The facts in regard to the work in Michigan are gathered from their
Centennial volume.
The book is very voluminous, and contains a complete record of the
work, and is beautifully gotten up on uniform paper, and embellished
with pictures.
This volume, which was prepared for the Centennial, and is to go into
the State Historical Society, has been kindly sent that I may gather
the most important facts connected with the history of their work for
this book.
Michigan had a prohibitory law, but public sentiment was not
sufficiently aroused to enforce it, and the liquor-dealers of the State
pursued their traffic, in defiance of the law, openly. The Woman’s
Temperance Crusade, and the more recent labors of Dr. Reynolds and his
coadjutors, have entirely changed the aspect of affairs; the entire
liquor business seems to have been effectually broken down.
ADRIAN, MICHIGAN.
After holding prayer-meetings for some time, and canvassing the city
for signatures to the pledge, a mass-meeting was held in the Opera
House, March 9th, 1874. This proved one of the largest and most
enthusiastic meetings ever held in the city. The immense building
was insufficient to contain the crowd, and the Presbyterian Church,
which was opened for an overflow meeting, was filled in a few moments.
These meetings were addressed by the leading men and women of the
city. Work was at once entered upon; after some discussion the ladies
commenced their visits to the saloons, under the leadership of Mrs.
Daniel Benedict, Mrs. William Benson, and Mrs. Norman Geddes. Two
hundred women in solemn procession filed slowly out of the house of God
into the streets, and into the saloons. All business for the time was
suspended. Women crowded to the windows; men gathered in masses in the
street, all gazing silently as the band proceeded on their mission. The
saloon-keepers, who did not expect them, looked on with confusion and
alarm; the hotels and some of the saloons were visited, the proprietors
receiving them with respect and deference, and at all these places
religious services were held.
Public sentiment in favor of temperance seemed to be rapidly
increasing, and words of encouragement came to them from the
surrounding country, and delegations were sent out to the neighboring
villages to organize the work. Many women, who for years had in silence
borne the curse of strong drink in their own homes, were led to hope
for better days, and came timidly forward to urge them on.
On the 17th March, the band visited Towl’s saloon. Mrs. L. R. Damon and
T. P. Thompson, the leaders, were admitted, and the door immediately
locked. The band which remained on the street became alarmed for
their safety, thinking they were forcibly detained. Great excitement
prevailed throughout the city; business was suspended, and an excited
multitude gathered about the saloon, filling all the adjacent streets.
The women inside, unaware of the excitement in the city, continued
their prayers and pleadings with the proprietor until eleven o’clock at
night. As the band still remained at the saloon, the proprietor wanted
to know what he had done, and what the women wanted of him: immediately
the band sang, “Dare to do right, dare to be true.” Again he came to
the door, and exclaimed, “I’m tired of this! yes, I’m tired of this!”
Immediately the ladies responded in song, “There is rest for the
weary.” At last he could endure it no longer, and fled from the place.
A few days afterwards the saloon was closed.
The next morning, Tuesday, March 18th, pickets were stationed at every
place where it was known that intoxicating liquors were sold. This was
very destructive to the business of the saloon-keepers, as under the
public sentiment then existing, but few had the hardihood to frequent
these places. The success of the work began to be most cheering. North
Main street, almost entirely abandoned to liquor shops, and at night
ablaze with the light of its saloons, was now in darkness. Other parts
of the city showed like results. On the 20th March, the doors of nearly
every saloon in the city apparently were closed, and the open sale of
intoxicating liquors had nearly ceased; some of the dealers had signed
the pledge.
The annual city election occurring the 6th of April, an all-day
prayer-meeting was held in the Presbyterian Church, and a mass-meeting
held in the evening at the same place. Every saloon was picketed. The
result was a quiet, orderly election. Women, who had learned to look
on election days with dread and terror, reported to us with gratitude,
that their husbands had returned to their homes sober, for the first
time in many years.
The picket system was discontinued, and vigilance committees appointed
to gather up evidence with a view of prosecuting the violators of
law. The State law was prohibitory, but a city ordinance provided
for license. A petition was presented to the city council requesting
them to make the sale of intoxicating liquors in violation of law a
forfeiture of their license, but the council declined to act in the
matter, and all efforts were of no avail.
On the 2d of June a band of ladies visiting a saloon on north Main
street had scarcely entered, when the wife of the saloon-keeper angrily
ordered them to depart, and before they could leave the place, hastily
locked them in. Here the ladies were detained, thirteen of them,
from five o’clock in the afternoon until eleven o’clock at night.
At a signal from the woman a motley and excited crowd of saloon and
barkeepers, and their associates and companions, besieged the building,
filling all the street, and keeping away all who would approach to
assist or even to communicate with the imprisoned ladies, and there
they remained, surging about with oaths, and jeering and threatening
demonstrations lest the ladies should escape. Within the rear room
of the saloon, and separated from the band only by a half partition,
was another crowd of barkeepers, a German Catholic priest, an alderman
and others, half-inebriated, singing, drinking, and shouting with
boisterous profanity, influencing and inciting the proprietor and his
infuriated wife against the band, and filling all the room where the
ladies were with suffocating clouds of smoke. And so the band was kept
most of the time in darkness, all communication with their friends cut
off, no ventilation of the foul atmosphere permitted, while resort was
had to every means, short of personal violence, to harass, annoy, and
intimidate these imprisoned women, until by the interposition of the
mayor they were released.
This was the answer of the saloon-keepers to the prayerful, tearful
appeals of the best Christian women of the city in behalf of temperance.
Early in the progress of the movement it became evident that many of
the saloon-keepers could not be reached by moral suasion, and that law
must be resorted to for the suppression of the traffic. A large number
of suits were commenced, the business men of the city backing up the
movement by a subscription of $3,000. Delegations of ladies from the
Union attended nearly all these public trials. The anti-temperance
people became very bitter and vindictive, and openly manifested their
hostility. Several of the ladies attending these trials had their
dresses cut and despoiled by persons in the crowd, and one gentleman, a
Mr. Brown, who assisted in the suits, was murderously assaulted with a
knife in the hands of a woman.
