# History of Woman Suffrage/Volume 3/Chapter 54

Contents
CHAPTER LIV.
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
In the spring of 1852, when the great furor for going West was at its height, in the long trails of miners, merchants and farmers wending their way in ox-carts and canvas-covered wagons over the vast plains, mountains and rivers, two remarkable women, then in the flush of youth, might have been seen; one, Abigail Scott Duniway, destined to leave an indelible mark on the civilization of Oregon, and the other, Mary Olney Brown, on that of Washington territory. What ideas were revolving in these young minds in that long journey of 3,000 miles, six months in duration, it would be difficult to imagine, but the love of liberty had been infused in their dreams somewhere, either in their eastern homes from the tragic scenes of the anti-slavery conflict, or on that perilous march amidst those eternal solitudes by day and the solemn stillness of the far-off stars in the gathering darkness. That this long communion with great nature left its impress on their young hearts and sanctified their lives to the best interests of humanity at large, is clearly seen in the deeply interesting accounts they give of their endeavors to mould the ​governments of their respective territories on republican principles. Writing of herself and her labors, Mrs. Duniway says:
In the spring of 1852 my father decided to emigrate to Oregon. My invalid mother expostulated in vain; she and nine of us children were stowed away in ox-wagons, where for six months we made our home, cooking food and washing dishes around camp-fires, sleeping at night in the wagons, and crossing many streams upon wagon-beds, rigged as ferryboats. When our weary line of march had reached the Black Hills of Wyoming my mother became a victim to the dreadful epidemic, cholera, that devastated the emigrant trains in that never-to-be-forgotten year, and after a few hours' illness her weary spirit was called to the skies. We made her a grave in the solitudes of the eternal hills, and again took up our line of march, "too sad to talk, too dumb to pray." But ten weeks after, our Willie, the baby, was buried in the sands of the Burnt River mountains. Reaching Oregon in the fall with our broken household, consisting of my father and eight motherless children, I engaged in school-eaching till the following August, when I allowed the name of "Scott" to become "Duniway." Then for twenty years I devoted myself, soul and body, to the cares, toils, loves and hopes of a conscientious wife and mother. Five sons and one daughter have been born to us, all of whom are living and at home, engaged with their parents in harmonious efforts for the enfranchisement of women.
The first woman suffrage society ever formed in Oregon, was organized in Salem, the capital of the State, in the autumn of 1870, and consisted of about a dozen members. Col. C. A. Reed was chosen president and G. W. Lawson, secretary. This little society which maintained a quiescent existence for a year or more and then disbanded without ceremony, was, in part, the basis of all subsequent work of its character in Oregon. In the winter of 1871 this society honored me with credentials to a seat in the woman suffrage convention which was to meet in San Francisco the following May. My business called me to the Golden City before the time for the convention, and a telegraphic summons com​
​pelled me to return to Oregon without meeting with the California Association in an official way, as I had hoped. But my credentials introduced me to the San Francisco leaders, among whom Emily Pitts Stevens occupied a prominent position as editor and publisher of the The Pioneer, the first woman suffrage paper that appeared on the Pacific coast. Before returning to Oregon I resolved to purchase an outfit and begin the publication of a newspaper myself, as I felt that the time had come for vigorous work in my own State, and we had no journal in which the demands of women for added rights were treated with respectful consideration.
In August, 1871, Susan B. Anthony favored Oregon and Washington territory with a visit. The fame of this veteran leader had preceded her, and she commanded a wide hearing. We traveled together over the country, visiting inland villages as well as larger towns, holding woman suffrage meetings and getting many subscribers for the New Northwest. During these journeyings I became quite thoroughly initiated into the movement and made my first efforts at public speaking. After a six weeks' campaign in Oregon, we went to Olympia, the capital of Washington territory, where the legislature was in session, and where, through a motion of Hon. Elwood Evans, we were invited to address the Assembly in advocacy of equal rights for all the people. From Olympia we proceeded to Victoria, a border city belonging to a woman's government, where we found that the idea of the ballot for woman was even more unpopular than in the United States, though all, by strange inconsistency, were intensely loyal to their queen. After an interesting and profitable experience in the British possessions we returned to Puget Sound, stopping over on our route at the different milling towns that teem with busy life upon the evergreen shores of this Mediterranean of the Pacific. At Seättle we organized an association in which many of the leading ladies and gentlemen took a prominent part; after which we returned to Olympia, where a territorial organization was effected.
Returning to Portland, we called a convention, and organized the Oregon State Woman Suffrage Association, with Harriet W. Williams, a venerated octogenarian, president. This estimable woman had been one of the earliest leaders of the woman suffrage movement in the State ​of New York, and her presence at the head of our meetings in Oregon was a source of genuine satisfaction to the friends of the cause in the new State of her adoption. Subsequently, Mrs. Williams was compelled to resign on account of increasing infirmities, but her wise counsels are still cherished by her successors, whom she regards with motherly solicitude as she serenely awaits the final summons of the unseen messenger. Many of those who early distinguished themselves in this connection deserve special mention because of their long-continued zeal in the work. If others failed us, these were always ready to work the hardest when the fight was hottest. And whatever might be our differences of opinion personally, we have always presented an unbroken phalanx to the foe. The original society at Salem having disbanded, its members joined the new State Association organized at Portland, which has ever since been regarded as the nucleus of all our activities.
In September of 1872, I visited the Oregon legislature, where I went clothed by our association with discretionary power to do what I could to secure special legislation for the women of the State, who, with few exceptions, were at that time entirely under the dominion of the old common law. The exceptions were those fortunate women who, having come to Oregon as early as 1850 and '52, had, by virtue of a United States law, known as the Oregon Donation Land Act, become possessed of "claims," as they were called, on equal shares with their husbands, their half, or halves, of the original ground being set apart as their separate property in realty and fee simple. This Donation Land Act deserves especial mention, it being the first law enacted in the United States which recognized the individual personality of a married woman. It became a temporary law of congress in 1850, mainly through the efforts of Hon. Samuel R. Thurston, delegate from Oregon territory (which at that time included the whole of Washington territory), aided by the eminent Dr. Linn of Missouri, from whom one of the principal counties of the State of Oregon derives its name.
