200 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND nected with one of the old families of Cleveland, who gives her life to temperance work. Nine gospel meetings, varying in character, are held each week, besides those for mothers and children. It is estimated that at least twenty-two hundred visits are made by several laborers, each year. Reformed men are a Blue Ribbon Band, a Band of Hope for girls and boys ; one hundred and twenty-five young men and women enrolled in a "Y," for social, temperance and philanthropic purposes; a W. C. T. U., for mothers and women in general; these meetings are all inspiring ; anniversary occasions, delightful with flowers and music, experience and Bible reading. All-day services on special dates are crowded with people who need to be touched by the power of the Gospel. Central Friendly Inn is a noble beneficence ; a beacon-light on a rocky shore, preventing total wreck of storm-tossed souls. Mrs. Lucy Galbraith, Mrs. E. Chittenden, Mrs. Byrnes, Miss Hatch, Miss L. T. Guilford, Mrs. Herbert Hill, Mrs. Dr. Brockett, Mrs. A. D. Morton, are enrolled here among self-forgetful workers. Mrs. Anna S. Prather has helped this institution in the past, by her readiness in gathering funds; she is now president of the Doan Union AND THEIR WORK - 201 at Music Hall. Central Inn belongs to the present and we trust to the future. The successor of River Street Station is the Floating Bethel Chapel, that of the South Side Sewing School and reformatory work, the Erin Avenue Baptist Church. We do not think that sufficient emphasis has been given to the results of the woman's crusade in Cleveland, in producing the great and varied benevolences growing out of the movement. The Columbian ingathering of 1893 shows the strength of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union ; both branches. The Non-Partisan includes the Central Inn Union, Miss F. Jennie Duty, chairman, and Miss Delia Hatch, secretary; Music Hall (Doan), Mrs. J. S. Prather, Mrs. H. M. Ingham ; Hough Avenue, Mrs. C. W. Haight; South Cleveland, Mrs. A. B. Caine ; Bohemian and German Young Women's Unions; Cyril and Central Inn "Y's" and the "Other Y's." These nine all report at No. 513 Arcade ; Miss Mary E. Ingersoll, president, Miss F. E. Huntington, secretary. The institutions maintained are Central Friendly Inn, Woodland Avenue and Willson Avenue Reading Rooms; the two latter in charge of Mrs. Emma 202 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND C. Worthington and Miss Anna Edwards, respectively. Mrs. Worthington's successful labor in the Boys' Reformatory is well known ; this was for years connected with the Workhouse. Miss Anna Edwards is a lecturer and organizer; being an original crusader. Carroll Street Mission, Miss M. Ingham; Training Home for Friendless Girls, Mrs. B. S. Coggswell. About three' thousand persons assemble in these institutions each week for reformatory, educational and preventive work. The extinction of the liquor traffic, reformation of the intemperate, education of public sentiment, in addition to direct personal effort, are aims of the Union. The National Non-Partisan Union was formed here in 1889 ; holding annual session in this city in November, 1892 ; Mrs. E. J. Phinney and Mrs. H. M. Ingham, both of Cleveland, president and secretary. THE W. C. T. U. OF TO-DAY.-Of these, in Cleveland are six ; and a membership of some hundreds, with Sunday services at the Jail, lunch for self-sustaining young women at No. 8 Euclid avenue, distribution of temperance literature, lectures, etc. Here are Mrs. R. A. Campbell, Mrs. C. AND THEIR WORK - 203 E. Tillinghast, Mrs. A. R. Singletary, Mrs. Harriet D. Coffinberry, Mrs. Alice Terrell, Mrs. D. W. Gage, Mrs. J. Ellston, Mrs. Virginia Stevens, Mrs. T. K. Doty, Mrs. G. P. Oviatt, Mrs. J. Ellston, Mrs. E. T. Silver, Mrs. R. A. Cannon and Miss Lucy Jordan, of Rockport. Mrs. H. E. Hammond, district president, Mrs. E. S. Gillette, hopeful for final victory ; Mrs. J. T. Foote and Mrs. S. M. Perkins have labored faithfully all these years. Mrs. Geo. Presley has freely given of her means and of home light for the cause ; beloved, earnest, patient. Besides a hundred others, is Mrs. E. 0. Buxton, the persistent, successful friend of young women. Just here, in close sympathy, we are exalted to high privilege in placing the most self-sacrificing of all the women of Cleveland, those of the Salvation Army. Heat, frost, darkness, physical suffering are to these undaunted souls a mere bagatelle; they are toiling in the slums, while we sit at comfortable fire-sides ; they bear the persecution of the ungodly, while we linger in stately halls, or in exclusive circles, entertaining and being entertained. On their brows. rests the crown` of thorns; for them is the cross, the spear, the nails; and for them in the resurrection shall be the glory. 204 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND The "Y" movement began in Cleveland in 1874, and spread throughout the country; becoming a department of the National W. C. T. U., in 1880. Of these are here, five unions, doing excellent work, by creating healthy sentiment among young men and women. The West Side "Y" is strong ; organized by Mrs. Buxton, and now presided over by Miss Luella Bradley, who gives promise of extended usefulness. The East End " Y" is large, influential and persevering. All together in one great assembly, our girls are " an army with banners." November 20th, 1874, the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union was formed in the Superior Street Presbyterian Church, preliminaries having been arranged in August previous at Lake Chautauqua, N. Y., by seven ladies, of whom the writer of this history is one ; it is now the largest organization of women known, with forty departments of work steadily developing. Its headquarters are located in the Woman's Temple, Chicago. The results of the crusade—that Pentecost of power, are not yet fully apparent. We consider it the beginning of the greatest moral movement of the century. It has done more to advance the AND THEIR WORK - 205 cause of woman and of practical Christianity than any combined forces of previous years. It has become of national and international significance, and a World's Christian Temperance Union is formed. Discerning eyes, watching closely the times, must see that the influence of our work penetrates everywhere. It is deft, abounding in tact, marvelously thorough, and uncompromisingly persistent. The Home Protection Movement is sweeping upon us. To my mind, you may fiud it thus described in Isaiah, the prophet : " Behold, I will make thee a new, sharp threshing instrument, having teeth ; thou shalt thresh the mountains and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them and the wind shall carry them away ; the whirlwind shall scatter them." The world moves. Reforms know only advance. 206 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND CHAPTER XIX. CHURCH SOCIETIES-FIFTY NOBLE WOMEN-COLUMBIAN STATISTICS- PRESBYTERIAN WORK-W. H. M. S.