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      Life and Writings of Amelia Bloomer | A Project Gutenberg
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<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 69953 ***</div>

<div class="figcenter" style="width: 65%">
<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Cover">
</div>

<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">

<div class="chapter">
<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="frontis" style="max-width: 34.5em;">
  <img class="w100" src="images/frontis.jpg" alt="D. C. Bloomer">
</figure>

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<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">


<div>
<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropcap.jpg" alt="Fancy letter L" width="100" height="100">
</div>

<h1 class="drop-cap">LIFE AND WRITINGS OF<br>
<span class="fs120">AMELIA BLOOMER</span></h1>


<br>
<br>
<p class="center no-indent clrboth"><span class="fs60">BY</span><br>
<span class="fs130">D. C. BLOOMER, LL. D.</span><br>
<span class="fs60 wsp">WITH PORTRAITS</span></p><br><br>

<figure class="figcenter illowp15" id="symbol" style="max-width: 11.25em;">
  <img class="w100" src="images/symbol.jpg" alt="Art for Truth symbol">
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<br><br>

<p class="center no-indent"><span class="fs80">BOSTON</span><br>
<span class="fs120 wsp">ARENA PUBLISHING COMPANY</span><br>
<span class="smcap fs120">Copley Square</span><br>
1895</p><br>

<p class="center no-indent">Republished 1976<br>
Scholarly Press, Inc., 22929 Industrial Drive East<br>
St. Clair Shores, Michigan 48080
</p>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">

<div class="chapter">
<p class="center no-indent">
<span class="smcap">Copyrighted, 1895</span>,<br>
<br>
<span class="fs80">BY</span><br>
<br>
D. C. BLOOMER.<br></p>

<hr class="r5">

<div class="pageborder">
<p class="no-indent">
<b>Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data</b><br>
<br>
Bloomer, Dexter C&#x2007; &#x2007;1820-1900.<br>
&#x2007;&#x2007;&#x2007;Life and writings of Amelia Bloomer.<br>
<br>
&#x2007;&#x2007;&#x2007;Reprint of the ed. published by Arena Pub. Co.,<br>
Boston.<br>
<br>
&#x2007;&#x2007;&#x2007;1. Bloomer, Amelia Jenks, 1818-1894. 2. Women’s<br>
rights—United States. I. Title.<br>
HQ1413.B6B6&#x2007; 1975b &#x2007;301.41’2’0924&#x2007;&#x2007;72-78650<br>
ISBN 0-403-01994-X<br>
</p>
</div>
</div>

<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">

<div class="chapter">
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</span></p>
<p class="center no-indent">TO MY WIFE.</p>
</div>

<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">

<div class="chapter">
<h2 class="nobreak" id="PREFACE">PREFACE.</h2>
</div>
<hr class="r15">

<p>As Mrs. Bloomer was one of the pioneers in
what is sometimes called the “Woman’s Movement,”
it seems right that a record of her work
should be placed in durable form. Such a record
I have endeavored to set forth in the following
pages. While giving a brief narrative of her life,
I have also included, as being most satisfactory,
quite extended extracts from her writings; and one
of her lectures is printed in full. I will add for
the information of the curious that a complete
bound copy in one volume of the <span class="smcap">Lily</span>, as printed
and issued by Mrs. Bloomer for six years, is deposited
in the State Library, in Albany, N. Y.,
and is probably the only copy of that work in
existence.</p>

<p class="right">
<span class="smcap">D. C. Bloomer.</span><br>
</p>

<p class="fs80">September, 1895.</p>



<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">

<span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span>

<div class="chapter">
<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h2>
</div>
<hr class="r5">

<table class="autotable">
<tr>
<td class="tdl"></td>
<td class="tdr"><span class="fs80">PAGE</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Preface</span></td>
<td class="tdr" style="vertical-align: bottom"><a href="#Page_v">v</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER I.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">HER EARLY LIFE—HER MARRIAGE—TIPPECANOE AND TYLER, TOO!—A WRITER FOR
NEWSPAPERS—WASHINGTONIANISM—JOINS THE CHURCH</td>
<td class="tdr" style="vertical-align: bottom"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER II.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">UNJUST LAWS FOR WOMEN—REFORM BEGINS—WOMEN TO THE FRONT—MRS. BLOOMER THINKS
ABOUT IT</td>
<td class="tdr" style="vertical-align: bottom"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER III.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">SHE WRITES ABOUT IT—BIRTH OF THE <em>LILY</em>—NEW WORK FOR HER—FIRST IN THE
FIELD—MRS. STANTON APPEARS—MRS. BLOOMER CONVERTED—BECOMES ASSISTANT POSTMASTER—THE <em>LILY</em> ON
 HER HANDS—VISITS NEW YORK CITY—MISS ANTHONY IS INTRODUCED—MRS. BLOOMER ON THE TENNESSEE
LEGISLATURE—FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE—LETTER TO AKRON CONVENTION—“RULING A WIFE”</td>
<td class="tdr" style="vertical-align: bottom"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER IV.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">THE REFORM DRESS—WOMAN’S ATTIRE—FASHION IN DRESS</td>
<td class="tdr" style="vertical-align: bottom"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER V.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">THE <em>LILY</em> PROSPEROUS—WOMAN’S TEMPERANCE SOCIETY—MRS. BLOOMER ON
DIVORCE—CONVENTION INFLUENCE—THE WOMEN REJECTED AT SYRACUSE—CONVENTION IN ALBANY—A
LECTURER—IN NEW YORK CITY—AT HORACE GREELEY’S HOUSE—AT METROPOLITAN HALL—MRS. BLOOMER’S
SPEECH—IN BUFFALO—AT HOME—HATING THE MEN—GOOD TEMPLARS—IN THE PULPIT—IN ROCHESTER AGAIN;
A CHANGE—A LECTURE TOUR; FOURTH OF JULY—RESTING—NEW LECTURES—A CLUB OF TALKERS</td>
<td class="tdr" style="vertical-align: bottom"><a href="#Page_82">82</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span>CHAPTER VI.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">AT THE WORLD’S CONVENTION—A WESTERN TRIP—CONTINUES HER JOURNEY—AN ANNOUNCEMENT;
A REMOVAL—A TESTIMONIAL—DEMONSTRATION OF RESPECT TO MR. AND MRS. BLOOMER</td>
<td class="tdr" style="vertical-align: bottom"><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER VII.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">AN ASSISTANT EDITOR—PROSPERITY OF THE <em>LILY</em>—ENFRANCHISEMENT OF
WOMAN—WOMAN’S RIGHT—WOMAN’S CLAIM—DESTROYING LIQUOR—GOLDEN RULES FOR WIVES—THE CLERGY—MALE
BLOOMERS—WOMEN MECHANICS—WOMAN’S DRESS—WOMEN DRUNKARDS—PROGRESS—SEWING MACHINES—GOVERNOR
SEYMOUR’S VETO—FIGHTING HER WAY—ON THE LECTURE PLATFORM—AT THE OHIO STATE CONVENTION—A
WOMAN TYPESETTER—A STRIKE FOLLOWED—LUCY STONE APPEARS—A VISIT TO NEW YORK STATE—AT THE
NEW YORK STATE CONVENTION—GOOD TEMPLARS IN OHIO—THE <em>LILY</em> SOLD—SHE IS SORRY</td>
<td class="tdr" style="vertical-align: bottom"><a href="#Page_149">149</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER VIII.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">ON HER TRAVELS—STARTS FOR IOWA—EARLY DAYS IN THE WEST—DELAYED IN ST.
LOUIS—THE MISSOURI RIVER’S RAVAGES—CONSENTS TO DELIVER A LECTURE—ODD METHOD OF ADVERTISING—OFF
IN A STAGECOACH—BEFRIENDS A STRANGER—ARRIVES AT GLENWOOD—EARLY HARDSHIPS—SUFFER FROM <span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span>
DROUTH—FURNITURE WAS SCARCE—DAYS OF HOSPITALITY—EARLY OMAHA—PLASTERED HOUSES WERE SCARCE—WORSHIPPED
IN LOG CHURCHES—EARLY CHURCH WORK—DEFENDS WOMAN’S RIGHTS—THE NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE INTERESTED—DANGERS
MET IN CROSSING THE MISSOURI—BUFFETS THE ICE IN A SKIFF—WOMAN’S EQUALITY IN LAW—DESCRIBES COUNCIL
BLUFFS—DESCRIBES HER NEW HOME—LIFE IN COUNCIL BLUFFS—AGAINST STRONG DRINK—HER EXPERIENCES—FOR
WOMAN’S ENFRANCHISEMENT—VOTING AND FIGHTING—PROGRESS—STATE SUFFRAGE SOCIETY—HISTORY OF IOWA
SUFFRAGE WORK—ESSAYS BY MRS. BLOOMER—“WIFELY DUTIES”—“NAMES OF MARRIED WOMEN”—“IS IT RIGHT FOR
WOMEN TO LECTURE?”—“WOMAN’S RIGHT TO PREACH”—“PETTICOAT PRESENTATION”—“OBJECTIONS TO WOMAN
SUFFRAGE ANSWERED”—“ON HOUSEKEEPING; WOMAN’S BURDENS”—THE CIVIL WAR—MRS. BLOOMER’S ADDRESS—LETTER
TO CONVENTION OF LOYAL WOMEN—VISITS WASHINGTON—IN NEW YORK CITY—VISITS COLORADO—A LETTER—ADOPTED
CHILDREN—CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK—HER CHARACTER ANALYZED—“ABOUT THE FIRST SINNER”—GOLDEN
ANNIVERSARY—CLOSING YEARS—END OF AN EARNEST LIFE—PASSES AWAY PEACEFULLY—GREAT LOSS TO COUNCIL
BLUFFS—HER LIFE A BUSY ONE—HER CHRISTIAN CHARACTER—LARGE CIRCLE OF FRIENDS—MEMORIAL DISCOURSE</td>
<td class="tdr" style="vertical-align: bottom"><a href="#Page_190">190</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span>APPENDIX.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">WOMAN’S RIGHT TO THE BALLOT</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_335">335</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">A REPLY</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_355">355</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">MRS. STANTON ON MRS. BLOOMER</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_375">375</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">MEMORIAL SERMON</td>
<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_376">376</a></td>
</tr>
</table>

<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">

<div class="chapter">
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span></p>

<h2 class="nobreak" id="ILLUSTRATIONS">ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2>
</div>
<hr class="r5">


<table class="autotable">
<tr>
<td class="tdl">AMELIA BLOOMER</td>
<td class="tdrx"><em>Facing page <a href="#png_201">193</a></em>.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tdl">DEXTER C. BLOOMER</td>
<td class="tdrx"><em><a href="#frontis">Frontispiece</a></em>.</td>
</tr>
</table>


<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">

<div class="chapter">
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span></p>

<p class="fs200 no-indent">LIFE AND WRITINGS OF<br>
<span style="margin-left: 3em;">AMELIA BLOOMER.</span></p>
</div>


<hr class="r15">

<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_FIRST">CHAPTER FIRST.</h2>

<h3>HER EARLY LIFE.</h3>


<p>The early life of the subject of this Memoir
was devoid of any striking incidents. Her
parents were natives of the little State founded
by Roger Williams, where both were born,
passed their early years, and were married some
time in the year 1806. Her father, Ananias
Jenks, was a clothier by trade, and was a man
of a great deal of force of character. The
maiden name of her mother was Lucy Webb.
She was a devoted Christian woman, and had
enjoyed to the fullest extent the training of
a New-England Puritan family of the last century.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span>
She was a faithful member of the Presbyterian
church, and she aimed to bring up her
children in its somewhat strict teachings. With
her and her family the holy Sabbath commenced
with the going down of the sun on
Saturday evening, and ended with the setting
of the sun on the following day. This was an
old Puritan notion, and was very convenient for
the boys and girls who wished to form acquaintances
and spend pleasant hours together on
the evening of the first day of the week.
Ananias Jenks, the father of Amelia Jenks,
removed to the state of New York with his
wife in the early days of their married life, residing
successively in the counties of Onondaga,
Cortlandt, Wayne, and Seneca. To Ananias
and Lucy Jenks several children were born, at
least four daughters and two sons. One of the
latter died in early childhood; but the other,
Augustus, was spared until about his thirtieth
year. He married, removed to the state of
Michigan, where five children were born in his
family, enlisted as a volunteer in one of the
Michigan regiments in the Civil War, and lost<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span>
his life at the great battle of Gettysburg. The
four daughters were Adaline, Elvira, Amanda,
and Amelia; Amelia being the youngest of the
family, with perhaps the exception of Augustus,
who may have been younger. All the children
married: Adaline left children surviving her;
Amanda, one only, a daughter; while none
were born to either Elvira or Amelia.</p>

<p>The last named, Amelia, was born in the town
of Homer, Cortlandt County, New York, on the
27th day of May, 1818. In some autobiographical
notes left by her, we find the following in
reference to her early years:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“My earliest recollections are of a pleasant
home in Homer, Cortlandt County, New York.
Here was I born, and here the first six years of
my life were passed. But little of these early
days can now be recalled after sixty years have
been added to them, yet there are a few incidents
that are so deeply impressed upon memory,
that they seem but the occurrence of a
week ago. First I recall the visit of some
Indians to my father’s house, and the latter
buying a large knife of them. The Indians,
my father and the knife come before me now<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span>
as though they were indeed a reality of the
present. Again, a scene comes before the
mind’s eye of my brother and myself looking
from an upper window, and seeing some Indians
knocking at the door of a small untenanted
house opposite to us. My brother, who was a
few years older than myself, called out ‘Come
in.’ The Indians opened the door and stepped
in, then out, and looked up and around sorely
puzzled at hearing a voice, but seeing no one,
while my brother and I laughed and danced
behind the blind at the trick which we had
played upon them. Several children were on
their way to school. One little girl jumped
upon the wheel of a wagon which stood in front
of a house, intending to get in and ride to
school. The horse became frightened while she
stood on the wheel, and ran away, throwing
her violently to the ground and injuring her
severely. The mirth of childhood was turned
to sadness, and we trudged on to school, after
seeing her unconscious form carried into the
house. I could not have been over four or five
years old when these things happened, but
they are deeply engraved on memory’s tablet.”</p>
</div>

<p>Amelia was carefully trained at home by her
truly Christian mother, and from her she imbibed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span>
those high sentiments of honesty, truth,
duty, fidelity and regard for the rights of
others which actuated her during the whole
course of her life. Her educational opportunities
were limited to the district school of those
early days. Then, it was commonly thought
that about all a girl should be taught was to
read and write, with a little grammar and less
arithmetic. These essentials of a common-school
education were fairly mastered by the
little girl, and to such an extent that, when she
arrived at about the age of seventeen years,
she was employed as a teacher in one of the
district schools at or near the village of Clyde,
in Wayne County, New York. A single short
term, however, was the whole extent of her life
as a teacher. For the brief period of her engagement,
we are told, she discharged her duties
with much acceptance. Her kindness of heart,
united with wonderful firmness and a strict regard
for truth and right, qualities which distinguished
her throughout her whole life, endeared
her to the children who came under her
care.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span></p>


<h3>HER MARRIAGE.</h3>

<p>School-teaching however soon ended; and
shortly after, she became a member of the
family of her sister Elvira, then recently married
and residing in Waterloo, New York, to which
place her father’s family also removed about
the same time. Here the days passed along
smoothly and quietly until about the year
1837, when she became an inmate in the family
of Mr. Oren Chamberlain residing near Waterloo,
as the governess and tutor of his three
youngest children. This position she continued
to fill with entire satisfaction for two or three
years. The children all lived to years of maturity,
and always manifested great affection in
subsequent years for their former teacher. In
this family, the life of Miss Jenks moved
along quietly and evenly. She enjoyed fully
its confidence and the love of her pupils. She
formed new friendships and the circle of her
acquaintances was widened. Among the latter,
was a young man residing in Seneca Falls engaged<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span>
in the study of law, while taking also a
large interest in the political movements of that
day. They met quite frequently, and soon
strong ties of friendship were formed between
them, and the friendship ripened as the months
passed by into love. They became engaged,
and finally were married at the residence of
John Lowden in the village of Waterloo, New
York, on the 15th day of April, 1840, by the
Rev. Samuel H. Gridley, the Presbyterian
clergyman of the village; and in subsequent
years Mrs. Bloomer frequently alluded with
much satisfaction to the fact that he omitted
altogether the word “obey” in the marriage
ceremony. Only a few friends were present at
the marriage, but among them besides Mr. and
Mrs. Lowden were A. E. Chamberlain, Miss
Caroline Starks, and Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Fuller,
all of whom together with Mr. Lowden are still
living at the time (March, 1895) of writing
these lines.</p>

<p>At the time of this marriage Mr. Bloomer
was twenty-four years of age, quite tall and
slim, weighing about one hundred and fifty<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span>
pounds, with gray eyes, a rather tall forehead,
and long arms, and of bashful and reserved
demeanor. His bride was much smaller, five
feet four inches in height, and weighed about a
hundred pounds. She had a well-formed head,
bright, blue eyes bordering on black, auburn
hair and an exceedingly pleasant and winning
smile. Like her husband, she was reserved in
manner, and very unwilling to force herself
upon the notice of strangers, but when she
once became acquainted with them she enjoyed
their society most heartily. She was small in
person and modest in demeanor, and standing
beside her tall husband, at once attracted the
attention and secured the confidence of her
friends and associates. She was twenty-two
years of age at the time of her marriage. Her
husband, Dexter C. Bloomer, was of Quaker
parentage, had a fairly good common-school
and academic education, had spent several
years in teaching school, commenced the study
of law at the age of twenty, and at the time
of his marriage was still a student and one of
the proprietors and editors of the <em>Seneca County<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span>
Courier</em>, a weekly newspaper printed in Seneca
Falls, N. Y.</p>

<p>The day following their marriage Mr. and
Mrs. Bloomer drove in a carriage to the residence
of Mr. Isaac Fuller, in Seneca Falls,
where rooms had been prepared for their reception.
Mr. Fuller was Mr. Bloomer’s partner
in the printing business, and both he and his
excellent wife are still (in 1895) living in the
same town, and have ever proved most dear
and excellent friends of the young couple who
on the 16th day of April, 1840, took up their
residence with them.</p>

<p>Mr. Bloomer had very many friends in the
town, and on the evening of his arrival with
his bride they filled Mr. Fuller’s rooms to welcome
the newly wedded couple to their new
home and their new life. With them came
many members of a fire company of which Mr.
Bloomer was a member, accompanied by a band
of music, and all went merry as a marriage bell.
Refreshments were of course served, and among
them a plentiful supply of wine, for in those
days, this was the almost certain accompaniment<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span>
of all social gatherings. All, or nearly
all, partook of it; and just then occurred an
incident which told most instructively as to the
moral character and firmness of the young and
happy bride. Glasses were filled with the
sparkling beverage, and one of them was presented
to her by the bridegroom himself, but
she firmly yet pleasantly declined to accept it.
“What,” he said with the greatest earnestness,
“will you not drink a glass of wine with me on
this joyful occasion? Surely it can do you
no harm.” “No,” she smilingly yet firmly replied,
“I cannot,—I must not.” A crowd of
guests standing around could but admire her
great self-denial and devotion to principles; and
ever after, to the end of her days, she was the
firm and consistent advocate of Temperance
and the unceasing enemy of strong drink in all
its varied forms.</p>


<h3>TIPPECANOE AND TYLER, TOO!</h3>

<p>The year 1840 was a memorable one in the
history of this country. It witnessed the great<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span>
“Tippecanoe and Tyler, too,” campaign, in
which Gen. William Henry Harrison and Martin
Van Buren were opposing candidates. The
whole country went wild with political speech-making,
songs, log-cabins, great gatherings of
people and enormous processions of the opposing
hosts. Mr. Bloomer was absorbed heart and
soul in the contest. He was the editor of the
only Whig paper in the village and county,
and he was present at political caucuses, conventions
and assemblages in all that region.
His wife at first took little interest in the great
hubbub raised over the land. In fact, her
health was quite delicate that first summer of
her married life. It is remembered distinctly
now by the writer of these lines, that while he
was on the 4th of July, 1840, delivering an address
at a political celebration, she was at home
prostrated with some form of intermittent
fever. His address over, he hastened to her
bedside; and soon after, having so far recovered
as to leave her room, she was taken to
Avon Springs, in western New York, where
she regained her health so as to return to her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span>
boarding place early in August. But Mrs.
Bloomer gradually became interested in the
political turmoil so far as to attend political
gatherings, visit the log-cabin which stood on
one of the principal streets of the town, and
assist in preparing badges and mottoes for the
use of those who espoused the cause advocated
by her husband.</p>

<p>And so the months moved quietly along
during that eventful year, and the first of
October found Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer settled
down to housekeeping in a modest dwelling in
Seneca Falls. The great election contest terminated
in November, and they both rejoiced
most heartily in the result, although what particular
benefit it would be to either of them,
except the satisfaction of being on the winning
side, it would have been very difficult for either
to very fully explain.</p>


<h3>A WRITER FOR NEWSPAPERS.</h3>

<p>As has already been stated, Mr. Bloomer was
one of the editors of a village paper printed in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span>
Seneca Falls. He was a great reader of books
and newspapers, and sought to inspire in his
young wife a similar love for the current literature
of the day. This was no difficult task,
for she also was fond of books and sought in
all suitable ways to store her mind with useful
knowledge. But Mr. Bloomer desired her to
go further and become a writer for the papers
also. He had got the idea well fixed in his
mind, from letters received from her during the
years preceding their marriage, that she possessed
the power of expressing her thoughts
on paper with both ease and grace. But from
the natural modesty of her character, she was
quite unwilling to embark in this to her new
and untried field of mental experience. Nevertheless,
through the kind and persuasive appeals
of the husband the young wife began to commit
her thoughts to paper, and from time to time
there appeared in the newspapers of the town
various articles bearing upon the social, moral
and political questions of those times. They
all appeared anonymously, sometimes written
over one signature and then over another, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span>
they all came from Mrs. Bloomer’s pen and
excited no little curiosity among the people of
the town as to their real author. It was in this
way that Mrs. Bloomer acquired that easy and
pleasant style of writing for publication which
so marked her career in later years.</p>


<h3>WASHINGTONIANISM.</h3>

<p>Meantime, the great Washingtonian Temperance
Reformation of 1840 and 1841 made
its appearance, led by the six reformed drunkards
of Baltimore. It swept over the country
like a whirlwind; thousands of men under its
influence were led to abandon their drinking
habits and become useful and sober citizens,
while thousands more attached their name to
the Temperance pledge of total abstinence from
all intoxicating liquors. This movement
reached Seneca Falls and produced a great
sensation, almost revolutionizing public sentiment
on the subject. Pollard and Wright,
two of the reformed men of Baltimore, visited
the town and held public meetings in halls and
parks and were listened to by great crowds of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span>
people. An “Independent Temperance Total-Abstinence
Society” was formed headed by
reformed men, and the current topics of the
time nearly all turned upon this all-absorbing
subject.</p>

<p>Into this movement Mrs. Bloomer entered
with her whole heart and soul. Along with
her husband, she attended the great Temperance
gatherings, and took an active part in
carrying forward the great reformation. She
acted on committees, and wrote articles in support
of the good work. A newspaper called
the <cite>Water Bucket</cite> was issued as the organ of
the Temperance society of the village. For
this Mrs. Bloomer wrote freely and vigorously.
A copy of this paper cannot be found, but a
few articles from her pen have been preserved.
Here is one of them. It was written in 1842
and is a fair specimen of Mrs. Bloomer’s then
style of composition. She has been answering
objections to the Temperance pledge, when she
proceeds as follows:</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span></p><div class="blockquot">

<p>“Another cannot make cake fit to eat without
wine or brandy. A third must have brandy on
her apple dumplings, and a fourth comes out
boldly and says she likes to drink once in a
while herself too well. What flimsy excuses
these! brandy and apple dumplings, forsooth!
That lady must be a wretched cook indeed who
cannot make apple dumplings, mince pies or
cake palatable without the addition of poisonous
substances. But I would ask these ladies
if they have ever tried to do without it? Their
answer I fear would be in the negative. They
do not <em>wish</em> to do without it. They act from
purely selfish motives. Would they but visit
the drunkard’s home and see the misery and
wretchedness that is brought upon families
once happy and prosperous as themselves,
and hear the drunkard’s wife recount her tale
of woe, methinks their hearts would soften.
They could then sympathize with those who
are trying to break loose from the galling yoke
of intemperance, and instead of being stumbling
blocks in our way, they would come to our
aid with their whole hearts and devote their
talents to the cause of temperance, nor cease
in their efforts until drunkenness should be
completely driven from the land. What examples
these ladies are setting before their
families! Have they a husband, a brother or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span>
a son, and have they no fear that the example
they are now setting them may be the means
of their filling a drunkard’s grave? Have they a
daughter? Their example teaches her to respect
moderate-drinking young men, and receive
their addresses, and should she unite her
fate with such an one, almost certain ruin
awaits her. * * * Could all those ladies who
oppose the efforts which we are making to reform
our land, but have their minds awakened
to the importance of the subject! Could they
but know the experience of thousands of their
own sex, who from being surrounded by every
happiness that wealth and station can impart,
have through the means of that fell destroyer,
intemperance, sunk to the lowest depth of
misery and degradation, and, more than all,
did they but know how far their influence may
be instrumental in saving a fellow-creature,
they would hasten to the standard of temperance
and unite their influence against the disturber
of human happiness, and become volunteers
in the moral contest to extirpate the fell
monster from our shores.”</p>
</div>

<p>The above article was signed “Gloriana,” a
favorite signature of Mrs. Bloomer’s. Another
which is preserved, and was printed over the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span>
signature of “Eugene” at about the same
date, is as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Many people think there is nothing more
to do towards the advancement of temperance
in this place, because we have succeeded in
breaking up the drinking of ardent spirits in a
measure, and have enlisted some four or five
hundred members under our banners. This is
a mistaken idea, and if cherished long, those
who feel most secure will find to their dismay
that the viper has only been crushed for a time,
and will arise again upon his victim with a
firmer and more deadly grasp than before. It
is the duty of every man to be at his post, to
lend his aid in sustaining the weak, and to encourage
others by his presence and example
of perseverance in the course they have begun.
If the reformed inebriates see those whom they
have looked upon to sustain and encourage
them in this great work grow careless and indifferent
towards them and the cause, have we
not reason to fear that they too will drop off
one by one into their old practices, and forsake
that Temperance Hall where they have long
passed their evenings so pleasantly and so profitably
for their old haunts, the grogshop and the
gutter? * * * Let it not be said of Seneca Falls<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span>
that she deserted her post in the hour of danger,
but let every temperance man feel that he
has a duty to perform and that there is no
time for rest or inaction until the ‘hydra-headed
monster’, shall be driven from our
borders.”</p>
</div>

<p>These extracts show how earnestly Mrs.
Bloomer gave herself to the great Temperance
reform. Of some of the features of the reform
she gives the following sketch in an historical
review written at a much later date:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“In 1840 a great impulse was given to the
temperance cause, such as had never been
known before in the world’s history. This
movement originated with seven drunkards of
Baltimore, who met in a saloon in that city
and then and there, with their glasses filled before
them, resolved that they would drink no
more. They poured out the liquor and went
home. They at once formed a society for the
promotion of total abstinence among those
who, like themselves, had been addicted to the
use of intoxicating drink. Only one of the
seven is known to have backslidden, while the
others lived and died honoring the cause they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span>
had embraced. Several of these men became
eloquent speakers, and traveled the country
over, holding meetings, pleading earnestly for
the reformation of others, and depicting in
burning words the sad lot of the drunkard and
his wretched family. No such temperance
meetings have been held since, no such eloquent
appeals made for temperance. This was
called the great ‘Washingtonian movement,’
and by it an impetus was given that has led to
all subsequent effort in that cause. Following
this movement various societies were started,
some open, some secret. We had the Sons of
Temperance, Reformed Brotherhood, Rechabites,
Cadets of Temperance, Carson Leagues,
Alliances, Good Templars, Temple of Honor,
and open local, county and state societies, and
finally the Women’s Christian Temperance
Union.”</p>
</div>


<h3>JOINS THE CHURCH.</h3>

<p>About this time (1843) Mrs. Bloomer and also
her husband united with and became members
of the Episcopal Church, in Seneca Falls; she
maintained her membership in that body until
the end of her life, a period of over fifty years.
This new relation opened a new field for her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span>
quiet and gentle activities. She became very
soon deeply interested in parish work in its various
forms, and as a member of various parochial
organizations labored faithfully to advance
Christian progress. This was especially noticeable
after her removal to her new home in the
West, as we shall have occasion to remark
further on. We may add here that Mrs.
Bloomer, while a firm believer in the truth of
the Christian religion, always insisted that certain
passages in the Scriptures relating to
women had been given a strained and unnatural
meaning, and that the whole teaching of
the Bible, when fully interpreted, elevated her
to a joint companionship with her brother in
the government and salvation of the race.</p>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">

<div class="chapter">
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span></p>

<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_SECOND">CHAPTER SECOND.</h2>
</div>

<h3>UNJUST LAWS FOR WOMEN.</h3>


<p>Up to about the middle of the nineteenth
century, the maxims of the common law of
England relating to the rights and responsibilities
of married women were in force in nearly
all the states of the Union. This was true
especially in the state of New York. They
were exceedingly stringent in their character,
and confined her, so far as related to her property
rights, within exceedingly narrow limits.
Indeed, in some respects they might well be
regarded as brutal. They merged the legal
being of the wife in her husband. Without
him, and apart from him, she could hold no
property, make no contracts, nor even exercise
control over her children. If she earned money
by whatever means, she could not collect it.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span>
Her time and her earnings belonged to her
husband; and her children, when above the
age of infancy, could be taken from her by will
or otherwise and committed to the charge of
strangers. On the decease of the husband, the
personal property acquired through their joint
efforts and industry passed at once to his heirs,
through the legal administration of his estate;
while the wife was turned off with a bare life
estate in one-third of the real property standing
in his name at the time of his decease.</p>

<p>The gross injustice of these laws began to
excite attention soon after the adoption of the
new constitution in the state of New York, in
1846. The first step towards their modification
was taken in the legislature of 1844-5, when
certain recognitions of the property rights of
married women were enacted into laws; and in
other states attention about that time began to
be turned in the same direction. These were
the beginning of the series of laws since enacted
in nearly all the states as well as in the
dominions and provinces of the British Empire,
by which the old and absurd and barbarous<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span>
features of the old common law of England
applicable to married women have been to a
large extent abrogated. But this result has
been the work of years of earnest thought,
earnest labor and earnest devotion to the principles
of right and justice, upon which it is our
boast that all our laws are based.</p>


<h3>REFORM BEGINS.</h3>

<p>To Ansel Bascom, a lawyer of Seneca Falls,
a member of the Constitutional Convention of
1846 and of the first legislature following its
adoption, and to David Dudley Field, a distinguished
citizen of the state, were largely due
the modifications in the laws relating to married
women which began about that time.
These gentlemen were also largely instrumental
in securing the adoption of the reformed code
of practice in the courts, which has since been
substantially enacted in nearly all the states of
the Union. But women themselves had much
to do in this most important work. Two of
them were Lucretia Mott, a well-known Quaker<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span>
preacher of those days, and Elizabeth Cady
Stanton, wife of Henry B. Stanton and daughter
of Daniel Cady, an eminent lawyer and
judge. These ladies had been delegates to an
anti-slavery convention in London, to which
they were refused admission on account of
being women, and they mutually resolved to
enter upon an effort to secure an amelioration
in the laws relating to the legal and property
rights of their sex. They even went further
and asked that the constitutions of the several
states should be so amended, that to women
should be extended the right to vote and even
to hold office. That was a new thing under
the sun. It was the beginning of what has
since been so widely known as the women’s
rights movement, the agitation of which has
occupied a large place in the public discussions
of the last half century.</p>


<h3>WOMEN TO THE FRONT.</h3>

<p>The first public meeting to bring these questions
prominently before the country was held<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span>
in the Wesleyan Chapel, in Seneca Falls, on
the 19th day of July, 1848. It was attended
by the ladies I have mentioned, by Mr. Bascom,
by Mr. Thomas McClintoch, a Quaker
preacher and member of his family, by several
clergymen, and other persons of some prominence
in the village. Frederick Douglass was
also present. Mr. James Mott, the husband
of Lucretia, presided, and that lady opened the
meeting with a careful statement of women’s
wrongs and grievances and made a demand for
their redress. Mr. Stanton read a clearly written
paper to the same purport and reported a
woman’s declaration of independence, in which
her wrongs were fully set forth and her rights
as fully insisted upon and proclaimed. The
position was boldly taken that the ballot should
be placed in her hands on a perfect equality
with man himself, as only through the ballot
could her rights be effectually asserted and
maintained. The discussion lasted through
two days, and the declaration was signed by
fifty women and about the same number of
men. The papers over the country generally<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span>
noticed the gathering, and with few exceptions
ridiculed the whole movement, while bearing
testimony to the earnestness of those engaged
in it.</p>

<p>Two weeks later, a second meeting of the
same character was held in Rochester; and
this one, as showing signs of progress, was
presided over by a woman, the first event of
the kind that had occurred up to that date,
although since then it has become a common
occurrence, and as a general rule it has been
found that women make excellent presiding
officers. Several new recruits were enlisted at
the Rochester meeting, both women and men,
among the latter being the Rev. William Henry
Channing, a popular Unitarian clergyman of
that city. The Rochester meeting fully endorsed
the resolutions and declaration of independence
of the Seneca Falls meeting, and
from that time the new movement of women’s
rights was fully launched upon the great ocean
of public discussion and public opinion. Lucretia
Mott and Mrs. Stanton were the acknowledged
leaders; but soon other advocates of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span>
wide influence were enrolled in the cause, and
its influence from that day has continued to
widen and extend, until it now includes men
and women of great distinction and power in
every English-speaking country in the world.</p>


<h3>MRS. BLOOMER THINKS ABOUT IT.</h3>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer, at the time these meetings
were held, was residing quietly at her home in
Seneca Falls, engaged in a modest way in religious
and temperance work. She had not
yet thought much on the subject of women’s
rights, so called, except so far as it related to
the obstacles which the laws as then formed
threw in the way of securing the triumph
of total-abstinence principles. The Washingtonian
movement had continued to exert its
influence upon the community. Now total-abstinence
societies sprang up, among them
the Sons and Daughters of Temperance,—separate
organizations, but including within
their lists of members many thousands of both
sexes. The <cite>Temperance Star</cite> of Rochester was
an organ of these organizations, and Mrs.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span>
Bloomer wrote freely and frequently for its
columns. She attended the Mott-Stanton convention
in Seneca Falls, but took no part in its
proceedings and did not sign either the resolutions
or declaration of independence.</p>

<p>But the principles promulgated in those
documents began to have an effect upon
her thoughts and actions, as they did upon
those of many other women of that day.
They realized, almost for the first time, that
there was something wrong in the laws under
which they lived, and that they had something
to do in the work of reforming and improving
them. Hence they moved slowly out of the
religious circles in which their activities had
hitherto been confined and, while not neglecting
these, yet began in a modest way to organize
societies in which they could work for the
improvement of their surroundings and the
moral regeneration of society. In Seneca
Falls a Ladies’ Temperance Society was organized
for the first time in 1848. Mrs. Bloomer
became a member of it and one of its officers.
Whether she ever became a member of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span>
“Daughters of Temperance” lodges is not now
remembered, but it is thought no lodge of that
order had been organized in the place of her
residence.</p>

<p>Of some of these movements, Mrs. Bloomer
in later years wrote as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“In 1848 or ‘49, after the order of the
‘Sons’ was started, which order excluded
women, some one among them conceived the
idea of starting a similar order for women.
This was probably as a salve to the wounded
feelings of the women, just as Masons and
Odd Fellows at this day will not admit women
to their lodge-rooms, but to pacify them have
branches called Star of Hope and Daughters
of Rebekah, composed of women. Be this as
it may, the order of the Daughters of Temperance
was started, composed of women entirely.
It continued many years and may still be in existence,
though I have not heard of it for years.
The order was planted in twenty-four states
and in England and the British provinces.
The daughters held state and national conventions,
issued addresses and appeals to the
women of the state, circulated petitions to the
legislature, and were very zealous in good<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span>
works. In 1851 this order numbered over
twenty thousand members. It was a secret
society, and no one could gain admittance to
their meetings without the password. This,
so far as I know, was the first organized
movement ever made by women to make themselves
felt and heard on the great temperance
question, which was then agitating the minds
of the people as it never had done before.
And so long as they kept to themselves and
held secret meetings they were not molested,
their right to talk and resolve was not called in
question. But as the years rolled on, women
became more earnest and self-reliant, and were
not satisfied with these secret doings. They
wanted to let their light be seen. So a few
prominent daughters, with Susan B. Anthony
(who up to that time had only been known as
a Daughter of Temperance, an earnest temperance
worker and a school-teacher) as leader,
called an open temperance meeting at Albany.
This was not largely responded to, women not
daring to come out openly after having so
long heard ‘let you women keep silence’
sounded in their ears from the sacred desk.
This meeting was conducted so quietly it
hardly caused a ripple of excitement, and
passed almost unnoticed by the press.”</p>
</div>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">

<div class="chapter">
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span></p>

<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_THIRD">CHAPTER THIRD.</h2>
</div>

<h3>SHE WRITES ABOUT IT.</h3>


<p>Women up to this time had never, or very
seldom, indeed, come forward as public speakers
in behalf of Temperance or any other reform
movements. True, Abby Kelly Foster
had made her appearance on the platform as
an abolition lecturer, but her speeches were so
radical and denunciatory in their character
that they added little strength to the position
or popularity of women speakers. The Quaker
preachers were of both sexes; of these
Lucretia Mott was the recognized leader
among the gentler sex, and the purity of her
character and the mildness of her addresses,
compared with those of Mrs. Foster, made her
popular with all classes. Mrs. Bloomer heard
both of these women, and her husband well<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span>
remembers that, on one occasion after she had
been listening to Mrs. Foster’s radical criticisms
on an article which appeared in the
editorial columns of his paper, she came home
greatly distressed and with tears in her eyes
over the denunciations, to which she had
listened. She learned in subsequent years to
take such things more calmly.</p>

<p>But though public sentiment did not then
sanction the appearance of women speakers
even to advocate so good a cause as Temperance,
yet they could use their pens in its support.
Mrs. Bloomer did this quite freely as we
have seen, but the little society in Seneca Falls
concluded that it must have a paper of its own,
and on the 1st of January, 1849, such a paper
was commenced in that place.</p>


<h3>BIRTH OF THE <em>LILY</em>.</h3>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer herself tells the story of its
birth and her connection with it as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Up to about 1848-9 women had almost
no part in all this temperance work. They
could attend meetings and listen to the eloquence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span>
and arguments of men, and they could
pay their money towards the support of temperance
lecturers, but such a thing as their
having anything to say or do further than this
was not thought of. They were fired with
zeal after listening to the Washingtonian
lecturers and other speakers on temperance
who then abounded, and in some instances
held little private meetings of their own,
organized societies and passed resolutions
expressive of their feelings on the great subject.
It was at a meeting of this kind in
Seneca Falls, N. Y., which was then my home,
that the matter of publishing a little temperance
paper, for home distribution only, was introduced.
The ladies caught at the idea and
at once determined on issuing the paper.
Editors were selected, a committee appointed
to wait on the newspaper offices to learn
on what terms the paper could be printed
monthly, we furnishing all the copy. The
president was to name the paper, the report
to be made at next meeting by committee.
And so we separated, satisfied and elated with
our doings. But on my reporting my proceedings
to my husband on my return home he
‘threw cold water’ on the whole thing. He
said we women did not know what we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span>
were talking about, that it cost a good deal of
money to print a paper, and that we could not
carry on such an enterprise and would run ourselves
into debt, get into trouble and make a
failure of it. He advised that I counsel the
ladies to abandon all thought of such a movement.
At the next meeting I reported all he
said, but it was of no avail. The ladies had their
hearts set on the paper and they determined
to go ahead with it. They were encouraged
thereto by a temperance lecturer who was traveling
over the state. He promised to get subscribers
for them and greatly help them. He kept
his word so far as sending us a goodly list of
names, but the money did not accompany
them and we never saw the man or the
money afterwards. This was very discouraging,
and the zeal of the ladies abated wonderfully.
They began to realize that they had
been hasty in incurring a great responsibility
for which they were not fitted, and very soon
the society decided to give up the enterprise
altogether. But meantime we had been getting
subscribers and money, had issued a
prospectus, and every arrangement was made
at the printing office for bringing out the
paper January 1, 1849. We had even ordered
a head from New York. I could not so lightly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span>
throw off responsibility. Our word had gone
to the public and we had considerable money
on subscriptions. Besides the dishonesty of
the thing, people would say it was ‘just like
women’; ‘what more could you expect of
them?’ As editor of the paper, I threw myself
into the work, assumed the entire responsibility,
took the entire charge editorially and
financially, and carried it successfully through.”</p>
</div>

<p>The following is taken from the first editorial
in the new paper, written by Mrs. Bloomer:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“It is woman that speaks through <em>The Lily</em>.
It is upon an important subject, too, that she
comes before the public to be heard. Intemperance
is the great foe to her peace and happiness.
It is that above all which has made
her home desolate and beggared her offspring.
It is that above all which has filled to its brim
her cup of sorrow and sent her moaning to the
grave. Surely she has a right to wield the pen
for its suppression. Surely she may, without
throwing aside the modest retirement which so
much becomes her sex, use her influence to
lead her fellow-mortals away from the destroyer’s
path. It is this which she proposes to do
in the columns of this paper. Like the beautiful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span>
flower from which it derives its name, we
shall strive to make the <em>Lily</em> the emblem of
‘sweetness and purity;’ and may heaven smile
upon our attempt to advocate the great cause
of Temperance reform!”</p>
</div>


<h3>NEW WORK FOR HER.</h3>

<p>With the birth of this little journal, a new
life opened before Mrs. Bloomer. She was at
once initiated into all the mysteries and details
of an editor and publisher. She had to make
contracts for the printing and publication, to
send out circulars to friends asking for their assistance
in extending its circulation, place the
papers in proper covers and send them to subscribers
through the mails, to prepare editorials
and other matter for its columns, to read the
proofs and, in short, to attend to all the details
of newspaper publication. She gave herself
heartily and earnestly to the work. Of
the first issue of the <em>Lily</em> not over two or three
hundred copies were printed, but the number
of its subscribers steadily increased. Many
friends came forward from different parts of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span>
the state to help in adding new names to its
lists. Among these none were more zealous
and earnest than Miss Susan B. Anthony, then
a very competent school-teacher in the city of
Rochester, but whose name has since become
one of world-wide fame as that of the great
leader in the cause of woman’s emancipation.
Mrs. Mary C. Vaughan, a most estimable lady
and fine writer, also came forward both with
her pen and lists of new subscribers to help in
the great Temperance reform to which the <em>Lily</em>
was devoted.</p>


<h3>FIRST IN THE FIELD.</h3>

<p>The <em>Lily</em> was very nearly, if not quite, the
first journal of any kind published by a woman.
Mrs. Nichols, in Vermont, and Mrs. Swishelm,
in Pennsylvania, were connected with newspapers
published in each case by their husbands,
and they wrote vigorous editorials for their
papers, but neither of them took upon herself
the entire charge of the publication. Mrs.
Bloomer did this to the fullest extent, and it
therefore may be justly claimed that she was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span>
the pioneer woman editor and proprietor. True,
her journal was not a very large one, yet it labored
zealously in the cause to which it was
devoted and prepared the way for other and
more pretentious publications to follow, under
the charge of women. It showed what women
could do when their thoughts and energies
were directed to some practical and beneficial
purpose, and so made ready for the great advance
which has since taken place in opening
for her wider fields of usefulness.</p>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer herself writes as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“The <em>Lily</em> was the first paper published devoted
to the interests of woman and, so far as
I know, the first one owned, edited and published
by a woman. It was a novel thing for
me to do in those days and I was little fitted
for it, but the force of circumstances led me
into it and strength was given me to carry it
through. It was a needed instrumentality to
spread abroad the truth of the new gospel to
woman, and I could not withhold my hand to
stay the work I had begun. I saw not the end
from the beginning and little dreamed whereto
my proposition to the society would lead me.”</p>
</div>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span></p>


<h3>MRS. STANTON APPEARS.</h3>

<p>Among those who soon became writers for
the <em>Lily</em> was Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a
resident of Seneca Falls. One day during the
summer of 1849, she came into the post office
where the editor of the <em>Lily</em> was busily engaged
and introduced herself to Mrs. Bloomer, and
proposed to write for the columns of her paper.
The offer was gladly accepted, and very soon
articles began to appear in the columns of the
<em>Lily</em> over the signature of “Sunflower.” They
were forcibly written and displayed not a little
wit and many sharp hits at some of the prevailing
“fads” of the day. At first they were on
Temperance and literary subjects, and the
duties of parents in bringing up their children.
The various theories of education were also vigorously
analyzed and some new ideas put forth.
By and by, as months went by, her readers
were apprised as to her views on Woman’s
Rights, so called. They learned something
from her of the unjust laws relating to married<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span>
women, and saw that the writer was about
right in asking that they should be changed
and made better. And then the paragraphs
moved further along and intimated that women
should vote also for her rulers and legislators.
Mrs. Bloomer herself became a convert to these
views. How this came around, she herself tells
in the two following paragraphs:</p>


<h3>MRS. BLOOMER CONVERTED.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“When a child of fifteen years, my feelings
were deeply stirred by learning that an old lady,
a dear friend of mine, was to be turned from
her home and the bulk of her property taken
from her. Her husband died suddenly, leaving
no will. The law would allow her but a life interest
in one-third of the estate, which had
been accumulated by the joint earnings and
savings of herself and husband through many
years. They had no children and the nearest
relative of the husband was a second or third
cousin, and to him the law gave two-thirds of
her property, though he had never contributed
a dollar towards its accumulation, and was to
them a stranger. Later, other similar cases
coming to my knowledge made me familiar<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span>
with the cruelty of the law towards women;
and when the Woman’s Rights Convention put
forth its declaration of sentiments, I was ready
to join with that party in demanding for women
such change in the laws as would give her a
right to her earnings, and her children a right
to wider fields of employment and a better
education, and also a right to protect her interests
at the ballot-box.”</p>
</div>


<h3>BECOMES ASSISTANT POSTMASTER.</h3>

<p>“In the spring of 1849, my husband was appointed
postmaster at Seneca Falls, N. Y. He
proposed that I should act as his deputy. I
accepted the position, as I had determined to
give a practical demonstration of woman’s right
to fill any place for which she had capacity. I
was sworn in as his deputy, and filled the position
for four years, during the administration
of Taylor and Fillmore. It was a novel step for
me to take in those days, and no doubt many
thought I was out of woman’s sphere; but the
venture was very successful and proved to me
conclusively that woman might, even then, engage
in any respectable business and deal with
all sorts of men, and yet be treated with the
utmost respect and consideration.”</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span></p>


<h3>THE <em>LILY</em> ON HER HANDS.</h3>

<p>During the first year of its existence, the
<em>Lily</em> bore at its head the words “published by
a committee of ladies”; but the truth was
that no person, save Mrs. Bloomer herself, had
any responsible share in its management or
control. Therefore, at the beginning of the
new year 1850 that fiction was dropped, and
her name alone appeared as publisher and
editor, and at its head stood the legend “devoted
to the interests of woman.” Says Mrs.
Bloomer:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“I never liked the name of the paper, but
the society thought it pretty and accepted it
from the president. It started with that name,
and became known far and wide. It had been
baptized with tears and sent forth with anxious
doubts and fears. It was not easy to change,
and so it remained <em>The Lily</em> to the end, pure
in motive and purpose as in name. * * * It
was never the organ of any society, party or
clique, or of any individual but myself. That
it was always loyal to temperance is evidenced
by the fact that its files are sought after by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span>
writers of temperance history. That subject
was never lost sight of in a single number, as its
files will show. Mrs. Stanton became a contributor
to the <em>Lily</em> near the close of its first
year. Her subjects were temperance and
woman’s rights. Her writings added interest to
the paper and she was welcome to its columns,
as were Frances D. Gage, Mary C. Vaughan,
and many others who came to my aid. She
occupied the same position as any other contributor,
and she never attempted to control
the paper in any way.”</p>
</div>

