50 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND Eleanor Seymour and Mrs. Nancy J. Russell, was niece of Mr. Lord. Some time since, Mrs. Russell presented the portrait of their uncle to Judge C. C. Baldwin, for the Western Reserve Historical Society, and it hangs now, with those of other pioneers, in those rooms. Mrs. Lord was fond of flower culture, obtaining seeds and bulbs from her Eastern home, driving over the Alleghany mountains to get there, and as a counterpart to the plum and apple orchards of the Barbers she had a profusion of bloom, tulip and oleander being specialties, and for shrub, hazel bushes. The garden was very large, taking in a slice of Pearl street back through Hicks. From the long ago is wafted to us the breath of the lilac, rose and honeysuckle, of apple-blossom, sweet-brier and mignonette. A coronal of flowers for the snow-white heads of those who prepared the way for our elegant homes in the avenues of the beautiful Forest City! AND THEIR WORK - 51 CHAPTER VI. THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH—MRS. ELISHA TAYLOR—MRS. SAMUEL STARKWEATHER—MRS. C. M. GIDDINGS—THE FIRST FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY—ITS WORKERS—MRS. ERASTUS F. GAYLORD. THE first church edifice in this vicinity, occupied, probably, by several denominations in turn, was built in 1817, at Euclid ; it is still used as a house of worship. The first sermon preached in Cleveland was by a Presbyterian—Rev. Mr. Badger ; the earliest Sunday school was established in June, 1820. Dr. and Mrs. Long, with their children, were members, and Elisha Taylor, Superintendent. Persistent effort was required to combat the prejudices and overcome the indifference of the people. Mrs. Taylor united with him in bringing their characteristic energy to bear upon strengthening the religious institutions of the place. They were noted for hospitality, and readi- 52 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND ly entertained ministers of all sects who occasionally preached here. The First Presbyterian Church was formally organized September 19th, 1820, by Rev. William Hanford, of Hudson, O., and Rev. Randolph Stone, with Sixteen members, of whom eleven were women ; for a time the little society worshiped in the log court-house. In the Autumn of 1822, they removed to the upper room of the Academy, just built on the site of the present headquarters of the Fire Department ; subsequently, the congregation met in the third story of a building erected by Dr. Long, on Superior street, near the American House, and called the " Garret." Mrs. Long lived to unite with her people in the Old Stone Church on the Public Square, opened in 1834, the society having been incorporated in 1827. An early worker in this Sunday school and member of the church was Miss Julia Judd, born in New Britain, Conn., in 181o, came here in 1825, married June 25th, 1828, to Samuel Starkweather, a prominent young man. This lady is brave enough to identify herself with temperance work, even though its exigencies demand prayer in the saloons. In early married life, with others, she AND THEIR WORK - 53 had wines on her sideboard, but at Judge Stark-weather's house-warming, corner of Water and Lake streets, observing its effect upon the young men present, she banished the use of all intoxicating liquors from future festivities. Mrs. Charles M. Giddings was married in Detroit, Michigan, August 1st, 1827, removed immediately to Cleveland, joined the First Presbyterian Church in 1831. She belonged to the original Ladies' Union prayer meeting, organized over sixty years ago. She was a sister of the second Mrs. Noble H. Merwin. This record cannot be complete without an early Foreign Missionary Society ; Mrs. Mary H. Severance was for twenty years its secretary. The first organized effort for the cause of Foreign Missions was made in 1831, by the formation of a society of less than a dozen young ladies of the First Presbyterian Church, and was auxiliary to the American Board. This number constituted its active membership ; perhaps as many more married ladies became honorary members, and proved their interest by inviting to their houses the little band. Miss. Sarah C. Van Tyne was its first directress and Miss Charlotte Hutchings, secretary. Both of 54 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND these left for foreign fields ; the former, as Mrs. Adams, labored among the Zulus of Africa; the latter, for a number of years in Ceylon. The consecration of these ladies intensified interest in the work, and the society was regularly sustained by monthly and sometimes fortnightly meetings for forty-two years, without change of constitution, other than as the maidens grew into matrons the word " young " was dropped from its title. With growth of the city the membership increased, until five churches were represented, and the daughters of the early members fell into line. From one of Mrs. Severance's last reports, over $2,500 were paid to the American Board. This was but a small part of the good accomplished.. There was an outfitting of each of three missionaries ; work for those who had gone out ; knowledge gained of the needs of the cause and its representatives beyond the seas, bringing us into greater sympathy with them. It was a sort of school to many from which they date their interest in Missions. Ministers were enlisted and often at the meetings ; sometimes returned missionaries favored the Society with their presence. The gatherings were so enjoyable that they are now AND THEIR WORK - 55 frequently referred to as the " dear old Society we were so sorry to give up." In 1874, it seemed best for greater enlargement to be connected with the Ladies' Board of Missions. The separate societies formed in each church were reorganized as a Presbyterial whole. The names of the original active members were Mrs. Hutchings, Misses Fitch, C. Wheeler, S. C. Van Tyne, Isabella and Mary Williamson, Mary Ann Buxton, Caroline Baldwin, C. Webb, Mary H. Long,• R. Miles, Miss Clisbee. Among the honorary members were Mrs. P. M. Weddell, Mrs. David Long, Mrs. S. J. Andrews, Mrs. Samuel Starkweather and Mrs. C. L. Lathrop. These, with names of Mrs. John A. Foot, Mrs. J. T. Avery and of Mrs. William Day, are fragrant with precious deeds. To complete the roll of those who for years were associated, would be pleasant, but too lengthy. Many of them have finished their course, leaving blessed memories. Mrs. Erastus F. Gaylord, born in 18o1, in Madison, N. Y., was the daughter of General Erastus Cleveland, of that place ; educated at Litchfield, Ct., and married in 1823. She and her husband celebrated their golden 'wedding in '73, and we did predict for them a diamond anniversary, but death 56 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND called too soon. Mr. Gaylord, on this festal day, looked as though