Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1868-12-18
Anna 3. Dickinson.

The following Ineidehis "a the life Of
this noble, brave, sslf-sacriacing giCls
are h0na a bioeraphTcAI sketch in the
recent publication entitled "Eminent
Women Of the asel"
En April, 1851, she entered the United
States Mint, to labor from seven O'Clock
in the morning TO SIX o'clock at night,
{ for tWenty-eight dollars per month.
She sat on a stool all those long hours
lin a close impure atmosphere-the
windows and doors being siWays
closed In the adjoining room, as the
/ least breatE Of air would vary the
scales.
She soon became very skfiIful in her
new business, done twice the amount of
work Of most other girls. She was the
fastest adjusteF in the Mint but she
could not endure the confinement, and
soon changed 70 the coming room. After
I the days work was done, she would
/ 20 to ths hospitals to write letters for
/ the sick soldiers, to read to them, and
to talk over the incidents Of The war.
I Many things couspired to make her sit
/ uatiOn in the Mint undesirable.
The character and conversation OF
| the inmates were disagreeable to her /;
while, her opinions on slavery and Uo-
mans rights being known, she was
| treated with reserve aud suspicion in
retarH.
In November, she made a speech in
Westehester, which increased this feel
ingtowards her, and eliminated in her
discharge from the Mint in the Christ
mas holidays.
This meeting was held j6st after the
battle of Balls Bluff. In summing up
the record CT this battle, AFTER e&oner-
ating Stone and Baker, she said, "His-
tory viii record that this battle was
lost, not through ignorance and incom-
pefence, but through the treason of the
Commanding General, George B. Nc
Lellau, and time win yindicate the
truth Of my assertion"
She was hissed all over the house,
though some cried: "GO on, - "Go on"
She repeated this startling assertion
three times, and each time was hissed.
Years after, when Mcclellan was run
ming against Lincoln in 1864, when she
had achieved II worldwide reputation,
she was sent by the Republican Com
mittee Of Pennsylvania, TO speak in
this same place, TO the people IL the
same hall
In again summing the incidents Of
the war, when she came to Balls Bluff,
she said say now, as said three
years ago-histery will record that
this battle was lost, not through ignor-
ance or ineompetence-bu through
the treason of the Commanding Gen
eral, George B. Mcclellan And
time has Yindicated your assertion
was shouted all over the house.
It was this speech, made in 1861,
that cost her her place in the Mint.
Ex-Governor Pollock dismissed her,
and he owned that his reason was the
Westehester speech, for at that time,
Mcclellan was the Idol of the na-
tion." Lu
Her first lecture in Boston, was the
the greatest trial she ever experienced.
Her veneration for the character of a
Boston audience, almost overmatehed
her courage and confidence IN her
ability to sustain herself in such an
ordeal. Her friends also, had imag-
iniugs, aud feared a failure, as they
had noticed that she could neither
sleep nor eat for forty eight hours
previous to the lecture. Some were
so confident that she would fail to
meet the expectations of the immense
audience, that they refused to sit on
the platform htr
Mr.. Garrison opened the meeting
He read chapter in the Bible, and
consumed some time in remarks to
make the best of the dilema. Anna,
waited behind him to be presented, -
in an agony of suspense, she serng-
gled to conceal. At last she was in
troduced, and began in some broken,
hesitating sentences but gradually
becoming absorbed in her subject,
she forgot herself and her surround
ings, and so completely held the atten-
ton and interest of the audience for
over an hour, that the fears of her
friends were turned into rejoicings,
anticipations of the few were more
than realized, and her own long, anx-
ious hours of prayers were forgotten
in the proud triumph of that day.
At the close, she was overpowered
with thanks, praises, and salutations Of
love and gratitude.