<p>The year 1850 was a quiet one for Mrs.
Bloomer. Early in the spring, her husband
purchased a modest cottage. This had to be
fitted up and occupied, and took up a good
deal of her attention. Then several hours
each day were spent in the post office in the
work of receiving and delivering letters. Once
a month the <em>Lily</em> continued to make its appearance,
filled with good, substantial temperance
arguments and pleadings, and occasional
articles pointing strongly in the direction of
the new doctrines of woman’s rights then
coming more and more into prominence. Her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span>
editorials were written plainly but with a good
deal of spirit, and whoever attacked her position
on either of these subjects was sure to receive
a sharp rejoinder from her pen. Several
weeks during the summer were spent at a
sanatorium in Rochester, from which she returned
greatly improved in health. Sometime
during the year a great anti-slavery meeting
was held in the town, attended by the celebrated
English orator, George Thompson, and
many prominent abolitionists of the state.
Among others came Susan B. Anthony, who
was the guest of Mrs. Bloomer and whom she
introduced to Mrs. Stanton, and then commenced
that life-long intimacy of these two
celebrated women.</p>


<h3>VISITS NEW YORK CITY.</h3>

<p>During the winter of 1849-50 Mrs. Bloomer
visited the city of New York for the first time,
accompanied by her husband. They passed
up Cayuga Lake on a steamer, and from there
were in the first railroad cars, by special invitation,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span>
over the Erie railroad from that village to
the metropolis. It is remembered that several
of the men who afterwards became distinguished
as railroad magnates were on that train,
and their conversation was listened to with a
great deal of interest. That was long before the
days of sleeping cars, and they had to pass the
night as comfortably as they could in their seats
in the passenger coach. In the city, they spent
three or four days visiting some of the noted
places, including Barnum’s Museum on Broadway,
then one of the great attractions of the
growing town. They returned by the same
<em>route</em> in the midst of a great snowstorm which,
with the high wind that came along with it,
made their trip down the lake somewhat
hazardous.</p>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer wrote of this trip as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“We traveled by the <em>route</em> of the lake and
the New-York-and-Erie railroad. Those who
have not been over this road can form no idea
of its sublimity and grandeur. To one who like
myself had never been beyond the level country
of western New York, it presents a grand, imposing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span>
spectacle. The prospect is at one
moment bounded on either side by lofty
mountain peaks covered with evergreens, and
the next by solid masses of rock towering
higher than the eye can reach, and through
which at an enormous expense and great
amount of labor the road has been cut. The
water pouring over these rocks from above had
frozen in its descent, and now hung in masses
and irregular sheets down their perpendicular
sides, forming a beautiful contrast to their
surface. Occasionally you come into a more
open country, while at one spot you find yourself
on the summit of a mountain where you
have a view of ten miles in extent through the
valley below. * * * Winter had robed all
in her snowy mantle on our return, adding
new beauty to the scene. Summer, we think,
would lend enchantment to the picture; and
should we ever take a trip over this road again,
we shall aim to do so at a more mild and genial
season.</p>

<p>“We were fortunate in meeting several
directors of the road on our downward trip
from Ithaca. To them, and especially to Mr.
Dodge, of New York City, we are indebted for
much information concerning the road. Every
attention was shown us by this enterprising<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span>
gentleman from the time we left Ithaca until
we shook hands with him at parting upon our
arrival in the city.”</p>
</div>


<h3>MISS ANTHONY IS INTRODUCED.</h3>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer, in later years, wrote:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“It was in the spring of 1850 that I introduced
Susan B. Anthony to Mrs. Stanton.
Miss Anthony had come to attend an anti-slavery
meeting in Seneca Falls, held by George
Thompson and William Lloyd Garrison, and
was my guest. Returning from the meeting,
we stopped at the street corner and waited for
Mrs. Stanton, and I gave the introduction
which has resulted in a life-long friendship.
Afterwards, we called together at Mrs. Stanton’s
house and the way was opened for future
intercourse between them. It was, as Mrs.
Stanton says in her history, an eventful meeting
that henceforth in a measure shaped their
lives. Neither would have done what she did
without the other. Mrs. Stanton had the intellectual,
and Susan the executive, ability to
carry forward the movement then recently inaugurated.
Without the push of Miss Anthony,
Mrs. Stanton would probably never<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span>
have gone abroad into active life, or achieved
half she has done; and without the brains of
Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony would never have
been so largely known to the world by name
and deeds. They helped and strengthened
each other, and together they have accomplished
great things for woman and humanity.
The writer is glad for the part she had in
bringing two such characters together.”</p>
</div>


<h3>MRS. BLOOMER ON THE TENNESSEE
LEGISLATURE.</h3>

<p>The columns of the <em>Lily</em> during the first
year of its publication were almost exclusively
filled with articles bearing upon the great purpose
for which it was established, the promotion
of the Temperance cause. True, some
other questions were touched upon by Mrs.
Stanton, and perhaps by other correspondents;
but Mrs. Bloomer’s editorials were all directed
to that end. With the March <em>Lily</em> for 1850
she struck out in a new direction, as will
appear from the following article which appeared
in the editorial columns for that
month:</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span></p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“The legislature of Tennessee have in their
wisdom decided after gravely discussing the
question that women have no souls, and no
right to hold property. Wise men these, and
worthy to be honored with seats in the halls
of legislation in a Christian land. Women no
souls! Then, of course, we are not accountable
beings: and if not accountable to our
Maker, then surely not to man. Man represents
us, legislates for us, and now holds himself
accountable for us! How kind in him,
and what a weight is lifted from us! We shall
no longer be answerable to the laws of God or
man, no longer be subject to punishment for
breaking them, no longer be responsible for
any of our doings. Man in whom iniquity is
perfected has assumed the whole charge of us
and left us helpless, soulless, defenseless creatures
dependent on him for leave to speak or
act.</p>

<p>“We suppose the wise legislators consider
the question settled beyond dispute, but we
fear they will have some trouble with it yet.
Although it may be an easy matter for them
to arrive at such a conclusion, it will be quite
another thing to make women believe it. We
are not so blind to the weakness or imperfections
of man as to set his word above that of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span>
our Maker, or so ready to yield obedience to
his laws as to place them before the laws of
God. However blindly we may be led by
him, however much we may yield to his
acquired power over us, we cannot yet fall
down and worship him as our superior. Some
men even act as though women had no souls,
but it remained for the legislature of Tennessee
to speak it to the world.</p>

<p>“We have not designed <em>ourself</em> saying much
on the subject of ‘Woman’s Rights;’ but we
see and hear so much that is calculated to keep
our sex down and impress us with a conviction
of our inferiority and helplessness, that we feel
compelled to act on the defensive and stand
for what we consider our just rights. If things
are coming to such a pass as that indicated by
the above decision, we think it high time that
women should open their eyes and look where
they stand. It is quite time that their rights
<em>should be discussed</em>, and that woman herself
should enter the contest.</p>

<p>“We have ever felt that in regard to property,
and also as to many other things, the laws were
unjust to women. Men make laws without
consulting us, and of course they will make
them all in their own favor, especially as we
are powerless and cannot contend for our rights.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span>
We believe that most women are capable of
taking care of their own property, and that
they have the right to hold it, and to dispose
of it as they please, man’s decision to the contrary
notwithstanding. As for ourselves, we
have no fears but we could take care of a
fortune if we had one, without any assistance
from legislators or lawyers, and we should
think them meddling with what did not concern
them should they undertake to control it
for us.</p>

<p>“The legislature of our own state has
taken a step in advance on this subject and
granted to women the right to their own property.
We trust this is but a forecast of the
enlightened sentiment of the people of New
York, and that it will pave the way to greater
privileges, and the final elevation of women to
that position in society which shall entitle her
opinions to respect and consideration.”</p>
</div>


<h3>FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE.</h3>

<p>And from that time on, a considerable part
of the <em>Lily</em> was devoted to the same subject.
The above article related simply to property
rights, but Mrs. Bloomer’s views rapidly
widened out until she took the position, also,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span>
that women should be granted the right of
suffrage and thus possess a controlling influence
in the passage of all laws. Nevertheless, she
remained true and faithful to her temperance
principles and firm in their advocacy. Witness
the following written and printed in her paper
in 1853:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“We think it all-important that woman obtain
the right of suffrage, but she cannot do
this at once. She must gradually prepare the
way for such a step by showing that she is
worthy of receiving and capable of exercising
it. If she do this, prejudices will gradually
give way and she will gain her cause. We
cannot consent to have woman remain silent
on the Temperance question till she obtain her
right of suffrage. Great as is our faith in the
speedy triumph of temperance principles were
women allowed their right of franchise, and
strong as is our hope that this right will be
granted ere many years, we feel that the day
is too far distant for her to rest all her hopes
and labors on that issue. Let her work with
her whole heart in this cause and, while she
demands a law that entirely prohibits the
traffic in strong drink, let her also obtain a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span>
right to a voice in making all laws by which
she is to be governed.”</p>
</div>


<h3>LETTER TO AKRON CONVENTION.</h3>

<p>On the ninth of May, 1851, Mrs. Bloomer
addressed an elaborate letter to the women’s
convention held at Akron, O., in that month,
in which she discussed at great length the
position of woman as regards her education,
her right to employment, and the laws relating
to her property rights. She first takes up the
liquor traffic and shows wherein it was unjust
to woman in her dearest privilege,—the enjoyment
of children, family and home. She “unfolds
the great wrong done to woman in her
circumscribed sphere of industry, and the
meagre wages she receives for her industry.”
Passing on from this, the property rights of
married women are considered, and their unjust
provisions are pointed out. She concludes
as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“But woman is herself aroused to a sense of
her wrongs, and sees the necessity of action on
her part if she would have justice done her.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span>
A brighter day has dawned for her. A
spirit of inquiry has awakened in her bosom,
which neither ridicule nor taunts can quench.
Henceforth her course is upward and onward.
Her mind is capable of grasping things hitherto
beyond her reach and she will not weary of
the chase until she has reached the topmost
round in the ladder. She will yet prove conclusively
that she possesses the same God-given
faculties which belong to man, and that
she is endowed with powers of mind and body
suitable for any emergency in which she may
be placed.”</p>
</div>


<h3>“RULING A WIFE.”</h3>

<p>During this year, Mr. T. S. Arthur published
a book bearing this title, in which he undertook
to define the duties of the wife of a hard-hearted,
thoughtless man, and to show that
even under the most shocking circumstances
of injustice it was still the wife’s duty to submit
and obey. Mrs. Bloomer took exception
to this position. Mr. Arthur answered her,
and she then wrote in reply in part as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“I have too good an opinion of my sex to
admit that they are such weak, helpless creatures,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span>
or to teach them any such ideas. Much
rather would I arouse them from their dependent,
inferior position, and teach them to rely
more upon themselves and less upon man, so
that when called upon, as many of them are
and ever will be, to battle with the rough
things of the world, they may go forth with
confidence in their own powers of coping successfully
with every obstacle and with courage
to meet whatever dangers and difficulties may
lie in their way. The more you impress this
upon their minds, the more you show that she
is man’s equal, and not his slave, so much the
more you do to elevate woman to her true
position. The present legal distinctions between
the sexes have been made by man and
not by God. Man has degraded woman from
her high position in which she was placed as
his companion and equal, and made of her a
slave to be bought and sold at his pleasure.
He has brought the Bible to prove that he is
her lord and master, and taught her that resistance
to his authority is to resist God’s will. I
deny that the Bible teaches any such doctrine.
God made them different in sex, but equal in
intellect, and gave them equal dominion. You
deny that they are ‘intellectually equal.’ As
a whole, I admit that at the present day they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span>
are not; though I think there have been individual
cases where woman’s equality cannot be
denied. But at her creation no difference existed.
It is the fault of education that she is
now intellectually inferior. Give her the same
advantages as men, throw open the door of our
colleges and schools of science and bid her enter,
teach her that she was created for a higher
purpose than to be a parlor ornament or mere
plaything for man, show her that you regard
her as an equal and that her opinions are entitled
to consideration, in short, treat her as an
intelligent, accountable being, and when all this
has been done, if she prove herself not man’s
equal in intellect I will yield the point and admit
her inferiority. It is unjust to condemn
her as inferior when we consider the different
education she has received and the estimation
in which she has ever been held. We are by
the laws and customs of society rendered dependent
and helpless enough, at the best; but
it is both painful and mortifying to see our
helplessness shown up to the world in such
colors, and by such a writer as yourself. If,
instead of leading Mrs. Long into such difficulties
after she had left her husband, you had
allowed her to hire out as a servant, if nothing
better presented itself, you would have done<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span>
justice to woman, set her a better example, and
more truly drawn her character.”</p>
</div>

<p>The above presents very fully the views of
Mrs. Bloomer at that time (1850). She was
pleading for the elevation of woman, for her
redemption from the curse of drink, for a better
education for her, and wider fields for the work
of her hands. She had not yet troubled herself
much about the suffrage question,—the right to
the ballot; that came along later in life, as we
have already seen.</p>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">

<div class="chapter">
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span></p>

<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_FOURTH">CHAPTER FOURTH.</h2>
</div>


<h3>THE REFORM DRESS.</h3>

<p>The reform-dress movement was simply an
episode in Mrs. Bloomer’s life and work, although
perhaps an important one. She never
dreamed of the wonderful celebrity which it
brought to her name. This came upon her accidentally,
as we shall see later on. It was first
mentioned in the <cite>Lily</cite> in February, 1851.
Other short articles on the subject appeared
in subsequent numbers during that year, with
pictures of herself dressed in the new costume.
The whole story she herself told in the following
article which appeared originally some
years ago in the Chicago <cite>Tribune</cite> and is here
reproduced in full, followed by some further
items bearing on the subject:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“In January or February, 1851, an article appeared
editorially in the <cite>Seneca County Courier</cite>,
Seneca Falls, N. Y., on ‘Female Attire,’ in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span>
which the writer showed up the inconvenience,
unhealthfulness and discomfort of woman’s
dress, and advocated a change to Turkish pantaloons
and a skirt reaching a little below the
knee.</p>

<p>“At the time, I was publishing a monthly
paper in the same place devoted to the interests
of woman, temperance and woman’s rights
being the principal subjects. As the editor of
the <cite>Courier</cite> was opposed to us on the woman’s-rights
question, this article of his gave me an
opportunity to score him one on having gone
so far ahead of us as to advocate our wearing
pantaloons, and in my next issue I noticed him
and his proposed style in a half-serious, half-playful
article of some length. He took up
the subject again and expressed surprise that
I should treat so important a matter with levity.
I replied to him more seriously than before,
fully indorsing and approving his views
on the subject of woman’s costume.</p>

<p>“About this time, when the readers of the
<cite>Lily</cite> and the <cite>Courier</cite> were interested in and
excited over the discussion, Elizabeth Smith
Miller, daughter of the Hon. Gerrit Smith, of
Peterboro, N. Y., appeared on the streets of
our village dressed in short skirts and full
Turkish trousers. She came on a visit to her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span>
cousin, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who was then
a resident of Seneca Falls. Mrs. Miller had
been wearing the costume some two or three
months at home and abroad. Just how she
came to adopt it I have forgotten, if I ever
knew. But she wore it with the full sanction
and approval of her father and husband. During
her father’s term in congress she was in
Washington, and the papers of that city described
her appearance on the streets in the
short costume.</p>

<p>“A few days after Mrs. Miller’s arrival in
Seneca Falls Mrs. Stanton came out in a dress
made in Mrs. Miller’s style. She walked our
streets in a skirt that came a little above
the knees, and trousers of the same material—black
satin. Having had part in the discussion
of the dress question, it seemed proper that
I should practise as I preached, and as the
<cite>Courier</cite> man advised; and so a few days later
I, too, donned the new costume, and in the
next issue of my paper announced that fact to
my readers. At the outset, I had no idea of
fully adopting the style; no thought of setting
a fashion; no thought that my action would
create an excitement throughout the civilized
world, and give to the style my name and the
credit due Mrs. Miller. This was all the work<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span>
of the press. I stood amazed at the furor I
had unwittingly caused. The New York
<cite>Tribune</cite> contained the first notice I saw of my
action. Other papers caught it up and handed
it about. My exchanges all had something to
say. Some praised and some blamed, some
commented, and some ridiculed and condemned.
‘Bloomerism,’ ‘Bloomerites,’ and ‘Bloomers’
were the headings of many an article, item and
squib; and finally some one—I don’t know to
whom I am indebted for the honor—wrote the
‘Bloomer Costume,’ and the name has continued
to cling to the short dress in spite of my
repeatedly disclaiming all right to it and giving
Mrs. Miller’s name as that of the originator or
the first to wear such dress in public. Had she
not come to us in that style, it is not probable
that either Mrs. Stanton or myself would have
donned it.</p>

<p>“As soon as it became known that I was
wearing the new dress, letters came pouring in
upon me by hundreds from women all over the
country making inquiries about the dress and
asking for patterns—showing how ready and
anxious women were to throw off the burden
of long, heavy skirts. It seemed as though half
the letters that came to our office were for me.</p>

<p>“My subscription list ran up amazingly into<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span>
the thousands, and the good woman’s-rights
doctrines were thus scattered from Canada to
Florida and from Maine to California. I had
gotten myself into a position from which I could
not recede if I had desired to do so. I therefore
continued to wear the new style on all occasions,
at home and abroad, at church and on
the lecture platform, at fashionable parties and
in my business office. I found the dress comfortable,
light, easy and convenient, and well
adapted to the needs of my busy life. I was
pleased with it and had no desire to lay it
aside, and so would not let the ridicule or
censure of the press move me. For some six
or eight years, or so long as I remained in active
life and until the papers had ceased writing
squibs at my expense, I wore no other costume.
During this time I was to some extent in the
lecture field, visiting in all the principal cities
of the North and lecturing on temperance and
woman suffrage; but at no time, on any occasion,
alluding to my style of costume. I felt
as much at ease in it as though I had been arrayed
in the fashionable draggle skirts. In all my
travels I met with nothing disagreeable or unpleasant,
but was universally treated with respect
and attention by both press and people
wherever I appeared. Indeed, I received from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span>
the press flattering notices of my lectures. If the
dress drew the crowds that came to hear me it
was well. They heard the message I brought
them, and it has borne abundant fruit.</p>

<p>“My paper had many contributions on the
subject of dress and that question was for some
time kept before my readers. Mrs. Stanton
was a frequent contributor and ably defended
the new style. She continued to wear it at
home and abroad, on the lecture platform and
in the social parlor, for two or three years; and
then the pressure brought to bear upon her by
her father and other friends was so great, that
she finally yielded to their wishes and returned
to long skirts.</p>

<p>“Lucy Stone, of the <cite>Woman’s Journal</cite>,
adopted and wore the dress for many years on
all occasions; but she, too, with advancing
years, saw fit to return to the old style. We
all felt that the dress was drawing attention
from what we thought of far greater importance—the
question of woman’s right to better education,
to a wider field of employment, to better
remuneration for her labor, and to the ballot
for the protection of her rights. In the minds
of some people, the short dress and woman’s
rights were inseparably connected. With us,
the dress was but an incident, and we were not
willing to sacrifice greater questions to it.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span></p>

<p>“* * * I have not worn the short dress for
thirty years, and it does seem as though in
that time the interest concerning it must
have died out. My reasons for abandoning I
have in substance stated above. I never set up
for a dress reformer, like Anna Jenness-Miller
of the present day. Mrs. Miller, if I understand
her correctly, really believes the short skirt and
trousers the true style for woman’s costume;
but that the time for its adoption has not yet
fully come. Women are not sufficiently free
and independent to dare to strike for health
and freedom. Jenness-Miller is going over the
country lecturing on dress and disposing of
patterns, and is doing a vast amount of good.
I am glad to know that she is not assailed and
made the butt of ridicule and caricatured by the
press.”</p>
</div>

<p>In reference to the further connection of
Mrs. Bloomer with the dress she wrote to a
friend, in 1865, as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“It is very true that I have laid aside the
short dress which I wore for a number of years,
and to which the public (not I) gave my name.
I have not worn the dress for the last six years
or more. * * * As to my reasons for laying<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span>
aside the dress, they may not satisfy you,
though they were sufficient for me. It was
not at my husband’s dictation, by any means,
but was my own voluntary act. * * * After
retiring from public life and coming to this
land of strangers where I was to commence life
anew and make new friends, I felt at times like
donning long skirts when I went into society,
at parties, etc., and did so. I found the high
winds which prevail here much of the time
played sad work with short skirts when I went
out, and I was greatly annoyed and mortified
by having my skirts turned over my head and
shoulders on the streets. Yet I persevered
and kept on the dress nearly all the time till
after the introduction of hoops. Finding them
light and pleasant to wear and doing away with
the necessity for heavy underskirts (which was
my greatest objection to long dresses), and finding
it very inconvenient as well as expensive
keeping up two wardrobes—a long and short—I
gradually left off the short dress. I consulted
my own feelings and inclinations and
judgment in laying it off, never dreaming but
I had the same right to doff that I had to don
it, and not expecting to be accountable for my
doings, or required to give a reason to every
one that asked me. There were other questions<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span>
of greater importance than the length of
a skirt under discussion at the time, and I felt
my influence would be greater in the dress
ordinarily worn by women than in the one
I was wearing. * * * I always liked the dress
and found it convenient and comfortable at all
times, and especially so for a working dress. I
never encountered any open opposition while
wearing it, though I have traveled much in the
dress and freely walked the streets of all our
large cities. On the contrary, I was always
treated with respect and should continue to be,
I have no doubt, did I still wear it. * * * When
I saw what a furor I had raised, I determined
that I would not be frightened from my position,
but would stand my ground and wear the
dress when and where I pleased, till all excitement
on the subject had died away. And
I did so.”</p>
</div>

<p>As to just how the reform dress should be
prepared, Mrs. Bloomer gave her idea as follows
in the <cite>Lily</cite> at the time when the subject was
most prominently before the public eye:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“We would have the skirt reaching down to
nearly half way between the knee and the ankle,
and not made quite so full as is the present<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span>
fashion. Underneath this skirt, trousers made
moderately full, in fair mild weather coming
down to the ankle (not instep) and there
gathered in with an elastic band. The shoes
or slippers to suit the occasion. For winter or
wet weather the trousers also full, but coming
down into a boot, which should rise at least
three or four inches above the ankle. This boot
should be gracefully sloped at the upper edge
and trimmed with fur or fancifully embroidered,
according to the taste of the wearer. The
material might be cloth, morocco, mooseskin
and so forth, and made waterproof if desirable.”</p>
</div>

<p>The above describes the dress as Mrs. Bloomer
wore it at the time it was written, but she afterwards
abandoned the elastic band and allowed
the trousers to hang loose about the ankle.
The general opinion expressed in those early
days was favorable.</p>

<p>Mrs. Russell Sage, now a venerable and
highly respected matron, was a young woman
and a resident of Syracuse at the time of Mrs.
Bloomer’s visit to that place to attend a Temperance
convention; in a recent interview, she
thus describes her appearance at that time:</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span></p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Mrs. Bloomer came as a delegate and her
appearance excited some attention. Her manner
was unpretentious, quiet and delicately
feminine. Her costume showed a total disregard
for effect, and was mannish only to the
extent of practicability. Her bodice was soft
and belted at the waist, her collar simple and
correct, as was also her prim bonnet; her skirt
fell half way from knee to ankle, and then the
bloomer—really a pantalet—made of black
material, as the rest of her costume, reaching
to her boot tops.”</p>
</div>

<p>The interviewer continues:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“As Mrs. Sage so knew Mrs. Bloomer, she
agreed she was entirely what she aimed to be—a
practical woman, progressive and competent
of realizing results from her theories.”</p>
</div>


<h3>WOMAN’S ATTIRE.</h3>

<p>On this subject Mrs. Bloomer, in an elaborate
review (only a part of which is here presented)
of a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Talmage in which
he had quoted Moses as authority for women
not wearing men’s attire, wrote as follows:</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span></p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“There are laws of fashion in dress older
than Moses, and it would be as sensible for the
preacher to direct us to them as to him. The
first fashion we have any record of was set us
by Adam and Eve, and we are not told that
there was any difference in the styles worn by
them. ‘And they sewed fig-leaves together, and
made themselves aprons’: Genesis, iii., 7.
Nothing here to show that his apron was bifurcated,
and hers not; that hers was long, and
his short. We are led to suppose that they were
just alike.</p>

<p>“The second fashion was made by God Himself,
and it would be supposed that if He intended
the sexes to be distinguished by their
garments explicit directions would have been
given as to the style of each. ‘Unto Adam,
also, and unto his wife, did the Lord God make
coats of skins and clothed them’: Gen. iii., 21.
Not a word as to any difference in the cut and
make-up of the coats. No command to her
that she must swathe and cripple herself in
long, tight, heavy, draggling skirts, while he
dons the more comfortable, healthy, bifurcated
garment. God clothed them just alike, and
made no signs that henceforth they should be
distinguished by apparel. And for long years
there was little, if any, difference.”</p>
</div>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span></p>

<p>After showing the character of the dress of
different ancient nations, Egyptians, Babylonians,
Israelites, Persians, Romans, Saxons,
Normans, Turks, and Chinese, and that there
was no essential difference between the dress
worn by men and women, Mrs. Bloomer proceeds:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“With all the history of male and female
attire before him, and with so much proof of
the similarity in dress, how can Mr. Talmage
set up the claim that men have a right to any
particular style, and that if women dare to approach
that style they break divine law and
commit great sin and wrong? It is a presumption
and insult which women everywhere should
resent.</p>

<p>“It matters not to us what Moses had to say
to the men and women of his time about what
they should wear. Our divine entirely disregards
the command of the ancient lawgiver by
not putting fringes and blue ribbons on his
garments. Common sense teaches us that the
dress which is the most convenient, and best
adapted to our needs, is the proper dress for
both men and women to wear. There is no
reason why woman should burden herself with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span>
clothes to the detriment of her health, comfort
and life, while man adopts a style that gives
freedom of limb and motion. There is no
divine law requiring such doings. A hundred
other laws and customs of the days of Adam,
Noah, Abraham and Moses are as binding upon
the men and women of this day as the text
from which he gives his lecture. Judging from
the present customs, men have transgressed
that law more than women.</p>

<p>“We do not advocate the same style of dress,
altogether, for both sexes and should be sorry
to see women dress just like men; yet we
should like to see a radical reform in woman’s
costume, so that she might be the free, healthy
being God made her instead of the corseted,
crippled, dragged-down creature her slavery to
clothes has made her. No law of God stands
in the way of her freedom. Her own judgment
and inclination should be her guide in
all matters of attire.</p>

<p>“If divine law or vengeance is ever visited
upon woman because of the cut of her garments,
it will be upon the wearers of the suicidal long,
heavy skirts, instead of upon those who have
rid themselves of the grievous burden. That
sorrow and suffering are visited upon woman
because of her clothes we know, and that her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span>
sin is visited upon her we know; and yet how
dare she throw off the burden and the sin, when
the clergy from the pulpit hold over her head
the threatenings of divine vengeance!</p>

<p>“No sensible woman can sit under such
preaching. Would that women had the independence
to act out the right in defiance of such
sermons, and in disregard of all laws that condemn
her to the slavery of a barbarous age.</p>

<p class="right">
“A. B.”<br>
</p>
</div>


<h3>FASHION IN DRESS.</h3>

<p>On the general subject of “Fashion in Dress,”
Mrs. Bloomer wrote to Charlotte A. Joy, June
3, 1857, as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Your letter inviting me to attend the annual
meeting of the National Dress Association to
be held in Syracuse on the 17th inst. is received.
Owing to the great distance and my imperfect
health, it will be impossible for me to be with
you on that occasion, much as I should be
pleased to meet some of the members personally
and listen to their deliberations on so important
a subject as a reform in woman’s costume.</p>

<p>“At the present moment there is perhaps no
subject which is more frequently pressed upon
the attention of the public than that of dress.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span>
Our magazines are radiant with fashion plates
illustrating the latest styles; our newspapers
abound with allusions and discussions bearing
upon the subject, as though it were a matter
of national concernment; and it is continually
the theme of conversation and a subject either
of praise or satire wherever men and women
meet together. It would be fortunate, indeed,
if this discussion should result in securing a reform
in all those styles and modes of woman’s
dress which are incompatible with good health,
refined taste, simplicity, economy and beauty;
and it is to be hoped that the labors of your
association may be so discreetly directed and so
faithfully prosecuted, that they may go far to
the accomplishment of this end.</p>

<p>The costume of woman should be suited to
her wants and necessities. It should conduce
at once to her health, comfort, and usefulness;
and, while it should not fail also to conduce to
her personal adornment, it should make that
end of secondary importance. I certainly need
not stop to show that these conditions are not
attained by the present style of woman’s dress.
All admit that they are not. Even those who
ridicule most freely the labors of your association
are ready to admit the folly and inutility
of the prevailing styles.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span></p>

<p>“It is well, perhaps, in the present aspect of
the movement, that its friends should abstain
from prescribing any particular form of dress.
It is better to learn wisdom from the experience
of the past and, while successively lopping off
all excrescences, produce at last that outward
form of personal garniture which shall most
fully secure the great end to be attained.</p>

<hr class="tb">

<p>“What may be the next feat of the fickle goddess
of Fashion, or how near or how soon it may
approach the more rational and more desirable
form recommended by your association, none
can say. At present, we must admit, the reform
dress is quite obnoxious to the public
and all who bear testimony in its favor, either by
precept or example, must expect to meet with
some trials and discouragements; yet it may,
as you believe it will, be ultimately adopted.
In bringing about such a result your association
will have a leading part to perform, and in your
labors you will have the good wishes, if not
the active coöperation, of all who desire the
emancipation of woman from the tyranny of
prejudice and fashion.</p>

<p class="right">
“A. B.”<br>
</p>
</div>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">

<div class="chapter">
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span></p>

<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_FIFTH">CHAPTER FIFTH.</h2>
</div>


<h3>THE <em>LILY</em> PROSPEROUS.</h3>

<p>As intimated by Mrs. Bloomer in the preceding
pages, the circulation of her paper was
largely increased through the notoriety given
to it by her adoption and defense of the new
costume. Nearly every newspaper in the land
had to have its comments on it, as well as upon
those who had the courage to wear it. Some
denounced, some ridiculed. Besides receiving
numerous letters on the subject, many persons
called to see how the little woman appeared
in the short dress and trousers. Fortunately
or otherwise, they became her very
well; usually they were becoming when worn by
small persons or those of medium stature. People
generally retired well pleased with their interview
with her. She said but little about it in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span>
her paper, as she had subjects of much greater
importance to engage her attention and fill its
columns. Occasionally a sharp article appeared
in its defense. She had many offers to take
the platform as a public speaker. Even the
stage was suggested as a fit place for bringing
the new costume before the public. The interest
in the subject was not confined to this
country only, but extended to England, also;
the matter was commented on by the press of
Great Britain very generally, and the London
<cite>Graphic</cite> contained pictures of the new costume
more or less correct.</p>

<p>All these proposals for public action were
declined by Mrs. Bloomer; but nevertheless the
suggestion as to public speaking, the advocacy
by woman of temperance and woman’s rights
through the medium of the public platform and
her own voice as a public speaker, were not
forgotten by her and brought forth from her
very much in these directions in future years.
But for the time being she continued on in the
even tenor of her work, transforming her paper
steadily more and more, as the months went<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span>
by, into an advocate of woman’s enlargement
in various directions. “Devoted to the interests
of woman,” was now its motto, and she
strove to faithfully carry out the legend. It
was still the ardent advocate of temperance,
but it insisted also that the evils of intemperance
could only be effectually overthrown by
giving to woman a more potent voice both in
the making and enforcement of the laws designed
to overthrow that great evil.</p>


<h3>WOMAN’S TEMPERANCE SOCIETY.</h3>

<p>We now copy again from Mrs. Bloomer’s
writings:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“In the Spring of 1852 a few of the
daughters [of Temperance] celebrated an open
two-days temperance meeting at Rochester,
N. Y. It was very largely attended, between
four and five hundred women being present
at the first session. The numbers increased,
and at the later sessions the large hall, which
would contain 1,800, was packed to the platform
with eager, earnest temperance men and
women. This meeting was not only not secret,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span>
it was not exclusive,—men forming a large part
of it and doing their share of talking. It was
at this meeting that I first let my voice be
heard in public after much persuasion. Able
men came to our aid—among them I remember
the Rev. William H. Channing (the
younger), an eloquent divine of those days; and
the meeting was very enthusiastic, and was the
beginning of much in the same direction that
followed. This convention resulted in organizing
a woman’s state Temperance Society, which
became very effective and had much to do in
breaking down the barriers and introducing
women into temperance and other work. Some
half-dozen women were employed by the
society as agents on salaries of twenty-five
dollars per month and their expenses. These
lecturers traveled through the state, holding
meetings, and securing membership to the
society and signatures to the pledge, and petitions
to the legislature. They were well received
on all sides, partly because of the novelty
of a woman speaking, and partly because the
principle of total abstinence and Washingtonian
temperance was stirring all hearts. Up to
these times no woman had thought of speaking
in public outside a Quaker meeting-house.
To have attempted such a thing at an earlier<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span>
day would have called down upon her much
censure, and St. Paul would have been freely
quoted to silence her. Now, however, women
took matters Into their own hands and acted as
their own impulses prompted and their consciences
approved. And it was surprising how
public sentiment changed and how the zeal of
temperance men and women helped on the new
movement of women.”</p>
</div>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer and Miss Anthony were
secretaries of this convention, and Elizabeth
Cady Stanton president; in the final organization
Mrs. Stanton was made president, Mrs.
Bloomer corresponding secretary, and Miss
Anthony and Mary C. Vaughan recording secretaries.</p>


<h3>MRS. BLOOMER ON DIVORCE.</h3>

<p>At this convention, Senator Gale used very
strong language in regard to women who had
petitioned the legislature for a Maine Law.
Mrs. Bloomer criticised him for saying in a
sneering way “that representatives were not
accustomed to listen to the voice of women in
legislating upon great public questions.” A
resolution was proposed in the convention that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span>
“no woman should remain in the relation of
wife to the confirmed drunkard, and that no
drunkard should be father of her children.”
On this Mrs. Bloomer said:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“We believe the teachings which have been
given to the drunkard’s wife, inculcating duty—the
commendable examples of angelic wives
which she has been exhorted to follow—have
done much to continue and aggravate the vices
and crimes of society growing out of intemperance.
Drunkenness is ground for divorce, and
every woman who is tied to a confirmed drunkard
should sunder the ties: and if she do it
not otherwise, the law should compel it, especially
if she have children.</p>

<p>“We are told that such sentiments are exceptional,
abhorrent, that the moral sense of
society is shocked and outraged by their promulgation.
Can it be possible that the moral
sense of a people is more shocked at the idea
of a pure-minded, gentle woman sundering the
tie which binds her to a loathsome mass of corruption,
than it is to see her dragging out her
days in misery tied to his besotted and filthy
carcass? Are the morals of society less endangered
by the drunkard’s wife continuing to live<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span>
in companionship with him, giving birth to a
large family of children who inherit nothing
but poverty and disgrace, and who will grow
up criminal and vicious, filling our prisons and
penitentiaries and corrupting and endangering
the purity and peace of the community, than
they would be should she separate from him
and strive to win for herself and her children
comfort and respectability? The statistics of
our prisons, poorhouses, and lunatic asylums
teach us a fearful lesson on this subject of
morals!</p>

<p>“The idea of living with a drunkard is so
abhorrent, so revolting to all the finer feelings
of our nature, that a woman must fall very low
before she can endure such companionship.
Every pure-minded person must look with
loathing and disgust upon such a union of virtue
and vice; and he who would compel her to
it, or dissuade the drunkard’s wife from separating
herself from such wretchedness and degradation,
is doing much to perpetuate drunkenness
and crime and is wanting in the noblest
feelings of human nature. Thanks to our legislature,
if they have not given us the Maine law
they are deliberating on giving to wives of
drunkards and tyrants a loophole of escape
from the brutal cruelty of their self-styled lords<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span>
and masters. A bill of this kind has passed
the house, but may be lost in the senate.
Should it not pass now, it will be brought up
again and passed at no distant day. Then, if
women have any spirit, they will free themselves
from much of the depression and wrong
which they have hitherto by necessity borne.”</p>
</div>


<h3>CONVENTION INFLUENCE.</h3>

<p>Probably, no single event ever had so great
an influence in promoting the cause of woman’s
enlargement as this Rochester convention. It
opened the door wide for women to enter. It
brought out a number of faithful workers in
that cause, as well as in the cause of Temperance,
who from that time devoted their lives
to the work. Some took a wider view of their
work than others, but all devoted themselves
with a singular fidelity and earnestness to the
noble aims before them. Nor was the influence
confined solely to women who took part
in that convention. Others, in every part of
the country, soon enlisted in the cause and became
zealous advocates of woman’s redemption
from the thralldom of evil habits and unjust<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span>
laws. Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony continued
a tower of strength for half a century
and upwards, and Mrs. Bloomer nearly as long,
but in the latter years of her life not so prominently;
and there came to their aid Lucy
Stone, Frances D. Gage, Mrs. C. H. Nichols,
Antoinette L. Brown, Mary A. Livermore,
Lydia A. Fowler, and many more who might
be mentioned.</p>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer, as corresponding secretary of
the new society, was brought into immediate
and close connection with its agents and
friends. Her home was at all times open to
them, and they often visited and consulted
with her and Mrs. Stanton, who resided in the
same village. Mrs. Vaughan, Mrs. Albro, and
Miss Emily Clark, besides Miss Anthony, were
earnest workers in the good cause. Mrs.
Bloomer’s correspondence was also very extensive;
but in her removals from place to place
it has been mostly destroyed, and the death of
nearly all her correspondents renders it impracticable
to procure copies of her letters to
them.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span></p>


<h3>THE WOMEN REJECTED AT SYRACUSE.</h3>

<p>At the Rochester convention Gerrit Smith,
Mrs. Bloomer, and Miss Anthony were appointed
delegates to the state convention then
soon to meet in Syracuse. The call was to all
temperance organizations to send delegates to
it, and clearly included the Woman’s Temperance
Society. Mrs. Bloomer and Miss Anthony
accepted the appointment and attended; but
their simple appearance caused a tremendous
hubbub, and after a whole day spent by the
men in discussing the question of their admission
they were excluded. Mrs. Bloomer describes
the scene as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“The women had friends in the convention
who were as determined on their side that
women should be recognized, and so they had
it, each side determined to have it’s way—a
dozen men talking at the same time all over
the house, each claiming the floor, each insisting
on being heard—till all became confusion,
a perfect babel of noises. No order could be
kept and the president left his chair in disgust.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span>
Time and words fail to give you the details of
this disgraceful meeting. The ringleaders were
prominent clergymen of Albany, Lockport, and
Buffalo. Their names and faces are indelibly
engraven on my memory. During this whole
day’s quarrel of the men, no woman said a word,
except once Miss Anthony addressed the chair
intending to prefer a request for a donation
of temperance tracts for distribution by our
society. She got no farther than ‘Mr. President,’
when she was rudely called to order by
one of the belligerent clergymen and told to
sit down. She sat down and no other woman
opened her mouth, though they really were entitled
to all the rights of any delegate, under
the call; and the treatment they received was
not only an insult to the women present, but
to the organization that sent them.”</p>
</div>

<p>In referring to this incident, on page 488
Vol. I. of History of Woman Suffrage, it is
said: “Rev. Luther Lea offered his church just
before adjournment, and Mr. May announced
that Miss Anthony and Mrs. Bloomer would
speak there in the evening. They had a
crowded house, while the conservatives scarcely
had fifty. The general feeling was hostile to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span>
the action of the convention. The same battle
on the temperance platform was fought over
and over again in various parts of the state,
and the most deadly opposition uniformly
came from the clergy, though a few noble men
in that profession ever remained true to principle
through all the conflicts of those days
in the anti-slavery, temperance, and woman’s
rights movements.”</p>


<h3>CONVENTION IN ALBANY.</h3>

<p>In the winter of 1852 and 1853, meetings of
both the regular state Temperance societies
were held in Albany for the purpose of influencing
the legislature then in session to pass
the Maine prohibitory law. Mrs. Bloomer attended
the women’s convention, and delivered
an elaborate speech in the Baptist church. She
herself gives the following report of the proceedings
at the convention:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“The ladies were there with their officers and
lecturers. During the day they held meetings
in the large Baptist church which was packed,
seats and aisles, to its utmost capacity. During<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span>
the morning session a committee of three
ladies, previously appointed, slipped out through
a back entrance and wended their way to the
capitol bearing between them a large basket
filled with petitions from 30,000 women of the
state, each petition neatly rolled and tied with
ribbon and bearing upon it the name of the
place from which it came, and the number of
names it contained. We were met at the state-house
door by Hon. Silas M. Burroughs, of
Orleans, according to previous arrangement,
and escorted by him within the bar of the
house. Mr. Burroughs then said: ‘Mr.
Speaker, there is a deputation of ladies in this
house with a petition of 30,000 women for a
prohibitory law, and I request that the deputation
may present the petition in person.’ He
moved a suspension of the rules for that purpose.
Some objection was raised by two or
three members who sneered at the idea of
granting such privileges to women, but the
vote was taken and carried; and then the committee
and the big basket, carried by two of us
by the handles at each end, passed up in front
of the speaker’s desk, when one of our number
made a little speech appealing for prohibition
and protection from the rum power in the
name of the 30,000 women of the state whom<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span>
we represented. The petitions were sent up
to the clerk’s desk, while we retired again to
the bar where we were surrounded and received
congratulations of members. We soon after
retired and returned to the meeting at the
church. On the announcement being made to
the meeting of what we had done and our success,
it was received with a perfect shout of
congratulation by the vast audience. It was
an unheard-of thing for women to do, and our
reception augured success to the hopes of temperance
people for a prohibitory law. But
alas! Our petitions availed us nothing, as we
learned in due time. Those 30,000 petitioners
were only women; and what cared our so-called
representatives for the petitions of a disfranchised
class? Our meetings were kept up during
the day and evening, women doing all the
talking though men composed full half the
audience. In the evening, in addition to the
Baptist church meetings were held in another
church and in the representatives’ hall, the capitol
having been placed at our service, our lady
speakers separating and going by twos and
threes to each house; and all were crowded,
every foot of standing room being occupied.”</p>
</div>

<p>It should be added, that Mrs. Bloomer was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span>
one of the Committee of Three who appeared
before the legislature and presented the petitions.
The other members were Miss Emily
Clark and Mrs. Albro.</p>


<h3>A LECTURER.</h3>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer’s life during the latter part of
1853 was a very busy one. In addition to her
duties as editor and publisher of the <em>Lily</em> and
clerk in the post office, she was also frequently
invited to deliver addresses on Temperance.
A few of these invitations she accepted, and
appeared before well-pleased audiences in villages
of western New York. She never until
later years acquired the habit of extemporaneous
speaking, but all her addresses were
carefully written out and delivered from manuscript.
There is a big pile of her writings now
before me. They are all characterized by great
earnestness in appeal both to the reason and
sympathies of her hearers.</p>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer’s appeals were mainly addressed
to her own sex, but she never failed to call upon
the men also to practise total abstinence and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span>
give their influence in all proper ways for the
overthrow of the liquor traffic. She also introduced
other questions into her addresses. She
insisted that the laws relating to women were
narrow and unjust and should be changed.
She thought that women should have a voice
in making the laws and also in their enforcement.
When this change should be brought
around, she had hopes that woman would be
relieved from the curse of drunkenness under
which she suffered so keenly. And it so happened
that it was frequently said of Mrs.
Bloomer that “she talks on temperance, but
she gives us a large supply of woman’s rights,
also.” To this Mrs. Bloomer in the <cite>Lily</cite> in
April, 1853, made the following reply:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Some of the papers accuse me of mixing
Woman’s Rights with our Temperance, as
though it was possible for woman to speak on
Temperance and Intemperance without also
speaking of Woman’s Rights and Wrongs in
connection therewith. That woman has rights,
we think that none will deny; that she has
been cruelly wronged by the law-sanctioned
liquor traffic, must be admitted by all. Then<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span>
why should we not talk of woman’s rights and
temperance together? Ah, how steadily do
they who are guilty shrink from reproof! How
ready they are to avoid answering our arguments
by turning their attention to our personal
appearance, and raising a bugbear about Woman’s
Rights and Woman’s Wrongs! and a
ready response to the truth we utter wells up
from women’s hearts, and breaks forth in blessings
and a hearty God-speed in our mission.”</p>
</div>


<h3>IN NEW YORK CITY.</h3>

<p>We now quote from Mrs. Bloomer’s personal
reminiscences:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“In February, 1853, in company with Miss
Susan B. Anthony, Rev. Antoinette L. Brown,
and Mrs. L. N. Fowler, I held three meetings in
the city of New York. We had been attending a
Temperance mass meeting in the city of Albany,
where we had both day and evening been addressing
the assembled temperance hosts that
had come together from all parts of the state
in response to a call for that purpose. At
these meetings we were met by parties from
New York, who invited us to visit that city
and hold a series of meetings, assuring us that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span>
every preparation would be made and we
should be received by good audiences. We
accepted the invitation and in a few days went
to New York to fill the engagement. Full
notice had been given and all things put in
readiness for us. These meetings were held
in Metropolitan Hall, where Jennie Lind made
her <em>début</em> on arriving in this country, which has
since been burned down; and in the old Broadway
Tabernacle; and in Knickerbocker Hall.</p>

<p>“That was in the early days of the woman’s
movement, and women speaking in public was
a new thing outside of a Quaker meeting-house.
We were the first to address an audience of
New Yorkers from a public platform; and much
curiosity was excited to hear and see the wonderful
women who had outstepped their sphere
and were turning the world upside down by
preaching a new doctrine which claimed that
women were human beings, endowed with inalienable
rights, among which was the right
to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.</p>

<p>“The halls at each of these meetings were
filled to their utmost capacity, from 3,000 to
5,000 persons being the estimated number
in attendance. At the Metropolitan, Horace
Greeley and wife, Dr. S. P. Townsend, Colonel
Snow, and a number of others were seated with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span>
us on the platform; and in all the after meetings,
Mr. Greeley was present and manifested
much interest in our work, taking copious notes
and giving columns of the <cite>Tribune</cite> to reports
of our speeches. While in the city we were
guests of the great phrenologist, L. N. Fowler,
one of the editors of the <cite>Phrenological Journal</cite>,
and his wife, and Mrs. S. P. Townsend; and the
evening was spent at the home of the Greeleys.</p>
</div>


<h3>“AT HORACE GREELEY’S HOUSE.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“At the latter place we met about a dozen
of New York’s literati. Of these I only remember
Charles A. Dana, then on the <cite>Tribune</cite>
staff; Mrs. E. F. Ellet, a prominent story writer
of that time; and Alice and Phœbe Gary, the
poet sisters. I remember the latter as dressed
with very low necks and arms bared to the
shoulders, while their skirts trailed upon the
floor. Around their necks were hung huge
boas, four feet long, the style of that day; as
a protection, I suppose, from the cold. These
being heaviest in the middle were continually
sagging out of place, and kept the wearers quite
busy adjusting them. I confess to a feeling
short of admiration for this dress display at a
little social gathering in midwinter, and my<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span>
estimation of the good sense of the Cary sisters
sank accordingly. And I never read of them
to this day but those bare necks and shoulders
and trailing skirts appear before me. They,
no doubt, were as much disgusted with my
short dress and trousers which left no part of
the person exposed. Tastes differ, that is
all; and I was not used to seeing women in
company half-dressed.</p>

<p>“It was in the early days of spiritualism,
when the Rochester rappings had excited
much wonder throughout the country. Horace
Greeley was known to have taken a good deal
of interest in the subject, to have given time
to its investigation, and to have entertained its
first propagandists, the Fox sisters, for days at
his house. During the evening of our visit
that subject came up and Mr. Greeley warmly
espoused the side of the spiritualists. He said
many things in confirmation of his belief in the
new doctrine of spirit visitation. Standing
midway of the two parlors and pointing to a
table that stood against the wall between the
front windows, he said: ‘I must believe what
my eyes have seen. I have seen that table
leave its place where it now stands, come forward
and meet me here where I now stand,
and then go back to its place without any one<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span>
touching it, or being near it. I have also seen
that table rise from the floor, and the weight
of a man sitting on it would not keep it down.
I cannot deny the evidence of my own eyes.’
Miss Fox was in the house at the time of this
occurrence, but not in the room. This he said
in answer to questions.”</p>
</div>