-MRS. LUCY WEBB HAYES-EPISCOPAL CHURCH-MRS. C. S. BATES-CONGREGATIONAL-MRS J. G. W. COWLES- MISSIONARIES AT HOME-MISS S. C. VALENTINE-MISS SARAH L. ANDREWS-MCALL MISSION-KING'S DAUGHTERS-MRS. CONWAY W. NOBLE-WOMAN'S COUNCIL-ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH-MRS. T. J. MOONEY-MISS JOANNA O'MARA-HEBREW WOMAN'S WORK-MRS. MANUEL HALLE-BOHEMIAN HUNDREDS-MARIE HAJEK. THE writer, having wrought in her own city, for near a quarter-century, in the deepest and strongest of causes, both home and foreign, may with authority hold that the Church ought to be the central power in the redemption of humanity ; herein should be a concentration of love, of Christian activity. From each of these one hundred and AND THEIR WORK - 207 sixty Protestant churches of Cleveland is constantly lent a hand to the struggling, despairing, unfortunate ; for they have facilities for reaching, spiritually, the young and old, rich and poor, ignorant and learned. Christ, the great Head, came to seep and to save the lost. " The disciple must not be above her Lord." With Sabbath and week-night services crowded, Sunday schools filled with little ones brought hither by missionary visitation, met by teachers, so iuteut upon their work that it is but a labor of love to guide young feet in the way of life, scarce opportunity would be afforded for a great number of expensive outside organizations. There are twenty churches in this city fulfilling our ideal. Of one, its missionary work, home and foreign, is thoroughly systematized and well managed ; its Ladies' Benevolent Society, organized in 1872, numbering seventy, expends $500 per year in relief, in contributions to a reading room, day nursery, a Friendly Inn and two hospitals, besides sending boxes of supplies to the frontier. The Sunday school is of magnificent proportions, and has its own sewing circles. Bible instruction centers there. The latter, and the sewing school as well, were for a long time 208 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND conducted by one of Cleveland's remarkable women, Mrs. William Taylor, of precious memory. The great chorus choir is a complete musical society. The ample audience room is plainly furnished, yet bears the impress of the cultured, devout brain and soul of the originators. The people love to go there to hear a genuine gospel. The Second Presbyterian Church has a ladies' society, almost equal in ability and results. The Woman's Benevolent Association of our Church of the Forefathers, Plymouth, organized in 1853, is a grand center of distribution. Well may Mrs. J. G. W. Cowles say of it to the Columbian Association that filling a blank for statistics feebly portrays the amount of help extended to Chinese, to Indians, to Southern Negroes, and to the various charities of the city. This society's dear little sister of distant Franklin Avenue Congregational, with its ten members in each auxiliary, counts for just as much with our Lord, who, "with equal eye," regards a giant or a sparrow. The Women's Association of Pilgrim Church is unique, with its hundred members and manifold method; its object being to increase the efficiency of the distinctive work of the women of the church. Among its committees AND THEIR WORK - 209 are one on Sewing Circle; on Sewing School; on Hospitality; on Visitation; on Home and City Missions; on Foreign Missions. What grand anniversaries are in store for this youthful organization, we leave Mrs. A. M. Emerson, Miss Kate Maclnnes, Mrs. J. M. Curtiss, Mrs. E. E. Coe, and their associates to unfold. The Scranton Avenue Baptist Church, with more pluck than many better known and larger temples, has a Ladies' Aid Society that paid $180 toward expenses, and a Missionary Circle, adding over half a hundred dollars to home and foreign work, as recorded by Mrs. W. H. Ferris. Mrs. Lloyd Darsie says of the Disciple churches: " The aid given to Foreign Missions is necessarily scattered in all countries. The home work is more especially devoted to evangelizing the city, starting new missions and helping to sustain those already in being. The societies show healthful growth since the date of their organization, twelve years ago ; on an average trebling the original membership. In eight churches we have sixteen women's societies, in the city of Cleveland, expending annually the sum of three thousand dollars, equally divided between home and foreign." 210 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND From the rectory of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church come delightful statistics of all the parishes of Cleveland, so clothed with beautiful substance by Mrs. C. S. Bates that we actually see wide-spread activities in full operation. Mrs. Theodore Bury, a well-known woman of Cleveland, stands for the Senior Missionary Society of St. Paul's; Mrs. W. G. Yates, the Woman's Auxiliary, raising very nearly $1,000 per year; there is the Frederick Brooks Mission Circle and the Girls' Mission Band, all in this great church ; the Ladies' Guilds, of Newburgh, of St. Peter's, of St. James', of all Saints', and the five societies of St. Mary's by Elise Keppler and her associates, the Girls' Friendly Societies of St. John's, of Grace, the Marie Louise of St. Luke's, "Woman's Auxiliaries," "Parish Aids," the "Altar Guilds," the " Little Helpers," of a dozen others, not omitting the Frauen Verein of Christus Kirche, nor the Guild of St. Andrews-in-the-East. Trinity Cathedral has, besides its institution, a Woman's Auxiliary and a branch or Sewing Circle, " Daughters of the Church," which makes garments for any poor clergyman's family, or out-of-the-way church schools, also the "Ministering AND THEIR WORK - 211 Children." Epiphany has its "Dorcas," for benevolence; "Woman's Guild," missionary; "Thimble Society," for general work. In direct line with the mother church comes the Methodist Episcopal, with its two-score and five mission auxiliaries and "Aids," including these elect women: Mrs. H. J. Caldwell, Mrs. F. S. Hoyt, Mrs. H. Benton, Mrs. W. M. Bayne, Mrs. A. T. Brewer, Mrs. John Mitchell, Mrs. W. M. Reese, Mrs. M. R. Dickey, Miss Jane Henderson, Mrs. A. Sherman, Mrs. 0. E. Clapp, Mrs. L. Lazier, Mrs. 0. L. Doty, Mrs. C. J. Werwage, Mrs. A. R. Timmins, Mrs. Baldwin, the noble giver, and a host, east of the Cuyahoga. There is no more appropriate place to review the history of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of to-day. In 1857, the revolt of the native Indian soldiers, or Sepoys, in the Bombay, Madras and Bengal armies, rendered necessary a reorganization of the whole East Indian army. It was transferred with the government of India to England's crown, and the Christian monarch, Victoria, became its Empress. With the greater infusion of the European element in the high places of the Orient came desire on the part of Rajahs and others of the 212 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND upper classes to have their seraglios and harems open to instruction in domestic arts of the women occupying them. Next came the demand for medical ladies to visit these native women in sickness. These points being gained, religious instruction would be easily introduced. This is said to be the immediate origin of the great modern movement. The wife of a missionary of India made her husband a pair of slippers, which were seen and admired by a native prince. He desired the woman who made the pretty shoes to visit the Zenana, where lived his favorite wife, and show her how to make a pair for him. Gladly the invitation was accepted, for as the bright floss was woven into velvet, the Christian wife spake to the heathen princess of Christ. The practical outcome of the East Indian revolution was the planting of auxiliaries in every church all over our land, whose object is to raise funds to send out ladies adapted to various departments of the work. Mrs. T. C. Doremus, of New York,—mother of us all—founded, in 1861, the "Woman's Union Missionary Society for Heathen Lands." AND THEIR WORK - 213 The demand for laborers so increased that the denominations, separating, instituted distinct branches, as follows: In 1868, Woman's Board of Missions, auxiliary to the American Board, Congregational; Woman's Foreign. Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1869; the same for the Presbyterian Church in 1870; Baptist, 1871; other churches later. In 1870, the Methodist women of Cleveland inaugurated the movement here and iu leading towns of Northeru Ohio. A platform meeting in which six ladies took part was held in the First Methodist Church, Cleveland, September 19th, of that year, in presence of an immense audience, many members being present of the Erie Annual Conference then in session here. The enthusiasm kindled that evening diffused in all directions, and similar meetings were held wherever practicable. This occasion was memorable from the fact that it was the first time that religious women had ever addressed a mixed audience in Cleveland. Mrs. Moses Hill made a fervent prayer, Mrs. T. S. Paddock read the Scriptures, another lady, the hymns. Mrs. Mary J., wife of Bishop Clark, read a paper upon the necessity for this society. Annie Howe, widow 214 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND of Bishop Edward Thomson, read a poem prepared for this meeting, entitled "The Master hath need of the Reapers." Mrs. W. A. Ingham presided and addressed the people upon the "Women of the Orient." The Presbyterian ladies of Northern Ohio remodeled their old-time missionary societies, or formed new ones, and other denominations followed. Mrs. H. D. Sizer reports forty-six home missionary auxiliaries in this Presbytery, helping in educational and relief work among the alien population of the United States, and diffusing Christianity among exceptional classes. Miss Julia Haskell states that there are in the same territory forty-four Foreign Missionary Societies, maintaining a missionary in Syria, Bible women in Africa and China, Zenana work in India, scholarships and schools in South America, China, and other distant lands. A legion of earnest women are enlisted in foreign and home agencies among Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Congregationalists, Baptists, Friends, Disciples, Methodists, throughout the city, an attempt at mention would be to essay counting the innumerable multitude upon the heavenly hills. The Methodist Woman's Home Missionary AND THEIR WORK - 215 Society was formed in 1882, auxiliaries being organized here by Mrs. E. L. Rust, National Corresponding Secretary ; Mrs. Lucy Webb Hayes, our President, though not a Cleveland woman, was a neighbor, residing at Spiegel Grove, Fremont, O., and often visited our societies. She was a devout Christian, a liberal giver and a graceful, cultured lady. Her motto, "Do unto others as ye would that they should do unto you," was her rule of life; how much we loved her, she will know bye and bye. I asked Mrs. H. C. McCabe, of Delaware, 0., to furnish a tribute to Mrs. Hayes, and she responded, " We, whose eyes were illumed by the baptismal light of the Temperance Crusade, recognize with delight as our head, her who so modestly, but triumphantly led our cause up to the highest place on earth and maintained it there, despite the traditions of the White House, and customs of courts, old as the world. While we of Ohio were following Jesus of Nazareth through the streets and into the saloons, lifting our eyes, we suddenly saw him enter the palace of the nation; one of our number having meekly and faithfully followed Him there. Then, we acknowledged the token and said, Now is the beginning of that 216 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND auspicious day when the kingdoms of this world shall be the Lord Christ's.' And at the moment when this little sister, whose initials are W. H. M. S., put her head above the waves for recognition, proposing not only to carry temperance, but a whole gospel into the darkened homes of our own land, to lift them up into the mountain of holiness, who comes to stand by us in work for our country, but this faithful woman who followed Jesus into the Home at the Capitol?" The Local Missionary Union was organized by a number of ladies, of whom was Mrs. Emily G. Cory, in January, 1888; the Deaconess' Home in May, 1889. In the latter are enrolled as leaders, Mrs. F. A. Arter, Mrs. E. C. Brainard, Mrs. G. H. Foster, Mrs. Levi Gilbert, Mrs. T. M. Irvine. Miss S. C. Valentine, a devoted missionary of the Woman's Christian Association, and of the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church, states that there are in Cleveland forty Bible readers, deaconesses and missionaries; besides all the volunteer effort of devoted members who visit, relieving want, uplifting "hearts bowed down." The very essence of consecration and self-denial is found in Miss Sarah. L. Andrews' work at her home, and Bible-house, AND THEIR WORK - 217 Faith Rest and School-room. A sewing school of three hundred and fifty girls on Saturday, sixty street boys on Sabbath, large classes during the week of Italians and Chinese, and every day Bible study, reach hundreds of people. To meet current expenses, in order that all this may be ffee to recipients, she has a day-school of thirty girls preparing for Wellesley and Vassar. Her personality, which is Christ-likeness, pervades each feature of the great work Four of the day pupils are preparing for endeavor in foreign lands. Associated with Miss Andrews is Mrs. Thompson and a few devout assistants. The McAll Mission, thus named from the founder, was organized in Cleveland in 1885, having a present membership of three hundred and fifty. Its object is to give a pure gospel to the working people of France, and is carried on at stations similar to our Friendly Inns, in Paris and other cities. Mrs. Lucretia R. Garfield is president, Mrs. Lydia Hoyt Farmer, secretary, and Mrs. P. M. Hitchcock, treasurer of the Local Auxiliary. The ladies here contribute over $700 annually, to the maintenance of the Salle Cleveland, of our share in Sunday schools, Free Dispensaries, Pub- 218 - WOMEN OE CLEVELAND lication and Repair funds. Cleveland women have given $527 to the Mission boat for the Seine. Features of the work are religious meetings, distribution of