The ladies finding it impossible to secure the services of officers
who would perform their duty under the law for the suppression of the
traffic, finally abandoned this branch of the work.
There were three hundred and two members of the band, and two hundred
and thirteen meetings were held during the first year, and $693.43
expended in the work.
The number of licensed saloons in the city when the Union first sent
out its praying bands was fifty-two; in less than ten days from that
time all these were virtually closed, and remained so for more than
six weeks. The result was, that our jails soon became empty for the
first time in the history of our county, with one exception only, which
occurred in the early settlement of the State. The average jail and
criminal expenses of the county previous to the temperance movement was
$1,000 per month, _but during the time the saloons were closed these
expenses were only $50 per month_--a saving per month of $950.
The women now saw the importance of organized and persistent work, and
prepared for a long conflict. A reading-room was opened, a juvenile
society was organized, and by systematic work the business is gradually
being overthrown.
More recently a reform movement, under the leadership of Dr. Reynolds,
has drawn tens of thousands of drinking men away from the saloons. This
has crippled the saloon-keepers hopelessly. Many of the leading men of
the State and politicians have signed the pledge, and now give their
moral support to the Woman’s Temperance Union and the Reform Club; so
victory is assured. One of the Vice-Presidents of the National Union,
Mrs. Jane M. Geddes, is one of the prominent and efficient workers of
the society.
LANSING, MICHIGAN.
On the 24th March, 1874, the first public meeting was called; about
sixty women were present. On the following Sunday, a union service was
held in the Opera Hall, which was tendered free of charge. The hall
was crowded, and the meeting enthusiastic. The town was canvassed with
a view of securing the co-operation of business men for the immediate
suppression of the traffic. Seven hundred dollars were subscribed to
aid the women to carry out legal measures. The saloons were visited,
but the proprietors refused to sign the dealers’ pledge. In reference
to the opinion which the dealers themselves held in regard to their
occupation, but one dealer was found in the length and breadth of the
city who said he considered his calling honorable.
The Rev. David Crosby, of the first Baptist Church, by his own personal
efforts, raised and placed in the hands of the Union $1,200.
The work was continued by mass-meetings, saloon visiting, personal
appeals, and tract distribution, until May 5th, 1874, when the legal
work was commenced. The women attended the trials, which were held
before Justice Green. The stairway leading to the court was dark, the
room illy ventilated, and furnished with wooden benches. Yet not one
case out of the twenty-eight was tried between May 5th, and September
24th, that the women were not present. Undismayed and unflinchingly
they sat in the court-room with its repulsive surroundings, in the
summer afternoons, with the sun beating in at uncurtained windows,
though the thought of cool parlors at home tempted them. The following
summary will show the general line of work and the results up to
September 24th, 1874:
Summons issued, forty-four; trials had, twenty-eight; withdrawn, by
pledge to quit, three; convictions, twenty-three; acquittals, two;
disagreement of the jury, three; no trial on account of justice
being sick, four; suits on docket for trial, twenty-three. Results:
convictions of men, twenty; convictions of women, three; saloons closed
up to date, six; saloons remaining in the city, twenty-eight; fines
imposed, $750; fines paid, $175; cost imposed, including attorneys’
fees, $419.63; costs collected, $109.48.
The legal work aroused a spirit of anger. It was reported that one
saloon-keeper said that there was nothing to fear as long as the women
remained in the church to pray. Under the heavy blows of the Woman’s
Union the saloons in Lansing decreased in six months from forty-one
to twenty-eight, and the traffic remained crippled, until the State
Legislature repealed a prohibitory law, and enacted a tax law; under
this fostering care of the State authorities, the hope and business of
liquor-dealers revived.
But the women are not discouraged or defeated. A Reform Club and
a Young People’s Society have been organized, and a reading-room
established; and by systematic and persistent work, they are pushing
the battle and expect the victory.
JACKSON, MICHIGAN.
In the month of February, 1874, Rev. J. H. McCarty, D. D., pastor of
the first M. E. Church, issued a call for a union temperance meeting,
to be held in the Methodist Church. Responsive to this call, the
pastors of nearly all of the orthodox churches came together, with
their working members.
There was a very enthusiastic meeting, and for several days such
meetings were held. Finally, the ladies were encouraged to organize
and begin Crusade work. The pastors promised their hearty support and
encouragement. The ladies organized a society known as “The Ladies’
Temperance Union,” of Jackson.
The ladies visited some saloons, but without any perceptible results.
The saloon-keepers knew that they had the support of the majority of
the business men of the place, and so were coolly defiant.
A large and enthusiastic meeting was held, March 12th, in the Opera
House, and the clergy committed themselves unreservedly to the work.
The exercises consisted of speeches and songs, and Mrs. L. E. Allen,
President of the Union, read the following original poem, in which is
embodied the experience of a lady living in Jackson:
“Pale were the lips which uttered this story, not long ago,
And the eyes were dim with a sorrow which cometh from human woe;
And the words came low and broken from the torn and bleeding heart,
Where years on years had rankled the pain of a poisoned dart.
“’Twas a fearful night in the winter, the winter of sixty-four,
When round my lowly dwelling the wild winds beat and tore;
The rain which in daylight had fallen had turned to a frozen sleet,
And lay like a sheet of silver adown the desolate street.
’Twas long and long after midnight, I waited and waited alone--
None, none but my God to be near me, and list to my desolate moan.
My light shone out in the darkness, my fire was burning bright,
For my husband, my erring husband, was out in the fearful night.
“And colder I grew in my terror--I had waited so long, so long
(For my heart to the wreck of my idol still hopefully, tenderly
clung).
Then I thought I heard his footsteps come staggering on through the
gloom,
And they sent a chill to my heartstrings like the threat of a
terrible doom.