<h3>AT METROPOLITAN HALL.</h3>

<p>Of the meeting in Metropolitan Hall, the
New York <cite>Tribune</cite> stated that it was nearly as
large and fully as respectable as the audiences
which nightly greeted Jenny Lind and Catherine
Hayes during their engagements in that
hall. Mrs. Lydia N. Fowler presided, and delivered
an address. The <cite>Tribune</cite> gave a full
report of the meeting. It said: “Mrs. Bloomer
was attired in a dark-brown changeable tunic,
a kilt descending just below the knees, the skirt
of which was trimmed with rows of black velvet.
The pantaloons were of the same texture and
trimmed in the same style. She wore gaiters.
Her headdress was cherry and black. Her
dress had a large open corsage, with bands of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span>
velvet over the white chemisette in which was
a diamond-stud pin. She wore flowing sleeves,
tight undersleeves and black lace mitts. Her
whole attire was rich and plain in appearance.
* * * She was introduced to the audience
and proceeded to her address which occupied
more than an hour.” And as giving a fair expression
of Mrs. Bloomer’s then views on the
subject of temperance and woman’s duty in
reference to it, the <cite>Tribune’s</cite> full report of her
address is here given:</p>


<h3>MRS. BLOOMER’S SPEECH.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Mrs. Bloomer, of Seneca Falls, was introduced
and proceeded to read an address which
occupied nearly an hour. She commenced by
remarking that, from the earliest agitation of
the subject of temperance down through the
whole past course of the cause, woman has had
a great and important part to perform in the
great struggle for freedom. And most nobly
has she performed her part, according to the
light she possessed. She has done all that the
custom of the time permitted her to do. She
has faithfully attended temperance meetings<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span>
and listened to many wise discourses from temperance
lecturers. During all this woman has
imagined that she was doing the cause good
service. But lo! she still sees the great destroyer
passing triumphantly on in his work
of death; she sees poverty, wretchedness and
despair still rampant in our midst; she sees
that her prayers to rumsellers to desist from
their murderous work have fallen upon hearts
of stone; she sees that, in spite of her remonstrances,
the stream of death still flows on and
that thousands and tens of thousands are still
going to destruction. But, though she is often
weary, yet is she not hopeless; she still has
faith to look beyond the clouds to the bright
prospect beyond—still has faith to look beyond
the efforts of man to One who is mighty for
deliverance.</p>

<p>“Yet, notwithstanding the efforts already
put forth in this work, woman was not without
guilt in this matter. While man endeavors to
compel obedience to his laws, and make woman
dependent upon him and an echo of his
thoughts, while man has greatly sinned in thus
usurping this great prerogative, woman has
greatly sinned in submitting to this power.
Woman has suffered her individuality to be
merged in a name. She forgets that God<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span>
created them equal; she forgets that our
Heavenly Father has not made one to rule over
the other. She forgets that she is as necessary
to his happiness as he is to hers. They are
created to work hand in hand, bearing equally
the burden of life; and though we may fail to
do our duty on earth, yet will our individuality
be recognized and held to account on the Last
Day. The plea often raised that it is immodest
and unladylike, that we are out of our sphere
in thus battling against the evils of intemperance,
will not avail in the sight of God who has
commanded that even one talent should be put
to a good use. He has created woman intelligent
and responsible and given her a great
work to do, and woe unto her if she does it
not! Woe unto him who hinders her in its
fulfillment! Her individuality must be recognized
before the evils of intemperance can cease
to exist. How absurd the idea, how degrading
the thought, that before marriage woman can
enjoy freedom of thought, but afterwards must
endorse her husband’s sentiments be they good
or bad! Call you not this slavery? But if she
acts the part of true womanhood, the path of
duty will be made so plain that she cannot err
therein.</p>

<p>“The speaker next said that she proposed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span>
to show how woman, by her own acts, had retarded
the cause of temperance. And, first,
woman had done much to retard the cause by
herself partaking of stimulating drink during
lactation, and thus transmitting it through the
system of her infant. She imagines that this
gives her stimulus and strength. But in this
she sins from ignorance. As the child grows,
his appetite grows perverted, and he will desire
still stronger stimulus such as tobacco and
cigars. Let mothers study the physiology of
themselves and their children that they may
know how to feed them so as to give them
regular appetites. Woman has also done much
to retard the cause of temperance by presenting
the intoxicating cup to her guest. Not unfrequently
does the first glass taken from the
hands of woman destroy both body and soul
forever. Home is said to be woman’s sphere;
herein, at least, she should forbid the intoxicating
cup to enter. Women, Christian women,
as you hope for salvation, let not this guilt rest
upon your souls!</p>

<p>“Woman has also retarded the cause of
temperance by using intoxicating drinks for
culinary purposes. Such an one voluntarily
yields up her children to the Moloch of intemperance.
Let no woman think this a little<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span>
matter. Let no woman think that because
she occupies a high place in society the destroyer
will pass her by. Such is not his course.
He delights to cut down the high and noble
and trample them beneath his iron hoofs.</p>

<p>“Another class who in my view greatly retard
the cause of temperance principles are those who
profess love for our cause and hope that it will
triumph, but do nothing for it. They say we
have men to attend to this work and that it is
none of woman’s business. Deliver us from
such dead weights on society and on the spirit
of Progress! None of woman’s business, when
she is subject to poverty and degradation and
made an outcast from respectable society!
None of woman’s business, when her starving,
naked babes are compelled to suffer the horrors of
the winter’s blast! None of woman’s business,
when her children are stripped of their clothing
and compelled to beg their bread from door
to door! In the name of all that is sacred,
what is woman’s business if this be no concern
of hers? (Great applause.) None of woman’s
business! What is woman? Is she a slave?
Is she a mere toy? Is she formed, like a piece
of fine porcelain, to be placed upon the shelf to
be looked at? Is she a responsible being?
or has she no soul? Alas, alas for the ignorance<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span>
and weakness of woman! Shame! Shame on
woman when she refuses all elevating action
and checks all high and holy aspirations for the
good of others! (Applause.) Sisters, the liquor
traffic does concern woman deeply; and it is
her business to bring her influence to bear
against it, both by private and public acts.
Some mothers say it is as much as they can do
to look after their own children without going
to the trouble of looking after children of their
neighbors. If all mothers would do this and
train up their own children in the right way, it
would be all well. But such is not the case; and
therefore are we to go out into the world and
help reclaim the children of poverty and crime
around us.</p>

<p>“Another obstacle to the progress of temperance
principles is that women live in close
companionship with drunken husbands. This
may be a delicate point upon which to enter
and many may object to mentioning it, but
nevertheless the truth must be spoken. In
my mind no greater sin is committed than by
woman consenting to remain the wife of the
drunkard, rearing children in poverty and
wretchedness and thus transmitting his sins.
A pure and virtuous woman tied to such a
piece of corruption, and giving birth to children<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span>
who will grow up to be a curse to themselves
and society! The drunkard knows that
the gentle being is bound close to him and is
literally his slave, and that she will remain with
him be his conduct what it may. Thus are
thousands surrounded by these gentle and loving
creatures, when they are not worthy to
have even a dog for a companion. (Applause.)</p>

<p>“And yet public sentiment and law bid
woman to submit to this degradation and to
kiss the hand that smites her to the ground.
Let things be reversed—let man be made
subject to these various insults—and how long
would he suffer anger, hunger, cold and nakedness!
How many times would he allow himself
to be thus trampled upon! (Applause.)
Not long—not long—I think! With his right
arm would he free himself from such degrading
bondage. (Applause.) But thanks to a few
brave hearts, the idea of relief to woman has
been broached to society. She has dared to
stand forth and disown any earthly master.
(Applause.) Woman must banish the drunkard
from her society. Let her utterly refuse to be
the companion of a drunkard, or the man who
puts the intoxicating cup to his lips, and we
shall see a new order of society.</p>

<p>“Woman must declare an unceasing war to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span>
this great foe, at all times and upon every
occasion that presents itself. She must not
wait for man to help her; this is her business
as much as his. Let her show to the world
that she possesses somewhat of the spirit and
the blood of the daughters of the Revolution!
Such thoughts as these may be thought unladylike;
but if they are so, they are not unwomanly.
(Applause.)</p>

<p>“Mrs. Bloomer then made a brief argument
in favor of the Maine Law, and concluded her
remarks amid long continued applause.</p>

<p>“It will be seen that Mrs. Bloomer’s address
was almost entirely confined to women, and
marked out an entirely new field in temperance
thought; and it therefore attracted not a little
attention.”</p>
</div>

<p>The meeting in New York city did not end
the work of the three ladies in the Temperance
cause during the winter. They made a tour of
the state, holding meetings in Brooklyn,
Poughkeepsie, Sing Sing, Hudson, Troy,
Cohoes, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, Lockport,
Buffalo, and other places along the Hudson
River and the line of the Central Railroad.
They were everywhere received by great<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span>
crowds of people anxious to see the now famous
speakers and listen to their words. It was a
new thing for women to speak in public; and
no doubt the fashion of the dresses worn by
Mrs. Bloomer and Miss Anthony had something
to do with calling out the people to their
meetings.</p>


<h3>IN BUFFALO.</h3>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer described the closing meeting
of the series at Buffalo as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Townsend Hall was crowded at an early
hour by the curious and interested portions of
the community, who came together to see the
women who had made themselves notorious by
their boldness in daring to face a city audience,
and to listen to the strange and ‘funny things’
they might utter on the worn and rather unpopular
subject of temperance. The capacity
of the hall is said to be sufficient to seat 1,000.
Every spot where a standing place could be had
was occupied, and very many went away unable
to gain admittance. Steps were immediately
taken by some friends here to secure a hall for
another meeting the next evening. Townsend
Hall and American Hall were both engaged,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span>
and the Eagle-Street Theatre was secured;
and last night, for the first time in many years,
I attended a ‘theatre’ not as a looker-on but
as an actor in the play. I don’t know the
capacity of the theatre but it was estimated
that fully 1,200 persons were present, the body
of the house and lower gallery being densely
filled, while many occupied the lower gallery
and the rostrum. Seldom I think is a theatre
put to better use, and pity it is that all its performances
and performers are not as truthful
and earnest in laboring for the good of humanity.
The audience appeared interested, and
was for the most part quiet and attentive.</p>

<p>“We received calls from a large number of
ladies of the city who were interested in our
movement, and we hear from all the same expression
of feeling and that is: ‘We must have
the Maine law; what can we do to obtain this
law?’ I find there is a strong woman’s-rights
sentiment prevailing on the subject among
those whom I have met here. All feel that
the only way in which women can do anything
effectually in this cause is through the ballot-box,
and they feel themselves fettered by being
denied the right to thus speak their sentiments
in a manner that could not be misunderstood.
If voters would but all do their duty,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span>
all would be well and we should soon have a
prohibitory liquor-law; and methinks that if
voters who claim to be temperance men could
hear all comments made by women upon their
actions, and see themselves in the light that
women see them, they would blush and hang
their heads in shame at their treachery and
inefficiency.”</p>
</div>


<h3>AT HOME.</h3>

<p>On returning home from one of her tours,
Mrs. Bloomer wrote as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“After an absence of two weeks, we again
find ourselves in our own loved home, where
we meet with a hearty welcome. Most forcibly
do the words of the poet come before our
mind as we enter our quiet sanctum, and from
the depths of our heart we endorse them:
‘Home, sweet home! be it ever so humble,
there’s no place like home.’</p>

<p>“During the two weeks spent in jaunting
through some of the cities and villages of the
beautiful Hudson, we have seen much of the
grand and beautiful in nature and made the
acquaintance of some of the choice spirits of that
section of the state. It has been a relaxation
from cares we much needed, and we trust will<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span>
prove time profitably spent both to us and to
those who listened to the message we bore
them.”</p>
</div>


<h3>HATING THE MEN.</h3>

<p>The editor of the Utica <cite>Telegraph</cite> having
charged Mrs. Bloomer with “hating the men,”
she replied to the insinuation as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Bless your soul, Mr. <em>Telegraph</em>! we dearly
love them all—except rumsellers and those
editors who patronize and sustain them in
their ruin-and-death-dealing business. Hate
the men? Why, such an idea never entered
our head and we are sure our tongue never
gave expression to such a thought! You must
have had a curtain lecture before going to
the meeting that night, Mr. <em>Telegraph</em>, which
soured your feelings toward all womankind so
that you saw through green glasses and heard
through a cracked ear-tube; or else you must
be a devotee to the wine cup, and are frightened
lest the women are going to adopt some measure
to make it unlawful and disreputable for
you to gratify your low appetite. Oh, dear!
how people are worried about our domestic
relations. How much sympathy our ‘bigger
half’ receives because of his sore domestic<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span>
troubles! Strange that the <cite>Telegraph</cite> forgot
to speak of our ‘five neglected children’!
They have met with great sympathy from many
people, but are entirely overlooked by this
student of the ‘Natural Sciences.’ We do
wish those editors who are so much interested
in our domestic affairs would appoint a committee
to investigate the matter and devise
some plan of relief for our poor suffering husband
and ‘five children.’ Ha, ha! we should like
to see the workings of our ‘gude man’s’ face as
they offered words of condolence and sympathy,
and hear the kind and unruffled tones in which
he would thank them for their tender solicitude
and politely bid them return and bestow equal
care on their own domestic relations.”</p>
</div>


<h3>GOOD TEMPLARS.</h3>

<p>Up to 1852-3 women were excluded from
the several temperance secret fraternities
which had come into existence, such as the
“Sons of Temperance” and similar societies.
To give to women a chance to work for the
cause in the same way the order of the
“Daughters of Temperance” was organized,
but Mrs. Bloomer persistently refused to connect<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span>
herself with them for the reason that she
believed that women and men should be admitted
to all such societies on a footing of perfect
equality. The church opened its doors to
both alike; so she insisted the secret societies
should do the same. But in the latter part of
1852, the order of “Good Templars” was organized
in Onondaga County, and soon spread out
over the adjacent counties. It admitted women
to membership and to all offices on an entire
equality with men. Mrs. Bloomer was greatly
pleased with the idea, and when a lodge of the
new order was established in the village she soon
became an active member, took great interest
in its work, and held various positions in the
lodge. She believed that it furnished an opening
for women’s work in the Temperance cause
which should not be neglected. In a notice of
this new temperance organization, in the July
number of the <cite>Lily</cite>, Mrs. Bloomer says:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Of course, to those who believe that
women should not work together with the
men in the Temperance Cause this organization
presents insuperable objections. No man<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span>
who is not willing to admit woman to entire
equality with himself in labors, duties, honors and
offices, who is not willing that her vote should
be deposited with his in the same ballot-box,
and her voice be raised with his on all questions
relating to its affairs, need apply for membership
in this order. But the number of such
men is small, indeed, and is daily growing
beautifully less. It has long been the desire of
many Sons of Temperance to admit women
into their doors, and the recent omission of the
National Division of that order to comply
with that desire has sadly disappointed many
of its best members. But what the Sons of
Temperance have refused to do, the Good
Templars amply provided for, and this feature
we believe to be one of its chief excellencies,
and which more than any other will commend
the order to the hearty approval of the high-minded
and right-thinking portion of the temperance
community.”</p>
</div>

<p>The first State gathering of the new order
was held in Ithaca, in June, 1853. Mrs.
Bloomer was appointed a delegate to it from
her local lodge, along with her husband, and
when the state grand-lodge was organized she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span>
was admitted to that, also. A Rev. Mr. Wilson
had been engaged to deliver the address,
but he failed to attend. Mrs. Bloomer
described the result as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“They then selected me to take his place.
On the morning of the public demonstration,
an unthought-of trouble arose. The church
which had been engaged to Mr. Bristol was
now refused to a woman. Its trustees would
not open it for a woman to speak in. This
caused a great excitement among the men.
They gathered in the lodge-room to consider
the situation. They were puzzled to know
what to do. They would not give up their
speaker. There was talk of going to a grove,
but it was too far; talk of speaking in the
street, but there was no shade; and the lodge-room
was not large enough. Finally the Baptists
came to their relief and offered their
church, and I did the talking to the immense
throng who gathered there.”</p>
</div>


<h3>IN THE PULPIT.</h3>

<p>At the time of the above occurrence it was a
new thing indeed for women to appear in public,
and especially to stand in the pulpit to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span>
deliver their thoughts. All this is now greatly
changed. Mrs. Bloomer in writing on this
subject in subsequent years says:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“The pulpit was sacred ground, that no
woman’s foot must profane. One minister in
Syracuse preached a sermon against us and had
it printed in pamphlet form. These he sent
out by hundreds to ministers of his church
throughout the state for them to scatter
among the women of their congregations,
hoping to head off this new movement
of women. Whether these determined opponents
of other days who meant to crush
the women’s movement in the bud ever
became reconciled to the part she has
since played in the world’s doings, I don’t
know. Some of them, and probably all, have
passed to their account where they have learned
that God’s ways are not man’s ways. I suppose
that we cannot greatly blame them when
we remember that, up to that time, the world
had been educated to believe woman an inferior
creation; that she had been placed by
her Creator in an inferior and subordinate
position; and that St. Paul’s injunction to the
uneducated women of his day to keep silence
in the churches was intended for the women of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span>
all time, included public halls as well as
churches, and political, social, temperance and
all other subjects as well as the gospel of
Christ, of which women were to know nothing
except what they learned from their husbands
at home. We find a very different state of
things in these days, when the clergy everywhere
are ready to listen to women—nay, to
welcome and invite them to their desks; and
even dismiss their own services that the women
may be heard. They must have learned a
new gospel, or a new interpretation of the old
one. In those early days, ministers before
hearing us would refuse to open our meetings
with prayer—feeling, I suppose, that we had
gotten too far out of our sphere to be benefited
by their prayers. Now, they hesitate
not to lend us all the aid in their power.
There may be here and there one who turns
the cold shoulder, but the cause is too far advanced
to be affected by anything such can
bring against it.”</p>
</div>


<h3>IN ROCHESTER AGAIN—A CHANGE.</h3>

<p>In May, 1853, the annual meeting of the
Woman’s State-Temperance Society convened
in the city of Rochester. It was very<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span>
largely attended by many of the prominent
Temperance workers in the state. Mrs.
Bloomer was present and took an active part
in the proceedings. At the convention, the
question of admitting men as members came
up and excited a great deal of interest. It was
agreed that, as both sexes were equally interested
in the work, they should all bear an
equal responsibility in guiding the doings and
sharing in the labor of the society. Those
who took this view insisted that it should be
placed on the broad grounds of equal rights
and equal duties for all. Others thought the
time had not yet come for so radical a change
in the constitution, but preferred that it should
continue to be an exclusively feminine organization.
Mrs. Bloomer took this view and so
the majority decided, with the result that Mrs.
Stanton declined a reëlection as president and
Miss Anthony also declined a reëlection as
secretary.</p>

<p>In their places, Mrs. Mary C. Vaughan was
elected president; Mrs. Angelina Fish, secretary;
Mrs. Albro, chairman of the executive<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span>
committee, and Mrs. Bloomer corresponding
secretary. These ladies continued the work of
the society with great zeal and fidelity. It
kept its lecturers in the field and continued to
labor earnestly in promoting its temperance
work. Mrs. Bloomer’s connection with it
ended with her removal from the state at the
end of the year. She always exceedingly regretted
that this divergence of views occurred
between her and Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony,
but their old-time friendship continued
on as of old and Mrs. Stanton continued her
interesting contributions to the columns of the
<em>Lily</em>.</p>

<p>The proceedings of this convention, as also
of the Good-Templars meeting at Ithaca, were
printed as a double number of the <em>Lily</em> soon
after the adjournment of these bodies. Many
extra copies were also printed, for which there
was a very active demand. Mrs. Bloomer insisted
that the work of the Woman’s Temperance
Society should go on vigorously, as in
the preceding years, and she exerted all her
influence to that end as one of its officers.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span>
She however did not long remain a resident
of New York, and after leaving the state she
was no longer responsible for the work. The
zeal of some of the workers may have become
cold, or rather (which seems to have been the
fact) was turned into other channels. Mrs.
Bloomer always looked upon her connection
with the society as one of the most useful and
interesting events of her life.</p>

<p>After the close of the convention Mrs.
Bloomer visited Niagara Falls for the first
time, accompanied by her husband, spending a
couple of days of much needed rest and recreation.
While there they looked over nearly
all the most noted points, including a visit to
Termination Rock under the mighty cataract
itself, passing on their way under Table Rock,
which has since disappeared.</p>


<h3>A LECTURE TOUR—FOURTH OF JULY.</h3>

<p>Of one of her lecturing tours, Mrs. Bloomer
gives the following report:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“We left home on Saturday the second instant
for Harford, where we were engaged as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span>
orator for the celebration on the Fourth. The
weather was fine and the trip up the lake a
delightful one, made doubly so by meeting
some old acquaintances and the forming of
some new ones on the boat. Arrived at Ithaca
we found friends awaiting from Harford, and
were soon on our way to that place, where we
arrived after a pleasant carriage ride of sixteen
miles at about ten o’clock in the evening. The
glorious Fourth was ushered in by a salute at
daybreak and another at sunrise. At an early
hour people began to arrive from the country,
and the streets soon presented a lively appearance.
At ten o’clock the procession was
formed in front of the Union Church and, the
Good Templars and Sons of Temperance in the
regalia of their orders first, led by a band
of music and followed by the people, proceeded
to a grove where seats and a stand handsomely
decorated had been prepared for the occasion.
We were escorted by a committee of ladies all
in short dresses to the stand, where after the
usual exercises came the address; but of the
merits of this it becometh us not to speak.
Suffice it to say that the large audience of
fifteen hundred or two thousand persons
listened to us throughout with the most earnest
attention, and judging from their countenances<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span>
the novelty of hearing a woman was
lost in the interest excited by the subject.”</p>
</div>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer’s toast at the dinner was as
follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“By Mrs. Bloomer: ‘<em>The Women of the
Revolution</em>. Although they toiled along with
the men of the Revolution for independence
and freedom yet they failed, when the struggle
was over, to secure an equality in those rights
and duties which are the common birthright of
all. May their daughters of the present generation
be more fortunate in their struggle for
rights so long withheld!’”</p>
</div>

<p>After several sentences laudatory of her
hosts, Mrs. Bloomer continues:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“On our return home we were escorted as
far as Homer by our friends from Harford.
Homer is our native village, and as we had not
been there since the days of our childhood we
took advantage of our stay to stroll through
the place in quest of our old home around
which clustered many fond recollections. We
had no one to guide us in the search, but the
impressions left on our mind at six years of age
were so strong that we could not be mistaken.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span>
The place was soon found and, though much
altered, it still retained enough of its former
likeness to enable us to identify it after an
absence of twenty-nine years. Emotions both
pleasurable and painful were awakened as we
gazed upon the spot where we first drew breath
and where we spent the early years of our life.
Scenes long since forgotten arose in memory as
clearly as though but yesterday enacted. Not
to the old home only has change come, to us
and ours Time has brought much of change and
somewhat of sorrow; yet upon us personally
has his hand rested lightly, to us he has imparted
kindness and blessing far more liberally
than sorrow. With saddened feelings we returned
to the hotel where we left our friends.
Here we were soon surrounded by those who
had known us in childhood and were intimate
friends of our parents. Somehow, they had
gotten notice of our being there and came forward
to offer congratulations and welcome us
back to our early home. Intercessions were
made for us to remain with them for the night
and give them a lecture, which we decided to
do. After bidding adieu to our kind friends
from Harford, who now turned their steps
homeward, we were escorted to the mansion of
William Sherman who with his estimable wife<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span>
and family contributed largely to the pleasures
of our visit to Homer.</p>

<p>“The Presbyterian church was at once opened
to us, and notice of the meeting circulated as
fully as possible in the brief time that remained
before the evening. The house though large
was densely filled with an attentive and intelligent
audience. On the earnest invitation of
a committee of gentlemen we remained over
another day and spoke in the same church on
the following evening, when the body of the
house and the large gallery were again as full
as could be comfortably seated. Though we
interspersed our lecture pretty freely with
woman’s rights, or rather we might say with
woman’s wrongs, no one seemed at all alarmed;
but, if we may believe the assertions of the
people, new trains of thought were awakened
and a most favorable impression made on the
minds of the community.”</p>
</div>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer then proceeded by stage to
Glen Haven where she received a most cordial
welcome from Dr. Jackson, and at his request:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“We addressed the patients and other inmates
of the house in a large sitting room on
Thursday evening, and at his solicitation concluded<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span>
to accept the invitation of Judge Osborn,
of Scott, to return to that place and speak on
Friday evening, instead of returning home as
we had intended to do. Accordingly on Friday
evening we rode over to Scott, a distance of
three or four miles. The church in which the
meeting was held was densely filled, and we
could but wonder where all the people came
from in so small a place. Many warm though
strange friends gathered around us here, and
bade us a hearty God-speed in our mission.
They would have kept us for another night,
but home after a week’s absence was doubly
endeared to us and we could be detained no
longer; so we again took the stage for the
Glen on Saturday morning, and from thence
on steamboat and cars returned home on Saturday
evening. Altogether the excursion was a
delightful one and we have no cause to regret
that we were induced to accept the invitation
of our Harford friends to join with them in
celebrating the 77th anniversary of the birthday
of our National Independence.”</p>
</div>


<h3>RESTING.</h3>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer’s activities during the year had
been so unremitting that she now needed rest.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span>
Small in person and fragile in health, she had
been enabled to endure so much only by her
indomitable courage and the spirit of perseverance
which ever controlled all her actions.
This needed rest she therefore sought at Dr.
Jackson’s water cure, on the beautiful shores
of Skaneateles Lake. Here secluded from
public gaze she spent some weeks in retirement;
and yet not entirely so, for she was
there invited and consented to deliver her
lecture on Woman’s Enfranchisement to the
inmates of the cure.</p>


<h3>NEW LECTURES.</h3>

<p>This lecture had been prepared during the
early months of the year and the closing
months of 1852. She delivered it on many
occasions in subsequent years in various parts
of the country, rewriting it several times in
whole or in part for that purpose. Towards
the closing years of her life she revised it once
more, fully setting forth her ideas and convictions
on the subject of woman suffrage; and in
this completed form it is printed in full in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span>
Appendix of this work. It is believed to be
one of the strongest arguments that has ever
been written in favor of woman’s right to the
ballot. Mrs. Bloomer also prepared lectures on
woman’s right to employment and education as
fully in all respects as that enjoyed by the other
sex. These lectures, she delivered to audiences
in different parts of the country as occasion
offered. They were radical in their claims
for equality for woman in all the employments
and acquirements of life with man, for at that
time this claim was only just beginning to be
discussed. No colleges were then open to
women. No universities offered her the literary
advantages of their halls and lecture rooms,
and the general opinion was entertained among
the mass of the people that the three studies
of reading, writing and arithmetic were enough
for her. So also there was little for women to
do but to sew and stitch, and occasionally teach
school for wages far below those paid to men.
There were no women lawyers, no women
preachers, except among the Quakers, no typewriters,
no clerks in the stores, no public<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span>
offices filled by women. Mrs. Bloomer in her
lectures insisted that all this was wrong. She
argued that the schoolroom, the workshop,
the public office, the lawyer’s forum and the
sacred desk should be opened to her sex on
entire equality with man. These were then
unpopular doctrines to promulgate either in
the public press or on the lecturer’s platform;
but Mrs. Bloomer was spared long enough to
see her rather radical ideas on this subject
brought into practical application, for at the
end of 1894 woman’s right to both education
and employment on an equality with man had
come to be almost universally recognized.</p>


<h3>A CLUB OF TALKERS.</h3>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer derived much mental culture
from attending the conversation-club which
had been organized through Mrs. Stanton’s
exertions and was led by her. It followed
largely the line of thought and action set forth
in the Life of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, published
about that time, who had conducted clubs of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span>
like character some years before in Boston. It
met from time to time in the parlors of prominent
residents of the village and many questions
social, literary and even political were
freely discussed at its meetings, each member
being required to take some part in the conversation.
It was not exactly a ladies’ club, for
gentlemen also were invited to attend and did
so to some extent; but the attendance and
discussions were mainly confined to the other
sex. Mrs. Stanton was eminently qualified to
lead the club as she was and is a woman of
great general information, of large culture and
literary attainments, and an excellent talker.
Occasionally an essay was read by some member
previously appointed, and on the whole the
club added greatly to the mental attainments
of its members. Seneca Falls as a village was
noted at that time for its liberality in all reformatory
movements. It was the residence
of Mrs. Stanton, of Bascom, of Tellman, and
other leaders in liberal thought, to say nothing
of the Bloomers.</p>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">

<div class="chapter">
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span></p>

<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_SIXTH">CHAPTER SIXTH.</h2>
</div>


<h3>AT THE WORLD’S CONVENTION.</h3>

<p>In September, Mrs. Bloomer attended the
two great temperance conventions held in that
month in the city of New York. During her
stay of ten days she was the guest of Mrs. L.
N. Fowler, where for the first time she met
her old correspondent, Mrs. Frances D. Gage,
between whom and Mrs. Bloomer there existed
for many years and until Mrs. Gage’s decease
the warmest friendship. She also here again
met her old co-laborers in temperance and
other reform work, Miss Lucy Stone and Miss
Antoinette L. Brown. When the World’s
Temperance Convention met in Metropolitan
Hall a most bitter wrangle at once commenced
over the question of admitting women to seats
in the convention, and after one or two days<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span>
spent in its discussion it was decided in the
negative. The Whole World’s Temperance
Convention then followed, over which Rev. T.
W. Higginson presided. To this convention
both men and women were admitted as delegates,
and the proceedings throughout were
intensely interesting. A public meeting held in
the Tabernacle was interrupted to some extent
by a noisy demonstration whenever a man attempted
to speak, but the women were listened
to without interruption. Among the speakers
were Miss Stone, Miss Brown, Mrs. Gage, and
Wendell Phillips. Mrs. Bloomer was an intensely
interested participant in all these meetings,
and in a quiet way took part in them,
speaking briefly from the platform in Metropolitan
Hall. She also delivered a temperance
address in Broadway Tabernacle to a very large
audience, Miss Emily Clark and Mrs. Mary C.
Vaughan being the other speakers. While in
the city Mrs. Bloomer also attended the Crystal
Palace exhibition then open to the public.
It was a very interesting presentation of the
progress of the world up to that time in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span>
several departments of human skill, industry
and the fine arts, but has been far exceeded in
extent and variety in subsequent years. One
of the curious things occurring at these gatherings
was a vegetarian banquet held in the Metropolitan
Hall in which, it was said by the
newspapers of the day, were gathered all the
reformers of every description then in the city.
The table was abundantly supplied with all
kinds of fruit and vegetable productions, but
every form of animal food was strictly excluded.
Some speeches were made; but, on the whole,
the affair was not esteemed a very great success.
On the following day Rev. Miss Brown
delivered a sermon from the platform in the
same hall to a fair congregation on that old
subject, “The exceeding sinfulness of sin.”</p>

<p>Of the Whole World’s Temperance Convention
Mrs. Bloomer wrote as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“It was largely attended, and passed off
most happily. There were no old fogies present
to raise a disturbance and guy the speakers;
no questioning the right of each individual,
whether man or woman, to utter his thoughts<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span>
on the great subject which they had met to
consider. All was peace and harmony and it
did the heart good to be there.</p>

<p>“There were delegates present from some
twenty states and Canada and Europe, and a
more earnest and intelligent set of men and
women were never met together. We had the
pleasure of meeting and taking by the hand
many of our friends and co-workers to whom
though personally unknown we had long been
attached.</p>

<p>“The time allotted to the convention was
too short to allow so full and free an interchange
of sentiment as was desirable. Many who had
come up hither with hearts burning with zeal
for the good cause, many from whom it would
have been pleasant and profitable to hear, were
obliged to forego the privilege of speaking on
account of the limited time which had been
fixed upon for the convention. The ‘whole
world’ could not possibly be heard in two days,
yet all appeared satisfied with the rich feast that
had been furnished them; and we trust that
those who were not heard in New York have
gone home strengthened and better prepared
to make themselves heard and their influence
felt in the coming contest.”</p>
</div>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span></p>

<p>Returning home Mrs. Bloomer issued another
number of her paper, and then with her husband
started on a Western trip. Of the first
part of this tour, Mrs. Bloomer herself gave
the following report:</p>


<h3>A WESTERN TRIP.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Columbus, Oct. 10, 1853. We reached
Cleveland about six o’clock on Sunday morning,
when we soon found our old friend C. E.
Wheeler and wife where we spent the few days
of our stay very pleasantly. We had heard
much of the beauty of Cleveland, but in this
respect I think it has not been overrated. It
is indeed a fine city full of life and enterprise.
The broad streets so nicely shaded give it an
appearance of health and comfort unlike that
of any other city I have ever visited. It is
rapidly growing in population and wealth, and
great numbers of fine buildings are now in process
of erection. It is destined ere long to
take rank in importance with any city in the
West.</p>

<p>“On Monday evening, I addressed a large
and attentive audience at the Athenæum on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span>
the subject of temperance and the Maine law.
The subject is attracting great attention in
this state this fall, and great efforts are being
made to secure the passage of a prohibitory
law at the next session of the legislature. Party
lines are set aside and the frowns and threats
of party leaders entirely disregarded in many
sections. This is the only true course to be
pursued, and I rejoice to see the men thus
breaking away from party shackles and earnestly
contending for the right.</p>

<p>“Yesterday, the National Woman’s-Rights
Convention commenced its session. The attendance,
though respectable, was not large.
There are many here from abroad, and I should
judge the Northern states were well represented.
Mrs. F. D. Gage, our dear Aunt Fanny, is president.
I was prevented from attending the afternoon
session on account of having accepted
an invitation extended to me by the Temperance
Convention to repeat before that body
the address delivered on Monday evening at
the Athenæum. Gen. Gary, Dr. Jewitt, and
others of the great men were present. I was
rather disappointed in Dr. Jewitt; but I was
under the necessity of leaving before he finished
his speech, to meet another engagement.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span></p>

<p>“The attendance at the Woman’s-Rights
Convention at the Melodeon, in the evening,
was very large. Mrs. Garrison read several
resolutions submitted by the business committee.
I followed with an address of about
three-quarters of an hour on woman’s right of
franchise, after which Lucretia Mott occupied
a half-hour or more in her usual happy and
interesting style of speech.</p>

<p>“We next visited Mount Vernon, which is a
pleasant village of about 6,000 inhabitants, and
where I addressed the people on the Maine
law. There are four papers published here;
among them is the <em>Western Home Visitor</em>,
which is a reformatory paper of high character
and has a circulation of about four thousand
copies. Newart was our next stopping place.
It has a rather bad reputation for hard drinking,
but it has a division of the Sons of Temperance
which is doing good work. I judge there is a
considerable reform spirit here, also, from the
fact that the First Presbyterian church was
opened to me by the unanimous consent of the
trustees, that I might be heard on the Maine
law.</p>

<p>“We arrived in this city on Saturday, and
stopped at the Niel House where the attendance
is excellent. Just opposite is the magnificent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span>
state house in process of erection, which
when completed will be second in size and
grandeur only to the National Capitol at Washington.
I addressed a large audience on Saturday
evening on the Maine law, and this
evening I propose speaking again on intemperance
and the wrongs of woman. I had the
pleasure of a call from Mrs. Janney, secretary
of the Woman’s State-Temperance Society of
this state, from whom I learned that the society
is far less efficient than ours though it is slowly
gaining ground. The reason for this inefficiency
is doubtless the fact that its leaders are unwilling
to send out agents of their own sex to lecture
and gather funds to promote the cause.
To-morrow we leave here and travel westward.”</p>
</div>


<h3>CONTINUES HER JOURNEY.</h3>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer then passed on to Richmond,
Indianapolis, Detroit, Chicago, and Milwaukee.
Unfortunately, her own report of her visits to
these cities is lost and cannot be reproduced.
She remained one or two days in each of them,
and in each delivered one or two addresses,—certainly
two in Detroit, Chicago, and Milwaukee,
one on temperance and one on woman’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span>
enfranchisement in each city. In all she was
favored with large audiences and listened to
with the closest attention, and highly favorable
notices of her lectures appeared in the newspapers
of all the cities visited. With the exception
of Lucy Stone, who had previously
spoken in some of them, she was up to that
time the first woman who had been heard on
the platform in the large towns of the great
West.</p>

<p>But the journey, with all she did during its
continuance, was really beyond her strength
and she was very glad to return home the latter
part of the month and secure the rest she so
greatly needed. But she could not keep quiet,
and her pluck and perseverance enabled her to
go on with her work. The issues of the <em>Lily</em>
were resumed, and she was soon again in the
lecture field in reply to pressing invitations
from surrounding towns. Her last lecture, at
this time, in New York was delivered at the
courthouse in Ovid, in which beautiful town
some of the earlier years of her life had been
spent.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span></p>


<h3>AN ANNOUNCEMENT—A REMOVAL.</h3>

<p>The December number of the <em>Lily</em> contained
the following announcement:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Our husband having purchased an interest
in the <cite>Western Home Visitor</cite> published at
Mount Vernon, Ohio, and determined upon
moving to that place forthwith we, as a true
and faithful wife, are bound to say in the language
of Ruth ‘where thou goest, I will go’;
and so, before another number of the <em>Lily</em>
reaches its subscribers, we shall if all is well be
settled in our Western home.</p>

<p>“This announcement, we are well aware, will
be an unpleasant surprise to many of our readers
and friends in this state; yet we trust that
our change of location will not be deemed by
them sufficient cause for deserting us. We go
but a short distance to the west. The <em>Lily</em>
will continue to be published and its character
will be in no wise changed. ‘Uncle Sam’ will
carry it as safely and regularly to the homes of
our friends as he has done heretofore, and also
convey all letters and remittances to us as safely
and securely in Ohio as in New York. Then,
friends, we pray you let not our change of
location affect our intercourse with each other;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span>
but remember that, there as well as here, we
shall labor for the promotion of the great and
good cause to which we have devoted so many
years of our life. We look confidently to you
for that support and encouragement which you
have bestowed so liberally heretofore, and we
trust that your efforts in behalf of the <em>Lily</em> will
be increased rather than diminished.</p>

<p>“We feel that it matters little in what part
of the vineyard we are placed, so we but improve
and cultivate to the best of our ability
the part assigned us. And this feeling bears
us up under the heart-sorrow occasioned by the
sundering of the many ties that bind us to
home and friends in our native state. We bid
farewell to all with an aching heart.</p>

<p>“Yet our grief in parting with associations
so dear, is mingled with hope for the future.
We prefer to look on the bright side of every
picture, and to do what we can to render life’s
journey pleasant and happy rather than darken
and embitter it by mournings and grief. So
we will dash aside the tears, and school our
heart to bear with fortitude this the greatest
sorrow ever laid upon us; believing that it is
for our interest to take this step, though it be
so agonizing to part with those we love.</p>

<p>“We go to seek a home among strangers,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span>
not knowing what will be our reception, or
whether kindred spirits are there to gather
around and cheer our loneliness; but in this,
too, we have hope that we shall be met in the
same spirit of kindness which we bear with us.</p>

<p>“We have never been pleased with the appearance
of our paper in folio form, and so
have determined to change it back to a quarto;
and we shall hope, with the increased facilities
which we shall have for printing it at Mount
Vernon, that <em>The Lily</em> will present a more
respectable appearance than it has done the
past year.”</p>
</div>

<p>The removal of Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer from
Seneca Falls excited a good deal of interest,
as they had been many years residents of that
place and had taken an active part in the events
of village life. A public meeting was called
and largely attended by their friends and admirers,
at which speeches were made and a fine
supper served. A report of this gathering will
be given in full. The editor of the <cite>Courier</cite>,
Mr. Isaac Fuller, who had been intimately acquainted
with Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer for many
years, published the following article in his
paper:</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span></p>


<h3>A TESTIMONIAL.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“<em>The Lily.</em> This paper will hereafter be
published at Mount Vernon, Ohio, its editor
and proprietor having moved with her husband
to that place. Although we disapprove of some
of the measures advocated in the <em>Lily</em>, we part
with it and its worthy editor with sincere regret.
It is now five years since its publication
was commenced, and during the whole time
Mrs. Bloomer has had the entire direction of
it, both editorially and financially, displaying
talents and business qualifications possessed by
few of the gentler sex and which but few of
her friends were prepared to see her exhibit.
The ability and energy with which the <em>Lily</em> has
been conducted have attained for it a circulation
of over four thousand copies in different parts
of the Union, thus giving to our enterprising
village notoriety which it would not have otherwise
obtained. Our business engagements
with Mrs. Bloomer have been such as to give
us a knowledge of the facts above mentioned,
to which we add that she possesses in an eminent
degree, those social virtues which everywhere
command respect and which give value
to character in every position occupied by members
of refined society. We say this because<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span>
we know that strangers are wont to consider
the editor of the <em>Lily</em> a coarse, unrefined woman
possessing few or none of the traits which adorn
the female character, and as cherishing a disregard
of the duties devolving upon woman in
the domestic relations of society; whereas just
the reverse is the fact. We hope the <em>Lily</em> will
lose none of its vitality from being transplanted,
and may its amiable editor enjoy a long and
happy life!”<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p>
</div>


<h3>DEMONSTRATION OF RESPECT TO MR. AND MRS.
BLOOMER.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“D. C. Bloomer, Esq., having made known
his intention to remove from the village where
he has resided for sixteen years past, the numerous
friends of himself and wife assembled by
appointment at Union Hall, on Tuesday evening
last, for the purpose of publicly testifying
their respect for them. The proceeding originated
with the Good Templars, a temperance
order to which Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer belong,
but was participated in by citizens of all classes.
The assemblage composed about equally of
both sexes was very large, numbering we should
judge from 400 to 500 persons. Five tables<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span>
most bountifully spread and extending the
whole length of the hall were twice filled.
After the refreshments were disposed of C.
Salisbury, Esq., was called to the chair, and
speeches and toasts followed. Appropriate
and extended remarks were made by Gilbert
Wilcoxen, Esq., C. H. Reed, Esq., S. D. Tillman,
Esq., Rev. Mr. Fraly, and others. We
are not able to report what was said, but the
sentiments offered were highly complimentary
to Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer, both of whom responded
in a very handsome manner. The
following resolutions were presented and passed
by a hearty and unanimous ‘aye’:</p>

<p>“<em>Whereas</em> we have learned that our respected
friend and fellow-citizen, Dexter C. Bloomer,
and his wife, Mrs. Amelia Bloomer, are about
to remove from this village;</p>

<p>“And <em>whereas</em> they have, during the long
period they have resided among us not only sustained
the character of good citizens, but have
been known as efficient and active workers in
the cause of temperance; therefore,</p>

<p>“<em>Resolved</em> that we, the temperance men and
women of Seneca Falls here assembled on this
occasion, do tender to Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer
our warmest and most sincere acknowledgments
for their faithful and devoted service in promoting<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span>
the noble work of redeeming the world from
the evils of intemperance.</p>

<p>“<em>Resolved</em> that, as citizens of the village, we
also desire to tender to Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer
an expression of the high regard we entertain
for them, and to bear our willing testimony to
the general esteem and respect in which they
are held by their neighbors and associates
among whom they have so long resided.</p>

<p>“<em>Resolved</em> that, while we part with our friends
with sincere regret, our warmest wishes for
their future welfare will go with them to their
new home, and we shall always hear of their
prosperity with the greatest satisfaction.</p>

<p>“The serious part of the proceedings having
been gotten along with, music and dancing
were introduced and the festivities were prolonged
to a late hour, when the assembly dispersed
and all retired to their homes with a
consciousness of having discharged their duty
to valued friends who were about removing
from their midst.</p>

<p>“The whole of the proceedings passed off
most agreeably and pleasantly, and we regard
the affair as the very highest compliment that
could have been paid to those in whose honor
it was gotten up.”</p>
</div>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span></p>


<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote">

<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> From <cite>Seneca County Courier</cite>, Dec. 1853.</p>

</div>
</div>


<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">

<div class="chapter">
<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_SEVENTH">CHAPTER SEVENTH.</h2>
</div>


<h3>AN ASSISTANT EDITOR.</h3>

<p>On taking up her residence in Mount Vernon,
Mrs. Bloomer became assistant editor of
the <cite>Western Home Visitor</cite>, of which her husband
was editor and one of the proprietors. This
was a weekly family paper, having a large circulation
and printed in folio form on a large
sheet. It was devoted to educational progress
and all reformatory questions designed to advance
the interests of the community in which
it circulated. It advocated temperance and
sound morality, and its columns were filled
weekly with matter appropriate to be read in
the family circle. Its columns contained no
advertisements, and it depended for its support
solely on its patrons’ yearly subscriptions. We
give below Mrs. Bloomer’s salutatory, and also<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span>
her first additional article on assuming her
position as assistant editor:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“<em>Salutatory.</em> Following the custom set to
me by my husband, I make my editorial bow
to the readers of the <cite>Visitor</cite>. I suppose it is
not necessary for me to enter into any detailed
account of myself, as the papers have already
done that for me. Neither do I suppose it
necessary to make any statements in regard to
my sentiments and principles, as they are already
generally well known to the public.
What I have been in the past, I expect to be
in the future,—an uncompromising opponent
of wrong and oppression in every form, and a
sustainer of the right and the true, with whatever
subject it may be connected. I have no
promises to make, preferring to stand uncommitted
and at liberty to write as the spirit
moves me, or as the circumstances of the case
may require. Having a separate organ of my
own independent of any other paper or person
through which I can speak forth my sentiments
on the great reform questions of the day, freely
and independently, I probably shall not introduce
into the columns of the <cite>Visitor</cite> anything
particularly obnoxious on those subjects; yet I
may frequently come in contact with old prejudices<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span>
and bigoted notions, for it is impossible
for the free progressive spirit of the present day
to be bound by the opinion and prejudices of a
former age. I trust, however, that my readers
will bear with me and listen to me even though
they do not approve, and if I say anything
very bad, attribute it to my womanly folly or
ignorance. And, as it is but right that I should
bear whatever censure my doings may deserve,
I shall write over my own initials in all matters
of any moment. With this much for an introduction
I extend to you, readers of the <cite>Visitor</cite>
one and all, a cordial greeting, and wish you
not only a ‘Happy New-Year’ but that it may
prove happy and prosperous to you to its close.”</p>

<p>“<em>Woman’s Right to Employment.</em> To woman
equally with man has been given the right to
labor, the right to employment for both mind
and body; and such employment is as necessary
to her health and happiness, to her mental and
physical development, as to his. All women
need employment, active, useful employment;
and if they do not have it, they sink down into a
state of listlessness and insipidity and become
enfeebled in health and prematurely old simply
because denied this great want of their nature.
Nothing has tended more to the physical and
moral degradation of the race than the erroneous<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span>
and silly idea that woman is too weak, too
delicate a creature to have imposed upon her
the more active duties of life,—that it is not
respectable or praiseworthy for her to earn a
support or competence for herself.</p>

<p>“We see no reason why it should be considered
disreputable for a woman to be usefully
employed, while it is so highly respectable for
her brother; why it is so much more commendable
for her to be a drone, dependent on the
labors of others, than for her to make for herself
a name and fortune by her own energy and
enterprise. A great wrong is committed by
parents toward their daughters in this respect.
While their sons as they come to manhood are
given some kind of occupation that will afford
not only healthy exercise of the body and mind
but also the means of an honorable independence,
the daughters are kept at home in
inactivity and indolence, with no higher object
in life than to dress, dance, read novels, gossip,
flirt and ‘set their caps’ for husbands. How
well the majority of them are fitted to be the
companions and mothers of men, every day’s
history will tell.</p>

<p>“Certainly, our girls would be far better and
happier than now if they were educated and
encouraged to occupy their hands and minds<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span>
in some useful business occupation; and parents
do a great injustice to their daughters when
they doom them to a life of idleness or, what
is worse, to a life of frivolity and fashionable
dissipation.</p>