Christian literature, including one hundred and seventeen thousand tracts and illustrated papers, voluntary offerings from America, Great Britain, and the Continent, carry forward this grand scheme for evangelization. With many others, Mrs. G. M. Barber, one of the Board of Managers, is strongly interested in this Branch, furnishing these statistics: She is a lady of broad culture, public spirit and a friend to every good cause. The "King's Daughters," whose headquarters are in New York, was originated some years since by Mrs. Margaret Bottome, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as the result of a conversation with Edward Everett Hale, after the publication of his "Ten times one is ten," a delineation of the Harry Wadsworth people who " do good, as they have opportunity." It is a sisterhood working through tens and circles of young women whose freemasonry is, that everywhere among them is "a cheerful outlook, a perfect determination to relieve suffering, and a certainty that it can be relieved,. a AND THEIR WORK - 219 sort of sweetness of disposition coming from the habit of looking across the line, as if death were little or nothing; with that, a disposition to be social, to meet people more than half way." In fact, a translation of "faith, hope, charity; these three." 'The rule of life is : Look forward, not back, Look up, not down, Look out, not in, And lend a hand. The badge, a maltese cross, to be worn always about the person, stamped with the initials of the Waldenses' watch-word, IN HIS NAME. The largest circle in this city is that of which Mrs. Conway W. Noble is centre, meeting in the Chapel of the First Presbyterian Church, on the second Sabbath evening of each month. The Bible readings by Mrs. Noble are helpful ; the prayers and testimony of the members, genuine. The beneficence of all the tens and circles is widespread ; no ostentation is permitted. Meetings are not reported. "Rainbow Cottage," affording aid to poor children after illness, is a miniature institution cared for by a circle of twelve, of which Miss Marguerite Pechin and Miss Marion Parsons 220 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND are centres. Mrs. Noble is president of the Order here. Possibly, the latest organization among us, is the Woman's Council, formed early in 1893, assembling in the building of the Young Men's Christian Association. Its aim is eminently praiseworthy, the spirit excellent. Rev. H. C. Haydn, D. D., and Rev. Wm. Knight are advisory. The remainder of this chapter is given to statistics which come with the Columbian ingathering. Women of the Roman Catholic Church are included in the following: Altar Societies, Societies of the Sacred Heart, Holy Childhood, Holy Angels, Saints Agnes, Angela, Cecelia; Children of Mary, Young Ladies' Sodalities, Third Order of Saint Francis, Our Lady of Dolores, Saints Joseph, Mary, Alexis, Leonardo, Elizabeth, Beatrice, Holy Rosary, Christian Mothers, Ladies' Aid and Ladies' Total Abstinence of St. Patrick's, Young Ladies' Total Abstinence, Circle of Mercy, Ladies of Charity, with a total membership of twenty thousand. Communities: Ursuline Sisters, established here, 1850; Ladies of Sacred Heart of Mary, 1851; Sisters of Charity, 1851; Sisters of Good Shepherd, AND THEIR WORK - 221 1869; Little Sisters of the Poor, 1870; Sisters of St. Joseph, 1872; Sisters of Notre Dame, 1874 ; Poor Clares, 1877; Franciscan Sisters, 1884. Institutions in charge of Communities are four Academies, four Hospitals, three Orphan Asylums, three Reformatories. Mrs. T. J. Mooney, a lady of ability and devotion, has furnished these statistics through a personal canvass of twenty-eight parishes. Miss Joanna O'Mara makes mention of two Literary Societies among Roman Catholic young ladies, St. Monica's and St. Angela's Reading Circles. Hebrew ladies' societies : Daughters of Israel, 1860 ; Hungarian Ladies' Benevolent, 1867 ; Ladies' Benevolent, 1874 ; Ladies' Sewing, 1885 ; Deborah Lodge, 1885; Austrian—Hungarian Ladies, 1889 ; Ladies' Charitable, 1891. Total membership, eight hundred and seventy. Besides meeting the requirements of general relief work, these ladies help the Montefiore Home and Jewish Orphan Asylum to thousands of dollars. These statistics are received through the courtesy of Mrs. M. Halle. Nationalities included in these two great factors of our population are English, Irish, Ger- 222 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND man, French, Hungarian, Slav, Bohemian, Polish, Russian. Italian, Afro-American and " secular " women fail to report any organization whatever. The following deserves mention : Grand Lodge of Bohemian Ladies' Societies of Ohio, with headquarters at Cleveland ; membership, seven hundred and fifty ; Corresponding Secretary, Marie Hajek, 149 Croton street. AND THEIR WORK - 223 CHAPTER XX. THE PIONEER SCHOOLS OF CLEVELAND - THE FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE-MRS. IRENE HICKOX SCRANTON-MRS. MARY SCRANTON BRADFORD - THE FIRST FREE SCHOOL - SEVENTEEN NOTED TEACHERS. In 1800, a township school was organized, and five children taught by Sara Doane. In 1802, a few little ones gathered in Major Carter's log residence, about Miss Anna Spafford, who instructed them in the a, b, c's, reading and ciphering. Cuyahoga county was organized in 1809; Cleveland had, in 1810, fifty-seven inhabitants, but the oldest among them cannot tell who taught the school that winter. I venture to assert that it was some grand woman, and am only sorry that her name is consigned to oblivion; the writer asked Mr. Geo. Watkins, of Logan avenue, not long ago, " Can you tell me of some specially bright woman of the early time that I may mention her ? " 224 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND His eye sparkled more than usual as he replied, " All of them, ma'am." Cleveland was incorporated as a village, December 23d, 1814. In 1816, the trustees of the town laid out Euclid, St. Clair, Bank, Wood and Bond streets, also a road around the Public Square, and St. Clair Lane. This corporation became owner of a real school house during the Winter of 1816-17. It stood in a grove of oak trees on St. Clair street, at the east side of the lot now occupied by the Kennard House. It was built of logs, and was in size, 24x30 feet ; one of its extremes was occupied by a fire-place and chimney ; the other, enlivened by two windows of twelve lights each, placed high ; its front side, neatly set in a frame of rail fence, was similarly glazed, and had a door in addition. Judging from exterior appearance, the boys of that period snow-balled and coasted, or played at leap-frog and walked on stilts, furnishing proof of the truth of the astute remark that " boys will be boys." During its first season, the following persons patronized this minute institution : Mr. Merwin sent two children ; Mr. Williamson, two ; Mr. Shepard, two ; Major Carter, two ; Dr. Long, one ; Mr. Ockembaugh, who kept the jail, one, and AND THEIR WORK - 225 Mr. Henderson, one. The school was taught for several years by private teachers, who managed affairs, backed by no