And nearer they came, and nearer, and paused by the outer door,
And I heard a voice and footstep I had never heard before.
I opened the door affrighted, and saw but a stranger face,
Where the flush of the fatal wine cup had crimsoned and left its
trace.
“‘Come, hasten!’ he said, ‘good woman, your husband is dead with
drink,
And the man who sold him the poison has a heart as black as ink,
And he swears he will turn him helpless out into the storm to lie,
When he knows that out in the tempest alone he would perish and die.
Perhaps if you went to his rescue, and whispered a word in his ear,
He might waken from out his stupor and hearken the message to hear.
You never need fear to trust me, for I am my own worst foe;
But I hated to see him lying all dead and cold in the snow.’
“So I wrapped my garments about me, to shield me as best I might,
And went, with a drunken stranger, out into the pitiless night--
Down through the streets of the city, down to the haunts beneath,
Where the soul is chained to a monster that clingeth and clingeth
till death.
“Oh! the sight that darkened my vision, may you never witness,
I pray,
For there lay the one I had promised to honor, and love, and obey.
He opened his eyes in wonder as he heard the unwonted sound
Of my voice in that den of terror, and dizzily looked around.
“Then the little of manhood in him came out in a flush on his face;
And, upheld by myself and the stranger, he staggering left the
place.
Fiercely the storm king assailed us, and pierced us through like a
knife;
But we thought not of storm or tempest, for we fought for a human
life.
“Home where the lamplight waited, home to a living death
(For life in the soul is not cherished by giving or taking of
breath),
And I sat in my helpless sorrow and pleaded and prayed to die,
For death were a hundred-fold sweeter than the living agony.
“So many a night have I sought him, ’twixt midnight and break of
day,
And out of that place of torment have led him reeling away.
Oh! those fearful walks in the darkness, I can never, no, never,
forget;
And the glimmer of starlight splendor sends a shudder over me yet.
“Then he went to his country’s rescue, himself but a tyrant’s
slave--
And the wreck of his noble manhood now sleeps in a nameless grave.
While my heart was crushed and bleeding, my cry was, day by day:
‘How long shall the wicked triumph? how long shall Thy people
pray?’
“So the plaintive story ended, so the pale lips paused to say:
‘Say to the women of Jackson there is need for them to pray.’
Ah! need, for the cry is ringing from city, and hamlet, and plain,
While we feel the silent pleadings of the millions that are slain.
Need! for the fight grows fiercer, and madly the red wine flows;
And the record is growing longer--the record of human woes.
“How long, O Lord, shall Thy children sit idle, and fearful, and
dumb,
While thousands are falling around us, all ruined and wrecked by
rum.
Let the bondage of self be broken, and set all Thy people free,
Till the world shall be rid of this evil, and brought to a knowledge
of Thee.”
The Hurd House saloon was among the first visited. The clerk received
them politely, but the crowd on the street were disposed to be abusive.
A saloon-keeper made a mock prayer, which was so vulgar that he was
afterwards arrested for the offence. A total abstinence pledge was
circulated, but very few of the prominent business men, or church
members would sign it. So low was the temperance sentiment that nearly
all of the drug stores sold liquor by the glass, to whoever wanted it,
regardless of law or order.
The law which required the saloons to be closed on Sunday was openly
defied and scoffed at. The ladies sent a petition to the common
council, requesting the enforcement of the Sunday law; but it was laid
upon the table, no attention whatever being paid to it.
A vigilance committee was appointed, and a number of saloon-keepers
were arrested for breaking the Sunday law. They were tried before the
courts, and, although abundant and reliable proof was produced, yet
judge and jury conspired to render a verdict of acquittal.
Outdoor meetings were held during the spring and summer, under the
supervision of Mrs. Mary T. Lathrop and Mrs. A. H. Brown, both of them
indefatigable workers in the temperance cause.
The daily meetings were continued for about three months, after which
they were held weekly. These continued for a while; but the churches
were so indifferent, and public sentiment so opposed, that after a
while the meetings were abandoned entirely.
But of late there is a new interest being awakened on the temperance
question, and may God speed the day when this nation shall put this
great enemy of intemperance under her feet, and shall stand before the
world purified and saved.
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.
A Woman’s Prohibition Society was organized in this town in 1872. The
circumstance leading to this action was the wrongs and sufferings of a
woman of intelligence and culture, whose husband was a victim of the
drink habit. The existence of this society was maintained up to the
Crusade. The heroic little band, with fresh hope and courage, renewed
their work. One public house turned out its bar, one wholesale grocery
gave up the liquor trade, a few small retail saloons were shut up;
sixteen out of eighteen signed the druggists’ pledge.
Many who professed Christianity withheld their aid and sympathy: none
were quicker to see this than the saloon-keepers, and taking advantage
of this indecision, the liquor ring sent out its messengers, with the
threat that business and political patronage would be withheld from all
who had anything to do with the temperance cause. Covert threats were
also sent out, warning persons of danger to their property; and men of
wealth and influence, some of them pillars in the church and society,
sold their principles, allowed their convictions to be silenced, and
even went so far as to desire their wives to discontinue their open
connection with the Woman’s Temperance Union. There were honorable
exceptions, however--men who stood by their principles.
Noble and influential women of the city, who had formerly been active
in the Woman’s Prohibition Society, stood aloof, having no faith in the
present movement.
In all these discouragements, the earnest women engaged in the work
only saw the valley of humiliation through which they must pass before
they ascend to the mount of victory.
Mrs. M. L. Bois is the President, and Mrs. E. S. Eggleston,
Corresponding Secretary.
COLD WATER, MICHIGAN.
After several preliminary meetings for prayer and conference, a
mass-meeting was held, April 16th, 1874, at the M. E. Church. Twelve
ladies passed through the audience and secured 177 names as workers,
which was soon augmented to 200.