My first experience in the capitol was particularly trying. I spent two days among my acquaintances in Salem in a vain attempt to find a woman who was ready or willing to accompany me to the State-house. All were anxious that I should go, but each was afraid to offend her husband, or make herself conspicuous, by going herself. Finally, when I had despaired of securing company, and had nerved myself to go alone, Mary P. Sawtelle, who afterwards became a physician, and now resides in San Francisco where she has a lucrative practice, volunteered to stand by me, and together we entered the dominion hitherto considered sacred to the aristocracy of sex, and took seats in the lobby, our hearts beating audibly. Hon. Joseph Engle, perceiving the innovation and knowing me personally, at once arose, and, after a complimentary speech in which he was pleased to recognize my position as a jonrnalist, moved that I be invited to a seat within the bar and provided with table and stationery as were other members of the profession. The motion carried, with only two ​or three dissenting votes; and the way was open from that time forward for women to compete with men on equal terms for all minor positions in both branches of the legislature—a privilege they have not been slow to avail themselves of, scores of them thronging the capitol in these later years, and holding valuable clerkships, many of them sneering the while at the efforts of those who opened the way for them to be there at all.
Hon. Samuel Corwin introduced a woman suffrage bill in the House of Representatives early in the session; and while it was pending, I was invited to make an appeal in its behalf, of which I remember very little, so frightened and astonished was I, except that once I inadvertently alluded to a gentleman by his name instead of his county, whereupon, being called to order, I blushed and begged pardon, but put myself at ease by informing the gentlemen that in all the bygone years while they had been studying parliamentary rules, I had been rocking the cradle.
One member who had made a vehement speech against the bill, in which he had declared that no respectable woman in his county desired the elective franchise, became particularly incensed, as was natural, upon my exhibiting a woman suffrage petition signed by the women he had misrepresented, and headed, mirabile dictu, by the name of his own wife! The so-called representative of women lost his temper, and gave vent to some inelegant expletives, for which he was promptly reprimanded by the chair. This offender has since been many times a candidate for office, but the ladies of his district have always secured his defeat. The woman suffrage bill received an unexpectedly large vote at this session, and was favored in 1874 by a still larger one, when it was ably championed by Hon. C. A. Reed, the before named ex-president of the first woman suffrage society in the State.
In 1872 the Senate, the House concurring, passed a Married Woman's Sole Trader bill, under the able leadership of Hon. J. N. Dolph, who has since distinguished himself as our champion in the Senate of the United States. This bill has ever since enabled any woman engaged in business on her own account to register the fact in the office of the county clerk, and thereby secure her tools, furniture, or stock in trade against the liability of seizure by her husband's creditors.
Perhaps I cannot better illustrate the general feeling of opposition to women having a place in public affairs at that time, than by describing the scenes in the State Temperance Alliance in February of that year, when somebody placed my name in nomination as chairman of an important committee. The presiding officer was seized with a sudden deafness when the nomination was made, and the Alliance was convulsed with merriment. Ladies on all sides buzzed about me, and urged me to resent the insult in the name of womanhood. And, as none of them were at that time public speakers, I felt obliged to rise and speak for myself.
"Mr. President," I exclaimed, "by what right do you refuse to recognize women when their names are called? Are men the only lawful members of this Alliance? And if so, is it not better for the women delegates to go home?"
"Mr. President: The committees are now full!" shouted an excited ​voter. Somebody, doubtless in ridicule, then nominated me as vice-president-at-large, which was carried amid uproarious merriment. I took my seat, half frightened and wholly indignant; and the deliberations of the sovereign voters were undisturbed for several hours thereafter by word or sign from women. At last they got to discussing a bill for a prohibitory liquor law, and the heat of debate ran high. During the excitement somebody carried a note to the presiding officer, who read it, smiled, colored, and rising, said: '" We are hearing nothing from the ladies, and yet they constitute a large majority of this Alliance. Mrs. Duniway, will you not favor us with a speech?"
I was taken wholly by surprise, but sprang to my feet and said: "Mr. President: I have always wondered what it was that consumed so much time in men's conventions. I hope gentlemen will pardon the criticism, but you talk too much, and too many of you try to talk at once. My head is aching from the roar and din of your noisy orators. Gentlemen, what does it all amount to? You are talking about prohibition, but you overestimate your political strength. Disastrous failures attend upon all your endeavors to conquer existing evils by the votes of men alone. Give women the legal power to combat intemperance, and they will soon be able to prove that they do not like drunken husbands any better than men like drunken wives. Make women free. Give them the power the ballot gives to you, and the control of their own earnings which rightfully belong to them, and every woman will be able to settle this prohibition business in her own home and on her own account. Men will not tolerate drunkenness in their wives; and women will not tolerate it in husbands unless compelled to."
A prominent clergyman arose, and said: "Mr. President: I charge the sins of the world upon the mothers of men. There are twenty thousand fallen women in New York—two millions of them in America. We cannot afford to let this element vote." Before I was aware of what I was doing I was on my feet again. Shaking my finger at the clergymen, I exclaimed: "How dare you make such charges against the mothers of men? You tell us of two millions of fallen women who, you say, would vote for drunkenness; but what say you, sir, to the twenty millions of fallen men—all voters—whose patronage alone enables fallen women to live? Would you disfranchise them, sir? I pronounce your charge a libel upon womanhood, and I know that if we were voters you would not dare to utter it."
A gentleman from Michigan—Mr. Curtis—called me to order, saying my remarks were personal. "You, sir, sat still and didn't call this man to order while he stood up and insulted all womanhood!" I exclaimed, vehemently. "Prohibition is the question before the house," said the gentleman, "and the lady should confine herself to the resolution." "That is what Iam doing, sir. I am talking about prohibition, and the only way possible to make it succeed."
The chair sustained me amid cries of "good!" "good!" but I had become too thoroughly se!f-conscious by this time to be able to say anything further, and, with a bow to the chairman whom J had before forgotten to address, I tremblingly took my seat. ​A resolution was passed, after a long and stormy debate, declaring it the duty of the legislature to empower women to vote on ail questions connected with the liquor traffic; and I, as its author, was chosen a committee to present the same for consideration at the coming legislative session. Woman suffrage gained a new impetus all over the Northwest through this victory. Everybody congratulated its advocates, and the good minister who had unwittingly caused the commotion seized the first opportunity to explain that he had always been an advocate of the cause. I was by this time so thoroughly advertised by the abuse of the press that I had no difficulty in securing large audiences in all parts of the Pacific Northwest.
