USA > Ohio > Memories of the crusade a thrilling account of the great uprising of the women of Ohio in 1873, against the liquor crime > Part 32
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over to her reward. How wise, how sympathetic, were these two ladies, and how valuable their assistance. While the tears will fall as I write, I am comforted with the assurance that they, with so many of the dear ones who have gone on before, are waiting and watching at the beau- tiful gate for me. Not many days hence we will clasp hands again, on the evergreen shore.
Yes, one minister, Rev. Virgil Norcross, Mrs. Howes' son-in-law, called to say that his con- gregation of the Second Baptist, had requested him to convey to me an invitation to address them on Sabbath evening.
My first reception was tendered me by Mrs. Thrower's Winona Lodge of Cold Water Temp- lars, of which Mrs. Thrower had been superin- tendent for ten years. She had already sent out many young men whom she had trained in that Juvenile Lodge, with the principles of total abstinence firmly engrafted on their characters. That reception is among the dearest memories of my Southern work. The ceremonies are quite similar to those of Good Templary. I was taken into the ante-room. to wait while Sister Thrower opened the Lodge, and they transacted the necessary business.
When they were ready to receive me, the Worthy Marshal, a young gentleman, possibly eleven years old, small even for that age, came and offered me his arm, and escorted me into the hall and in front of the Worthy Chief's desk, and in a neat little speech presented the visitor, with
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all the dignity and gravity of a judge, to the Worthy Chief. That dignitary, who may have been fourteen, in appropriate language, delivered a welcoming address, and the Marshal was instructed to escort me to the platform-and-I sat-down-and-cried.
A part of the exercises of this meeting was the induction of a new member. This was a little miss of nine summers, to whom, of course, the ceremony was entirely new, yet she performed her part with the utmost decorum. I never saw any lodge of grown people go through the va- rious exercises of the lodge room with more precision and seriousness than did these young people. To add to the ordeal, the officers had recently been elected, and this was the first time they had served. After several speeches, a name was called with request for a speech, when a large man of English type arose in the back part of the hall, so full of emotion that he could hardly command himself enough to speak, but exclaimed, while the tears flowed down his rug- ged cheeks, pointing to the Chief, "Oh! if I could only have my way, I would say to my boy, Stay there forever. If I could only have had the opportunities my children have, I might have been a very different man. But my father was a drunkard, and through the drink he ruined himself and ruined his family, and I followed in his footsteps. But thank God, through the prayers of dear friends I am to-day a saved man,
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MEMORIES OF THE CRUSADE. and my feet are planted on the Rock, Christ Jesus. "
When I read, with so much interest, two years ago, of the one thousand young men that march- ed the streets of Atlanta, and helped to win that glorious victory over the saloons, I remem- bered my young friends of Winona Lodge and felt sure that Mrs. Thrower and her Cold Water army held a place of honor on that battle field.
I cannot take leave of my young friends with- out giving the following, which was told me as taking place a short time before: A commercial traveler from Philadelphia arrived in the city on Saturday evening and put up at the Kimble House. On Sabbath morning he felt, as usual, the need of his morning dram, and sought the bar, but it was closed. He went out onto the street to find an open bar, but not one was to be found in the whole city. What did it mean? Why, those wicked rebels did really make a show of more reverence for God's holy day than we of the North are doing.
Had to do without his accustomed dram, poor man. He picked up his paper and in looking over it noticed the announcement of Winona Lodge, at Good Templar's Hall, at three o'clock. What was that? For lack of anything else to do he concluded he would go and see. He witnessed those children's exercises and became strangely interested. And when they called for signers to the pledge he went up and signed, and some little fingers pinned on the blue ribbon, and he went forth a pledged abstainer.
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My first public meeting was held in the Trinity Methodist, Dr. Hight's church,on the same Sab- bath, at 4:30. Governor Colquitt had been engaged to preside, and introduce me, but being unexpectedly called from the city, he sent his "next best man," Professor Lumpkin, in his stead. Before me is the report of this meeting, as given next day by the Atlanta Constitution.
