songs printed appropriate for their

use. Among them is "Hold the Polls," a song by the editor of

the _Express_, and this was sung with considerable

enthusiasm. It may be said that the whole affair was a

success, and reflected great credit on the executive ability

of the ladies in charge. One item of interest must not be

forgotten--among the various banners indicative of the

virtues which are worthy of cultivation, was one whose motto

read, "In Mother we Trust." A lady being asked the peculiar

significance of this, said, "It has always been God and

father, now we want the children to learn to trust their

mothers, and to think they are of some account."

A successful State convention was held at Omaha July 6, 7, Mrs.

Brooks presiding and making the opening address. The address of

Mrs. Ada M. Bittenbender on "The Legal Disabilities of Married

Women" created quite a discussion among a number of noted lawyers

present. Of this the _Republican_ said:

This lady is the well-known recent editor of the Osceola

_Record_, which she has now relinquished for the study and

practice of law, in partnership with her husband. Her

address, although learned, elaborate, comprehensive, and

dealing with principles and technicalities, was delivered

extemporaneously, with great animation and effect, and in a

manner at once womanly, captivating and strong.

Miss Ida Edson read a paper on "Might and Right." Mrs. Bloomer,

whose presence was an interesting feature of the convention, gave

reminiscences of her own work for woman's ballot in Nebraska. The

convention was enlivened by the dramatic readings of Mrs. H. P.

Mathewson, and the inspiring ballads of the poet-singer, James G.

Clark, who had come from Colorado to attend the meeting. A

glimpse at the convention through the friendly eyes of the editor

of the _Republican_ will indicate the interest and ability shown

by the women of the State:

The first general convention of the Woman's State Suffrage

Association commenced its session last evening at Masonic

hall, the president, Mrs. Harriet S. Brooks, in the chair,

assisted by the first vice-president, Mrs. Clara B. Colby of

Beatrice; the secretary, Mrs. A. M. Bittenbender of Osceola;

and the treasurer, Mrs. Russell of Tecumseh. A majority of

the members of the executive committee and of the

vice-presidents were also present, with several friends of

the cause from abroad, including Hon. E. M. Correll, editor

of the _Western Woman's Journal_, who was the "leader of the

House" on the bill for submitting the suffrage amendment to

the people. The evening was sultry and threatening, and

Masonic hall was not so full as it would otherwise have

been, considering both "promise and performance." The local

attendance was representative, including quite a number of

our leading citizens, with their wives, and the editors of

our contemporaries the _Herald_ and the _Bee_. The meeting

was a very interesting one, more especially the

"conversational" portion, in which free discussion was

solicited. This was opened by Hon. E. Rosewater, who spoke

in response to a very general call. His address of half an

hour in length was marked by apparent sincerity, and was a

calm and argumentative presentation of objections,

theoretical and practical, which occurred to him against the

extension of the franchise to women. It was replied to by

Mrs. Colby, in a running comment, which abounded in womanly

wisdom and wit, and incessantly brought down the house. Our

restricted space will compel us to forego a report of the

discussion at present. On the conclusion of Mrs. Colby's

very bright and convincing remarks, Dr. McNamara addressed

the convention in a brief speech of great earnestness, depth

and power.

The last session was most interesting. The hall was nearly

filled, and among the audience were representatives of many

of our leading families. There was rather too much crowded

into this session, but the convention "cleaned up" its work

thoroughly, and the audience displayed a patient interest to

the very end. Besides the address of Professor Clark, there

was a masterly constitutional argument by Mrs. Clara B.

Colby, which demonstrated that woman can argue logically,

and can support her postulates with the requisite legal

learning, embracing a knowledge of the common and statute

law authorities from Blackstone down. The address abounded

in historical and literary allusions which show its author

to be a person of broad culture as well as an adept in "book

learning." Following came another address from Mrs. Bloomer,

in which she disposed--as he expressed, to Dr. McNamara's

entire satisfaction--of the stock biblical argument down

from Moses to Paul against "woman's rights" to act in the

same spheres, and speak from the same platform with men.

This address was given at the special request of several

leading ladies of this city, and though the hour was late,

it was received with unbroken interest, and was complimented

with a special vote of thanks, moved by Mrs. Colby. Most

interesting reports of district and local work were made by

Mrs. Holmes, of Tecumseh, Mrs. Chapin of Riverton, and Mrs.

Slaughter of Osceola. Dr. McNamara closed the convention

with a few stirring words of exhortation to the ladies to go

right to work from now on to November, 1882. He excused

himself from a set speech with the promise that, if "let

off" now, he would, at some future time, present a full

expression of his views on the reform to which he has so

earnestly pledged himself. The closing word in which the

_Republican_ would sum up the varied proceedings of the

first State suffrage convention is the magic word success.

A second very successful convention was held at Kearney, October

19, 20. A score or more societies were represented by delegates

and their reports were very encouraging.

The principal features of the programme were: Address of

president, Harriet S. Brooks; welcome, Mrs. H. S. Sydenham;

response, Mrs. A. P. Nicholas; addresses by Mrs. Esther L.

Warner, Gen. S. H. Connor (whose name appeared among the

votes of the opponents in 1875); Mrs. Orpha C. Dinsmoor, on

"Inherent Rights"; L. B. Fifield, regent of the State

University, on "Woman's Influence for Women"; and Rev.

Crissman, resident Presbyterian minister, on "Expediency."

Among the letters received was the following, addressed to

Mrs. Dinsmoor, by Gen. Manderson, whose name has been

mentioned as voting for woman's ballot in the constitutional

conventions of 1871 and 1875:

OMAHA, October, 17.

Your esteemed favor inviting me to speak before the

convention at Kearney, October 18, 19, upon the subject of

the extension of suffrage to women, was duly received. I

have delayed replying to it until to day in the hope that my

professional engagements would permit me to meet with you at

Kearney. The continuing session of our District Court

prevents my absence at this time. I would like very much to

be with you at the meeting of your association. My desire,

however, would be to hear rather than to speak. Ten years

have passed since, with other members of the constitutional

convention of 1871, I met in argument those who opposed

striking the word "male" from the constitution of Nebraska.

In those days "the truth was mighty and prevailed," almost

to the extent of full success, for, as the result of our

effort, we saw the little band of thirteen increase to

thirty. I feel that there must be much of new thought and

rich argument growing from the agitation of the last ten

years, and to listen to those who, like yourself and many

other members of your association, have been in the

forefront of the battle for the right, would be most

interesting. But I must, for the present, forego the

pleasure of hearing you. I write merely to keep myself "on

the record" in the good fight. Now, as ever, I favor the

enfranchisement of women, the disfranchisement of ignorance.

I would both extend and contract the right to vote in our

republic; extend it so that intelligence without regard to

color or sex should rule, and contract it so that ignorance

should be ruled. If this be not the cure for the political

ills that threaten the permanency of American institutions,

then there is no cure. May Nebraska be the first of the

States to apply the remedy.

Very respectfully yours, CHARLES F. MANDERSON.

[Illustration: Clara Bewick Colby]

The association sent out its scouts, and as a result a convention

was held in quite the northern part of the State, at Norfolk,

November 30 and December 1. This was much appreciated by the

citizens, whose locality was at that time not much frequented by

speakers on any topic.[470] The first annual meeting, held at

Lincoln in February, 1882, found a large number of delegates,

each with reports of kindred local work, ready to receive the

record of this year of preparation. Everything indicated a

favorable termination to the effort, as it became evident that

all sections of the State were being aroused to active interest.

The address of the president, Mrs. Harriet S. Brooks, was

entitled, "Work, Wages and the Ballot." It was a review of a

lecture given earlier in the season by Chancellor Fairchild

of the University, in which he had taken the ground that the

work of women should not receive the same wages as that of

men. Rev. Dr. McNamara and others spoke briefly and

earnestly. Miss Lydia Bell, at the closing evening session,

gave an address which, to use the words of the reporter,

"for felicity of composition, strength of argument, and

beauty of delivery, fully merited the special resolution of

thanks unanimously given by the society."[471]

The work of organizing and lecturing was continued with as much

zeal and efficiency as the busy days and limited resources of the

women would permit. Many of the counties held conventions, took

count of their friends, and prepared for a vigorous campaign. As

the summer advanced, at picnics, old settlers' gatherings,

soldiers' reuenions, fairs, and political conventions,--wherever

a company of people had assembled, there interested women claimed

an opportunity to present the subject to audiences it would

otherwise have been impossible to reach. With but few exceptions,

officials extended the courtesies asked.

During the summer of 1882, the work was greatly aided by the

lectures of Margaret Campbell and Matilda Hindman; and during the

month of September by Helen M. Gougar. The American Suffrage

Association, at its annual meeting in 1881, elected Hon. E. M.

Correll president, as a recognition of his services to the cause

in Nebraska, and in 1882, it held its annual meeting in Omaha,

September 12 and 13. Lucy Stone, H. B. Blackwell, and Hannah

Tracy Cutler remained for some weeks, lecturing in the State, and

were warmly received by the local committees. Ex-Governor John W.

Hoyt, and Judge Kingman, of Wyoming, gave a few addresses. The

National Association also held its annual meeting at Omaha, Sept.

26, 27, 28. A reception was given at the Paxton Hotel on the

close of the last session. Following this, a two days' convention

was held at Lincoln, from which point the speakers diverged to

take part in the campaign.[472]

While those friendly to the amendment were laboring thus

earnestly, the politicians held themselves aloof and attended

strictly to "mending their own fences." After the act had passed

the legislature, it was found that almost every prominent man in

the State was friendly to the amendment. The bench and bar were

especially favorable, while three-fourths of the press and a

large majority of the clergy warmly espoused the cause. Leading

politicians told the women to go ahead and organize, and they

would assist in the latter part of the canvass. Thayer and Clay

county Republicans endorsed woman suffrage in their platform,

while Franklin county delegates were instructed to vote for no

one who was not in favor of the amendment.

Previous to the session of the Republican State Convention, great

hopes were entertained that this body would put an endorsement of

the amendment in its platform, as a majority of the delegates

were personally pledged to vote for such a measure. But the

committee on resolutions was managed by a man who feared that

such endorsement would hurt the party, and the suffrage

resolution which was handed in, was not reported with the rest.

On the plea of time being precious, the convention was maneuvered

to pass a resolution that the report of the committee should not

be discussed. The report was brought in at the last moment of the

convention, and adopted as previously arranged, and the

convention was adjourned, everybody wondering why a resolution

relative to the amendment had not been presented. The Republican

leaders feared that their party was endangered by the passage of

the bill by the legislature, for it was very largely carried by

Republican votes, and while individually friendly, they almost to

a man avoided the subject.

As the canvass progressed, it was comical to note how shy the

politicians fought of the women to whom they had promised

assistance. Judge O. P. Mason, who had agreed to give ten

lectures for the amendment, and whose advocacy would have had

immense weight, engaged to speak for the Republican party, and at

every place but one, the managers stipulated that he should be

silent on the amendment. Of the vast array of Republican

speakers, had even those who had expressed themselves in favor of

the amendment advocated it intelligently and earnestly, the

result would have been different.

Due credit must be given to ex-United States Senator Tipton,

Judge W. H. Morris, and a few others who lectured outside of

their own counties, as well as at home, while David Butler,

candidate for senator from Pawnee county, E. M. Correll of

Hebron, C. C. Chapin of Riverton, Judge A. P. Yocum of Hastings,

and doubtless a few others, regardless of their political

prospects, advocated the cause of woman along with their own. The

women of Nebraska will always cherish the memory of the

enthusiastic young student from Ann Arbor, Michigan, who spent

some months of the campaign in Nebraska, giving lavishly of his

means and talents to aid the cause. Wilder M. Wooster was a

bright, logical speaker, and his death, which occurred in 1885,

cost the world a promising and conscientious journalist.

Towards the close of the campaign it became evident that the

saloon element was determined to defeat the amendment. The organ

of the Brewers' Association sent out its orders to every saloon,

bills posted in conspicuous places by friends of the amendment

mysteriously disappeared, or were covered by others of an

opposite character, and the greatest pains was taken to excite

the antagonism of foreigners by representing to them that woman

suffrage meant prohibition. On the other hand, the temperance

advocates were by no means a unit for its support.

The morning dawned bright and clear on November 5, 1882. The most

casual observer would have seen that some unusual interest was

commanding attention. Everything wore a holiday appearance.

