The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2) by Ida Husted Harper

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[Illustration HW: Susan B. Anthony]

THE LIFE AND WORK

OF

SUSAN B. ANTHONY

INCLUDING PUBLIC ADDRESSES, HER OWN LETTERS
AND MANY FROM HER CONTEMPORARIES
DURING FIFTY YEARS

BY
IDA HUSTED HARPER

A Story of the evolution of the Status of Woman

IN TWO VOLUMES

VOLUME I
ILLUSTRATED WITH PORTRAITS, PICTURES OF HOMES, ETC.

INDIANAPOLIS AND KANSAS CITY
THE BOWEN-MERRILL COMPANY
1899

TO WOMAN, FOR WHOSE FREEDOM
SUSAN B. ANTHONY
HAS GIVEN FIFTY YEARS OF NOBLE ENDEAVOR
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED

PREFACE.

A biography written during the lifetime of the subject is unusual, but
to the friends of Miss Anthony it seemed especially desirable because
the reform in which she and her contemporaries have been engaged has
not been given a deserved place in the pages of history, and the
accounts must be gleaned very largely from unpublished records and
personal recollections. The wisdom of this course often has been
apparent in the preparation of these volumes. In recalling how many
times an entirely different interpretation of letters, scenes and
actions would have been made from that which Miss Anthony declared to
be the true one, the author must confess that hereafter all biographies
will be read by her with a certain amount of skepticism--a doubt
whether the historian has drawn correct conclusions from apparent
premises, and a disbelief that one individual can state accurately the
motives which influenced another.

Most persons who have attained sufficient prominence to make a record
of their lives valuable are too busy to prepare an autobiography, but
there is only one other way to go down to posterity correctly
represented, and that is to have some one else write the history while
the hero still lives. If we admit this self-evident proposition, then
the question is presented, should it be published during his lifetime?
A reason analogous to that which justifies the writing, demands also
the publication, in order that denials or attacks may be met by the
person who, above all others, is best qualified to defend the original
statement. It seems a pity, too, that he should be deprived of knowing
what the press and the people think of the story of his life, since
there is no assurance that he will meet the book-reviewers in the next
world.

These volumes may claim the merit of truthfully describing the
principal events of Miss Anthony's life and presenting her opinions on
the various matters considered. She has objected to the eulogies, but
the writer holds that, as these are not the expressions of a partial
biographer but the spontaneous tributes of individuals and newspapers,
no rule of good taste is violated in giving them a place. It is only
justice that, since the abuse and ridicule of early years are fully
depicted, esteem and praise should have equal prominence; and surely
every one will read with pleasure the proof that the world's scorn and
repudiation have been changed to respect and approval. Many letters of
women have been used to disprove the assertion so often made, that
women themselves do not properly estimate the labors of Miss Anthony in
their behalf. It can not be expected that the masses should understand
or appreciate her work, but the written evidence herein submitted will
demonstrate that the women of each decade most prominent in
intellectual ability, in philanthropy, in reform, those who represent
the intelligence and progress of the age, have granted to it the most
cordial and thorough recognition.

There has not been the slightest attempt at rhetorical display, but
only an endeavor to tell in plain, simple language the story of the
life and work of one who was born into the simplicity and
straightforwardness of the Society of Friends and never departed from
them. The constant aim has been to condense, but it has not been an
easy task to crowd into limited space the history of nearly eighty
busy, eventful years, comprising a revolution in social and legal
customs. If the reader discover some things omitted which to him seem
vital, or others mentioned which appear unimportant, it is hoped he
will attribute them to an error of judgment rather than to an intention
to minimize or magnify unduly any person or action.

The fact should be kept in mind that this is not a history of woman
suffrage, except in so far as Miss Anthony herself has been directly
connected with it. A number of women have made valuable contributions
to this movement whose lives have not come in contact with hers,
therefore they have not been mentioned in these pages, which have been
devoted almost exclusively to her personal labors and associations.
Many of those even who have been her warm and faithful friends have had
to be omitted for want of space. No one can know the regret this has
caused, or the conscientious effort which has been made to render exact
justice to Miss Anthony's co-workers. It was so difficult for her to
select the few pictures for which room could be spared that she was
strongly tempted to exclude all. Personal controversies have been
omitted, in the belief that nothing could be gained which would justify
handing them down to future generations. Where differences have existed
in regard to matters of a public nature, only so much of them has been
given as might serve for an object lesson on future occasions.