<p>“It was said by a distinguished clergyman
of one who had passed away from earth, ‘She
ate, she drank, she slept, she dressed, she danced
and she died.’ Such may be truly said to be
the history of many women of the present day.
They eat, they drink, they sleep, they dress,
they dance and at last die, without having accomplished
the great purposes of their creation.
Can woman be content with this aimless,
frivolous life? Is she satisfied to lead a mere
butterfly existence, to stifle and crush all aspirations
for a nobler destiny, to dwarf the intellect,
deform the body, sacrifice the health
and desecrate all the faculties which the
Almighty Father has given her and which He
requires her to put to good use and give an
account thereof to Him? While all other
created things both animal and vegetable perform
their allotted parts in the universe of
being, shall woman, a being created in God’s
own image, endowed with reason and intellect,
capable of the highest attainments and destined
to an immortal existence, alone be an<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span>
idler, a drone, and pervert the noble faculties
of her being from the great purposes for which
they were given?</p>

<p>“It will not always be thus; the public mind
is undergoing a rapid change in its opinion of
woman and is beginning to regard her sphere,
rights and duties in altogether a different light
from that in which she has been viewed in past
ages. Woman herself is doing much to rend
asunder the dark veil of error and prejudice
which has so long blinded the world in regard
to her true position; and we feel assured that,
when a more thorough education is given to
her and she is recognized as an intelligent
being capable of self-government, and in all
rights, responsibilities and duties man’s equal,
we shall have a generation of women who will
blush over the ignorance and folly of the present
day.</p>

<p class="right">
“A. B.”<br>
</p>
</div>

<p>And for six months thereafter, the <cite>Visitor</cite>
contained nearly every week one or more
articles from her pen. Some were on temperance,
some on woman’s “fads” and foibles of
that day. She aimed to sustain every good<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span>
word and deed and to rebuke vice in all its
forms.</p>

<p>Of course she did not escape criticism in
prosecuting her work. Especially, people at
that early day would not listen quietly to her
severe analysis of the laws bearing upon the
legal rights of women. They sometimes
denied her positions, and at other times doubted
the wisdom of the changes which she advocated.
Between her and the editor of another
paper published in the city, quite an extended
controversy arose which ran through several
numbers of their respective papers, Mrs.
Bloomer sustained her side of the debate with
numerous quotations from legal writers, and
she had the satisfaction of seeing her position
substantially admitted by her opponents.</p>


<h3>PROSPERITY OF THE <em>LILY</em>.</h3>

<p>But Mrs. Bloomer’s attention and time were
given chiefly to the <em>Lily</em>, the publication of
which in her new home was commenced on
the first of January. Printed in new type on
a steam press, it presented a very neat and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span>
handsome appearance. The people of the
state were greatly pleased with its removal to
their limits and new subscriptions came in
with surprising rapidity; its semi-monthly issue
soon reached over six thousand copies. Mrs.
Bloomer was greatly encouraged by these
signs of approval and renewed her exertions
and labors to make the <em>Lily</em> in all respects acceptable
to its many friends. She wrote from
one to three pages each week of original matter
for its pages, and was aided at the same time
by numerous correspondents. She continued
to write continuously in advocacy of temperance,
making that the leading object of her
work, but she also wrote for woman’s advancement
in all the fields of honest endeavor. She
asked for her plenty of work and good pay;
she insisted that to her should be opened every
educational institution; and she demanded for
her also the right of suffrage as her inalienable
right. Some extracts from her editorials will
follow.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span></p>


<h3>ENFRANCHISEMENT OF WOMAN.</h3>

<p>Replying to and commenting upon an article
on an alleged corruption in the state legislature,
Mrs. Bloomer wrote as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Where then shall the remedy for purifying
and healing the nation be found? We answer,
in the education and enfranchisement of woman!
Loose the chains that bind her to the condition
of a dependent, a slave to passion and the
caprices of men. Open for her the doors of
our colleges and universities and bid her enter.
Hold up before her a pattern for womanly greatness
and excellence, and bid her to occupy the
same high positions held by her brothers.
Teach her to aspire to that true knowledge
that should fit her to become the future mother
and teacher of statesmen and rulers. Resign to
her control the children committed to her care,
and bid her guard them from all temptation
and danger that threaten to assail them both
at home and abroad. Restore to her her
heaven-born right of self-government, and
give her a voice in making the laws which are
to govern for good or evil the actions and
sentiments of society at large. Let <em>her</em> say<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span>
whether the grogshop, the gaming house and
the brothel shall be suffered to open wide their
doors to entice her sons to ruin. Let her say
whether man shall have power to override
virtue and sobriety and send the minions of
evil into our halls of legislation to make laws
for the people. Let her say whether we shall
have a Maine Law, and whether such a law
shall be observed and enforced——Do this,
and we shall soon see a great change wrought
in society and in the character of our rulers!
Our only hope for the future of our country
lies in the elevation of woman physically,
mentally, socially and politically, and in the
triumph of the principles which lie at the
foundation of the so-called ‘Woman’s Rights’
reform.”</p>
</div>


<h3>WOMAN’S RIGHT.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Woman <em>has</em> a right to vote for civil officers,
to hold offices, and so rule over men. If any
law against it exists in the Bible, it has been
overruled by divine sanction. Deborah ruled
Israel forty years and, instead of being told
she was out of her sphere, that she had usurped
authority over men, we are assured that she
was highly approved and that she ruled wisely<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span>
and well. No one calls in question the right
of Queen Victoria to rule over her kingdom
notwithstanding there are some men in it; nor
do we believe, if she is a wise and faithful
sovereign, that she will be condemned at the
last great day for thus ruling over men.
What was right for Deborah was right for Queen
Victoria. If it is right for Victoria to sit on
the throne of England it is right for any
American Woman to occupy the Presidential
Chair at Washington. All that is needed is
votes enough to elevate her to that post of
honor and of trust and sufficient ability to discharge
its duties. Of the latter requisite, judging
from some of those who have already occupied
that seat, no great amount is demanded.”</p>


<h3>WOMAN’S CLAIM.</h3>

<p>“A correspondent asks what it is that we
and other advocates of woman’s rights want?</p>

<p>“We answer, we claim all the rights guaranteed
by the Constitution of the United States
to the citizens of the republic. We claim to
be one-half of the people of the United States,
and we deny the right of the other half to
disfranchise us.”</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span></p>


<h3>DESTROYING LIQUOR.</h3>

<p>“We hold in all honor the names of those
noble women of Mount Vernon who, a few
years ago, boldly entered the rumshop and
gambling house and poured out the liquors and
destroyed the implements wherewith their
husbands and brothers had been at once
robbed of their reason and their money, and
converted into dupes and madmen. And we
believe, if the same spirit now dwelt in the
hearts of all the women of this beautiful city,
that every rumshop would soon be closed, no
matter whether legislators or councilmen passed
ordinances or not. Woman has neither made
nor consented to laws which leave her, and her
children, at the mercy of heartless rumsellers
and she should never submit to them. She has
a right—nay, it is her duty—to arise in
her own defense and in the defense of the souls
entrusted to her keeping and insist that, either
with or without law, the destroyer shall be driven
from the land. And if men have not the courage
to boldly attack the foe, then let woman
meet him face to face and never retire from the
contest till she can do so as a victor. Horace
Mann tells that woman may with propriety go
into the dark lanes and alleys of our great<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span>
cities and endeavor to conquer men to virtue.
If it be proper for her to visit such haunts of
iniquity on such an errand, it would be far more
praiseworthy for her to apply her efforts to
remove the cause which produces vice and
crime.”</p>


<h3>GOLDEN RULES FOR WIVES.</h3>

<p>“Faugh, on such twaddle! ‘Golden rules
for wives’—‘duty of wives’—how sick we are
at the sight of such paragraphs! Why don’t
our wise editors give us now and then some
‘golden rules’ for husbands, by way of variety?
Why not tell us of the promises men make at
the altar, and of the injunction ‘Husbands, love
your wives as your own selves’? ‘Implicit
submission of a man to his wife is disgraceful
to both, but implicit obedience of the wife to
the will of the husband is what she promised
at the altar.’ So you say! What nonsense!
what absurdity! what downright injustice! A
disgrace for a man to yield to the wishes of his
wife, but an honor for a wife to yield implicit
obedience to the commands of her husband,
be he good or bad, just or unjust, a kind husband
or a tyrannical master! Oh! how much
of sorrow, of shame and unhappiness have such<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span>
teachings occasioned. Master and slave! Such
they make the relationship existing between
husband and wife; and oh, how fearfully has
woman been made to feel that he who promised
at the altar to love, cherish and protect her is
but a legalized master and tyrant! We deny
that it is any more her duty to make her husband’s
happiness her study than it is his business
to study her happiness. We deny that it
is woman’s duty to love and obey her husband,
unless he prove himself worthy of her love and
unless his requirements are just and reasonable.
Marriage is a union of two intelligent, immortal
beings in a life partnership, in which each
should study the pleasure and the happiness of
the other and they should mutually share the
joys and bear the burdens of life.”</p>


<h3>THE CLERGY.</h3>

<p>“It is too true that the majority of this class
of men stand aloof from the humanitarian
questions of the day, and exert their influence to
prejudice their people against them and to
prevent their hearing the truth; yet it is not
less true that there are among them many
warm-hearted, earnest and true men; and for
this reason the charges brought by reformers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span>
should be limited. We find that it is with
clergymen as with other people; there are some
very open and liberal, and others very conservative
and bigoted. Some would think it a
desecration to allow a woman to lecture in their
church, while others not only freely offer their
church for temperance, but also for woman’s-rights
lectures. Some think it an abomination
for women to speak in public on any subject,
while others wish that there were a hundred to
take the platform in behalf of temperance where
there is but one now. We have discussed
temperance and woman’s rights in numerous
churches and have had clergymen for our listeners.
While we would by no means excuse
those who so coldly and scornfully turn away
from the woman question and its discussion,
yet we feel unwilling to see the more liberal
classed with them and subjected to censure.
We know of no other course for reformers to
pursue, but to be sure they are right and then
‘go ahead’ without regard to the opposition of
the clergy or any other class of men.”</p>


<h3>MALE BLOOMERS.</h3>

<p>“Under this head, many of our brother
editors are aiming their wit and ridicule at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span>
those gentlemen who have donned the <em>shawl</em>
as a comfortable article of wearing apparel in
cold weather. There is a class of men who
seem to think it their especial business to superintend
the wardrobes of both men and women,
and if any dare to depart from their ideas of
propriety they forthwith launch out all sorts
of witticisms and hard names, and proclaim
their opinions, their likes and dislikes, with all
the importance of authorized dictators. As to
the shawl, it would be well if it could be banished
from use entirely, as it is an inconvenient
and injurious article of apparel, owing to its
requiring both hands to keep it on and thereby
tending to contract the chest and cause stooping
shoulders. But, if worn at all, men have
the same right to it that women have. If they
find it convenient that is enough, and no one
has a right to object to their wearing it because
women wear shawls. Indeed, we think the
shawl of right belongs to men as it answers so
well to the description of the garment prescribed
for them in Deut., xxii. 12: ‘Thou shalt
make thee fringes upon the four quarters of
thy vesture wherewith thou coverest thyself.’
True, men have departed from this injunction
in former years, and resigned to women the
dress prescribed for themselves and worn by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span>
their fathers in olden times. But that is no
reason why they should not resume it.”</p>
</div>


<h3>WOMEN MECHANICS.</h3>

<p>It having been stated that a woman in New
Jersey had made a carriage, Mrs. Bloomer comments
as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“This is told as though it were something
wonderful for women to have mechanical
genius when, in fact, there are thousands all
over the country who could make as good mechanics
and handle tools with as much skill and
dexterity as men, if they were only allowed to
manifest their skill and ingenuity. A girl’s
hands and head are formed very much like
those of a boy; and, if put to a trade at the
age when boys are usually apprenticed, our
word for it she will master her business quite
as soon as the boy at the same trade, be the
trade what it may. Women have taste and
ingenuity for something besides washing dishes
and sewing on buttons, and so people will
find out some day, hard as it is now to believe
it.”</p>
</div>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span></p>


<h3>WOMAN’S DRESS.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Our counsel to every woman is, wear what
pleases you best. Pursue a quiet and independent
course in the matter, turning neither
to the right nor the left to enquire who is pleased
or displeased; and, if others do not see fit to
keep you company by patterning their dress
after yours, you will at least be left in the
peaceable enjoyment of your own comfortable
attire, and real friends will value you according
to your worth, and not according to the length
of your train.”</p>
</div>


<h3>WOMEN DRUNKARDS.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Pity the law couldn’t be brought to bear
upon a few more respectable lady drunkards—and
respectable gentlemen drunkards, too—and
shut them in a dungeon till they could
learn in what real respectability consists! The
so-called ‘respectable ladies,’ the upper-ten
drunkards, are in our view decidedly vulgar,
and should be classed in public estimation with
the drunken occupant of the shanty or the frequenter
of the low drunkery. They are even
worse than these, for their influence is much
greater.”</p>
</div>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span></p>


<h3>PROGRESS.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“The signs of the times cheer on the honest
true-hearted laborers in this cause to greater
devotion in the work in which they are engaged.
They point to a triumph in the future, to the
coming of that brighter day when the mists of
ignorance and barbarism that have so long
rested upon the life and hopes of women will
be dispelled, and when justice and right will
bear sway. For be it remembered that these
things point, as unerringly as does the needle
to the pole, to the wider and fuller emancipation
yet in store for our sex, to the acknowledgment
of her civil as well as her social and
legal rights. And that this end will be achieved
we believe to be as certain as that time will
continue to roll on in its course and humanity
continue to struggle against selfishness, bigotry
and wrong in whatever form they may present
themselves.”</p>
</div>


<h3>SEWING MACHINES.</h3>

<p>The question having been asked Mrs.
Bloomer, What will women do now sewing
machines are coming into use? she replied as
follows:</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span></p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“It will be no strange thing to see, within
a few years, women merchants, women bookkeepers,
women shoemakers, women cabinetmakers,
women jewelers, women booksellers,
typesetters, editors, publishers, farmers, physicians,
preachers, lawyers. Already there are
some engaged in nearly or quite all these occupations
and professions; and, as men crowd
them out of their old places, the numbers will
increase. It is well that it is so. Woman has
long enough stitched her health and life away,
and it is merciful to her that sewing machines
have been invented to relieve her of her toilsome,
ill-paid labor, and to send her forth into
more active and more lucrative pursuits where
both body and mind may have the exercise
necessary to health and happiness. Men are
aiding to forward the woman’s-rights movement
by crowding women out of their old
places. Women will be the gainers by the
change, and we are glad to see them forced to
do what their false education and false delicacy
have prevented their doing in the past.”</p>
</div>


<h3>GOVERNOR SEYMOUR’S VETO.</h3>

<p>A Maine Law, having passed the New<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span>
York legislature, was vetoed by the governor;
on which Mrs. Bloomer commented as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“The news of this treacherous act on the
part of the governor was celebrated by the
liquor party with firing of cannon, bonfires and
illuminations, with shouts of rejoicing and
drunken revelry. The devils in hell must have
rejoiced, while the angels in heaven must have
wept, over the scene. And how was it in the
home of the drunkard? Ah, who can picture
the agony and despair, the wailing and agonizing
prayers that went forth from the hearts of
the poor stricken women who saw all their
hopes of deliverance thus dashed to the earth
and themselves and famishing babes consigned
to hopeless degradation and misery! While
those who are called their protectors, and those
who are heaping upon them every injury and
killing them inch by inch, are enjoying their
fiendish orgies, those poor sorrowing ones sit
desolate and heart-broken in their dreary
cellar and garret homes bowed with shame and
anguish. Would that the man who has
wrought all this sorrow and wretchedness
could be made to behold the work!”</p>
</div>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span></p>


<h3>FIGHTING HER WAY.</h3>

<p>Referring to a strike in a Philadelphia printing
office because two women had been employed
as typesetters, Mrs. Bloomer wrote:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Thus we see that woman has to fight her
way as it were at every step. Her right to
employment is denied, no matter how great
her wants, unless she find it in the limited
sphere prescribed to our sex by custom and
prejudice. Yet we rejoice that there are men
who are sufficiently liberal to open to her, here
and there, a wider field for her industry, and
who will see justice done her even though
themselves are for a time inconvenienced
thereby. Let not women be discouraged by
such hostile manifestations on the part of men,
but rather let them press forward until they
break down every barrier which is raised to
obstruct their advancement; and if they are
but true to themselves, they will come off
victorious and thenceforth find their way to
every lucrative employment clear before
them.”</p>
</div>


<h3>ON THE LECTURE PLATFORM.</h3>

<p>During Mrs. Bloomer’s year of residence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span>
in Ohio, she received a great many invitations
to deliver her lectures. Some of these
she accepted. The first one was at Zanesville;
and, although she stated in giving a report of
it that she had been told she would meet with
only a cold reception, yet she declared she had
never found warmer friends or was treated
with greater respect than at that place. “My
lecture was listened to by a very large and attentive
audience; indeed, all who came were
not able to get within the doors. Judging
from the expressions after the meeting, people
were well satisfied with the lecture on woman’s
rights. I was earnestly requested to lecture
again in the evening; but as I had made
an appointment in Columbus to-night, I was
under the necessity of declining.” And substantially
the same report might have been
made as to all lectures delivered in different
parts of the state. But she did not confine her
work on the platform to Ohio only. During
the summer she visited Indiana, also, and was
listened to by large meetings held in Richmond
and other towns.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span></p>

<p>Of some of her experiences in her lecture
tours, Mrs. Bloomer gave the following
report:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“At M. I lectured by Invitation before a
young men’s literary society. No price was
fixed upon in advance, and I expected but little;
but having been told that no lecturer,
unless it was Horace Mann who preceded me,
had drawn so large a house and put so much
money in the treasury, when they asked me how
much they should pay me I said, ‘You say I
have done as well for you, and even better
than did Horace Mann, pay me what you paid
him and it will be right.’ I think they were a
little surprised that a woman should ask as
much as a man; but seeing the justice of my
demand, they paid it without a word. At that
day lecturers were more poorly paid than since,
and for a woman to have the same pay for
the same work as a man was no doubt a new
idea to them. At Z. a gentleman invited me
and made all other arrangements. On my
arrival there he called on me and said that
some society, thinking that money would be
made by my lecture, were talking of seeing me
on my arrival and arranging with me for a certain
sum and they would take the balance.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span>
He advised me to have nothing to do with
them if they should propose it, as I could just
as well have the whole. Men were so accustomed
to getting the services of women for
little or nothing, that they seemed jealous
when one got anything like the money that
would cheerfully be paid to men for the same
service.”</p>
</div>


<h3>AT THE OHIO STATE CONVENTION.</h3>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer attended the meeting of the
Ohio Woman’s State-Temperance Society, held
at Columbus early in January, and took an
active part in its proceedings. She was elected
its corresponding secretary, and was a member
of the committee which proceeded to the State
Capitol and presented a petition to each branch
of the legislature then in session asking for the
enactment of stringent prohibitory laws. Not
being entirely satisfied with the regular report
of the committee on resolutions, she offered
a series on her own responsibility. These declared
in substance, that the redemption of our
race from the manifold evils of intemperance
is of greater importance than the triumph of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span>
any political party; that the question must go
to the ballot-box for final settlement; that, as
men regard women as weak and dependent
beings, women ask protection at their hands;
and that it should be their duty to make themselves
acquainted with woman’s sentiments on
this great question, and honestly carry them
out. In support of the resolutions, she said she
considered many of the temperance men really
responsible for the protracted rum interest.
They were so wedded to party that they heeded
not their duty to the welfare and morals of
society. In spite of all that had been done,
the cause lingers and the rumsellers and manufacturers
triumph. The temperance men are
to blame for not acting consistently or independently
for the cause. They will not act together
as for a paramount interest; they do not
strike the nail on the head. It is useless to
dally thus from year to year and not strike a
blow to tell upon the evil and the curse. The
resolutions, after discussion, were unanimously
adopted.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span></p>


<h3>A WOMAN TYPESETTER.</h3>

<p>Fully believing that she should carry out in
practice what she advocated in theory, Mrs.
Bloomer secured early in the spring the services
of Mrs. C. W. Lundy, of New York, as typesetter;
previously to coming to Mount Vernon,
she had had three months’ experience in the
work. The fact of her employment and coming
into the office was freely talked of in the
presence of the employees, all of whom were
men, and no word of dissent or disapproval, to
Mrs. Bloomer’s knowledge, was expressed. It
was agreed that her employee should receive
all necessary instructions from Mr. Higgins
himself, he being a practical printer, or from
the men engaged in the office. It was soon
seen that the men employed in typesetting,
and especially the foreman, looked with disfavor
on the movement and by various uncourteous
acts and remarks endeavored to
make the situation an unpleasant one.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span></p>


<h3>A STRIKE FOLLOWED.</h3>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer herself gave the following report
of this strike of the male typesetters.
After alluding to the employment of Mrs.
Lundy and her introduction into the printing
office of the <cite>Home Visitor</cite>, she proceeds:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Nothing, however, occurred of sufficient
magnitude for us to notice till the fourteenth
of last month. On that day, in the absence of
both Mr. Bloomer and Mr. Higgins, Mrs. Lundy
asked our opinion in relation to the proper
indention of a piece of poetry which she was
at work upon. As we are not a printer, we
could only give a guess at its correctness; so
we advised her to step into the other room and
ask one of the men about it. She did so, and
directly returned saying they refused to give
the desired information. We went directly in
and asked an explanation of their conduct;
when all hands, with the foreman of the office
as leader, avowed their determination not to
work in an office with or give instruction to
a <em>woman</em>. And, further, they said they had
drawn up a paper to that effect which had been
signed by all the printers in town. The foreman<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span>
also defied us to find a printer in Ohio
who would give instructions to a woman.</p>

<p>“This was placing us in a ‘fix,’ truly. We
must do one of two things: either break our
word with Mrs. L. and sacrifice our preferences
and principles, or else the place of these men
must be supplied by others who were more
gentlemanly and who did not despise the efforts
of woman to place herself in a position
where by her own talents and industry she
could earn for herself an honorable independence.
The question was at once decided in
our mind, and we knew well that in their decision
we should be sustained by the proprietors
of the <cite>Visitor</cite>. We took the first opportunity
to acquaint Mr. Higgins with the state
of affairs; and, on Mr. Bloomer’s return the
next day, we also informed him how things
stood. They then repaired to the <cite>Visitor</cite> office
and held a long conference with their workmen,
telling them it was not their intention to employ
women to set the type of the <cite>Visitor</cite>, but
that Mrs. L. would remain and work on the
<em>Lily</em>, and that they should expect of them that
they should give her all the instructions she
might need in her work. If they would do
this willingly and cheerfully, well; if not, they
might consider themselves discharged. They<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span>
would not yield to such an arbitrary rule on
the part of those in their employ. To this, the
printers replied that they were firm in their
resolutions and would not depart from them;
whereupon all hands took up their march out
of the office.</p>

<p>“This action on the part of the printers has
resulted in the employment of women to set
the type for the <cite>Visitor</cite>. Three women were
at once engaged for that purpose. A journeyman
was immediately procured from Columbus,
and other help has since been engaged; so that
the proprietors have been enabled to get out
their paper regularly, without acceding to the
unreasonable demands of the printers of Mount
Vernon.</p>

<p>“We have removed our <em>Lily</em> cases into the
<cite>Visitor</cite> office, and now the work on both papers
is done in the same room, four women and
three men working together peaceably and
harmoniously. It does our heart good to see
the happy change which has been wrought in
the office by the attempt to crush woman’s
efforts in her own behalf. The moral atmosphere
has been purified, and superciliousness
has given place to friendly and cheerful intercourse.”</p>
</div>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span></p>


<h3>LUCY STONE APPEARS.</h3>

<p>While Mrs. Bloomer’s troubles with her printers
were under way, Miss Lucy Stone visited
the city and gave an address on “Woman and
Her Employment.” Mrs. Bloomer says:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“This happened most fortunately in the
midst of the excitement about our difficulties
in our office, and her words were like soothing
oil on the troubled waters. It seemed as
though an overruling Providence had directed
her steps hitherward to allay the excitement
and to subdue the angry feelings, to plead the
cause of womanhood, to proclaim the eternal
principles of justice and right; and she was in
a great degree successful. We have heard no
word of dissatisfaction or disapproval, but on
the contrary all were highly pleased with her
remarks, and we trust those who heard her are
wiser and better for having listened to her.”</p>
</div>


<h3>A VISIT TO NEW YORK STATE.</h3>

<p>During the summer, Mrs. Bloomer visited
her former home at Seneca Falls, N. Y., where
she received a very warm welcome from her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span>
many co-workers and friends of former days.
Writing home to the <cite>Visitor</cite>, she says:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Seneca Falls! There is a charm in that
word, D——, that will ever arrest our attention
and awaken an interest whenever and wherever
we may see or hear it. So many years of our
lives have been spent here, and so intimate and
dear are many associations connected with the
place and the people, that they can never be
forgotten however attractive or absorbing may
be the future events and associations of life’s
journey. You will feel a thrill of pleasure, not
unmixed with sadness, when you know that I
am again on the spot thus endeared to memory,
and again surrounded by those with whom we
have long held social and business intercourse.
Would that you were with me here for a little
time, would that you could walk with me again
the streets so often trod by us, and note with
me the changes that a few months have
wrought! Would that you could see face to
face the friends of old, and receive the hearty
grasp of the hand which would meet you at
almost every step, and above all that you could
gaze with me upon our dear cottage home
which we took so much pleasure in improving
and beautifying and in which we found so much<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span>
real enjoyment! I can hardly realize that it is
not my home still, that I should not if I passed
within find everything as of old, and you to
welcome my return.—A. B.”</p>
</div>


<h3>AT THE NEW YORK STATE CONVENTION.</h3>

<p>While in New York, Mrs. Bloomer went to the
second annual meeting of the Woman’s State-Temperance
Society held at Utica on the 7th day
of June. It was largely attended, and was presided
over by Mrs. Mary C. Vaughan who made
an able and eloquent opening address. Great interest
prevailed among the temperance workers
in the state at that time, owing to the veto by
Gov. Seymour of a prohibitory liquor law which
had passed the legislature. Various resolutions
bearing upon this subject, and upon the
reasons assigned by the governor for his action,
were offered and discussed. One resolution,
aimed at the use of tobacco as a fruitful cause
of drunkenness and of injury to the boys and
young men of the country, was also offered;
on this, Mrs. Bloomer took the floor and
spoke as follows:</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span></p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“She said the resolution under consideration
seemed to her one of great importance. The
tendency to this vice in the young boys of the
day cannot escape the attention of any observing
mind; if one may believe the statements of
some of the best physicians of the country in
relation to the use of tobacco, it is a fruitful
source of disease and crime. That it creates a
thirst, is admitted by those who use it; and
that thousands are led to quench that thirst in
the intoxicating bowl, is a truth that cannot be
denied. One of these poisons seems to imply
and call for the other. Tobacco comes first in
order, alcohol follows.</p>

<p>“In view of these facts, what must we anticipate
from the boys of our country who
have so early become addicted to the use of
the weed? Is there not fear that their future
career will be an inglorious one, and that they
will be led to slake the unnatural thirst which
tobacco has occasioned in the cup? Does not
this thought call loudly to the parents to look
well to the habits of their sons, to fathers to
set them an example of virtue and sobriety by
themselves abstaining from the use of the filthy
weed, and to both fathers and mothers by
their wise commands and counsels to lead<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span>
them to hate and shun the vice as they would
that of its twin brother, drunkenness?</p>

<p>“It is a mournful truth that too many parents
regard the tendency to evil on the part of
their sons with indifference, as an innocent
harmless habit. They seem to think it a matter
of course that they should grow up filthy
tobacco chewers and smokers; and hence we
see little fellows who have hardly escaped from
their frocks smoking the cigar or long pipe in
perfect imitation of their elders, and this, too,
without reproach or warning from those who
should teach them better. The practice if followed
will prove ruinous to health, if no more
terrible results follow. Parents should take
this into consideration and act accordingly, as
they value the future happiness of their children.”</p>
</div>

<p>Of this New York Convention, Mrs. Bloomer
on returning home wrote for the <em>Lily</em> as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“The meeting passed off most happily and
we trust it will be productive of great good to
the cause. The officers and agents of the
society, with one or two exceptions, were present.
The report of the executive committee
and the treasurer show the society to be in as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span>
prosperous a condition, if not even more prosperous
than at its annual meeting one year ago.
A determination was manifested on the part of
all to go forward in the work so long as their
efforts were needed. Five or six agents have
been in the field during the year, and their collections
have amounted to nearly two thousand
dollars. This money has been expended for
the good of the cause. One of the agents told
us that she had lectured one hundred and fourteen
times since last October. This shows an
amount of labor expended in the cause equal to,
if not exceeding, that given by any man in the
state. Altogether, the convention was highly
interesting and pleasant and it afforded us
much pleasure to be present at its meetings.”</p>
</div>


<h3>GOOD TEMPLARS IN OHIO.</h3>

<p>During the year the temperance order of
Good Templars was introduced into the state
and its lodges established in several of its cities
and villages, so that towards the close of the
year a state grand-lodge was organized at
Alliance. The first lodge was instituted at
Conneat, and the second at Mount Vernon.</p>

<p>This latter lodge was called Star of Hope<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span>
lodge, and soon numbered among its members
many of the leading Temperance men and
women of the city. Mrs. Bloomer, for reasons
already given, took great interest in the spread
of this order. For that purpose she visited different
parts of the state, and also several towns
in Indiana, in some of which she instituted
lodges, special authority having been given her
for that purpose. She also occupied a prominent
position in her home lodge, and had the
pleasure as presiding officer of assisting to initiate
into its mysteries Hon. William Windom,
afterwards Secretary of the Treasury, and Hon.
William F. Sapp, both of whom were residents
of Mount Vernon, together with other prominent
citizens. It cannot be doubted that the
institution of this lodge, together with Mrs.
Bloomer’s labors in the cause, had a controlling
influence in the temperance work in Mount
Vernon during the year 1854.</p>

<p>On leaving Mount Vernon, in December,
Mrs. Bloomer published the following card:</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span></p><div class="blockquot">

<p>“Star of Hope lodge in this city continues
to prosper. Its members now exceed 150 and
are constantly increasing. Its weekly meetings,
which are very fully attended, are deeply interesting
and we hope are productive of great
good to the cause. Our association with the
members of this lodge has been pleasant and
agreeable, and we shall part with them with
real regret. Our wish and prayer is that Star
of Hope lodge may long continue to hold its
weekly meetings, and that its members may
never falter in unwavering fidelity to their
pledges. When far away we shall often refer
to hours spent in their lodge-room during the
last year as among the pleasantest passed in
Mount Vernon.”</p>
</div>


<h3>THE <em>LILY</em> SOLD.</h3>

<p>But another change now came to Mrs.
Bloomer. Her husband in July had sold out
his interest in the <cite>Western Home Visitor</cite> to his
partner, Mr. E. A. Higgins, and both his connection
and that of Mrs. Bloomer with the
<cite>Visitor</cite> then ceased, except that the former
continued to aid Mr. Higgins for a few months
in its editorial management. This, of course,
made no change in the publication of the <em>Lily</em>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span>
In September, Mr. Bloomer made an extensive
tour in the West proceeding as far as western
Iowa and Nebraska. After looking the ground
carefully over, he determined to locate at
Council Bluffs, on the Missouri River, in Iowa,
and made purchases of property at that place.
In relation to this change of residence and the
disposition of the <em>Lily</em>, Mrs. Bloomer in reply to
a statement that her paper had died of “fun
poked at it” wrote in 1890 as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“My husband after leaving the <cite>Visitor</cite> determined
on locating in this far-away city
(Council Bluffs), then three hundred miles beyond
a railroad. There were no facilities for
printing and mailing a paper with so large a
circulation as mine, except a hand press and a
stagecoach, and so it seemed best for me to
part with the <em>Lily</em>. Finding a purchaser in
Mrs. Mary A. Birdsall, of Richmond, Indiana,
I disposed of the paper to her and it was removed
to that city. Mrs. Birdsall published it
for two or three years and then suffered it to
go down, from what cause I never knew. But
this much is true, it did not die of ‘fun poked
at it.’ It had long outlived fun and ridicule<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span>
and was highly respected and appreciated by
its thousands of readers. It had done its work,
it had scattered seed that had sprung up and
borne fruit a thousandfold. Its work can never
die. You say rightly that the <em>Lily</em> was the
pioneer journal in the Northwest for woman’s
enfranchisement. Other journals have taken
its place, and the movement has gone steadily
forward and nears its final triumph.”</p>
</div>

<p>The above was written about 1890.</p>


<h3>SHE IS SORRY.</h3>

<p>In announcing the change in her residence
and the transfer of the <em>Lily</em> to Mrs. Birdsall, at
Richmond, Ind., Mrs. Bloomer wrote among
other matters connected with the change as
follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“We have deeply cherished <em>The Lily</em>, and
we have been greatly cheered by the daily
evidence we have had of the good it was doing.
This has encouraged us to go forward even
when we were nearly fainting under our self-imposed
task, and did circumstances favor it
we should probably labor on, weary as we have
sometimes felt and great as has often been the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span>
effort necessary to the discharge of duty. But
the <em>Lily</em>, being as we conceive of secondary
importance, must not stand in the way of what
we believe our interest. Home and husband
being dearer to us than all beside, we cannot
hesitate to sacrifice all for them; and so we
cheerfully resign our pet to the care of its
foster-mother, feeling well assured that our
readers will lose nothing by the change,
if they will only put forth their hands to
strengthen her in her undertaking.</p>

<p>“As will be seen by the prospectus, we do
not entirely sunder our connection with the
<em>Lily</em>, but only throw off its greater burdens.
As Corresponding Editor, we shall hold frequent
chats with our old friends and readers
provided they will listen to us and welcome it
to their homes as of old. We have no idea of
retiring into obscurity, but shall keep the public
posted as to our whereabouts, and tell them of
the events occurring in our far-distant home
amid the Bluffs of the Missouri.”</p>
</div>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">

<div class="chapter">
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span></p>

<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_EIGHTH">CHAPTER EIGHTH.</h2>
</div>


<p>Mrs. Bloomer gave up her residence in
Mount Vernon with sincere regret, but with
the earnest hope that it would bring a much-needed
rest and improved health. She had
mingled freely among the people, and many
social courtesies had been extended to her.
She had worked faithfully in the temperance
cause, through the medium of the Good Templars
and in other ways, and enjoyed greatly
the fact that the sale of intoxicating drinks had
been almost entirely suppressed in the town.</p>


<h3>ON HER TRAVELS.</h3>

<p>On leaving Mount Vernon she proceeded to
Richmond, Indiana, where she transferred the
<em>Lily</em> and all belonging to it, type, cases, subscription
books and lists, to Mrs. Mary Birdsall,
the new editor and proprietor. She spent
several days there very pleasantly visiting,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span>
among others, the family of Mr. James S. Starr,
a resident of Richmond. On its becoming
known that Mrs. Bloomer was in the town, an
invitation was soon extended to her to deliver
her lecture on woman’s wrongs and rights.
This she accepted, and was greeted with a large
audience. She gave to Mrs. Birdsall all information
in her power relative to the new
work she had taken upon herself in assuming the
publication of the <em>Lily</em>, and promised to write
frequently for its columns, a promise which she
faithfully discharged so long as the paper continued
to be published; but of these productions
it is now impossible to obtain a copy—at
least the writer hereof has found it so.</p>

<p>The two or three months following were
spent in travel and in visiting relatives and
friends. She first journeyed to Indianapolis,
reaching there on the first day of January, 1855.
The city was resonant with the sounds of rejoicing
on the advent of the New Year and
firecrackers and toy pistols were ablaze on all
the streets. On the following evening, she
delivered her lecture on woman’s rights in one<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</span>
of the principal public halls of the city to a
large audience. Leaving the next day, she
passed on to Cincinnati, viewing on the way
the point on the Ohio River known as North
Bend from which General Harrison had been
taken to assume the responsible duties of the
presidential office, which he was able to meet
only for a single month. In Cincinnati she
delivered but one lecture, having been taken
dangerously ill and being in consequence confined
to the hotel for several days. With the
first signs of returning strength, she left for the
home of a relative in central Ohio where she
remained until her health was partially restored.
She was then able to accept invitations to lecture
in surrounding towns; among those she
visited, was West Jefferson where she met Mrs.
Mary Swan and her son, Mr. A. B. Walker,
who subsequently became respected and useful
residents of Council Bluffs and renewed their
acquaintance with Mrs. Bloomer. Leaving
Ohio towards the end of the month, she spent
the remainder of the winter with relatives in
her old home in New York.</p>

<figure class="figcenter illowp52" id="png_201" style="max-width: 43.5em;">
  <img class="w100" src="images/png_201.jpg" alt="Amelia Bloomer picture">
</figure>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</span></p>

<p>Brothers and sisters both of herself and of her
husband were then living, and all were in the
prime of life. The journey was made by rail
from Cleveland to near the head of Seneca
Lake, where some days were passed. Then
down the lake to Geneva, at which place and
at Buffalo, Canandaigua, Waterloo, and Seneca
Falls their relatives mostly resided. Mrs.
Bloomer delivered one or more of her lectures
during the winter; but this was a season of rest
for her, and one she greatly needed. Her long
years of work on the <em>Lily</em> had ended, although
she still continued to write monthly communications
for its columns. The little village of
Aurora, the place of her husband’s nativity,
was also one of her stopping places. Near it
was a Friends’ or Quaker neighborhood, and
her sojourn was with some of these kind-hearted
people. One of them was Humphrey Howland,
a venerable man and an old resident. With
these kind hosts Mrs. Bloomer attended a fifth-day
morning meeting in their plain frame meeting
house, and had an opportunity of witnessing
their peculiar customs and their mode of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</span>
religious service. The building was of the
plainest kind and wholly devoid of paint. The
people sat on wooden benches, in profound
silence, the women on one side, the men on the
other with their hats on. After the stillness
had lasted nearly half-an-hour a comparatively
young woman arose, and after laying aside her
bonnet proceeded to deliver a most earnest
exhortation to all present to live holy lives.
And so Mrs. Bloomer on that day listened to a
woman preacher. Then ensued a season of
quiet thinking; after which all arose to their
feet, handshaking followed all round, and the
good people departed to their homes. By special
invitation, Mrs. Bloomer delivered one of
her lectures in the village. And so the winter
passed among relatives and friends rapidly and
pleasantly away, and the time drew near when
she must leave for her new home in the far
distant west.</p>

<p>This had been purchased by her husband
while on a visit to Council Bluffs, in the state
of Iowa, the previous autumn. It was in those
days a long journey to undertake, especially as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</span>
a large portion of it must be made either in
stagecoach or by steamboat, and was therefore
looked forward to with a great deal of interest.</p>


<h3>STARTS FOR IOWA.</h3>

<p>Finally making her adieu to her parents, to
brother, sisters and relatives, she started westward
about the 20th of March. A few days
were spent with Mr. C. A. Bloomer, a brother
of her husband, at Little Rock near Buffalo,
and several more in the family of Mr. F. V.
Chamberlain, in Chicago. That city was just
then beginning to put on metropolitan airs
and had a population of 40,000 or 50,000.
Here Mrs. Bloomer bade good-bye to a niece
who had accompanied her thus far, and who
took the cars to meet a brother in the central
part of the state. Leaving Chicago, the travelers
proceeded by railroad to Alton. The
country on either side of the road exhibited the
vast prairies of the state in an almost unbroken
condition for a great part of the way, and it is
recollected that from the car windows deer
and other game were frequently seen running<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</span>
at large. Springfield, the state capital, was
then only a small village. The railroad terminated
at Alton, and from thence the passage
was by steamboat to St. Louis. At that city,
then just beginning to loom up in importance
among the great western towns, the halt was
first at a hotel; but a call having been made at
the hospitable home of Mrs. Frances D. Gage,
her house thereafter became the home of the
travelers until they embarked on a steamer on
the Missouri River for their destination.</p>

<p>We now give Mrs. Bloomer’s reminiscences,
written some years later by herself:</p>


<h3>“EARLY DAYS IN THE WEST.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“In compliance with the wishes of my old-settler
friends, I have called to remembrance
and jotted down some of the events connected
with the early years of my residence in this
western land. I fear they will not prove as interesting
to my readers as they were to me at
the time of their occurrence and are now as I
recall them after a lapse of thirty-eight years.</p>

<p>“One beautiful spring day in the middle of
April, 1855, I first set foot on Iowa soil in our<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</span>
neighboring city of Glenwood. We came from
our New York home to settle in Council Bluffs.
The only public conveyance at that time to
this section of the country was the stagecoach
across the state from Davenport and the
Missouri-river steamer hailing from St. Louis.
Preferring the steamer we went to St. Louis to
embark for our destination, but learned on
reaching there that owing to low water no boat
had yet been able to come as far as this city,
St. Joseph having been the farthest point
reached.</p>
</div>


<h3>“DELAYED IN ST. LOUIS.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Encouraged with the hope that by tarrying
in St. Louis a week we could come all the
way through by steamer we restrained our impatience
and spent a week very pleasantly with
our old-time friend, Frances D. Gage. She was
a noted writer and lecturer of that day, but has
since laid down the burden of life and gone to
her reward.</p>

<p>“During our stay in St. Louis Mrs. Gage
and I together held a woman’s-suffrage meeting
in the library hall of that city, which was
largely attended and well received by press and
people. At the end of a week as there was yet<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</span>
no prospect of a rise in the river we took a
packet and came on to St. Joseph. Here we
had to wait two days for the stage, which only
made tri-weekly trips to Council Bluffs and
had left the very morning of our coming to the
Missouri town, some hours before we arrived.
The hotel at which we were obliged to stop
was a very ordinary affair, as was common to
western towns at that early day. The waiting
was long and tedious. We could not even
walk about and view the city because of a high
wind that prevailed and sent the dust in clouds
into our faces.</p>
</div>


<h3>“THE MISSOURI RIVER’S RAVAGES.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Here we first saw the devastations the Missouri
River was making in eating its way up
into the city and undermining great brick buildings
and swallowing them up in its waters.
The second day of our arrival it got out that we
were at the hotel, and all unknown to us some
progressive or curious ones went about and
obtained numerous signatures to a paper requesting
me to give them a lecture. The first
intimation I had of this was after supper, when
I was summoned to the parlor to meet two
gentlemen who, after introducing themselves,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</span>
made known the object of their call and presented
me with the paper largely signed by the
citizens begging me to give them a woman’s-rights
lecture before leaving the place. Thanking
the gentlemen for their kindness, I informed
them of my intended departure in a few hours
and that it would be impossible to comply with
the request. They replied they were aware of
my going and for that reason they wanted the
lecture that very evening. There would be
time before the stage left at ten o’clock in the
evening. ‘This evening, gentlemen!’ said I;
‘how can that be when there has been no
notice given?’ One of them looked at his
watch and said: ‘It is a little after seven
o’clock. We will give you a good house in an
hour if you will consent to speak, the lecture
to commence at eight o’clock.’</p>
</div>


<h3>“CONSENTS TO DELIVER A LECTURE.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Being so urged I reluctantly consented,
though with many misgivings, for I could not
understand how an audience could be collected
in an hour. I had never yet refused to proclaim
the new doctrine of woman’s rights when
I found people anxious to hear and opportunity
offered and I could not go back upon it
now.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</span></p>

<p>“My consent obtained the gentlemen left,
while I hastened to my room to make known
to my husband the extra effort I was to make
in the few hours intervening before we started on
our homeward journey. And it was an extra
effort, for my trunk was packed and strapped
and must be opened, for I was not willing to go
upon the platform in my traveling dress. I,
who had ‘turned the world upside down’ by
preaching a new gospel and was being sorely
criticised therefor, must make as good an impression
as possible with my clothes at least.
Immediately after I reached my room we were
startled by hearing a great outcry and ringing
of bells on the street. Rushing to the window
we soon learned the cause. Passing along the
sidewalk under our window was a large black
man ringing a dinner bell.</p>
</div>


<h3>“ODD METHOD OF ADVERTISING.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Every other minute the bell would stop and
then come forth the stentorian cry: ‘Mrs.
Bloomer will lecture at the courthouse at eight
o’clock.’ Then the bell again, and again the cry,
and the same cry and ringing of bells
off on the other streets, till the town was alive
with noise. We were greatly amused over this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</span>
novel western way of giving a notice and calling
a crowd together, and we realized then
how fully a notice could be given in the time
fixed.</p>

<p>“My preparations were delayed somewhat
over this new use to which slaves could be put,
for it was in slavery days and the bell-ringers
were slaves. However, we were at the courthouse
on time, and sure enough the place was
filled with an eager and curious crowd that had
come to see and listen to that strange woman
whose name and doings had startled the world
from its old-time peace and sobriety. It was
the first time one of the ‘women agitators’ had
come so far as St. Joseph, and it was not
strange that an anxious audience awaited me.</p>
</div>


<h3>“OFF IN A STAGECOACH.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Returning to the hotel after the lecture, I
hardly had time to remove my hat when I was
again summoned to the parlor, there to meet
the gentlemen who had called on me a few
hours before. They had come to ask for another
lecture, and on my declining urged that
if necessary Mr. Bloomer could go on to Council
Bluffs by himself and I follow a day or two
later. They had heard enough to whet their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</span>
appetite for more and were very anxious to
hear me again. But I was firm in denying their
request. I had given them one lecture with
considerable inconvenience to myself. I was
far from well, was anxious to reach the end of
my journey, and could not think of traveling
by myself on a stagecoach through a strange land
and would not be persuaded to tarry with them
longer. At two o’clock on a rainy morning,
feeling tired and sick and suffering from a severe
cold and want of sleep and rest, we bade adieu
to St. Joseph and took the stage for Council
Bluffs.</p>

<p>“The coach was filled with passengers, but
no women were aboard but myself. There
were several young men bound for the newly
organized territory of Nebraska, and the famous
Kit Carson returning to his home in Nebraska.
Having heard much of him we eyed
him with a good deal of interest and curiosity,
but saw nothing remarkable about him except
his clothes, which were of buckskin, fringed
around the bottom, wrists and collar, a style
entirely new to me. One of the young men had
come from the far east, Massachusetts, I think,
going to Nebraska to seek his fortune. He had
run out of money and found himself without
means in a land of strangers.</p>
</div>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</span></p>


<h3>“BEFRIENDS A STRANGER.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“At one of the stations where they changed
horses, he approached Mr. Bloomer and asked
for a loan, offering his watch as security.
Though an entire stranger Mr. Bloomer concluded
to befriend him, so gave him the money
he asked and took his watch. But when the
time came for him to leave us and cross into
Nebraska, Mr. Bloomer gave him back his
watch. He felt that he could trust him and
that he would need his watch. It was not a
misplaced confidence, for in due time the money
was returned. All of the passengers left us
before we reached Glenwood at some point below
to cross a ferry into Nebraska, and from there
on to Council Bluffs we were the only passengers.
It was a real relief to have the coach to ourselves,
after riding two days and a night crowded
in with six or eight men, and we saw them
leave without regret.</p>
</div>


<h3>“ARRIVES AT GLENWOOD.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“On the afternoon of April 15, 1855, we
reached Glenwood; and here, while our driver
tarried to change horses, we left the coach and
took a survey of our surroundings. The place<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</span>
was small, the hotel uninviting, but the country
beautiful. Being tired with our long cooped-up
ride, we strolled on in advance of the stage
and soon reached a lovely grove. Here we sat
down upon a log to enjoy the scenery and eat
a light lunch from our basket. The stage soon
came along, and we took our seats inside feeling
refreshed by our walk and rejoicing that we
were nearing the end of our 1,500-mile journey.</p>
</div>


<h3>“EARLY HARDSHIPS.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“At about five o’clock the second day out
from St. Joseph we drew up in front of the
Pacific Hotel in this city, which was then <em>the</em>
hotel of Council Bluffs and comprised about
half of what has since been known as the Inman
House. Here we remained two weeks
hoping in vain that a rise in the river would
float a boat bringing our household goods up
from St. Louis; but finally went to housekeeping
with a few things kindly lent us by a friend
in a home purchased some months before and
in which, with some additions, we have continued
to reside for thirty-eight years. We
had brought with us from our eastern home a
trunk full of choice shrubbery and fruit grafts.
It was necessary that these should be planted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</span>
and cared for; so we went into our home under
these discouraging conditions, and only
planted out our shrubbery to see it sicken
and die under the burning sun for want of
water.</p>
</div>