Polling places were gaily decorated; banners floated to the

breeze, bearing suggestive mottoes: "Are Women Citizens?"

"Taxation Without Representation is Tyranny!" "Governments Derive

their Just Powers from the Consent of the Governed." "Equality

before the Law," etc., etc. Under pavilions, or in adjoining

rooms, or in the very shadow of the ballot-box, women presided at

well-filled tables, serving refreshments to the voters, and

handing to those who would take them, tickets bearing the words:

"For Constitutional Amendment Relating to Right of Suffrage,"

while the national colors floated alike over governing and

governed; alike over women working and pleading for their rights

as citizens, and men who were selling woman's birth-right for a

glass of beer or a vote. It looked like a holiday picnic--the

well-dressed people, the flowers, the badges, and the flags; but

the tragic events of that day would fill a volume.

The conservative joined hands with the vicious, the egotist with

the ignorant, the demagogue with the venial, and when the sun

set, Nebraska's opportunity to do the act of simple justice was

gone--lost by a vote of 50,693 to 25,756--so the record gives

it. But it must not be forgotten that many tickets were

fraudulently printed, and that tickets which contained no mention

of the amendment were counted against it, as also were tickets

having any technical defect or omission; for instance, tickets

having the abbreviated form, "For the Amendment," were counted

against it. It will always remain an open question whether the

amendment did not, after all, receive an actual majority of all

votes cast upon that question. In this new State, burdened with

the duties incident to the development of a new country, the

women had done what women might do to secure their rights, but

their hour had not yet struck.

On the following evening, the speakers of the National

Association, who still remained in the State held a meeting[473]

at the opera-house in Omaha, at which the addresses were in the

main congratulatory for the large vote, making proportionally the

largest ever cast for woman's ballot.

While history must perforce be silent concerning the efforts and

sacrifices of the many, a word will be expected in regard to some

of the principal actors. Looking back on these two eventful

years, not a woman who took part in that struggle would wish to

have been inactive in that heroic hour. It is an inspiration and

an ennobling of all the faculties that they have once been lifted

above all personal aims and transient interests; and for all who

caught the true meaning of the moment, life can never again touch

the low level of indifference. The officers of the State

Association who were most active in the canvass are here

mentioned with a word as to their subsequent efforts:

Mrs. Harriet S. Brooks, whose services have so often been

referred to, after working in three States for the

privileges of citizenship, is devoting herself to the

congenial study of sociology, and her able pen still does

service.

Ada M. Bittenbender was admitted to the bar May 17, 1882,

and from that time until the election gave undivided

attention to the duties of her office as president of the

State Association. The campaign song-book, the supplement

folded in the county papers, the columns of notes and news

prepared for many journals in the State, the headquarters in

Lincoln from which, with the assistance of E. M. Correll and

Mrs. Russell, she sent forth documents, posters, blanks and

other campaign accessories, sufficiently attest her energy

and ability. She is now a practicing lawyer of Lincoln, and

was successful during the session of the legislature of 1885

in securing the passage of a law making mothers joint and

equal guardians of their children.

Mrs. Belle G. Bigelow of Geneva was an active and reliable

officer during the canvass of 1882, and is now prominent in

the temperance work of Nebraska.

Mrs. Lucinda Russell of Tecumseh, for two years the

treasurer of the State Association, edited a department in

the local paper in the interest of the amendment, was one of

the campaign committee, and spared no effort to push the

work in her own county. Her sister, Mrs. Jennie F. Holmes,

was one of the most efficient members of the executive

committee. She drove all over her own county, holding

meetings in the school-houses. The efforts of these two

women would have carried Johnson county for the amendment

had not the election officials taken advantage of a

technical defect in the tickets used in some of the

precincts. Mrs. Holmes sustained the suffrage work in

Nebraska through the two following years as chairman of the

executive committee, was elected in 1884 to the office of

president of the State Woman's Christian Temperance Union,

and reelected in 1885 to the same position.

Mrs. Orpha C. Dinsmoor of Omaha, as chairman of the

executive committee during the first year (Mrs. De Long

having resigned), contributed largely to the most successful

conventions of the campaign. One of the most notable

lectures given in the State was hers in reply to Chancellor

Fairfield of the Nebraska University, on "Work and Wages."

As it was known that the chancellor held the ground that

woman should not be paid equally with man, even for the same

work and the same skill, the Lincoln Woman Suffrage

Association invited him to give his lecture on that subject,

and Mrs. Dinsmoor to answer him on the following evening.

Mrs. Dinsmoor is well known for her interest in education

and scientific charity, and has, by appointment of the

governor of the State, represented Nebraska at the National

Conference of Charities and Corrections at its last two

annual meetings. She is now the president of the Nebraska

Woman's Board of Associated Charities.

Mrs. Barbara J. Thompson, of English birth, was one of the

leading spirits of the Thayer County Society, and was active

in holding meetings and organizing committees. Her principal

service was by her ready pen, which furnished articles for a

large number of papers. It is pleasant to reflect that one

woman who worked so earnestly for the rights of citizenship

in Nebraska has obtained them in her new home at Tacoma,

Washington Territory.

Mrs. Gertrude McDowell of Fairbury lent her wit and wisdom

to many conventions, was ready with her pen, and secured a

thorough canvass in Jefferson county. She was the third

president of the State Association.

Mrs. Mollie K. Maule of Fairmont laid by her law studies to

serve on the executive board of the State Association. In

company with Mrs. Susie Fifield and others, she held

meetings in all the precincts of Fillmore county, securing a

good vote. Mrs. Maule was elected president of the State

Association in 1885.

Mrs. Jennie G. Ford of Kearney, for some time member of the

executive committee, was one of the leading advocates in

Buffalo county. Always aiding and inspiring others to

effort, she was an incessant worker in the causes dear to

her heart. She was president of the Nebraska Woman's

Christian Temperance Union from 1882 to 1884. She died June

18, 1885, leaving in the hearts of all who had known her,

tender memories of her beautiful life.

Miss Lydia Bell, a talented elocutionist of Lincoln, devoted

some months to lecturing. Her great intellectual and

rhetorical gifts made her a very effective speaker.

Dr. Hetty K. Painter was a graduate of the Pennsylvania

Medical College in 1860. She was a physician in the army

during the civil war, and her proudest possession is the

badge which proves her membership in the Fifth Army Corps.

Her practice and her infirmary at Lincoln did not prevent

her helping largely the cause in which she felt so great an

interest.

Mrs. Esther L. Warner of Roca was the only person actively

engaged in the last canvass who had been connected with the

effort of 1871. As vice-president of her judicial district,

she spoke at many places, organizing wherever practicable.

Her motherly face, and persuasive but humorous argument,

made her a favorite at conventions. Coming to Nebraska in

its early days, a widow with a large family, she purchased a

large farm and devoted herself to its management, to the

care and education of her children, and to the direction of

the village school, being a member of the board of trustees

for many years. She had not used tongue or pen for public

service since her girlhood until this occasion enlisted her

interest and proved her gifts.

Clara C. Chapin, _La Petite_, as she was called at

conventions, or as a friend styles her, "the dear little

English bud that blossomed on American soil," was one of the

most zealous of our women, organizing, lecturing and

arranging campaigns. She is at present very active in the

temperance work, and is one of the editors of a State

temperance paper, the _Republican Valley Echo_. An extract

from a letter received from her in answer to inquiry will

show the spirit that actuates this representative advocate

of woman's political enfranchisement:

I never thought much about "woman's rights" until within the

last five years--that is, _political_ rights. I always had a

strong sense of my responsibilities as a woman and a mother

(have three children), and realize that we need something

more than moral suasion to make our influence practical and

effective. My husband, though not what is called a

"politician," has been sufficiently in politics for me to

know just what power the ballot has, and to see the

necessity of woman's work in that direction. I am happy to

say that Mr. Chapin is heart and soul with me in this, and

it is a wonder to us how any wife or mother, how any

Christian woman can say, "I have all the rights I want."

Hoping to hold the vantage ground already gained, a State

convention was held at Kearney, December 6, 7, the place being

selected because Buffalo county had carried the amendment by a

good majority.

The association held three formal sessions, which were well

attended and very interesting. Speeches of encouragement and

congratulation were made, plans for work discussed, and

campaign reminiscences recounted. One of the most

interesting that was given was that of Mrs. Beedy of Gardner

precinct, who said that the women actively interested in the

suffrage work talked socially on the subject with every man

in the precinct. There were seventy-two votes, and only four

against the amendment. Of these four persons, two could

neither read nor write, a third could not write his own

name, and the fourth could not write his name in English.

All the delegates present reported that the social work had

been a prime cause of such success as they had found. Mrs.

Bigelow said that Geneva precinct stood ninety-eight for the

amendment and ninety-eight against. At Fairmont sixty ladies

went to the polls. They wore white ribbon badges on which

was printed, "Are we citizens?" The general impression among

those attending the convention was that the Association

should petition congress for a sixteenth amendment, petition

the Nebraska legislature for municipal suffrage, and make

use of school suffrage to its fullest extent. The executive

committee held four sessions, appointed a number of working

committees, and attended to settling up the campaign

business of the Association. The convention was considered a

decided success in every way.

The annual meeting was held in January, 1883. Mrs. Gertrude

McDowell was elected president. The usual business was

transacted, and a special committee appointed to secure favorable

legislation. In view of the fact that so much of the opposition

had been based on the allegation that "women do not want to

vote," a resolution was prepared for the immediate re-submission

of a constitutional amendment with a provision making it legal

for women to vote on its final ratification. The joint resolution

was introduced by Senator Charles H. Brown of Omaha, and ably

advocated by him and others, especially by Senator David Butler.

It was lost by nearly a two-thirds vote. The Committee on

Amendments gave a hearing to Lydia Bell, Clara C. Chapin and

Clara B. Colby. The joint resolution was taken up in the Senate

for discussion February 15. _Woman's Work_ gives the record of

the proceedings:

Senator McShane of Douglas moved indefinite postponement.

Senator Brown of Douglas, who introduced the resolution,

spoke against the motion and made a forcible historical

argument for the bill. Senator McShane then spoke at length

against the bill, basing his opposition to the

enfranchisement of woman on the ground that it would be

detrimental to the interests of the foreigner. Senator

Schoenheit of Richardson opposed the bill on the plea that it

would mar the loveliness of woman in her domestic relations.

Senator Reynolds of Butler favored the bill. He had voted

against the amendment last fall, but he did it because he

feared the women did not want the ballot, and he was willing

to let them decide for themselves. Senator Dech of Saunders

favored the bill in remarks showing a broad and

comprehensive philosophy. Senator Butler of Pawnee made a

magnificent arraignment of the Republican and Democratic

parties, and an appeal to the anti-monopolists to oppose the

monopoly of sex. His speech was the longest and most

earnest of the session. Several persons expressing a desire

to continue the discussion, McShane withdrew his motion to

postpone. The Senate adjourned, and on Friday morning it was

moved and carried that this bill be made the special order

for that evening. Accordingly, the chamber and gallery were

filled. On motion, Mrs. Colby was unanimously requested to

address the Senate in behalf of the bill. Senator Butler

escorted her to the clerk's desk, and she delivered an

extemporaneous address, of which a fair synopsis was given

by the _Journal_ reporter. Foreseeing the defeat of the

bill, she said, in closing, "You may kill this bill,

gentlemen, but you cannot kill the principle of individual

liberty that is at issue. It is immortal, and rises

Phoenix-like from every death to a new life of surpassing

beauty and vigor. The votes you cast against the bill will,

like the dragons' teeth in the myth of old, spring up into

armed warriors that shall obstruct your path, demanding of

you the recognition of woman's right to 'equality before the

law.'" The grave and reverend senators joined in the

applause of the gallery, and carried Senator Reynolds'

motion "that the thanks of this Senate be returned to Mrs.

Colby for the able, eloquent and instructive address to

which we have listened"; but with no apparent reluctance, on

Senator McShane's motion being renewed, they postponed the

bill by a vote of 18 to 6.[474] Of the absent ones, Senator

Dech was known to be sick, some of the others were in their

seats a moment previous, and it is fairly to be presumed

that they did not dare to vote upon the question. Of those

voting aye, Senators Brown of Clay, and Walker of Lancaster

had favored the bill in the committee, and the friends were

counting on their vote, as also some others who had

expressed themselves favorable. It is due to Senators Brown

of Douglas and Butler to say that they championed the bill

heartily, and furthered its interests in every possible way.