In preparing these volumes over 20,000 letters have been read and,
whenever possible, some of them used to tell the story, especially
those written by Miss Anthony herself, as her own language seemed
preferable to that of any other, but only a comparatively small number
of the latter could be obtained. She kept copies of a few important
official letters, and friends in various parts of the country kindly
sent those in their possession. Every letter quoted in these volumes
was copied from the original, hence there can be no question of
authenticity. The autographs reproduced in fac-simile were clipped from
letters written to Miss Anthony. Her diaries of over fifty years have
furnished an invaluable record. The strict financial accounts of all
moneys received and spent, frequently have supplied a date or incident
when every other source had failed. A mine of information was found in
her full set of scrap-books, beginning with 1850; the History of Woman
Suffrage; almost complete files of Garrison's Liberator, the
Anti-Slavery Standard, and woman's rights papers--Lily, Una,
Revolution, Ballot-Box, Woman's Journal, Woman's Tribune. The reader
easily can perceive the difficulty of condensation, with Miss Anthony's
own history so closely interwoven with the periods and the objects
represented by all these authorities.

The intent of this work has been to trace briefly the evolution of a
life and a condition. The transition of the young Quaker girl, afraid
of the sound of her own voice, into the reformer, orator and statesman,
is no more wonderful than the change in the status of woman, effected
so largely through her exertions. At the beginning she was a chattel in
the eye of the law; shut out from all advantages of higher education
and opportunities in the industrial world; an utter dependent on man;
occupying a subordinate position in the church; restrained to the
narrowest limits along social lines; an absolute nonentity in politics.
Today American women are envied by those of all other nations, and
stand comparatively free individuals, with the exception of political
disabilities.

During the fifty years which have wrought this revolution, just one
woman in all the world has given every day of her time, every dollar of
her money, every power of her being, to secure this result. She was
impelled to this work by no personal grievance, but solely through a
deep sense of the injustice which, on every side, she saw perpetrated
against her sex, and which she determined to combat. Never for one
short hour has the cause of woman been forgotten or put aside for any
other object. Never a single tie has been formed, either of affection
or business, which would interfere with this supreme purpose. Never a
speech has been given, a trip taken, a visit made, a letter written, in
all this half-century, that has not been done directly in the interest
of this one object. There has been no thought of personal comfort,
advancement or glory; the self-abnegation, the self-sacrifice, have
been absolute--they have been unparalleled.

There has been no desire to emphasize the hardships and unpleasant
features, but only to picture in the fewest possible words the many
consecutive years of unremitting toil, begun amidst conditions which
now seem almost incredible, and continued with sublime courage in the
face of calumny and persecution such as can not be imagined by the
women of today. Nothing has been concealed or mitigated. In those years
of constant aggression, when every step was an experiment, there must
have been mistakes, but the story would be incomplete if they were left
untold. No effort has been made to portray a perfect character, but
only that of a woman who dared take the blows and bear the scorn that
other women might be free. Future generations will read these pages
through tears, and will wonder what manner of people those were who not
only permitted this woman to labor for humanity fifty years, almost
unaided, but also compelled her to beg or earn the money with which to
carry on her work. If certain opinions shall be found herein which the
world is not ready to accept, let it be remembered that, as Miss
Anthony was in advance of public sentiment in the past, she may be
equally so in the present, and that the radicalism which we reject
today may be the conservatism at which we will wonder tomorrow.

Those who follow the story of this life will confirm the assertion that
every girl who now enjoys a college education; every woman who has the
chance of earning an honest living in whatever sphere she chooses;
every wife who is protected by law in the possession of her person and
her property; every mother who is blessed with the custody and control
of her own children--owes these sacred privileges to Susan B. Anthony
beyond all others. This biography goes to the public with the earnest
hope that it may carry to every man a conviction of his imperative duty
to secure for women the same freedom which he himself enjoys; and that
it may impress upon every woman a solemn obligation to complete the
great work of this noble pioneer.