It tells of the very fine and intelligent audience, and speaks of her who had come to their city to commend the W. C. T. U. and its work to the Southern ladies, in very kind and flattering terms.
Mrs. Gov. Colquitt was unanimously elected Honorary President of the first Woman's Chris- tian Temperance Union, of Georgia, and in the full list of officers before me I find Mrs. Dr. E. Q. Fuller, Acting President; Mrs. Judge ~ Hammond, First Vice-President; also a promi- nent menber from each of the fourteen churches and the several Temperance lodges as Vice- Presidents. Mrs. E. M. Hammond, Rec. Sec. and Treasurer ; Mrs. M. E. Osborn, Cor. Secre- tary.
Something over two hundred names were given at our first meeting, to our Union, and at Brother Norcross' church over one hundred more gave their names. I nowhere ever formed a Union of more competent and earnest women. "We can state," says the reporter,. "that the movement has among its leaders some of the first Christian ladies of the city." Mrs. Colquitt
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very kindly threw open the drawing rooms of the Executive Mansion for our conference meet- ings. Dr. Hight was absent in Savannah, helping
the pastor of that city in a revival meeting. But on the following Sabbath he was in his pulpit, and in such precious words of commendation indorsed the work and the worker that my heart was greatly cheered, and I cherish the memory still.
On this same Sabbath evening Brother Nor- cross took me to his church, where we had a crowded house. At the close of my address, we called upon any who wished the prayers of Christians to arise, and fifteen or twenty respect- able appearing young men arose to their feet.
In a letter to the New York Tribune my little friend, Mrs. Hammond, spoke of this meeting and gave this incident : "A poor woman had long prayed for her husband, that he might be saved from his appetite for strong drink, but had become discouraged. He could not be induced to go to church, and the case looked so hopeless that she had quit praying for him. But when Mother Stewart came she picked up heart again. He went to hear Mother Stewart and signed the pledge. And it was not long after that he sought and found Jesus, united with the church, and is now providing bountifully for a happy family." In closing, she said, "Is not this worth living or dying for?" And I said, as I read it through my tears, " Amen, worth living or dying for."
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I was taken by Brother Thrower to the Storrs' Institute for the colored people, and addressed several meetings, and formed a W. C. T. U., that devoted Christian teacher in the Institute, Miss Lizzie Stevens, being made President. The other officers were colored students or graduates, and seemed to be as competent for their respec- tive duties as any white ladies. This was the first colored W. C. T. U. formed in the South.
I respected the conservative feelings of the ladies, and their prejudices against our Crusade, so much as not to refer to it until they finally asked me to tell them about it in one of our social conferences. How glad I was of the privilege and as I talked they sat and wiped the fast falling tears, and insisted upon my telling them more, more. And I remember, too, that in a conversation with two of the most intelligent ladies on the great problem of how to overcome the liquor power, one of them remarked that she believed in giving the women the right to vote it out, but because of the bitter prejudice on the subject she thought it best not to express her views. The other lady responded, "and so do I."
As a sample of the practical methods of work entered upon by the ladies at once, I give the following circular that was distributed every- where; in the stores, for merchants to put in packages of goods, on the seats of street cars, and on rail coaches going out of the city : 1
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TO ARRAY OUR ENTIRE SEX AGAINST THE SALE AND USE OF INTOXICATING LIQUORS ;
To create a universal and moral sentiment against the same, and in favor of sobriety, total abstinence, and virtue ; to impress upon the YOUTH of our day the GUILT of selling intoxicating liquors, to be used as a beverage, and the fatal danger as well as GUILT of drinking them, and to inculcate positve sentiments and principles against both, as a preparation for the temptations and responsibilities of future manhood and womanhood ; and to endeavor to aid and elevate the inebriate, his children and family, and throw around them sympathetic and Christian influences, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, of Atlanta, will religiously employ all the means God places within its reach !
