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Woman's Claim placed upon Record.

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that a married woman rested under a special disabilty in regard to her civil rights, thus sustaining the action of Illinois in refusing to admit Mrs. Bradwell to the bar of that State.

The decision in the case of Mrs. Minor, that the political rights of women were wholly under the control of their respective States was still more emphatic and discouraging. Had Judge Chase lived, we have every reason to believe that in this case too, he would have dissented, and that his opinion would have had great weight in the general discussion. Although defeated at every point, woman's claim as a citizen of the United States to the Federal franchise is placed upon record in the highest court of the Nation, and there it will remain forever. As Milton so grandly says in Paradise Lost:

What though the field be lost?

All is not lost: th' unconquerable will
And courage never to submit or yield!

CHAPTER XXVI.

AMERICAN WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION.

Circular Letter-Cleveland Convention-Association Completed-Henry Ward Beecher, President-Convention in Steinway Hall, New York-George William Curtis Speaks -The First Annual Meeting held in Cleveland-Mrs. Tracy Cutler, President-Mass meeting in Steinway Hall, New York, 1871-State Action Recommended-Moses Coit Tyler Speaks-Mass Meetings in 1871 in Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, Pittsburgh-Memorial to Congress-Letters from William Lloyd Garrison and othersHon. G. F. Hoar Advocates Woman Suffrage-Anniversary celebrated at St Louis -Dr. Stone, of Michigan-Thomas Wentworth Higginson, President, 1872-Convention in Cooper Institute, New York-Two Hundred Young Women march in. Meeting in Plymouth Church-Letters from Louise May Alcott and Elizabeth Stuart Phelps-The Annual Meeting in Detroit-Julia Ward Howe, President - Letter from James T. Field - Mary F. Eastman Addresses the Convention. Bishop Gilbert Haven President for 1875-Convention Steinway Hail, New York-Hon. Charles Bradlaugh Speaks-Centennial Celebration, July 3d--Petition to Congress for a XVI. Amendment-Conventions in Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Washington, and Louisville.

It was during the summer of 1869 that the initiative steps in the formation of the American Woman Suffrage Association* were taken, and the following letter circulated :

BOSTON, August 5, 1869.

Many friends of the cause of woman suffrage desire that its interests may be promoted by the assembling and action of a convention devised on a truly National and representative basis for the organization of an American Woman Suffrage Association.

Without depreciating the value of Associations already existing, it is yet deemed that an organization at once more comprehensive and more widely representative than any of these is urgently called for. In this view, the Executive Committee of the New England Woman Suffrage Association has appointed the undersigned a Committee of Correspondence to confer by letter with the friends of woman suffrage throughout the country on the subject of the proposed convention.

We ask to hear from you in reply, at your earliest convenience. Our present plan is that the authority of the convention shall be vested in dele

* The history of this Association from its formation is compiled by Harriot E. Stanton, from reports in The Agitator and Woman's Journal.

Call for its First Convention.

757 gates, to be chosen and accredited by the Woman Suffrage Associations existing, or about to be formed, in the several States of the Union. The number of delegates to be sent by each Association and the precise time of the meeting of the convention can be determined as soon as we shall have received such answers to our present application as shall assure us of an active and generous co-operation in the measure proposed, on the part of the addressed.

LUCY STONE,

T. W. HIGGINSON,

CAROLINE M. SEVERANCE,
JULIA WARD HOWE,

GEO. H. VIBbert.

Soon after, the following call was issued:

The undersigned, being convinced of the necessity for an American Woman Suffrage Association, which shall embody the deliberate action of the State organizations, and shall carry with it their united weight, do hereby respectfully invite such organizations to be represented in a Delegate Convention, to be held at Cleveland, Ohio, November 24th and 25th, A.D., 1869. The proposed basis of this Convention is as follows:

The delegates appointed by existing State organizations shall be admitted, provided their number does not exceed, in each case, that of the Congressional delegation of the State. Should it fall short of that number, additional delegates may be admitted from local organizations, or from no organization whatever, provided the applicants be actual residents of the States they represent. But no votes shall be counted in the Convention except of those actually admitted as delegates. (Signed)