[Autograph: Ida Husted Harper]

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

VOL. I.

CHAPTER I.

ANCESTRY, HOME AND CHILDHOOD. (1550-1826.), 1-15

Berkshire Hills; noted persons born there; Anthony and Read genealogy;
military record; religious beliefs; education; marriage of father and
mother of Susan B. Anthony; her birth and childhood; characteristics of
mother; first factory built.

CHAPTER II

GIRLHOOD AND SCHOOL LIFE. (1826-1838.), 17-31

Removal to Battenville, N.Y.; manufacturing business; temperance and
labor questions; new house; Susan's factory experience; Quaker
discipline; the home school; first teaching; boarding-school life;
Susan's letters and journals.

CHAPTER III.

FINANCIAL CRASH--THE TEACHER. (1838-1845.), 33-46

The panic; father's letters; teaching at Union Village; the home
sacrificed; life at Center Falls; more Quaker discipline; teaching at
New Rochelle; Miss Anthony's letters on slavery, temperance, medical
practice, Van Buren, etc.; teaching at Center Falls, Cambridge and Fort
Edward; proposals of marriage; removal to Rochester, N. Y.

CHAPTER IV.

THE FARM HOME--END OP TEACHING. (1845-1850.), 47-55

Journey to Rochester; the farm home and life; teaching in Canajoharie;
a devotee of fashion; death of Cousin Margaret; weary of the
school-room; early temperance work; first public address; return home;
end of teaching.

CHAPTER V.

ENTRANCE INTO PUBLIC LIFE. (1850-1852.), 57-80

Conditions leading to a public career; her home the center of
reformers; temperance festival; first meeting with the Fosters, Mrs.
Stanton, Mrs. Bloomer, Lucy Stone, Wm. Lloyd Garrison, Horace Greeley;
women silenced in men's temperance meeting at Albany, hold one of their
own; advice from Greeley and Mrs. Stanton; first Woman's State
Temperance Convention; men's State Temperance Convention in Syracuse
rejects women delegates; Rev. Samuel J. May and Rev. Luther Lee stand
by the women; Miss Anthony as temperance agent; her appeal to women;
attends her first Woman's Rights Convention at Syracuse; criticises
decollete dress; letters and speeches of Stanton, Mayo, Stone, Brown,
Nichols, Rose, Gage, Gerrit Smith, etc.; Bible controversy; vicious
comment of Syracuse Star, N.Y. Herald, Rev. Byron Sunderland, etc.;
platform of Human Rights.

CHAPTER VI.

TEMPERANCE AND TEACHERS' CONVENTIONS. (1852-1853.), 81-105

Women's first appearance before Albany Legislature; Miss Anthony, Rev.
Antoinette Brown and Mrs. Bloomer speak in New York and Brooklyn by
invitation of S.P. Townsend and make tour of State; attack of Utica
Telegraph; phrenological chart; visit at Greeley's; women insulted and
rejected at temperance meeting in Brick Church, New York; abusive
speeches of Wood, Chambers, Barstow and others; Greeley's defense;
attack of N.Y. Commercial-Advertiser, Sun, Organ and Courier; first
annual meeting Women's State Temperance Society; letters from Gerrit
Smith and Neal Dow; right of Divorce; men control meeting; Mrs. Stanton
and Miss Anthony withdraw from Society; Samuel F. Gary declines to
attend Temperance Convention; characteristic advice from Greeley; Miss
Anthony attends State Teachers' Convention and raises a commotion;
Professor Davies' speech; disgraceful scene at World's Temperance
Convention in New York; Woman's Rights Convention mobbed; Cleveland
Convention; Miss Anthony and Rev. W.H. Channing call Woman's Rights
Convention in Rochester.

CHAPTER VII.