The men said they were ashamed to have the women do the work, and
formed a committee for the purpose of doing the work themselves. The
women waited patiently, then sent a committee to inquire as to their
success. They told the ladies to keep quiet, that they were doing all
they could, but it took time to accomplish such a great work. What
the men really did was to give the liquor-dealers thirty days time
to quit the business, or in other words, to give them that much time
to perfect their arrangements to sell secretly. Not a single saloon
was closed, and now they tell the women tauntingly, that they did not
intend to close the saloons, but took this means to prevent the women
from working. But amid all these discouragements, the women are pushing
their work, trusting in God for the victory.
Mrs. Dr. GEO. FERGUSON, Secretary.
EATON RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.
The work began in this town in March, 1874; the first visit to the
saloons was by a committee of six ladies; soon afterwards they went
in a body. One of their visits was to a first-class hotel, where they
asked the privilege of prayer; the landlord objected, said he would
have no noise or excitement in his house, as his wife was very sick,
but all the time he was making a great noise himself. “Very well,”
said the leader, “we will have a season of silent prayer,” to which he
replied, “Pray away, that’s your privilege,” and turning, walked to
the other side of the room; at a wave from the leader’s hand, they all
knelt on the office floor; the rustle of their dresses attracted his
attention; he turned and came to them like an enraged tiger. A lady
(her husband at that time was drinking terribly), whose countenance was
indicative of a broken heart, was kneeling in front of the others. The
enraged proprietor caught this pale, trembling, heart-broken Christian
lady, and hurled her with violence against the rest, saying: “Get out!
I won’t have it: get out, get out.” Rising as quietly as possible the
ladies passed out, the proprietor busying himself pushing and scolding
those in the rear. The ladies were sad, but not disappointed. The next
day double the number convened for action.
Not many months passed till that beautiful house lay a mass of charred
ruins. The next day the leader of the band, the marshal of the village
by her side, visited the Spring House; after singing and prayer, the
mother-in-law of the bartender, who stood beside the proprietor, opened
her mouth, and the Lord filled it with a stream of eloquence most
touching, most pathetic. Fifteen minutes after they left the room the
proprietor closed out his bar, saying, while the tears ran down his
face, “No one need ever tell me again there is no power in prayer.” The
whole community seemed aroused, by seeing the procession of ladies;
others could not bear to look at them; men who did not consider
themselves temperance men declared they could think of nothing else
night or day; ministers who had lacked interest became radical. At
length it was thought wise to petition the village board: accordingly
a committee of eight ladies presented a petition. Their prayer was
granted, and the marshal instructed to order the bars closed the next
morning. From that time until the change in the law, liquor was not
sold openly and defiantly. During the first week of the license, or tax
law, there were more drunkards on the streets than in the six months
previous.
Mrs. IRA TURNEY, President.
Mrs. J. E. SWEEZEY, Secretary.
NEW BOSTON, MICHIGAN.
The following incident led to the commencement of the work in this
place. A lady died in Ohio, who had formerly lived in New Boston, and
whose son was still living there, on the ancestral farm, but he had
learned to love the fatal cup, and his career had given his mother much
sorrow. She was in the Crusade of Ohio, and it was her purpose to go to
New Boston and inaugurate a Crusade to save her son. But God called her
home, and her husband brought her body to be buried there, and told the
story. A deep interest was aroused, and the Christian women felt called
to take up this work that the mother had laid down.
There were, at that time, two saloons and one tavern in successful
operation in the village. Two of them did more business on the Sabbath
than on any other day of the week; gambling was constantly practised
in all; and the minister, as he passed to his church, could count
more men and boys about the tavern doors than he could in the church.
The women commenced by ascertaining how many in the village and
vicinity were willing to give their aid and influence. All professed
themselves more than willing. A committee was appointed to visit the
saloon-keepers, and talk kindly with them, and urge them to give up a
business that was ruining themselves as well as their unhappy victims.
Two agreed to close their doors if all would; the third, a German, who
kept a den that for vileness could hardly be surpassed, was determined
to sell in spite of them.
It was ascertained that less than $75 would purchase all the liquors in
the place and close out the saloons, but the temperance men objected
to it, and the women abandoned that project. Mass-meetings and saloon
visiting continued, and such enthusiasm was aroused, that two of the
saloonists moved away, leaving only the defiant, law-breaking German
in the business. He was backed up by a man of considerable influence,
who received from the government a large salary, as a sort of pseudo
revenue officer. The ladies went _en masse_ to the saloon of this
German. He received them with considerable trepidation, and would have
run away, but for the loungers in the bar-room, who detained him; but
his wife, an ignorant and depraved woman, soon appeared on the scene,
and commenced like Saul of Tarsus to breathe out threatenings and
slaughter. When this man’s courage would falter, under the earnest
appeals of wives and mothers, the bar-room loungers would jeer and
offer insult, to break the force of their words. They found there not
only opposition, but an atmosphere of corruption and vice, and real
danger, but they did not falter. On visiting the place again, they
found two gray-headed old men, both of whom had held the highest office
in the gift of their fellow-townsmen, one of them the pseudo revenue
officer before mentioned. They were just in the act of drinking at
the bar as they entered. No words can do justice to the scene. They
knew that the women were on the alert for evidence to convict the
liquor-seller, and they might be used to convict the man they were
laboring so hard to sustain. They tried to hide themselves behind each
other, or behind the stove, or anything that promised to protect them
from view, the little band of determined women being between them and
the door.
Having secured sufficient evidence they determined to prosecute the
German dealer. They called upon the temperance men to subscribe each
a small amount, but with one accord they all began to make excuse,
except two; the merchant pleaded that he had no shutters to his store
front; the doctor thought it would hurt his practice; the politician
feared loss of votes; the farmer dreaded a girdled orchard, and it was
only after long marching and much pleading that $10 was secured to fee
an able lawyer, who undertook this case for that. The day of trial
arrived. They went in force to an adjoining town, where the case was to
be tried before an honorable temperance justice of the peace.