he had stepped out of a picture. Mrs. Gaylord had courage ; she prayed for the freedom of the slave and for the triumph of reform. She was, of course, a temperance advocate, and tells us of her friend, Mrs. Dr. E. Cushing, a lady whose name's mention cannot fail to call forth a sigh of regret at her early loss, as she was one of the honored movers in a society of ladies which exacted a pledge of each member, not only to refrain from the use of stimulating drinks, but to discourage the use of the same, socially, in every possible way. Mrs. Gaylord loved little children, and was ready to help all good work. She was keen intellectually, and quick at repartee ; her bons mots were the delight of friends ; her latest ought to go into history. At her grandson's wedding—that of young Mr. Newberry and Miss Paige Eells —General Garfield was receiving with family friends. When Mrs. Gaylord made her adieux to the President-elect, she said : " My leave-taking to you is pax tibi, but I suppose many would say instead : ' Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom ! ' " This veteran stated that her first sight of the AND THEIR WORK - 57 Forest City in 1835 was of a cluster of houses occupying parts of Superior, Ontario, St. Clair, Euclid, and Seneca streets ; and she had pride that this little one expanded so rapidly into Ohio's second city. Mrs. Gaylord took great interest in this history of women's work in Cleveland and often wrote to me during its progress. Penned, by her own hand, I give this quaint newceau by Cowper, on seeing some names of little note in British print : "Oh, fond attempt to give a deathless lot To names ignoble, born to be forgot! In vain, recorded on historic page They court the notice of a future age, Those twinkling tiny lustres of the land Drop one by one from Fame's neglecting hand. Lethean gulfs receive them as they fall And dark oblivion soon absorbs them all!" 58 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND CHAPTER VII. MRS. GRACE JOHNSTON-THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH-MRS. ELIZA T. WORLEY-MRS. B. ROUSE-THE BAPTIST CHURCH-MRS. WILLIAM T. SMITH-MRS. C. A. SEAMAN-FIRST CONGREGATIONAL, PLYMOUTH, BOHEMIAN, POLISH AND SWEDISH MISSIONS-GERMAN WORK-MRS. J. ROTHWEILER. THE writer of this history is sure that the mysterious unknown who traversed these wilds previous to Rev. Mr. Badger's time--1801 —with exhortation " to flee the wrath to come " was of the Methodist persuasion, for, on the green earth is hardly a spot, this side of Anam, to which the itinerant preacher has not penetrated. We know that some one established Divine Service in Euclid before the beginning of this century, but of him is no trace ; there is a record that in 1822, Captain William C. Johnston moved from Detroit to Cleveland ; his wife, Mrs. Grace, was a member AND THEIR WORK - 59 of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and remained the only one in the place for some years. Her daughter is Mrs. E. J. H. Cridland, of this city. In 1823, Cleveland was made a preaching place and attached to Hudson Circuit. History further develops that a gentleman residing in one of the eastern cities, and owning real estate in Cleveland, being desirous to see Methodism established here in 1820, sent to a person living in the place a deed VI the lot corner of Ontario and Rockwell streets. for a meeting-house, but no one being found willing to pay the recorder's fee, or even the postage upon the mailed packages, the deed was returned to the donor. 0 tempora ! 0 mores ! In 1827, a class was formed of five women and two men. Of these, Andrew Tomlinson was leader ; the others were Grace Johnston, Eliza Worley, Elizabeth Southard, Rev. Joel Sizer and wife, and Lucy Knowlton. In the same year a class was formed at Doan's Corners of eleven women and nine men. After vicissitudes of " Euclid and Cleveland Circuit," and others not interesting to the general public, a lot was secured, corner St. Clair and Wood streets, then the suburbs of the city. 60 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND Nearly all the ground north to the lake shore was covered with oak trees and bushes ; in like manner east to Erie street, beyond which lay a vast quagmire, partly cleared, enlivening the town at spring-tide and during the night with frog-bass and tree-toad contralto. Not until April, 1841, was there on this lot a church finished and dedicated. Never did a denomination struggle more fiercely with adversity. Its people worshiped wherever room could lot be procured ; latterly in a hall upon the second floor of a building on the north side of Superior street, west of the Park. In 1893, are twenty-five Methodist houses of worship, and in the First Church, so compassed about is it with " modernity " that we doubt whether John Wesley would know even the altar rail ! The real cathedral tint, too, prevails through stained window-glass of Munich. The EPWORTH MEMORIAL Church on Willson avenue, corner of Prospect street, so named because, in the old edifice, situated on the site of this new one, was born the Epworth League, at the historic convention of Young People's Societies, May 14th, 1889. It is built of marble and a gem AND THEIR WORK - 61 of architectural art—Norman, bordering on modernized Romanesque, lefty gable with combination interior ; groined arches, converging in a dome that might befit the Mosque of Omar, or astonish the Abyssinian queen, in a degree fully equal to her view of the glories of Solomon's Temple, as she came up from Sheba to Jerusalem. In the auditorium will be placed a fine large memorial window—the upper part in shape of the Epworth wheel, with divisions for departments of work symbolized by appropriate Scripture illustrations and texts. Rev. B. F. Dimmick, the pastor, directs this enterprise, and the younger generation ably second his most deserving effort. What would the fathers and mothers in our Israel think to see it? Truly, the circuit rider with pony and saddlebags, emerging from the wilderness, could not recognize his own Zion. Let us return to our beloved pioneer : Eliza Tomlinson Worley was a noble early woman of the FIRST Church, and paid the initial dollar toward the erection of an edifice. She was wife of a leading man in this town, Daniel Worley, postmaster and member of the first Board of Education. 