I was chosen in April, 1872, as delegate to the annual meeting of the National Association, held in New York the following month. Horace Greeley received the nomination for the presidency at the Cincinnati Liberal Republican Convention while I was on the way; and when I reached New York I at first threw what influence I had in the Association in favor of the great editor. But Miss Anthony, who knew Mr. Greeley better than I did, caused me to be appointed chairman of a committee to interview the reputed statesman and officially report the result at the evening session. Miss Anthony and Mrs. Jane Graham Jones of Chicago were the other members of this committee. We obtained the desired interview, of which it only needs to be said that it became my humiliating duty to ask pardon in the evening for the speech in advocacy of the illustrious candidate which in my ignorance I had made in the morning. That Mr. Greeley owed his defeat in part to the opposition of women in that memorable campaign, I have never doubted. But he builded better than he knew in earlier years, for he planted many a tree of liberty that shall live through the ages to come, overshadowing in a measure his failure to recognize the divine right of political equality for woman in his later days.
The first annual convention of the Oregon State Association met in Portland, February 9, 1873. Many ladies and several gentlemen of more or less local prominence assisted at this convention, but we were able to prevail upon but one gentleman, Col. C. A. Reed of Salem, to occupy the platform with us. This convention received favorable notice from the respectable press of the State, and was largely attended by the best elements of the city and country. Delegates were chosen to attend the forthcoming State Temperance Alliance which held its second annual meeting February 20, and to which a dozen of us went bearing credentials. It was evident from the first that trouble was brewing. The enemy had had a whole year to prepare an ambuscade of which our party had no suspicion. A Committee on Credentials was appointed with instructions to rule the woman suffrage delegation out of the Alliance as a "disturbing element." Hon J. Quinn Thornton was chairman of that ​committee. In his report he declared all delegations to be satisfactory (including those from the penitentiary) except the women whom he styled "setting hens," "belligerent females," etc., after which he subsided with pompous gravity. All eyes were turned upon me, and I felt as I fancy a general must when the success or failure of an army in battle depends upon his word. "Mr. President," I exclaimed, as soon as I could get the floor, 'I move to so amend the report of the committee as to admit the suffrage delegation." The motion was seconded by a half-dozen voices. Then followed a scene which beggars description. It was pandemonium broken loose. When ] arose again to address the chair that worthy ordered my arrest by the sergeant-at-arms, saying: "Take that crazy woman out of the house and take care of her." The officer came forward in discharge of his duty, but he quailed before my uplifted pencil, and several gentlemen stepped into the aisle and began drawing off their coats to defend me, among them a veteran minister of the gospel. I smiled and bowed my thanks, and as nobody could hear a word amid the uproar I complacently took my seat while the officer skulked away, crestfallen. All that day and evening, and until one o'clock the next afternoon, a noisy rabble of self-styled temperance men sought to prevent bringing the question to a square and honorable vote. Major George Williams, a brave man who had lost a limb in fighting for his country, at last succeeded in wearying the chairman into a semblance of duty. The result was a triumph for the advocates of suffrage. A recess was then taken, during which my hand was so often and enthusiastically shaken that my shoulder was severely lamed. The first thing in order after resuming business was my report as Legislative Committee. I advanced to the platform amid deafening cheers and, as soon as I could make myself heard, said, in substance, that the legislature had decided that it was an insult to womanhood to grant women the right to vote on intemperance and debar them from voting on all honorable questions. I then offered a fair and unequivocal woman suffrage resolution, which was triumphantly carried. The disappointed minority seceded from the Alliance and set up a "Union" for themselves; but their confederacy did not live long, and its few followers finally returned to their alma mater and gave us no further trouble.
Woman suffrage associations were formed in several counties during the year 1874. Our strength was now much increased by the able assistance of Mrs. H. A. Loughary, who suddenly took her place in the front rank asa platform speaker. The editorial work of the New Northwest received a valuable auxiliary in June of this year in the person of Catharine A. Coburn, a lady of rare journalistic ability, who held her position five, years, when my sons, W. S., H. R. and W. C. Duniway, having completed their school duties and attained their majority, were admitted to partnership in the business. Mrs. Coburn now holds a situation on the editorial staff of the Daily Oregonian.
In the autumn of 1876 I was absent at the Centennial Exposition, whither I had gone in the summer in response to an invitation from the National Woman Suffrage Association to "Come over into Macedonia ​and help." The work for equal rights made favorable headway in the legislature of Oregon that year through the influence of a convention held at Salem under the able leadership of Mrs. H. A. Loughary and Dr. Mary A. Thompson.
In June, 1878, a convention met in Walla Walla, Washington territory, for the purpose of forming a constitution for the proposed new State of Washington, and in compliance with the invitation of many prominent women of the territory I visited the convention and was permitted to present a memorial in person, praying that the word "male" be omitted from the fundamental law of the incubating State. But my plea (like that of Abigail Adams a century before) failed of success, through a close vote however—it stood 8 to 7—and men went on as before, saying, as they did in the beginning: 'Women do not wish to vote. If they desire the ballot let them ask for it." In September of that year I was again at my post in the Oregon legislature circulating the New Northwest among the law-makers, and doing what else I could to keep the cause before them in a manner to enlist their confidence and command their respect. An opportunity was given me at this session to make an extended argument upon constitutional liberty before a joint convention of the two Houses, which occupied an hour in delivery and was accorded profound attention. I was much opposed to the growing desire of the legislature to shirk its responsibility upon the voters at large by submitting a proposed constitutional amendment to them when the constitution nowhere prohibits women from voting, and I labored to show that all we need is a declaratory act extending to us the franchise under the existing fundamental law. Dr. Mary A. Thompson followed in a brief speech and was courteously received. The Married Woman's Property bill, passed in 1874, received some necessary amendments at this session, and an act entitling women to vote upon school questions and making them eligible to school offices, was passed by a triumphant majority.