Their witnesses nearly all disappointed them; some, they had reason
to believe, perjured themselves. The jury retired at nine P. M. One,
two, three hours passed away, and no verdict. But just as the hands of
the clock in the county school-house, where the trial took place on
this Saturday night, pointed five minutes to twelve, the jury appeared
and announced, amid the most solemn stillness, the verdict, “Guilty.”
The justice, with an eye on the clock, pronounced the sentence--a
fine, or imprisonment till the fine was paid. With happy hearts they
started for their homes, feeling that victory was about to crown their
efforts. But the authorities did not enforce the collection of the
fine, and the drinking, gambling, and Sunday desecration continued.
Again they arrested him for keeping his saloon open on the Sabbath. He
was tried before a resident justice, a professing Christian. The man
pleaded guilty, and was fined only five dollars. He was delighted, and
exultingly paid his fine. Again they arrested him for allowing minors
to gamble in his house. He was tried before another justice, a man
who had said he would sacrifice five hundred dollars, and move away,
if that very house was not closed. The dealer pleaded guilty, and was
fined three dollars. The man laughingly declared he could well afford
that, as the previous Sunday he had made from his gaming table thirty
dollars.
The women were now thoroughly convinced that the men who had so
loudly talked temperance could not be depended upon. The town board
had promised to stand by the ladies in their efforts to suppress the
illegal traffic; but in the first case the fine was not collected, and
in the other two they were too small to be felt, although imposed
for grave offences. The next Sabbath the passers-by, on their way to
church, were pained, as usual, by the open doors, sounds of dice,
card-playing, and swearing, as though it were all perfectly legitimate.
As the traffic was sustained by the officers of the law, the ladies
deemed it unwise to continue the legal work.
During all this time the vile spirit of rum manifested itself in
lawlessness and deeds of violence. One of the workers was the wife of
a merchant, who was moving his building from one lot to another. The
whiskey party gathered near the place; rum flowed as free as water, and
a fight occurred that beggars description. Infuriated with the vile
stuff, they seized sticks and clubs, and struck friend and foe alike.
Women and children rushed to the rescue, and then fled in terror from
the scene. One mother, who recognized her son among the combatants,
was with difficulty restrained from going to his rescue. His young
wife, regardless of the fast-falling blows, rushed to his aid, and the
poor, beaten wretch, unworthy of so much womanly sympathy, was finally
saved from what might have been a fearful death. The merchant received
friendly warning that his building was in danger of being fired. On the
night of the 3d of July, the whiskey party placed three anvils within
eight feet of the glass front of this man’s store, and loaded them
with gunpowder, and fired them, knowing at the time that the husband
was absent, and that the wife, with her three little children, one an
infant, was in the house alone. The yell of disappointed rage that
broke from them as the smoke cleared away, and they found that not
one of the large lights was broken, made night hideous. About an hour
later, one man, more noisy than discreet, shouted, in drunken tones,
“Let’s fire the blind man’s store!” The object of their fiendish malice
was totally blind, and had been brought up amongst them from childhood,
and was every way worthy of their respect, his only fault being earnest
devotion to the cause of temperance. Failing to otherwise injure his
building, they defaced it by writing, during the night, offensive
epithets in large letters. On one occasion they bought a keg of beer,
and built a bonfire in front of his house, and with orgies that would
have graced pandemonium, drank it to the dregs.
A large stone was thrown through the window of a sleeping-room in the
house of another member of the Union with such force as to break the
plastering on the opposite side of the room, and greatly endanger the
sleepers. Two of these disturbers of the peace reaped their reward
within a short time. Leaving the tavern intoxicated one dark night,
one journeyed north, the other south, on the railroad track. One fell
through the bridge into the dark river below, and his body lay there a
week before it was known what had become of him. The other was found
the next morning in a culvert, a mangled corpse, by his own daughter,
who had been sent by the anxious wife and mother, after a night of
sleepless anxiety, to search for him.
And still the wives and mothers weep, and watch, and pray, for still
the fearful work of ruin goes on. The ladies attribute their failure
to the cowardice and instability of the temperance men, who have made
their village a reproach and a by-word in the land.
PORTLAND, MICHIGAN.
On March 30th, 1874, a citizens’ temperance convention was held at
Bower’s Hall, presided over by Dr. M. B. Beers. At this meeting Rev.
A. March, Presbyterian, suggested that the ladies should assist in
forwarding the cause of temperance. They needed no second invitation.
A meeting was held the next morning, and the town districted and
canvassed for names to the several pledges.
April 2d, 1874, a lawsuit against a saloonist for unlawful sale of
liquors was instituted by the village board. The ladies attended the
trial. Defendant was convicted and fined $25. When the decision was
announced, the ladies sang “Glory Hallelujah,” and the criminal joined
in the chorus. The saloons, hotels, drug stores, and all places where
liquors were sold, were visited. The front doors of the saloons were
locked, dealers absent, business seemed to be closed. The man, who was
tried and fined $25, afterwards gave up the business and signed the
pledge.
April 14th, 1874, out of a population of fifteen hundred, eight hundred
had enrolled their names on the pledge. The five saloons in active
operation at the beginning of the Crusade were all closed; hard cider
banished from the restaurants, and the druggists pledged to sell only
for mechanical and medicinal purposes. The women thanked God and took
courage. Liquors were reshipped or sold by the sheriff. Only one of
all the saloonists visited talked defiantly and insultingly. He was
promptly arrested and dragged before Justice A. J. Southard, there to
answer for his misdemeanor. All his courage forsook him, and under the
pretence of seeking a witness in the hall, he left the court-room,
dashed down the steps, and away, and was lost to the court and the
town. The next day two of the ladies, Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Showman, took
the train in which he was making good his escape. In great terror, he
thought of jumping from the cars, but was restrained by a friend. He is
now honestly laboring in an adjoining town for a livelihood.
The effect, however, of the tax law was to revive the hopes of the
liquor party, and make it more difficult to resist the tide of evil.
But these noble women are holding the fort, and hopefully persevering
in their labors for universal sobriety.