<h3>“SUFFER FROM DROUTH.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“For weeks there was no rain and no water
in the well to give the thirsty plants, which
had beautifully sprouted in the trunk, and so
we lost them all. One morning a great mystery
came to us. We had set out a patch
about twelve feet square with apple grafts.
These were budded and growing about two
feet high, when all at once we discovered that
every one had been cut off near the ground
with a sloping, smooth cut as with a sharp
knife. We could come to but one conclusion,
and that was that some one envying us the
trees had taken off half of them, thinking to
root the tops. But why did they not pull them
up and take the whole? was our query. It
was to us ‘a nine days’ wonder,’ but was finally
solved by our learning that rabbits had been
the thieves and had cut them off so smoothly
with their teeth.</p>
</div>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</span></p>


<h3>“FURNITURE WAS SCARCE.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Our first housekeeping in Council Bluffs
was in two rooms with bare floors and bare
walls. The furniture consisted of two old
wooden chairs, an old table, a bed made on
the floor, and three trunks. The bedstead lent
us with the bed went together with screws, but
as the screws could not be found the bedstead
was useless and the bed had to lie on the floor.
To these borrowed things, we added an old-fashioned
cook stove that we were so fortunate
as to find here and a few common dishes.
Here, with these surroundings, I received my
first calls and made my first acquaintances. If
more than two happened to call at the same
time the two chairs were utilized as far as they
would go and I and the others sat on the trunks.
It was sometimes unpleasant and a little mortifying,
but I made the best of it, knowing it
would not always last.</p>
</div>


<h3>“DAYS OF HOSPITALITY.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“And really I don’t know as my furniture
and surroundings made one bit of difference in
my welcome to Council Bluffs society. I afterwards
learned that many others were little<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</span>
better off, and that there were no furniture and
carpet stores in the city. Nevertheless, I was
more than glad when word was brought us, on
the morning of July 4th, that a steamer had
arrived with our household goods. I was glad
to get carpets down and my rooms made more
comfortable, for our own sakes. On that
Fourth of July the citizens were so patriotic as
to have a celebration. The oration was delivered
in ‘Hang Hollow,’ so called because an
emigrant murderer had been hung there, but
by later citizens named Glendale. We attended
this celebration and had pointed out to us the
tree from a limb of which the man was hung.
The reader and orator for the day I do not
remember.</p>
</div>


<h3>“EARLY OMAHA.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Having joined the people of Council Bluffs
in celebrating in the forenoon of this Fourth
of July, 1855, we took a carriage and drove
over to Omaha about noon, crossing the Missouri
on a ferry-boat. This being the first Independence
Day in Nebraska since it had become
a territory, the people of Omaha showed
their patriotism in common with the rest of
the country by celebrating. It was the first
time, too, that I had stepped foot on Nebraska<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</span>
soil, so the day possessed more than usual
interest. We found that an oration had been
delivered by Secretary Cuming, then acting
governor. This had been followed by the
usual reading of the Declaration of Independence.
The exercises were over when we reached
the Douglass House, then the only hotel in
Omaha. Across the road from this place a
speaker’s stand had been erected. A dinner
table was placed on the east side of the house
and covered with boughs cut from trees for
shade. Liquor flowed freely.</p>

<p>“Council Bluffs was then a city of 2,000 or
3,000 inhabitants. The buildings were mostly
of logs. There were no sidewalks. The streets
were not opened, beaten paths through fields
of sunflowers answering for thoroughfares in
many places. The place was well supplied
with hotels. Besides the Pacific House there
was the City Hotel, a little low log building on
the corner of Broadway and Glen Avenue, kept
by Mrs. Dunn; and farther up on Broadway,
where the blue barn now stands, the Robinson
House kept by G. A. Robinson. This was also
an old log building covered with cottonwood
boards on the outside and lined with muslin
tacked to the logs on the inside.</p>
</div>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</span></p>


<h3>“PLASTERED HOUSES WERE SCARCE.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“I think there were but two or three plastered
houses in the city at that time, and no
greater number built of lumber. Nearly all
were of logs covered outside on the front with
cottonwood boards and on the inside, both
walls and ceiling, with unbleached muslin sewed
together and nailed on.</p>

<p>“Bancroft Street, now Fourth, where we
had made our home, was open but a little way
from Willow Avenue, the bright bluffs extending
across to Main Street. Besides our house,
which was newly built, the frame house adjoining
and a log house just below were all the
street contained, and from Bancroft to the
river there was not a house to obstruct our
view. Bluff Street was not opened, and no
house of any description was built upon it. It
was only a high bluff, which extended down
across Bancroft Street to Main Street. Turley’s
Glen was the only opening, being a resort for
the Indians, who frequently pitched their tents
and camped there for days together. The little
valley between the bluffs contained Broadway,
the only street. No good buildings were on it
except a few log structures.</p>
</div>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</span></p>


<h3>“WORSHIPPED IN LOG CHURCHES.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Of churches I think there were but two.
The Methodists had a small frame building on
the side of the hill in rear of where the Ogden
House now stands. The Rev. Mr. Shinn was
the pastor. The Congregationalists worshipped
in a log building on Broadway, west of Atkins’
drugstore. The Rev. George Rice owned this
property at that time. He lived with his family
in one log house, and held services in the one
adjoining. This latter was fitted up for a
church with a row of seats around the wall made
of slabs with the flat side turned up and sticks
put up through the holes bored in the floor for
legs. The pulpit was a dry-goods box turned up
on end with the open side next the preacher.
The congregation was not large and was made
up of people from several denominations, many
of whom were new arrivals in the city.</p>
</div>


<h3>“EARLY CHURCH WORK.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“One morning soon after we were settled in
our new home, I had a call from the Rev. Mr.
Rice, of the Congregational church, inviting me
to attend a meeting of the sewing society at his
house in the afternoon. I went and found there<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</span>
about half-a-dozen ladles. This was the annual
meeting, and officers were to be elected for the
ensuing year. This church had commenced the
erection of a new edifice on a lot donated by
S. S. Bayliss, on Main and Pearl Streets, opposite
the park. It was of brick and the walls
already up, but they had no money to go further.
The object of the ladies was to raise
money for flooring and seating the new church,
and they evidently wanted to infuse new spirit
and aid into their society. I was consequently
chosen their president, and Mrs. Sophia Douglass
who was also a newcomer was elected first
director—thus putting their affairs into the
hands of two Episcopalians. Inasmuch as
there was no church of our own here and we
were attendants upon the Rev. Mr. Rice’s
instructions, we took hold of the work with a
will and the following winter carried through a
very successful fair by which we raised money
enough to put the new church in shape.</p>
</div>


<h3>“DEFENDS WOMAN’S RIGHTS.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Thanksgiving evening, 1855, by invitation
of the Rev. Mr. Rice, I gave a temperance lecture
from the pulpit of the new church and a
little later, about the last of November, one on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</span>
‘Woman’s Enfranchisement’ at the Methodist
church, by invitation of the Men’s Literary and
Debating Society; and again, by invitation of
the same society and the Rev. Mr. Rice, Jan.
18, 1856, I spoke on ‘Female Education’ at
the Congregational church. During the following
years I gave several lectures on some phase
of the woman question.</p>

<p>“At the close of my lecture on ‘Woman
Suffrage’ in the Methodist church, in November,
1855, I was approached by Gen. William
Larimer, then of Omaha, but recently of Pittsburg,
Pa., and a member of the first Nebraska
legislature, with a request that I go to Omaha
and repeat my lecture before the legislature.
A few days later I received a formal invitation
from the legislature, signed by twenty-five of
its members, to give them a lecture on woman
suffrage or such phase of the woman question
as I might select.</p>

<p>“Jan. 8, 1856, I made my appearance in the
House of Representatives of Nebraska, having
accepted the invitation to appear before that
body. I was escorted to the platform by Gen.
Larimer, who made way for me through a great
crowd who had congregated to hear me. Indeed,
it was a packed house, men standing up
between those who were sitting on benches<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</span>
around the room, and leaning against the wall,
and the platform was so packed up to the
very desk that I hardly had elbow-room. Gen.
Larimer introduced me amidst silence so profound
that one could almost hear a pin drop,
and I was listened to with the most absorbed
interest to the end. Then came great applause
and a request that I give the lecture for publication.
This latter I declined doing. Omaha
was hardly large enough and was without daily
papers and, besides, I felt that I might wish to
make further use of the lecture and publishing
it would prevent its again being brought out.</p>
</div>


<h3>“THE NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE INTERESTED.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“The papers gave very flattering notices of
the lecture, and it caused a great deal of excitement
among the members of the legislature;
those opposed to the principles it discussed
showing opposition, while its friends, who were
in the majority, were loud in extolling it. The
result of the lecture was the bringing in of a
bill in favor of woman suffrage some days later,
which passed the lower house, and was read
twice by the senate, and only failed of a passage
because the session came to an end before it
could be reached for a third reading—the last<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</span>
hours being consumed by the wrangling of the
members over the fixing of county boundaries
and the location of city sites. Men talked to
kill time till the last hour expired and the session
adjourned <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">sine die</i>. A number of important
bills were not reached, the woman-suffrage
bill among them. I was assured by Gov. Richardson
and others that the bill would undoubtedly
have passed had a little more time been
allowed them. The session was one of only
forty days and it was near its close when the
bill was introduced. Other matters engrossed
the attention and the speaker’s gavel stopped
all further discussion of matters in dispute.</p>
</div>


<h3>“DANGERS MET IN CROSSING THE MISSOURI.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“In the year following I gave a lecture on
‘Woman’s Education,’ on invitation of the
Library Association of Omaha, and for its benefit.
I so well remember that trip to Omaha!
It was in the winter. The river was breaking up
and when I reached it I found the ice floating
and no way to get across except on a flatboat,
which was poled across. I feared to place myself
upon it and came near turning back. But
I remembered my engagement and saw a carriage
waiting for me on the other shore; so,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</span>
with many misgivings and assurances from the
boatmen, I ventured on board and was landed
safely on the other side. The lecture that
evening was given in the Presbyterian church
to a full house, Dr. Miller presiding and introducing
me. But if I ran a risk in crossing to
Omaha my heart fairly stood still coming back.
A high wind was blowing and when I reached
the river I found it filled with great blocks of
floating ice that endangered any boat it encountered.
The ice was running badly, and
there was no conveyance over, except a skiff
rowed by two boatmen. The flatboat could
not be managed in such a gale. The skiff was
in great danger of being swallowed up by the
high tossing waves or struck by the great cakes
of floating ice and capsized.</p>
</div>


<h3>“BUFFETS THE ICE IN A SKIFF.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“The boatmen at first positively refused to
take me into the skiff. The man waiting could
go, they said, but the woman must be left behind.
I thought of my danger in embarking
and being swallowed up by waves; and I thought
of husband and child awaiting me at home, and
no one to care for them; then I asked why I
could not cross as well as the man. The boatmen<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</span>
said, because women would get frightened
and jump and rock the boat and upset it, and
there was really great danger. Then I said if
I will promise to sit very still and not stir, can
I go? The gentleman interceded, and on my
promise I was allowed to get into the boat. I
sat in the middle of my seat and held on to
each side of the boat, and I am sure I never
stirred a muscle or winked an eye or hardly
breathed while those brave men guided their
skiff over the tossing waves, which seemed
to engulf us at times and anon bore us on their
tossing crests. Soon we were safely over and
landed, ready to take stage for home, feeling
that we had been mercifully preserved on our
two very dangerous trips, and on my part resolved
never to incur a like danger again.</p>
</div>


<h3>“WOMAN’S EQUALITY IN LAW.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“On my previous trip to Omaha, I had gone
in an old-fashioned stagecoach and crossed the
river on a ferry-boat. But the ferry-boat was
laid up at this time on account of the ice, so
there was no way of crossing but the skiff and
the flatboat while the ice was running. Thanks
to enterprise and skill, we at this day know
nothing of such inconvenience and danger.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</span>
And thanks to progress and enlightenment,
woman’s cause has so far advanced that there
is little need of her making extra effort to bring
her claims and the knowledge of her rights to
equality in law with man before the people.”</p>
</div>

<h3>DESCRIBES COUNCIL BLUFFS.</h3>

<p>Writing in 1855, soon after her arrival in her
new home, Mrs. Bloomer describes it as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Council Bluffs is located on the east side of
the Missouri River, in Iowa, instead of on the
west or Nebraska side, where it is placed on
most of the maps. It lies about three miles
from the river, the level lands or bottoms being
about that distance in width; and then commences
a chain of high hills, or bluffs, which
line the Missouri for thousands of miles and
which, at this point, extend eastward in the
state some five or six miles. These bluffs are
composed of immense piles of yellow marl
varying in height from fifty to two hundred
and fifty feet and thrown into every conceivable
shape and form—rounded, oblong, conical,
and peaked. Sometimes we see them covered
with trees and bushes, but most commonly
with only grass and flowers. They present at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</span>
this season of the year, robed in their rich carpet
of green, a delightful appearance. Among
these bluffs are numerous beautiful valleys,
some of them sufficiently extensive for large
farms, and through which clear and pellucid
streams of water flow gurgling down to join
the mighty Missouri, forming as they find their
way across the bottoms streams which glisten
as pure as silver in the sun. It was along one
of these valleys, a fourth of a mile in width
and extending for upwards of half-a-mile into the
bluffs, that the old town of Kanesville was
built. Here a log city was constructed, and
here for several years dwelt from two to eight
thousand of those singular people who have
now found a home in the vicinity of Great
Salt Lake. These people, or most of them, remained
here until 1852 when they took their
departure, selling out or surrendering up their
claims to the gentiles. Hundreds of the log
cabins in which they lived have disappeared,
but many are still standing. The gentiles who
succeeded the Mormons soon began to build
better houses. Several good frame and brick
buildings have already been constructed, including
a three-story brick hotel and the land
office, besides a number of stores and private
residences.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</span></p>

<p>“Others are in process of creation and will
be carried forward as fast as materials and
labor can be obtained. On all sides we see the
work of beautifying the town going forward.
Gardens are being fenced, trees planted, streets
opened and graded, and every preparation made
for accommodating the population. The city
is extending out on the bottoms towards the
river, the bottom lands being here high and
dry and in no danger of being overflowed, and
the probability is that at no distant day they
will be covered with dwellings. These lands
are considered very valuable and are held at
high prices by their owners. The soil is extremely
rich and productive and finely adapted
to either farming or gardening.</p>

<p>“Situated as we are three hundred miles west
of the railroads connecting the Mississippi with
the cities of the East, we of course neither hear
the shrill whistle of the locomotive nor see the
trains of cars dashing through our streets with
a velocity that outstrips the speed of the light-footed
deer; but we are living in full expectation
of the day when these things will be as
familiar to us as they now are to my eastern
readers. This city will be the western terminus
of the first railroad built across the state, and
it is fondly hoped and expected that three<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</span>
years hence we shall be startled by the shrill
whistle of the iron horse as he comes to bathe
his head in the waters of the Missouri, and
from here, or from Omaha, directly opposite,
will he set out on his long journey to the most
western limit of the continent. Then Council
Bluffs will no longer be ‘out of the world,’ but
directly in the centre of it, and many who now
hesitate about making their home here will
regret that their doubts and fears debarred
them from uniting their labors with their more
enterprising countrymen in building up a great
and prosperous community in the very centre
of the Union.”</p>
</div>

<p>It will be noted that the above was written
in 1855; and with what remarkable correctness
Mrs. Bloomer prophesied as to the future of
the country in which she had just taken up her
residence must strike every one, except that it
was nearly ten years instead of three before
the railroad reached Council Bluffs.</p>

<p>She then goes on to advise people to come
West and acquire land (then to be had at
government price) and thus secure homes for
themselves, and then continues:</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</span></p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“My residence is on a gentle elevation at
the foot of one of the highest bluffs in the city,
with a western front commanding a fine view
of the grass-carpeted bottoms upon which hundreds
of cattle are grazing, of Omaha across
the river, and of the plains of Nebraska beyond
which stretch away in the distance as far as
the eye can reach. I love to ascend the bluffs
in the rear of our house, and watch the setting
sun as it descends below the horizon far off
towards the blue and peaceful waters of the
Pacific; and as I do so, I contemplate the day
when the wild valley before me will be filled
with the hum and stir and thronging multitude
of a great city, and these bluffs covered with
elegant residences and tasteful retreats from
the turmoil and activity that will reign below,—for
no one here doubts that such is to be the
future of Council Bluffs.”</p>
</div>


<h3>DESCRIBES HER NEW HOME.</h3>

<p>Here is also another letter written by Mrs.
Bloomer in May, 1855, giving a further description
of her home in the west and of its surroundings:</p>

<div class="blockquot">
<p class="right">
“<span class="smcap">Council Bluffs</span>, <em>May</em>, 1855.</p>
<p class="no-indent">
“<span class="smcap">My dear Mrs. Vaughan</span>:<br>
</p>

<p>“From my far-distant home among the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</span>
bluffs of the Missouri I send you greeting.
We have now been here four weeks, and for
two weeks I have been installed as housekeeper
in my own house. The business of housekeeping,
as you well know, is not new to me; but
it is a long time since I have confined myself
to that business alone, and it seems a little
strange after the many and various duties devolving
upon me for the last six or seven years
to be relieved of the greater part of them and
to settle down in this strange place with nothing
to care for save my house and garden.</p>

<p>“Far from the place of my nativity, far from
the spot where since childhood all the years
of my life have been spent, save one, far from
dearly loved kindred and highly cherished
friends, far from all the noble spirits with whom
I have long labored in the cause of humanity,
far from all I have ever best known and loved
save him who is my companion in life’s journey,
I have commenced life as it were anew. Here,
surrounded by lovely flower-decked prairies and
nestled down among the hills that overlook
the Missouri and the vast plains of Nebraska
beyond, we have chosen our future home and
shall do what we may by our aid and influence
for the upbuilding and prosperity of this infant
city.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</span></p>

<p>“Do not imagine us in a wild and uncultivated
country, deprived of the comforts of life,
and of the enjoyments and advantages of refined
society, for it is not so. Neither are we
surrounded by hordes of savage Indians and in
danger of falling victims to the tomahawk and
scalping-knife, as some people in the east imagine.
* * * We do not consider ourselves as
far out of the world as we are set down by those
who realize nothing of the immense emigration
into the mighty West, or of the energy and ‘goaheadativeness’
of the people who come hither.
We see some Indians occasionally, it is true,
but they are only visitors from Nebraska, they
do not belong to this state. A party of Pawnees
some two weeks ago pitched their tent on
the summit of a high bluff near our house where
they remained until last Sunday, when they
struck their tent, packed it and all other movables
on the back of a mule and then took up their
line of march to the westward, the men riding on
horseback while the ‘squaws’ went on foot.
The mule was led by a squaw. Two squaws had
papooses on their backs, and another carried
a dog in the same manner. I had frequent
visits from some of them while they remained
here, and on leaving they called to bid us good-bye,
in tolerably fair English. There is something<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</span>
interesting to me in these children of nature
and I almost regretted their departure.</p>

<p>“The Indians who come here are perfectly
harmless and no one pays any attention to
them. They come and go at their pleasure.
We shall see little of them hereafter, as the
government has just paid off its indebtedness to
the Omahas and they were then removed to the
new quarters assigned them about a hundred
miles to the northward, in Nebraska. They
were all collected at Omaha City, and from
thence started on their journey accompanied
by the Indian agent who is to pay them twenty
thousand dollars in cash when they reach their
destination. The tribe now numbers but eight
hundred and five, counting men, women and children,
and has but two hundred men capable of
bearing arms. Ten years ago they numbered
sixteen hundred. Their parting from their old
home and the graves of their fathers is said by
those who witnessed it to have been exceedingly
interesting and pathetic. The women and the
aged men wept, and the stout-hearted warriors
could ill conceal their emotion of tenderness and
affection.</p>

<p>“People are now flocking in here in considerable
numbers, either to settle or to make investments
in real estate, in the hope and expectation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</span>
of realizing a fortune by the rise in
the value of property. We have dally stages
from the east and south, and they generally
come loaded inside and out to the extent of
their capacity. The land-office is crowded both
by settlers and speculators eager to enter the
choicest lands remaining unsold. The land directly
adjoining the town, and for some five or
six miles back, is all taken, and one cannot buy
a farm at Uncle Sam’s prices within that distance
of the city. Good land can be obtained
at second hand for from five dollars to ten dollars
per acre.</p>

<p>“By the laws of the state, women can own
and hold property, both real and personal, and
I am happy to know that many women are
availing themselves of these provisions by securing
to themselves a share of its broad acres. I
do wish that more women would become
owners of the soil, and I am especially anxious
that you, Mrs. Vaughan, and those women who
labored so untiringly with you in the cause of
humanity, should come in for a share. I know
that such women do not usually carry long
purses, and are not very well rewarded for their
wearing toil, yet with land at $1.25 per acre
it does seem as though they ought to be able
to secure at least eighty acres. One woman who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</span>
is supporting herself by typesetting in your
state has secured an interest in this vicinity,
and she is now hoarding her wages that she
may add a few acres more to those she has
already. A few years hence, these lands will
be valuable and the owners will realize something
from their sale, if they do not wish to
retain them.</p>

<p>“This city is the western terminus of railroads
to be located across this state, and it is ardently
hoped and expected that ere many years the
shrill whistle of the iron horse will be heard
among the bluffs of the Missouri. There are
two newspapers published here and both are
well sustained, I am told. There are two church
edifices nearly completed, Methodist and Congregational.
Each has a settled pastor and services
are held regularly on Sundays. The people
who settle here are mostly from the east,
and are nearly all Americans; consequently we
have an intelligent, well-ordered community.
Omaha, the capital of Nebraska, is situated
directly opposite, on the western bank of the
Missouri, and in full view of this city. It now
contains about four hundred inhabitants.</p>

<p class="right">
“A. B.”<br>
</p>
</div>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</span></p>

<p>The personal reminiscences of Mrs. Bloomer
given above show very fully that, in removing
to Council Bluffs, she did not give up any of
her wonted zeal in behalf of those reforms to
which so much of her life had been devoted.
She continued to write for the <em>Lily</em> so long as
its publication was kept up, and the productions
of her pen frequently appeared in the
columns of the city papers, and of other papers
in the state and throughout the Union.</p>


<h3>LIFE IN COUNCIL BLUFFS.</h3>

<p>But the first months of her life in Council
Bluffs were quiet ones. They gave her opportunity
to gain the much needed rest which
years of labor and activity had rendered necessary.
She spent many hours in roaming
over the bluffs and valleys. Life seemed to
have opened a new page for her, and in its
daily duties she found sufficient employment.
The population of the city was small and
social intercourse amongst its members, as in
all new western communities, was pleasant and
unconventional. Everybody knew everybody<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</span>
else, and all whose characters were clean and
untarnished met each other on a footing of
perfect equality. All attended the same
church and all joined in the same festivities.
It was in many respects an ideal state of society;
being far away from railroads and the
great centres of population, there was great
exemption from the cares and anxieties of
older communities. Housekeeping was the
first duty that fell upon Mrs. Bloomer, and she
strove to make her new home pleasant and inviting.
It soon became the resort of many
new as well as old friends. People coming to
the city very often desired to meet her and
she always received them kindly, extending to
all a generous welcome. With her husband
she early joined with others in the organization
of a literary club, taking an active part in
its proceedings.</p>


<h3>AGAINST STRONG DRINK.</h3>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer had begun her public life in
New York state as an advocate of Temperance.
She had opposed at all times the use as a beverage<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</span>
of intoxicating drinks in all their various
forms, and in her adopted state she continued
the earnest advocate of these ideas
and principles. She wrote and spoke when
called for in their advocacy and defense.
When a lodge of Good Templars was organized
in 1856, she became an active member and
continued her membership in it so long as it
was kept up.</p>

<p>Though the custom of using strong drinks
at social gatherings was common in her new
home, yet she firmly set her face against it and
nothing of the kind was ever found in her
dwelling. When societies were organized,
plans adopted, money expended in promoting
temperance principles she was always found
among the most zealous in promoting sobriety
in all its forms.</p>

<p>In subsequent years, Mrs. Bloomer became
an active worker in the Women’s Christian
Temperance Union; and in an address delivered
before it in Council Bluffs, some ten
years before her death, she referred to her
own and others’ labors in the city as follows:</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</span></p>


<h3>HER EXPERIENCES.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“I have thus given you, as briefly as
possible, a sketch of the introduction and
early efforts of woman in this cause of temperance.
It may not be so interesting to you
as to those of us who encountered the opposition,
bore the suffering, endured the struggle,
who were subject to ridicule, censure and frowns
for the cause’s sake and for woman’s sake. It
is well that you of this later generation should
know something of what has gone before; that
you should know that, long before the
W. C. T. U. arose, organizations of women did
as great and greater work than that large body
of women are doing. We had a cause and a
purpose, and there was no lack of zeal and
enthusiasm. There was no cold-hearted, half-way
work with the Washingtonians and those
who enlisted under them. I must mention
Rev. George G. Rice, of this city, as among the
liberal-minded men of early days. On my coming
to Council Bluffs, he very soon called upon
me and invited me to give a temperance lecture
in his church; and later, at his request, I spoke
on the education of girls from his pulpit, and
also the church was freely given me for woman’s-rights
lectures.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</span></p>

<p>“Council Bluffs has always been a hard field
for temperance work. Originally a frontier
town, it was for many years almost completely
in the hands of the gambling and liquor-drinking
classes of the community. On my first
coming here, in 1855, Sunday was hardly recognized
at all as a day of rest or religious
observance. It was the carnival day of the
pleasure-seeking of every kind. Business was
carried on as usual. The saloons were open
and games of chance openly carried on along
the streets. But even then there were a faithful
few. A division of the Sons of Temperance
had been organized, and very soon after we
came we assisted in the organization of a lodge
of Good Templars. These two societies handsomely
fitted up and carpeted a large hall in
Empire Block, opposite the Pacific House, and
held regular meetings on different evenings of
each week for several years. But financial
troubles coming on, they were unable to meet
their expenses, and before 1860 both had ceased
to exist. I do not know whether the Sons of
Temperance ever renewed their organization,
but think they did not. But the Good Templars
have at different times started up anew and I
am glad to hear are quite prosperous at the present
time. I have a strong feeling of sympathy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</span>
with this organization because I was connected
with it in New York, Ohio, and here, in my
earlier days, and because it admits women to
its membership on a footing of equality with
men, and it was through its membership women
passed through struggles for recognition. I
have frequently assisted in the formation of
lodges, and one of my last acts before coming
to Council Bluffs was going by myself as deputy
grand-chief templar to Indiana to organize
two new lodges. Other organizations for promoting
temperance work have existed here at
different times. The late D. W. Price was president
of one of the most effective of these, and
really did a good work. Moved by his eloquent
and effective pleadings, many votaries
of strong drink were reformed and restored to
their right minds and still remain sober citizens.</p>

<p>“The women of the city have not been
wholly remiss in their duties to this cause,
though they have not done all they could and
should. In 1874 a society was organized, a constitution
adopted, and a committee appointed
to canvass the city to obtain memberships, and
signatures to a petition to the city council asking
that the laws enacted for their protection
against liquor selling be enforced, and the license
law amended. But their petitions passed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</span>
unheeded, as those of tens of thousands of
women in other sections had done before them.
They were laid on the table as unworthy of
notice, and when taken up received but one
vote in their favor. What cared our city fathers
for the petitions of disfranchised women?
They had no votes to give to affect them at the
next election, while the veriest drunkard had;
and so should they not consult their constituents?
Temperance workers, either men or
women, have never received much help from
the constituted authorities either of our city or
county. Generally they have looked upon violations
of the law with indifference. That is
the case at the present time. Although we
have a rigid prohibitory law now in force in
this state, its provisions are openly violated
and whatever effort is made to enforce it
comes not from the men sworn to enforce the
law but from individuals in private life, who are
thus compelled to give their time and money
to do that which should be done by officers
elected for that purpose.”</p>
</div>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer fully believed in the virtue of
prohibitory legislation. She rejoiced when this
principle was adopted into the laws of Iowa and
strove in all suitable ways to secure the advancement<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</span>
of those laws. She wrote frequently and
largely in their defense and the columns of the
city press bear witness to the zeal with which
she advocated her views. She was greatly distressed
when her rector came out in his pulpit
and preached sermons against the virtues of
prohibition, and censured and criticised his
position with great force and spirit.</p>


<h3>FOR WOMAN’S ENFRANCHISEMENT.</h3>

<p>But beyond all other questions, Mrs.
Bloomer’s thoughts, hopes and labors were
given to Woman’s Enfranchisement. In that
cause she was a pioneer. She studied, considered
and dwelt upon it in all its various
bearings. She believed most sincerely that
the Temperance principle of which she was an
ardent advocate could never fully triumph until
Woman’s voice could be fully and decisively
heard in its settlement. This was her position
in all her writings and addresses on that subject,
and these were continued and frequent so
long as her strength lasted. Moreover, she
fully believed that the unjust legal enactments<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</span>
coming down from a semi-barbarous age, together
with the harsh teachings of legal writers,
would have to be completely changed in letter
and spirit before woman could occupy the high
place for which she was designed by her Creator
and become in very deed and truth a helpmeet for
man. And finally she insisted that the precious
right of suffrage, the high privilege of casting a
ballot along with man, should be accorded to
woman as her inalienable birthright, and that
she should exercise that right as a solemn duty
devolving upon her as a responsible human
being and as a citizen of a free republic. These
were unpopular doctrines when she first commenced
to espouse and uphold them in her
paper, more than fifty years before her decease;
but she never failed to maintain them, in all
suitable ways and at all proper times, throughout
her subsequent career.</p>

<p>Her house in Council Bluffs was always the
welcome resort of those who were engaged in
proclaiming these doctrines and urging them
upon the favorable consideration of the people
of the great West. From time to time, especially<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</span>
in the earlier days, nearly all these prominent
advocates were her guests. Among them
may be named Miss Susan B. Anthony,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mary A. Livermore,
Anna Dickinson, Mrs. M. H. Cutler, Frederick
Douglass, Phœbe Cozzens, and many others.
And frequently when these advocates of her
favorite reform visited her she arranged for
public meetings for them in church or hall, so
that through Mrs. Bloomer’s instrumentality
her neighbors and friends were afforded opportunity
of listening to some of the most noted
lecturers of the day; and it is here no more
than strict justice to record that she was, in all
her work of promoting temperance and woman’s
enfranchisement, aided and sustained by the
cordial assistance and support of her husband.
No note or word of discord ever arose between
them on these subjects (and, indeed, very few
on any other); they passed their long lives
happily trying to alleviate the sufferings and
right the wrongs of their fellow-travelers
through the journey of life.</p>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer’s pen was also very busy and she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</span>
frequently wrote for the newspapers in her own
city and in other parts of the country. Whenever
an attack was made, either upon her
personally or upon her favorite ideas, it was
sure to call forth from her a vigorous reply.
She did not confine herself to temperance and
woman’s rights; but wrote freely and often upon
other kindred subjects, also. It would extend
this work far beyond its prescribed limits, to republish
even a small part of the productions of
her pen; but some articles will be given further
on. Just here we cannot omit to give one of
her replies to the objection that woman should
not vote because she could not fight:</p>


<h3>VOTING AND FIGHTING.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“My reply to the argument of our opponents
that ‘if women vote they must also fight,’ is
this: All men have not earned their right to
the ballot by the bullet; and, if only those who
fight should vote, there are many sickly men,
many weak little men, many deformed men,
and many strong and able-bodied but cowardly
men, who should at once be disfranchised.
These all vote but they do not fight, and fighting<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</span>
is not made a condition precedent to the
right to the ballot. The law only requires that
those of sufficient physical strength and endurance
shall take up arms in their country’s
defense, and I think not many women can be
found to fill the law’s requirement: so they
would have to be excused with the weak little
men, the big cowardly men, and the men who
are physically disqualified. We know there
are thousands of voters who never did any fighting
and who never will. Why then must woman
be denied the right of franchise because she
cannot fight? If there are any great strong
women who want to fight for their country in
its hour of peril, they should be allowed to do
so, and men have no right to disarm them and
send them home against their will. But as
there are other duties to be discharged, other
interests to be cared for, in time of war besides
fighting, women will find enough to do to look
after these in the absence of their fighting men.
They may enter the hospitals on the battlefields
as nurses, or they may care for the crops
or the young soldiers at home. They may
also do the voting and look after the affairs of
government, the same as do all the weak men,
who vote and hold office and do not fight.
And, further, as men do not think it right for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</span>
women to fight, and fear it will be forced upon
them with the ballot, they can easily make a
law to excuse them, and doubtless with the
help of the women will do so. There is great
injustice, so long as the ballot is given to all
men the weak as well as the strong, without
condition, in denying to woman a voice in
matters deeply affecting her interest and
happiness, and through her the happiness and
welfare of mankind because, perchance, there
may come a time in the history of our country
when we shall be plunged into war and she not
be qualified to hold a musket!</p>

<p>“This objection, like many others we hear, is
too absurd to emanate from the brains of intelligent
men and I cannot think they honestly
entertain such views. If they will but give us a
voice in the matter, we will not only save ourselves
from being sent to the battlefield, but
will, if possible, keep them at home with us by
averting the threatened danger and difficulties
and so compromising matters with other powers
that peace shall be maintained and bloodshed
avoided.</p>

<p class="right">
“A. B.”<br>
</p>
</div>


<p class="center">PROGRESS.</p>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer was mainly instrumental in
organizing a woman’s-suffrage society in Council<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</span>
Bluffs, in 1870, and was its first president.
Through her influence woman’s position was
greatly enlarged in that community. In 1880,
she was enabled to write as follows: “The
trustees of the public library of this city are
women, the teachers in the public schools, with
one or two exceptions, are women, the principal
of the high school is a woman, and a large
number of the clerks in the dry-goods stores
are women.”</p>

<p>The revised Code of Iowa, promulgated in
1873, almost entirely abolished the legal distinction
between men and married women as
to property rights. As to single women there
was, of course, no distinction. That code is
still in force, and its liberal provisions in regard
to the rights of married women have been still
further enlarged. The wife may hold separate
property, and may make contracts and incur
liabilities as to the same, which may be enforced
by or against her as though she were a
single woman. So also a married woman may
sue or be sued without joining her husband in
matters relating to her separate property, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</span>
she may maintain an action against her husband
in matters relating to her separate property
rights. Their rights and interests in
each other’s property are identical. They may
be witnesses for, but they cannot be against,
each other in criminal actions.</p>

<p>It is not claimed that, for bringing about
these beneficent changes in the laws of Iowa,
Mrs. Bloomer is entitled to the sole credit.
There were other efficient workers in the
same field; but it is certain that her long residence
in the state, and her continued and persistent
advocacy of the principles of justice on
which they are founded, contributed largely to
their adoption by the lawmaking powers.</p>


<h3>STATE SUFFRAGE SOCIETY.</h3>

<p>The first Iowa Woman’s State Suffrage Society
was organized at Mount Pleasant, in 1870.
Mrs. Bloomer was present at this gathering of
the earnest workers of the state and took an
active part in their proceedings. Hon. Henry
O’Conner, then attorney-general of the state,
was made its first president, and Mrs. Bloomer<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</span>
its first vice-president. On her way home, she
stopped over at Des Moines, with Mrs. Anna
Savary and with Mrs. H. B. Cutler; addressed
in the afternoon a large Temperance gathering
on the capitol grounds, and in the evening both
ladies spoke on woman’s enfranchisement in
the Baptist church. The first annual meeting
of the society was held in Des Moines in
October, 1871. Mrs. Bloomer presided and
was chosen president; she attended its annual
meetings in subsequent years so long as she
had the strength to do so. She was for years
in constant correspondence with its members,
and whenever the question of woman suffrage
was before the general assembly she did not
fail, by petition and otherwise, to do all in her
power to promote its success. In 1875 she was
an inmate of the Cleveland Sanitorium, and
while there delivered to the inmates an address
on the subject in which she was so deeply
interested. In 1867 she made a long and wearisome
journey, while in very poor health, to the
city of New York to attend the meeting of the
Woman-Suffrage Association, and was elected<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</span>
one of its vice-presidents, a position she continued
to hold so long as she lived. She was
an interested listener to the proceedings of the
Woman’s Council held in Des Moines in 1883,
but took no part in them further than a very
short address.</p>


<h3>HISTORY OF IOWA SUFFRAGE WORK.</h3>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer furnished the main portion of
the chapter on Iowa in the third volume of the
History of Woman Suffrage, published by Mrs.
Stanton and Miss Anthony in 1887. In short,
the advocacy of woman’s enfranchisement was
her life-work from 1851 down to the end of her
days. She was in constant written communication
with many of its leading advocates not
only in Iowa but all over the country. They
visited her often in her home, and she was subjected
to frequent interviews from newspaper
reporters. A volume could be filled with their
writings called out by conversations with her.
She always treated them with kindness and
courtesy, and received many kind notices from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</span>
the press. She always had a cheerful and
pleasant greeting for her many visitors.</p>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer was spared to witness the
triumph of many of the reforms she had earnestly
advocated. The temperance principle in
which her heart was so much absorbed made
great progress during her lifetime, and the prohibitive
features she so earnestly advocated
were engrafted on the laws of her adopted state.
She was not spared to see woman accorded a
right to the ballot in all the states, but she was
cheered by the wonderful progress in that direction
that took place all over the world. In
Wyoming and Utah women had voted for several
years, and only a few weeks before her departure
she learned with infinite satisfaction
from Mrs. Jennie A. Irvine, a favorite niece
residing in Colorado, that the right of suffrage
had been granted to women in that state.
While therefore she was never herself permitted
to exercise that inestimable right, yet
she died in the full conviction that only a few
years would elapse before it would be accorded
to women in all the free countries in the world.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</span></p>


<h3>ESSAYS BY MRS. BLOOMER.</h3>

<p>In the following pages are given the productions
of Mrs. Bloomer’s pen on a variety of
subjects. Most of these essays have been
printed in newspapers located in different parts
of the country, but are here made public again
in more durable form. It is believed they will
not be devoid of interest to the reader:</p>


<h3>“WIFELY DUTIES.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p class="fs90">“‘<em>Unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.</em>’—<span class="smcap">Gen.</span>,
iv. 7.</p>
</div>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“These words were addressed to Cain by the
Creator. They are the same as those used to
Eve, except that in the one case they were addressed
to the one to be ruled, and in the other
to the one who was to rule. The latter is more
clearly a command than the former. And if
a command, then Cain only obeyed it in ruling
over his brother; and, as there was no limit
fixed to the rule, was he very much to blame
for taking the life of his brother? Did not
God command him to rule and was not God
responsible for the result?</p>

<p>“And if God foretelling to Eve that her
husband should rule over her was a command<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</span>
to which all women were to be subject for all
time, does not this command to Cain to rule
over his brother follow the seed of Cain for all
time, and are not all elder brothers commanded
to rule over the younger, and is it not the duty
of the younger to submit to such rule?</p>

<p>“Clearly the Scripture quoted was not a command
in either case. We cannot throw upon
God all the fearful consequences that have
grown out of and resulted from the construction
so often put upon these words. Read
them as prophecy, substitute ‘wilt’ for ‘shalt’—as
I am told the original fully warrants—and
they become clear enough. In both cases
it was a prophetic declaration of what was to
follow, and the prophecy as we all know has
been fulfilled to the letter.</p>

<p>“But read this Scripture as we may, I do not
believe it has any binding force at this day.
However much the first Adam may have ruled
his wife, other Adams can derive no warrant
from his case for ruling their wives, except in
the evil nature they have inherited from him.
The Adams still abound in the land, and will
abound until woman fully asserts her individuality
and compels men to acknowledge her equal
right with themselves to life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</span></p>

<p>“The passages from the New Testament so
frequently quoted have lost their terrors. We
all know that in the early days when they were
written woman’s position was one of ignorance
and subjection. Peter and Paul were imbued
with the prevalent sentiment of the times, and
wrote of things as they found them. In writing
of woman they followed the law and custom
of the day in which they lived. They
thought woman’s name was ‘submission’ just
as many men think now, and wrote of her just
as they write now.</p>

<p>“Barnard, in his ‘History and Progress of
Education’ tells us that: ‘In India it was a terrible
disgrace for a woman to learn to read, and
the avowal of that knowledge was sufficient to
class her with the most abandoned of her sex.
Her duties and attainments were only such as
would conduce to the mere physical comfort of
her lord and master.’ Again, in writing of the
ancient Persians, he says: ‘Female education
was utterly neglected. The wife was the slave
of the husband, and every morning must kneel
at his feet and nine times ask the question,
What do you wish that I should do? and, having
received his reply, bowing humbly, she
must withdraw and obey his commands.’</p>

<p>“Of Greece he says: ‘The female children<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</span>
were not allowed any instruction except such
as they might receive at home. The condition
of the female sex, except the abandoned portion
of it, at Athens was pitiable. Secluded
from society and all intellectual improvement,
their lives must have been gloomy, dull and
hopeless.’</p>

<p>“When we consider the condition of woman
in the early ages we cannot be surprised at the
injunction laid upon her by the apostles. But
would John have her remain in that position?
Clearly he would; but not so her Creator. He
has called her out of former bondage and
pointed out to her a higher mission.</p>

<p>“It is worthy of note that the writers of the
New Testament did not give us a ‘Thus saith
the Lord’ with any of the injunctions to women,
nor did our Saviour enjoin any such rules
upon her. So while we admit that the words
of the apostles may have been proper at the day
and under the circumstances of their utterance,
we claim that the condition of woman has been
so changed and her mind so educated since
that time that they are not applicable to her
now. We are told by some that her condition
thousands of years ago was her natural condition,
that in which God placed her and intended
her to remain. If this be so, a great wrong has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</span>
been done her by taking her out of the condition
of ignorance and depravity in which she
then existed. An educated mind cannot be
kept in slavery. Our system of education is
all wrong if God intended her to remain the
ignorant slave of man she then was. How
comes it that, if that was her natural God-ordained
position, we find her condition so different
at the present day? Whether right or
wrong, that condition has greatly changed ever
since the introduction of Christianity. And
this work, this change, is not of herself, not of
man. We must recognize in her course the
direction and guidance of a Higher Power. If
this change, this progress, tend to evil (as its
opponents predict), then He who rules and
overrules is for some wise purpose of His own
bringing the evil on the world. But if, as we
believe, it is for the good not only of woman
but of humanity then, too, we should recognize
the Higher Power that so orders it and do
what we may to help forward His work. In
any case we cannot by opposition, Bible argument,
or indifference stay His work and will.</p>

<p>“Woman had a part to play in life that St.
Paul never dreamed of, and he who lives in the
next generation will see greater changes than
the past has produced. As well say that men<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</span>
should be and do as they were and did in the
days of Abraham, as to say that women should
be kept in the state of bondage in which she
existed thousands of years ago. The world
moves and woman must move with it. She
inherits the same blood, the same spirit of liberty,
that descends to her brother and for
which her fathers bled and died. To fight
against this progression is like fighting against
the emancipation of the slaves. As the chains
of the latter were broken and the oppressed
set free, in spite of opposition and Bible argument,
so will the All-Father, in His own good
time and way, bring about the emancipation
of woman and make her the equal with man in
power and dominion that He proclaimed her
to be at the creation, that we may have—</p>

<div class="poetry-container fs90">
<div class="poetry">
  <div class="stanza">
    <div class="verse indent22">“‘everywhere</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">Two heads in council, two beside the hearth,</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">Two in the tangled business of the world,</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">Two in the liberal offices of life.’</div>
    <div class="right">“A.B.”</div>
  </div>
</div>
</div></div>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer, in commenting on an article
in the Chicago <cite>Tribune</cite> stating that women
should not be called by their husbands’ titles,
wrote for the <cite>Western Woman’s Journal</cite> as
follows:</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</span></p>


<h3>NAMES OF MARRIED WOMEN.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“I am glad the <cite>Tribune</cite> has spoken out on
this question, and had it gone further and included
names as well as titles in its criticisms
it would have done better. It has become so
much the fashion for women to call themselves
and to be known by their husbands’ names and
titles that a woman’s Christian name is seldom
heard or known. Why a woman as soon as
she is married is willing to drop the good name
of Mary or Elizabeth and take that of John,
Thomas or Harry I never could understand.
And as to titles, why a woman should be called
Mrs. General, Mrs. Colonel, Mrs. Captain or
Mrs. Judge I don’t know except it be on the
principle that husband and wife are one and
that one the husband, and the wife is his appendage
and must be known by his title instead
of having an individuality of her own.</p>

<p>“So far is this matter of appropriating names
and titles carried, that women retain them after
the death of the husbands and call themselves
Mrs. Colonel or Mrs. Doctor when there is no
such doctor or colonel in existence. It would
seem as though, the man being dead, his title
would die with him and henceforth his wife
assume her Christian name.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</span></p>

<p>“Quite recently an inquiry came to me from
New York for the Christian name of a woman
who had been quite prominent. On looking
over letters and papers bearing her name I
found that in every instance she had used her
husband’s initials, and it was only after sending a
postal with the inquiry one hundred and fifty
miles that I learned her name and transmitted
it to New York. This is but one instance of
the many where women use the name of the
husband with ‘Mrs.’ prefixed whenever they
have occasion to write their names.</p>

<p>“But women are not alone to blame in the
matter. The press does its part to keep up
what the <cite>Tribune</cite> calls a vulgar custom. We
have an instance at hand. Only a short time
ago the daily press announced that ‘Mrs.
Colonel C. S. Chase, of Omaha, is very ill.’
And again a short time after it announced ‘the
death of Mrs. Colonel Chase,’ thus following
the woman to the grave with her husband’s
name and title. She was not a colonel, had
never been a colonel, and it surely would have
been more proper to say Mary, the wife of Col.
Chase. Doubtless all have fallen into the custom
thoughtlessly.</p>

<p>“Where a woman has earned a title of her
own, it is right that she should be called by it,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</span>
and I see no reason why the prefix of Mrs.
should always be attached. It would be quite
improper to say Mr. Doctor Green; then why
should we say Mrs. Doctor Hilton?</p>

<p>“There are cases where it may be allowable
and necessary to use the husband’s initials
when naming or addressing his wife, but
usually it is best for her to retain and be known
by the name her parents gave her. The name
or title of her husband gives no additional dignity
or character to her, and it sinks her own
individuality in him; which no woman should
allow.</p>

<p>“Ever since the world began all women of
note have been known by their own Christian
names. Adam named his wife Eve and we
have no account of her ever being called Mrs.
Adam. Victoria of England has never called
herself Mrs. Albert Saxe-Coburg, nor has
Eugénie been known as Mrs. Emperor Louis
Napoleon. Go back through all history and
all married queens, all members of royal houses,
all married women of any distinction such as
artists, authors, scholars, teachers, actresses,
singers, etc., have ever been known and called
by their Christian names. In our own day and
country this is the universal custom. Lydia
H. Sigourney, Emma Willard, Margaret Fuller<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</span>
Ossoli, Lucretia Mott, Frances D. Gage, Mary
A. Livermore, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Paulina
W. Davis, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Lucy
Stone Blackwell, Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
Celia Burleigh, and a host of others of equal or
less note never called themselves Mrs. John,
Mrs. Tom and Mrs. Henry. Anna Mary
Howitt, Dinah Maria Muloch, and Elizabeth
Barrett Browning may be given as instances of
English writers who have seen fit to drop their
own names and adopt the Christian name and
title of their husbands. The wife of our first
president is known and revered in memory as
Martha Washington, instead of Mrs. George
or Mrs. General Washington; and Susannah
Wesley is far better known than Mrs. Rev.
John Wesley.</p>

<p>“In law, women must use their own names
and no document is legal unless it bears the
Christian name of the woman who signed it.
Her appointment to any office is always made
in her own name and not that of her husband.
And yet many women have gotten the idea
that their husbands’ names and titles in some
way add to their dignity and importance and
so appropriate them to their own use.</p>

<p>“May the day soon come when all this will
be done away and women bear honored titles<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</span>
of their own, earned and conferred, but not
borrowed!</p>

<p class="right">
“A. B.”<br>
</p>
</div>


<h3>IS IT RIGHT FOR WOMEN TO LECTURE?</h3>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer answered this question through
the press as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“The press has been very severe, in some
instances, in its strictures upon a certain
woman of this state for leaving home and husband
to go before our public as a lecturer,
thereby as they claim causing her husband to
commit a fearful crime.</p>