John Neal, Maine; Nathaniel White, Armenia S. White, William T. Savage, New Hampshire; James Hutchinson, Jr., Vermont; William Lloyd Garrison, Lydia Maria Child, David Lee Child, George F. Hoar, Julia Ward Howe, Gilbert Haven, Caroline M. Severance, James Freeman Clarke, Abby Kelly Foster, Stephen S. Foster, Frank B. Sanborn, Phebe A. Hanaford, Massachusetts; Elizabeth B. Chase, T. W. Higginson, Rowland G. Hazard, Rhode Island; H. M. Rogers, Seth Rogers, Marianna Stanton, Connecticut; George William Curtis, Lydia Mott, Henry Ward Beecher, Frances D. Gage, Samuel J. May, Celia Burleigh, W. H. Burleigh, Aaron M. Powell, Anna C. Field, Gerrit Smith, E. S. Bunker, New York; Lucy Stone, Henry B. Blackwell, John Gage, Portia Gage, Antoinette B. Blackwell, A. J. Davis, Mary F. Davis, New Jersey; Mary Grew, Pennsylvania; Thomas Garret, Fielder Israel, Delaware; Hannah M. Tracy Cutler, A. J. Boyer, Margaret V. Longley, J. J. Belleville, Miriam M. Cole, S. Bolton, Ohio; Amanda Way, George W. Julian, Laura Giddings Julian, Lizzie M. Boynton, Indiana; Mary A. Livermore, C. B. Waite, Myra Bradwell, James B. Bradwell, Sharon Tyndale, J. P. Weston, Robert Collyer, Joseph Haven, Illinois; Moses Coit Tyler, James A. B. Stone, Mrs. H. L. Stone, Michigan; Lilie Peckham, Augusta J. Chapin, Wisconsin; Amelia Bloomer, lowa; Mrs. S. B. Stearns, Minnesota; Charles Robinson, Mrs. C. I. H. Nichols, John Ekin, D. D., J. P. Root, Kansas; Mrs. W. T. Hazard, Isaac H. Sturgeon, Mrs. Beverly Allen, James E. Yeatman, Mary E. Beede, J. C. Orrick, Mrs. George D. Hall, Missouri; Guy W. Wines, Charles J. Woodbury, Tennessee; Mary Atkins Lynch, Louisiana; Elizabeth C. Wright, Texas; Grace Greenwood, Dist. Columbia; A. K. Safford, Arizona; J. A. Brewster, California; Hon. G. C. Jones, Dowagiac, Hon. William S. Farmer, Eau Claire, Hon. T. W. Ferry, of Grand Haven; Hon. S. H. Blackman, Paw Paw, Rev. J. Straub, Lansing, and S. H. Brigham, editor of the Lansing Republican, Michigan; Mrs. Austin Adams, and Edna T. Snell, of Dubuque, Miss Mattie E. Griffiths, Prof. and Mrs. Belle Mansfield, Mt. Pleasant, T. M. Mills, Ed. Des Moines State Register, Ex-Gov. and Mrs. B. F. Gue, and Hon. Mr. and Mrs. Pomeroy, Ft. Dodge, Iowa; Mrs. J. C. Burbank, Mrs. Smith (State

Librarian), Rev. J. Marvin, and Capt. Russell Blakely, of St. Paul, Mrs. Elliott, of Minneapolis, Mr. and Mrs. A. Knight, of St. Peter, Minnesota; Rev. H. Eddy, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Mrs. E. O. G. Willard, of Chicago, Illinois.

The first American Woman Suffrage Convention assembled at Case Hall, Cleveland, O., on Wednesday morning, November 24th. The attendance from the city was very large; the vast hall being well filled, both floor and balcony. The Convention was called to order by Mrs. Lucy Stone. Twenty-one States were represented-eighteen by regularly accredited delegates; thus making it truly National. Great harmony pervaded all the

deliberations of the Committees and the discussions of the Convention. On motion of F. B. Sanborn, of Massachusetts, Judge J. B. Bradwell, of Chicago, was chosen temporary Chairman, and on motion of Mrs. Lucy Stone, Mrs. Mary F. Davis, of New Jersey, was elected temporary Secretary. Upon taking the chair, Judge Bradwell returned his thanks for the honor conferred upon him. It was unnecessary for him to speak at length in regard to the object of the meeting; it had been stated in the call read by Mrs. Stone. He said they were met for the formation of an American Woman Suffrage Association, which shall be represented in every State of this great Nation; and not only every State, but every city, town, and county from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. On motion of Mr. Sanborn a Committee on Credentials* was appointed by the President. All State delegations were requested to report their names to the Committee, and also to fill any vacancies which might exist, if persons were present from their respective States.

Pending the report of the Committee on Credentials, Mrs. Lucy Stone presented letters from several persons who had been unable to attend the Convention, but desired to give expression to their sympathy with its object. In a few preliminary remarks she expressed the pleasure she felt at the sight of such a large and intelligent audience at the first session of the Convention, which many had supposed would be but merely a business meeting. It was an evidence of the increasing interest which is being felt upon the subject of woman suffrage. She alluded to the Convention held in this city sixteen years ago, and was glad to see several familiar faces which were present on that occasion. Mrs. H. M. Tracy Cutler, of Cleveland, delivered an eloquent appeal for women.

Judge Bradwell said that under the laws in some States the right of woman to a certain degree of citizenship is acknowledged. Foreign-born women may be naturalized, and even without the consent of their husbands. In all probability Vermont will soon confer upon woman the right of suffrage. In that State the women considerably outnumber the men, and if

*Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, of Chicago; Mrs. Caroline M. Severance, of Boston; A. J. Boyer, of Dayton; Mrs. H. T. Hazard, of Missouri; Mrs. C. G. Ames, of California; and H. B. Blackwell, of New Jersey.