As I have said in regard to the "Cold Water " army, so, I feel certain, to the faithful, energetic and practical work of the W. C. T. Union of Atlanta is largely due the victory in that contest at the ballot-box with the liquor men. And if the Christian women could have had the same privilege that was given to the keeper of the lowest. doggery in the city, or to the lowest, vilest, drunken sot, black or white, Atlanta would in the election of 1887 have maintained the immor- tal renown she so gloriously won two years before, as "the first prohibition city of its size in the world."
While nearly all the ministers in the city indorsed our work-even some of those "South- ern Brigadiers," occupying churches at that time, invited me to unite with them in their revi- val meetings, I am obliged, in the interest of truth, to mention an exception, though with the deepest
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sadness. There was one church having two congregations in Atlanta that did not indorse my work, disapproved of it. Which, however, was not unlike the attitude of that church, North as well as South, with rare, though blessed exceptions. I remember that a lady belonging to one of these churches, who was noted for her piety and active Christian work, gave us her name and we hoped much from her aid and influence. But it was not long till she withdrew; her pastor did not approve of such work for women. In the other charge of the same denomination the ladies were very busy preparing for a spectacular entertainment, "Par- adise and the Peri," to be given for the benefit of their church. Something like a dozen young ladies of prominence were engaged to appear on the stage in special costume. It was attracting much inter- est, and they were expecting a large audience of the elite of the city, and a handsome sum as the result for their church. I did not hear that either of the rectors expressed any disapproval of ladies appearing in public under such circumstances. And I am not expressing any opinion of my own, am only narrating a fact. I had gone on farther South when the first matinee, or rather afternoon rehearsal, was to take place preparatory to the public entertainment. The ladies were enveloped in ample, flowing robes of white tar- latan, with wings of cotton batting standing up from the shoulders to represent angels. As they moved about in the robing-room back of the
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stage, the wing of one of the ladies swept a gas jet that was burning. The heart-sickening details of what followed in a moment, as given by a reporter who was a witness, is at my hand, but too horrible to repeat here. The whole city was plunged in gloom by the terrible tragedy. Before my return one or two of those ladies had already been laid in the grave, while several others will carry the scars and shock of that fearful experi- ence while they live, as will several gentlemen who heroically rushed to their rescue at the risk of their own lives.
After taking leave of the Atlanta Union, the following letter was, without solicitation, for- warded to me:
ATLANTA, GA., April 30, 1880.
DEAR MOTHER STEWART :- We wish that we could go with you through Georgia and urge other women to arouse to help you in your good work amongst us. It has occurred to us to send after you this, our ear- nest endorsement of your efforts, and the expression of our warmest sympathy ard fullest confidence, and the few of us who can conveniently meet to-day send this, trusting that they may be trusted as speaking for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Atlanta and the ladies of the city in general, although we have taken no time to seek signatures to this paper. We commend you to all our friends in this and other Southern States, and to Christian men and women everywhere, and we hold you in grateful re- membrance for the good seed sown in our society here.
Cordially yours, MRS. A. H. COLQUITT. MRS. M. E. HOWES. MRS. E M. HAMMOND. MRS. B. Y. SAGE. MRS. D. H. SELLS. MRS. M. E. OSBURN.
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My next point was Griffith, where I was again warmly welcomed by Mr. Geo. R. Niles and others. But my spirits, in spite of it all, were alarmingly running down as I sat in my room alone, realizing the greatness of my undertaking and fearing that the dear women, remembering all they had suffered-and I could see too plainly everywhere what the terrible conflict had cost them-would not feel that they could co-operate with one whose people were responsible, as they claimed, for the ruin of their country, when a servant entered with such a beautiful tray of those sweet Southern flowers. ( I wonder how the ladies could know that nothing could touch my heart as those delicate tokens of welcome and hospitality. ) On the top of the flowers lay this card that I love to look at as I write:
To Mother Stewart,
With compliments of Mrs. Wm. R. Hanleiter.
How soon were my anxiety and home-sick- ness dispelled. Dr. Kendal, of the Methodist Church, called on me at once, and bade me welcome, and though in the midst of a protracted meeting, he introduced me and my work to his people, saying : "This is just what I have been praying for." Our meetings were well attended, and by the Doctor's urgent request I remained a week longer than I had intended.