Conventions were held at Grand Island in May, at Hastings in

August of 1883, and at Fremont August, 1884. The annual meeting

of 1884 was held at York, and that of 1885 in Lincoln. At all of

these enthusiasm and interest were manifested, which indicate

that the idea has not lost its foothold. The _Woman's Tribune_,

established in 1883, circulates largely in the State, and

maintains an intelligent if not an active interest. When a new

occasion comes the women will be able to meet it. Their present

attitude of hopeful waiting has the courage and faith expressed

in the words of Lowell:

"Endurance is the crowning quality,

And patience all the passion of great hearts;

These are their stay, and when the hard world

With brute strength, like scornful conqueror,

Clangs his huge mace down in the other scale,

The inspired soul but flings his patience in,

And slowly that out-weighs the ponderous globe;

One faith against a whole world's unbelief,

One soul against the flesh of all mankind."

FOOTNOTES:

[457] Having visited Beatrice twice to speak in different courses

of lectures arranged by Mrs. Colby, I can testify to her executive

ability alike in her domestic and public work. She can get up a

meeting, arrange the platform, with desk and lights, and introduce

a speaker with as much skill and grace as she can spread a table

with dainty china and appetizing food, and enliven a dinner with

witty and earnest conversation.--[E. C. S.

[458] _Yeas_--Messrs. Boulwere, Buck, Campbell, Chambers, Clancy,

Davis, Decker, Hail, Haygood, Hoover, Kirk, Larimer, Rose,

Sullivan--14.

_Nays_--Messrs. Beck, Bowen, Gibson, Harsh, Laird, Miller, Moore,

Morton, McDonald, Riden, Salisbury--11.

[459] It is a pleasure to record that both these gentlemen have

reached the logical result of their former views, and now advocate

giving the franchise to intelligence and patriotism regardless of

the sex of the possessor. Governor Saunders, in the capacity of

United States Senator, cast a favorable ballot on measures in any

manner referring to woman's civil rights, and in 1882 spoke on the

platform of the National Association, at its Washington convention.

[460] The legislature of 1875 repealed this law except so far as it

referred to unmarried adult women and widows. In the legislature of

1881, Senator C. H. Gere introduced a bill revising the laws

relating to schools. One of the provisions of the bill conferred

the school ballot on women on the same terms as on men--viz: Any

person having children of school age, or having paid taxes on

personal property, or being assessed on real estate, within such a

period, is entitled to vote at all elections pertaining to schools.

This, however, does not include the power to vote for State or

county superintendents. The women of the State now vote so largely

that it is no longer a matter of comment or record.

[461] The following named representatives voted "yea": Messrs.

Ahmanson, Cannon, Doone, Galey, Goodin, Hall, Jenkins, Kipp,

Majors, Myers, Nims, Patterson, Porter, Quimby, Rhodes, Ryan,

Wickham, Riordan, Roberts--19. Voting "nay": Messrs. Briggs, Beall,

E. Clark, J. Clark, Dillon, Duby, Grenell, Hudson, Munn, Overton,

Reed, Rosewater, Rouse, Schock, Shook, Sommerlad--16.

[462] Voting in the affirmative: Messrs. Gerrard, Hascall, Kennedy,

Tucker, Tennant, and Mr. President--6. Voting in the negative:

Messrs. Brown, Hawke, Hillon, Metz, Sheldon, and Thomas--6.

[463] Voting "yea": Messrs. Ballard, Boyd, Campbell, Cassell,

Estabrook, Gibbs, Gray, Hascall, Kenaston, Kilburn, Kirkpatrick,

Lake, Lyon, Majors, Mason, Manderson, Maxwell, Neligh, Newsome,

Philpott, Price, Robinson, Stewart, Spiece, Shaff, Thomas, Tisdel,

Towle, Wakeley, President Strickland--30. Voting "nay": Messrs.

Abbott, Eaton, Granger, Griggs, Moore, Myers, Parchin, Reynolds,

Sprague, Stevenson, Hummel, Vifquain, Weaver--13.

[464] The gentlemen who advocated the measure most warmly, were

among the ablest judges and jurists of the State. Of the

opposition, Judge O. P. Mason experienced a change of heart, and

ten years later appeared as a foremost advocate. General E.

Estabrook of Omaha lent all his influence to the amendment in the

late canvass, and Col. Philpott of Lincoln was also a warm

advocate, often accompanying his zealous wife and other members of

the effective and untiring Lincoln association to the school-house

meetings held in all parts of Lancaster county. D. T. Moore was

called out at a meeting in York in 1881, and came forward without

hesitation, saying that he was in favor of woman suffrage. He

related this incident: that on his return home from the convention

of 1871, he found that his wife had been looking after his stock

farm and attending to his business so that everything was in good

order. He praised her highly, when she replied, "Yes, and while I

was caring for your interests, you were voting against my rights."

The reply set him to thinking, and he thought himself over on the

other side. A. J. Weaver opposed the clause in a very bitter

speech. The friends of the amendment in 1881 were given to

understand that Mr. Weaver was friendly, but to prevent the

foreigners having that opinion, Mr. Weaver translated the record of

his opposition into German, and distributed the papers among the

German voters. Having been elected to congress, he was one of only

three Republican members who voted against the standing committee

on woman's claims. These facts cost him a great many votes at the

time of his reelection in 1884, and are not yet forgotten.

[465] The debates of this convention were not reported for the

economical reasons mentioned. The names of the honored fifteen are,

Clinton Briggs, W. L. Dunlap, R. C. Eldridge, J. G. Ewan, C. H.

Frady, C. H. Gere, R. B. Harrington, D. P. Henry, C. F. Manderson,

J. McPherson, M. B. Reese, S. M. Kirkpatrick, L. B. Thorne, A. M.

Walling, J. F. Zediker. Many of these were active friends of the

amendment of 1881.

[466] The officers elected were: _President_, Harriet S. Brooks,

Omaha; _Vice-President-at-Large_, Clara Bewick Colby, Beatrice;

_Vice-Presidents_--First Judicial District, Mrs. B. J. Thomson,

Hebron; Second, Mrs. E. L. Warner, Roca; Third, Mrs. A. P.

Nicholas, Omaha; Fourth, Mrs. J. S. Burns, Scribner; Fifth, Mrs. C.

C. Chapin, Riverton; Sixth, Mrs. D. B. Slaughter, Fullerton;

_Recording Secretary_, Mrs. Ada M. Bittenbender, Osceola;

_Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. Gertrude McDowell, Fairbury;

_Treasurer_, Mrs. L. Russell, Tecumseh; _Executive Committee_, Rev.

M. J. DeLong, Tecumseh; Mrs. Orpha C. Dinsmoor, Omaha; Mrs. J. C.

Roberts, David City; Mrs. C. B. Parker, Mrs. J. B. Finch, Lincoln;

Mrs. E. M. Correll, Hebron; Mrs. J. H. Bowen, Hastings.

[467] Members voting in the affirmative were: Messrs. Abbott,

Babcock; Bailey, Baldwin, Bartlett, Broatch, Brown, Cantlin,

Carman, Cook, Cole, Correll, Dailey, Dew, Dowty, Filley, Fried,

Graham, Gray, Hall, Heacock, Herman, Hostetter, Howe, Jackson of

Pawnee, Jensen, Johnson, Jones, Kaley, Kempton, Kyner, Linn,

McClun, McDougall, McKinnon, Mickey, Moore of York, Montgomery,

Palmer, Paxton, Ransom, Reed, Roberts, Root, Schick, Scott, Sill,

Slocumb, Watts, Wilsey and Windham--51. Voting in the negative:

Messrs. Bick, Bolln, Case, Franse, Frederick, Gates, Hollman,

Jackson of Douglas, King, Lamb, Laughlin, McShane, Moore of Otoe,

Mullen, Overton, Peterson, Putney, Sears, Wells, Whedon, Ziegler

and Mr. Speaker--22.

[468] At this time the valuable information from Wyoming with which

Nebraska was afterwards flooded; letters from Gov. Hoyt, editorials

from leading papers of the territory, and testimony from every

reputable source, had not been gathered; but two members of the

House, J. H. Helm and Church Howe, had been residents of Wyoming,

and these cheerfully gave their assurance that only good had

resulted from the enfranchisement of the women of Wyoming.

[469] Those voting in the affirmative were: Messrs. Baker, Burns

(of Dodge), Burns (of York), Coon, Daily, Dinsmore, Doane, Evans,

Gere, Graham, Harrington, Morse, Perkins, Pierce, Powers, Smith,

Tefft, Turner, Van Wyck, Wells, Wherry and White--22. Those voting

in the negative were: Messrs. Ballentine, Cady, Ervin, Howe, Myers,

Taylor, Turk and Zehrung--8. Two of these names cannot stand in the

roll of honor without an explanation; for twenty votes indicate the

full strength of the bill. The irrelevance of opponents was

illustrated by Senators Morse and Pierce. The former in voting

said, he had opposed the measure every step of the way, and now to

be consistent he voted aye. Senator Pierce said he had been

watching the other side of the capitol and nothing there seemed

popular but whiskey and women, therefore, he voted aye!

[470] The speakers of this convention were Clara Bewick Colby,

acting president; Mr. Sattler, who gave the welcome; Ada M.

Bittenbender, Esther L. Warner, Judge I. N. Taylor, Mrs. M. E.

Vandermark, Rev. Haywood and Professor Wood of Nebraska City

College. The latter spoke in English in the afternoon, and in

German, his native tongue, in the evening. The announcement that he

would do so drew a large number of his countrymen. One of these was

allowed the floor by request, when he soundly berated (in German)

the women as opposed to foreigners, while at the same time he tried

to weaken Professor Wood's argument by saying it was to be

attributed to an American wife. It was reported that the marked

contrast between the speakers was commented on by resident Germans

greatly to the disadvantage of their fellow-townsman.

[471] The officers elected were: _President_, Ada M. Bittenbender;

_Vice-President_, Clara Bewick Colby; _Secretary_, Belle G.

Bigelow; _Corresponding Secretary_, Gertrude M. McDowell;

_Treasurer_, Lucinda Russell; _Executive Committee_, Harriet S.

Brooks, E. M. Correll, Susie Noble Fifield, George B. Skinner, Rev.

John McNamara, Jennie F. Holmes; _Vice-Presidents of Judicial

Districts_--First, Barbara J. Thompson; second, Dr. Ruth M. Wood;

third, Orpha Clement Dinsmoor; fourth, Ada Van Pelt; fifth, Mrs. H.

S. Sydenham.

[472] Most of the speakers spent several weeks in the State. Mrs.

Helen M. Gougar, Mrs. May Wright Sewall, Mrs. Saxon, Mrs. Blake,

Mrs. Harbert, Mrs. Shattuck, Mrs. Neyman, Miss Anthony, Miss

Couzins and Miss Hindman were the principal National speakers, and

their ability and zeal aroused the whole State. Mrs. Colby was

indefatigable in her exertions from the moment the amendment was

submitted to the end of the canvass. Mrs. Colby and Miss Rachel

Foster organized the whole campaign throughout the State, and kept

all the speakers in motion.--[S. B. A.

[473] For further details of the closing scenes, see Vol. III. page

241.

[474] _Yeas_--Brown (Clay), Brown (Colfax), Butler, Canfield,

Conklin, Dolan, Dunphy, Harrison, Heist, McShane, Norris,

Patterson, Rogers, Sang, Schoenheit, Sowers, Thatch and Walker--18.

Senator Butler voted with these for the purpose of being able to

move a reconsideration. _Nays_--Bomgardner, Brown (Douglas),

Conner, Dye, Filley and Reynolds--6. _Absent_--Barker, Brown

(Lancaster), Case, Dech, Fisher, Harris, Kinkaid and Rich.

CHAPTER L.

KANSAS.

Effect of the Popular Vote on Woman Suffrage--Anna C.

Wait--Hannah Wilson--Miss Kate Stephens, Professor of Greek in

State University--Lincoln Centre Society, 1879--The Press--The

Lincoln _Beacon_--Election, 1880--Sarah A. Brown, Democratic

Candidate--Fourth of July Celebration--Women Voting on the School

Question--State Society, 1884--Helen M. Gougar--Clara Bewick

Colby--Bertha H. Ellsworth--Radical Reform Association--Mrs. A.