formidable Board of Education. Previous to June 13th; 1817, the fair instructress' salary was paid by the carrying out of the following original and appropriate measure : All the bachelors of the settlement were taxed a certain sum per capita, unwilling contributors were they to the public" weal, in the advancement of knowledge. Walworth, Thomas and Lad Kelley, Philo Scovill, Stephen A. Dudley, Thomas O. Young. The amount of tax paid cannot be found in any tradition, but from the fact that these gentlemen, not long after, changed estate, we judge that economy may have been a motive. After the last mentioned date, other means were devised for the support of the school, and we find the names of twenty-five citizens pledged to pay the sum total of $198.70. It is darkly hinted the bachelors aforesaid got their money back, but that we will not credit. In 1819, a larger and better building was put up opposite the primeval log school house, made of brick and called the " Academy." It was 45x25 ; the lower floor being divided into two departments, and the upper room used for church 226 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND and town hall purposes. Authentic records show that for twelve or fifteen years the Academy or High School was kept up. The exemplary girls and boys of the period, from both sides of the river, all attended school together, those west, being ferried across the Cuyahoga, their light steps tending towards the Academy, located on the present site of the headquarters of the Fire Department, St. Clair street. Pioneer children at school ! How it stirs the blood to review old times. Parties residing in different sections of the village, having small children, maintained private primary departments. Among the teachers of this epoch, who endeared themselves, particularly to their pupils, mention should be made of Miss Eliza Beard, of the Academy, who afterward went to Green Bay, Wis., Miss Roscoe and Miss Fuller, who subsequently resided in Ashtabula. Ohio City was a little in advance ; Eliza Sargent (afterward, Mrs. Geo. L. Chapman) was one of the earliest teachers—the school-house being about where the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Foundry now is. The writer copied the following sometime ago from a worn and yellow paper, folded without envelope, after the fashion of sixty AND THEIR WORK - 227 years ago : " This may certify that from personal acquaintance I believe that Miss Eliza Sargent possesses a good moral character, and having examined her, consider that she is qualified to teach a district school." JOSIAH BARBER, One of the School Examiners. Brooklyn, December 10th, 1828. Mr. John Sargent showed me, a few evenings since, a map of the United States and Territories, drawn in the same year by himself, with pen and ink—very curious and interesting—Cleveland was promoted to the rank of city in 1836. In that year was instituted, east of the Cuyahoga, the first free school. A mission, Sunday and day school, organized in the old Bethel building, in the year 1833 or '34, sustained as a charity for two or three years by voluntary subscription, passed for support to the City Council ; hence was developed the first public school of Cleveland. It is impossible to find the names of lady teachers, until the beginning of the winter term, December l0th, 1840, when we find recorded, Elizabeth Armstrong, Abby Fitch, Louisa Kingsbury, Sophia Converse, Emma Whitney, Sarah M. Thayer, Louisa Snow, Caroline Belden, Julia Butler, Maria Sheldon, Eliza 228 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND Johnson. A sketch of one pioneer teacher suffices for all ; virtually the same elements make up the character of each. The pioneer Hickox, of this Western Reserve, came with sons, daughters, and other kinsmen to Trumbull county in 1816. The immediate cause of his removal was financial failure, induced by unduly speculating in patent rights—the " old, old story," told over and over again in this Nation from its infancy, and will continue to be told until the heavens vanish. Not finding in the orchards of this new land the lusciousness that marked the golden sweets, the greenings, and rareripes of his native State, the only son volunteered to walk back to Connecticut and procure grafts wherewith to inoculate the sour apple trees of these wilds. The young man plucked a stout staff from a yellow willow tree growing beside a New England stream, in order that his steps might be staid upon the long journey of return. On arriving, he set his willow staff deeply in the wet soil of the new settlement. It grew to be a tree of such generous circumference that it could scarcely be spanned by the stalwart arms of the heroic planter. Do you wonder that AND THEIR WORK - 229 in due time the metropolis of the Western Reserve came to be called the Forest City? " He that plants trees loves his race." It may be well to remark that the grafts brought by young Hickox produced delightful fruit, and from this beginning came those famed apples of Northern Ohio, second only to the golden ones of the Hesperides. A sister of this brave pedestrian, named Irene, youngest but one of seven daughters, born among the Catskills in Durham, N. Y., was a promising child. At the age of twelve years she became singularly dull in appearance. Her mother, fearing loss of intellect, permitted her to go with Irene's married sister, Mrs. Thomas Merritt, to Clinton, N. Y., to try the effect of being placed in school. It was discovered that her despondency arose from intense anxiety as to the means of obtaining an education, for she brightened at once. From that moment on she shone like a star. The tender and sensitive little one had found her normal atmosphere. She was a natural student. Passing over the years, we are informed by a pupil of this rare teacher, Mrs. L. C. Parker, daughter of Hon. Mr. Andrews, of Kinsman, that 230 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND Irene Hickox came, to Kinsman, Trumbull county, in the Spring of 1817, teaching school there three successive summers. She was a person of rare mental endowment, and her patrons were not slow to appreciate her worth. They felt the need of higher educational advantages, and sought through her the fulfillment of their project. At the instance of Mr. Andrews, she went East in the Autumn of 1820, and entered the Female Academy at Litchfield, Conn. Returning to Kinsman in due time, she opened a boarding school for young ladies. In those days it was a venture, an experiment, but it proved a success. Daughters of prominent men became members of her school. Ashtabula, Austinburg, and Morgan, on the North ; New Lisbon, Warren, Parkman, and adjoining townships patronized the academy. One serious hindrance was a lack of suitable buildings. In the meantime Warren had come to the front and secured the teacher, Miss Irene, but the lessons she taught in Kinsman are ineffaceable. She made everything in school a success. History, philosophy and rhetoric were favorite studies, painting and map-drawing received attention ; AND THEIR WORK - 231 composition and letter-writing