Rev. Mr. Mundy, of the Baptist Church, also took me into his pulpit, and pledged himself and
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people to my work. We formed a Union, making Mrs. Judge Stark, President. The re- vival work in Dr. Kendal's church went on after I left, and many souls were gathered in.
At Macon I found Mrs. Angela C. Davis, formerly one of our most enthusiastic Crusaders, and who has since made for herself a record as a very popular lecturer. She had prepared the way for me, and Dr. Key put his church at my service and gave me valuable assistance, he, too, saying, "This work is just what I have been pray- ing for." We organized a Union, making Mrs. Dr. Key, President, and Mrs. Davis, Secretary.
My health began to fail me now, and I found it necessary to turn my face towards home. But I stopped at Forsyth and held a series of meet- ings, with the aid of Rev. J. D. Hammond, Dr. Moore, and other gentlemen and ladies. Brother Hammond was another son of Judge Hammond, of Atlanta. He was a scholarly man and an earnest, devoted minister. If half the labors and sacrifices, with meagre salaries, of those southern ministers, after the war had swept over the country with its blasting and mildew, could ever be told, it would make a wonderfully pathetic and touching story. In referring to the two divisions of the Methodist Church, Brother Hammond said he should never cease to feel glad that a three-years' sojourn in a Northern college and association with Northern Metho- dists, had proven to him that Methodism, whether North or South, was one and the same ..
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I was growing so ill that I could only go to the church and deliver my address, and then, leaving the meeting in the hands of the friends, hasten to my room, fall on my bed and lie there till the next meeting. We formed a Union, with Mrs. Col. Adams as President.
On the evening of my last meeting I noticed a very respectable audience of colored people in the gallery, and expressed my regret that I should not be able to give the colored people a meeting, as I had so much desired to. In a few moments a very neatly written note was sent down, thanking me for my interest in them and expressing their sympathy in my work.
The next morning a lady came to the depot as I was about to leave, saying she could not let me go without coming to ask me if some- thing could not be done for the colored people. They were, she said, being ruined by the drink. Only a day or two before, as she passed a grocery, she saw the keeper literally kick a colored woman, who was drunk, out into the street, and she fell prone on the ground. I turned to Brothers Hammond and Moore and they assured me they would at once take the matter in hand, and they did, In connection with some colored Good Templars they called a meeting and organized a Temperance Associa- tion, and in reporting the work, Brother H. said the colored organization was working with more enthusiasm than the white Union.
If the pretended friend of the colored man
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would take half the pains to wipe out his dead- liest foe that he does to secure his vote for "the party," he would prove his sincerity by helping him up into a better life and at the same time make a better citizen of him.
If the Southern politicians will stop long enough to seriously consider this momentous question of the colored vote, instead of forever seeking to defraud him out of his right as a citizen, he will see that the only solution of the whole matter is to wipe out the liquor traffic and give the colored man such educational facilities as shall make intelligent, thinking men instead of igno- rant, debased, half human, half animal beings, that must be a continual source of solicitude, a heavy tax, and a menace to the community and the State. When will the men of this nation learn wisdom? The women of the W. C. T. U., North and South, have long since accepted this principle and as far as is in their power are acting upon it.
It was a source of inexpressible grief to me that I was obliged to abandon that interesting field just as the work was opening up with such hopeful outlook. But while I lamented sorely that I could not have gone on, I felt that I could afford to be sick for a season for the sake of what my Heavenly Father had enabled me to do.
I stopped at Chattanooga only long enough to meet the ladies, as previously arranged by the pastors. We organized a Union, making Mrs.
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Loomis, President, and Miss Kate Lyle, Secretary. But I was obliged to leave them without giving the necessary instruction how to proceed with and carry on their work. The consequence was that they abandoned their organization, but I am happy to say a Union was long since formed under more favorable circumstances, that has been doing a blessed work. What a glorious record they, with the ladies all over the State, made in the campaign for Prohibition last fall (1887). Ah! Sisters, well-beloved; if you had been armed with the citizen's weapon on that day of desperate battle with the combined liquor power, North and South, you would have stood victors when the day was done.