HATTIE E. S. COLE,
Chairman of Committee on History of Woman’s
Temperance Crusade.
HOWELL, MICHIGAN.
A society was organized at this place, April, 1874. Saloon visitations
followed. At first every door was closed against the women, and
meetings were held on the sidewalks. No indignities were offered to
the ladies except at the hotel of Mr. Johnson, but he was arrested
and taken to prison. After this, the saloon doors were opened, and we
held meetings in the saloons for ten days, when all the saloon-keepers
agreed to close. The ladies were bound to believe these promises, but
every art that wicked men could devise was resorted to, to carry on
the traffic secretly. When interrogated in regard to the reports, they
would invariably deny that they were selling. A committee was appointed
to obtain evidence, and at the session of the grand jury, June, 1874,
over one hundred witnesses were sworn, and testified to having drank at
the saloons after the promise was given to the ladies to quit selling.
Every saloon-keeper in the village was indicted. They were required
to give bail, and there it ended. A number of suits for violation of
the law were held before a justice of the peace, E. B. Gregory. All
were lost by the disagreement of the jury, except one. The board of
supervisors withheld the fees of Squire Gregory, because he was a
temperance man.
All hopes of accomplishing anything in this direction were cut off.
The ladies, though defeated in human courts, were as determined as
ever. Tracts were written and printed, and distributed throughout the
town and county. Temperance prayer-meetings and mass-meetings were
held, a children’s organization was formed, and petitions and pledges
circulated, and still they work on and pray on, and victory is crowning
their efforts.
Mrs. R. V. HUNTINGTON,
Mrs. H. G. W. FRY,
Mrs. S. T. LYON.
ALLEGAN, MICHIGAN.
The ladies began in this town, February 19th, 1874, by sending a
postal card to each of the saloon proprietors, urging them in the
name of law and order to cease their illegal traffic, assuring them
that if they did not do so, more decided measures would be taken. The
town was canvassed for workers, and on Wednesday morning, March 4th,
a consecration meeting was held at the Presbyterian Church. From the
church they marched to Cook’s saloon, and finding the door closed, they
held their prayer-meeting in the street, singing as their battle-song,
“We’re listed in the holy war, battling for the Lord;” and, “I’m glad
I’m in this army.” From thence the band proceeded to H. S. Strong’s
saloon. Above the door was a black placard bearing the words, “Closed
for Prayers.” The ladies were admitted, and treated with deference.
All the saloons were visited. At the close of the week there were two
less saloons. Another man returned his stock of liquors, and engaged in
other business. The proprietor of the City Hotel, being notified by the
owner of the building to cease the sale of liquors, stated that he had
decided to keep a temperance house. A German saloon-keeper was visited:
he was very uncivil and abusive, and went on with the sale of liquor
in their presence. The ladies entered complaint before Justice Babbit,
and by his own admission he was convicted as a common seller, and fined
fifty dollars and costs. Other suits followed, seven of them damage
suits for large amounts. In the meantime the Crusade band continued to
visit saloons, and hold religious exercises, and by the fourth week the
saloons were virtually closed. A petition was presented to the common
council for a prohibitory law, but the council dallied, deferring
action from week to week; a committee of ladies waited upon them
with a petition, signed by two hundred of the best citizens, urging
prompt action, but when action was taken, it was adverse. This gave
great encouragement to the liquor-dealers. Strong, who had temporarily
abandoned the business, rented a building, and flaunted from an upper
window the American flag dishonored by the black token of defiance.
The ladies visited him, but as he expressed a determination to go on
with his business, they purchased some of his liquors, and held him to
trial before Judge Babbit, but being defeated they carried it up to
the Circuit Court. Strong paid his fine without trial. In a short time
twelve other dealers reopened their saloons. They were so cautious in
the beginning, that it was difficult to obtain evidence; but in a short
time the ladies commenced suit against all in the business; some were
gained, others lost, or the jury disagreed.
Through all the discouraging circumstances they still maintain their
work, and pray and wait for victory.
M. T. McMartin, Secretary, prepared the report from which I have
gleaned this.
IONIA, MICHIGAN.
A meeting was held in the Presbyterian Church, the 15th March. At
this meeting it was affirmed that there were one hundred men ready
to sustain the cause, but when their zeal was put to a test it was
found there was scarcely one who was true. The ladies organized and
visited the saloons; some of the saloon-keepers were moved to tears,
and expressed a regret that they were in the business. One dealer,
when they asked the privilege of praying in his saloon, said: “If
there is any of you without sin, let her pray.” The ladies, feeling
that they were in the right, did not hesitate to offer prayer. One
prominent wholesale dealer said, that if there were thirty business
men in the city who desired that he should close his saloon, he would
comply; others made the same promise; _the thirty men, however, could
not be found_. The ladies then petitioned the common council: _their
petition was laid on the table_. Undismayed the ladies then went out
into the saloons, and forbade the sale of liquor after the 1st of May,
which so intimidated the dealers, that no liquor was sold publicly for
several weeks. During the time, agents from liquor-houses visited the
city, but were unable to sell a single barrel for three months. One of
these agents offered a prominent lawyer $1,000 if he would desert the
cause of the ladies, and come out in favor of the saloonists, which,
be it said to his honor, he steadily refused to do. While liquors
were not sold publicly, the ladies were confident that it was sold
with closed doors. They decided to employ a detective; Mr. Willlngton
C. Page offered his home as head-quarters of this official, and when
suits were brought against the saloonists, such an excitement was
created, that Mr. Page was obliged almost to risk his life in behalf
of the detective. The detective proved to be a failure, which greatly
discouraged the ladies in their active work; yet their prayer-meetings
and efforts are kept up, and the subject is kept before the people.
Three of the saloon-keepers have gone to try the realities of another
world; two have sold out, and two have abandoned the business.
HUDSON, MICHIGAN.