were always deemed of great importance. At seventeen, she became an earnest Christian, hence a missionary zeal was infused in all the religious exercises connected with school-day life. To early pupils, her memory is most precious. Her tact and talent gained wide reputation, and, as may have been anticipated, her services were secured in Cleveland. She opened a school for girls in a wooden building not far from the present location of the American House, and afterwards further up Superior street, near the Public Square. Mrs. Mary H. Severance and Miss Sarah Fitch, at that time very young children, remember her as a most wise and loving instructor ; so, also, do Mrs. Dudley Baldwin and Mrs. Alex. Sackett. The latter speaks particularly of her teacher's requirements of neatness in penmanship. There was a strife between herself and another school girl as to which should have the tidier copy-book. These copy-books were covered with white bristolboard, and tied with blue ribbon. Irene Hickox is remembered by all as most attractive in manner and kind in instruction, " one of the best women in the world." She taught her 232 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND pupils that so long as life should last, they must keep on improving, that their education could never be finished. Her addresses to scholars are yet preserved, admirably composed, the penmanship almost perfect, on sheets of note paper, yellow with age; It gives me pleasure to transcribe, verbatim, one of these : " My Dear Girls : It is hoped that all who become members of this school will merit the approbation of their parents and friends, and honor the institution by diligent attention to their studies, and a strict observance of the following rules: " Article 1. You are expected to rise every morning by 6 o'clock. "Art. 2. It is expected you will attend meeting every Sabbath, unless prevented by sickness, or, requested by your parents or friends to be absent. "Art. 3. You must always treat your parents and teachers with respect, and be polite and obliging to your companions. You must endeavor at all times to preserve a cheerful temper and modest deportment, never giving way to anger or fretfulness, though your companions be provoking, or your lessons difficult, and never indulge in rude and boisterous manners. "Art. 4. You must never permit yourself to slander your companions or any of your acquaintance, as this is a mean and despicable vice, and discovers low breeding and a bad heart. "Art. 5. —You must never tell a lie, though it should appear more advantageous than to speak the truth. “Art. 6. You must provide yourselves with books, pens, paper, and other articles you make use of in school. "Art. 7. You must neither tell each other nor look in your books when reciting your lessons. AND THEIR WORK - 233 "Art. 8. You must neither leave your seats, whisper, nor speak loud to each other without liberty. "Art. 9. If you leave your seats, whisper, or speak loud without liberty, you become debtors to your teacher ; if you do not, your teacher will give you credit ; and if, at the close of the week, the credit is in your favor, you will be rewarded with a holiday. " Studies of the First Class. Spelling. Reading. Writing. Geography. Grammar. Arithmetick. History. Rhetorick. Nat. Philosophy. Chymistry. Mor. Philosophy. " Studies of the Second Class. Spelling. Reading. Writing. Geography. Grammar. In 1828, she married Mr. Joel Scranton, a dry goods merchant here. For their wedding tour they went to New York by way of the New York & Erie Canal, and bought furniture there at an auction sale, for the young merchant had limited means. On their return, they went to housekeeping in a small story-and-a-half dwelling, corner of Bank and Johnson streets. In 1833, tey moved upon a farm not far from the village, there being no buildings in the immediate vicinity ex- 234 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND cept a paper-mill. This tract of land is now well known as Scranton's Flats. Mrs. Joel Scranton's name is recorded by Mrs. B. Rouse in her diary as one of the original prayer-meeting established October 30, 1830. She entered into eternal life in 1858. Her daughter, Mrs. Mary S. Bradford, of Euclid avenue, is patriotic and public-spirited ; one of the benevolent women of Old Trinity, actively engaged in its parish work, its Church—Home for Sick and Friendless ; among the poor of the city she is' a welcome visitant. She was closely identified with the Diet Dispensary and Cleveland Humane Society. Her benefactions are far-reaching. Especially does she help children who need a friend ; taking them in childhood, bestowing upon them a mother's love in nurture and education ; almost invariably her proteges became useful men and women. She has founded several seminaries, is president of the Board of Trustees of the Cleveland School of Art ; its constant patron and benefactor. The writer has alluded to her public labors. Her private charities are widespread ; simple, unostentatious, beloved, she goes quietly on her way. Mrs. Scranton requested her pastor if called AND THEIR WORK - 235 to officiate at her funeral, to announce no eulogy upon her life ; she never desired publicity. Mrs. Bradford may well say that " in the dear home circle she was the light, and life, and crown. " In Paradise I trust the same group gather around her with one exception, and this, her last surviving daughter, turns with eagerness to that home beyond, as in former years to the earthly fireside. " The evening twilight comes on and I quicken my footsteps, as they bend homeward, where a mother's hearty welcome awaits me, and in which the intelligent care of our household queen is sure to make heart's-ease for all." 236 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND CHAPTER XXI. THIRTY NOBLE WOMEN OF CLEVELAND-EIGHT HUNDRED AND TWENTY-TWO TEACHERS OF TO-DAY - MISS ELLEN G. REVELEY - MRS. LUCRETIA R. GARFIELD -MRS.- REBECCA D. RICKOFF. SEVERAL brave spirits now in the activities of Christian work here, other choice ones within the golden pale of Cleveland society, were formerly numbered among the teachers of our public schools. One of them is the wife of a liberal and wealthy citizen of the United States and of Cleveland, who still preserves her simplicity and sweetness and who educates her children to work in mission schools—Mrs. J. D. Rockefeller. As I sit at my study-table, fifteen faces come before me, recognized as the centers of lovely homes in our city, besides a very few who are still teaching, or have retired but a short time since from their profession. These are said to have done their work AND THEIR WORK - 237 well in the past ; it is hoped they have not retrograded as the years advance. Mrs. Philo Chamberlin, a devoted member of Trinity, living in affluence, was always helpful to those who needed the inspiration of appreciation and encouragement. Occupying, now, an important position in one of her beloved church institutions, she shows the sublimity of faith and courage in the desolation of bereavement. Mrs. George Deming, Mrs. E. R. Perkins, Mrs. Emma