G. Lord--Prudence Crandall--Clarina Howard Nichols--Laws--Women

in the Professions--Schools--Political Parties--Petitions to the

Legislature--Col. F. G. Adams' Letter.

We closed the chapter on Kansas in Vol. II. with the submission and

defeat of the woman suffrage amendment, leaving the advocates of

the measure so depressed with the result that several years elapsed

before any further attempts were made to reorganize their forces

for the agitation of the question. This has been the experience of

the friends in every State where the proposition has been

submitted to a vote of the electors--alike in Michigan, Colorado,

Nebraska and Oregon--offering so many arguments in favor of the

enfranchisement of woman by a simple act of the legislature, where

the real power of the people is primarily represented. We have so

many instances on record of the exercise of this power by the

legislatures of the several States in the regulation of the

suffrage, that there can be no doubt that the sole responsibility

in securing this right to the women of a State rests with the

legislature, or with congress in passing a sixteenth amendment that

should override all State action in protecting the rights of United

States citizens.

We are indebted to Anna C. Wait for most of the interesting facts

of this chapter. She writes:

I watched with intense interest from my home in Ohio, the

progress of the woman suffrage idea in Kansas in the campaign of

1867, and although temporary defeat was the result, yet the moral

grandeur displayed by the people in seeking to make their

constitution an embodiment of the principle of American liberty,

decided me to become a citizen of that young and beautiful State.

Gov. Harvey's message was at that time attracting much attention

and varied comments by the press. For the benefit of those who

have not studied the whole history of the cause, we give the

following extracts from his message, published February 9, 1871:

The tendency of this age is towards a civil policy wherein

political rights will not be affected by social or

ethnological distinctions; and from the moral nature of

mankind and the experience of States, we may infer that

restrictions merely arbitrary and conventional, like those

based upon color and sex, cannot last much longer than they

are desired, and cannot be removed much sooner than they

should be. This consideration should give patience to the

reformer, and resignation to the conservative.

Let us have a true republic--a "government of the people, by

the people, for the people," and we shall hear no more the

oligarchical cry of croaking conservatism calling for a

"white man's government"--appealing by this, and like

slogans of class and caste to the lowest and meanest

principles of human nature, dangerous alike to real

republicanism and true democracy. Expediency, that great

pretext for the infringement of human rights, no longer

justifies us in the retention of a monopoly of political

power in our own favored class of "white male citizens."

In the summer of 1871, Mr. Wait and myself removed to Salina,

where Mrs. Hannah Wilson resided. She was the only person in this

section of Kansas I ever heard of doing any suffrage work between

the years of 1867 and 1877. She was a woman of great force of

character, and a strong advocate of suffrage. She was born in

Hamilton county, Ohio, and came to Salina in 1870. After Miss

Anthony lectured in that city in 1877, Mrs. Wilson circulated

petitions to the legislature and to congress. She was also active

and aggressive in the temperance cause. When she learned of the

Lincoln _Beacon_, and its advocacy of woman suffrage, she wrote

an article for the paper, and accompanied it with a kind letter

and the price of a year's subscription. Mrs. Wilson was a Quaker,

and in her dress and address strictly adhered to the peculiarites

of that sect.

Miss Kate Stephens, professor of Greek in the Kansas State

University, writes that she has made diligent search during the

past summer among the libraries of Topeka and Lawrence for record

of suffrage work since the campaign of 1867, and finds absolutely

nothing, so that I am reduced to the necessity of writing,

principally, of our little efforts here in central Kansas. In the

intensely interesting letters of Mesdames Helen Ekin Starrett,

Susan E. Wattles, Dr. R. S. Tenney and Hon. J. P. Root, in Vol.

II., all written since 1880, I find no mention of any woman

suffrage organizations. Mrs. Wattles, of Mound City, says: "My

work has been very limited. I have only been able to circulate

tracts and papers"; and she enumerates all the woman suffrage

papers ever published in America, which she had taken and given

away. A quiet, unobtrusive method of work, but one of the most

effective; and doubtless to the sentiment created and fostered by

this sowing of suffrage literature by Mrs. Wattles, is largely

due the wonderful revival which has swept like one of our own

prairie fires over south-eastern Kansas during the past year; a

sentiment so strong as to need but "a live coal from off the

altar" to kindle into a blaze of enthusiasm. This it received in

the earnest eloquence of Mrs. Helen M. Gougar, who has twice

visited that portion of the State. All these writers express

their faith in a growing interest in the suffrage cause, and,

some of them, the belief that if the question were again

submitted to a vote of the people, it would carry.

In our State suffrage convention, June, 1884, among the demands

which we resolved to make of our incoming legislature, was the

submission of an amendment striking out the word "male" from the

State constitution. For myself, I entertained no hope that it

would succeed further than as a means of agitation and education.

On reflection, I hope it will not be done. The women of Kansas

have once been subjected to the humiliation of having their

political disabilities perpetuated by the vote of the "rank and

file" of our populace. While I believe the growth of popular

opinion in favor of equality of rights for women has nowhere been

more rapid than in Kansas, yet I do not lose sight of the fact

that thousands of foreigners are each year added to the voting

population, whose ballots in the aggregate defeat the will of our

enlightened, American-born citizens. Besides, it is a too

convenient way for a legislature to shirk its own responsibility.

If the demand is made, I hope it may be done in connection with

that for municipal and presidential suffrage.

The history of the woman suffrage organizations in Kansas since

1867, may be briefly told. The first owes its existence to one

copy of the _National Citizen and Ballot-Box_ subscribed for by

my husband, W. S. Wait, who by the merest chance heard Miss

Anthony deliver her famous lecture, "Woman wants Bread, not the

Ballot," in Salina, in November, 1877. The paper was religiously

read by Mrs. Emily J. Biggs and myself; although we did not need

conversion, both being radical in our ideas on this question, we

had long felt the need of something being done which would fix

public attention and provoke discussion. This was all we felt

ourselves competent to do, and the knowledge that nobody else in

our section of the country would do it, coupled with the

inspiration of the _National Citizen_, culminated, in November

1879, in sending to the _Saline Valley Register_, George W.

Anderson, editor and proprietor, a notice for a meeting of women

for the purpose of organizing a suffrage society. In response to

the call, Mrs. Emily J. Biggs, Mrs. Sarah E. Lutes, and Mrs.

Wait, met November 11, 1879, at the house of A. T. Biggs, and

organized the Lincoln Auxiliary of the National Association. We

elected a full corps of officers from among ladies whom we

believed to be favorable, interviewed them for their approval,

and sent a full report of the meeting to be published as a matter

of news in the _Register_, which had given our call without

comment. The editor had a few weeks previously bought the paper,

and we were totally ignorant in regard to his position upon the

question. We were not long left in doubt, for the fact that we

had actually organized in a way which showed that we understood

ourselves, and meant business, had the effect to elicit from his

pen a scurrilous article, in which he called us "the three

noble-hearted women," classed us with "free-lovers," called us

"monstrosities, neither men nor women," and more of the same

sort. Of course, the effect of this upon the community was to

array all true friends of the cause on our side, to bring the

opposition, made bold by the championship of such a gallant

leader, to the front, and cause the faint-hearted to take to the

fence. And here we had the discussion opened up in a manner

which, had we foreseen, I fear our courage would have been

inadequate to the demand. But not for one moment did we entertain

a thought of retreating. Knowing that if we maintained silence,

the enemy would consider us vanquished, I wrote an article for

his paper, quoting largely from Walker's American Law, which he

published; and Mrs. Biggs also furnished him an article in which

she showed him up in a manner so ludicrous and sarcastic that he

got rid of printing it by setting it up full of mistakes which he

manufactured himself, and sending her the proof with the

information that if he published it at all, it would be in that

form. It appeared the following week, however, in the first

number of _The Argus_, a Democratic paper, Ira C. Lutes, editor

and proprietor, in which we at once secured a column for the use

of our society. About a dozen ladies attended our second meeting,

at which the following resolutions were unanimously adopted, all

the ladies present being allowed to vote:

WHEREAS, The local newspaper is adjudged, by common consent,

to be the exponent of the intelligence, refinement, and

culture of a community, and, in a large degree, the educator

of the rising generation; and

WHEREAS, In one issue of the Lincoln _Register_ there

appears no fewer than forty-seven misspelled words, with

numerous errors in grammatical construction and punctuation;

also a scurrilous article headed "Woman vs. Man," in which

the editor not only grossly misrepresents us, but assails

the characters of all advocates of suffrage everywhere in a

manner which shocks the moral sense of every true lady and

gentleman in this community; therefore

_Resolved_, That this association present the editor of the

_Register_ with a copy of some standard English

spelling-book, and English Language Lessons, for his

especial use.

_Resolved_, That as he has been so kind as to offer his

advice to us, unsolicited, we reciprocate the favor by

admonishing him to confine himself to facts in future, and

to remember that the people of Lincoln are capable of

appreciating truth and common decency.

_Resolved_, That a copy of these resolutions be furnished

the editor of the Lincoln _Register_, with the books above

named.

This was promptly done, and so enraged him that the following

week he published a tirade of abuse consisting of brazen

falsehoods, whereupon a gentleman called a halt, by faithfully

promising to chastise him if he did not desist, which had the

desired effect so far as his paper was concerned.

W. S. Wait bought the _Argus_ at the end of four months, changed

its politics to Republican, and its name to the Lincoln _Beacon_,

in which I established a woman suffrage department, under the

head of "Woman as a Citizen," with one of Lucretia Mott's

favorite mottoes, "Truth for Authority, and not Authority for

Truth"; and weekly, for six years, it has gone to a constantly

increasing circle of readers, and contributed its share to

whatever strength and influence the cause has gained in this

portion of the State. In the summer of 1880, G. W. Anderson

announced himself a candidate for the legislature. He had just

before made himself especially obnoxious by shockingly indecent

remarks about the ladies who had participated in the exercises of

the Fourth of July celebration. At a meeting of the suffrage

society, held August 6, the following resolution, suggested by

Mrs. S. E. Lutes, were unanimously adopted:

WHEREAS, We, as responsible members of society, and

guardians of the purity of our families and community, are

actuated by a sense of duty and our accountability to God

for the faithful performance of it; and

WHEREAS, George W. Anderson, editor and proprietor of the

Lincoln _Register_, during his few months' residence in our

county has, by constant calumny and scurrility, both verbal

and through the columns of his paper, sought to injure the

reputation of the honorable women who compose the Lincoln

suffrage and temperance associations, and of all women

everywhere who sympathize with the aims and purposes which

these societies represent; and

WHEREAS, His utterances through the columns of the Lincoln

_Register_ are often unfit to be read by any child, or aloud

in any family, because of their indecency, we are

unanimously of the opinion that his course is calculated to

defeat the aims and purposes of Christianity, temperance and

morality; therefore

_Resolved_, That whenever George W. Anderson aspires to any

position of honor, trust or emolument in the gift of the

voters of Lincoln county, we will use all honorable means in

our power to defeat him; and we further urge upon every

woman who has the welfare of our county at heart, the duty

and necessity of cooeperating with us to accomplish this end.

The above preamble and resolution appeared in the woman's column

of the Lincoln _Beacon_ the following week, and 250 copies were

printed in the form of hand-bills and distributed to the

twenty-three post-offices in Lincoln county. It did not prevent

his election, and we did not expect it would, but we believed it

our duty to enter our protest against the perpetration of this

outrage upon the moral sense of those who knew him best. We

ignored him in the legislature, sending our petitions asking that

body to recommend to congress the adoption of the sixteenth

amendment, to Hon. S. C. Millington of Crawford, who had come to

our notice that winter by offering a woman suffrage resolution in

the House. In 1882 Anderson sought a second indorsement as a

candidate for the legislature, but that portion of the community

which he really represented had become disgusted with him; he

struggled against fate with constantly waning patronage for

another year, when he succumbed to the inevitable and sought a

new field, a wiser if a sadder man. His mantle has fallen upon E.

S. Bower, whose capacity and style were graphically portrayed in

caustic rhyme by Mrs. Ellsworth, making him the target for the

wit of the women long after.

I have given more space and prominence to these two editors than

they merit, but the influence of a local newspaper is not to be

despised, however despicable the editor and his paper may be; and

it takes no small degree of courage to face such an influence as

that exerted in this county by the one in question, which, I am

happy to say, has gradually dwindled, until to-day it is too

trifling, both in extent and character, to deserve recognition.