I went to Southern Oregon in 1879, and while sojourning in Jacksonville was assailed with a shower of eggs (since known in that section as "Jacksonville arguments") and was also burned in effigy on a principal street after the sun went down. Jacksonville is an old mining town, beautifully situated in the heart of the Southern Oregon mountains, and has no connection with the outside world except through the daily stagecoaches' Its would-be leading men are old miners or refugees from the bushwhacking district whence they were driven by the civil war. The taint of slavery is yet upon them and the methods of border-ruffians are their hearts' delight. It is true that there are many good people among them, but they are often over-awed by the lawless crowd whose very instincts lead them to oppose a republican form of government, But that raid of the outlaws proved a good thing for the woman suffrage movement. It aroused the better classes, and finally shamed the border ruffians by its own redaction. When I returned to Portland a perfect ovation awaited me. Hundreds of men and women who had not before allied themselves with the movement made haste to do so. The newspapers were filled with severe denunciations of the mob, and "Jackson-villains," ​as the perpetrators of the outrage were styled, grew heartily disgusted over their questionable glory.
When the legislature met in the autumn of 1880 it was decided by the Woman Suffrage Association that we could "raise the blockade" and encourage agitation in the work by consenting to an attempt to amend the State constitution. Pursuant to this decision a resolution was offered in the Senate by Hon. W. C. Fulton of Clatsop, and in the House by Hon. Lee Laughlin, which, after considerable discussion pro and con in which I was graciously invited to participate on the floor of both Houses, was passed by the requisite two-thirds majority. The result was considered a triumph for the cause. A grand ratification jubilee was held in the opera-house in honor of the event, and resolutions of thanks to the lawmakers were passed, accompanied by many expressions of faith in the legislation of the future.
In the meantime the work was going steadily on in Washington territory, my own labors being distributed about equally between the two sections of the Pacific Northwest that had formerly been united under one territorial government. In the autumn of 1881 the legislature of Washington met one afternoon in joint convention to listen to arguments from Hon. William H. White and myself, on which occasion I held the floor for nearly three hours, in the midst of an auditory that was itself an inspiration. Mr. White, a Democrat of the old school, and now (1885) holding the office of United States marshal in the territory, under commission from President Cleveland, based his plea for woman suffrage upon the enfranchisement of the colored men, urging it strongly as a means of Democratic retaliation. The suffrage bill passed in the House on the following day by a majority of two, but was defeated in the Council by a majority of two, showing that the vote would have been a tie if taken under the joint-ballot rule.
Returning to Oregon I renewed the contest, and in the autumn of 1882 we were all gratified by the passage of the pending constitutional amendment by a very nearly unanimous vote of each House. Then the Oregon campaign began in earnest. The question had assumed formidable proportions and was no longer an ignored issue. The work went on with accelerated speed, and as far as could be ascertained there was little or no opposition to it. The meetings were largely attended and affirmative speakers were ready to assist at all times, the help of this kind representing all grades of the professions, led by the best and most influential men of the State everywhere.
Another year went by, and the time for assembling the Washington territory legislature was again at hand. Immediately upon arriving at Olympia I learned that a coterie of politicians, finding open hostility no longer effectual, had combined to crush the woman suffrage bill, which had passed the House triumphantly, by lobbying a "substitute" through the Council. In pursuance of this seemingly plausible idea they talked with the ladies of Olympia and succeeded in convincing a few of them that all women, and especially all leaders of the movement, must be kept away from the capitol or the bill would certainly be defeated. Several ​women who ought to have have known better were deceived by these specious pleaders, and but for some years of experience in legislative assemblies that had brought me to comprehend the "ways that are dark and tricks that are vain," for which the average politician is "peculiar," the ruse would have succeeded. I remained at headquarters, enduring alike the open attacks of the venal press and the more covert opposition of the saloons and brothels, and, as vigilantly as I could, watched all legislative movements, taking much pains to keep the public mind excited through the columns of the Daily Oregonian and the weekly issues of the New Northwest. The bill, which had been prepared by Professor William H. Roberts, passed the House early in the session; but it tarried long in the Council, and those most interested were well-nigh worn out with work and watching before the measure reached a vote. It came up for final passage November 15, 1883, when only three or four women were present. The Council had been thoroughly canvassed before-hand and no member offered to make a speech for or against it. The deathly stillness of the chamber was broken only by the clerk's call of the names and the firm responses of the "ayes" and "noes." I kept the tally with a nervous hand, and my heart fairly stood still as the fateful moment came that gave us the majority. Then I arose and without exchanging words with any one left the state-house and rushed toward the telegraph-office, half a mile distant, my feet seeming to tread the air. Judge J. W. Range of Cheney, president of a local woman suffrage society, overtook me on the way, bound on the same errand. He spoke, and I felt as if called back to earth with a painful reminder that I was yet mortal. A few minutes more and my message was on the way to the New Northwest. It was publication-day and the paper had gone to press, but my jubilant and faithful sons opened the forms and inserted the news, and in less than half an hour the newsboys were crying the fact through the streets of Portland, making the New Northwest, which had fought the fight and led the work to the point where legislation could give a victory, the very first paper in the nation to herald the news to the world. The rejoicing in Oregon, as well as in Washington territory, was most inspiriting. A bloodless battle had been fought and won, and the enemy, asleep in carnal security, had been surrendered unawares. The women of Oregon thanked God and took courage.
After passing the Council the bill passed leisurely, and some of us feared perilously, through the various stages of clerical progress till November 22, when it received the signature of Governor William A. Newell, who used a gold pen presented him for the purpose by women whom his act made free. And when at a given signal the church bells rang in glad acclaim, and the loud boom of minute-guns reverberated from the forest clothed hills that border Puget Sound and lost itself at last in the faint echoes of the far-off hights, the scroll of the dead century unrolled before my inner vision and I beheld in spirit another scene on the further verge of the continent, when men in designing to ring the bell at Independence Hall in professed honor of the triumph of liberty, although not a woman in the land was free, had sought in vain to force the loyal metal into glad ​responses; for the old bell quivered in every nerve and broke its heart rather than tell a lie!