Deitz Freeman, Mrs. Judge Hale and Mrs. Carrie Newton Clarke are more esteemed for themselves than for their elegant belongings ; Miss Anna Rearden, educating a brother who attained eminence on the Pacific Coast in the legal profession; Mrs. Moses G. Watterson, Mrs. Sarah Wood Keffer, Mrs. A. G. Hopkinson, Mrs. J. J. Elwell, now in the upper realm, Mrs. Emily H. Buffett, Kate White, Mary Haver, Mrs. Caroline Heminway, Mary C. C. Lane, Emily Stow, Ann Eliza Hall, Sarah Fisk Prentiss, with good Mr. Fry, Mary S. Webster, Nancy Merrill Wilber, Harriet Vail, Sophia Colby, Miss Hosford, Mrs. W. A. Ingham. None that knew her can forget dear Julia Beebe, bright, merry, fascinating, who, after rejecting a 238 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND half-dozen lovers, became Mrs. Wilson, of Hartford, Connecticut, and who now sleeps in Woodland Cemetery. Well do I remember with what pathos she gathered together one evening the letters of a well-known gentleman, an ardent admirer, whom she could not wed on account of his intemperate habits. She read them all, wept over them, made a little bonfire in the grate, warmed herself thoroughly over their embers, and retired to forgetfulness, then and evermore, of the The beautiful Eliza Janes gave the flower of her youth to these schools. So, too, did the Barnett girls, Martha and Carrie. The three were cultured, winning, beloved of those so fortunate as to know them, and laid to rest all too early. Nor was there lacking among these teachers the spice of romance. Louise Tozier, tired of northern winds, sighed for the sunny South. After a marvelously attractive correspondence on the subject with Dr. A. L. Telfair, president of the Board of Education at Raleigh, N. C., she concluded to superintend only little Telfairs and their father during the remainder of her pilgrimage. LOUISA SNOW WILLETT.—Upon application for information concerning our teachers, to Andrew AND THEIR WORK - 239 Freese, Esq., founder of our High School, and first superintendent of public instruction, whose wife; to-day, ranks high among our intellectual women ; he cheerfully named Louisa Snow. She was teacher of a girls' school in the old Academy, in 1840 ; was well educated and had great nobility of soul ; a most self-sacrificing person. She saved not a cent of her salary, spending all upon charitable objects, mostly on persons in destitute circumstances. She used often to call upon the Superintendent, to go with her in search of some poor creature of whom she had heard, and when found would perhaps use every penny she had to afford comfort, or take a shawl from her own shoulders to wrap about a shivering sick mother or child. It was said she could keep scarcely any clothing for herself—giving it away until her friends remonstrated with her for dressing so plainly. She never taught school a month when she was not helping one or more of her pupils to books, perhaps clothing, for which they were too poor to provide themselves. Miss ,Louisa Sno w was a Baptist girl, and a few of the older members of that church must remember that she was active in all good things. She married an excellent man, 240 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND Mr. Willett, but he died a month afterwards. She went to Madison, Wis., and there opened a school for young ladies, which, of course, was not a financial success ; then adopted a little orphan boy, the son of Elder Tucker, a once famous Baptist preacher here, and this boy she educated. To enable her to send him to college she removed to Alton, Ill., where the Baptists have an institution. She is now old and by no means rich, but still active in benevolence. Within the past ten years, hearing of a lady (Mrs. C. A. Dean), formerly a teacher in the Rockwell street school in this city, who married in affluence but was then sick in St. Louis, and living in great destitution, she went down to that city and found her in a miserable garret almost blind, and her sense of hearing greatly impaired. Louisa Snow Willett took. her (Mrs. D.) to her own home in Alton, nursed and comforted her as only such as she could do, until she slept to awaken nevermore. No development that the writing of this history brings forth has so stirred my own soul as Mr. Freese's recital of Mrs. Dean's reverses, for I well remember how affectionately this same Mrs: D. and her husband took Julia Beebe and myself to AND THEIR WORK - 241 their own beautiful home when we were young girls, alone here, undergoing the rigid preparation required of candidates for teachers' positions. EMILY L. BISSELL.—One other must be mentioned ere we complete this record of yesterday—Emily L. Bissell, who gave almost ten years to the West Side as Principal of Sheldon, or Orchard street school, and ranked deservedly among the foremost of our instructors. She died in 1871. Her funeral was held in her own beloved church, St. John's Episcopal. The place of the dead was glorified and the remains enwrapped in a robe of snowy flowers, so many loving hands were there, to leave token within the chancel. Particularly, at the funeral services, did the Sabbath school and those heavy-laden with poverty mourn her departure. One from lowly life was especially noted, a poor girl, pale with sickness and once severely crippled, to whom Miss Bissell had gone weekly to read the Bible. She sat with flowing eyes and quick ear to catch every word uttered by the minister concerning her friend, who no more should bring to her the word of life. After the ravages of fire in the Northwest, Miss Bissell was first to bring to our Relief Association 242 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND contributions from pupils, and so great an abundance of clothing that our Industrial School also shared. Her fatigue, exhaustion even, were very apparent on that still November night as she placed in my hands the strong box of pennies and nickels, with the request that the children of Wisconsin, her own State, be recipients of the collection. Unsparing to herself, faithful, suffering with physical pain, her life was shortened by the arduous duties of her profession. Richly endowed with intellectual gifts, she had a place among our writers. She prepared a Sabbath-school book in manuscript only a short time previous to her death. Her contributions to magazine literature were noted for terseness, originality, and strength. Her article entitled, " Fifty-two Reasons for Not Attending the Prayer-meeting," has been copied into almost every religious newspaper, irrespective of denomination. After all, it is not mental ability, it is not skill as educators that causes any of us to live in the hearts of our fellows ; it is whether we have done anything for "the least of these, my brethren.” Those having the mark of the Lamb in their foreheads stand forth glowing in light, when all others AND THEIR WORK - 243 fade in darkness. The toilsome, way-worn pilgrimage of Emily Bissell, and of scores besides, are exchanged for rest and the glory of the upper sanctuary. " Mother, dear Jerusalem," receives to herself, and crowns with stars those from