PETITIONS--BLOOMERS--LECTURES. (1854.), 107-122

Development of character; securing petitions for better laws; Woman's
Rights Convention at Albany; ridiculous report of Representative
Burnett; Miss Anthony's speech; canvassing the State and raising the
funds; history of the Bloomer Costume, with interesting letters;
lecture trip to Washington; opinions on slavery; hard experiences;
conventions at Saratoga and Philadelphia; preparing to canvass New York
State.

CHAPTER VIII.

FIRST COUNTY CANVASS--THE WATER CURE. (1855.), 123-136

Winter canvass of New York; extract from Rondout Courier; letter from
Greeley on Woman Suffrage; another proposal; applying the "water cure;"
hot meal for husbands, cold bite for wives; marriages of Lucy Stone and
Antoinette Brown; speaking at birthplace; Saratoga Convention; goes to
Worcester Hydropathic Institute; her letters from Boston and Worcester;
first Republican meeting; treatment at "water cure;" letter from Dr.
Rogers on marriage; takes out life insurance.

CHAPTER IX.

ADVANCE ALONG ALL LINES. (1856.), 137-148

Invited to act as agent for American Anti-Slavery Society; second
canvass of New York; her letters describing hardships of journey,
position of wives, etc.; Senator Foote's insolent report on petitions;
advice to a wife; preparing speech on Co-Education; its reception in
Troy; letter from Mary L. Booth on injustice to women teachers; meeting
at Saratoga; the raid at Osawatomie; letter to brother Merritt
regarding it; pathetic letter from Mary L. Booth; Greeley provoked;
Gerrit Smith on woman's dress; New York Convention; words of confidence
from Anti-Slavery Committee.

CHAPTER X.

CAMPAIGNING WITH THE GARRISONIANS. (1857-1858.), 149-166

Political conditions; Miss Anthony's band of speakers; Abolition
meetings; Remond's speech; letter from Garrison; notes of her speeches;
Maria Weston Chapman; lecture trip to Maine; stormy State Teachers'
Convention at Binghamton; Mrs. Stanton's comment; letter of Miss
Anthony on family affection: the "raspberry experiment;" the "good old
times;" "health food cranks;" New York Convention in hands of mob;
stirring up teachers at Lockport; mass meeting at Rochester in
opposition to capital punishment; gift of Francis Jackson.

CHAPTER XI.

CONDITIONS PRIOR TO THE WAR. (1859.), 167-184

Scheme for Free Church; letter from Geo. Wm. Curtis on Woman's Rights;
Miss Anthony's letters on pecuniary independence, denial of human
rights, woman's individuality; criticism of Curtis; six weeks'
legislative work in Albany; convention in New York under difficulties;
extract from Tribune; Memorial to Legislatures; lecturing at New York
watering places; journey on boat to Poughkeepsie; anecdote of waiter at
hotel; incident of Quaker meeting in Easton; married women too busy to
help in fall canvass; letter of Rev. Thomas K. Beecher; incident at
Gerrit Smith's--the Solitude of Self; John Brown meeting; letters
regarding it from Pillsbury and Mrs. Stanton; Hovey Legacy;
correspondence with Judge Ormond, of Alabama; "We are your enemies!"

CHAPTER XII.

RIFT IN COMMON LAW--DIVORCE QUESTION. (1860.), 185-205

Early Woman's Rights meetings not Suffrage conventions; Legal Status of
Woman outlined by David Dudley Field; Miss Anthony and Mrs. Stanton as
co-workers and writers; Tilton's description of the two; before the
N.Y. Legislature; Married Woman's Property Law; woman's debt to Susan
B. Anthony; Emerson on Lyceum Bureau; letters from Mary S. Anthony on
injustice to school-teachers; Beecher's lecture on Woman's Rights;
convention at Cooper Institute; Mrs. Stanton on Divorce; Phillips'
objections; Mrs. Dall's proper convention in Boston; battle renewed at
Progressive Friends' meeting; Miss Anthony's home duties; letter from
her birthplace; Anti-Slavery depository at Albany; Agricultural address
at Dundee; Miss Anthony's defiance of the law giving child to father.

CHAPTER XIII.