Six years ago I do not believe there was a paper in the State of

Kansas which contained a woman suffrage department, and we rarely

saw any reference whatever to the subject; now, within a radius

of fifty miles of Lincoln Centre, fully two-thirds of all

newspapers published have a column devoted to suffrage or

temperance, or both, edited by women. The reason this is not true

of the press of the entire State is because our indefatigable

corresponding secretary, Mrs. Bertha H. Ellsworth, has not yet

had sufficient time to personally present the matter; but there

has been such a growth on the subject that by the press generally

it seems to be accepted as one of the living issues of the day. A

very efficient agency in bringing about this desirable result was

the printed column, entitled "Concerning Women," sent out gratis

every week during the year 1882, by Mrs. Lucy Stone, from the

office of _The Woman's Journal_, to all newspapers that would

publish it. Many Kansas editors availed themselves of this

generous offer, greatly to the advantage of their patrons and

themselves.

But to return to the Lincoln Woman Suffrage Association. The

first year our membership increased to twenty-seven; the second,

to forty, including six gentlemen. We did not invite gentlemen to

join the first year; owing to the character and attitude of the

opposition, we preferred to demonstrate our ability to conduct

the affairs of the society without masculine assistance. During

our six years' existence we have enrolled eighty members,

eighteen of whom are gentlemen. Of this number, forty-five women

and fourteen men still reside in Lincoln county. We have held, on

an average, one parlor meeting a month and ten public meetings.

In 1880, Mesdames Emily J. Biggs, Mary Crawford, Bertha H.

Ellsworth and myself were assigned places on the programme for

the Fourth of July celebration, after solicitation by a committee

from our society. To me was assigned the reading of the

Declaration of Independence, and I embraced the opportunity of

interspersing a few remarks not found in that honored document,

to the delight of our friends and the disgust of our foes. The

other ladies all made original, excellent and well-timed

addresses. In 1881 we got up the Fourth of July celebration[475]

ourselves, and gave the men half the programme without their

asking for it. In 1883 we had a "Foremothers' Day" celebration,

and confined the programme to our own society. In September,

1882, the society sent the writer as delegate to the annual

meeting of the National Woman Suffrage Association, held at

Omaha, Nebraska; and in March, 1884, we sent Bertha H. Ellsworth

to the Washington convention in the same capacity. Our society

has taken an active part in the annual school district elections

in Lincoln Centre. In the last five elections we have been twice

defeated and three times successful. Our defeats we claimed as

victories, inasmuch as we forced our opponents to bring out all

their friends to outvote us. Fifty per cent. of all the votes

cast at the last three elections were by women. Only twelve women

in the town failed to vote in 1884. This increase is general all

over the State; and, although we have only once tried in Lincoln

Centre to elect a woman, and then failed, yet very many of the

country districts have one, some two women on the school-board,

and at one time all three members in one district were women.

That they are honest, capable and efficient is the verdict in

every case.

In the spring of 1881, Mrs. Emily J. Biggs organized the Stanton

Suffrage Society, eight miles from Lincoln Centre, with a

membership of over twenty, more than half of whom were gentlemen.

Mesdames Mary Baldwin, N. Good, T. Faulkner, M. Biggs, Mrs. Swank

and others were the leading spirits. All their meetings are

public, and are held in the school-house. Through this society

that portion of the county has become well leavened with suffrage

sentiment. Failing health alone has prevented Mrs. Biggs from

carrying this school district organization to all parts of the

county and beyond its limits, as she has been urgently invited to

do. "Instant in season and out of season" with a word for the

cause, she has, individually, reached more people with the

subject than any other half-dozen women in the society. Her pen,

too, has done good service. Over the _nom de plume_ of "Nancy,"

in the _Beacon_, she has dealt telling blows to our ancient

adversary, the _Register_. In October, 1882, the writer went by

invitation to Ellsworth and organized a society[476] auxiliary to

the National, composed of excellent material, but too timid to do

more than hold its own until the summer of 1884, when Mrs.

Gougar, and later, Mrs. Colby, lectured there, soon after which

Mrs. Ellsworth canvassed the town with literature and a petition

for municipal suffrage, which was signed by eighty of the

eighty-five women to whom it was presented, showing that there

was either a great deal of original suffrage sentiment there, or

that the society had exerted a large amount of "silent

influence." In October, 1883, Mrs. Helen M. Gougar came to fill

some lecture engagements in the southeastern part of the State.

During this visit she organized several clubs.[477]

In June, 1884, Mrs. Gougar again visited Kansas, lecturing for a

month in different parts of the State. She drew large audiences

and made many converts. A suffrage society was organized at

Emporia, Miss M. J. Watson, president. The active friends availed

themselves of her assistance to call a State Suffrage Convention,

which met in the Senate chamber in Topeka, June 25, 26, and

organized a State Association.[478] Mrs. Gougar, by the unanimous

vote of the convention, presided, and dispatched business with

her characteristic ability. In view of all the circumstances,

this convention and its results were highly satisfactory. The

attendance was not large, but the fact that the call was issued

from Topeka to the press of the State but eight days before the

convention met, and probably did not reach half the papers in

time for one insertion, accounts for the absence of a crowd. Some

even in Topeka learned that the convention was in progress barely

in time to reach its last session. Reporters for the Topeka

_Capital_, the Topeka _Commonwealth_ and Kansas City _Journal_

attended all the day sessions of the convention, and gave full

and fair reports of the proceedings. After the adjournment of the

State convention, the women of Topeka formed a city society. The

corresponding secretary, Mrs. Ellsworth, with Mrs. Clara B.

Colby, made an extensive circuit, lecturing and organizing

societies. They were everywhere cordially welcomed.[479]

Kansas has a flourishing Women's Christian Temperance Union which

at its last annual meeting adopted a strong woman suffrage

resolution; Miss O. P. Bray of Topeka is its superintendent of

franchise. Mrs. Emma Molloy of Washington, both upon the rostrum

and through her paper, the official organ of the State Union,

ably and fearlessly advocates woman suffrage as well as

prohibition, and makes as many converts to the former as to the

latter.

Mrs. A. G. Lord did a work worthy of mention in the formation of

the Radical Reform Christian Association, for young men and boys,

taking their pledge to neither swear, use tobacco nor drink

intoxicating liquors. A friend says of Mrs. Lord:

Like all true reformers she has met even more than the usual

share of opposition and persecution, and mostly because she

is a woman and a licensed preacher of the Methodist church

in Kansas. She was a preacher for three years, but refuses

to be any longer because, she says, under the discipline as

it now is, the church has no right to license a woman to

preach. Trying to do her work inside the church in which she

was born and reared, she has had to combat not only the

powers of darkness outside the church, but also the most

contemptible opposition, amounting in several instances to

bitter persecutions, from the ministers of her own

denomination with whom she has been associated in her work

as a preacher; and through it all she has toiled on,

manifesting only the most patient, forgiving spirit, and the

broadest, most Christ-like charity.

The R. R. C. A. has been in existence two and a half years, and

has already many hundreds of members in this and adjoining

counties, through the indefatigable zeal of its founder. Mitchell

county has the honor of numbering among its many enterprising

women the only woman who is a mail contractor in the United

States, Mrs. Myra Peterson, a native of New Hampshire. The

_Woman's Tribune_ of November, 1884, contains the following brief

sketch of a grand historic character:

Marianna T. Folsom is lecturing in Kansas on woman suffrage.

She gives an interesting account of a visit to Mrs. Prudence

Crandall Philleo. Miss Crandall over fifty years ago

allowed a girl with colored blood in her veins to attend her

young ladies' school in Connecticut. On account of the

social disturbance because of this, she dismissed the white

girls and made her school one for colored pupils. Protests

were followed by indictments, and these by mobbings, until

she was obliged to give up her school. For her fortitude,

the Anti-Slavery Society had her portrait painted. It became

the property of Rev. Samuel J. May, who donated it to

Cornell University when opened to women. Miss Crandall

married, but has now been a widow many years. She is in her

eighty-third year, and is vigorous in mind and body, having

been able to deliver the last Fourth of July oration at Elk

Falls, Kan., where she now lives and advocates woman

suffrage and temperance.

In the introduction to Chapter VII., Vol. I., of this history,

appears this sentence: "To Clarina Howard Nichols[480] the women

of Kansas are indebted for many civil rights which they have as

yet been too apathetic to exercise." Uncomplimentary as this

statement is, I must admit its truthfulness as applied to a large

majority of our women of culture and leisure, those who should

have availed themselves of the privileges already theirs and

labored for what the devotion of Mrs. Nichols made attainable.

They have neither done this, nor tried to enlighten their less

favored sisters throughout the State, the great mass of whom are

obliged to exert every energy of body and mind to furnish food,

clothes and shelter for themselves and children. Probably fully

four-fifths of the women of Kansas never have heard of Clarina

Howard Nichols; while a much larger number do know that our laws

favor women more than those of other States, and largely avail

themselves of the school ballot. The readiness with which the

rank and file of our women assent to the truth when it is

presented to them, indicates that their inaction results not so

much from apathy and indifference as from a lack of means and

opportunity. Among all the members of all the woman suffrage

societies in Central Kansas, I know of but just one woman of

leisure--one who is not obliged to make a personal sacrifice of

some kind each time she attends a meeting or pays a dollar into

the treasury. Section 6, Article XV., of the constitution of

Kansas reads:

The legislature shall provide for the protection of the

rights of women, in acquiring and possessing property, real,

personal, and mixed, separate and apart from her husband;

and shall also provide for their equal rights in the

possession of their children. In accordance with the true

spirit of this section, our statute provides that the law of

descents and distributions as regards the property of either

husband or wife is the same; and the interests of one in the

property of the other are the same with each; and that the

common-law principles of estates of dower, and by courtesy

are abolished.[481]

[Illustration: "The world needs women who do their own thinking.

Cordially yours, Helen M. Gougar"]

The rights of husband and wife in the control of their respective

properties, both real and personal, are identical, as provided

for in sections 1, 2, 3, and 4. Chapter 62, page 539, compiled

laws of Kansas, 1878:

SECTION 1. The property, real and personal, which any woman

in this State may own at the time of her marriage, and the

rents, issues, profits, and proceeds thereof, and any real,

personal, or mixed property which shall come to her by

descent, devise, or bequest, or the gift of any person

except her husband, shall remain her sole and separate

property, notwithstanding her marriage, and not be subject

to the disposal of her husband, or liable for his debts.

SEC. 2. A married woman, while the marriage relation

subsists, may bargain, sell and convey her real and personal

property, and enter into any contract with reference to the

same, in the same manner, to the same extent, and with like

effect as a married man may in relation to his real and

personal property.

SEC. 3. A woman may, while married, sue and be sued, in the

same manner as if unmarried.

SEC. 4. Any married woman may carry on any trade or

business, and perform any labor or services, on her sole and

separate account, and the earnings of any married woman from

her trade, business, labor or services, shall be her sole

and separate property, and may be used and invested by her

in her own name.

It is a fact worthy of note that the above legislation, also the

passage of the law of descents and distributions, immediately

followed the woman suffrage campaign of 1867.

In 1880, the Democrats of Kansas, in their State convention at

Topeka, nominated Miss Sarah A. Brown of Douglas county, for

superintendent of public instruction, the first instance on

record of a woman receiving a nomination from one of the leading

political parties for a State office. The following is Miss

Brown's letter of acceptance:

OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, Douglas }

Co., Kansas,}

LAWRENCE, Kansas, Sept. 30, 1880. }

_To Hon. John Martin, Topeka, Kansas, Chairman of the State

Democratic Central Committee:_

SIR:--I am in receipt of your communication of August 30,

advising me of the action of the Democratic convention of

August 26, in nominating me as their candidate for State

superintendent of public instruction.

In making this nomination the Democratic party of Kansas

has, with a liberal and enlightened spirit, and with a

generous purpose, yielded to the tendency of the times,

which demand equal rights and equal opportunities for all

the people, and it has thus shown itself to be a party of

progress. It has placed itself squarely and unequivocally

before the people upon this great and vital question of

giving to woman the right to work in any field for which she

may be fitted, thus placing our young and glorious State in

the foremost rank on this, as on the other questions of

reform.