<p>“Now supposing, instead of being out lecturing,
and home frequently, this woman had gone
away on a three months’ visit to friends—as
many ladies are in the habit of doing—would
the press be as ready to blame her as it now
is? Would she be, and are other women,
guilty of all the crime and wrongdoing which
she or their husbands may commit in their
absence? And would it be right, would it be
manly, to publicly accuse these women and
hold them up to censure? Is not their suffering
already sufficient without this added sting?
Why, pray, is it a more heinous offense to
leave home to lecture than to visit, to travel<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</span>
abroad, or to sojourn for months at fashionable
watering places?</p>

<p>“I know nothing of the domestic affairs of
the person referred to. She has been to some
extent a lecturer on temperance. Whether led
into it by pecuniary necessity, or solely from inclination
or a desire to do good, I never knew.
But be the case as it may she is the first woman
lecturer, so far as my knowledge extends, whose
husband has ever disgraced both himself and
her by such or any similar crime or any crime
at all; while the cases are frequent of wives
who are keepers at home and faithful guardians
of family relations being humbled and disgraced
by husbands guilty of all manner of crimes and
wickedness. Men claim to be the stronger
both mentally and physically. Then why are
they ready to shoulder upon women the responsibility
of their own wrongdoing? Why
make the so-called ‘weaker vessel’ the scapegoat
to bear their sins?</p>

<p>“But it was ever thus. The first Adam, the
‘lord of creation,’ tried to shield himself by accusing
Eve and putting upon her the punishment
of his transgression. And all Adams
from that time to this have imitated his weakness
and meanness by doing the same thing.
Let the strong bear the burdens of the weak, is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</span>
I believe a Scripture injunction, but men have
reversed this and put upon the weak and
powerless the burdens they are too cowardly
to bear themselves. In these days the Adams
abound and, no matter of what crime they may
be guilty, some daughter of Eve must be made
to sorrow, not only over the fall of a loved one
but by seeing herself publicly accused of being
in some way accessory to the crime.</p>

<p>“If a man commits suicide, it is forthwith
charged to unpleasant domestic relations. If
another, in a fit of insanity, takes himself out
of the world his wife’s extravagance is the
cause. So, too, ‘the extravagance of the wife’
is offered as an excuse for the reckless spendthrift
and defaulter. If a man deserts his
wife and family and goes after strange women,
the wife is in some way to blame for it; and if
he gratifies his lust by the ruin of innocent girls,
there are enough of his fellows to come to his
defense by implicating his wife as the guilty
cause of his ruin. And so on to the end of the
chapter, the same old story: ‘The woman whom
Thou gavest me did it.’ What a pitiful sneaking
plea to come from the self-styled ‘lords of
creation,’ the boasted superiors of woman!</p>

<p>“I object to this frequent blaming of
women for the misdeeds of men and in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</span>
name of all womanhood protest against its
injustice.</p>

<p class="right">
“A. B.”<br>
</p>
</div>


<h3>WOMAN’S RIGHT TO PREACH.</h3>

<p>On this subject Mrs. Bloomer wrote as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“The question of woman’s right to preach
has been agitated more since the action of the
Brooklyn presbytery in arraigning Dr. Cuyler
for allowing Miss Smiley to occupy his pulpit
than ever before. Instead of this action having
the effect of preventing a repetition of the
offense, or of convincing the people of its wrong
or sinfulness, and silencing women preachers,
the discussion has resulted favorably to the
women and encouraged them in their good
work.</p>

<p>“Two weeks ago Miss Smiley preached on
Sunday both in a Methodist and Presbyterian
church in Buffalo, N. Y., by invitation of the
pastors of the churches, and she has preached
in other orthodox churches since the Brooklyn
trial, and no one has been called to account for
a transgression of the rules.</p>

<p>“In St. Louis, the women of the Union<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</span>
Methodist church lately held a meeting to express
their sense of the propriety and need of
an ordained ministry for women in the church.
The meeting is said to have been spirited and
earnest, and embraced many of the leading
women of the Methodist church and of other
denominations. They offered their own
prayers, made their own speeches, and called
no man to their aid. The proceedings and
speeches are reported at length in the <cite>Democrat</cite>,
and reflect much credit upon the able women
engaged in them. The following memorial reported
by the committee was unanimously
adopted:</p>

<p>“‘To the General Conference of the Methodist
Church. Fathers and Brethren: We the
undersigned members of the Methodist church
respectfully but earnestly petition your venerable
body to take such action, at your coming
session in Brooklyn, New York, as may be
necessary to allow women to be ordained as
preachers, subject only to such requirements as
are defined in our discipline.’</p>

<p>“In this, as in all other reforms, persecution
and opposition strengthen the cause they would
crush. The result of the anti-slavery movement
should convince all that any God-ordained
progressive movement, though it may be stayed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</span>
for a time, cannot be killed and buried because
men will it so.”</p>
</div>


<h3>PETTICOAT PRESENTATION.</h3>

<p>Some ladies of Quincy having presented a
petticoat to some obnoxious individual, Mrs.
Bloomer wrote as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“It has long been customary for men, when
they wish to express great contempt for the action
of an individual, or to hold him up to the
scorn and ridicule of the world, to present him
with a <em>petticoat</em>. No matter whether the action
be one of meanness and cowardice, or one of
heroism in defense of a good cause, the man
so acting must be degraded in the eyes of the
world by the offer of a woman’s garment—no
other being found sufficiently expressive
of the disgust of its contemners. It has always
seemed strange to me that men were willing to
dishonor the mothers who bore them and the
wives they have chosen for life-companions by
thus selecting one of their garments as the most
fitting badge of cowardice, of meanness, of
treachery, of weakness, of littleness of soul;
and I have never heard of an instance of the
kind but my cheek has tingled with shame and
indignation—shame that men could thus unblushingly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</span>
offer insult to woman, indignation
that woman must receive and submit tamely
to the insult.</p>

<p>“But if such action on the part of men has
been painful to me, much more so is the action
of the women of Quincy as given in last week’s
<cite>Chronotype</cite>. It is bad enough for men thus to
dishonor and insult us; but when woman imitates
them in wrongdoing and desecrates her
own garment to so bad a use, it is doubly to be
deplored, for it is an admission that we are
guilty of all the weakness and meanness they
attribute to us and that our garment is chosen
to represent. It should rather be woman’s part
to frown down all such acts with any part of her
costume, and ever stand ready to defend it from
dishonor.</p>

<p>“I by no means wish to condemn the ladies
of Quincy for showing their contempt of the
‘gallant soldier of Kansas.’ Far from it, I
admit their spirit and glory in their womanly
courage; for I hold it to be the right and duty
of woman to mark the slanderer, to speak out
against wrong, to defend the injured and innocent,
and to drive out and put down immorality
and crime, by the power of her own might if
need be. I only differ with them in the manner
of punishing the coward and would have counseled<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</span>
a more womanly course. Had they
waited upon the ‘slanderer’ and ‘coward,’ expressed
in strong terms their scorn and contempt
for his actions, and warned him to leave
the town, it would have been more creditable
to them and to the sex than was the presentation
of the ‘red flannel garment’—a woman’s
garment—as a badge of all that is most despicable
in man. I am too jealous of the good
name of woman, and hold in too much respect
a woman’s petticoat to see it disgraced by any
‘slanderer,’ ‘coward’ or ‘whipped puppy,’ and
I would to the last defend it from such disgrace.</p>

<p>“If that garment is in reality the badge of cowardice
and inferiority that men would make it to
be, then the sooner it is abandoned by woman
and one more appropriate to her true character
substituted the better. But it is not so. On
the contrary it is honored by having been worn
by the good, the great, the noble, the heroic, the
virtuous, the honorable, the gifted, the most
highly praised and exalted among women; and
so long as it continues to be so worn it is entitled
to respect from both men and women, and
he who dares treat it with disrespect should
receive the censures of men and the scorn of
women.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</span></p>

<p>“The error of the Quincy women was one
of the head and not of the heart. Women are
sometimes led into error by unthinkingly imitating
the follies and vices of men, or by acting
under their direction. In the ‘good time coming,’
when women learn to do their own thinking
and to rely more on their own judgments,
they will rarely be led into wrong or unwise
action. May the day hasten speedily on when
woman’s dormant powers shall be so developed
by education that she will stand forth before
the world in all the nobleness and excellence of
her being! Then no longer will men revile her
garments or taunt her as they now too often
do, directly or indirectly, with cowardice, inferiority
and weakness of intellect.</p>

<p class="right">
“A. B.”<br>
</p>
</div>


<h3>OBJECTIONS TO WOMAN SUFFRAGE ANSWERED.</h3>

<p>While the woman-suffrage amendment was
before the general assembly of Iowa, Senator
Gaylord, a member of that body, published a
list of twenty-one reasons why it should not
be adopted. These Mrs. Bloomer, in a letter
to the Des Moines <cite>Register</cite>, answered as follows:</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</span></p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“1. He says ‘it is not in the interest or in
the disposition of man to legislate against
woman,’ etc. And yet for ages men have legislated
against woman and deprived her of all
right to her own person, her earnings, her property,
and her children. The common law
places woman in a position little better than
that of slavery. And this law was made by
men; and it was not until the agitation of the
woman’s-rights question by women, and their
exposure of the injustice of the laws and their
demands for redress of grievances, that changes
were made in their favor. If the senator does
not know of this, let him read up the common
law on these points and the history of the
woman-suffrage question for the last thirty
years, and he will find that up to that time it
<em>was</em> the ‘disposition of men to legislate against’
every interest of woman.</p>

<p>“2. He says ‘she ought not to be compelled
by law to work out a poll-tax in the public
highway, nor to learn the art of butchery on
the battlefield.’ Most certainly she ought not,
but she could hire a substitute to do these
things, just as Senator Gaylord does. I venture
the assertion, without knowing, that he did
not earn his right to the ballot by the bullet
or by shoveling dirt on the highways. If only<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</span>
those who do these things were allowed to vote
the number of voters would be small indeed.</p>

<p>“3. ‘Because there is no evidence that the
most intelligent women ask for the miserable
privilege of becoming politicians.’ Does the
senator think that it is a miserable privilege to
have the right to the ballot, the right to vote
for good men and measures, the right to self-protection,
the right to sit in the halls of legislation
making wise and just laws for the government
of his country, which shall tend to the
interest and happiness of the whole people?
One who prizes these privileges so lightly
should be deprived of them and the wonder is
that, holding such opinions as he does, we find
a ‘miserable politician’ having his seat in the
legislative hall of this great state, where he
surely ought not to be. The fact that the
women and the men who are asking for the
enfranchisement of women are among the most
intelligent, refined, affectionate and exemplary
citizens is too patent to need proof from me.</p>

<p>“4. ‘Because woman is superior to man, and
she owes her superiority to the fact that she
has never waded in the dirty pool of politics.’
Dear me! how worried this man is about the
‘dirty,’ ‘miserable’ politics! And again how
strange, knowing the pool to be so muddy, that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</span>
he has waded in so deep! and to think of his
going home to his family with all this filth upon
him! Really, if the place is so muddy it is
high time that woman come in, with all the
purity and goodness he gives her credit for,
and sweep out the dirt that is befouling her
husband and sons and make it a more fit place
for them. An atmosphere that is too impure
for her to breathe cannot but be dangerous to
them, and it is her duty to rescue them from
the ‘muddy’ pool or so to cleanse it that it
will be safe for both.</p>

<p>“5. Senator Gaylord may call himself a wizard
if he likes, and we shall not object; but
women prefer not to be angels while sojourning
here below, but rather good, sensible, practical
wives and mothers, prepared to discharge
life’s duties in whatever situation they may be
placed—in the home, at the ballot-box or in
legislative halls, wherever duty, interest and
inclination may lead them.</p>

<p>“6. ‘Because a deference is now shown to
women, which would be denied,’ etc. Deference
shown to women does not make up for
deprivation of rights, Mr. Gaylord. Besides, it
is not a fact, but on the contrary, that equality
of rights, politically or otherwise, leads men to
disrespect woman. Give us rights and then, if<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</span>
you must, withhold courtesy: I trust we should
have strength to bear it.</p>

<p>“7. ‘Because, if married women should vote
against their husbands, there would be war.’
And who would make the war, Mr. Gaylord?
No man, except one who wishes to play the
tyrant in his family and enslave his wife’s
thought and actions, could ever utter so silly
a reason for depriving her of rights to which
she is as justly entitled as himself. Does he
question the right of a man to do his own
thinking and vote as he pleases? Why then a
woman? The very fact that he thus claims
the right to make her action subservient to his
wishes, or to make war upon her if she does not
submit to his own dictation, is reason sufficient
why her individuality and right to self-government
should be recognized and secured to her
by making her an enfranchised citizen.</p>

<p>“8. ‘Because there are bad women,’ etc.
Well, why may not bad women vote as well as
bad men? If they had had a vote long ago
perhaps they would not be bad now, and perhaps
there would not be so many bad men
either. I would sooner trust those women to
vote right than many men who now disgrace
the ballot; and as to any contamination at the
polls, we no more fear it than on the streets, at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</span>
public gatherings, in the stores, and in various
places where we meet and brush by them unharmed.
We have more to fear from the men
who make women bad. But, inasmuch as
many women are compelled to associate in the
closest relations with these men, and we all
have to tolerate them in society, and come in
contact with them in business matters, we
think no great harm can come to us by dropping
a bit of paper in the same box. But if
there is really danger from such contact, we
can avoid it by having voting places for our
own sex away from theirs.</p>

<p>“9. ‘Because, if a woman trains up her children
right, they will vote right.’ etc. No, not
always. The training of the mother is often
counteracted by the influence, authority and example
of the father, and the two might differ
as to what was right. The mother might teach
her son that the ballot is a high and sacred
thing, a mighty power to be wielded for the
best interests and happiness of humanity, a
power for the putting down of evil and for
the forming and sustaining just governments;
while the father might teach him that the right
of the elective franchise is a ‘miserable privilege,’
that it leads to a ‘muddy pool’ into
which all must wade, that it is all ‘moonshine<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</span>
and monsoons’ and that the ‘privilege of voting
is not to be so much desired as the privilege
of being voted for.’ Which training is he to
follow? Where lies the danger?</p>

<p>“10. The senator here claims that men are
‘vain, ambitious and aspiring, caring more to
be voted for than to vote,’ and he fears that
women will show the same weakness if permitted
to vote. It is to be hoped, for the
credit of womanhood, that if a woman ever
takes his seat she will not disgrace herself by
the utterance of such senseless twaddle in opposition
to any measure as characterized his
effort on the proposed amendment!</p>

<p>“13. ‘Because there must be a dividing line,
somewhere, between those who may vote and
who may not,’ etc. Then why not let the
educated, intelligent, sober and moral of both
sexes vote, and shut out the ignorant, drunken
and immoral? Why let men vote and make
laws, no matter how low and vile they may be,
simply because they are men while those who
are subject to the man-made laws are denied
the right to vote, simply because they are
women? The line so drawn is unnatural,
unjust, and productive of great wrong to all
parties. The line as now drawn shuts out only
Indians, idiots, and women.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</span></p>

<p>“14. Here our senator throws all the responsibility
upon the ‘All-wise Author of our
natures,’ and claims that He has made laws to
prevent woman entering the ‘moonshine and
monsoon of politics,’ forgetting that God called
Deborah to the political field and made her a
judge in Israel, and that for all time there have
been queens and rulers among women, evidently
with God’s approval. The All-Father gave
woman an intelligent mind and capacity for
governing, and then left her free to exercise
her gifts as she saw fit; and if there be times
when by sickness or other circumstance she
may be prevented from the discharge of political
duties, so also there are times and circumstances
when men are kept from the polls and
from office, and if this be reason why the former
should not be enfranchised then it is also reason
why the latter should be disfranchised.</p>

<p>“15. ‘Because the wife has a voice and a
vote already, and her husband is her agent to
carry that vote to the ballot-box.’ How is it
about the thousands of women who have no
husbands to do such errands for them? How
does this proxy-voting work when the wife
differs with the husband on the question to be
voted on? Does he waive his own preference
and deposit the vote in accordance with her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</span>
wishes? If he does not, then does he represent
her? The only just course is to let her deposit
her own vote; then both will be represented.
Now, they are not. Man deposits his vote
regardless of his wife’s interests and wishes.</p>

<p>“17. ‘Because there cannot be two equal
heads in the same family.’ ‘Where the wife is
anybody, the husband must be a nobody.’ ‘If
the wife has sense enough to vote, the husband
is dwarfed.’ So, according to our senator, the
wife should be a weak-minded, senseless thing
deprived of all right of opinion, so that the
husband may rise to the dignity of a voter.
Is not this sound logic? Did the superior
brain of man ever before conceive of so strong
an argument why woman should not vote?
Two heads are better than one, Mr. Senator,
and there may be two equal heads in the same
family, at the same time, and neither of them
be ‘dwarfed’ or belittled by the superiority of
the other. If such is not the condition of your
family, your wife is a subject for sympathy.</p>

<p>“18. ‘Because politics would pervert and
destroy woman’s nature, the religious element,’
etc. God implanted in woman’s nature a love
of home and a love of her offspring, and also
an instinctive knowledge of what is proper and
what improper for her to do; and it needs no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</span>
laws of man’s making to incite the one or compel
the other. Give her her rights and her own
good sense will teach her how to use them.
Does the ballot change man’s nature for the
worse? Why then woman’s?</p>

<p>“Pp. 11, 12, 19, 20 and 21. These concluding
reasons show a dreadful imaginative picture
of the condition of things that would exist in
the family should women be permitted to go
to the polls and exercise the rights secured to
them by the laws of their country. ‘Strife,
contention, jealousy, hatred, slander, rivalry,
intemperance, licentiousness, temper, retaliation,
suicide, suspicion, discord, divorce,’ all
these are to come to our good senator’s family
when his wife has a right to vote. He anticipates
it all and is doing all he can to avert the
dire calamity. But while he is to be commiserated,
he must remember that all families
are not alike, and where he sees only dire disaster
other men see the dawning of a better
day and are ready to ‘turn the crank’ that shall
hasten it on. Other men do not fear and
tremble; but calmly await the time when they
can take their wives on their arms and, side by
side, go to the polls and drop in the little
paper that declares them equal in rights and
privileges. In these families there will be no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</span>
war, for such men are proud to own their wives
their equals and do not feel that they themselves
are dwarfed thereby. As the ballot elevates and
ennobles man, so they believe it will be with
woman, and they cannot understand how rendering
justice to her is going to convert her into
the coarse, vile, quarrelsome thing our senator
predicts, or how acknowledging her the equal
of her husband is going to ‘dwarf’ men and convert
them into ruffians and nobodies.</p>

<p class="right">
“A. B.”<br>
</p>
</div>


<h3>ON HOUSEKEEPING—WOMAN’S BURDENS.</h3>

<p>The following essay on this subject was read
by Mrs. Bloomer before a local society or club in
Council Bluffs:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“It has always seemed to me that there was
something wrong in the present system of
housekeeping. Men have particular branches
of business to which they give their exclusive
attention, and never attempt to carry on three
or four trades at the same time. Housekeeping
comprises at least three trades, that of cook,
laundress and seamstress, to which might be
added that of house cleaning; and yet it is expected
of woman that she will single-handed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</span>
successfully carry on these various trades, and
at the same time bear and rear children and
teach them to become great and good. How
long would men undergo a like amount of labor
without devising some means of lightening and
separating its burdens?</p>

<p>“I wish to call your attention to the fact
that in the mythical second chapter of Genesis,
upon which men lay so much stress as their
authority for subjugating and belittling the
position of woman, no toil was imposed on our
Mother Eve. The ground was cursed for man’s
sake, and he was to labor and eat his bread in
the sweat of his face. But to woman no command
to labor was given, no toil laid upon her,
no ground or stove cursed for her sake. She
was to bear children; but motherhood was
never cursed by the Almighty. Woman is the
mother of mankind, the living Providence
(under God) who gives to every human being
its mental, moral and physical organization,
who stamps upon every human heart her seal
for good or for evil. How important then that
her surroundings be pleasant, her thoughts
elevated, her mind imbued with the best and
noblest traits, her individuality acknowledged,
her freedom assured, that she may impart wise
and noble characters to her children, surround<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</span>
them with good influences and train them in
all goodness and virtue! This is the part of
woman. But how can she be fitted for such
life work when subjected to the whims and commands
of another, to the constant round of
housekeeping labor, to toil and drudgery, to
cares, annoyances and perplexities which she
has not health and strength and nerve to bear?
How can one woman cook and wash dishes
three times a day, sweep and dust the house,
wash and iron, scrub and clean, make and mend
and darn for a family, and yet have time or
spirit for the improvement of her own mind so
that she may stamp strong characters upon her
children? How can a mother whose every
hour from early morn to late at night is filled
with cares and worries and toil to supply the
physical needs of her family find time or be
prepared to instruct properly the tender minds
committed to her care?</p>

<p>“It is to woman’s weary hours and broken
health, and to her subject, unhappy and unsatisfactory
position, that we may impute much
of the evil, vice and crime that are abroad.
And to the same cause are due so many
domestic quarrels, separations and divorces.
Children are born into the world with the stamp
of the mother’s mind upon them. I believe it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</span>
is conceded that children are more indebted
to their mothers than to their fathers for their
natural gifts. How important then that every
facility be afforded the mother for making good
impressions on her child! How strange that
men so entirely overlook this law of inheritance!
What can they expect of children when the
mother is degraded and enslaved?</p>

<p>“Is there not some way of relief from this
drudging, weary work over the cook stove,
washtub and sewing machine; from this load of
labor and care? Why should one hundred
women in each of one hundred separate houses
be compelled to do the work that could equally
as well or better be done by less than one-fifth
of that number by some reasonable and just
system of coöperation? Why cannot the cooking
and washing and sewing be all attended to
in a coöperative establishment, and thus relieve
women, and mothers particularly, of the heavy
burdens their fourfold labors now impose upon
them, and give them time for self-improvement
and the care and culture of their children?
It is said that in the city of New York there
are but 30,000 household servants to more than
270,000 families. By this we see that nine out
of every ten wives and mothers in that city are
subjected to the daily round of household labor.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</span>
Can we not trace a large percentage of the vice
and degradation of that city to that cause?
And this state of things will hold good to a
large extent over the whole country.</p>

<p>“Time is not allowed me to go into the
details of coöperative housekeeping, even
had I the matter well matured in my own
mind, which I have not. But I have given
reasons why some plan should be devised to
relieve woman of hard labor and crushing care,
and I leave it for her who is to follow on my
side of the question to present a plan that shall
recommend itself to our approval.</p>

<p class="right">
“A. B.”<br>
</p>
</div>


<h3>THE CIVIL WAR.</h3>

<p>The War of the Rebellion aroused the feelings,
as also the patriotism, of the women of
the Northern states to a high state of activity.
Perhaps at first they did not enter into the contest
so earnestly as did the women of the
South, that is, their feelings were not so deeply
aroused; but ere long, as the war went on, they
came up nobly to the duties before them and
were henceforward unwearied and unremitting
in their discharge. Their fathers, brothers, sons<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</span>
and husbands were in the armies of the Union
periling their lives for its complete restoration.
They could but hope that success might crown
their efforts, and in various ways they sought
to help on the contest until the end should be
reached, the republic saved; and many also
hoped and prayed that, when victory came, it
would bring also the complete destruction of
slavery. Mrs. Bloomer entered into this feeling,
and the work done by the women of the North,
with all the energies of her ardent spirit. Two
regiments were raised in Council Bluffs and the
vicinity, and many of the young men of the
city were in their ranks. The women did a
great deal towards providing them with camp
conveniences and furnishing them with needed
clothing and other comforts necessary for the
arduous and dangerous life on which they were
about to enter. Each day, dress parade found
very many on the regimental grounds encouraging
“the boys” in the discharge of their
duties. Among other things, a beautiful flag
was prepared and Mrs. Bloomer was delegated
by the ladies to present it to company A,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</span>
which had been mainly recruited in the city.
This she did in the presence of the whole regiment,
in the following short speech:</p>


<h3>MRS. BLOOMER’S ADDRESS.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Captain Craig, Sir: In behalf of the loyal
ladies of Council Bluffs I present to you, and
through you to the company you command,
this flag. Its materials are not of so rich a
texture as we could have wished, but they are
the best our city afforded; and we hope that
you will accept it as an expression of our respect
for yourself and your company, and our warm
sympathy for the cause you go forth to uphold.
This flag has emblazoned upon it the stars and
stripes of our country. It was under these
that our Fathers fought the battle of the Revolution
and secured for us that priceless gift,
the Constitution of the United States.</p>

<p>“You are now going forth to sustain and
defend that Constitution against an unjust and
monstrous rebellion, fomented and carried
on by wicked and ambitious men, who have
for their object the overthrow of the best
government the world has ever seen. To this
noble cause we dedicate this flag. We know
you will carry it proudly, gallantly and bravely
on the field of battle and wherever you go, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</span>
we trust it may ever be to you the emblem of
victory.</p>

<p>“Soldiers: We cannot part with you without
a few words of counsel and warning. In
the new and dangerous path you are entering
upon, let us entreat you to guard well your
steps and keep yourselves aloof from every
vice. Avoid, above all things, profanity and
the intoxicating cup. The latter slays annually
more than fall on the battlefield. The hearts
of mothers, wives and sisters go forth after you.
Many tears will be shed and many prayers
will be offered in your behalf. See to it, then,
that you so conduct yourselves that whatever
may befall you, whether you fall in the service
of your country or return to gladden the hearts
of the loved ones you leave behind and to
enjoy the peace you will have conquered—that
no sting shall pierce their hearts, no stain
rest on your fair fame. Go forth in your sense
of right, relying on the justice of your cause.
Seek peace with God your Saviour, that you
may be prepared to meet His summons should
it come suddenly, or to enjoy life should it
please Him to spare you for many days.</p>

<p>“Our good wishes go with you, and we shall
ever hold you in honorable remembrance; and
when this important war is ended which calls<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</span>
you from us, and you are discharged from duty,
we shall heartily welcome you back to your
home and friends.”</p>
</div>

<p>This address was delivered at dress parade
just as the sun was going down and only a day
or two before the regiment left for the front.
The volunteer soldiers listened with deep
emotion, and when allusion was made to the
homes and friends left behind many a stout
heart heaved and tears trickled down many a
manly face.</p>

<p>Lieutenant Kinsman, in behalf of Captain
Craig, accepted the flag from Mrs. Bloomer in
a neat and appropriate address.</p>

<p>Lieutenant Kinsman had been a partner of
her husband and a dear friend of Mrs. Bloomer’s;
over his subsequent career she watched with
the greatest interest. He soon rose to be the
captain of his company, then a lieutenant-colonel,
and then colonel of an Iowa regiment
at whose head he fell bravely fighting at the
Battle of Black River Bridge, in Mississippi, in
1863. As showing the earnest patriotism of
Mrs. Bloomer and her intelligent appreciation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</span>
of the great questions involved in it, the following
letter written by her to the convention
of loyal women in New York City in 1864 is
here inserted:</p>


<h3>LETTER TO CONVENTION OF LOYAL WOMEN.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">
<p class="no-indent">
“<span class="smcap">Miss Anthony</span>:<br>
</p>

<p>“Your letter inviting me to meet in council
with the loyal women of the nation
on the 14th inst. in the city of New York
is received. Most gladly does my heart
respond to the call for such a meeting, and
most earnestly do I hope that the deliberations
on that occasion will result in much good to
woman and to the cause you meet to promote.</p>

<p>“The women of the North are charged by
the press with a lack of zeal and enthusiasm in
the war. The charge may be true to some extent.
Though for the most part the women of
the loyal states are loyal to the government,
and in favor of sustaining its every measure
for putting down the rebellion, yet they do not
I fear enter fully into the spirit of the revolution,
or share greatly in the enthusiasm and
devotion which sustain the women of the South
in their struggle for what they believe their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</span>
independence and freedom from oppression.
This is owing, doubtless, to the war being
waged on soil remote from us, to women
having no part in the active contest, and to the
deprivation and heart-sorrows it has occasioned
them. There are too many who think only of
themselves and too little of the sufferings of
the soldiers who have volunteered to save their
country. While they are willing to give of
their time and means to relieve the sick and
wounded, they at the same time decry the
war, lament the sacrifices and expenditure it
occasions, think it should have been prevented
by a compromise and long for peace on
almost any terms. These think not of the great
cause at stake, they care not for the poor slave,
think not of the future of our country, and
fail to see the hand of God in the movement
punishing the nation for sin and leading it
up through much suffering and tribulation to
a brighter and more glorious destiny.</p>

<p>“But there is a class of women who have
looked beyond the mere clash of arms and the
battlefield of the dead and dying, and recognize
the necessity and importance of this dark
hour of trial to our country. The first cannon
fired at Sumter sounded in their ears the
death knell of slavery and proclaimed the will<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</span>
of the Almighty to this nation. These have
never believed we should have peace or great
success until the doom of slavery was irrevocably
sealed. That seal has been set. Our
noble President has bowed to the will of the
Supreme Power and by the guidance and sustaining
spirit of that Power will, I trust, lead
our country successfully through the great and
fearful struggle and place it upon a firm and
more enduring basis.</p>

<p>“The contest has outlasted the expectation
of all, and has cost the nation a vast amount
of blood and treasure. It has called into the
field a million or more of soldiers, and the
number of fathers, brothers and sons slain upon
the battlefield and wasted away in camps and
hospitals is counted by hundreds of thousands,
while its expenses run up to billions. And
still the war for the Union, for Freedom, and the
integrity of our national boundaries goes forward;
and in the hearts of true Union men
everywhere the firm resolve has been made
that it shall go on until the rebellion is crushed,
cost what it may, and continue though it should
last as long as did the war which brought our
nation into existence.</p>

<p>“Now the question for us to consider is:
Are we prepared for the further and continued<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</span>
sacrifice? Have we yet more sons and brothers
to yield up on the altar of our country? To
this question let every loyal woman address
herself; and I fondly hope that the proceedings
of your convention will be such as to
nerve woman for whatever sacrifice and trial
await her.</p>

<p>“I know there are many women in whose
hearts the love of country and of justice is
strong, and who are willing to incur any loss
and make almost any sacrifice rather than that
the rebellion should succeed and the chains of
the bondmen be more firmly riveted. If they
manifest less enthusiasm than their patriotic
brothers it is because they have not so great
an opportunity for its exercise. The customs
of society do not permit any stormy or noisy
manifestation of feeling on the part of woman.
But the blood of Revolutionary sires flows as
purely in her veins as in those of her more
favored brothers, and she can feel as deeply,
suffer as intensely, and endure as bravely as
do they.</p>

<p>“But I would have her do more than suffer
and endure. I would that she should not only
resolve to stand by the government of the
Union in its work of defeating the schemes of
its enemies, but that she should let her voice<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</span>
go forth to the government in clear and unmistakable
tones against any peace with
rebels, except upon the basis of entire submission
to the authority of the government.
Against the schemes and plans of the ‘peace
party’ in the North the loyal women everywhere
protest. That party seeks to obtain
peace through compromise, and it advocates an
armistice with rebels who ask for none. Such
a peace we do not want, for it would be either
brought about by the recognition of the rebel
government, or by base and dishonorable submission
to its demands. To either of these
results we are alike opposed. When peace
comes, let it come through the complete
triumph of the Union army; and with the
destruction of the great cause of the rebellion,
which we all know to be African Slavery.</p>

<p>“What part woman is to take in the work,
and in what way she can best hold up the hands
and cheer the heart of the great man who is at
the head of our government, will be for the
loyal women in council to determine.</p>

<p class="right">
“A. B.”<br>
</p>
</div>

<p>The ladies of Council Bluffs were zealous in
sending clothing and necessary hospital stores
to the soldiers fighting at the front. Mrs.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</span>
Bloomer was one of the most active in this
work. She was placed on many committees,
often at the head of them, and her house was
a centre around which their efforts were
directed. She was a thorough patriot, and did
all in her power to promote the welfare of
those who were fighting the battle of the Union.
She attended for three weeks the great Sanitary
Fair held in Chicago in the early part of 1865,
and previous to going to it had been largely
instrumental in collecting the noble contribution
sent thither by Iowa. Here, for the first
time, she met General Grant, the illustrious
commander of the Union armies. Mrs.
Bloomer had never been classed among the
“abolitionists,” but she was nevertheless an
intense hater of slavery and the slave power,
and no one rejoiced more sincerely that the
war finally ended with the overthrow of that
blight upon the fair name of our country.</p>


<h3>VISITS WASHINGTON.</h3>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer, after her removal to the West,
made occasional visits to her old home in New<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</span>
York, there spending several weeks with relatives
and friends. In the autumn of 1880, with
her husband, she passed nearly a week in the
national capital viewing the noble buildings
and the wonderful collections of nature and
art with which they are so abundantly filled.
One day was spent at the Smithsonian Institution,
where the ethnological department
attracted great attention. The Patent Office
was looked through, and the Corcoran gallery
of paintings and statuary admired and
carefully inspected. One day was given to
Mount Vernon and the former residence of the
Father of his Country visited. It was a beautiful
day and the passage down and up the
Potomac delightful. The scenes at Mount
Vernon were most impressive, and made a place
in her memory never to be effaced.</p>


<h3>IN NEW YORK CITY.</h3>

<p>Proceeding from Washington northward,
they spent one day in Philadelphia very pleasantly;
and, on arriving in New York, Mrs.
Bloomer and her husband arranged for a stop<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</span>
in the great metropolis of several weeks. They
spent two days with relatives in Westchester
County, and after her return Mrs. Bloomer met
her old and dear friends, Mrs. Douglass and
Mrs. Chamberlain, and had very pleasant visits
with them. A day was taken up in visiting some
of the noted places in the city, and then Mrs.
Bloomer accepted an invitation to visit Mrs.
Stanton at her residence in Tenyfly, in New
Jersey; but before she had time to do this,
word came to her of the dangerous illness of
her sister. Giving up all her plans, she at once
repaired to the residence of Mr. John Lowden,
at Waterloo, N. Y., and remained by the bedside
of her sister until her spirit passed away.
Of a large family of brothers and sisters, Mrs.
Bloomer was then the only one left. After
attending the funeral, she spent a few days with
her husband in the excellent family of her
niece, Mrs. N. J. Milliken, at Canandaigua,
N. Y., being present at the marriage of one of
her daughters; and then, after another stop in
Buffalo of a few days more, returned to Council
Bluffs.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</span></p>

<p>One more visit was made to New York, in
1889, to attend the golden anniversary of her
husband’s brother, Mr. C. A. Bloomer, of Buffalo.
The occasion was a very happy one;
and after some days spent in that city, she
once more passed on to her old home in Seneca
Falls, visiting also at Canandaigua and other
places in the vicinity.</p>


<h3>VISITS COLORADO.</h3>

<p>In 1879 Mrs. Bloomer made her first journey
to Colorado, its mountains and magnificent
scenery. This was repeated in subsequent
years, the last trip having been made in 1894,
only a few months before her death. During
these tours she spent many days in Denver,
Leadville, Idaho Springs, Pueblo, Colorado
Springs, and Manitou. All the points round
the latter famous watering place were visited.
She rode through the Garden of the Gods,
Monument Park, and Cheyenne Cañon, and
traversed the great caves opened up in the
mountains. Climbing Cheyenne Mountain,
she stood on the spot where the famous poet<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</span>
and writer Helen H. Jackson was laid at rest.
The scenery from this point over the surrounding
mountains and valleys is truly wonderful
and makes a great impression on all beholders.</p>


<h3>A LETTER.</h3>

<p>The following descriptive letter written to a
local paper by Mrs. Bloomer from Manitou,
Colorado, August 12, 1879, gives her impression
of that place and vicinity at that time:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Our stay at Denver was a short one, as we
found the weather at that place about as hot
as in Council Bluffs. After looking over that
city for one day, we hastened on to this famed
resort for invalids and summer tourists seeking
pleasure and recreation. As usual at this
season, the hotels are crowded, and scores of
camp tents dot the hills in every direction.</p>

<p>“We took up our temporary abode at the
Cliff House, principally because of its nearness
to the springs, three of which are in the immediate
vicinity. This is a popular house and is
crowded with guests. The Manitou and Beebe,
though farther from the springs, are full and
are first-class houses. Scores of cottages are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</span>
leased for a few weeks or months by visitors,
and many private houses take temporary
lodgers or boarders. Among owners of the latter
is Mrs. Dr. Leonard, formerly of Council Bluffs.
She is proprietor of the bath-houses here, and
is doing a good paying business, sometimes as
many as a hundred a day taking baths. She
has built a house of her own, but leases the
bath-house, which belongs to the town company.
She has also considerable practice as a
physician.</p>

<p>“Cheyenne Cañon, Ute Pass, Williams Pass,
Pike’s Peak, the Garden of the Gods, Glen
Eyrie, Queen’s Cañon, and Monument Park are
the principal points of interest visited daily by
people here. A few mornings since, a party of
seventeen gentlemen and ladies left one hotel on
horseback for the ascent of Pike’s Peak. They
made the journey safely and returned at dark,
some of them feeling little worse for the trip,
while others were pretty well used up. Yesterday
a gentleman and lady made the same journey
on foot. As the distance is twelve miles,
all the way up the steep mountain side, this
was considered quite a feat. To-day the same
parties have gone on foot to Cheyenne Cañon, a
distance of twelve miles. I have not heard
that the lady is one of the celebrated ‘walkers,’<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</span>
but she certainly deserves that her name be
added to the list.</p>

<p>“Yesterday we made up a party of six and
started soon after breakfast for the Garden
of the Gods, Glen Eyrie, and Monument Park.
The day was one of the finest imaginable, the
air cool and invigorating, and our driver a man
experienced in the business of showing to
tourists the wonders of this section of this
wonderful state. We found him a very intelligent
and much-traveled man, and learned
that he was one of the magistrates of the town.
Our road to the Garden of the Gods was ascending
all the way. In reply to a query as
to why the place was so named, the guide told
us a story of how a southern gentleman came
to the spot some years ago bringing with him
two colored slaves, a man and a woman. He
built here a cabin, and soon after took his
gun and started out for a further journey, leaving
the slaves behind and promising an early
return. But days and weeks passed on and
he returned not, and never was heard of more.
The negroes remained in their new home, made
improvements and planted a garden, which in
this new land was a sight to gladden the eye.
This, in connection with the grand works of
nature surrounding it, grew to be the Garden<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</span>
of the Gods, the name which has made it
famous throughout the world. So much for
the story. The negroes, Jupiter and Juno, are
no more; but the great works of nature remain
in all their grandeur, and a visit to them well
repays the traveler for the journey he takes to
see them.</p>

<p>“The rocks in this so-called garden have been
shaped into every conceivable form by the
action of wind, water and frost. Many of them,
by a little stretch of the imagination, are made
to bear a strong resemblance to men and
animals. The prevailing formation is red sandstone,
but there are also conglomerate, gypsum
and other varieties. At the south entrance, is
a huge rock standing upon the narrowest foundation,
and seemingly ready at any moment
to topple over on the people who are constantly
passing. As the incline is a little away from
the road, it is to be hoped no such catastrophe
will ever happen, even should the rock in ages
to come be so top-heavy as to break loose from
its foundations. The Grand Gateway is a narrow
passageway between immense piles of
rocks over three hundred feet high, of irregular
outline and surface, which rise sharply and
perpendicularly like a mighty wall. These
rocks are full of holes, rifts and crevices and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</span>
chasms in which thousands of swallows have
built their nests, and we could plainly hear the
twittering of the young ones from the ledge of
rocks a few feet distant, on which we climbed.
Our guide led us to a cave under one of these
walls. The opening was near the base, and so
low that one had to bend the knees and crawl
in. The guide assured us that once inside the
cave was high and roomy. Half of our party
ventured in, but they found it too dark to see
far beyond. Those of us who remained outside
could hear the echoes of their voices high
up in the rocks, showing that there is a high
open space within the seemingly solid stone.
Other rocks but a few feet distant are of gray
color, and a little further on are large white
rocks composed of gypsum, very soft and pliable.
This is now being taken out in large
quantities to be converted into plaster of Paris.</p>

<p>“At the time we were passing through this
huge gateway, an Iowa boy was standing on
the top of one of these towering red walls waving
a white flag, and upon the other stood a
young woman waving her handkerchief. They
looked like pygmies at that great elevation,
and but for their moving about we should have
supposed them a slight projection of rock.
These we are told are the same persons who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</span>
made the journey to Pike’s Peak mentioned
above. Their ascent up the rocks was a difficult
and dangerous one, and though our guide
proposed to lead us also up to their summit,
we declined the temptation to view the surrounding
mountains from so dizzy a height. It
is very singular that these different varieties of
rock formation should be found in so close
proximity, and they furnish abundant food for
the study of the geologist. The prevailing
shape of the rocks is high and narrow, and some
of the forms into which they have been brought
by the forces of nature are remarkably beautiful
and unique.</p>

<p>“Passing on from this famed locality over a
smooth and level road, we visited Glen Eyrie.
This spot derives its name from an eagle’s nest
high up in a crevice or shelf of the rocks, so our
guide informed us, and also that within a year
the eagles had occupied the nest, which was
plainly visible to us, looking the size of a bushelbasket.
They have now abandoned the place.
The name Glen Eyrie is given to a large tract
of land belonging to General Palmer, president
of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. He
has fenced in this wild tract, opened a road
across it, and in a nook close under the towering
rocks by which it is surrounded and far<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</span>
from any other habitation he has built a costly
and elegant residence. The dwelling stands at
the foot or entrance to Queen’s Cañon, a narrow
gorge up which we traveled on foot the distance
of half a mile till we reached a pool or basin
of water, eight or ten feet in diameter, which
blocked our further progress. This pool is
known as the Devil’s Punchbowl, but General
Palmer has named it the Mermaid’s Bathtub.
Whether either devils or mermaids come here
to either drink or bathe, history does not record.
Our path was over big stones and rocks, and
along the bed of a mountain torrent, which we
crossed several times, stepping from rock to
rock as our path led first to one side and then
to the other. High above us on either side the
mountains rose to a great height, their sides
covered at times with the evergreen pine and
scrub-oak, and again consisting simply of bare
and naked rocks ready at any moment apparently
to tumble down upon our heads. Our
guide informed us that General Palmer has
already spent forty or fifty thousand dollars
upon the house and grounds of Glen Eyrie. I
would not give him one thousand for the whole
thing.</p>

<p>“After the exploration of Queen’s Cañon
our party voted unanimously to proceed to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</span>
Monument Park, a distance of five miles, which
we reached just in time to enjoy a most excellent
dinner prepared for us by Mrs. Lewis,
whose husband is an extensive cattle-raiser and
lives in a comfortable dwelling at the entrance
of the park. We are told that he came a confirmed
consumptive, but has now become a
strong and healthy man. This we could well
believe, for in this locality the air was wonderfully
pure, dry and bracing, and our party
greatly enjoyed its exhilarating effects. Dinner
over, we proceeded to explore the Park and
gaze upon its unique formations. I do not feel
competent to adequately describe them. The
rocks are unlike any others in Colorado. They
are nearly white with a yellowish tinge and
often pyramidal in form. Standing out from
the general mass are numerous statue-like
columns, which seem to have been carved by
the hand of man. They bear various designations,
such as Adam and Eve, Lot’s Wife, the
Democratic Caucus, Henry Ward Beecher’s
Pulpit, the Dutch Wedding, the Anvil, etc., etc.
They range from eight to fifteen feet in height
and, what is singular, all of them are crowned
with a flat rocky cap considerably larger than
the top of the column on which it rests. This
covering is composed of materials different from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</span>
the statue itself, being of a harder or darker
substance, considerable iron being mixed with
its other constituents. I noticed one exact
form of a bottle or decanter, large and round,
with a small neck. This was smaller than the
forms that surrounded it, but it had the same
flat cap-stone that surmounted all the others.
How came these statues here? Who can tell?
Some of our party said the rocks had been
washed away in the progress of ages from
around them and left them standing out boldly
by themselves, a puzzle and a wonder to all beholders.
But some of them rise from a level
plain, standing alone, with no rocks near them,
and no evidence of any having been washed
away. They rise from the ground, a solid column,
and look as though placed there by the
hand of man to mark the spot of some great
event or the tomb of some departed one. Men
have their theories, but the mystery is buried
in the darkness of ages and none solve it satisfactorily.
We leave them to their solitude and
silence and, awe-stricken and subdued, turn our
faces whence we came.</p>

<p class="right">
“A. B.”<br>
</p>
</div>


<h3>ADOPTED CHILDREN.</h3>

<p>No children of her own came to the home
of Mrs. Bloomer, but she cared carefully and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</span>
almost continually for the children of others.
Her residence, whether in the east or the west,
was hardly ever without their presence. Nieces
and nephews were nearly always under her
roof, and some of them remained with her
until they had homes of their own. Soon after
her removal to Council Bluffs, a little boy was
adopted into her family and his sister came to
it a few years later. These were carefully cared
for, instructed and educated, and remained with
her until they took their welfare into their own
hands. Both have now families of their own,
one residing in Oregon and the other in Arizona.
The boy, Edward, took her name, and his
children bear it also. For him as a boy and a
man, and for his children, she ever manifested
the warmest interest, preparing and sending to
them each year boxes of clothing and other
articles designed to add to their comfort and
happiness in their distant home. In the early
days of Council Bluffs, not a few of the teachers
in the public schools resided in her family.
They were mostly young women and she
always strove to afford to them a pleasant and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</span>
comfortable home. She ever insisted that the
wages of young women employed as teachers
by the school board should be the same as those
paid to men. Her position was that, so long as
they did an equal amount of work and did it
equally well, they should receive equal pay, and
this is an argument which never has been and
never can be successfully answered, although
school boards continue to set it aside as unworthy
of their consideration.</p>


<h3>CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK.</h3>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer was a zealous worker in the
church of which she was a member, as well as
in all efforts to promote the spread of true
Christianity. While a resident of Seneca Falls,
she contributed her full share to the various
agencies employed to advance the interests of
the parish. She was zealous and faithful in
attending church services and all gatherings
whether social or festive to advance church
interests. Modest and retiring in demeanor,
she took her place calmly and pleasantly
wherever called upon to labor, and found her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</span>
chief reward In the approval of a good conscience.</p>

<p>After her removal to her new home in the
West, much additional labor came to her in the
untrodden field in which her lot was cast.
When she took up her residence in Council
Bluffs, society was unorganized, without places
of worship, and without any of the religious or
moral agencies of older communities. We
have seen in her personal memoirs how she was
very soon called into the work before her. For
two years none of the religious services to
which she had been accustomed were held in
the town, except that occasionally a bishop or
minister made his way thither; when they
came along, these always found a genuine welcome
in her home. It is remembered that
Bishops Kemper and Lee, and the Rev. Edward
W. Peet, were among her guests during the
first year of her residence. They all held
religious services in the little Congregational
church building which then stood on Main
Street. At last a young missionary arrived
and took up his residence, making his first<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</span>
home with Mrs. Bloomer in her modest dwelling
under the bluff. And so it was in future
years; whenever new clergymen of her denomination
came to begin their work in town, they
all uniformly found a home and resting place
in her house until permanent quarters were
secured. Clergymen, temperance lecturers, reformers
of almost all kinds, among them
advocates of woman’s enfranchisement, always
found a welcome place at her table. On one
occasion, being alone in the house during her
husband’s absence, she was thrown into great
trepidation at finding that her guest for the
night (who had just come up from the bloody
fields of Kansas) was armed both with bowie-knife
and revolver; but the night passed in
safety, for the owner of these appalling
weapons was one of the noble men who periled
their lives to win that state for freedom.</p>

<p>The building up of a new community was
in those days attended with great labor and
called for unflinching courage and steady perseverance.
Churches had to be erected, school-houses
built, libraries established and good<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</span>
works of all kinds encouraged. In all this Mrs.
Bloomer did her full part. The support of the
minister and the building of churches, especially,
fell largely upon the women. They held festivals
and collected money for these objects.
They organized and maintained sewing societies
and gave entertainments of various kinds for
these objects. Mrs. Bloomer was among the
active workers in this field. She was for many
years secretary and treasurer of the Woman’s
Aid Society in her parish, a society which contributed
many thousands of dollars towards the
erection of three successive churches and wholly
built the rectory, as well as contributed largely
in other ways towards the support of the parish.
In 1880 she was president of the Art Loan-Exhibition
given for the joint benefit of the
city library and the church, one of the most
successful efforts of the kind ever held in the
city. On the parish register of her church
under the date of 1856 her name stands as
that of the first woman admitted to membership,
and until within a few months of her
decease, when she was prevented by bodily<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</span>
infirmities, she was a regular attendant upon
the services. She was, however, no mere copyist,
taking the words or teachings of others
without thought or examination; but looked
into all questions, theological, social or reformatory,
for herself, and her clergymen will
bear testimony to the many discussions they
held with her on these and kindred subjects.
One occasion her husband recalls: He came
to his dinner at the usual hour, but found his
wife and a visiting clergyman engaged in warm
argument. They had been at it all the forenoon,
the breakfast table standing as left in
the morning and all preparations for dinner
being forgotten. Of course, he enjoyed a good
laugh at their expense.</p>