MOB EXPERIENCE--CIVIL WAR. (1861-1862.), 207-224

Difference between Republicans and Abolitionists; Miss Anthony arranges
series of Garrisonian meetings; mobbed in every city from Buffalo to
Albany; Mayor Thacher preserves the peace at State capital; last
Woman's Rights Convention before the War; Miss Anthony's views on
motherhood; Phillips declares for War; letters on this subject from
Beriah Green and Miss Anthony; opinion on "Adam Bede;" letter on Rosa
Bonheur and Harriet Hosmer; N.Y. Legislature repeals laws recently
enacted for women; letters from Anna Dickinson and Greeley on the War;
Miss Anthony's opinion of private schools; attends her last Teacher's
Convention; in the Anti-Slavery lecture field; death of father.

CHAPTER XIV.

WOMEN'S NATIONAL LOYAL LEAGUE. (1863-1864.), 225-240

Disbelief that the War would lead to Woman Suffrage; letters from
Tilton on Proclamation and Henry B. Stanton on condition of country;
Miss Anthony and Mrs. Stanton issue appeal to women to form National
Loyal League; organization in Church of the Puritans; Miss Anthony's
speech; they prepare eloquent Address to President Lincoln;
headquarters opened in Cooper Institute; petitions and letters sent out
by Miss Anthony; description of draft riots; letters regarding her
father and the sale of the home; lively note from Tilton; raising money
for League; almost 400,000 names secured; Sumner presents petitions in
Senate; letter from Sumner; merry letter from Phillips; first
anniversary of the League; Amendment XIII submitted by Congress;
closing of League headquarters; failure of the government to recognize
its distinguished women.

CHAPTER XV.

MALE IN THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. (1865.), 241-253

Death of niece Ann Eliza McLean; letters on the loss of loved ones;
trip to Kansas; work among refugees and in brother's newspaper office;
appeals to return to the East; letters on division in Anti-Slavery
Society; Ottumwa speech on Reconstruction; an unpleasant night; address
to colored people at Leavenworth; Republicans object to a mention of
Woman Suffrage; Miss Anthony learns of motion for Amendment to Federal
Constitution to disfranchise on account of Sex, and immediately starts
eastward; confers with Mrs. Stanton and they issue appeal to women of
country to protest against proposed Fourteenth Amendment; Miss Anthony
holds meetings at Concord, Westchester and many other places; N.Y.
Independent supports women's demands.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE NEGRO'S HOUR. (1866.), 255-270

Reconstruction period; Anti-Slavery Society declines coalition with
Woman's Rights Society; Miss Anthony and Mrs. Stanton issue strong call
for the reassembling in New York of Woman's Rights forces; Robert
Purvis and Anna Dickinson approve; convention meets in Dr. Cheever's
church; Miss Anthony and Mrs. Stanton present ringing Address to
Congress; Miss Anthony's speech for union of the two organizations;
Equal Rights Association formed; controversy of Phillips, Tilton,
Anthony, Stanton in Standard office; Standard's offer of space
rejected; Miss Anthony's speech at Equal Rights meeting in Albany;
abusive article from N.Y. World; mass meetings held and petitions
circulated to have women included in Fourteenth Amendment; Republicans
refuse to recognize their claims; Democrats favor them to defeat the
negroes; Miss Anthony complains of Standard's treatment; words from
friends and foes.

CHAPTER XVII.

CAMPAIGNS IN NEW YORK AND KANSAS. (1867.), 271-294

Canvass of New York to secure Woman Suffrage Amendment to new State
Constitution; scurrilous comment of Buffalo Commercial; praise of Troy
Times; Miss Anthony rebukes selfish woman; always assumes the drudgery;
Beecher can not work in organizations; Lucy Stone's letters from Kansas
on action of Republicans; Beecher's speech in New York on Woman
Suffrage; Miss Anthony and Mrs. Stanton prepare Memorial to Congress;
Miss Anthony and Greeley break lances at Albany; Curtis stands by the
women; Mrs. Greeley's petition used to checkmate her husband; Anna
Dickinson's indignation; Kansas Republican Committee fights Woman
Suffrage; Miss Anthony and Mrs. Stanton go to Kansas; hardships of the
campaign; Mrs. Starrett's description of Miss Anthony; negroes oppose
woman suffrage; George Francis Train comes to the rescue; Suffrage
Amendment defeated; Leavenworth Commercial pays tribute; Miss Anthony,
Mrs. Stanton and Mr. Train make lecture tour from Omaha to Boston;
persecution by former friends.