I recalled other engagements and after our meeting took the next train for home.
Out of the many cheering letters that came to me from all parts of the South, I cannot do more than give extracts of the more important.
Two of my Committee, Sisters Chase and Clardy, reported from Arkansas. They were ear- nestly at work and accomplishing great good. Sister Chase, with her husband, had for many years been conducting an educational institution for the colored people at Helena, but not confining her labors to the college, she was traveling,. lecturing, preaching and stirring the people upon the all-important temperance question, organiz- ing, and out of her own means circulating large amounts of literature. Sister Clardy giving her whole time, seeking opportunities, and finding
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them, too, to present her cause to educational, religious and political gatherings. In her report she says: "I attended the State Teacher's Association and had our Training School for Cookery and Temperance Text-book for Public Schools, referred to the Executive Committee. I also attended the Convention of United Friends of Temperance, July 15th, near Hot Springs, and made two addresses. I was present at the Democratic barbecue at Prescott, August 12th, and was allowed twenty minutes to address three thousand people on the blessed cause, being introduced by the Methodist minister. On August 14th, at the same place, I had a similar opportunity at an immense Greenback bar- becue." She reports seven W. C. T. Unions formed, sixteen weeks of incessant work in the heat of summer, less than a hundred dollars received, nearly every cent. of which she paid for traveling expenses, stationery, literature, etc. Sister Chase's report was similar in labors and results.
How cheering were the letters of these dear sisters, also those of Sister Jennie Smith, though busy in her own special work as evangelist for the railroad operatives and their families, and she and her colleague, Ada Sherman, have been busy ever since, and have been the blessed instruments in the salvation of thousands. I found Sister Abba Munroe in Mt. Pleasant, near Charleston, S. C., where she had been for twelve long years at her post, faithfully training those
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poor, ignorant, neglected colored people, and fitting them for citizenship and for the Master's use. She explained what I was well aware of, that her position as a teacher of the colored people precluded any possibility of her helping me among the white ladies.
Read her report in a paragraph : "My warmest sympathies are with you, and be assured, any- thing I can I will gladly do, but my duties keep me constantly employed. I am principal of a day-school and superintendent of a Sabbath- school. During the season we succeeded in bringing to consummation the building and dedi- cation of a small chapel for the little church with which I worship, and the care of it all, from the driving of the first to the last nail, devolved on me, and it was a great tax upon my time, though an untold pleasure to witness the delight of the people at the realization of their cherished hopes. We started a Band of Hope last winter among the children and young people, and this, of course, absorbed a great deal of my time."
This is one of New England's educated and refined Christian daughters. Here is her photo- graph before me, conveying the idea of a bril- liant, magnificent woman,-or it would, if she were found in fashionable society, instead of in the position of a despised teacher of colored people. Of such the world is not worthy, but I dare not trust my pen lest it shall say some bitter things. I hope and trust that the W. C. T. U., North and South, will utter their em-
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phatic protest against such silly, such wicked ostracism of the most self-sacrificing missiona- ries in the world.
Another such, though not of my committee, Miss Ufford, near Concord, N. C., wrote : should very much like to form a prayer union, but my time is now nearly all occupied with teaching the children. Then, I have a Sunday- school to conduct on Sabbath morning, a prayer- meeting in the evening, and a meeting on Wednesday evening." Besides these, she had organized and was superintending a live Band of Hope, and was doing what she could for temper- ance among the men and women. Why did not some one quote Paul's injunction to these elect ladies ? " Let your women keep silence in the churches."
One lady wrote me from Mississippi: "When I saw your circular in the Vicksburg Herald, I was so struck with the magnanimity of the Northern people that I was stimulated to make another effort in the temperance cause, although I had seen enough to dampen the zeal of one less despairing than myself."
She tells of riding a hundred miles on horse- back, to circulate papers I had sent her, and obtain subscribers, but with sorry success. Many declared they would not take, or read, a paper published or edited by a woman! Well, thank the Lord, the day is breaking.
From Edwards county, Miss., Mrs. Jamison wrote that she and her husband went to work
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