Mrs. Frances D. Gage, of N. J.; George W. Curtis, of N. Y.; George F. Downing, of the District of Columbia; Rev. Henry Blanchard, of Indianapolis; William Lloyd Garrison, of Boston; Mattie M. Griffith, of Iowa; Rev. R. Fisk, Canton, N. Y.; A. N. Fretz, of Virginia; Rev. Edward Eggleston, of Chicago; Hon. Sharon Tyndale, and Hon. George Fisher, of Illinois.

Through the Courtesy of the Consul.

759

some of them should move to the West, they might say, "We voted and were citizens in Vermont, and, under the XIV. Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, we claim the right to vote here."

Mrs. C. G. Ames, of California, alluded to a case which occurred in San Francisco. A woman was informed that she might be protected through the courtesy of the consul, but that she had no claim to protection as a citizen of the Government.

*

The Committee on Credentials presented the names of delegates who were already present as entitled to seats in the Convention. Other names were added as they were reported to the Convention during the session.

There were also in attendance persons from Virginia, Mississippi, and Nebraska, who conferred with the Chairman of the Committee on credentials with reference to their admission to the body of delegates. They were all bona fide residents in the States they represented, but they seemed so undecided in reference to the question of woman suffrage, finding it hardly possible to tell whether they were for it or against it, that it was thought not best for them to propose themselves as self-constituted delegates. Near the close of the Convention, those from Nebraska and Virginia sought the Chairman of the Committee to say that if another convention were to be held, they could heartily and conscientiously take seats as delegates; for if they had any doubts as to the justice and utility of woman suffrage in the

*New Hampshire-Nathaniel White, Armenia S. White, Miss Dr. Hunt, of Concord; Miss H. A. Simons, of Manchester. Massachusetts-Julia Ward Howe, Rev. Rowland Connor, Boston; Mrs. Caroline M. Severance, T. C. Severance, West Newton; Rev. Phebe A. Hanaford, Reading; Stephen S. Foster, Worcester; Rev. A. Bronson Olcott, Concord; Miss Ellen E. Miles, Waltham; F. B. Sanborn, Springfield. Rhode IslandCol. T. W. Higginson, Newport. New York-Mrs. Celia Burleigh, Mrs. Anna C. Field, A. E. Bradley, Miss Mary Hillard, Mrs. A. E. Bradley, N. Y. City; Mrs. Jennie F. Culver, Syracuse; Ira E. Davenport, Buffalo. New Jersey-Mrs. Lucy Stone, Henry B. Blackwell, Newark; Mary F. Davis, Andrew Jackson Davis, Orange; Antoinette Brown Blackwell, Somerville; John Gage, Portia Gage, Vineland. Pennsylvania— John K. Wildman and Mrs. Charles Pierce, Philadelphia. Delaware-Dr. John Cameron, Isabella H. Cameron, and Samuel D. Forbes, Wilmington. Ohio-Dr. Hannah M. Tracy Cutler, Mrs. D. R. Tilden, Miss Edwards, Mrs. Dr. Merrick, Mrs. H. H. Little, Miss Deane, Cleveland; Mrs. M. V. Longley, Miss Helen J. Wolfe, Cincinnati; A. J. Boyer, Dayton; Mrs. M. M. Cole, Sydney; Jane O. DeForest, Findlay; Rev. H. J. McConnel, Yellow Springs; Mrs. Joshua R. Giddings, Ashtabula; Mrs. Esther Walters, Oberlin; Mrs. Lucinda Poole, Brownville; Rev. G. S. Abbott, Willoughby; Mrs. Jennie R. M. Eagleson, Cadiz; Mrs. Mercy B. Lane, Braceville; Mrs. C. T. Crain, J. J. Belville, Dayton; Mrs. E. D. Stewart, Springfield; Mrs. Lyon, Jefferson. Indiana-Amanda M. Way, Rev. Charles H. Marshall, Mrs. Emi Swank, Indianapolis; J. T. Sage, Danville; Miss Lizzie M. Boynton, Crawfordsville; Dr. Alice B. Stockham, Lafayette; Nettie M. Peasc, New Albany. Illinois-Myra Bradwell, Hon. James B. Bradwell, Mrs. E. J. Loomis, Mary A. Livermore, Chicago; Rev. J. B. Harrison, Bloomington; Mrs. A. Steward, Plano; Mrs. M. S. Severance, Dixon. Michigan-Rev. Dr. J. B. Stone, Mrs. L. H. Stone, W. S. Blakeman, Mrs. D. C. Blakeman, Kalamazoo; Giles B. Stebbins, Catharine A. F. Stebbins, Mrs. Dr. S. L. Jones, Mrs. Booth, Detroit; Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Sanford, Ann Arbor. Wisconsin-Lillie Peckham, Julia Ford, Milwaukee; E. L. Cassels, Lone Rock; Harriet Leland, Elkhorn. Minnesota-Mrs. Addie L. Ballou. Iowa-Capt. Judson N. Cross, Lyons. Missouri-Mrs. W. S. Hazard, Mrs. Ida S. Fialla, Miss Ellen Palmer, St. Louis. Florida-Henry S. Campbell, St. Augustine. Kansas-Gov. J. P. Root, Lawrence. California-Mrs. C. G. Ames and Mrs. Jennie B. Ritter.

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