CHAPTER XVIII.

ESTABLISHING THE REVOLUTION. (1868.), 295-311

Mr. Train and David M. Melliss furnish funds for starting Woman
Suffrage newspaper, The Revolution; comments of press; Mr. Train in
Dublin jail; Mrs. Stanton defends The Revolution; how women were
sacrificed; bright description of paper and editors; Equal Rights
Association divided between claims of woman and negro; Miss Anthony and
Mrs. Stanton delegates to Democratic National Convention at Tammany
Hall; their reception; Miss Anthony represents Workingwomen's
Association at National Labor Congress in New York; her suffrage
resolution rejected; her advice to women typesetters; sad case of
Hester Vaughan; S. C. Pomeroy and George W. Julian present Woman
Suffrage Amendments in Senate and House of Representatives.

CHAPTER XIX.

AMENDMENT XV--FOUNDING OF NATIONAL SOCIETY. (1869.), 313-336

First National Convention in Washington; colored men object to Woman
Suffrage; first hearing before Congressional Committee; descriptive
letter from Grace Greenwood; Miss Anthony arraigns Republicans at
Chicago; Mrs. Livermore's tribute to Miss Anthony; speech at N.Y. Press
Club on woman's "proposing;" Fifteenth Amendment submitted; criticism
by The Revolution; Train withdraws from paper; Woman's Bureau; letters
from Mrs. Livermore, Anna Dickinson, Gail Hamilton; stormy session of
Equal Rights Association; Miss Anthony's speech against Amendment XV;
William Winter defends her; discussion of "free love" resolution; Equal
Rights platform too broad; founding of National Woman Suffrage
Association; forming of American Woman Suffrage Association; Miss
Anthony secures testimonial for Mrs. Rose; conventions at Saratoga and
Newport; Miss Anthony protests against paying taxes; Mr. and Mrs. Minor
claim woman's right to vote under Fourteenth Amendment; Miss Anthony
speaks at Dayton, O., on laws for married women; Mrs. Hooker's
description of her; Miss Anthony's speech at Hartford Convention;
anecdote of Beecher; Mrs. Hooker's account; letters from Dr. Kate
Jackson and Sarah Pugh; division in suffrage ranks.

CHAPTER XX.

FIFTIETH BIRTHDAY--END OF EQUAL RIGHTS SOCIETY. (1870.), 337-350

Washington Convention; Miss Anthony's speech on striking "male" from
District of Columbia Bill; descriptions by Mrs. Fannie Howland, Hearth
and Home, Mrs. Hooker, Mary Clemmer; Fiftieth Birthday celebration and
comments of N.Y. Press; Phoebe Gary's poem; Miss Anthony's letter to
mother; begins with Lyceum Bureau; Robert G. Ingersoll comes to her
assistance; attack by Detroit Free Press; tribute of Chicago Legal
News; efforts to unite the two National Suffrage organizations; Union
Suffrage Society formed; end of Equal Rights Association.

CHAPTER XXI.

END OF REVOLUTION--STATUS OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE. (1870.), 351-370

McFarland-Richardson trial; letter from Catharine Beecher on Divorce;
financial struggle; touching letters; Mrs. Hooker offers to help; Alice
and Phoebe Gary; prospectus of The Revolution; giving up of the paper;
Miss Anthony's letter regarding it; in the lecture field; the little
Professor; Miss Anthony's strong summing-up of the Status of Woman
Suffrage; rejected by National Labor Congress in Philadelphia; attack
of Utica Herald; Second Decade Meeting in New York; Mrs. Davis' History
of the Movement for Twenty Years; death of nephew Thomas King McLean;
meeting with Phillips.