62 - WOMEN OF' CLEVELAND She was born in Maryland, July 20th, 1797. From infancy her education was religious, and her father's house the home of Methodist bishops and other clergy. At fifteen, she united with the society and indicated, as was the fashion in early times, to what communion she belonged by her garb, so that in after years her young daughter, Mrs. George P. Burwell, of this city, was wont to amuse herself hours at a time by putting on and walking about in her mother's Methodist dresses In 1815 she married, and left her childhood home with a large family party for Cleveland, 0. Incredible hardships were endured en route, and at Portage three of their number were buried. The 'survivors regaining health, flatboats were built, on which the journey was continued. Coming down the Cuyahoga they landed at this wharf in May, 1824. Foremost in all good works, the sick and the needy blessed her. She ardently supported the Ladies' Union Prayer Meeting of sixty years ago. Even in old age the young were fond of her, so bright and cheerful, so genial and sympathetic was she—the mother of eleven children, they all revered her. AND THEIR WORK - 63 In advanced life she was a saintly looking woman, and this appearance was heightened by her graceful wearing of the softest of lace and muslins, with steel gray dress fabrics. She went swiftly to her rest from the residence of her daughter ; hers is the oldest memorial window in the First Methodist Church. Other memorial windows are for Mary Grandy Winslow, Cornelia Cowles, Margaret Johnson, Martha Peet. " Mother Pritchard" was universally beloved ; so also was a late comer, Mrs. Mary A. Fletcher, for years principal of a ladies' Bible class, and 'president of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, in the First Methodist Episcopal Church. She was born in Hancock, N. H., November 22d, 1801. Her parents removing to the Green Mountain State, she finished her school-days but not her studies at Windsor and Chester, Female Seminaries of Vermont. At sixteen years of age, she commenced teaching, and held for seven years an important position, taking meanwhile the Cambridge course of mathematics, and abstruse natural science under Major Stevens. Brought up in Calvanistic belief, she estrayed 64 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND from so rigid a faith, and in May, 1819, was admitted to the Methodist communion, of which she was justly a representative member. In -March, 1825, she married Rev. D. L. Fletcher, and for fifteen years was the zealous, untiring wife of a pioneer preacher. Of vigorous health, she continued to study and teach during forty-five years, acquiring a familiar knowledge of Latin, French, Spanish and Italian, and becoming proficient in sketching. She has been principal of Ohio seminaries, and opened the Ladies' College of Jackson, Miss., before the war, herself delivering courses of lectures before the pupils. As a Biblical scholar she was superior, having been for fifty years in charge of Bible classes. Not only with severer studies was she occupied. She practiced successfully les beaux arts, a set of china comprising two hundred pieces having been decorated by her skillful fingers, in almost as many different patterns. The representation of a tea-plant upon an antique bowl, moss roses upon saucer and plate, and pitcher-plant upon pitchers, indicate the work of an artist. The fortunate daughter of this rare mother is Mrs. Joseph Ingersoll. A fruitful source of inspiration during past AND THEIR WORK - 65 months has been my own loved mother's narration of removal from New York to pioneer life at Ann Arbor, Michigan ; how she and her sister founded there the church of her choice ; how mother captivated the young minister sent on as missionary to the Northwestern Territory ; how she became a Methodist preacher's wife, and what a time of it she had teaching school to eke out father's salary of $80 per year ! Mother's pictured face smiles upon me, now, from the wall. " How fast the river runs between its green banks and the rushes ! It's very near the sea ; I hear the waves ! How green the banks are now ; how bright the flowers growing on them, and how tall the rushes ! Who is standing on the shore? I know her by the face ! But the portrait on the wall is not divine enough ! The light about the head is shining on me as I go ! " The first Baptist meeting was held here in 1832, in the old Academy, by Rev. Richmond Taggart. The earliest society of this communion was formed in the Fall of 1833, with fourteen members, eight of whom were ladies : Mrs. B. Rouse, Mrs. Griffiths, Mrs. Melvin, Mrs. Milo Hickox, Mrs. H. 66 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND Ranney, Mrs. C. A. Seaman, Mrs. Perlee Abbey, Mrs. Belden. In that same year, the Baptist Church was formally organized with twenty-seven members. The first edifice, corner Champlain and Seneca streets, was dedicated by Rev. Elisha Tucker. Its early Foreign Missionary Society organized in 1833—Mrs. B. Rouse, President. This denomination here includes many honorable names of the past and present—brave and persistent Christian laborers. Among them are Rev. and Mrs. S. W. Adams—always loved and venerated. Eldest of all is, probably, Mrs. William T. Smith, everywhere enrolled in Woman's Union Gospel Work, from membership in the Moral Reform Society to the chairmanship of al modern Friendly Inn Committee. She was born in Stonington, Conn., March 6th, 1814 ; educated and married in Rochester, removing to Cleveland in 1836 ; the wife of a cheery, business man, mother of eight children, yet ever ready to labor among almost hopeless cases ; prompt, fervent and forgetting self. A son, Frank, a Union soldier, and her daughter—Mrs. H. A. Sherwin, are among the gospel workers of to-day. Mr. and Mrs. John Seaman came -here in 1833, AND THEIR WORK - 67 when the Academy was used as a place of worship by the few Baptist villagers ; this excellent couple are among the constituent members of the FIRST BAPTIST Church. A seemingly authentic record states that the FIRST CONGREGATIONAL Church was organized in January, 1852, with thirty-nine members, and PLYMOUTH, a few months later with thirty. Oberlin was the center and source of Congregationalism, in Northern Ohio, so that this denomination hardly belongs to good old times. It does a glorious work ; and is pre-eminently a home missionary church. Bohemian women of Cleveland are being evangelized through Christian agencies ; that of Mrs. Clara H. Schauffier is extensive and effectual. The Bible Readers' Home and Training School sends out helpers who distribute tracts, relieve the destitute and otherwise aid humanity. The chief Bible reader is Miss Reitinger, who holds gospel services. An Industrial Union is connected with the Mission ; Mrs. Schauffier has a girls' club ; missionary and educational training is extended to the Polish population. The Congregationalists have also a Swedish beginning. This noble church is first in reforms ; a right hand of power 68 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND in everything that helps the world to better living. The Disciple Church of Cleveland was organized in February, 1842, in a little chapel on Vermont street, with fourteen members, of whom Mrs. R. A. Cannon is the only survivor among the women present. The German Methodist Episcopal Church was formed in 1846, Mrs. Jacob