Furthermore, in nominating one who has no vote, and for this

reason cannot be considered in politics, and in doing this

of its own free will, without any solicitation on my part,

the Democratic party of this State has shown that it is in

full accord with the Jeffersonian doctrine that the office

should seek the man and not the man the office; and also

that it fully appreciates the fact which is conceded by all

persons who have thought much on educational matters, that

the best interests of our schools demand that the office of

superintendent, both of the State and county, should be as

far as possible disconnected from politics, and it has done

what it could to rescue the office from the vortex of mere

partisan strife. For this reason I accept the nomination,

thanking the party for the honor it has conferred upon me.

Respectfully, SARAH A. BROWN.

Miss Brown was defeated. The vote of the State showed the average

Democrat unable to overcome his time-rusted prejudices

sufficiently to vote for a woman to fill the highest educational

office in the gift of the people, so that Miss Brown's minority

was smaller even than that of the regular Democratic ticket.

January 21, 1881, Hon. S. C. Millington of Crawford county

introduced in the House a joint resolution providing for the

submission to the legal voters of the State of Kansas of a

proposition to amend the constitution so as to admit of female

suffrage. The vote on the adoption of the resolution stood 51

ayes and 31 noes in the House, and a tie in the Senate. Later in

the same session, Hon. A. C. Pierce of Davis county introduced in

the House a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the

constitution which should confer the right of suffrage on any one

over 21 years of age who had resided in the State six months. Mr.

Hackney of Cowley county, introduced a like resolution in the

Senate.

In December, 1881, Governor St. John appointed Mrs. Cora M. Downs

one of the regents of the State University at Lawrence. In 1873,

Mrs. Rice was elected to the office of county clerk of Harper

county, and Miss Alice Junken to the office of recorder of deeds,

in Davis county. In 1885 Miss Junken was reelected by a majority

of 500 over her competitor, Mrs. Fleming, while Trego county gave

a unanimous vote for Miss Ada Clift as register of deeds.

In proportion to her population Kansas has as many women in the

professions as any of the older States. We have lawyers,

physicians, preachers and editors, and the number is constantly

increasing. In Topeka there are eight practicing physicians,

holding diplomas from medical colleges, and two or three who are

not graduates. In the Woman's Medical College of Chicago, Kansas

now has four representatives--Mrs. Sallie A. Goff of Lincoln,

Miss Thomas of Olathe, Miss Cunningham of Garnett, and Miss

Gilman of Pittsburg.

All female persons over the age of twenty-one years are entitled

to vote at any school-district meeting on the same terms as men.

The right of a woman to hold any office, State (except member of

the legislature), county, township or school-district, in the

State of Kansas, is the same as that of a man. In 1882, six

counties, viz., Chase, Cherokee, Greenwood, Labette, Pawnee, and

Woodson, elected women as superintendents of public instruction.

Section 23, Article II., Constitution of Kansas, reads: "The

legislature, in providing for the formation and regulation

of schools, shall make no distinction between males and

females."

Under the legislation based upon this clause of our constitution,

males and females have equal privileges in all schools controlled

by the State. The latest report of the State superintendent of

public instruction shows that over one-half of the pupils of the

Normal school, about two-fifths in the University, and nearly

one-third in the Agricultural College, are females.

In the private institutions of learning, including both

denominational and unsectarian, over one-half of the students are

females who study in the same classes as the males, except in

Washburn college which has a separate course for ladies.

Most of these institutions have one woman, or more, in their

faculties. One-half of the faculty of the State University is

composed of women. In the last report of the State superintendent

is the following:

The ratio of female teachers is greater than ever before,

some 69 per cent. of the entire number employed. It is,

indeed, a matter of congratulation that the work of the

schools, especially the primary teaching, is falling more

and more to the care of women.

The Republican State convention of 1882, by an overwhelming

majority endorsed woman suffrage, which action the Lincoln W. S.

A. promptly recognized as follows:

WHEREAS, The Republican party of the State of Kansas, by and

through its chosen representatives in the Republican State

convention at Topeka, August 9, 1882, did, by an

overwhelming majority, pledge itself to the support of the

principle of woman suffrage by the following:

_Resolved_, That we request the next legislature to submit

such an amendment to the constitution of the State as will

secure to woman the right of suffrage. And,

WHEREAS, By this action the Republican party of Kansas has

placed itself in line with the advanced thought of the times

in a manner worthy a great political party of the last

quarter of the nineteenth century, thereby proving itself

worthy the respect and confidence of the women of the State;

therefore,

_Resolved_, That the Lincoln Woman Suffrage Association, in

behalf of the women of Kansas, does hereby express thanks to

the Republican party for this recognition of the political

rights of the women of the State, and especially to the Hon.

J. C. Root of Wyandotte, Hon. Hackney of Winfield, Col.

Graves of Montgomery, and Gen. Kelly, for their able and

fearless support of the measure, and to each and every

member of the convention who voted for it.

In 1883, Senator Hackney introduced a bill of which we find the

following in the _Topeka Capital_ of that date:

Senate bill No. 46, being Senator Hackney's, an act to

provide for the submission of the question of female

suffrage to the women of Kansas, was taken up, the reading

thereof being greeted with applause. It provides that at the

general election in 1883 the women of the State shall

decide, by ballot, whether they want suffrage or not.

Senator Hackney made an address to the Senate upon the bill,

saying he believed in giving women the same rights as men

had. The last Republican platform declared in favor of woman

suffrage, and those Republicans who opposed the platform

said they believed the women of the State should have their

say about it; the Democratic platform said the same as the

dissenters from the Republican. Several humorous amendments

were made to the bill. Senator Kelley favored the bill

because there were a great many women in the State who

wanted to vote. He hoped the Senate would not be so

ungallant as to vote the bill down. Senator Sluss moved the

recommendation be made that the bill be rejected. Carried.

The Republican State convention of 1884 ignored the woman

suffrage question. The Anti-monopoly (Greenback) party State

convention, of August 1884, placed in its platform the following:

That we believe the advancing civilization of the past

quarter of the nineteenth century demands that woman should

have equal pay for equal work, and equal laws with man to

secure her equal rights, and that she is justly entitled to

the ballot.

Miss Fanny Randolph of Emporia, was nominated by acclamation for

State superintendent of public instruction, by this convention.

The Prohibition State convention, in session in Lawrence,

September 2, 1884, placed the following plank in its platform:

We believe that women have the same right to vote as men,

and in the language of the Republican State platform of two

years ago, we request the next legislature to submit such an

amendment to the constitution of the State as will secure to

woman the right of suffrage.

This year we sent from Lincoln a petition with 175 names asking

for a resolution recommending to congress the adoption of the

sixteenth amendment. The results of the election of 1884, showed

quite a gain for women in county offices. There are now eleven

superintendents of public instruction, several registers of

deeds, and county clerks. The number of lawyers,[482] physicians,

notaries public, principals of schools, members of school-boards

in cities and school districts, is rapidly increasing, as is also

the number of women who vote in school-district elections. Miss

Jessie Patterson, who ran as an independent candidate for

register of deeds in Davis county, beat the regular Republican

nominee 286 votes, and the Democratic candidate 299 votes.

The work of organizing suffrage societies has also progressed,

though not as rapidly as it should, for want of speakers and

means to carry it on. Through the efforts of Mrs. Laura M. Johns

of Salina, vice-president of the State society, several new and

flourishing clubs have been formed this summer in Saline county,

so that it is probably now the banner county in Kansas. The

Lincoln society is preparing to hold a fair in September, for the

benefit of the State association, which will hold its next annual

convention in October. Suffrage columns in newspapers are

multiplying and much stress is placed upon this branch of work.

On July 18, a convention was held to organize the Prohibition

party in Lincoln county. A cordial invitation was extended to

women to attend. Eight were present, and many more would have

been had they known of it. I was chosen secretary of the

convention, and Mesdames Ellsworth and Goff were appointed upon

the platform committee, and several of the central committee are

women. The position of the new party upon the question may be

inferred from the following clauses in its platform:

_Resolved_, By the Prohibition party of Lincoln county,

Kansas, in convention assembled, that the three vital issues

before the people to-day are prohibition, anti-monopoly, and

woman suffrage.

_Resolved_, That we believe in the political equality of the

sexes, and we call on the legislature to submit such an

amendment to the people for adoption or rejection, to the

constitution of the State as will secure to women equal

political rights.

Later the convention nominated me for register of deeds, and Dr.

Sallie A. Goff for coroner. I immediately engaged Miss Jennie

Newby of Tonganoxie, member of the executive committee and State

organizer of the Prohibition party of Kansas, to make a canvass

of the county with me in the interest of the party and the county

ticket. We held ten meetings and at all points visited made

converts to both prohibition and woman suffrage, though nothing

was said about the latter. There were two men on the ticket; one

of them received more votes than Dr. Goff and I did, and the

other fewer. Emma Faris ran independently for register of deeds

in Ellsworth county and received a handsome vote. It is no longer

a matter of much comment for a woman to run for an office in

Kansas.

Mrs. Gougar came again to Kansas in June to attend the third

annual meeting of the Radical Reform Christian Association, and

spent a month lecturing on woman suffrage and temperance.

January 15, 16, 1885, the annual meeting of the State society was

held at Topeka. Large and enthusiastic audiences greeted Mrs.

Gougar on this, her third visit to Kansas. She remained at the

capital for several days, and largely through her efforts with

members of the legislature special committees were voted for in

both Houses to consider the interests of women. The measure was

carried in the House by a vote of 75 to 45.[483] In the Senate it

was a tie, 19 to 19. The new committee[484] through its chairman,

George Morgan of Clay, reported in favor of a bill for municipal

suffrage. It was so low on the calendar that there was no hope of

its being reached, but a motion was made to take it out of its

regular course, which was lost by 65 to 52.

The second annual meeting of the State society was held at

Salina, October 28, 29, 1885. Mrs. Laura M. Johns gave the

address of welcome, to which Mrs. Anna C. Wait, the president,

responded. "Mother Bickerdyke,"[485] who followed Sherman's army

in its march to the sea, was present and cheered all with her

stirring words of the work of women in the war.[486] Her

introduction was followed with applause and the earnest attention

to her remarks showed in what high esteem she is held. She said

that half the work of the war was done by women, but she made no

complaint, indeed no mention, of the fact that these women had

never been pensioned.

As it may add force to some facts already stated to have them

repeated by one in authority, we give the following letter from

the secretary of the Kansas Historical Society:

KANSAS HISTORICAL SOCIETY Topeka, Nov. 26, 1885

MISS SUSAN B. ANTHONY, Rochester, N. Y.:

_My Dear Friend_:--In answer to your request for information

upon certain points bearing upon the subject of woman

suffrage in Kansas, I give the following:

The women avail themselves quite generally of their

privilege of voting at the annual and special school

district meetings, at which district officers are elected,

and all questions of taxes and expenditures are voted on and

settled. Women are, in many instances, elected members of

the board of school directors, and thus are charged with the

duty of employing teachers, with the supervision of the

schools, and with the general management of the affairs of

the district. Women vote on the question of the issue of

school district bonds, and thus they take part in deciding

whether new school houses shall be built and the property of

the districts be pledged for the future payment of the cost

of the same.

In the chartered cities women do not generally vote for

school officers although, under the constitution, it is

believed they have the right to do so, and in one or more

instances I am informed they have done so, without the right

being contested. In cities, school officers are elected at

general elections for other city officers, for which women

are not permitted to vote, and as they cannot vote for all

they generally do not choose to vote for any. Women do not

vote for either city, county, or State superintendents, and

it is not considered that under our constitution they have

the right to do so.

In 1884, there were 4,915 women teaching in the State, and

1,936 men. The average monthly wages of women was $32.85,

and of men, $40.70. There are at present twelve women

holding the office of county superintendent of public

schools in the State. In 72 counties the office is filled by

men. Thus, of the 84 organized counties of the State,

one-seventh of the school superintendents are women, who

generally prove to be competent and efficient, and the

number elected is increasing.

In one county, Harper, a woman holds the office of county

clerk. A young woman was recently elected to the office of

register of deeds, in Davis county. It is conceded that

these two offices can very appropriately be filled by women;

and now that the movement has begun, no doubt the number of

those elected will increase at recurring elections. Already,

in numerous instances, women are employed as deputies and

assistants in these and other public offices.

The participation of women in school elections and their

election to membership of school district boards, are

resulting in a steady growth of sentiment in favor of woman

suffrage, generally. It is seen that in the decision of

questions involving the proper maintenance of schools, and

the supplying of school apparatus, women usually vote for

liberal and judicious expenditures, and make faithful school

officers. Their failures are not those of omission, as is so

frequently the case with men holding these offices. If they

err in judgment, it is from a lack of that business

information and experience which women as non-voters have

had little opportunity to acquire, but which, under our

Kansas system is now rapidly being supplied.