An immense ratification jubilee was held in the evening of the same day at the city hall in Olympia, with many distinguished speakers. Similar meetings were subsequently held in all the principal towns of the Pacific Northwest. The freed women of Washington thankfully accepted their new prerogatives. They were appointed as jurors in many localities, and have ever since performed their duties with eminent satisfaction to judges, lawyers and all clients who are seeking to obey the laws. But their jurisdiction soon became decidedly uncomfortable for the lawbreaking elements, which speedily escaped to Oregon, where, as the sequel proved, they began a secret and effective war upon the pending constitutional amendment. We all knew we had a formidable foe to fight at the ballot-box. Our own hands were tied and our own guns spiked, while our foe was armed to the teeth with ballots, backed by money and controlled by vice, bigotry and tyranny. But the leading men of the State had long been known to favor the amendment; the respectable press had become mildly, and in a few cases earnestly acquiescent; no opposition could be raised at any of our public meetings, and we felt measurably sure of a victory until near election time, when we discovered to our dismay that most of the leading politicians upon whom we had relied for aid had suddenly been seized with an alarming reticence. They ceased to attend the public meetings and in every possible way ignored the amendment, lest by openly allying themselves with it they might lose votes; and as all of them were posing in some way for office, for themselves or friends, and women had no votes with which to repay their allegiance, it was not strange that they should thus desert us.
Our Republican senator in congress, Hon. J. N. Dolph, favored the Woman Suffrage Association with an able and comprehensive letter, which was widely circulated, urging the adoption of the amendment as a measure of justice and right, and appealing to the voters to make Oregon the banner State of the great reform. Leading clergymen, especially of Portland, preached in favor of woman suffrage, prominent among them being Rev. T. L. Eliot, pastor of the Unitarian church; Chaplain R. S. Stubbs of the Church of Sea and Land, and Rev. Frederic R. Marvin of the First Congregational society. Appeals to voters were widely circulated from the pens and speeches of many able gentlemen.t Not one influential man made audible objection anywhere.
We had carefully districted and organized the State, sparing neither labor nor money in providing "Yes" tickets for all parties and all candidates and putting them everywhere in the hands of friends for use at the polls. But the polls were no sooner open than it began to appear that the battle was one of great odds. Masked batteries were opened in almost ​every precinct, and multitudes of legal voters who are rarely seen in daylight except at a general election, many of whom were refugees from Washington territory, crowded forth from their hiding-places to strike the manacled women down. They accused the earnest ladies who had dared to ask for simple justice of every crime in the social catalogue. Railroad gangs were driven to the polls like sheep and voted against us in battalions. But, in spite of all this, nearly one-third of the vote was thrown in our favor, requiring a change of only about one-fourth of the opposing vote to have given us a victory, and proving to the amazement of our enemies that the strength of our cause was already formidable. We were repulsed but not conquered. Before the smoke of the battle had cleared away we had called immense meetings and passed vigorous resolutions, thanking the lovers of liberty who had favored us with their suffrages, and pledging ourselves anew to the conflict.
We at once decided that we would never again permit the legislature to remand us to the rabble in a vain appeal for justice. We had demonstrated the impossibility of receiving a fair, impartial vote at the hands of the ignorant, lawless and unthinking multitude whose ballots outweigh all reason and overpower all sense. In pursuance of this purpose I went to the legislature of 1885 and found no difficulty in securing the aid of friendly members of both Houses who kindly championed the following bill:
That the elective franchise shall not hereafter be denied to any person in this State on account of sex.
After much parliamentary fillibustering the vote of both Houses was recorded upon this bill and stood conjointly 34 to 54. This vote, coming so soon after our defeat at the polls, is regarded as the greatest victory we have yet won. The ablest lawyers of the State and of Washington territory are preparing elaborate opinions showing the constitutionality of our present plan, and these are to be published in the form of a standard work, with appropriate references for convenient use. The movement exhibits a healthy, steady and encouraging growth, and is much accelerated by its success in Washington territory.
On the Fourth of July of this year a grand celebration was held at Vancouver, on Washington soil, the women of Oregon having resolved in large numbers that they would never again unite in celebrating men's independence-day in a State where they are denied their liberty. The celebration was a success from first to last. Boys and girls in equal numbers rode in the liberty-car and represented the age of the government. The military post at Vancouver joined heartily in the festivities, headed by the gallant soldier, General Nelson A. Miles, commander-in-chief of the department of the Columbia. The fine Fourteenth Infantry Band furnished the instrumental music, and a local choir rendered spirited choruses. The New Declaration of Independence was read by Josie De Vore Johnson, the oration was delivered by Mattie A. Bridge, and Louise ​Lester, the famous prima donna, electrified the delighted crowd by her triumphant rendition of the "Star-Spangled Banner." The exercises closed with the announcement by the writer, who had. officiated as president of the day, that the Executive Committee of the Oregon Woman Suffrage Association had, during the noon recess, adopted the following resolutions:
Resolved, That we thank the citizens of Clarke county, and especially of Vancouver, for their hospitality and kindness, so graciously bestowed upon their less fortunate Oregon neighbors, who have not yet achieved their full independence, and we shall ever cherish their fraternal recognition in grateful remembrance.
Resolved, That while we deplore the injustice that still deprives the women of Oregon of the liberty to exercise their right to the elective franchise, we rejoice in the record the women of Washington are making as citizens, as voters and as jurors. We congratulate them upon their newly-acquired liberties, and especially upon the intelligent and conscientious manner in which they are discharging the important public duties that in no wise interfere with their home affairs. And we are further
The resolutions evoked cheers that waked the echoes, and the celebration, reported by the Oregon press, contributed largely to the growth of the equal-rights sentiment among the people of the State. Two stanzas of a spirited poem are subjoined, written for the Woman Suffrage Association just after our defeat at the polls, by a young man from Southern Oregon who has withheld his own name but included the names of all the counties in his glorious prophecy:
Mrs. Mary Olney Brown gives an amusing account of her attempts to vote in Washington territory. The incidents related occurred several years before the passage of the act specifically enfranchising women. She says:
In the autumn of 1868, Dr. Smith wrote several articles on the right of women to the ballot, as did also Mr. Eldridge. The latter asserted that it was the intention of the law to give the women of the territory the right to vote; that being a member of the legislature he had purposely stated in his remarks, that if the bill passed in that form, it would give the women the right to vote; and a member from his seat cried out, "That is what we want!" Mr. Eldridge urged the women to go out to the polis and vote. These articles were published in the Olympia Transcript, the Republican paper, J. N. Gale, one of the editors, being an advocate of suffrage. Still not a woman made a move. Many wished to vote; they knew it was the only way to secure their rights, and yet they had not the courage to go to the polls in defiance of custom.