Rothweiler being an earnest pioneer in that branch. Her daughter, Louise, is missionary in Corea. German Protestant Churches here of all varieties number fifty; the women in each, so far as can be ascertained, are organized into one Aid Society, which assists the local work. AND THEIR WORK - 69 CHAPTER VIII. OHIO CITY-THE FIRST SEWING CIRCLE-MISS HARRIET BARBER - THE FLATS-COLUMBUS BLOCK-THE FORMATION OF CHURCHES-MRS. ABIGAIL RANDALL-MRS. ALFRED DAVIS -MRS. CHAS. WINSLOW-SIXTEEN WOMEN ON CLEVELAND-AN AFTER-DINNER COFFEE. ALL the section west of the Cuyahoga was called Brooklyn, until 1831. Throughout the country, land began to rise in value, noticeably, wherever it was supposed a city might be laid out ; the mouth of the Cuyahoga offering inducement. The stimulus supplied by internal improvements, especially canals, was the cause. An association, known as the Buffalo Company, bought Lorenzo Carter's farm—a tract west of the Cuyahoga, and Ohio City was planned. Albany and Vermont men were also enthusiastic, Connecticut having pioneered. Old Trinity, corner of St. Clair and Seneca streets, was then the only church. Our en- 70 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND terprising people walked over the hills, or were ferried across the river to service either there or to the " Academy." Among these were Mrs. Rosamond Sargent and her daughter, Mrs. Geo. L. Chapman—exemplary church women. These two dear people constantly ministered to the ill and' destitute. In those days were no skilled professional nurses, and a large part of the duty of benevolent women was to watch at night with the wick. In 1832 came cholera, and Mrs. Chapman was thus occupied as often as every other night ; east of the Cuyahoga, Mrs. B. Rouse was equally' devoted and heroic. Dr. Theodore Sterling recalls many touching incidents of their fidelity to the suffering. As far back as 1825, sewing societies for the fitting out of missionaries, home and foreign, or the filling of boxes for the frontier, existed in each church. The first sewing circle, composed of ladies' irrespective of sect, for the making up of garments for the city's poor, was formed in Columbus Block, in 1832 ; of this, Mrs. Richard Lord was President ; Harriet Barber, Secretary; and Mrs. Chapman, Treasurer. The celebrated years of 1835 and 1836, when AND THEIR WORK - 71 speculation raged more fiercely throughout the United States than at any period before or since, touched with rosy fingers the west side of the Cuyahoga. In these "flush times," the Flats became the source of much of our city's wealth. Manufactories and lumber yards, then, like the " mustard seed," have grown into trees, on whose branches, extending into the avenues and parks, sing the birds of progress. The Flats are historic ground. Main street was the thoroughfare through the Buffalo Company's allotment, which included the valley at the base of the hills, from the foot of Hanover street, on the west, to the river on the east. The corner of Main and Elm streets seems, then, to have been the center of prosperity. On Detroit street hill was the Columbus Block, populous with stores and offices, occupying which were, among others, W. T. Ward and Co., Gilman Folsom, Judge Foot, C. L. Russell. Now, too, were our people strong enough to organize their own parish. Brooklyn, having given birth to Trinity, prepared for the incoming of the pioneer Saint of Holy Writ. On a record, yellow with age, I find that in a hall in Columbus Block, a meeting was "holden," January 4th, 1836, which adopted the 72 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND following, with six articles of association appended: " We, the inhabitants of the village of Brooklyn, being desirous of promoting the spiritual good of our fellow creatures and of advancing the Redeemer's kingdom in the world, do hereby organize ourselves into a parish agreeably to the doctrines, worship, usages and regulations of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The style of this parish shall be the wardens and vestry of St. John's Church." Rev. L. Davis was chairman of the meeting. The wardens and vestrymen incorporated, March 12th, 1836. Easter Monday, March 27th, the corporation decided to build a house of public worship in Ohio City, on land given by Judge Josiah Barber, on the present corner of Wall and Church streets. A lot adjoining, for a rectory, on which St. John's Chapel now stands, was donated by Abigail Randall, sister of Richard Lord. This lady, whose acts of benevolence were absolutely without ostentation, was a benefactor of the town. And thus, as a city, we come into possession of the present old cathedral-like structure, ivy-covered without, but modern within. Meantime, in 1834, AND THEIR WORK - 73 Mrs. Burton and her two daughters ; a family named Conklin, and William Warmington, who built the first frame house on Franklin avenue, join together and form a nucleus for a Methodist Church ; the first sermon being preached by Rev. Daniel M. Conant in Mr. Warmington's home, then on Detroit street. For the three succeeding years, 1834-1837, the Methodist Episcopal Church in Ohio City was a part of Brunswick Circuit. Until 1837, services were held, alternating with the Universalists, in a small brick school-house on Vermont street, used for a long time as the Eighth Ward voting place. December 15th, 1834, a lot was bought for a new house of worship, north-east corner of Hanover and Church streets ; June 30th, 1836, a brick edifice was begun. In November, the walls were ready for the roof. A terrible storm blew them down ; despair seized upon the little band, including Ambrose Anthony, Diodate Clark, Capt. Alfred Davis and wife—the latter, formerly Miss Bessie Sessions, a well-known young lady. Under the greatest financial stress, they began the work of reconstruction. The city council, just organized, offered them a room in Columbus Block, on 74 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND Detroit street hill, provided the Methodist society would furnish seats. The offer was gladly accepted. In a short time, the Columbus Block was burned and the infant struggling church sent back to the school-house. In November, 1838, they occupied the basement on Hanover street. Ten years afterward they moved into the audience room. The society continued to worship there until December, 1869, when it was merged into the FRANKIN AVENUE M. E. CHURCH, now dre largest of that denomination in this fair city. A Presbyterian Society was formed December 21st, 1835, by Father Keep. Of this, Misses Cordelia Buxton and Catharine Taylor, now Mrs. S. H. Sheldon and Mrs. M. Lufkin, are the surviving charter members. Later, were Mr. and Mrs. Stephen N. Herrick, the Folsoms, and twenty-five more; Mr. and Mrs. Newton were among the faithful early—the mantle of the mother envelopes her daughter, Mrs. Dr. Dutton. Mrs. Lucy Webb, mother of the first Mrs. Robt. Sanderson, is mentioned as one leaving an impress upon the times in which she lived. Mrs. Chas. Winslow, a thoroughly Christian woman, Mrs. Pickands, Mrs. Slaght, Ladies Folsom, at later date, were included ; also, the first Mrs. Dr. Tilden, gifted and beautiful. AND THEIR WORK - 75 Resuming our sketch of Mrs. Chapman ; zealously she labored for St. John's ; loved, venerated through a long, useful life, abounding in good deeds ; most fragrant of these was the sending of flowers to sick-rooms ; she wrote a book of poems and several sketches, and in society none surpassed her in suavity and grace. I used to admire her at an after-dinner coffee, for example : with white cap and kerchief, a dress of black or gray satin, perfectly white rolls of hair crowning a sweet face glowing with enthusiasm in recalling the activities of pioneer life, and all the while knitting up threads of gold on. golden needles—the web sure to prove little socks or mittens for some favored child. 