During the excitement caused by the Crusade in Ohio, the women of
Hudson became interested in the temperance movement, and some time
in February, 1874, formed a society known as “The Ladies’ Temperance
Union.”
The object of this society was to develop a better public sentiment,
and by directing attention to the great evils of intemperance to
promote the cause of temperance.
About one hundred ladies joined the Union, and worked ardently.
The pastors of the different churches gave their support, and did all
in their power to help on the good cause. It was soon discovered,
however, that there was an element of conservatism manifesting itself,
and many of the workers were influenced by it, and fell away. But there
was a faithful few, who, believing that this work was not of _man_, but
of God, worked right on.
The town was canvassed for signers to the pledge. They met with much
opposition; but about seven hundred signers were secured.
On election day the ladies visited the saloon-keepers, and urged them
to close their saloons. Some of them did as the ladies requested; but
when they refused, pickets were left on watch, so that if any did
drink they would have to do so in the presence of the ladies. At one
place they were ordered by the proprietor to leave, who gave them just
three minutes in which to do so. But one little woman, with a good
stock of moral courage, refused to leave, maintaining that it was a
place of public resort, and that if her husband and brothers could come
and stay there, so could she, and she would do so.
Several saloons closed; but one place where they promised to close,
but did not, the ladies went on picket duty. The proprietor sent out
for a lot of rowdies, and offered segars free to all who would smoke.
They smoked until the people outside thought the place was on fire. The
ladies were asked to leave, but declined to do so unless the saloon was
closed. Finally, when the men could stand it no longer, the saloon was
closed.
The ladies entered suit against a saloon-keeper for selling to a
young man contrary to the prohibition law, and won the suit; the
saloon-keeper having to pay the fine and costs.
The ladies did not do much saloon visiting, but have quietly worked on
in whatever way they felt that the Lord called them.
Nearly all owners of real estate signed a pledge not to rent their
property to be used for the purpose of selling intoxicating liquors.
One saloon-keeper, on going to pay his rent, and renew his lease, to
his disgust, found that his landlord had signed the woman’s pledge, and
could not let him have it. A lawsuit ensued, but the saloon-keeper was
ejected, and the room thoroughly cleaned and repainted, and the first
use made of it was for a strawberry festival given by the ladies of the
Union.
There is a better temperance sentiment here than when the Union was
organized. The temperance workers are watching and praying for a day
when the friends of temperance can praise the Lord who giveth the
victory to those who trust in His almighty power.
MORENCI, MICHIGAN.
March 18th, 1874, the ladies organized a Woman’s Temperance Union,
with their membership numbering thirty-seven, which was subsequently
increased to over one hundred. After some preliminary work, they began
to visit the saloons, but the proprietors all refused to sign the
pledge. These visits to the saloons continued till March 28th, when
three of the principal dealers signed the dealers’ pledge. There was
great joy and thanksgiving over this. The next day being Sabbath,
a praise meeting was held. In the midst of the praise meeting, a
gentleman arose and said that he had been informed, that in violation
of their pledges, in less than ten minutes after they left, the
dealers were selling. One of them was present, and was appealed to.
He personally denied it, and said that he would rather beg than sell
intoxicating drink; but afterwards they proved this man guilty of
selling in violation of his pledge.
The dealers were prosecuted, but the work was greatly hindered by
unfaithful officers. The women are looking to God, and with strong
cries and tears are pleading for the overthrow of this traffic.
Mrs. E. G. DAY.
FLINT, MICHIGAN.
A young lady in this city who had consecrated herself to the Foreign
Missionary work, and was very much beloved for the purity of her life
and her Christian zeal, coming out of the church one night, just before
she left for heathen lands, a man addicted to drink accosted her
and gave her ten dollars. She with others commenced praying for his
conversion, and shortly afterwards he went to the pastor of one of the
churches, and with deep emotion asked, “What shall I do to be saved?”
He was saved, and the church was stirred with interest for others.
Still no one thought of organizing for the work, until the proprietor
of the City Hotel sent an invitation for a prayer-meeting to be held in
his sitting-room. This was regarded as a very peculiar request coming
from him; the house was considered the lowest place in town--a whiskey
den. His wife was a Roman Catholic. A lady volunteered to go and see
if he was in earnest; she found that the invitation was given in good
faith, and that the wife concurred; an appointment was made for the
next morning, but when the ladies went to hold the meeting, none but
ladies were there, and the proprietor could not be persuaded to enter
the room. Out of this movement grew the Crusade.
A meeting was called, a society organized, and the ladies held a series
of mass-meetings in the Presbyterian Church for about a week; but on
Saturday night following these gospel mass-meetings, the church was
fired by the hand of an incendiary. The people were astonished and
indignant; they decided at once to commence the Crusade. Their first
visit was to the saloon where they had held the prayer-meeting, but
they were not admitted. They went from saloon to saloon day after day,
until whiskey-selling and whiskey-drinking were exceedingly unpopular
in Flint. Mrs. C. Morrison bought the stock of liquors of one man who
was willing to sell out, breaking the first bottle herself. As the
liquors were emptied into the gutter, a poor, bloated wretch, scooping
the dirty stuff in his hands, drank it, utterly regardless of the filth
it had passed through. Some one told Mrs. Morrison she had “paid too
much for that liquor.” Looking him earnestly in the face, she replied,
with great composure, “I know that, sir; I should have been cheated if
I had only paid twenty-five cents.”
One dealer turned his saloon into a temperance restaurant, but was
still greatly influenced by the liquor-dealers. Prosecutions were
commenced, but efforts in that direction were found to be useless. The
ladies are praying and waiting, hopefully, patiently, for the coming
victory.
Mrs. E. CLARK, Secretary.
LESLIE, MICHIGAN.
The women of this town, aided and encouraged by the pastors of the
several churches, organized April 1st, 1874. A canvass of the town was
made for pledges. A petition, largely signed by the citizens, asking
for a prohibitory ordinance, was presented to the city council by a
committee of eighteen ladies. It was graciously received, but never
acted upon.