Seeing this to be the case, and knowing that if anything was done some one must take the initiative, I determined to cast aside my timidity and set the ball rolling. Accordingly, several weeks before the election of 1869 I gave out word that I was going to the polls to vote. I had the previous year removed with my family from Olympia, and was living on White River in King county. The announcement that I would attend the election caused a great commotion in White River precinct. A fearful hue and cry was raised. The news reached Olympia and Seattle, and some of the papers deprecated the idea that "a woman should unsex herself by dabbling in the filthy pool of politics." But I was fully committed. The law had been on our statute books for nearly three years. If it was intended for our benefit, it was time we were availing ourselves of it. So, nothing daunted, I determined to repair to the polling place, the district school-house, accompanied by my husband, my daughter (Mrs. Axtell) and her husband—a little band of four—looked upon with pity and contempt for what was called our "fanaticism."
For several days before the election the excitement in the neighborhood and other settlements along the river was intense. Many gentlemen called on me and tried to persuade me to stay at home and save myself from insult. I thanked them for their kindness, and told them [ fully ​appreciated their good intentions, but that I had associated with men all my life, and had always been treated as a lady; that the men I should meet at the polls were the same that I met in church and social gatherings, and I knew they would treat me with respect. Then they begged my husband not to allow me to go; but he told them his wife had as good a right to vote as he had; and that no citizen can legally deprive another of the right to vote.
On the morning of the election, just before we reached the schoolhouse, a man met us and said, "Mr. Brown, look here now! If Mrs. Brown goes up to vote she will be insulted! If I was in your place I wouldn't let her go any farther. She had better go back." My husband answered, "Mr. Brannan, my wife has as good a right to vote as I have, and I would not prevent her if I could. She has a mind of her own and will do as she thinks best, and I shall stand by her and see that she is well treated! Besides [speaking with emphasis], she will not be insulted either!" "Well," said the man, "if she was my wife she shouldn't go! She'll be sure to be insulted!" I looked him full in the face, and said with decision, '" Mr. Brannan, a gentleman will be a gentleman under all circumstances, and will always treat a lady with respect." I said this because I knew the man, and knew that if anyone offered any annoyance, it would be he, and so it proved.
As we drove up to the school-house and alighted, a man in an angry voice snapped out, "Well! if the women are coming to vote, I'm going home!' But he did not go; he had too much curiosity; he wanted to see the fun. He stayed and was converted. After watching the sovereign "white male citizen" perform the laborious task of depositing his vote in the ballot-box, I thought if I braced myself up I might be equal to the task. So, summoning all my strength, I walked up to the desk behind which sat the august officers of election, and presented my vote. When behold! [was pompously met with the assertion, "You are not an American citizen; hence not entitled to vote." The great unabridged dictionary of Noah Webster was opened, and the definition of the word citizen read tome. They all looked to see me vanquished; they thought I would have to retreat before such an overwhelming array of sagacity. The countenances of the judges wore a pleased expression that they had hit on so easy an expedient to put me hors du combat, while the crowd looked astonished that I did not sink out of sight. Waiting a moment, I said, "The definition is correct. A citizen of the United States, is a person owing allegiance to the government; but then all persons are not men; and the definition of "citizeness" is a female citizen. I claim to be an American citizen, and a native-born citizen at that; and I wish to show you from the fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States, that women are not only citizens having the constitutional right to vote, but also that our territorial election law gives women the privilege of exercising that right."
When I commenced speaking, all the men, with the exception of two —the one who had urged my husband not to let me go to the schoolhouse, and a low, degraded fellow, who had a squaw for a wife—came and ​ranged themselves around me and the judges before whom I stood, and listened attentively. It was a new subject to them. They had heard of woman suffrage, but only in ridicule. Now it was being presented to them in a very different light. As I proceeded there was a death-like stillness, so intent were they to catch every word. Even the man who had declared he would go home if the women were going to vote, was among the most interested of the listeners. There was but one interruption; the two men, of whom I have spoken, to make good their assertion that I would be insulted, got behind a desk in the far corner of the room, and began talking and laughing very loudly; but they were promptly called to order. Silence being restored, I went on to show them that the original constitution recognized women as citizens, and that the word citizen includes both sexes, as is proved by the phrases, "male citizen," and "female citizen"; that women from the beginning had been unjustly deprived of the exercise of their constitutional rights; that they had for years been petitioning those in power to restore them to their political freedom, when the emancipation of the Southern slaves threw upon the country a class of people, who, like the women of the nation, owed allegiance to the government, but whose citizenship was not recognized. To settle this question, the fourteenth amendment was adopted. Its first section declares emphatically who are citizens, and guarantees to them the exercise of all their natural rights under the equal protection of the law. (Here I read to them the section.) No distinction is made in regard to sex; the word "person" being used, which includes both men and women.
"And now, honorable gentlemen," I said, in conclusion, "I am a 'person,' declared by the fourteenth amendment to be a citizen, and still further, I am a native-born citizen of the same race and color of these gentlemen by whom I am surrounded, and whose votes you do not hesitate to receive; and, had our territorial law failed to give me the right to vote, this amendment would protect me in the exercise of it. I again offer my vote, and hope you will not refuse it." No hand was extended to receive it; but one of the judges threw himself back in his seat, and with great dignity of manner and an immense display of ignorance, exclaimed, "Women have no right to vote; and the laws of congress don't extend over Washington territory." This was too much for even the strongest opponents. On every side was heard, "Oh, Mr. Alvord! why, yes, they do!' "Mr. Alvord, you are mistaken, the laws of congress do extend over our territory "; and some tried to explain to him that the territory belonged to the United States and was under the jurisdiction of the national government, and that of course the laws of congress extended over it. But still more pompously, he again declared, "It is no such thing, the laws of congress don't extend over Washington territory." A look of disgust and shame was depicted on nearly every countenance, and the cause of woman suffrage had advanced perceptibly in the minds of the audience.