76 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND CHAPTER IX. THE FEMALE CHARITABLE SOCIETY OF OLD TRINITY-MORAL REFORM SOCIETY-THE SOCIAL EVIL-MATERNAL ASSOCIATION-MRS. S. WILLIAMSON-MRS. LOUISA PICKANDS. THE Female Charitable Society of Trinity Church was formed December 26th, 1837. The following ladies held positions : President, Mrs. Lyman Kendall ; Vice-President, Mrs. Levi. Tucker, wife of the Baptist minister ; Secretary, Mrs. Edmund Clark ; Treasurer, Mrs. Hobart Ford ; Directresses, Mrs. Ahaz Merchant, Mrs. J. Whiting, Mrs. E. F. Gardner, Mrs. Dr. Mills, Mrs. C. L. Lathrop, Mrs. S. Ford, Mrs. John Shelley. The Association did good work among the destitute, and often met in the Baptist Church, corner of Champlain and Seneca streets. Mrs. B. Harrington, a lady distinguished for charitable work, succeeded Mrs. Ford as Treasurer, and served faithfully for years in the successors, viz. : AND THEIR WORK - 77 " Domestic Missionary Society of Trinity Church," and the " Ladies' Benevolent Society of Trinity Parish," which latter culminated, in 1856, in a permanent institution. The records are obscure of the early formation of general organizations of ladies, but we infer from a letter written by Mrs. M. B. Tolbut, Secretary of the Moral Reform Society of Claridon, Geauga County, to the same society in Cleveland, that of the first mentioned, several auxiliaries were formed in Ohio, during 1837 and 1838, and that the Parent Society existed in New York, Their organ was the Advocate and Guardian, their object to inculcate virtue and good morals and to save young women from ruin. The first definite statement we have is the following : At a meeting of ladies of Cleveland, held June 24th, 1840, the Female Moral Reform Society was reorganized, the constitution of the Parent Society adopted, and the following persons elected officers : First Directress, Mrs. Lathrop ; Second Directress, Mrs. J. M. Sterling ; Secretary and Treasurer, Mrs. M. S. Curry. The alternates were, respectively : Mrs. Wade, Mrs. Seymour, Mrs. Gay- 78 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND lord. Board of Managers : Mrs. William T. Smith,, Ladies Hickox, Goodman, Wightman, Chandler, Rockwell, Southworth, Avery, Sexton, Sloane, Taylor, Pearsons, Foot. The following names of members are found on the register, many of whom are young ladies : Mrs. M. W. Burnham, Ellen Gunning, Elizabeth Whittlesey, Romelia Hanks, Cornelia M. Sackrider, Eliza Duty, Margaret Sheldon, Manchester, F. C. Fairchild, Sarah T. Fisk, Mrs. W. H. Otis, Mrs. S. J. Andrews, Mrs. S. C. Aikin, Mrs. Pritchard, Mrs. S. E. Hutchinson, Mrs. Long, Mrs. Severance, Mrs. L. A. Penfield, Mrs. M. Cutter, Mrs. Brainard, Mrs. John Day, Julia DeForest, Jane Searles, Harriet Malvin, Maria Sutherland, Amelia Beebe, Catherine Brown, Harriet Hurst, Mary and Amanda Burns, Mary Ager, Mary Jones, Silas Belden, Mrs. Fitch, E. McIntosh, Julia Rector, 0. Clarke; Edw. Fairchild, Lucy A. Cutter. The list of officers for 1841 is Mrs. Edward Wade, Mrs. Seymour, Mrs. E. F. Gaylord. " Resolved, That a Moral Reform Convention for the. State of Ohio be held in Cleveland, on the second Wednesday of October. “In a minute signed by, Maria B. Fairchild, Secretary, written September 14th, 1842, is the following : " In consequence of a suggestion from the society in Troy, after some discussion it was AND THEIR WORK - 79 " Resolved, That the Secretary be directed to write a notice of this convention, to be, published in the Advocate of Moral Reform, Oberlin Evangelist and Ohio Observer. " Resolved, That Miss Morgan be invited to spend the Winter with us in prosecuting the labors of missionary." Mrs. Sloane was appointed to communicate with the F.M.R.S. of Buffalo, N. Y., October 12th, 1843 ; this society seemed to receive an impetus by the election of Mrs. B. Rouse, Mrs.. M. M. Herrick and Mrs. M. E. Williamson to its leading offices. The latter is, the wife of S. Williamson, Esq., then young, well educated and public-spirited. She is yet heartily engaged in all good work. As Secretary and Treasurer of this organization, she presents full minutes, and is unusually business like in detail. The ladies sustained their work by the payment each, annually, of sums ranging from twelve and a half to fifty cents. The efficiency of this band of ladies is fully attested by a narrative given entire in Mrs. Rouse's diary, extracts from which are presented: " October 30th : Was visited early this morning 80 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND by two gentlemen, residents of Cleveland, who have just landed from a steamer, saying that at Erie they were called upon to see a young woman in the ladies' cabin who had a few minutes previous, told some of the members that she was being forcibly taken away and did not wish to go further with the person by whom she was accompanied. Upon inquiry, they elicited some items of her personal history : She lived in Franklin, Vt. Her father was a farmer. Owing to the opposition of an older sister, the had been forbidden by the father to marry the man of her choice, and the mother, to soften grief and divert her mind, caused her to go to Whitehall, N. Y., where were family friends. After a week she fell in with a wicked woman, who enticed her, under pretense of visiting the City of New York, into a house of infamy. After three days and nights of wretchedness, upon her earnest pleading she was taken from this place, only to find herself in the hands of a deceiver, who, by promising to take her to a place of safety from which she could return home, had brought her aboard this steamer. After securing passage, she found she was to be taken to the Copper Mine Region, Lake Superior. Know- AND THEIR WORK - 81 ing not what to do in her anguish, she had confided in the passengers, and by a salutary course of procedure, these