Among the influences tending to increase the suffrage

sentiment in Kansas, may be mentioned those growing out of

the active part women are taking in the discussion of

political, economical, moral and social questions, through

their participation in the proceedings of the Woman's

Christian Temperance Union, the State Temperance Union, the

Woman's Social Science Association, the Kansas Academy of

Science, the Grange, the State and local Teachers'

Associations, and many other organizations in which women

have come to perform so prominent a part. In these

organizations, and in the part they take in discussions,

they show their capacity to grapple with the political,

social, and scientific problems of the day, in such a manner

as to demonstrate their ability to perform the highest

duties of citizenship. Still the chief influence which is

bringing about a growth of opinion in favor of woman

suffrage in Kansas, comes from what has now become the

actual, and I may say, the popular and salutary practice of

woman suffrage at school district meetings. It is seen that

the reasons which make it right and expedient for women to

vote on questions pertaining to the education of their

children, bear with little, if any, less force upon the

propriety of their voting upon all questions affecting the

public welfare.

I think I may truly say to you that the tendencies in Kansas

are to the steady growth of sentiment in favor of woman

suffrage. This is so apparent that few of those even who do

not believe in its propriety or expediency now doubt that it

will eventually be adopted, and the political consequences

fully brought to the test of experience.

Yours sincerely, F. G. ADAMS.

The greatest obstacle to our speedy success in this State, as

elsewhere, is the ignorance and indifference of the women

themselves. But the earnestness and enthusiasm of the few, in

their efforts from year to year, cannot be wholly lost--the fires

kindled by that memorable campaign of 1867 are not dead, only

slumbering, to burst forth with renewed brilliancy in the dawn of

the day that brings liberty, justice, and equality for woman.

FOOTNOTES:

[475] In the centennial year, when protests were in order, the

following was sent to the National Association at Philadelphia,

describing the manner in which a lady eighty-four years old

celebrated her birthday:

"NEUTRAL STATION, Kansas, July 17, 1876.

"DEAR SISTERS: Two days ago, on Saturday, the 15th, as has been

usual for three or four years, a company of our friends and

neighbors met at our house to celebrate my eighty-fourth

birthday. We had a pleasant time. Some pieces, composed for the

occasion, were read, and a clergyman made some appropriate

remarks. I improved the opportunity to obtain the names of the

ladies present, and succeeded with all, old and young, except one

who was afraid it would get her into a trap; but with _the rest

it needed but little electioneering beside reading your

advertisement to secure their names_. We, as a neighborhood, are

ignorant on the subject. I solicited assistance pecuniarily, and

send you what I can, with a word of encouragement still to work

and wait, and my earnest prayer for your final success.

ELSIE STEWART."

The other signatures were: Henrietta L. Miller, Mrs. Julia A.

Ingraham, Mrs. Hollet, Mrs. Lottie Griffin, Selinda Miller, Celina

Lake, Mollie Yeates, Betsey J. Corse, Mary G. Hapeman, Mrs. Maggie

Clark, Miss Elsie Miller, Louie Ingraham, Malura Hickox, C. A.

Eddy, Anna Lowe, Charlotte H. Butler.

[476] _President_, Mrs. Mary Maberly; _Secretary_, Miss Lillie M.

Hull; _Treasurer_, Mrs. Emma H. Johns; and an able executive

committee, of which Mrs. E. M. Alden, Mrs. Emma Faris, Mrs. Mattie

McDowell and Bertha H. Ellsworth, who was then teaching there, were

members.

[477] Arkansas City Suffrage Club, with Mrs. M. B. Houghton,

_President_; Mrs. E. T. Ayers, _Vice-President_; Miss Gertrude

Fowler, _Secretary_, and Mrs. F. Daniels, _Treasurer_; also one at

Winfield, county-seat of Cowley county, with Mrs. J. Cairns,

_President_; Mrs. M. R. Hall, _Secretary_, and Mrs. E. D. Garlick,

_Treasurer_; and vice-presidents from each of the churches, as

follows: Mesdames P. P. Powell, G. Miller, M. Burkey and J. C.

Fuller.

[478] _President_, Mrs. Hetta P. Mansfield, Winfield;

_Vice-President-at-Large_, Mrs. Anna C. Wait, Lincoln;

_Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. Bertha H. Ellsworth, Lincoln;

_Recording Secretary_, Miss Georgiana Daniels, Eureka; _Treasurer_,

Mrs. D. A. Millington, Winfield; _Chaplain_, Rev. S. S. Cairns,

Winfield; _Vice-Presidents_ and _Executive Committee_, Mrs. Judge

Griswold, Leavenworth; Miss Sarah Hurtsel, Columbus; Mrs. Anna

Taylor, Wichita; Miss Myra Willets, Independence; Mrs. W. P.

Roland, Cherryvale; Judge Lorenzo Westover, Clyde; Mr. V. P.

Wilson, Abilene; Hon. Albert Griffin, Manhattan; Mrs. A. O.

Carpenter, Emporia; Mrs. Noble Prentis, Atchison; Mrs. S. S. Moore,

Burden; Mrs. Emma Faris, Carnerio; Mrs. Houghton and Mrs. Farrer,

Arkansas City; Mrs. Finley, Topeka.

[479] The towns visited were: Beloit, Lincoln Center, Wilson,

Ellsworth, Salina, Solomon City, Minneapolis, Cawker City and

Clyde. The officers of the Topeka society were: _President_, Mrs.

Priscilla Finley; _Secretary_, Mrs. E. G. Hammon; _Treasurer_, Mrs.

Sarah Smith. The officers of Beloit were: _President_, Mrs. H.

Still; _Vice-Presidents_, Mrs. J. M. Patten, Mrs. M. Vaughan;

_Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. F. J. Knight; _Recording

Secretary_, Mary Charlesworth; _Treasurer_, Mrs. M. Bailey. At

Salina, Mrs. Johns and Mrs. Christina Day are the officers.

[480] The women of Kansas should never forget that to the influence

of Mrs. Nichols in the Constitutional convention at Wyandotte, they

owe the modicum of justice secured by that document. With her

knitting in hand, she sat there alone through all the sessions, the

only woman present, watching every step of the proceedings, and

laboring with members to so frame the constitution as to make all

citizens equal before the law. Though she did not accomplish what

she desired, yet by her conversations with the young men of the

State, she may be said to have made the idea of woman suffrage seem

practicable to those who formed the constitution and statute laws

of that State.--[E. C. S.

[481] See compiled laws of Kansas, 79, page 378, chapter XXXIII.

[482] Miss Flora M. Wagstaff of Paoli was among the first to

practice law in Kansas. In 1881, Ida M. Tillotson of Mill Brook,

and in 1884, Maria E. DeGeer were admitted.

[483] The names of representatives voting for the committee stand

as follows: _Yeas_--Barnes, Beattie, Bollinger, Bond, Bonebrake,

Brewster, Buck, Butterfield, Caldwell, Campbell, Carter, Clogston,

J. B. Cook of Chetopa, H. C. Cook of Oswego, Collins, Cox, Currier,

Davenport, Dickson, Edwards, Faulkner, Gillespie, Glasgow, Gray,

Grier, Hargrave, Hatfield, Hogue, Hollenshead, Holman, Hopkins,

Hostetler, Johnson of Ness City, Johnson of Marshall, Johnson of

Topeka, Johnson (Speaker of the House), Kelley of Cawker City,

King, Kreger, Lawrence, Lewis, Loofburrow, Lower, McBride, McNall,

McNeal, Matlock, Maurer, Miller, Moore, Morgan of Clay, Morgan of

Osborne, Mosher, Osborn, Patton, Pratt, Reeves, Rhodes, Roach,

Roberts, Slavens, Spiers, Simpson, Smith of McPherson, Smith of

Neosho, Stewart, Stine, Sweezy, Talbot, Vance, Veach, Wallace,

Wentworth, Wiggins, Willhelm--75. The names of senators were:

_Yeas_--Bowden, Congdon, Donnell, Edmunds, Granger, Hicks,

Humphrey, Jennings, M. B. Kelley, Kellogg, Kimball, Kohler,

Pickler, Ritter, Rush, Shean, Sheldon, White, Young--19.

[484] The Committee on the Political Rights of Women, granted by

the House, were: George Morgan of Clay, George Seitz of Ellsworth,

David Kelso of Labette, F. W. Rash of Butler, W. C. Edwards of

Pawnee, F. J. Kelley of Mitchell, W. H. Deckard of Doniphan.

[485] The speakers were: Rev. Amanda May (formerly of Indiana),

Mrs. Martha L. Berry, Mrs. Ada Sill, Mrs. Colby, Dr. Addie Kester,

Mrs. M. D. Vale, Rev. C. H. Rogers, Mrs. De Geer, Miss Jennie

Newby. Officers: _President_, Mrs. Anna C. Wait of Lincoln;

_Vice-President_, Mrs. Laura M. Johns of Salina; _Treasurer_, Mrs.

Martia L. Berry of Cawker City; _Corresponding Secretary_, Mrs. B.

H. Ellsworth of Lincoln; _Recording Secretary_, Mrs. Alice G. Bond

of Salina.

[486] When Miss Anthony and I went through Kansas in 1867 we held

an afternoon and evening meeting in Salina. Our accommodations at

the hotel were wretched beyond description. Mother Bickerdyke was

just preparing to open her hotel but was still in great confusion.

Hearing of our dismal quarters she came and took us to her home,

where her exquisitely cooked food and clean beds redeemed in a

measure our dolorous impressions of Salina. Our meetings were held

in an unfinished church without a floor, the audience sitting on

the beams, our opponents (two young lawyers) and ourselves on a few

planks laid across, where a small stand was placed and one tallow

candle to lighten the discussion that continued until a late hour.

Being delayed the next day at the depot a long time waiting for the

train we held another prolonged discussion with these same sprigs

of the legal profession. We had intended to go on to Ellsworth, but

hearing of trouble there with the Indians we turned our faces

eastward. Mother Bickerdyke and her thrilling stories of the war

are the pleasant memories that still linger with us of Salina.--[E.

C. S.

CHAPTER LI.

COLORADO.

Great American Desert--Organized as a Territory, February 28,

1860--Gov. McCook's Message Recommending Woman Suffrage,

1870--Adverse Legislation--Hon. Amos Steck--Admitted to the

Union, 1876--Constitutional Convention--Efforts to Strike Out the

Word "Male"--Convention to Discuss Woman Suffrage--School

Suffrage Accorded--State Association Formed, Alida C. Avery,

President--Proposition for Full Suffrage Submitted to the Popular

Vote--A Vigorous Campaign--Mrs. Campbell and Mrs. Patterson of

Denver--Opposition by the Clergy--Their Arguments Ably

Answered--D. M. Richards--The Amendment Lost--_The Rocky Mountain

News_.

That our English readers may appreciate the Herculean labors that

the advocates of suffrage undertake in this country in canvassing a

State, they must consider the vast territory to be traveled over,

in stages and open wagons where railroads are scarce. Colorado, for

example, covers an area of 104,500 square miles. It is divided by

the Rocky Mountains running north and south, with two hundred lofty

peaks rising thirteen thousand feet above the level of the sea, and

some still higher. To reach the voters in the little mining towns a

hundred miles apart, over mountains such as these, involves

hardships that only those who have made the journeys can

understand. But there is some compensation in the variety, beauty

and grandeur of the scenery, with its richly wooded valleys, vast

parks and snow-capped mountains. It is the region for those awake

to the sublime in nature to reverently worship some of her grandest

works that no poet can describe nor artist paint. Here, too, the

eternal struggle for liberty goes on, for the human soul can never

be attuned to harmony with its surroundings, especially the grand

and glorious, until the birthright of justice and equality is

secured to all.

For a history of the early efforts made in the Centennial State to

secure equal rights for women, we are indebted to Mrs. Mary G.

Campbell and Mrs. Katharine G. Patterson, two sisters who have been

actively interested in the suffrage movement in Colorado, as

follows:

In 1848, while those immortal women whose names will be found on

many another page of the volume in which this chapter is

included, were asking in the convention at Seneca Falls, N. Y.,

that their equal membership in the human family might be admitted

by their husbands, fathers and sons, Colorado, unnamed and

unthought of, was still asleep with her head above the clouds.