Another of the judges arose, and said, he had never thought much on the subject. He had no doubt but Mrs. Brown was right, women were ​citizens and had the right to vote; but as the courts had not instructed the election officers to take the votes of women, and as the precinct was a small one, he was afraid their whole vote would be thrown out if they received the women's ballots. So, although he should like to see the women have their rights, he should have to refuse Mrs. Brown's vote. Here an Irishman called out, "It would be more sensible to let an intelligent white woman vote than an ignorant nigger." Cries of "Good for you, Pat! good for you, Pat!" indicated the impression that had been made. My daughter now went up and offered her vote, which was, of course, rejected.
My going to the polls was noised abroad, and set men as well as women thinking. They examined the law for themselves, and found that women had a right to vote, so that before the next election many were prepared to act. In May, 1870, I published an appeal to the women of the territory, quoting to them the law, and urging them to avail themselves of its provisions by going to the polls and voting. My sister, Charlotte Olney French, living in Grand Mound precinct, some twenty-five miles from Olympia, began talking the matter up; and, being a woman of energy and influence, she soon had the whole neighborhood interested. With the assistance of an old lady, Mrs. Peck, she planned a regular campaign. By the programme the women were to get up a picnic dinner at the schoolhouse where the election was to be held, and directly after, while the officers of election were in good humor (wives will understand the philosophy of this), they were to present their votes. My sister, being a good talker and well informed on all the constitutional, judicial and social phases of the question as well as a good judge of human nature, was able to meet and parry every objection, and give information where needed, so that by the time dinner was over, the judges, as well as everybody else, were in the best of spirits. When the voting was resumed, the women (my sister being the first) handed in their ballots as if they had always been accustomed to voting, and everything passed off pleasantly. One lady, Mrs. Sargent, seventy-two years old, said she thanked the Lord that He had let her live until she could vote. She had often prayed to see the day, and now she was proud to cast her first ballot. It had been talked of for some days before the election in the adjoining precinct Black River that Mrs. French was organizing a party of women to attend the election in Grand Mound precinct; but they were not sure the judges would let them vote. "If they do," said they, "if the Grand Mound women vote, the Black River women shall!" So they stationed a man on a fleet horse, at the Grand Mound polls, with instructions to start as soon as the women began to vote, and ride with all haste back to their precinct and let them know. The moment the man rode in sight of the school-house he swung his hat, and screeched at the top of his voice, "They're voting! They're voting!" The teams were all ready in anticipation of the news, and were instantly flying in every direction, and soon the women were ushered into the school-house, their choice of tickets furnished them, and all allowed to vote as "American citizens." While the women of these two precincts were enjoying the exercise of ​their political rights, the women of Olympia were suffering the vexation of disappointment. I had been stopping there for some weeks previous to the election, trying to induce the women to go to the polls, and also to convince the men that women had a legal right to vote, and that their right must be respected. The day before election the judges were interviewed as to whether they would take the votes of the women. They replied, "Yes; we shall be obliged to take them. The law gives them the right to vote, and we can not refuse." This decision was heralded all over the city, and women felt as if their millennium had come. Tomorrow, for the first time, their voice would be heard in the government through the ballot. All day long women met each other, and asked: "Are you going to the election to-morrow?" Groups gathered in parlors and discussed the matter, and everything seemed auspicious.
But how true the saying: "There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip!' Before nine o'clock the next morning, the word had been communicated all over town that "the women need not come out to the polls as the judges would not take their votes." They would give no reason why, but said "they had decided not to take the votes of the women." About a dozen of us gathered together to consult what was best to be done; finding most of them inclined to back out, I urged the necessity of our making an effort; that whether the judges took our votes or not, it was not best to give it up as the rest had done; if we did, it would be harder to make an effort next time; that I had been to the polls once and had my vote refused, and could be refused again; at any rate, I had the right to vote, and I should go and offer it if I had to go alone. Three of the number said they would go with me—Mrs. Patterson, Mrs. Wiley and Mrs. Dofflemyer; these, with Mr. Patterson, my husband and myself made our party. As we reached the court-house where the election was held, Mr. Dofflemyer met us and took his wife home, she meekly submitting.
Just before us a cart rattled up bearing a male citizen, who was too drunk to know what he was doing, or even to do anything. He was lying on his back in the cart, with feet and hands up, hurrahing at the top of his voice. This disgusting, drunken idiot was picked up out of the cart by two men, who put a ticket into his hand, carried him to the window (he was too drunk to stand), shoved him: up and raised his arm into the aperture; his vote received, he was tumbled back into the cart.
I then stepped up and offered my vote, and was answered with, "We have decided not to take the votes of the women!" "On what grounds do you refuse?" I asked. No answer. "Do you refuse it on legal grounds?" Still no answer. I then said, "Under the election law of this territory, setting aside my constitutional right as a citizen of the United States, I have the right to vote at this election. Have you the election law by you?" "No, we have not got it here," they said. I knew they had, but did not dispute their word. "Very well," I said, "I can quote it for you." I did so, and then said, "Under this territorial law I claim my right, and again I offer you my vote as an American citizen. If you doubt my citizenship, I will insist on taking the oath. Will you receive it?" The answer was, "No; we have decided not to take women's votes, and we
50 ​cannot take yours." "Then," said I, "it amounts to this: the law gives women the right to vote in this territory, and you three men who have been appointed to receive our votes, sit here and arbitrarily refuse to take them, giving no reason why, only that you have decided not to take the women's votes. There is no law to sustain you in this usurpation of power. We can claim legal redress. Are you willing to stand a legal prosecution?" "Yes," was the response of each one separately. It was now plain to see why the votes of the women were refused; the judges had been hired to do the dirty work, and money pledged in case of prosecution. They were men in moderate circumstances and could not have stood the cost of a suit individually. The ready assent they gave showed such a contingency had been thought of and provided against by the opponents of woman suffrage. The other two women then offered their votes, which were also refused.