two gentlemen had rescued and taken her in charge until arriving at the Cleveland pier, and then bringing her to the American House, they placed the unfortunate woman in the keeping of the President of this Society." Mrs. Rouse adds : " October 31 :—I have seen and conversed with this young woman and to-day took her to my own house. She is a good-looking, artless country girl, unsuspecting and entirely ignorant of the art and deception with which we all are daily surrounded. We are wishing to send her to her parents, to whom the gentlemen on the boat wrote before they landed, and I. am anxiously waiting to find some one to protect her as far as Whitehall or Albany." Then, as now, was sin abroad in the land, and these dear women knew instinctively that the only safeguard for young people is within the sheltering arms of " home, sweet home," and they did what in them lay to save the unsuspecting and misguided, to restore them to their own firesides. If parents in these days would screen their children from these dangerous influences, would erect an altar 82 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND within the household about which the children might cluster, and endeavor to make home such in the fullest sense—the one spot in all the world most attractive to the child—and then, by affectionate and effective discipline, train their girls and boys to love purity and to avoid even the appearance of evil, there would not now be heard the lamentation coining up from all over the country, and especially from cities, that our young girls are daily and nightly preparing, on the streets, for lives of abandonment and disgrace ; our police would not have to be called in to enforce family discipline ; houses of refuge, reformatories and retreats would not be filled as they are now. Solomon was wiser than us of to-day. The last written trace of the F. M. R.. S. we find Wednesday, January i0, 1844, and copy verbatim Mrs. Williamson's minutes : " Monthly meeting held in the vestry of Stone Church ; reading by the directress and prayer by Mrs. Townsend ; minutes read by the secretary ; committees called upon to report ; the committee to solicit subscriptions for the support of a missionary being still unprepared to report satisfactorily, was discharged, particularly in consideration of the city's being at AND THEIR WORK - 83 present visited by a committee from the Martha Washington and Dorcas Society, which committee is expected to report to the Moral Reform Society all such objects as would properly come under its care. " Remarks were then made by Mrs. Fitch ; the Constitution was read, and a few names secured as members, the petitions to the Legislature circulated, and the meeting adjourned." We conclude that, by mutual agreement, this early society was merged in the new project for relieving the destitute of the city and at the same time ministering to the spiritual needs of those visited, and that the " faire gospellers" united with the Martha Washington and Dorcas Society. In 1837, and continuing through 1840, a number of ladies formed the " Maternal Association " of Ohio City, Mrs. Louisa Pickands, president. The society published a magazine which met the want of the day. Mothers met once a week for prayer and consultation upon the best methods of training children, etc. The inference is, that our present " mothers' meetings " are not a new feature,—only " revised and improved." We see the names of ladies prominent in these early societies 84 - AND THEIR WORK. also prominent in those of later date ; for the workers in any good cause are found doing all they can to help other enterprises whose aim is to lift up humanity. It is a delight to look into the faces of these veterans who " count it all joy " to reach out a hand to those who fall. Doing good is a better cosmetic than paste or powder ; it leaves its impress on every feature of the face ; there is a softened radiance, a peculiar expression, on these countenances that needs no sculptured Madonna for a model. It is a light shining within a vase of alabaster—the soul illuminating brow, eye and lip. Such faces they have who, in the Revelation of St. John the Divine, " follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth." AND THEIR WORK - 85 CHAPTER X. OHIO CITY-SOME PROMINENT MEN AND THEY FOUND THEIR WIVES-GOING A MAYING-MRS. D. P. RHODES-MRS. BELDEN MOUR-MRS. MARY A. DEGNON-MRS. SARGENT-MRS. G. W. JONES-TWENTY-FIVE WOMEN OF CLEVELAND-MRS. W. B. CASTLE -MRS. KATE NEWELL DOGGETT. THE original Judge Josiah Barber was unsparing in liberality—a benefactor—a strict churchman, the host and intimate friend of Bishop Chase. His wife was Abigail Gilbert ; her only daughter married Mr. Robert Russell in Conneticut, who died. She rejoined her father, Judge Barber, here, with three small children, of whom were Sophia Lord and Charlotte Agusta. These two daughters, grown into elegant, cultured women, became active participants in the social world of Ohio City. In 1827, while yet a frontier town, William 86 - WOMEN OF' CLEVELAND B. Castle removed from Toronto, C. W., with his father. In time he associated with himself Chas. M. Giddings, Norman C. Baldwin, and other prominent men, in establishing the first lumber yard in Cleeland, foundation of a grand factor in the city's enterprise—still retaining interests in Canada. In 1835, from Sudbury, Vt., appeared a young man of indomitable energy who preferred -Western enterprise to Eastern luxury—Mr. Daniel P. Rhodes, pioneering in the coal trade here; was broad, sympathetic, kind to everybody, doing much to build up the city west of the Cuyahoga, led the people in persistent demand for convenient access to Superior street. Would he might have seen our magnificent viaduct ! He associated with him Mr. J. F. Card ; together they developed the mineral resources of Tuscarawas and Stark counties. Others eminent besides those mentioned were Col. Brunson, David Griffith, the two Wards, uncles of Mr. Belden Seymour. Mrs. Judge Foot, Mrs. Chas. Rhodes, Mrs. Griffith, Mrs. Seth Johnson, Mrs. Capt. Sweet, were quiet, retiring women, but of the best, and formed a little coterie on the present Washington street. Mrs. Eleanor H. Seymour, and her sister, Mrs. Nancy J. Russell, give very AND THEIR. WORK - 87 clear description of the farms on Detroit Road in Barber and Lord's allotment. Needham Stand-art had a house so large that Rosamond Sargent always called it " Castle Needham." Mrs. Standart was an elegant woman. Mr. Jackson's farm, where lived Julia and Mary ; Mr. Herrick's, father of Eleanor and Nancy, and Mr. Hurd's ; Dr. Kirtland's, in Rockport ; Catharine Taylor Lufkin gathered, in 1829, wild roses growing in the marsh close to their; this marsh extended up to Gordon avenue ; even later the children on Detroit Road played in the woods where Altenheim and the Elliott property are