Eighty Years and More; Reminiscences 1815-1897 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 480 pages of information about Eighty Years and More; Reminiscences 1815-1897.

Eighty Years and More; Reminiscences 1815-1897 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 480 pages of information about Eighty Years and More; Reminiscences 1815-1897.

Lucy Stone, Mr. Blackwell, and Olympia Brown had preceded us and opened the campaign with large meetings in all the chief cities.  Miss Anthony and I did the same.  Then it was decided that, as we were to go to the very borders of the State, where there were no railroads, we must take carriages, and economize our forces by taking different routes.  I was escorted by ex-Governor Charles Robinson.  We had a low, easy carriage, drawn by two mules, in which we stored about a bushel of tracts, two valises, a pail for watering the mules, a basket of apples, crackers, and other such refreshments as we could purchase on the way.  Some things were suspended underneath the carriage, some packed on behind, and some under the seat and at our feet.  It required great skill to compress the necessary baggage into the allotted space.  As we went to the very verge of civilization, wherever two dozen voters could be assembled, we had a taste of pioneer life.  We spoke in log cabins, in depots, unfinished schoolhouses, churches, hotels, barns, and in the open air.

I spoke in a large mill one night.  A solitary tallow candle shone over my head like a halo of glory; a few lanterns around the outskirts of the audience made the darkness perceptible; but all I could see of my audience was the whites of their eyes in the dim distance.  People came from twenty miles around to these meetings, held either in the morning, afternoon, or evening, as was most convenient.

As the regular State election was to take place in the coming November, the interest increased from week to week, until the excitement of the people knew no bounds.  There were speakers for and against every proposition before the people.  This involved frequent debates on all the general principles of government, and thus a great educational work was accomplished, which is one of the advantages of our frequent elections.

The friends of woman suffrage were doomed to disappointment.  Those in the East, on whom they relied for influence through the liberal newspapers, were silent, and we learned, afterward, that they used what influence they had to keep the abolitionists and Republicans of the State silent, as they feared the discussion of the woman question would jeopardize the enfranchisement of the black man.  However, we worked untiringly and hopefully, not seeing through the game of the politicians until nearly the end of the canvass, when we saw that our only chance was in getting the Democratic vote.  Accordingly, George Francis Train, then a most effective and popular speaker, was invited into the State to see what could be done to win the Democracy.  He soon turned the tide, strengthened the weak-kneed Republicans and abolitionists, and secured a large Democratic vote.

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Eighty Years and More; Reminiscences 1815-1897 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.