In the autumn of 1871 Susan B. Anthony came to Olympia and attended the first woman suffrage convention ever held here. Our legislature was in session, and a joint hearing before the two Houses was extended to her. Her statesman-like argument clearly proved the right of our women to vote under both the national constitution and the territorial law. After Miss Anthony left, there arose a rumor that the election law was to be repealed, and a committee of women attended every session, determined if possible to prevent it. They were at the capitol the last day, prepared to stay until the adjournment; they were urged to go home, but would not unless a solemn promise was made them that the law should in no way be tampered with. This the members refused to do, until a bright idea struck one of them, which was that they need not disturb the law, but could make it inoperative by enacting another statute. This being whispered among the members, the promise was given, and the women retired. Immediately after, the following act was passed by both Houses, approved and signed by the governor:
Section I. That hereafter no female shall have the right of ballot, or vote at any poll or election precinct in this territory until the Congress of the United States of America shall, by direct legislation, declare the same to be the supreme law of the land.
Sec. 2. This act to take effect from and after its passage.
Approved November 29, 1871.Edward S. Solomon, Governor.
When the proclamation to hold a convention to forma constitution preparatory to our admission into the Union as a State, was issued, I recommended to the Territorial Woman Suffrage Association that we make every effort to secure to the convention as many delegates as possible in favor of woman suffrage, and then that we circulate petitions asking them to leave out the word "male" from the constitution. Failing to get the society to take any associated action, I went to work individually, wrote and sent out petitions into every town and country place where there was a post-office, asking that the word "male" be left out of the constitution. With each petition I sent a letter to the person whose name I had procured from the postmaster of the place, stating the object, urging a thorough circulation, and directing its return at a given date to ​Mary Olney Brown, President of the Washington Territorial Woman Suffrage Association; thus giving the credit of the work to the Society.
I could not get a member of our Association to circulate the petition in Olympia, so every day that I could get away from home I took my petition in hand and canvassed for signatures. If I went shopping or on an errand I took it with me, and in that way I procured over 300 names. My experience had taught me that the principal opposition to woman's voting came from ignorance as to her true position under the government. She had come to be looked upon almost as a foreign element in our nation, having no lot nor part with the male citizen, and I felt that it was necessary to disabuse the minds of the people generally, and the delegates to the convention particularly, of this notion. I therefore wrote five articles on the "Equality of Citizenship," which Mrs. Duniway kindly published in the New Northwest. The Olympia Courier also printed them, and placed the paper on file in the city reading-room; and when I met a man who had not made up his mind on the subject I recommended him to the reading-room, and several after perusing the articles were converted and signed the petition.
On the assembling of the legislature Mrs. A. H. H. Stuart and myself watched a favorable opportunity to present an equal rights bill. We let them talk up the matter pretty well over a petition signed by fifty women of one of the upper counties, when one day Mrs. Stuart came to me and said: '" Now, Mrs. Brown, write out your bill; the speaker of the House sent me word they were ready for it." I sat down and framed a bill to the best of my ability, which was duly presented and respectfully debated. Mrs. Duniway came from Portland to urge its passage, and the day before it came to a vote both Houses adjourned and invited her to speak in the hall of representatives. She made one of her best speeches. The members of both Houses were present, besides a large audience from the city. The next day the House passed the bill by two majority, and on the day following it was lost in the Council by two majority. In the House the vote stood, ayes, 13; nays, 11. In the Council, ayes, 5; nays, 7.
As Mrs. Brown wrote the above in 1881, the promise in the closing sentence was really quite prophetic, since the legislature of 1883 passed a law enfranchising the women of the territory Mrs. Duniway concludes her account with a brief reference to the work in neighboring territories:
* ↑ Hon. H. L. Yesler, the city's founder and mayor; Mrs. Yesler, Rev. John F. Damon, Mrs. Mary Olney Brown, Rev. Daniel Bagley and others.
* ↑ Its leaders being Mrs. Abbie H. H. Stuart, Mrs. P. C. Hale, Hon. Marshall Blinn, Hon. Elwood Evans, and Mr. J. M. Murphy, editor of the Washington Standard.
* ↑ Mr. D. W. Williams, Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Shanahan, Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Gibson, Rev. T. L. Eliot, Mr. B. C. Duniway, Dr. Mary A. Thompson, Rev. Isaac Dillon and Hon. and Mrs. G. W. Brown.
* ↑ Addresses were made in advocacy of the cause by Col. Reed, Mrs. J. Devore Johnson, Miss V. M. Olds, Rev. T. L. Eliot, Mrs. C. A. Coburn, Mrs. Beatty (colored), and the writer. The celebrated McGibeney family furnished the music, and the Portland press gave favorable reports of the proceedings. Valuable aid was also contributed by Mr. and Mrs. D. H. Hendee, Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Peters, and Mrs. M. J. Foster.
* ↑ Governor Newell, Judge Orange Jacobs, Judge B. F. Dennison, Mrs. Pamela Hale, Hon. Philip D. Moore, Mr. W. S. Duniway, Captain William H. Smallwood, the writer, and a large number of the members of the legislature.
* ↑ The official vote of the State was 11,223 for the amendment, and 28,176 against.
* ↑ Be it enacted by the Legislature of the Territory of Washington: Section 1. All female citizens of the age of twenty-one years shall be entitled to vote at all elections in the territory, subject only to such regulations as male citizens.   Sec. 2. Any officer of election who shall refuse to take the vote of a woman citizen (otherwise qualified to vote), shall be liable to a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500.   Sec. 3. All laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed.   Sec.4. This act to be in force on and after its passage.
* ↑ The bill was introduced in the Washington House by Representative Coply, and was supported in speeches by Messrs. Coply, Besserer, Miles, Clark and Stitzel, while Messrs. Landrum and Kincaid spoke against it. The vote was: Ayes—Besserer, Brooks, Clark, Coply, Foster, Goodell, Hungate, Kuhn, Lloyd, Martin, Miles, Shaw, Stitzel and Speaker Ferguson-14. Noes-Barlow, Brining, Landrum, Ping, Kincaid, Shoudy and Young—7. Absent—Blackwell, Turpin and Warner—3. The bill was favorably reported in the Council, November 15, by Chairman Burk of the Judiciary Committee. No one offered to speak on it. The vote stood: Ayes—Burk, Edmiston, Hale, Harper, Kerr, Power and Smith—7. Noes—Caton, Collins, Houghton, Whitehouse and President Truax—5. Governor W. A. Newell approved the bill November 22, 1883.