now, culling Indian pipe, ferns and forget-me-nots. In good old times they had May-pole dances, there, on the first day of that month, a crowned queen, with maids of honor dressed in white, the boys making an arbor, covered with boughs, and often a throne of twigs with a buffalo robe carpet ; other parties the young folks had, beginning at 6 p. m. and breaking up at 9 o'clock. Mr. and Mrs. John Degnon came from New York ; he was superintendent of the Cuyahoga Furnace Foundry, of which Elisha Sterling may have been first proprietor ; among successors to its owner- 88 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND ship were Mr. Win. B. Castle and Mr. J. F. Holloway. Mrs. Degnon wrought among the sick and destitute ; once after making a muslin shroud for the lead, she inquired of a maiden daughter for a warm flat-iron to press seams ; the reply was, " I an get you nothing; I'm a mourner." No. 223 Hanover street, one of the oldest houses on the West Side, was their former home ; she and her daughters, Mary and. Eliza, reside in the brick near by. Mrs. Degnon says that all the women of early 'times were united ; standing shoulder to shoulder in good work and domestic helpfulness. Those were glowing days in the " thirties." Mr. and Mrs. T. P. Handy were among the singers in O1d Stone Church, coming here in 1832 ; they sang n stately oratories, bearing part in Handel's Creation ;" their duets are recalled even now. In he choir of St. John's Episcopal Church were Mr. V. B. Castle, Captain Lord, Daniel Tyler, and his ister, Elizabeth, Sophia Lord Russell, Julia Ward, Mary Newell ; Dr. Hill played the organ. .His life is mentioned with pleasant recollection. Mr. Geo. L. Chapman was chorister. The young peo- AND THEIR WORK - 89 ple married ; Sophia Lord Russell became Mrs. Daniel P. Rhodes ; her sister, Charlotte, Mrs. Hatch. Mr. John H. Sargent asked Miss Julia Jackson to share his fortunes, and her sister is Mrs. Standart, of Toledo ; Eleanor Herrick and Belden Seymour ; Nancy J. Herrick and Mr. Russell, brother of Mrs. S. B. Prentiss. C. L. Russell, of another family, married Miss Lucy Winslow. In 1838, Herman A. and H. B. Hurlbut were and young L. L. Davis ; M. B. Scott, who married a sister of S. Williamson. In 1839, the Hartnells came to this city from England. Representing interests in Albany, were General. and Mrs. Waller, taking high rank from the first; central figures in the picture of long ago ; with them a step-daughter, Mary Newell, and in time her sister, Kate Newell Horton. The great-grandparents of these sisters on both sides were ministers ; Colonel Williams, a maternal grandfather, in the Continental Army, as also in that of 1812. George Newell, their father, was a graduate of Burlington, Vt., an ancestor, Nath. Newell, in the china trade. These sisters were highly educated ; Kate, a linguist ; Mary, from the seminaries of 90 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND Middlebury and Burlington. The latter was born Sept. 1I, 1818, at Charlotte, Vt. The Ohio City Exchange, corner of Main and Center streets, with its mahogany balustrades, was the most elegant building west of Albany. July 4, 1838, occurred its opening--a gala day in our history—by Low and Atherton. At high noon was a banquet, attended by guests from Detroit, Erie, Sandusky, Buffalo. Before the dinner ride through the old river bed into the Lake, making a complete circuit. Mary Newell was in high spirits and danced every figure, despite the protest of Mrs. H. A. Hurlbut that " it would not do." On a bright day in 1840, Mary Newell was married to W. B. Castle in St. John's Church ; the occasion was a grand one ; he fair, she dark, with flashing black eyes and curls floating to her waist. She wore a wreath of orange buds, which the writer touched on a snowy day in January, 1893, and the beautiful wedding dress, too, of white brocaded satin, garnished with silk blonde, a long white blonde veil, white kid gloves and satin slippers, a la mode. The same day I saw her mother's wedding gown of white levantine silk, and an aunt's, of china crepe, and a marvel of art AND THEIR WORK - 91 in embroidery, of Mrs. Doggett's own work—dear relics of joyous youth, preserved as only Mrs. Castle knows how. The young married people of that period had sleigh rides, lake sails and always dancing. The Exchange might tell how those gay troops of wit and beauty laughed, sang, and what merry-go-rounds there were on " light, fantastic toe." Mr. W. B. Castle became a representative man in every respect, and one of the best mayors we ever had; he did much to develop the iron and lumber interest. The Rhodes and Castles excelled in church work, in hospitality, good cheer. Marriage alliances were formed ; Kitty Castle becoming Mrs. R. R. Rhodes. An intimate friend of these ladies is Mrs. Judge Bolton, long connected with Lakeside Hospital and Aged Women's Home. A younger Miss Castle is now Mrs. C. C. Bolton; another, Mrs. D. Z. Norton. Fannie Rhodes, a beautiful character, died, -and much brightness went out with her. James F. Rhodes married Anna Card. They live in Cambridge, Mass. Mr. Rhodes has written a United States history that gives him place among American authors. All the wives of these gentle- 92 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND men take appropriate place among the women of Cleveland. We are informed that in 1808, Lorenzo Carter built here a freight boat, designed for the lake trade ; she was named the " Zephyr." We have two shipbuilders here now, Messrs. J. F. Parkhurst and H. D. Coffinbury, whose wives are representative Cleveland women in high social position; but the shipbuilder whom everybody remembers as a standby in the past is Capt. C. W. Jones coming to Ohio City in 1841 ; built, in 1835, the first merchant vessel for Lake Superior, named " John Jacob Astor," which took the place of the Bateau, in carrying supplies to Indian traders. On her first trip, in September of that year, Stanard Rock was discovered, on which is built a light-house. Mrs. Jones was public-spirited ; out among the poor, one of the trustees of the Woman's Medical College and of the Orphan Asylum. Later on, in 1852, we have two sisters, Mrs. McNeil and Mrs. Purdy, wives of eminent dealers ; these ladies are well known and honored ; their husbands, with Mr. J.. A. Redington and Capt. W. B. Guyles, go through our streets, familiarly . known, even to the children. AND THEIR WORK - 93 Mrs. Judge Coffinbury and Mrs. A. H. Delamater remain to us reminders of the strong business career of two noble men passed away, and by their own excellent qualities attach us to the past and present of their lives among us. Of all our women, none excel Mrs. John H. Sargent in originality and intelligence. To this day she is studying French and in her grand children lives her youth over again. She has the good sense to go through