<h3>HER CHARACTER ANALYZED.</h3>

<p>Mrs. Bloomer was a great critic, and for that
reason may not have been so popular with her
associates as she otherwise might have been.
Her criticisms, possibly, were sometimes too
unsparing and too forcibly expressed. She had
strong perceptive faculties and noticed what<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</span>
she believed to be the mistakes and failings of
others, perhaps, too freely. No one ever attacked
her, in print or otherwise, without receiving
a sharp reply either from tongue or pen
if it was in her power to answer. But no person
ever had a kinder heart, or more earnestly desired
the happiness of others, or more readily
forgot or forgave their failings. Perhaps, she
was deficient in the quality of humor and took
life too seriously; this over-earnestness, however,
if it existed at all, it is believed was brought
out more fully by dwelling so much upon what
she regarded as the wrongs of her sex and the
degradation to which they were subjected
through unjust laws and the curse of strong
drink. The same charge, that of taking things
too seriously, has recently been made by a noted
writer against the women of the present day
who are battling for what they conceive to be
the sacred rights of women.</p>


<h3>ABOUT THE FIRST SINNER.</h3>

<p>Although Mrs. Bloomer was a member of
one of the more conservative branches of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</span>
Christian community, she was an earnest advocate
of woman’s admission to all departments
of Christian work. She repudiated the notion
that woman was so great a sinner in the Garden
of Eden that she should be forever excluded
from ministerial work and responsibilities.
As to the first sin in the garden, here is
her view of it as stated by herself:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“How any unprejudiced and unbiased mind
can read the original account of the Creation
and Fall and gather therefrom that the woman
committed the greater sin, I cannot understand.
When Eve was first asked to eat of the
forbidden fruit she refused, and it was only
after her scruples were overcome by promises
of great knowledge that she gave way to sin.
But how was it with Adam who was with her?
He took and ate what she offered him without
any scruples of conscience, or promises on
her part of great things to follow—certainly
showing no superiority of goodness, or intellect,
or strength of character fitting him for the
headship. The command not to eat of the
Tree of Life was given to him before her creation,
and he was doubly bound to keep it; yet
he not only permitted her to partake of the tree<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</span>
without remonstrating with her against it and
warning her of the wrong, but ate it himself
without objection or hesitation. And then,
when inquired of by God concerning what he
had done, instead of standing up like an
honorable man and confessing the wrong, he
weakly tried to shield himself by throwing the
blame on the woman. As the account stands,
he showed the greater ‘feebleness of resistance
and evinced a pliancy of character and a readiness
to yield to temptation’ that cannot be
justly charged to the woman. As the account
stands, man has much more to blush for than
to boast of.</p>

<p>“While we are willing to accept this original
account of the Creation and Fall, we are not
willing that man should add tenfold to woman’s
share of sin and put a construction on the
whole matter that we believe was never intended
by the Creator. Eve had no more to
do with bringing sin into the world than had
Adam, nor did the Creator charge any more
upon her. The punishment inflicted upon
them for their transgression, was as heavy
upon him as upon her. Her sorrows were to
be multiplied; and so, too, was he to eat his
bread in sorrow and earn it with the sweat of
his face amid thorns and thistles. To her, no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</span>
injunction to labor was given; upon her no toil
was imposed, no ground cursed for her sake. * * * *
The Bible is brought forward to prove
the subordination of woman and to show that,
because St. Paul told the ignorant women of
his time to keep silent in the churches, the
educated, intelligent women of these times
must not only occupy the same position in the
church and the family but must not aspire to
the rights of citizenship. But the same Power
that brought the slave out of bondage will, in
His own good time and way, bring about
the emancipation of woman and make her
the equal in dominion that she was in the beginning.”</p>
</div>


<h3>GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY.</h3>

<p>On the 15th of April, 1890, Mr. and Mrs.
Bloomer commemorated the Fiftieth Anniversary
of their marriage at their home in Council
Bluffs. Many invitations were issued, nearly
all of which were generously responded to, and
their house was filled with guests from three
o’clock in the afternoon when the reception
began until late in the evening. Over one
hundred persons were in attendance. A local
paper describes the affair as follows:</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</span></p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“The reception of the guests began at three
o’clock. At the front-parlor entrance stood
Mr. Bloomer attired in a black broadcloth suit.
Next to him sat Mrs. Bloomer. She wore a
black-satin costume <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">en train</i> with gray damascene
front, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">crêpe</i> lace in the neck, diamond
ornaments. There were present Chas. A.
Bloomer and wife, of Buffalo, N. Y., N. J. Milliken
and wife, of Ontario County, N. Y., and
Miss Hannah Kennedy, of Omaha. Chas. A.
Bloomer is a brother of D. C. Bloomer, and is
president of the Buffalo Elevator Company.
N. J. Milliken is a nephew by marriage and
publisher of the <cite>Ontario County Times</cite>, of New
York. These constituted the reception company.
The evening reception commenced at
eight o’clock, and lasted until a late hour.
Among the callers were the vestry of St. Paul’s
Church, who paid their respects in a body to the
worthy couple.”</p>
</div>

<p>Mrs. Harris read a beautiful poem, and an
original poem was also read by Mrs. C. K.
White, of Omaha, and Prof. McNaughton, superintendent
of city schools, read the following
address:</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</span></p><div class="blockquot">

<p>“To Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer: It seems meet
and proper on this joyous occasion that the
public schools, their officers and teachers and
pupils, should send kindly greetings to one
who for the past thirty-five years has extended
to them a generous sympathy and, in the
earlier days of their existence, rendered them
distinguished service by aiding in the erection of
a well-planned and commodious edifice, the
adoption of a wise curriculum, and the laying of
a broad and deep foundation upon which has
been reared the fair structure of to-day; one
who has aided the teachers and pupils by
words of wise counsel and kindly sympathy
and is, by common consent, regarded as the
father of the public-school system of the city.</p>

<p>“To you, Mr. Bloomer, and your estimable
and noted wife, in behalf of the public schools
of the city, I wish to offer sincere and hearty
congratulations; congratulations that, under a
rare dispensation of Providence, you have been
permitted to enjoy together a half-century of
companionship in the sacred bonds of family
ties—fifty years of mutual helpfulness and
love! fifty years of sowing and reaping together
in the fields whose fruitage is intelligent progress
and eternal joy! And now, amid the
abundance of the harvest, in the golden glories
of life’s autumn, may you be long permitted to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</span>
remain among your devoted and admiring
friends!”</p>
</div>

<p>The following letter from Miss Susan B.
Anthony was received and read:</p>

<div class="blockquot">
<p class="right fs90">
“<em>Washington, April 9th, 1890.</em></p>
<p class="no-indent">“My Dear Friends, Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer:—<br>
</p>

<p>“And is your Golden Wedding to be here
April 15, 1890? That seems quite as impossible
as that I should have rounded out my three
score and ten years on February 15, 1890, just
two months before.</p>

<p>“Well, your lives have been side by side for
a whole half-century, and this, too, when the
wife has been one of the public advocates of
the equality of rights, civil and political, for
women. I hardly believe another twain made
one, where the wife belonged to the school
of equal rights for women, have lived more
happily, more truly one.</p>

<p>“Your celebration of your fiftieth wedding
day is one of the strongest proofs of the falseness
of the charge brought against our movement
for the enfranchisement of women, viz.,
that the condition of equality of political rights<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</span>
for the wife will cause inharmony and disruption
of the marriage bond. To the contrary,
such conditions of perfect equality are the best
helps to make for peace and harmony and elevation
in all true and noble directions. Hence I
rejoice with you on having reached the golden
day of your marriage union, not only for your
own sakes, but for our cause’s sake as well.</p>

<p>“I wish I could be present in your happy
home on that day, but the marriage of my
younger sister’s son, on April 17th, takes me to
Cleveland to witness the starting out of two
dear young people on the way you have traveled
so long and so well.</p>

<p>“So, with gratitude for the good work done
in the first fifty years of your married life, and
wishing for you many more equally happy, and
hoping that both you and I and Mrs. Stanton
and others of the pioneers of our great movement
may live to see not only Wyoming fully
in the Union but many others redeemed from
the curse of sex aristocracy, hoping <em>and believing</em>
I am</p>

<p><span style="margin-left: 14em;">“Very sincerely yours,</span></p>
<p class="right">“Susan B. Anthony.”</p>

</div>

<p>The following telegram was received from
Bishop Perry, of Iowa:</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</span></p>

<div class="blockquot">
<p class="right fs90">
“<em>Davenport, April 15th, 1890.</em></p>
<p class="center">
“Hon. D. C and Mrs. Bloomer:—</p>

<p>“Congratulations and benedictions. Fifty
golden years exhaust neither love nor hope.</p>

<p><span style="margin-left: 14em;">
“William Stevens Perry,</span></p>
<p class="right">
“Bishop of Iowa.”</p>
</div>

<p>Rev. G. W. Crofts also furnished a timely
and very beautiful poem. Because of his
inability to attend the reception, he called upon
the couple Monday afternoon and in a few
well chosen words presented it to them. It
was the production of the minister’s own pen,
and handsomely written on embossed cardboard
fastened with orange-tinted ribbons.
The poem was beautifully illustrated by Miss
S. D. Phere, the cuts being the representations
of a well-spent life. Upon its receipt Mrs.
Bloomer and her husband were greatly moved.
The poem is as follows:</p>

<div class="poetry-container fs90">
<div class="poetry">
  <div class="stanza">
    <div class="center">“1840. April 15. 1890.</div>
  </div>
  <div class="stanza">
    <div class="center">“<span class="smcap">To Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer.</span></div>
  </div>
  <div class="stanza">
  </div>
  <div class="stanza">
    <div class="verse indent0">“The Psalmist says that he who goes forth with tears,</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">Conveying precious seed, shall doubtless come again</div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</span>
    <div class="verse indent0">Rejoicing, bringing with him sheaves. ’Tis fifty years</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">Since you as one were made, and out upon the plain</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">Of Life’s great field together moved, ‘mid hopes and fears,</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">And in your faithful bosoms bearing golden grain.</div>
  </div>
  <div class="stanza">
    <div class="verse indent0">“To-day you come with sheaves, oh rich and golden sheaves!</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">Immortal sheaves, sheaves glowing in the light of heaven</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">So softly sifting down thro’ life’s autumn leaves;</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">And, while the clouds that deck the sky above are riven,</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">I see the angels smile. And who is there that grieves</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">When noble souls in life’s great harvest-field have striven?</div>
  </div>
  <div class="stanza">
    <div class="verse indent0">“This is a day of joy and praise, a crowning day!</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">Together you have walked for fifty years, and He</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">Who made your hearts to beat as one thro’ all the way</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">Has been your guide, His voice has stilled the stormy sea;</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">In darkest hours, you’ve heavenward looked and seen the ray</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">Of cloudless hope shine down with sweet tranquillity.</div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</span>
  </div>
  <div class="stanza">
    <div class="verse indent0">“When worn with toil, His loving arms have given you rest;</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">Sustaining grace He gave when you were weak and faint;</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">When sorrows came, ’twas then the haven of His breast</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">That opened wide and took you in. To each complaint</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">He lent His ear. In all things, you were truly blest</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">And ever upward drawn by love’s divine constraint.</div>
  </div>
  <div class="stanza">
    <div class="verse indent0">“And now upon a lofty Mount you stand and look</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">Back o’er your pilgrim way; back o’er the fields you’ve sown</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">You see the stubborn soil, the burning sun, the nook</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">Where you did rest; and all the way is overstrown</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">With flowers; flower-wreathed you see the plow and pruning-hook.</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">And on that Mount there comes to you a fadeless crown.</div>
  </div>
  <div class="stanza">
    <div class="verse indent0">“To Faithfulness there comes a crown, a Crown of Life;</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">’Tis one the Lord doth give to those who serve Him well,</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">To heroes true and strong amid the daily strife</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">’Tween right and wrong. For such, the sweetest anthems swell</div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</span>
    <div class="verse indent0">By holy angels sung, and joy on earth is rife,</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">While thro’ the vanished years you hear a golden bell.</div>
  </div>
  <div class="stanza">
    <div class="verse indent0">“Foremost in every noble work, in every cause</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">Where God leads on, where Light is seen, where Truth is heard,</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">There have you stood from first to last, the eternal laws</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">Of Right obeyed. Where’er your lips could frame a word</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">To voice the thought, a hand could strike the great applause</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">Of onward march, your helpful force has been conferred.</div>
  </div>
  <div class="stanza">
    <div class="verse indent0">“To you, this day, a grateful people tribute bring</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">For all you’ve been to them, for all your steadfastness,</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">For all your words and deeds; for every noble thing,</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">They would this day your true and honest worth confess;</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">They would a golden cup, filled from Affection’s spring,</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">Hold out to you, and thus their gratitude express.</div>
  </div>
  <div class="stanza">
    <div class="verse indent0">“Take, then, the Crown. Both heaven and earth proclaim it yours,</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">The Sower’s crown, the Reaper’s crown, that glows with light,</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">That glows with light and love, and one that aye endures.</div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</span>
    <div class="verse indent2">The Evening Star, that hangs upon the fringe of night</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">And, like a lamp, the weary wanderer allures</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">And tells him of his home afar, is not more bright.</div>
  </div>
  <div class="stanza">
    <div class="verse indent0">“Look round you, then, crowned as you are, and upward, too:</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">Here shine the golden sheaves; there gleam the jasper walls;</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">Around you gather here the noble, good and true,</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">With hearts aglow, and chant their tender madrigals.</div>
    <div class="verse indent0">Around, above, all things are wreathed in smiles for you,</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">While on you, like a burst of sun, God’s blessings fall!”</div>
  </div>
</div>
</div>

<p>Many valuable presents were received. One
was an elegant silver tea-set from the lawyers
of the city; another a beautiful ice-cream set
of solid silver in a handsomely ornamented
plush case of old-gold velvet, from the rector
and vestrymen of St. Paul’s Church. Other
elegant souvenirs were sent in by friends from
abroad. Indeed, the gifts were so numerous
and of so great variety that they almost proved
a burden to the recipients who, however,
realized that they came to them from generous<span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</span>
friends with hearts full of love and kindness,
and most thankfully received them.</p>


<h3>CLOSING YEARS.</h3>

<p>Following this happy anniversary, Mrs.
Bloomer’s life moved gradually along to its
close. In 1891, after returning home from a
visit to the Chautauqua Grounds near her residence,
she suffered a partial paralysis of her
vocal organs and for a short time lost the power
of speech; but this trouble soon gradually
passed away so that she was once more able
to converse with her friends, although not so
freely and readily as formerly. Her mind was
still clear and her memory remarkably good,
and it was during this period that she wrote
the reminiscences given in the earlier part of this
work. She gradually lost to a considerable
extent the activity of movement for which in
earlier days she had been noted, and her husband
was easily able now to keep up with her
in their walks on the streets. Mrs. Bloomer
retained her youthful traits to a remarkable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</span>
degree, even in advanced years, and her friends
frequently noted this and complimented her on
her vigor and cheerfulness. On meeting them,
she was ever bright and cheerful and had a
pleasant smile and word of encouragement
for all.</p>

<p>Her early religious convictions remained
unimpaired to the end of her life. So long as
health permitted, she was a constant and regular
attendant upon the services of her church
and at the monthly celebration of the Holy
Communion. She was active in every good
work in the parish, and a steady friend of all
benevolent enterprises in the city. During the
last few years of her life, she gave much thought
to the teachings of Christian Science and read
and studied the writings of Mrs. Eddy and
others on that subject. While she never gave
her adhesion to its peculiar doctrines, yet she
found in them very much that she deemed
worthy of careful consideration. She bore
witness to some of the remarkable results
following their application to disease in its
various forms; and, on the whole, their study<span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</span>
enlarged her views on religious subjects and
perhaps enabled her to look with greater calmness
upon the vicissitudes of the present life
and the untried realities of the life beyond.</p>

<p>To Mrs. Mary J. Coggshell, of Des Moines,
Iowa, who had then recently lost her husband,
she wrote in 1889 as follows: “My heart goes
out to you in love and sympathy in this sad
bereavement, and I pray that the Almighty
Father may sustain and comfort you and give
you strength to bear up under the great affliction.
Mourn not for your beloved one as dead, but
think of him as only transferred to another
sphere of existence where he still lives and will
await your coming. We believe that the life
that God gave can never die, that the grave
has no power over the spirit, but that it will
live on forever doing the Father’s will.”</p>

<p>Her last journey was made to Colorado, in
the latter part of the summer of 1894. She
spent about two weeks at Colorado Springs and
Manitou, mainly in taking electric treatment
at the sanatorium of Mrs. Doctor Leonard who
had long been an intimate friend; but was prevented<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</span>
by impaired strength from again visiting
with her husband many of the interesting places
of the vicinity. Another week was spent in a
visit to a dear niece and her family in southern
Colorado; she returned home about the middle
of August, somewhat improved in health and
strength. She continued to occasionally accept
the kind invitations of her friends to social gatherings,
and spent her last Christmas at the home
and table of N. P. Dodge, one of the most prominent
citizens of Council Bluffs, where she met
also her old and long-known neighbor and
friend, Mrs. M. F. Davenport. This was, however,
the last time she was able to leave her
residence. Friends and neighbors continued to
visit her to the end and on Friday, December
28th, several were with her during nearly the
entire day; they remembered that she appeared
remarkably bright and cheerful. The final
attack came on the evening of that day, and
her brave and noble spirit passed away at twelve
o’clock noon on the following Sunday, December
30th, 1894.</p>

<p>Of her last sickness and death, the Council<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</span>
Bluffs <cite>Daily Nonpareil</cite> of January 1st, 1895,
gave the following report:</p>


<h3>“END OF AN EARNEST LIFE.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Mrs. Amelia Jenks Bloomer died at her
home, No. 123 Fourth Street, Sunday at noon
of heart failure at the advanced age of 76. For
years she had been afflicted with stomach
trouble, which gradually affected her heart and
brought on a serious attack last Friday, from
which she never rallied.</p>

<p>“About six o’clock in the evening she was
sitting in her accustomed place reading, when
suddenly she fell back in her chair and exclaimed:
‘I am sick; I am sicker than I ever
was before in my life.’ Her husband was sitting
opposite to her at the time and quickly
came to her assistance. She was in intense
pain, and a physician was at once summoned.
He was unable to give her much relief and she
continued in a very critical condition during
the night and all day Saturday.</p>
</div>


<h3>“PASSES AWAY PEACEFULLY.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“It soon became evident that she could not
rally from the attack and the physicians told
Mr. Bloomer and the anxious friends about her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</span>
bedside that she could not recover. She was
conscious during the entire time and bore her
suffering bravely. Sunday morning she began
to sink rapidly. Towards the end her pain
seemed to leave her, and she fell into a quiet
sleep from which she never awoke. Her husband
was at her bedside holding her hand and
noted the gradual slowing of the pulse which
ceased to be perceptible about noon, when he
knew she had passed away.</p>
</div>


<h3>“GREAT LOSS TO COUNCIL BLUFFS.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“In the death of Mrs. Amelia Bloomer
Council Bluffs loses one of its oldest and most
prominent residents. She was one of the early
pioneers of the west and for many years has
been a striking, picturesque character of western
Iowa. Her prominence in the woman-suffrage
movement made her one of the eminent
American women of the century. Her name
has become firmly linked with every reform
movement for the uplifting and betterment of
woman’s condition during the last fifty years.</p>
</div>


<h3>“HER LIFE A BUSY ONE.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Her life was an intensely busy one, filled
with many deeds of kindness and charity aside<span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</span>
from the active part she always took in the
temperance cause and the advancement of her
sex. During her last years, however, she was
unable to actively engage in the work, but was
always ready and willing to discuss these cherished
subjects in her characteristic, fluent manner.
Up to within a few years of her death
she had been a contributor to prominent journals,
and her advice and counsel was always
highly esteemed by the more active workers of
the equal-rights cause. Her death will be felt
throughout the entire nation as an irreparable
loss to the cause she so warmly espoused.</p>
</div>


<h3>“HER CHRISTIAN CHARACTER.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Although her death will bring sorrow to
many a friend, the remembrance of her kindly
life and true, Christian character will remain
as an inspiration to them for all time to come.
Earnest and steadfast as were her life and character,
so she died trusting in the faith that has
always shone through her kind words and deeds.
She will never be forgotten, for her influence,
with that of other good women, has done more
to make the civilization of the west a possibility
than the many inventions of modern science.
Her great strength of character, manifested by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</span>
her earnest and energetic life, was a part of the
truly essential civilizing influence that sustained
the early settlers in the rough experiences of
the frontier. It was her intention before she
died to publish reminiscences of these stirring
times, and her sudden death left several manuscripts
unfinished. What has been missed by
her sudden taking off, leaving this work incomplete,
can only be judged by those who knew
her best.</p>
</div>


<h3>“LARGE CIRCLE OF FRIENDS.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“Mrs. Bloomer’s circle of friends in Council
Bluffs was large, and she was highly esteemed
and loved by all who knew her. She was an
excellent entertainer, and was a great favorite
among the young people of the Episcopal
Church of which she was a faithful member.
She was very fond of society and took an active
part in church and charitable work. Her
death, although she has been an invalid for
several years, was very sudden. On Christmas
day, she was able to be about and with her husband
took dinner at the home of Mr. and Mrs.
N. P. Dodge. She was in excellent spirits at
the time and enjoyed the holiday festivities
with much interest. On the day of her last attack,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</span>
a number of friends called upon her and
she spent the afternoon pleasantly chatting
with them. The sudden announcement of her
death came as a shock, for the fact of her
serious illness had not yet become generally
known.”</p>
</div>


<h3>MEMORIAL DISCOURSE.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>On the thirteenth of January, 1895, her
rector, Rev. Eugene J. Babcock, delivered a
memorial discourse on the life and character
of Mrs. Bloomer in St. Paul’s Church, Council
Bluffs. In this he reviewed the main incidents
in Mrs. Bloomer’s life, and concluded as follows:</p>

<p>“Mrs. Bloomer also held the relation of
pioneer to this parish. On the two registers in
my possession the first woman’s name is hers.</p>

<p>“On my journey hither to assume the rectorship,
I visited by the way at my former home
in Michigan. There I first learned of Mrs.
Bloomer from a gentleman whom I had met
in a college connection while I was an undergraduate.
He was a former resident of Seneca
Falls, and informed me that in my new home
I should meet a unique and striking person in
Mrs. Bloomer, whose early days were associated
with a remarkable career; that she was now<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</span>
living quietly, ill health having compelled her
to forego active duties; and that she was now
advanced in years.</p>

<p>“Our arrival here was signalized by becoming
guests in the Senior Warden’s home. In
this we did as all the clergy had done before,
for no other home in this city has been the
hospitable asylum for so many of the cloth.
Among ourselves, the happy descriptive of
‘Saints’ Rest’ has come in vogue. From Mrs.
Bloomer that pleasant smile, which often had
to triumph over bodily ailment, was my greeting.
This showing of hospitality was in keeping
with her ambition, which she frequently
sacrificed to her personal discomfort.</p>

<p>“Going back to a view of her early days, we
are prepared now to forecast her activity in
church affairs. Such a nature could not sit by
with hands folded. Following her acceptance
of gospel privileges through which she came
into this church, she immediately entered into
parish activities at Seneca Falls. Being a
woman of action, she did her part in the then
somewhat limited sphere of woman’s church
work. Little as it may have been comparatively,
it was another demand upon her already
enlarging engagements.</p>

<p>“Her removal to this city deprived her of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</span>
the worship of her own church. The then line
of demarcation of the religious public into
‘Mormons’ and ‘Gentiles’ very likely infused
into the latter a fellow sympathy. Soon after
her settlement here, the Rev. Mr. Rice invited
her to attend a meeting of a sewing society
which was held at his house. This happened to
be the annual meeting; she was elected president
of the society, and Mrs. Douglas first director.
In her ‘Early Recollections’ her felicitous
comment is this: ‘Thus putting their affairs
in the hands of two Episcopalians.’ But evidently
affairs did not suffer at their hands, for
they ‘carried through a successful fair’ which
secured money to put the first church of the
Congregationalists into shape for use.</p>

<p>“Her usual interest in what concerned her
came out in the organization of this parish.
She entered with the same characteristic zeal
and expenditure of means into its upbuilding,
both as to what was preliminary and also permanent.
She has been a good example of
what woman can do, and faithful in her service.
The women of this parish have worked so assiduously
in raising money that among men it
has become a lost art.</p>

<p>“In spite of advanced years and impairment
of strength, she responded with her kindly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</span>
support to my call for organization of a Woman’s
Parochial Aid Society. Her kindness to
me was ever constant and uniform, and her
ingenuous frankness such as I always enjoyed.
Plain and albeit of rugged candor in her speech,
such is better for this world than the honey
covering of deceit. A former Rector, the Rev.
Mr. Webb, writes respecting her: ‘My impression
of her kindness of heart is that it never
failed; and I believe more firmly than ever that
it was God’s own cause which she so characteristically
espoused, and labored so long and
faithfully to promote.’</p>

<p>“She had the habit of clipping from newspapers
whatever took her fancy. Her recent
quiet and somewhat afflicted living, owing to
her illness, was given to reading, needle work
and entertaining of guests when circumstances
admitted. As the golden clouds brightened
in the west of her life’s decline, there came a
strong inward faith. A late clipping seems to
speak her thought: ‘As the weeks and months
fly past, do you not think that the spirit of our
daily prayer ought to be—</p>

<div class="poetry-container fs90">
<div class="poetry">
  <div class="stanza">
    <div class="verse indent0">“‘Break, my soul, from every fetter,</div>
    <div class="verse indent2">Him to know is all my cry;</div>
    <div class="verse indent1">Saviour, I am thine forever,</div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</span>
    <div class="verse indent1">Thine to live and thine to die,</div>
    <div class="verse indent6">Only asking</div>
    <div class="verse indent1">More and more of life’s supply’?’</div>
  </div>
</div>
</div>

<p>“She passed into Paradise on Sunday,
December 30, 1894, and left a name worthy to
be entered among the illustrious galaxy of
notables whom the past year has numbered
with the dead. On a beautiful winter’s day,
all that remained of mortality was brought to
this church, so large an object of her affection,
and here, with impressive funeral rites which
speak comfortably our blessed hope, we committed
her body to the ground. And as the
sweet notes of the committal anthem broke
in upon the constrained stillness of the scene,
how appropriate were the words—mutely
echoed by the hushed assembly: ‘Blessed
are the dead who die in the Lord * * * for
they rest from their labors’!”</p>
</div>

<p>In a grassy plat in beautiful Fairview Cemetery,
overlooking the cities of Council Bluffs
and Omaha, lies the grave of the true woman,
the earnest reformer, the faithful Christian,
whose history is delineated in these pages; and
near its foot stands a modest monument bearing
this inscription:</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</span></p>

<p class="center">
“IN MEMORIAM<br>
<br>
AMELIA JENKS, WIFE OF D. C. BLOOMER<br>
<br>
DIED DEC. 30TH, 1894<br>
<br>
AGED 76 YEARS, 7 MONTHS, AND 3 DAYS<br>
<br>
A PIONEER IN WOMAN’S ENFRANCHISEMENT”<br>
</p>

<p>And here the author and compiler, commending
these pages to the kindly consideration
of his readers, brings his labor of love to
a close.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</span></p>

<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">

<div class="chapter">
<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</span></p>
<h2 class="nobreak" id="APPENDIX">APPENDIX.</h2>
</div>


<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">

<div class="chapter">
<p class="center fs150 no-indent">APPENDIX.</p>
</div>


<h3>WOMAN’S RIGHT TO THE BALLOT.</h3>

<p class="center no-indent">BY AMELIA BLOOMER.</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>It is a principle of all free governments that the
people rule. Each member of the community, in
theory at least, is supposed to give assent to Constitution
and laws to which he is subject; or, at least, it is
assumed that these were made by a majority of the
people. And this assent is given according to forms
previously prescribed. The people vote directly upon
the adoption of the Constitution, and by their representatives
in making the laws. And since all the people
must be subject to the Constitution and laws, so all the
people should be consulted in their formation; that is,
all who are of sufficient age and discretion to express
an intelligent opinion. No one who claims to be a republican
or lover of freedom at heart can dispute these
positions. They are in substance the principles promulgated
in the Declaration of Independence, and they
form the common basis upon which our national and
state governments rest. When they shall cease to be
recognized and respected by the people and by our
lawmakers, then free institutions will cease to exist.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</span></p>

<p>But I presume their correctness, when applied to
man, will be doubted by none; for man is willing
enough to claim for himself the full recognition of all
the high prerogatives I have shown him to be entitled
to. But I hold more than this to be true. I hold that
these rights belong, not to man alone, but to the race,
and to each individual member of it, without regard to
sex. I hold that woman has as good and rightful a
claim to them as her brother, and that the man who
denies this claim is not only no good democrat, and
much less a good republican, but that in being guilty
of this denial he commits an act of the grossest injustice
and oppression. And I insist, not only that woman
is entitled to the enjoyment of all these rights which
God and nature have bestowed upon the race, but that
she is entitled to the same means of enforcing those
rights as man; and that therefore she should be heard
in the formation of Constitutions, in the making of the
laws, and in the selection of those by whom the laws
are administered.</p>

<p>In this country there is one great tribunal by which
all theories must be tried, all principles tested, all
measures settled: and that tribunal is the ballot-box.
It is the medium through which public opinion finally
makes itself heard. Deny to any class in the community
the right to be heard at the ballot-box and that
class sinks at once into a state of slavish dependence,
of civil insignificance, which nothing can save from
becoming subjugation, oppression and wrong.</p>

<p>From what I have said you will of course understand
that I hold, not only that the exclusion of woman<span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</span>
from the ballot-box is grossly unjust, but that is her
duty—so soon as she is permitted to do so—to go
to it and cast her vote along with her husband and
brother; and that, until she shall do so, we can never
expect to have a perfectly just and upright government
under which the rights of the people—of all the people—are
respected and secured.</p>

<p>It is objected that it does not belong to woman’s
sphere to take part in the selection of her rulers, or
the enactment of laws to which she is subject.</p>

<p>This is mere matter of opinion. Woman’s sphere,
like man’s sphere, varies according to the aspect under
which we view it, or the circumstances in which she
may be placed. A vast majority of the British nation
would deny the assumption that Queen Victoria is out
of her sphere in reigning over an empire of an hundred
and fifty millions of souls! And if she is not out of her
sphere in presiding over the destinies of a vast empire,
why should any woman in this republic be denied her
place among a nation of sovereigns? There is no
positive rule by which to fix woman’s sphere, except
that of capacity. It is to be found, I should say, wherever
duty or interest may call her,—whether to the
kitchen, the parlor, the nursery, the workshop or the
public assembly. And, most certainly, no narrow contracted
view of her sphere can suffice to deprive her of
any of those rights which she has inherited with her
being.</p>

<p>Again, it is objected that it would be immodest
and ‘unbecoming a lady’ for women to go to the ballot-box
to vote, or to the halls of the capitol to legislate.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</span></p>

<p>This, too, is mere matter of opinion, and depends
for its correctness upon the particular fashions or customs
of the people. In deciding upon what is appropriate
or inappropriate for individuals or classes the
community is exceedingly capricious. In one country,
or in one age, of the world, a particular act may be
considered as entirely proper which in another age or
country may be wholly condemned. But a few years
ago it was thought very unladylike and improper for
women to study medicine, and when Elizabeth Blackwell
forced her way into the Geneva, N. Y., medical
college people were amazed at the presumption. But
she graduated with high honors, went to Europe to
perfect her studies, and now stands high in her chosen
profession. She let down the bars to a hitherto proscribed
sphere. Others followed her lead, and now
there are several colleges for the medical education of
women, and women physicians without number; and
the world applauds rather than condemns.</p>

<p>It is not a great many years since women sculptors
were unknown, because woman’s talent was not encouraged.
Some years ago a match-girl of Boston
fashioned a bust of Rufus Choate in plaster and placed
it in a show window, hoping some benevolent lover of
art might be so attracted by it as to aid her to educate
herself in the profession of sculpture. A gentleman
who saw great merit in it inquired who was the artist,
and when told that it was a young girl, exclaimed,
‘What a pity she is not a boy!’ He saw that such
talent in a boy would be likely to make him famous
and enrich the world. But a girl had no right to such<span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</span>
gifts. It would be an unladylike profession for her,
and so she must bury her God-given talent and keep to
match selling and dish washing. A few years later
Harriet Hosmer overleaped the obstacles that stood
in her way and went to Rome to undertake the work
of a sculptor. The world now rings with her praises
and is enriched by her genius. She, too, removed
barriers to a hitherto proscribed sphere and proved
that the All-Father in committing a talent to woman’s
trust gave along with it a right to use it. Vinnie Ream
and others have followed in the way thus opened, and
no one now questions the propriety of women working
in plaster or marble.</p>

<p>And so of many other departments of trade, profession
and labor that within my recollection were not
thought proper for woman, simply because she had not
entered them. Women are debarred from voting and
legislating, and therefore it is unfashionable for them
to do either; but let their right to do so be once established,
and all objections of that kind will vanish
away.</p>

<p>And I must say I can conceive of nothing so terrible
within the precincts of the ballot-box as to exclude
woman therefrom. Who go there now? Our fathers,
brothers, husbands, and sons. And do they act so badly
while there that they dare not suffer us to go with them?
If it is really so bad a place surely they should stay
away from it themselves, for I hold that any place that
is too corrupt for woman to go to is also too corrupt
for man to go to. ‘An atmosphere that is too impure
for woman to breathe cannot but be dangerous to her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</span>
sires and sons.’ We mingle with our gentlemen friends
elsewhere with safety and pleasure, and I cannot think
it possible that the exercise of the right of franchise
turns them at once into ruffians.</p>

<p>Yet we are gravely told that woman would be
treated with rudeness and insult should she go to the
polls in the exercise of a right guaranteed to her by the
laws of her country.</p>

<p>And would you, sir objector, be the one to do this?
Would you insult the wife or mother or sister of your
neighbor? I think not. Then judge other men by
yourself and believe that, as each man, the low as well
as the high, would have some female relative or friend
with him there, each would be equally careful for the
safety of those belonging to him and careful also of his
own language and deportment. And should one dare
to offer insult would there not, think you, be a score of
stout arms to fell the insulter to the earth?</p>

<p>Men will behave as well I verily believe at the polls as
at other public assemblies, if they will permit woman
to go with them there; and if they have behaved badly
heretofore, which from their continual asseverations
we must believe to be the case, it is because woman
has not always been there with them.</p>

<p>The idea advanced that woman would become debased
by participating in so important and sacred a duty
as the selection of those who are to be placed in power,
and to whom are to be committed the interests and happiness
of the whole people, comes with a bad grace from
men, who are ever claiming for her superior natural
virtues. They should remember that God made her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</span>
woman, that He gave her equal dominion with man over
the world and all that is therein, and endowed her with
high moral faculties, keen perceptions of right, and a
love of virtue and justice, and it is not easy to change
her nature. Her delicacy and sensitiveness will take
care of themselves, in any exposure, and she will be as
safe at the polls as at political and other conventions,
at state and county and church fairs, at railroad and
Fourth of July celebrations, and the various other
crowds in which she mingles freely with men. That
virtue is little worth which cannot bear itself unharmed
through a crowd, or awe and frown down impudence
whenever it meets with it. The true woman will be
woman still in whatever situation you place her; and
man will become elevated just so far as he mingles in
her society in the various relations of life.</p>

<p>In fact this argument that it would be unsafe for
woman to go to the polls is one that man, at least,
should be ashamed to bring forward, inasmuch as it
impeaches his own gallantry and instinctive regard for
woman. But, if it be true that it would really be unsafe
for us to go to the polls with our husbands and fathers,
all danger could be avoided by our having separate
places for voting apart from theirs.</p>

<p>But here I am answered that it is not <em>men</em> whom
we have to fear so much as the bad of our own sex, who
will rush to the polls while the good women will stay
away. To this I have to say that I have never yet met
a woman that I was afraid of, or from whom I feared
contamination. In the theatre and concert and festival
halls, the Fourth of July gatherings, in the cars, on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</span>
fair grounds, and any day upon the street or in the
stores we meet and pass by the coarse, the frail, the
fallen of our sex. They have the same right to God’s
pure air and sunshine as we, and we could not deprive
them of it if we would and would not if we could. I see
not how these are going to harm us any more at the polls
than at all these other places.</p>

<p>The good women will vote as soon as the exercise
of the right is granted them, and they will outnumber
the bad more than a hundred to one. Instead then of
the pure woman being contaminated, the vile woman
will be awed and silenced in her presence, and led by
her example into the right paths. Even those called
low and vile have hearts that can be touched, and they
will gladly seize the aid which the ballot and good women
will bestow to raise themselves from the degraded
condition into which bad men, bad laws and bad customs
have plunged them.</p>

<p>This objection, then, which assumes such proportions
in the minds of many, looks very small when
viewed in the light of truth and Christian charity. I
think no man would consider it good reason for depriving
him of rights because a bad man also enjoyed the
same rights.</p>

<p>This arguing that all women would go to the bad
if allowed to vote because some women are bad now
when none of them vote is the most absurd logic ever
conceived in the brain of man, and if those who use it
could see their silly reasoning in the light that sensible
men and women see it there would be less of it. If the
ballot makes people bad, if it is corrupting in its tendencies<span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</span>
and destructive of virtue and goodness, then the
sooner men are deprived of it the better.</p>

<p>All men, good and bad, black and white, corrupt,
debased, treacherous, criminal, may vote and make our
laws, and we hear no word against it; but if one woman
does or says aught that does not square with men’s ideas
of what she should do and say, then she should not have
the right of self-government, and all women everywhere
must on that account be disfranchised and kept in subjection!</p>

<p>Such reasoning might have answered once, but the
intelligence of the present day rejects it, and women will
not long be compelled to submit to its insults.</p>

<p>But, again, one says votes would be unnecessarily
multiplied, that women would vote just as the men do,
therefore the man’s vote will answer for both. Sound
logic, truly! But let us apply this rule to men. Votes
are unnecessarily multiplied now by so many men voting;
a few could do it all, as well as to take the mass
of men from their business and their families to vote.
My husband votes the republican ticket, and many other
men vote just as he does; then why not let my husband’s
vote suffice for all who think as he does, and
send the rest about their business? What need of so
many men voting when all vote just alike?</p>

<p>Again, another says: ‘It has always been as now;
women never have had equal rights, and that is proof
that they should not have.’ Sound logic again! Worthy
emanation from man’s superior brain! But whence
did man derive his right of franchise, and how long has
he enjoyed it?</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</span></p>

<p>It is true that women never have had equal rights,
because men have ever acted on the principle of oppressors
that might makes right and have kept them
in subjection, just as weaker nations are kept in
subjection to the stronger.</p>

<p>But must we ever continue to act on such principles?
Must we continue to cling to old laws and customs
because they are old? Why then did not our
people remain subject to kings? How did they dare to
do what was not thought of in the days of Moses and
Abraham? How dared they set aside the commands
of the Bible and the customs of all past ages and set
up a government of their own?</p>

<p>It is the boast of Americans that they know and
do many things which their fathers neither knew nor
did. Progress is the law of our nation and progress
is written upon all its works. And while all else is
progressing to perfection, while the lowest may attain
to the position of the highest and noblest in the
land, shall woman alone remain stationary? Shall she
be kept in a state of vassalage because such was the
condition of her sex six thousand years ago? Clearly,
my friends, when the prejudice of custom is on the side
of wrong and injustice in any matter we are not to be
governed by it.</p>

<p>But again it is objected that if women should be
enfranchised it would lead to discord and strife in
families. In other words, to come down to the simple
meaning of this objection, if women would not vote
just as their husbands wanted them to the husbands
would quarrel with them about it! And who are the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</span>
men who would do this? Surely, not those who consider
and treat their wives as equals. Not those who
recognize the individuality of the wife and accord
to her the right to her own opinions, the right to think
for herself, and to act as her own sense and judgment
may dictate. With such there would be no cause for
quarrels, nothing to contend about. In such families
all is harmony.</p>

<p>It would be only those who desire to rule in their
families, only those who regard and treat their wives
as inferiors and subjects who would get up contentions
and discord; and it is only these who bring forward
this objection. No man who honors woman as he
should do would ever offer so flimsy a pretext for depriving
her of rights and enslaving her thoughts. I believe
the enfranchisement of woman will bring with it
more happiness in the marriage relation, and greater
respect from the husband for his wife, because men
are always more respectful to their equals than to those
they deem their inferiors and subjects.</p>

<p>Another objection of which we hear much in these
days, and to which men invariably resort when answered
on every other point, is that women do not
want to vote. They say when <em>all</em> the women ask for
the right it will be granted them. Did these objectors
take the same ground in regard to the negro?
Did the colored men very generally petition for the
right of franchise? No such petition was ever heard
of and yet men forced the ballot unasked into their
hands. Why then must woman sue and petition for
her God-given right of self-government? If one human<span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</span>
being only claims that rights are unjustly withheld,
such claim should receive the careful attention and
consideration of this government and people. Yet tens
of thousands of women, subjects of their government,
have made such claims and set forth their grievances
from time to time during the last thirty years. They
have come as suppliants before the people asking for
rights withheld, and they have been met with sneers and
ridicule, and told that they must wait till all the women
of the nation humbly sue for the same thing! Would
such excuse ever be offered for withholding rights from
men?</p>

<p>Again, it is said that no considerable number of
women would exercise the right if granted. This, if
true, and men do not know it to be so, has nothing to
do with the question. Give them the right and let
them exercise it or not as they choose. If they do not
want to vote, and will not vote, then surely there is no
need of restrictions to prevent their voting, and no
harm can come from removing the obstacles that now
obstruct their way.</p>

<p>Men are not required to give pledges that they will
vote. There is no compulsion in their case. They
are left free to do as they please, or as circumstances
permit. The right is accorded and there the matter
rests.</p>

<p>There is no justice in requiring more from women.
That thousands of women would vote is pretty certain.
If <em>all</em> do not avail themselves of such privileges, it will
be of their own choice and right, and not because of
its denial. The ballot is the symbol of freedom, of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</span>
equality; and because the right to use it would lift
woman from a state of inferiority, subjection and powerlessness
to one of equality and freedom and power we
demand it for her. If properly educated, she will use
it for the best interests of herself and of humanity.</p>

<p>Another objection that carries great weight in the
minds of many is that if women vote they must fight.
Even some of our friends are puzzled how to settle this
question. But a few days ago a lady friend asked me
how we could get around it. I reply that all men have
not earned their right to the ballot by firing the bullet
in their country’s defense, and if only those who fight
should vote there are many sick men, many weak little
men, many deformed men, and many strong and able-bodied
but cowardly men who should be disfranchised.</p>

<p>These all vote but they do not fight, and fighting
is not made a condition precedent to their right to the
ballot. The law requires that only those of physical
strength and endurance shall bear arms for their country,
and I think not many women could be found to
fill the law’s requirements. So they would have to be
excused with the weak little men who are physically
disqualified. If there are any great, strong women
able to endure the marching and the fighting who want
to go to the front in time of battle, I think they have
a right to do so, and men should not dismiss them and
send them home. But as there are other duties to be
discharged, other interests to be cared for in time of
war besides fighting, women will find it enough to look
after these in the absence of their fighting men. They
may enter the hospitals or the battlefields as nurses, or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</span>
they may care for the crops and the young soldiers at
home. They may also do the voting, and look after
the affairs of government, the same as do all the weak
men who vote but do not fight.</p>

<p>And further, as men do not think it right for woman
to bear arms and fear it will be forced upon her with
the ballot, they can easily make a law to excuse her;
and doubtless, with her help, they will do so. There
is great injustice, so long as the ballot is given to all
<em>men</em> without conditions, the weak as well as the strong,
in denying to woman a voice in matters deeply affecting
her happiness and welfare, and through her the
happiness and welfare of mankind, because perchance
there may come a time again in the history of our
country when we shall be plunged into war and she
not be qualified to shoulder a musket.</p>

<p>This objection, like many others we hear, is too
absurd to emanate from the brains of intelligent men,
and I cannot think they seriously entertain the views
they express. But give us a voice in the matter, gentlemen,
and we will not only save ourselves from being
sent to the battlefield, but will if possible keep you at
home with us by averting the difficulties and dangers,
and so compromising matters with foreign powers that
peace shall be maintained and bloodshed avoided.</p>

<p>In justification of the exclusion of woman from a
voice in the government we are told that she is already
represented by her fathers, husbands and sons. To
this I might answer, so were our fathers represented in
the parliament of King George. But were they satisfied
with such representation? And why not? Because<span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</span>
their interests were not well cared for; because
justice was not done them. They found they could not
safely entrust their interests to the keeping of those
who could not or would not understand them, and who
legislated principally to promote their own selfish purposes.
I wholly deny the position of these objectors.
It is not possible for one human being to fully represent
the wants and wishes of another, and much less can one
class fully understand the desires and meet the requirements
of a different class in society. And, especially,
is this true as between man and woman. In the former,
certain mental faculties as a general thing are said to
predominate; while in the latter, the moral attain to a
greater degree of perfection. Taken together, they
make up what we understand by the generic term <em>man</em>.
If we allow to the former, only, a full degree of development
of their common nature one-half only enjoys
the freedom of action designed for both. We then
have the man, or male element, fully brought out;
while the woman, or female element, is excluded and
crushed.</p>

<p>It should be remembered too that all rights have
their origin in the moral nature of mankind, and that
when woman is denied any guarantee which secures
these rights to her, violence is done to a great moral
law of our being. In assuming to vote and legislate
for her, man commits a positive violation of the moral
law and does that which he would not that others
should do unto him. And, besides all these considerations,
it is hard to understand the workings of this
system of proxy-voting and proxy-representation. How<span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</span>
is it to work when our self-constituted representative
happens to hold different opinions from us? There
are various questions, such as intemperance, licentiousness,
slavery, and war, the allowing men to control our
property, our person, our earnings, our children, on
which at times we might differ; and yet this representative
of ours can cast but one vote for us both, however
different our opinions may be. Whether that vote
would be cast for his own interests, or for ours, all past
legislation will show. Under this system, diversities
of interest must of necessity arise; and the only way
to remove all difficulty and secure full and exact justice
to woman is to permit her to represent herself.</p>

<p>One more point and I have done. Men say
women cannot vote without neglecting their families
and their duties as housekeepers. This, to our opponents,
is a very serious objection. Who would urge
a similar one to man’s voting and legislating, or holding
office—that he would neglect his family or his
business? And yet the objection would be about as
reasonable in one case as in the other. In settling a
question of natural and inherent <em>right</em>, we must not
stop to consider conveniencies or inconveniencies.
The right must be accorded, the field left clear, and
the consequences will take care of themselves. Men
argue as though if women were granted an equal voice
in the government all our nurseries would be abandoned,
the little ones left to take care of themselves, and
the country become depopulated. They have frightened
themselves with the belief that kitchens would be
deserted and dinners left uncooked, and that men would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</span>
have to turn housekeepers and nurses. When the
truth is, mothers have as much regard for the home and
the welfare of the children as have the fathers; and
they understand what their duties are as well as men
do; and they are generally as careful for the interests
of the one, and as faithful in the discharge of the other,
as are these watchful guardians of theirs who tremble
lest they should get out of their sphere. God and
nature have implanted in woman’s heart a love of her
offspring, and an instinctive knowledge of what is
proper and what improper for her to do, and it needs
no laws of man’s making to compel the one or teach the
other. Give her freedom and her own good sense will
direct her how to use it.</p>