Only two mountain-tops in all the-world were nearer heaven than

hers, and they, in far Thibet, had seen the very beginnings of

the race which, after six thousand years, had not yet penetrated

Colorado. Islanded in a cruel brown ocean of sand, she hid her

treasures of gold and silver in her virgin bosom and dreamed,

unstirred by any echoes of civilization. When she woke at last it

was to the sound of an anvil chorus--to the ring of the mallet

and drill, and the hoarse voices of men greedy only for gold.

In 1858, when the Ninth National Convention of women to demand

their legal rights was in session in New York, there were only

three white women in the now rich and beautiful city of Denver.

Still another ten years of wild border life, of fierce

vicissitudes, of unwritten tragedies enacted in forest and mine,

and Colorado was organized into a territory with a population of

5,000 women and 25,000 men.

The first effort for suffrage was made in 1870, during the fifth

session of the legislative assembly, soon after General Edward

McCook was sent out by President Grant to fill the gubernatorial

chair. In his message to the legislature, he promptly recommended

to the attention of its members the question of suffrage for

woman:

Before dismissing the subject of franchise, I desire to call

your attention to one question connected with it, which you

may deem of sufficient importance to demand some

consideration at your hands before the close of the session.

Our higher civilization has recognized woman's equality with

man in all respects save one--suffrage. It has been said

that no great reform was ever made without passing through

three stages--ridicule, argument, and adoption. It rests

with you to say whether Colorado will accept this reform in

its first stage, as our sister territory of Wyoming has

done, or in the last; whether she will be a leader or a

follower; for the logic of a progressive civilization leads

to the inevitable result of a universal suffrage.

This was the first gun of the campaign, and summoned to the field

various contending forces, armed with ridicule, argument, or an

optimistic diplomacy, urging an immediate surrender of the ground

claimed. Bills favoring the enfranchisement of women were

discussed both in the Territorial Council Chamber and in the

lower House of the legislature. The subject was taken up by the

press and the people, and not escaping its meed of ridicule, was

seriously dealt with by both friend and enemy. Perhaps the

western champions of woman's recognition as an intelligent part

of the body politic were brought to understand the full meaning

of her disabilities by their own experiences as territorial

minors. Certain it is that the high spirit of the citizens of

Colorado chafed intolerably under the temporary limitations of

accustomed rights of sovereign manhood. The federal government,

in the capacity of regent, sent to these territorial wards their

officers and governors and fixed the rate of their taxation

without full representation. These wards were indeed empowered,

as were the people of their sister territories, to elect a

delegate to the national congress, whose opinions upon

territorial matters were allowed expression in that body, but who

could no more enforce there his convictions upon important

measures, by a vote, than could the most intelligent woman of

this territory upon the question of his election to represent her

interests.

In the Colorado papers of those days of territorial tutelage,

there appeared repeatedly most impatient protests against these

humiliating conditions of citizenship. With the attainment of

statehood in 1876 there came to the men of Colorado a restoration

of their full rights as citizens of the Republic. According to

the proscriptive usage, the humiliating conditions of citizenship

without the ballot, remained to the women of the Centennial

State; and those of their reenfranchised brothers who had felt

most keenly their own unaccustomed restrictions, were without

doubt the foremost advocates of the movement to secure the full

recognition of women's rights.

The majority of the territorial legislative assembly of 1870 was

unexpectedly Democratic, and almost as unexpected was the favor

promptly shown by the Democratic members to the passage of the

bill proposing woman suffrage. The measure was indeed

characterized by the opposing Republicans, as "the great

Democratic reform," and for weeks seemed destined to triumph

through Democratic votes, in spite of the frivolous and serious

opposition of the Republican minority, and the few Democratic

members who deserted what then seemed the party policy upon this

question. The pleas urged in advocacy of the new movement, as

well as the protests urged against it, were substantially the

same as were used in the East at that stage of the question.

Accompanying them were the extravagancies of hope and fear

incident to the early consideration of every suggested change in

a long-accepted social order. An impossible Utopia was promised

on the one hand no less confidently than was predicted upon the

other a dire iconoclasm of the sacred shrine of long-adored

ideals, as a consequence of simply granting to intelligent women

a privilege justly their due. Both the derision and the adverse

reasoning of the alarmists were well met by fearless friends, in

Council and House. Bills looking to the removal of woman's

disabilities were referred in each to a select committee for

consideration, on January 19. The majority report to the House

through the chairman of its special committee, M. DeFrance, was

an able advocacy of the measure under consideration, while the

adverse recommendation of the Council committee was accompanied

by an excellent report by Hon. Amos Steck, setting forth clearly

the reasons of the minority for their favorable views. After

hearing the reports, both Houses went into committee of the whole

for a free discussion upon the question.

"The criterion of civilization, physical force," "Strength as the

measure of right,"--as recent writers have defined the divine

right of might--seemed the basis of reasoning with those who

claimed that woman should not be given the ballot because she

might not carry the sword. Dark pictures were drawn of possible

women as electors plunging their country into wars, from whose

consequences they would themselves suffer nothing. By the more

hopeful it was urged that the mighty heart, the moral force of

humanity, as represented in womanhood, and united with clear

womanly intelligence, would prove a greater power in all State

interests than sword or bayonet.

The strongest speaker in the legislature upon the subject of

suffrage--President Hinsdale of the Council--was, unfortunately,

a bitter enemy of the proposed reform. Yet some of his most

forcible utterances made in committee of the whole, were

excellent arguments in favor of, rather than against the measure.

Excellent arguments in favor of the bill in question were made by

leading members of the House--Messrs. Lea, Shepard and DeFrance.

By invitation of the legislature, that body was addressed by a

prominent member of the Denver bar, Mr. Willard Teller, the

brother of one of our U. S. senators. The hall was filled by an

interested audience to hear Mr. Teller's address, which was a

strong presentation of the principles upon which rest the claims

of American citizens to universal suffrage.

Outside the assembly halls, Governor McCook and his beautiful,

accomplished, and gracefully aggressive wife, strongly favored

the affirmative of the question at issue, while Willard Teller,

D. M. Richards and other distinguished men and women of the

territory were active friends during the contest. In the press,

the measure had a most influential support in the _Daily Colorado

Tribune_, a well-conducted Denver journal, edited by Mr. R. W.

Woodbury. Space in its columns was given to well-written articles

by contributors interested in the success of the cause, and many

able editorials appeared, embodying strong arguments in favor of

the reform, or answering the opposing bitterness and frivolity of

its contemporary the _Rocky Mountain News_. The interest in the

proposed innovation was indeed quite general throughout the

territory, but wherever the subject was discussed, in the

legislative halls, in private conversation, editorial column, or

correspondence of the press, the grounds argumentatively

traversed were the same highways and byways of reason and

absurdity which have been so often since gone over.

There was perhaps one lion in the way of establishing universal

suffrage in the West, which the eastern advocates did not fear.

It was said that our intelligent women could not be allowed to

vote, whatever the principles upon which the right might be

claimed, because in that case, the poor, degraded Chinese women

who might reach our shores, would also be admitted to the voting

list, and what then would become of our proud, Caucasian

civilization? Whether it was the thought of the poor Mongolian

slave at the polls, or some other equally terrifying vision of a

yearly visit of American women to the centre of some voting

precinct, the majority of the Colorado legislative assembly of

1870, in spite of all the free discussion of the campaign of that

year, decided adversely. In the latter days of the session, the

bill having taken the form of a proposition to submit the

question at issue to the already qualified voters of the

territory, was lost in the council chamber by a majority of one,

and in the House by a two-thirds majority, leaving to the

defeated friends of the reform as their only reward, a

consciousness of strength gained in the contest.

A few years more made Denver a city beautiful for habitation,

made Colorado a garden, filled that goodly land with capable men,

and intelligent, spirited women. Statehood had been talked of,

but lost, and then men began to say: "The one hundredth birthday

of our American independence is so near, let us make this a

centennial State; let the entrance into the Union be announced by

the same bells that shall ring in our national anniversary." And

so it was decreed. Mindful of 1776--mindful too, of the second

declaration made by the women at the first equal rights

convention in 1848, the friends of equality in Colorado

determined to gird themselves for a supreme effort in

anticipation of the constitution that was to be framed for the

new State to be.

A notice was published asking all persons favorable to suffrage

for women, to convene in Denver, January 10, to take measures to

secure the recognition of woman's equality under the pending

constitution. In pursuance to this call, a large and eager

audience filled Unity Church long before the hour appointed for

the meeting. A number of the orthodox clergy were present. The

Rev. Mrs. Wilkes of Colorado Springs, opened the exercises with

prayer. Mrs. Margaret W. Campbell of Massachusetts was then

introduced, and said: "This convention was called to present

woman's claims to the ballot, from her own stand-point, and to

take such measures to secure the recognition of her equality in

the constitution of Colorado, as the friends gathered from

different parts of the territory may think proper. We do not ask

that women shall take the places of men, or usurp authority over

them; we only ask that the principles upon which our government

is founded shall be applied to women.

Rev. Mrs. Wilkes made an especial point of the fact that in

Colorado Springs women owned one-third of the taxable property,

and yet were obliged (at the recent spring election) to see the

bonds for furnishing a supply of pure water, voted down because

women had no voice in the matter. This had been a serious

mistake, as the physicians of the place had pronounced the

present supply impure and unwholesome. She referred to the fears

of many that the constitution, freighted with woman suffrage,

might sink, when it would else be buoyant, and begged her hearers

not to fear such a burden would endanger it. The convention

continued through two days with enthusiastic speeches from Mr. D.

M. Richards and Rev. Mr. Wright, who preferred to be introduced

as the nephew of Dr. Harriot K. Hunt of Boston. Letters were read

from Lucy Stone and Judge Kingman, and an extract from the

message of Governor Thayer of Wyoming, in which he declared the

results of woman suffrage in that territory to have been

beneficial and its influence favorable to the best interests of

the community. A territorial society was formed with an efficient

board of officers;[487] resolutions, duly discussed, were

adopted, and the meeting closed with a carefully-prepared

address by Dr. Avery, the newly-elected president of the

territorial association.

The committee[488] appointed to wait upon the constitutional

convention were received courteously by that body, and listened

to with respectful attention. One would have thought the

gentlemen to whom the arguments and appeals of such women were

addressed would have found it in their hearts to make some reply,

even while disclaiming the official character of their act; but

they preserved a decorous and non-committal, if not incurious

silence, and the ladies withdrew. The press said, the morning

after their visit: "The gentlemen were all interested and amused

by the errand of the ladies." The morning following, the

constitutional convention was memorialized by the Suffrage

Association of Missouri, and was also presented with a petition

signed by a thousand citizens of Colorado, asking that in the new

constitution no distinction be made on account of sex. This was

only the beginning. Petitions came in afterwards, numerously

signed, and were intended to have the force of a sort of

ante-election vote.

Denver presented an interesting social aspect at this time. It

was as if the precursive tremor of a moral earthquake had been

felt, and people, only half awake, did not know whether to seek

safety in the house, or outside of it. Women especially were

perplexed and inquiring, and it was observed that those in favor

of asking a recognition of their rights in the new State, were

the intelligent and leading ladies of the city. The wives of

ministers, of congressmen, of judges, the prominent members of

Shakespeare clubs, reading circles, the directors of charitable

institutions,--these were the ones who first ranged themselves on

the side of equal rights, clearly proving that the man was right

who pointed out the danger of allowing women to learn the

alphabet.

When February 15 came, it was a momentous day for Colorado. The

report of the Committee on Suffrage and Elections was to come up

for final action. As a matter of fact there were two reports;

that of the minority was signed by two members of the committee,

Judge Bromwell, whose breadth and scholarship were apparent in

his able report, and a Mexican named Agapita Vigil, a legislator

from Southern Colorado where Spanish is the dominant tongue. Mr.

Vigil spoke no English, and was one of those representatives for

whose sake an interpreter was maintained during the session of

the convention.

Ladies were present in large numbers. Some of the gentlemen

celebrated the occasion by an unusual spruceness of attire, and

others by being sober enough to attend to business. The report

with three-fifths of the signatures, after setting forth that the

subject had had careful consideration, went on to state the

qualifications of voters, namely, that all should be male

citizens, with one exception, and that was, that women might vote

for school district officers.