April 23d, the ladies commenced saloon visitations. Their first visit
was to Daniel Mitchell’s, who refused admittance, but conducted them
to his hotel; so their first meeting was held in the Allen House.
Other saloons were visited during the day. On the 25th, they went
from the prayer-meeting with the purpose to visit every saloon. At
the Metropolitan saloon, Mr. Mitchell himself rudely helped each lady
out of his saloon, but they continued in prayer on the pavement,
unconscious of the jeering, mocking crowd gathered about them. To
the eye of faith, to-day, as in Joshua’s time, giants become as
grasshoppers. At the second saloon, they were reluctantly admitted, and
allowed to hold their services without violence.
At one hotel, McDaniels, the proprietor, ordered the ladies from his
waiting-room into the parlor, and did not hesitate to push them over
some who were already kneeling in prayer. At a drug store where liquor
was sold in all quantities, the ladies were refused the privilege of
prayer. Of course the devil was very much insulted, and raged and
foamed, because his business was interfered with; but the grace of God
was sufficient for His workers. That evening Mr. Brown, the proprietor
of the best hotel in the town, sent in a notice, to be read in the
church, that he had closed his bar. The large audience arose and sang,
with the Spirit,
“All hail the power of Jesus’ name.”
On Monday evening, April 27th, every bar was closed, and
with joyful hearts the workers gave to their God all the glory; for
the same power that stopped the mouths of lions closed these gates of
death. But in the midst of victory and thanksgiving, one of our leaders
and counsellors suddenly became fearful, and full of sympathy for the
rum-sellers. He feared a mistake had been made on the part of the women
in not waiting for the rum-sellers to become converted. So he began to
prophesy that the work would not last, which comforted and encouraged
the enemy, and brought sorrow and trouble to the friends of temperance.
But only one saloon continues to sell, and they are laboring and
praying for its overthrow, and they expect that saloon will be closed,
if not through the mercies, by the judgments, of God.
Mrs. HENRIETTA TAYLOR, President.
Mrs. PHEBE EARL, Secretary.
DOWAGIAC, MICHIGAN.
The work began in this town in the spring of 1874. An organization
was effected April 24th of the same year. Mass-meetings were held in
several churches alternately; liquor-dealers were visited, and urged to
abandon their disreputable business, but with no results. Finally the
prosecution of liquor-dealers under the prohibitory law was determined
upon. Ninety-eight temperance men came forward and pledged their
influence in the movement. A committee of gentlemen was appointed to
assist the ladies in securing information to convict the law-breakers.
The prosecuting committee worked with great zeal, but were constantly
embarrassed, and often thwarted, their persons and property being in
danger from the cowardly and malicious attacks from the rum-seller and
the band of ruffians and robbers who stood ready to do his bidding. As
vigilant and zealous as were these prosecutors, they were more than
matched by the whiskey-sellers. A rumor was started that the taxes of
the county would be largely increased by these trials, with a view of
alarming tax-payers. The following figures from the official records
will show how baseless this assertion was. The fines and collections
secured through the Crusade were $803.85; while the costs to the county
were only $148.02; leaving a balance, $655.83. Thus it will be seen
that the experiment of enforcing the prohibitory law was not a failure.
No less than five of those who were selling, when the work began, had
been effectually closed up, while the others were forced to transfer
their business to prevent action that would take them to the county
jail.
The passage of the tax law, which was equivalent to the repeal of
the prohibitory law, again gave the rum-sellers hope, and once more
the front doors were thrown open, and the work of death carried on
publicly. But the women are earnest and hopeful, and are longing and
waiting for the time when a great people in their wrath shall decree
the overthrow of rum.
Mrs. SARAH M. FARR, Secretary.
COLON, MICHIGAN.
The ladies of this place went into the Crusade work with heart and
hope, being well backed up by the men, who promised to furnish money
for prosecutions, and to protect them from insult.
One instance is worthy of notice. It was town-meeting day, and three
ladies were sent to the hotel to try to get signatures to the pledge,
and to persuade those who came in not to drink. Their presence very
much incensed the proprietor, who sent out for segars and offered
them free to all who would smoke with him. A number of half-drunken,
low fellows, complied with his request, and soon the room was dense
with smoke, but the ladies paid no attention to it. Cayenne pepper
was then put upon the stove, and, finally, asafœtida. The men coughed
and sneezed, and had to rush out in self-defence, but strange to say,
not one lady either coughed or sneezed the whole five hours they were
confined in the room.
They have succeeded in elevating public sentiment, and know that they
have effected permanent good in their town.
MISCELLANEOUS.
The work of the Crusade was carried forward with more or less success
in the following towns: Tecumseh, Rockford, Rollin, Clinton, Ann Arbor,
Hillsdale, Olivet, Mason, White Pigeon, Whitehall, Big Rapids, and Hart.
During the year 1877 Dr. Reynolds labored in Michigan. The work began
at Adrian, the home of Mrs. Geddes, Vice-President of the National
Union, who aided greatly in securing its success. Tens of thousands of
men of all classes signed the pledge and donned the red ribbon. Reform
Clubs were organized in nearly every town, and such was the enthusiasm
that followed, and so thoroughly aroused were the masses of the people,
that the Legislature of the State passed a concurrent resolution, by a
unanimous vote, thanking Dr. Reynolds for the services he had rendered
the State, in emptying the jails and almshouses, and in lessening crime
and disorder. Many of the men who fought against the Crusade, and
helped to sustain the liquor-dealers, are now pledged temperance men.
Mrs. J. M. Geddes reports nearly two hundred Reform Clubs, with a
constituency of a hundred thousand; public sentiment strongly on the
side of temperance; pulpit and press favorable; churches and ministers
co-operating; unfermented wine almost universally in use; temperance
societies in a flourishing condition; and reading-rooms connected with
most of the Reform Clubs.
WISCONSIN, MINNESOTA, IOWA, AND MISSOURI.