<p>Were the prohibition removed to-morrow, not more
than one mother in a thousand would be required
to leave her family to serve the state, and not one without
her own consent. Even though all the offices in
the country should be filled by women, which would
never be likely to happen, it would take but a very
small proportion of the whole away from their families;
not more than now leave home each year for a stay of
months at watering places, in the mountains, visiting
friends, or crowding the galleries of legislative halls
dispensing smiles on the members below. There would,
then, be little danger of the terrible consequences so
feelingly depicted by those who fear that the babies and
their own stomachs would suffer.</p>

<p>But I have no desire, nor does any advocate of the
enfranchisement of woman desire, that mothers should
neglect their duties to their families. Indeed, no greater<span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</span>
sticklers for the faithful discharge of such duties can be
found than among the prominent advocates of this
cause; and no more exemplary mothers can be found
than those who have taken the lead as earnest pleaders
for woman’s emancipation. Undoubtedly, the highest
and holiest duty of both father and mother is to their
children; and neither the one nor the other, from any
false ideas of patriotism, any love of display or ambition,
any desire for fame or distinction, should leave a
young family to engage in governmental affairs. A
mother who has young children has her work at home,
and she should stay at home with it, and care well for
their education and physical wants. But having discharged
this duty, having reared a well-developed and
wisely-governed family, then let the state profit by her
experience, and let the father and the mother sit down
together in the councils of the nation.</p>

<p>But all women are not mothers; all women have
not home duties; so we shall never lack for enough to
look after our interests at the ballot-box and in legislative
halls. There are thousands of unmarried women,
childless wives and widows, and it would always be
easy to find enough to represent us without taking one
mother with a baby in her arms. All women may vote
without neglecting any duty, for the mere act of voting
would take but little time; not more than shopping
or making calls. Instead of woman being excluded
from the elective franchise because she is a mother,
that is the strongest reason that can be urged in favor
of granting her that right. If she is responsible to
society and to God for the moral and physical welfare<span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</span>
of her son; if she is to bring him up as the future wise
legislator, lawyer and jurist; if she is to keep him pure
and prepare him to appear before the bar of the Most
High,—then she should have unlimited control over his
actions and the circumstances that surround him. She
should have every facility for guarding his interests and
for suppressing and removing all temptations and
dangers that beset his path. If God has committed to
her so sacred a charge He has, along with it, given the
power and the right of protecting it from evil and for
accomplishing the work He has given her to do; and
no false modesty, no dread of ridicule, no fear of contamination
will excuse her for shrinking from its discharge.</p>

<p>Woman needs the elective franchise to destroy the
prevalent idea of female inferiority. She needs it to
make her the equal of her own sons, that they may not
in a few years assume the power to rule over her, and
make laws for her observance without her consent.
The fact that she is the mother of mankind—‘the
living providence under God who gives to every human
being its mental, moral and physical organization, who
stamps upon every human heart her seal for good or
for evil’—is reason why she should occupy no inferior
position in the world. In the words of Mrs.
Stanton, ‘That woman who has no higher object of
thought than the cooking a good dinner, compounding
a good pudding, mending old clothes, or hemming dish-towels—or,
to be a little more refined, whose thoughts
centre on nothing more important than an elegant<span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</span>
dress, beautiful embroidery, parties, dances, and genteel
gossip concerning the domestic affairs of the
Smiths and Browns—can never give to the world
a Bacon or a Newton, a Milton or a Howard, a Buonaparte
or a Washington.’ If we would have great men,
we must first have great women. If we would have
great statesmen and great philanthropists, we must
have mothers whose thoughts soar above the trifling
objects which now engage the attention of the mass of
women, and who are capable of impressing those
thoughts upon the minds of their offspring.</p>

<p>In conclusion the enfranchisement of woman will be
attended with the happiest results, not for her only,
but the whole race. It will place society upon a higher
moral and social elevation than it has ever yet attained.
Hitherto, the variously devised agencies for the amelioration
of the race have been designed mainly for
the benefit of man. For him colleges have been established
and universities endowed. For his advancement
in science and the arts professorships have been
founded and lecture rooms opened. And, above all, for
securing to him the widest field for the fullest display of
his abilities republican institutions have been proclaimed
and sustained at a great sacrifice of toil, of bloodshed
and of civil commotions. Although the doctrine of the
innate equality of the race has been proclaimed yet, so
far as relates to women, it has been a standing falsehood,
We now ask that this principle may be applied
practically in her case, also; we ask that the colleges and
universities, the professorships and lecture rooms shall
be opened to her, also; and, finally, we ask for the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</span>
admission to the ballot-box as the crowning right to
which she is justly entitled.</p>

<p>And when woman shall be thus recognized as an
equal partner with man in the universe of God—equal
in rights and duties—then will she for the first
time, in truth, become what her Creator designed her
to be, a helpmeet for man. With her mind and body
fully developed, imbued with a full sense of her responsibilities,
and living in the conscientious discharge
of each and all of them, she will be fitted to share with
her brother in all the duties of life; to aid and counsel
him in his hours of trial; and to rejoice with him in
the triumph of every good word and work.</p>
</div>


<h3>A REPLY.</h3>

<p>A lecture entitled, “Woman’s Sphere, Woman’s
Work and Woman Suffrage Discussed,”
was delivered at the Central Presbyterian
church, Des Moines, on the evening of December
25th, 1870, by the Rev. T. O. Rice.
The address was published in the Des Moines
<cite>Register</cite> of January 1st, 1871, and Mrs. Bloomer
replied to it through the columns of the same
paper January 21st, 1871, as follows:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p><span class="smcap">Editor of the Register</span>: A friend has placed in
my hand a copy of <cite>The Register</cite> of January 1, containing
a sermon by the Rev. T. O. Rice on ‘Woman’s
sphere, woman’s work, woman suffrage,’ etc.</p>

<p>After carefully reading this sermon, I find nothing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</span>
new or original in it. It is but a rehash of what has before
been served up to us by the Reverends Todd, Bushnell,
Fulton and others, who are alarmed lest woman
should get the start of the Creator and overleap the
bounds He has set to her sphere. It throws no new
light on the vexed question of woman suffrage, brings
to view no passages of Scripture hitherto hidden from
our sight, and gives no arguments which have not already
been met and refuted again and again. In much
that he says the advocates of woman suffrage fully agree
with him. A mother’s first duty is at home with her
children, and nothing can excuse her for neglect of
those entrusted to her care. Home is the happiest spot
on earth when it is a <em>true home</em>—a home where love
and harmony abide, where each regards the rights,
the feelings, the interest, the happiness of the other,
where ruling and obeying are unknown, where two
heads are acknowledged better than one, and true confidence
and esteem bind together the wedded pair.
And I know of no happier homes, no better trained and
better cared for children, than among the prominent advocates
of woman suffrage. Whatever may be thought
to the contrary, Elizabeth Cady Stanton is a model
housekeeper, wife and mother; and nowhere can
greater sticklers be found for the full discharge of all
wifely duties than those who are pleading for woman’s
enfranchisement. So far, then, as relates to home and
children your divine has given us nothing but what we
can subscribe to, and what we have preached for a
score of years, at least, before he awakened to the necessity
of giving the women of his congregation a sermon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</span>
on their domestic duties. If they were ignorant on
those matters, his words have not come to them an
hour too soon.</p>

<p>After quoting familiar passages from both the Old
and New Testament referring to woman, your divine
opens by saying: ‘The general drift of these passages
is obvious. Woman was designed to be a helpmeet
for man.’ To this we have nothing to object. We,
too, say that God made woman a helpmeet for man,
finding it not good for him to be alone. But God said
nothing of her being inferior, or subordinate, when he
brought her to Adam—nothing of her being intended
to fill an inferior position or discharge particular or inferior
duties. She was made a helpmeet for man, not his
subject and servant, but his assistant, companion and
counselor. Not a helper in any particular sphere or
duty, but in all the varied relations of life. Not to be
always the frail, clinging, dependent vine, which falls
helpless with the oak when it is riven by the thunderbolt,
but to take the place, <em>if need be</em>, of the sturdy oak
at her side when so riven, and bear upon her shoulders
all the burdens which as true helpmeet and companion
fall to her lot. Not to be an idle drone in the hive,
but a sharer with him in all his head and his hands
find to do. Not a helpmeet in the domestic relation
merely, but also in the government of the earth and in
the councils of the nation. It was not to <em>him</em> but to
<em>them</em> that God gave power and dominion over the
whole earth.</p>

<p>He next goes on to show why woman was to occupy
a subordinate position, and of all the arguments<span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</span>
brought forward by our opponents I never read a more
weak and flimsy one than this. Because Adam was
first formed and then Eve, she was therefore to be subordinate.
But where is the proof of this? Do we find
in all nature that the things last formed were inferior
and subordinate to those first created? Again, that
‘Adam was not deceived, but the woman being
deceived was in the transgression.’ Now, will the
reverend gentleman tell us which he deems the greater
sin, to commit a wrong after being misled and deceived
by promises of great good to follow, or to commit the
same wrong without such promises or deception, and
with the eyes wide open to the wrong? In any court
of the present day, the extenuating circumstances
would be considered and the former held the less guilty
of the two.</p>

<p>How any unprejudiced and unbiased mind can
read the original account of the creation and fall, and
gather therefrom that the woman committed the greater
sin, I cannot understand. When Eve was first asked
to eat of the forbidden fruit she refused, and it was
only after her scruples were overcome by promises of
great knowledge that she gave way to sin. But how
was it with Adam, who was with her? He took and
ate what she had offered him without any scruples of
conscience, or promises on her part of great things to
follow—certainly showing no superiority of goodness,
or intellect, or strength of character fitting him for the
headship. The command not to eat of the Tree of Life
was given to him before her creation, and he was
doubly bound to keep it; yet he not only permitted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</span>
her to partake of the fruit without remonstrating
against it, and warning her of the wrong, but ate of it
himself without objection or hesitation. And then,
when inquired of by God concerning what he had done,
instead of standing up like an honorable man and
confessing the wrong he weakly tried to shield himself
by throwing the blame on the woman. As the
account stands, he showed the greater ‘feebleness
of resistance, and evinced a pliancy of character, and
a readiness to yield to temptation,’ that cannot justly
be charged to the woman. As the account stands,
man has more to blush for than to boast of.</p>

<p>While we are willing to accept this original account
of the creation and fall, we are not willing that
men should add tenfold to woman’s share of sin, and
put a construction upon the whole matter that we
believe was never intended by the Creator. Eve had
no more to do with bringing sin into the world than
had Adam, nor does the Creator charge any more
upon her. The punishment inflicted upon them for
their transgression was as heavy upon him as upon her.
Her sorrows were to be multiplied, but so too was he to
eat his bread in sorrow, and to earn it in the sweat of
his face amid thorns and thistles. To her no injunction
to labor was given, upon her no toil imposed, no
ground cursed for her sake.</p>

<p>But now we come to the consideration of a passage
which seems to bear more heavily upon woman, and
which men have used as a warrant to humble and
crush her through all the ages that have passed since
our first parents were driven from the Garden of Eden:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</span>
‘<em>Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall
rule over thee.</em>’</p>

<p>This Mr. Rice regards as a command binding
upon every woman for all time. Because Eve sinned,
every woman must be ruled over by some man as long
as the world stands. It is a little strange that the
Creator did not tell us this. When talking to the
serpent, He put enmity between his seed and the
seed of the woman; but to the woman He said not a
word of this law of subordination following her seed;
and to Adam he gave no command, or even license,
to rule over his wife.</p>

<p>Will the Rev. Rice please explain to us the meaning
of a like passage in the chapter following? ‘<em>The
Lord said unto Cain, the desire of thy brother shall
be unto thee, and thou shalt rule over him.</em>’ Was
this, too, a command for all time? Did God command
Cain to rule over Abel? And if so, to whom does it now
apply? The language is the same in both instances,
except that in the latter case it was addressed directly
to the party who was to rule, and in the former to the
one who was to be ruled.</p>

<p>Clearly, the passage quoted should be regarded in
the light of prophecy or prediction, and not of command.
Substitute <em>wilt</em> for <em>shalt</em>, which I am told the
original fully permits, and then all is clear. The
prophecy has been fulfilled to the very letter. There
are other passages that I think clearly show that the
word <em>shall</em> has been wrongly translated. For instance,
Cain says, ‘Whosoever findeth me <em>shall</em> slay me,’
taking the form of command rather than prediction.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</span></p>

<p>Having done with the Old Testament, our reverend
lecturer proceeds to give us what, in his opinion, was
the idea and full meaning of the Apostle Paul in his
rules and injunctions to the women of the churches he
was addressing, and he wonders how there can be any
opinion but his own on the subject. He makes the
apostle go a long way beyond the Creator or the
Saviour in his condemnation and subordination of
women, and then thinks it strange that all do not take
his version of the whole matter. Yet there are vast
numbers of good, Christian men and women who cannot
read with his eyes and who have presumed to differ
from him. He quotes from some of the early Fathers
on the subject, and proves that they entertained the
same opinions and had the same fear of women getting
into authority the Todds, Rices and Fultons of the present
day suffer from. And the opinion of one party goes
for as much as that of the other. The women of those
early days, as all know, were ignorant and degraded
and regarded as absolutely inferior to men. Custom
had assigned them an inferior place and, instead of
being treated as companions and equals, they were
little better than servants and slaves. None but dissolute
women, or women of loose character, sought
for knowledge, and education was wholly denied to
those who were virtuous. They were expected to remain
at home in ignorant subjection to their masters.
What wonder then if any, moved by the spirit, dared
raise their voice in the presence of men they were instantly
silenced, and told that it was not permitted them
to speak? The early Fathers, like St. Paul, but conformed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</span>
to the customs and shared the prejudices of the
day in which they lived, and under the circumstances
no doubt their injunctions were entirely proper and
right.</p>

<p>We have no account on record of these ancient
clergy disgracing themselves over a woman speaking
as did the Rev. John Chambers, and other reverends
of his stamp—and as we suppose the Rev. Rice would
have done had he been there—a few years ago at the
World’s Temperance Convention, in New York, when
by their violent stamping, shouting, scolding and other
uproarious conduct they succeeded in drowning the
voice and driving from the stand a lovely, refined and
highly educated Christian woman whom the president
had invited to the platform. They carried their ends at
that time; but that did not awe all women back into
silence, or do themselves or the church any good. So
all the warnings, and quotations from St. Paul, by all
the reverends since his day, have not succeeded in
keeping women in that state of ignorance and subjection
they occupied two thousand years ago. The world
moves, and it is God’s will that women move with it.
He is no respecter of persons, but regards His people
as all one in Christ Jesus.</p>

<p>But what have we next? After putting women
down as low as possible our divine throws them a sop
by telling them, if they will not usurp authority over
men in the pulpit they may speak, and pray, and teach
in Sunday schools, and in conference and covenant
meeting. And where, pray, does he get his authority
for this? Not in the Bible, surely. Paul says, ‘I suffer<span class="pagenum" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</span>
not a woman to teach.’ Teach what? The scriptures—the
gospel, to be sure. This is direct and explicit.
How can she teach the gospel in the Sunday school and
elsewhere, without violation of St. Paul’s law? ‘Let
women keep silence in the church,’ says the apostle.
Then how can they talk, and pray, and teach in the
conference meeting, the covenant meeting and other
kindred places? St. Paul gives them no such liberty.
Plainly your divine is willing the women of his church
should do almost anything, so they do not interfere
with his place, or usurp authority over him.</p>

<p>Poor <em>me</em> next comes in for a severe castigation from
your reverend lawgiver because I dared say that, while
I supposed St. Paul’s injunctions to women were right
and proper at the time and under the circumstances of
their utterance, I did not believe they were the rule for
the educated Christian women of this enlightened day
and age, the circumstances surrounding them having
greatly changed since the introduction of Christianity.
That I believed women were no more bound by the laws
and customs of that time than men were bound to observe
all the laws and customs of the same period; and
further, that the church, <em>by its practice</em>, teaches the
same thing, to a great extent. And, still further, that
the words of St. Paul had nothing to do with woman’s
political rights. The reverend gentleman puts words
in my mouth I never uttered, thoughts in my head that
I never conceived, places me in a position I never occupied
and then, having attributed all manner of bad
things to me, wipes me out with a sweep of his pen.
Well, I do not feel a bit bad over all this. I have the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</span>
consolation of knowing that I am in good company, and
cannot be so easily annihilated as he supposed. There
are scores of divines as able, as learned, as eloquent and
as orthodox as T. O. Rice, of Des Moines, who take
the same view of the matter as I do, and any number
of good Christian people who subscribe to the same
doctrine. I ‘have no painful solicitude as to which side
will ultimately triumph.’ I am no more ‘squarely and
openly at variance with God’s Word’ than is our reverend
lecturer, who has set himself up as God’s oracle,
and hopes to intimidate all women, and strengthen the
rule of all men to whom the sound of his voice may
come.</p>

<p>I do not question his right to think as he pleases,
and lecture women on proprieties and improprieties;
but I must say, I consider women quite as capable of
judging for themselves what is proper and what is improper
for them to do as any man can be; and I think
if our reverends would turn their attention to their own
sex, search out passages and rules of conduct applicable
to them, and lecture them on their duty to their families
and society, they would be much better employed than
in trying to subordinate women.</p>

<p>God has implanted in woman’s nature an instinctive
knowledge of what is proper and what improper for her
to do, and it needs no laws of man to teach the one or
compel the other.</p>

<p>Our lecturer assumes that ‘God did not design that
woman’s sphere and woman’s work should be identical
with that of man, but distinct and subordinate.’ That
‘woman is happiest in subordination, as well as more<span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</span>
attractive,’ etc. This is, of course, only a picture of his
imagination—only an expression of his own feelings and
wishes. He can find no warrant for it in the Bible; for,
as we have shown, God did not assign her to any particular
sphere or work, but made her an helpmeet to stand
side by side and walk hand in hand with man through
the journey of life.</p>

<p>‘When aspiring, insubordinate, overtopping and turbulent
woman loses all the attraction and fascination of
her sex.’ Very true! and so do men of the same character
lose all that commands our love and respect, and
there are many more of the latter than of the former
class! I know no such woman, but if there are any,
every advocate of woman’s enfranchisement will do all
they can to prevent her ever becoming so ‘restless,
troubled, muddy, and bereft of beauty.’ So far as she
has been admitted to the society of men they have not
yet made her that terrible being they fear and dread.
She has not proved herself coarse, vulgar, turbulent
and corrupting in any society to which she has been
admitted; and we would bid the reverend calm his excited
mind, and remember that God made her woman,
and under no change that has come to her has she proved
untrue to the nature He implanted within her. So let
him trust that the good God who is leading her forward
into broader fields of usefulness will take care that she
goes not beyond, in any respect, the limit He has fixed
to her sphere.</p>

<p>Having settled the question that the sexes are to
move in spheres distinct from each other to his own satisfaction,
and having dismissed the apostle from the witness<span class="pagenum" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</span>
stand, we are told what, in the judgment of the
speaker, is the proper and appropriate sphere of woman.
In much of what follows we agree with him; but not
altogether. ‘By analyzing any persons,’ men or women,
‘physically, mentally and morally, we can ascertain
what station they are fitted to fill—what work they are
fitted to do.’ And whatever either man or woman has
capacity for doing, that is right and proper in and of itself;
that thing it is right and proper for both, or either
of them, to do. If God has given them a talent, He has
along with it given them a right to its use, whether it be
in the direction of the home, the workshop, the public
assembly, or the Legislative Hall.</p>

<p>And if woman has hitherto neglected to improve all
her God-given talents, it is because men have only permitted
her to get glimpses of the world ‘from the little
elevation in her own garden,’ where they have fenced
her in. But let them invite her to the ‘loftier eminence’
where they stand, with the world for her sphere, as it
was at the beginning, and then they can better judge of
the qualities of her mind, and her capacity to fill any
station.</p>

<p>In talking of man’s strength of body and mind fitting
him for certain places, and woman’s weakness consigning
her to other places, he forgets that intellectually,
at least, a great many women are stronger than a
great many men, and therefore better fitted for places
where brains, instead of muscle, are needed. It is no
more true that every woman was made to be a cook and
a washer of dishes and clothes, than that every man was
made to be a wood sawyer and a ditch digger. While<span class="pagenum" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</span>
some are content, in either case, to fill those stations,
others are not content, and never will be, and will aspire
to something better and higher. To what place the
weak little men are to be consigned our speaker fails to
tell us.</p>

<p>The home picture in the sermon is all very beautiful.
Would that all homes were a realization of the
picture! Woman is told great things of her duties,
her influence, her glories and her responsibilities, but
not a word have we of man’s duty to the home, the wife,
the children. Woman is told that it is hers to make
her children great and good, as though they were like
a blank sheet of white paper and would take any impress
she chose to give; when, in fact, they are stamped
before they see the light of the world with the gross
and vicious natures of their tobacco-chewing and wine-bibbing
fathers, as well as with the weaknesses of the
mothers, and it is often impossible for the best of
mothers to so train their children that they may safely
pass the pitfalls that men have everywhere placed to
lead them into temptation and destruction. We protest
against the mothers being held alone responsible
for the children, so long as fathers wholly neglect their
duties and set such examples and such temptations before
their children as to corrupt their young lives and
destroy the good influence the mother might otherwise
exert. Not till mothers have a voice in saying what
influences and temptations shall surround their children
when they go beyond the nursery walls, can they justly
be held accountable to society or to God for their conduct.
The woman who only takes a narrow view of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</span>
life from the little eminence in her garden can never
give to the world very good or very great children.
She must be permitted to take in a wider range from a
loftier eminence, before she can form those great characters
and inscribe upon the immortal mind the great
things that are expected and demanded of her. If we
would have great men, we must first have great women.
If we would have noble men, we must first have noble
mothers. A woman whose whole thought is occupied
in cooking a good dinner and mending old clothes—or
(a little more refined) whose thoughts center on a
beautiful dress, elegant embroidery, the fashionable
party, the latest novel or the latest fashion—can never
give to the world a Bacon or a Newton, a Howard or a
Wesley, a Buonaparte or a Washington. Our preacher
lays a heavy responsibility on woman, but all his talk
about her influence, her duty and her subordination is
not going to give her that wisdom, strength and moral
material out of which to properly construct the fabric
of the Church and the Commonwealth.</p>

<p>We would by no means undervalue the home, or
the mother’s duty and influence; but we would ennoble
and purify the one, and enlarge the duties and extend
the influence and power of the other. Our divine
thinks that, because woman is mother, daughter, sister
and wife, it is enough for her and she should desire
nothing more. Man is father, husband, son and
brother, and why is he not therefore content? What
can he desire or ask for more? Let men realize that
they, too, have duties to the home beyond merely supplying
the money to satisfy the physical wants of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</span>
family; let them throw down the wall they have built
up around the woman’s garden and invite her to survey
with them the wider range from the loftier eminence,
and many homes would be made glad that are now
anything but Gardens of Eden, and many women would
be strengthened for the full and faithful discharge of
all their duties.</p>

<p>‘Woman is not a mechanic.’ Yes, she is. All men
are not mechanics. I know women who have more
mechanical genius than their husbands; and I believe
there are few of the mechanical arts that women could
not master and perform successfully, if custom permitted
and necessity required. They are naturally ingenious,
and fashion many things as difficult to learn
as to saw a board or drive a nail, to make a watch or
a shoe, a saddle or a harness. My next-door neighbor
is a natural mechanic, and has manufactured various
articles in wood, from a foot to two feet in size, such
as tables, chairs, bedsteads, wardrobes, frames, brackets,
etc., with only a penknife and a bit of sandpaper for
tools, which are perfect specimens of workmanship,
and are so acknowledged by first-class cabinetmakers.
She has taken premiums on these articles for the best
woodcutting and carving at our agricultural fairs.
This work has only been done for pastime, and the lady
is equally ingenious with the needle, as well as a good
housekeeper, wife and mother. There are many women
engaged in various kinds of mechanism.</p>

<p>There are many inventions by women; but how
many have been patented, can only be known by inquiry
at the Patent Office. And even then it would be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</span>
difficult to ascertain facts, since the patent is generally
obtained in the name of the husband. I have a lady
friend who invented patterns for parlor stoves. Her
husband had them patented in his own name, and
entered upon the manufacture and sale of them.</p>

<p>The ‘natural difference in the turn of mind in the
sexes’ is not so great as is supposed. The seeming
difference is more owing to education and custom, than
to nature. It is a very common thing to hear a young
girl wish she was a boy, or a man, that she might be
free to do what she lists in this world of work—to
make use of the powers which she feels burning within
her. The girl envies the boy his freedom and his
privileges. In ‘earliest childhood,’ if let alone, there is
little difference between the boy and the girl. The
girl likes to ride the horse and blow the trumpet, as
well as the boy; and the boy loves a doll and a needle
and thread, as well as the girl. It is not the child that
selects, but the parent that selects for him. From
the very first (the whip, the horse, the trumpet) the boy
is taught that it is not right or manly for him to play
with dolls, or girls; and the girl, that little girls must
not play with boys, or with boys’ playthings, because
it is not ladylike, and will make a tom-boy of her. And
so education does what nature has not done, and was
never intended to do.</p>

<p>‘Those who would curse our race have ever attempted,
in imitation of the great progenitor, to poison
all our fountains and wither and blast all our budding
hopes by directing their artful attacks and deadly
shafts against the breast of woman.’</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</span></p>

<p>Alas! this is but too true. Ever since Satan, who
was a man, struck the first blow at her happiness, men
have directed their deadly shafts against her, by first
subjugating her to their will, and then using their power
to ‘poison the fountain of her happiness and wither
and blast her budding hopes.’ She has been made their
sport and their victim, with no power to avert the evil,
or protect herself, or those entrusted to her care, from
their artful and brutal attacks.</p>

<p>But what have we here? After telling women that
home is their sphere, and that God placed them in it,
and they should not go beyond it, the reverend lecturer
turns right about and supposes a case where a woman
is called upon to devote her time, or her energies, to
home duties and family cares, or of one who voluntarily
chooses to do something else; and, strange as it may
seem after all that has gone before, he says ‘she may
follow a trade, teach, lecture, practise law and medicine,
and fill a clerkship.’ This is good woman’s-rights doctrine!
The bars are let down that separated the
spheres, and woman is permitted to leave the ‘distinct
and subordinate’ one allotted to her, and enter upon a
sphere and work ‘<em>identical with that of man</em>.’ Here
we can join hands with our divine, and be thankful
that light has so far dawned upon him. And he farther
‘demands that all the sources of learning, all the
avenues of business which they are competent to fill
shall be thrown open to the whole sex, and that they
shall be fairly and fully rewarded for all they do’!
These good words go far to atone for all he has said
before, and we will not ask why this change, or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</span>
concession. Enough that he comes thus far upon our
platform. But can he stop here? After giving her so
wide a sphere, and educating her mind to the fullest
extent, can he again put up the bar and say ‘thus far and
no farther shalt thou go’? Indeed, no! God himself
has in these latter days broken down the bounds that
men had set to woman’s sphere, and they cannot, by
opposition or Bible argument, remand her back into
the state of silent subjection whence she came. The
ministers of the church for years set themselves up
against the anti-slavery cause, and proved conclusively,
to themselves, from the Bible, that slavery was right and
God-ordained; that the Africans were, and were to be,
a subjugated race, and that to teach differently was in
plain violation of the teachings of the Bible. They
held themselves aloof from that cause, in the days of
its weakness, at least, and cried out against those who
were pleading for the emancipation of the slave. But
God proved their mistake by setting that people free,
and endowing them with all the rights of citizenship.
So, too, the Bible is brought forward to prove the
subordination of woman, and to show that because St.
Paul told the ignorant women of his time that they
must keep silent in the church the educated, intelligent
women of these times must not only occupy the same
position in the church and the family but must not
aspire to the rights of citizenship. But the same
Power that brought the slave out of bondage will, in
His own good time and way, bring about the emancipation
of woman, and make her the equal in power
and dominion that she was at the beginning.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</span></p>

<p>The divine uses the column and a half that remains
of the space allotted to him to show why, in his
opinion, women should not vote—after telling us there
is nothing against their voting in the Bible, and omitting
to tell us what the passages quoted at the head of
his discourse have to do with politics or political rights.
One of these reasons is that women will want to hold
office; and in proof of this he tells us that the office of
deaconess, which existed in the church till the middle of
the fifth century, was abolished because the women ‘became
troublesome aspirants after the prerogatives of
office.’ It is ever thus. Men are willing women should be
subordinate—do the <em>drudgery</em> in the church and elsewhere;
but let them aspire to something higher and
then, if there is no other way to silence them, abolish
the office. <em>Men</em> want all the offices, and it is a crying
shame for a woman to think of taking one from them,
thus setting them all aquake with fear!</p>

<p>Men argue as though, if women had the right to
vote, they would all abandon their homes and their
babies, and stand at the polls from year’s end to year’s
end and do nothing but vote. When the fact is men
do not vote but twice a year; are detained from their
business but a few minutes to deposit their ballots; and
then go their way, none the worse for the vote. I regret
that Rev. Rice thinks so badly of the advocates of
woman’s cause. So far as I know them, his charges
are unfair and sometimes untrue. A better personal
acquaintance would disarm him of much of his prejudice.
The women are all good sisters, wives and
mothers, living in love and harmony with their husbands,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</span>
to whom they are true helpmeets, and whom
they have no thought of deserting. Not half of them
ever expect to hold office—certainly not, unless the
offices are greatly multiplied—nor to have any part in
turning the world upside down. On the contrary they
will continue to care for the babies, cook the dinners,
and sew on the buttons the same as ever.</p>

<p>Another reason why woman should not vote is that
he thinks ‘God has not fitted her for government, that
He never made her to manage the affairs of state, that
very few women would make good stateswomen,’ etc.
And yet God did at the Creation give her an equal
share in the government of the earth, and our divine
imposes upon her all the government of the family!
God called Deborah to manage the affairs of state,
and approved of her management, never once telling
her she was out of her sphere, or neglecting her domestic
duties. And the queens of the Bible are nowhere
reproved for being in authority and ruling over men.
Many women have shown a fitness for government in
all ages of the world. There are few able statesmen
among men, and the world is suffering sadly for want
of woman’s help and woman’s counsel in the affairs of
state.</p>

<p>But I cannot ask you to allow me space to follow
the reverend gentleman through all that follows on the
question of woman suffrage. His arguments are very
stale, and many of them absurd. I doubt not he is
honest in his convictions; but all do not see with his
eyes, or judge with his judgment. As able minds as
his own among men take a different view of the matter,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</span>
and believe that at the polls, as elsewhere, woman will
have a refining moral influence upon men, and that
she will herself be benefited and ennobled by the enlarged
sphere of action.</p>

<p>I cannot better close than with the words of Bronson
Alcott, at a recent ‘conversation’ in Chicago: ‘There
is no friend of woman who does not believe that, if the
ballot were extended to her, not one would ever vote
for an impure man. To give woman the ballot would
purify legislation, plant liberty and purity in our families,
our churches, our institutions, our State.’</p>

<p class="right fs90">
<span class="smcap">Amelia Bloomer.</span></p>
<p>Council Bluffs, Iowa.<br>
</p>
</div>
<hr class="r5">

<div class="chapter"></div>
<h3>MRS. STANTON ON MRS. BLOOMER.</h3>

<div class="blockquot">

<p>“In the fall of 1850 I met Mrs. Bloomer for the first
time, in Seneca Falls, N. Y. I was happy to find her
awake to the wrongs of women. Mrs. Bloomer was
publishing a paper at that time called the <em>Lily</em>; a
rather inappropriate name for so aggressive a paper,
advocating as it did all phases of the woman’s-rights
question. In 1849 her husband was appointed postmaster,
and she became his deputy, was duly sworn in,
and during the administration of Taylor and Fillmore
served in that capacity. When she assumed her duties,
the improvement in the appearance and conduct of the
office was generally acknowledged. A neat little room
adjoining became a kind of ladies’ exchange, where
those coming from different parts of the town would
meet to talk over the contents of the last <em>Lily</em> and the
progress of the woman’s-suffrage movement in general.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</span>
Those who enjoyed the brief interregnum of a woman
in the post office can readily testify to the loss to the
ladies of the village, and to the void felt by all, when
Mrs. Bloomer and the <em>Lily</em> left for the West, and men
again reigned supreme.</p>

<p class="right">
“E. C. S.”<br>
</p>
</div>

<hr class="r5">
<h3>MEMORIAL SERMON.</h3>

<p>Preached by the Rev. Eugene J. Babcock, in
St. Paul’s Church, Council Bluffs, January 13,
1895:</p>

<div class="blockquot">

<p class="fs90"><span class="smcap">Eccl.</span>, vii. 1.—“<em>A good name is better than precious ointment,
and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.</em>”</p>

<p>Wisdom is surveying life, and giving its best retrospect.
The thought which has entered this judgment
is the righteous, just, temperate, and loving care
of God.</p>

<p>A life spent in satisfying the pleasures of sense
alone leaves nothing of value to the ‘pilgrims of night,’
for it passes away like a shadow and is gone. The
greatest heritage that can come to the children of men—an
inheritance that they should administer jealously—is
a good name. As to other things we can carry
nothing out of this world, but good character, like the
ancient embalming, forever preserves a good name.</p>

<p>The ‘name’ which wisdom here mentions is that
which has acquirement of reputation. This is suggested
by the second member of the text. The old
application would have limited it to one who had won
fame. Evidently, reputation is to be the outcome of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</span>
character just as the perfume is associated with the
nard. The things in comparison are the good name
which all delight to honor, and the fragrant odor of the
good, i. e. precious, ointment which all enjoy.</p>

<p>But more than this. Names of the great and good
have a diffusive power, subtly and incisively invading
our spirits as their golden deeds are told off and become
signs to the world that earth has souls of heroic
mould. Then we are athrill with emotion as our
souls thus catch better insight of humanity. The
correspondence is in opening the box of delicate, pure
and costly ointment, the odor thereof filling the house.</p>

<p>How comes it that the day of death is better than
the day of birth? Solomon may have meant that life’s
vexations, toils, temptations and trials were thus at an
end. This is the justifying consolation that we give
when our fellows depart hence and are no more seen.
The passing hence is undoubtedly merciful relief in
many instances. But life’s issues are varied and
diverse, and to most of us life, in its purely temporal
aspect, is the sweetest and closest companion of
thought. There are but few to receive Solomon’s
words. Possibly, they are designed for the few. At
an earlier stage of his life he would not have written
them. They came out of his experience. He may
have been touched by a gloom of apprehension which
sprung from ignorance, an ignorance that was done
away in Christ our Lord. That life does not cease absolutely
is knowledge which Christ’s religion has fixed
in human minds. It is true that there is as yet no test
of experience, save that I point you to Jesus Christ the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</span>
Great Exemplar and those recorded cases who were
subjects of his power. In the spirit’s return to God,
the ancients did not know that to die is gain.</p>

<p>In view of acquirements attained from a well
ordered and well spent life, may there not be a sense
in which the day of death is better? As the three
score and ten years come on, our minds contrast origin
and decline, infancy and age. What prodigious issues
are involved! The advances of time disclose two
pathways, well worn and leading up to these issues.
In moral aspect they bear the names of good and evil.
Yet they are not so absolutely distinct as to be two
separate paths. Rather, to the eye of discernment, the
individual walks in two planes, the subject of two
kingdoms. God, in His goodness and mercy, furnished
a guideboard for the journey of life, and prophetic of
the parting of the ways: Reject the evil; choose the
good. Behold the key to the good name that is better
than precious ointment!</p>

<p>Such was the high animating principle that guided
Amelia Jenks Bloomer through her womanhood. Born
in Homer, New York, May 27, 1818, she removed from
her native place at an early age, and after a residence
in two other villages in the same state, during which
her life passed through girlhood to young womanhood,
she finally came to Seneca County. She was little
aware of the destiny that awaited her, and of the probability
that the precincts of her new dwelling place
were to become the theatre of events in which she
would play the part of leading character.</p>

<p>On her mother’s side she inherited a trend toward<span class="pagenum" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</span>
an earnest and positive religious bent. This was supplemented
by the mother-love instilling into the child
those principles of belief in things supreme which
become a part of moral fibre and the basis for action.
The one avenue of woman’s employment from time immemorial,
the public school, she seems to have eschewed.
This may have been owing to possession of
talents for larger and higher educational function;
talents which found successful trial in a happy and
peculiar relation of governess in a family with three
children.</p>

<p>This relation was terminated for another and more
sacred bond, she being joined in marriage the twenty-second
year of her age. Her married life began at
Seneca Falls, New York, where was Mr. Bloomer’s
home.</p>

<p>In the beginning of the decade of years which are
known as the ‘forties,’ there were gathering forces of a
distinctively moral movement which had for its object
the regeneration of society. Re-proclamation of an
old truth in new form took aggressive phase of agitation
against the evils of intemperance with a view to
lessen them. The instrument employed was the ever
truthful and laudable agency of moral suasion. In due
time there came into the purview of such as were
enlisted heart and soul in this noble effort, the additional
agency of suppression by means of legal
enactment. This first and new demonstration gathered
momentum until 1856, when it seems to have
spent its force in electing Myron A. Clark, of Canandaigua,
to the governorship of New York.</p>

<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</span></p>

<p>A glance at the early endeavors which led to the upheaval
of society and had a widespread effect for good,
enables us to see the sway of the agitation in that part
of the state where dwelt the honorable subject of this
memorial. The movement had taken form in the concrete
by virtue of an organization named the Washingtonian
Society. To the influences of this society we
are indebted, indirectly at least, for the new firmament
which spread above this land in woman’s emancipation,
and for its bright peculiar star, Amelia Bloomer.</p>

<p>This came about in a simple and matter-of-fact way.
Local societies, of which there was one in Seneca Falls,
were doing their specific work. Mr. Bloomer was
already in the newspaper field as editor of the village
press. To his editorial duties he joined the duties of
maintaining a paper called the <cite>Water Bucket</cite>, as the
organ of the local society. Another element came in the
shape of a religious awakening, following the Washingtonian
movement, and growing out of it. While the air
was ringing with eloquent words of precept, there was
forced upon the mind that which was equally eloquent,
viz., personal example. Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer were
baptized and confirmed by Bishop Delancey in the parish
church of Seneca Falls in the year 1842. Henceforth,
to the <em>rationale</em> of the movement was added the religious
motive.</p>

<p>In response to her husband’s earnest and persuasive
appeals to ‘lend a hand,’ she modestly and even reluctantly
contributed articles to the paper. With repeated
protestations, she complied with other demands. She
did not desire to reveal her identity as her contributions<span class="pagenum" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</span>
became subject to favorable comment and wide
quotation. She hid herself under a round of names,
now masculine, now feminine, in order to avoid publicity.
But behind them there was a personality that
could not be hidden long. A keen and powerful mind,
and brimming sentiments of a woman’s heart, intense
and moving, came to the surface. The flashing of a
bright pen, tempered and pointed as a Damascus blade,
was probing its way to the forefront of discussion, and
into the vitals of opposing argument, and lo! a woman
stepped forth into the arena, a champion of woman’s
side in the conflicting controversy!</p>

<p>With her lifeboat thus pushed out into the current
of this mental activity, and thrown upon her own resources,
latent powers came to her support. These
were reabsorbed, again developed, and carried on to
renewed struggles. It is surprising to note how resolutely
and with what eminent capability she met the
varied demands of true sentiment, sound judgment and
business tact.</p>

<p>She had great regard for the principles she advocated;
for her self-respect as an advocate; and for her
pledged or promised word. Thinking that woman was
capable of originating an enterprise, that she had capacity
for conducting it, her ruling passion was to show to
the world that woman could do as woman, be accountable
to self, and had the right potential to do what she
could. That she esteemed woman a responsible creature
is indicated in the manner in which her paper <cite>The
Lily</cite> was launched upon society. A woman’s temperance
club had planned the paper, the president of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</span>
society had named it; another was appointed editress,
Mrs. Bloomer to be associate; the first issue to appear
January 1, 1849. A woman’s convention which had assembled
in 1848 in the village, and the first on record,
may have stimulated the project. But as the time approached
to undertake the issue faintheartedness dashed
the scheme. Not even prospectuses and money received
could stay the retreat. Mrs. Bloomer was left alone.
Her own words are: ‘My position was a most embarrassing
one. * * * * I could not so lightly throw
off responsibility. There was no alternative but to follow
the example of the others and let the enterprise prove
a miserable failure as had been predicted it would, or to
throw myself into the work, bare my head to the storm
of censure and criticism that would follow, and thereby
make good our promises to the public and save the
reputation of the society. It was a sad, a trying hour,
for one all inexperienced in such work, and at a time
when public action in woman was almost unknown.
So unprepared was I for the position I found myself in,
so lacking in confidence and fearful of censure, that I
withdrew my name from the paper and left standing
the headline: “Published by a Committee of Ladies.”’
With such splendid courage, integrity and determination,
we can almost predicate in advance the eminent
success which attended this effort during a period of six
years.</p>

<p>The study of woman’s condition incident to aggressive
measures against intemperance and the direct appeal
to woman’s sympathies, without doubt, widened the
scope of vision. That woman often stood in need of independence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</span>
was enforced cogently. Having succeeded
in a limited temperance work and become useful agents
in lifting the burdens of sisters, the idea of relief in other
directions followed hard apace. Some of these burdens
were of woman’s own placing, some were forced upon
her by the inequalities of law, and others were in deference
to a wrong public opinion.</p>

<p>The power of the Press did not suffice for the complete
extension of the aims which the woman’s association
had in view. The human voice, than which there
is nothing more potential in moving us, was now raised
to make the battlecry of reform more effective. The
last wonder of the world had come—for woman appeared
as her own advocate. Amelia Bloomer had
gathered strength and reliance for a new phase of her
work. She more deeply realized that she had to cope
with other evils than the horrors of intemperance. The
rising questions were still more difficult, from their inherent
nature and there being no public sentiment to
support them. As the issue confronted her the same distrust
of self, yet the same unfaltering courage and devotion
to a cause, prepared her for the rostrum as armed
her for the editress’ chair. She had faith in the justice
of men, and believed that God was on her side. She
overstepped mere conventionality, not that she spurned
good, but to show that conventionalism is sometimes a
tyrant, and harmful. She could brave the strictures of
public opinion, knowing that it is not always right.
But that she could do this does not indicate that there
was no cost to herself, or that the cruel arrows of ridicule
when proceeding from unkindness did not reach tender<span class="pagenum" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</span>
sensibilities. Had she but her own glory to seek, or
were it but a vain notoriety in order to puff up the
mind, she could not have ‘bared her head to the storm’
which a canvass of woman’s rights and woman’s wrongs
brought upon her.</p>

<hr class="tb">

<p>It is for us to learn the lesson of her life: that,
conspicuously, she was unselfish. A conviction had
come to her—may it not have been true inspiration?—that
what was wrong in practice might be righted by
promulgation of true principles. She had the courage
of her convictions, if ever any one had. Like a true
reformer, she had to furnish the principles and disclose
the facts upon which they were based, in order that
correction might obtain. That which sent her to the
principal cities of her native and adopted states and to
cities far beyond, to legislative halls, to the use of her
trenchant and vigorous pen, was love for her own sex.
To win for one was gain for all. It was a doing for
others all along. What though abstract justice, statue-like,
could point the index at inequalities? There was
no voice to awaken and plead!</p>

<p>In this part of her career she was as eminent a success
as in the other. She was mistress of argumentative
persuasion, and could turn the shafts of opponents
with consummate skill. The extravagance of rhetoric
into which excited feelings are prone to lead a controversialist,
she met with good-natured repartee. It may
be said that she was advance-courier of ‘temperance
literature,’ her sprightly contributions being original
matter, and in turn becoming texts for other writers and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</span>
publishers. She had other helpers in creating a literature
of woman’s rights, notably Mrs. Stanton, who was
one of others who accompanied her on a tour of lectures.
Her contention as to woman’s place was that
she is created man’s intellectual, moral and spiritual
equal.</p>

<p>It certainly would have been derogatory to the
Almighty Creator to have bestowed on man an inferior
partner for life. Genesis discloses to us that the word
for man and woman is the same, save that a feminine
termination is added to the latter. The true rise of
woman is centred in the Incarnation of our Blessed
Lord. From that time the dawn of woman’s elevation
has been breaking into a cloudless sky. Mrs. Bloomer
rightly caught the gleaming light in attributing to that
august event a possibility for the broader and higher
sphere of woman’s action. With this she was wont to
silence Old-Testament quotations of opponents, and for
that matter the handlers of New-Testament writings
which referred to a condition closely approximating the
old order of ignorance; the enlightenment of Christianity
not then having bathed the nations. She never
countenanced levity respecting the married state, or
suffered the intrusion of degrading theories respecting
the domicile of home. Her interpretation of a ‘help’
meet for man ranged along the high lines of being a
help in all that man does for the good of the world, self,
and actions that bear fruit of moral freedom.</p>

<p>Whenever she was asked to teach about woman’s
sphere she complied, as being a call to duty. Not
long ago she related to a me thrilling adventure which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</span>
I am now able to see in a more characteristic light. A
certain and constant solidarity of character becomes
apparent at every turn. Duteous devotion, regard for
promise, and personal bravery enter into the exploit.
She was to lecture on ‘Woman’s Education’ before,
and for the benefit of, the Library Association of Omaha.
I find the story transcribed in her ‘Early Recollections.’<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>
</div>

<hr class="tb">

<p>The reference to home yearnings is a side light
which illumines the whole background of her public
career. Ardently devoted to her mission and responsive
to its imperious calls, yet she was not a Mrs. Jellyby of
Bleak House. She cared for others, near to her as well
as remote. Adopted children have taken the Bloomer
name, and other young have found a home beneath the
hospitable roof.</p>

<p>A woman engaged in the active enterprises of life
was a new thing under the sun. Beneath the royal
occupation of queen-regent, or that of gifted authorship,
or being a ‘Sister of Charity,’ the lines of woman’s
work were few and greatly limited in the world outside
of home. Amelia Bloomer was a pioneer in woman’s
emancipation and, as falls to the lot of the pioneer, she
had work to do which succeeding generations reckon
not, and of which successors in the field have never felt
the sting of the deep intensity of the striving. The first
faint, far-off echo has swelled to thunder tone as to-day<span class="pagenum" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</span>
there goes over the land a call for the Second Triennial
Meeting of the National Council of Women, which was
founded on the fortieth anniversary of ‘the first organized
demand for equal education, industrial, professional,
and political rights for women, made at a meeting
in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848.’</p>

<p>It is given to but few to realize the effectiveness of
consecration to a work like that Mrs. Bloomer undertook.
Rarely does one see the rich results of a contention
so manifoldly difficult. As iron sharpeneth
iron, so has been the clash of minds. Imaginary barriers
have gone, and a rigid conservatism, strong principally
by reason of inherited tendency, is supplanted
by a <em>rationale</em> of woman’s sphere which has made occupation
for thousands. She who was both prominent
and eminent in bringing this result ought to be an object
of their everlasting gratitude!”<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p>


<p class="center">THE END.</p>


<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote">

<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Here, with slight omissions, is quoted in Mrs. Bloomer’s
own words the narration of the incident of the “Dangers met
in crossing the Missouri,” previously given on pp. <a href="#Page_214">214-216.</a></p>

</div>

<div class="footnote">

<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> The remainder of the sermon has already been given. It
will be found on pp. <a href="#Page_327">327-331.</a></p>

</div>
</div>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">

<div class="chapter">
<div class="transnote">

<h2>Transcriber’s Notes</h2>

<ul>
<li>pg 5 swapped Amelia’s and Dexter’s photo location</li>
<li>pg 33 Removed hyphen between Seneca and Falls</li>
<li>pg 40 Removed duplicate word from: women did not not know what</li>
<li>pg 120 Added hyphen between State and Temperance</li>
<li>pg 158 Removed extra quote after: so-called ‘Woman’s Rights’</li>
<li>pg 168 Removed hyphen after: having passed the New</li>
<li>pg 181 Removed hyphen from: AT THE NEW-YORK</li>
<li>pg 183 Removed hyphen from: Of this New-York Convention</li>
<li>pg 197 Removed hyphen from: We came from our New-York home</li>
<li>pg 200 Removed repeated word the from: and again the the cry</li>
<li>pg 206 Removed hyphen between Council and Bluffs</li>
<li>pg 296 Removed hyphen between bushel and basket</li>
<li>pg 322-323 Removed hyphen between Council and Bluffs</li>
<li>pg 337 Removed repeated word is from: but that is is her duty</li>
<li>Many hyphenated and non-hyphenated word combinations left as written.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>

<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 69953 ***</div>
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