all professions and from any condition who live not for themselves. Our teachers of to-day are noble, true and faithful ; to select names for mention among the eight hundred and twenty-two lady instructors in Public schools here would neither be just nor courteous. Miss Ellen G. Reveley is eminent in good work, outside of her position as Normal teacher, Supervisor and one of the Council for the Woman's College. " Mary Cleveland," of the East Indies, named and supported by this lady, is, herself, by this time a missionary in the Orient. The participation that President and Mrs. Garfield shared during their earlier years in the noble work of teaching induces me to present here a beloved woman of Cleveland, whose life record the people claim. As instructor, she has shown herself true ; and, during a late epoch in history, is chosen by the American people as a representative wife and mother ; through this we hope to in- 244 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND cite many young girls having no dowry of lands or of gold to the same earnest purpose and heroic endeavor. Miss Rudolph was a farmer's daughter ; one of the memorable hundred and two students attending the Eclectic Institute at Hiram, Ohio, during its first term, her name appearing in its earliest catalogue, and in each one thereafter until 1854-55, covering a period of five years. She was a good student and obtained an excellent education. She left Hiram to enter the piihlic schools of Cleveland. Among many applications for positions, one came from a friend in Hiram, saying : " There is a remarkable girl here at school by the name of Lucretia Rudolph. I think she would like a situation as teacher in Cleveland, but she is too modest to venture a personal application. Can you write an encouraging word ? " The reply of Mr. Freese was in substance : " Tell her to come," naming the day regularly set for examination of candidates. There were as many, perhaps, as fifteen or twenty who appeared on the fixed date. Papers were distributed and the work of questioning and answer proceeded. The replies of Miss Rudolph were unusually correct. The examining committee granted her a certificate of the highest AND THEIR WORK - 245 grade. She was assigned to Brownell street school, in one of the primary departments, and from the outset was a success, although distrustful of her own abilities, and needed encouragement. At length she gained confidence, and in a month her excellence was recognized. She was quiet, modest, had much refinement, and always spoke to her pupils in words of the greatest kindness. They all loved her dearly. She left Cleveland to become the wife of James A. Garfield. In after years, she taught her children well. It is obvious that, as farmer's daughter, student, teacher, the wife of a poor man laboring in his profession, Mrs. Garfield possessed and practiced those traits that make a noble woman. She was in eminent degree a companion to her husband, sharing his love of knowledge. Together they read, their minds advancing equally. They loved their friends, and inspired affection in all whom they knew ; their refined, intellectual home circle was a center of culture and comradeship in Ohio, and in the Nation's Capital after General Garfield entered upon the life of statesman. In old time it has been said, " School teachers become poor housekeepers." That saying is effectually dis- 246 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND proved by the well ordered and lovely homes of those of our number who are now wives of merchants, professional and other business men of Cleveland. No mistress presides more gracefully than these, and we know to a certainty that their larders are full, side-boards radiant with well-kept silver, and their nurseries and drawing rooms marvelously cared for. The names of these should be reserved for the records of coming years. We are glad that the hundreds of Cleveland public school teachers were permitted on that memorable Monday, in 1881, to make the bed of flowers whereon President Garfield was laid to rest. The perfume of tuberose, jessamine, arbor vitae, and buds of white roses but faintly typify the wealth of love bestowed upon the great teacher and his wife who went out from us years agone. Mrs. Garfield has been for a long time president of our McAll Mission. MRS. REBECCA D. RICKOFF, who gave her best years to Cleveland, should be included among us, being recognized all over the country as an authority in educational work. Her friends consider rarest, her reading-charts for use in primary schools, published by the Appletons and superbly illus- AND THEIR WORK - 247 trated. She is of just repute as a literary woman, being both poet and artist. In one of her articles to a leading journal she traces delicately and brilliantly the close analogy between the relations of lyric and dramatic poetry to those of water color and oil painting. She describes pictures well. Her poems are life-like, vivid, imaginative.   248 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND CHAPTER XXII. MISS LINDA T. GUILFORD-MRS. ELIZA CLARK-THE WOMAN'S COLLEGE-MRS. FLORA STONE MATHER OUR MUSICIANS - SUBURBAN SCHOOLS-MRS. A. A. F. JOHNSTON. MINE is a rare privilege—that of studying the record of so many noble lives ; to none do I turn with more grateful appreciation than to this one, for it is absolutely devoted to the good of others ; self-abnegation, patience, heroism, embodied in her who gave almost a life-time to the instruction of the children of our best citizens. As an educator, thorough, persevering, and eminently conscientious, she laid deep foundations in the youthful mind and heart. Endowed with the rare gift of inspiring in her scholars enthusiasm for study, they became ideal students. She has been one of the moral and intellectual forces of our' city, and to-day her magnetic presence and molding influence stamp themselves upon society ; AND THEIR WORK - 249 many of the present mothers were her pupils, and to the training which they received is Cleveland largely indebted, for she possessed the power of forming character. Mrs. J. B. Meriam, a representative of her oldest classes, gave the writer a history of Miss Guilford's school, from its beginning in an empty hotel, corner of Prospect and Ontario streets, October 16th, 1848, until it became the Cleveland Academy, with Stillman Witt, president and treasurer, and Joseph Perkins, secretary, of its Board of Trustees, but this and much more is written by Miss Guilford herself. Her printed roll of pupils numbers fourteen hundred, including names known now in every State of the Union. Hundreds of others are among our substantial citizens, whose children revere this instructor ; we will give but a glimpse into the inner life of the school. The study of Latin was insisted on unless the parents objected, which, at that period, was frequently the case. Arithmetic, grammar, and the Bible were the leading studies ; reading and spelling were required daily, of all. These, with geography, United States history, and frequent composition writing, occupied almost exclusively