Europe dressed in strong cloth, with only a valise for baggage. She has actually kissed the blarney stone, has kept house in Rome, and brought back relics from nearly all lands. Her "Mater Dolorosa," from a Spanish cathedral, a painting two hundred years old, is a Mexican treasure. Entering fully into the ludicrous, she and Mrs. Degnon cannot be forgotten as Betsey Prig and Sairy Gamp. Mrs. Castle's sister, Kate Newell Horton's first school was in Columbus block, afterward in the basement of Saint John's Episcopal Church. April 27, 1857, she opened a school for young ladies and misses at 41 Walcott street, corner of Indiana, in Chicago, Ill. Rev. Henry Bannister's reminiscences of Mrs. 94 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND Doggett at Cazenovia Seminary were such as to reveal the promise of her early prime. She was, intellectually, a Margaret Fuller type of woman. With great sorrows in her first marriage ; her motherly devotion to an unfortunate little daughter, dying very young, is spoken of by her friends as partaking of the moral sublime. She had the pushing spirit of the West, and that strange, sad episode over, left Cleveland. Mr. William E. Doggett was one of Chicago's most public-spirited citizens. He was the first to give the South Side people the benefit of open-air concerts on the lake front, a boon highly appreciated by all classes. Some years since he was shipwrecked on Lake Erie, and was taken to a house in almost lifeless condition, and regaining consciousness made the acquaintance of Kate Newell Horton, whom he afterward married in St. John's Episcopal Church, Cleveland, Ohio. He was a wealthy and accomplished merchant, one of God's noblemen, dowered in equal measure with the manhood of strength and gentleness. Her marriage with this rare character introduced her to a life almost ideal. Theirs was the only true alliance---a union of minds and hearts as well as hands. Added to this AND THEIR WORK - 95 summit level of earthly happiness was a tasteful and luxurious home, lofty and assured social position, wide opportunities for culture and beneficence.. These were studiously improved, and the years flowed full, deep and rich,—" the ripe, round, mellow years of life's sunny prime." A Chicago friend states that this hospitable couple resided at the south-west corner of Michigan avenue and Harmon court, in which elegant mansion all the people, and actors were greeted in an intellectual atmosphere rather rare in those days ; banquets being given in all departments of the magic realm of the ideal. Mrs. Doggett was a devotee of art and has published in book form several fine essays that have had a large sale. She was for several terms president of the Woman's Congress ; the founder of the Fortnightly Club of Chicago and Cleveland, and a prominent member of the Academy of Sciences ; also an active member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Mrs. Doggett was often heard on the lecture platform, and one of the founders of the Beethoven Society of Chicago and of the Chicago Philosophical Society. She translated the " Grammar of Painting 96 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND and Engraving," by a celebrated French author, Charles Blanc, writing much and ably upon cognate themes. It is no exaggeration to say that "west of Boston she was without an equal among women as authority in matters of taste. Her lectures were illustrated by a superb collection, made in Italy and France, and she freely gave them. Mrs. Doggett was a pronounced friend of the " woman movement " in all its noblest phases. She died in Cuba, ten years ago, AND THEIR WORK - 97 CHAPTER XI. MRS. J. A. HARRIS - " THE DEAR OLD MARTHA WASHINGTON AND DORCAS "-MRS. C. A. DEAN -MRS. A. H. BARNEY - MRS. J. E. LYON-MRS. WILLIAM MITTLEBERGER REPORT OF FIFTY YEARS AGO - PROTESTANT ORPHAN ASYLUM- MRS. STILLMAN WITT-SOPHIA L. HEWITT-LADIES' TEMPERANCE UNION. wOMEN who combine quick intelligence with cool judgment, an absolute unselfishness with power to discern the genuine in human nature, are born for leadership. No matter how nearly perfect their domestic qualities may be, they cannot, if they would, confine their influence simply to .,the home circle. They belong to the public, and the record of their lives is a record of the progress. of good work in the cities where they reside. Such a woman is Mrs J. A. Harris. Possessed in the past of vigorous health and a flow of animal spirits, warm-hearted and sympa- 98 - WOMEN OF CLEVELAND thetic, she has been, from her early residence here, a favorite. The writer of this sketch well remembers, when a young girl, of dropping into a called meeting of the women of Cleveland, at the Old Stone Church parlors. Mrs. Rouse was presiding over a ch0ice assembly of ladies. Mrs. Harris spoke and everybody listened, and for the instant, there was to me no other person present in, the room ; her voice was so clear and distinct and her presence so commanding. Withal, a practical good sense pervaded her utterance, and unusual kindness shone in every feature of her face. Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Harris came here in 1837, occupying their cottage on Bank street upon the exact site of the present Harris Block. April 1st, Mr. Harris connected himself with the Cleveland Herald, and from that date, he and his wife established intimate relations with the people of Cleveland. They were singularly alike—both possessed of extreme kindness of heart, of unusual energy and of proverbial cheerfulness. Old residents cannot fail to recollect their gayety of temperament and vivacity during the prime of life. Public-spirited, they identified themselves with all AND THEIR WORK - 99 good causes outside of church lines, and were always noted for their strict temperance principles. They were full of help and encouragement for young persons beginning an honorable career. Youthful writers and artists will gratefully recall the kind words bestowed by them. Identified with early woman's work, Mrs. Harris' especial forte was in entertainments. Full of ingenuity and adaptability, she could charm a city with her skillfully devised and attractive methods of replenishing a depleted treasury. With characteristic energy, our friend has all through the years not abated a tithe of her vigorous aid, but helps us of to-day. She is, even now, vice president of the Early Settlers' Association. TEMPERANCE WORK OF FIFTY YEARS AGO.-The Washingtonian movement originated with seven hard drinkers who, occasionally, met in a tavern in Baltimore, in 1840 ; then and there resolving that they would drink no more. They formed on the spot a society for the propagation of total abstinence among those who, with' themselves, had been addicted to the excessive use of stimulants. This movement spread over the lands reclaiming thousands, and the rushing wave struck