New-York tribune., 1906-03-18
MISS ANTHONY'S HOME.
Famous Woman Sufrdgist Vas
U1ithOut One Until SeUeRty-One.

Without One Until SeUenty-Or,e.
At the age of seventy-one Miss Susan B. An
thony. who died last Monday at her homo In
Rochester. made the following entries In her
diary:
"Our dear old friends Sarah Willis and Mary
Hallowell shared our first Sunday dinner with
US Our old Abolition friends, Giles B.
and Catharine F. Stebbins and three or four
others took tea with US tonight. My
old friend Adeline Thomson has to stay
several weeks with us. How nice to have my
own home to entertain my friends. Anna Shaw
and niece, Lucy came to-day, and we had five
others to dinner. very pleasant thing to be
able to ask people to stop and dine.
Brother D. r., Sister Anna and niece. Maud,
came to-day for week. 1t is so good to receive
them in our own home. D. r. enjoys the fire
the hearth. Had Maria Porter, Mr.. and
Mrs Greenleaf and eleven together TO tea this
evening. How do enjoy It! Who came
this day? o yes. Mrs. Lydia Avery Coonley, Of
Chicago; her son and her mother. 1t makes me
so happy to return some of the courteses 1
have had IN their beautiful home. Just
before noon Mrs. Greeneaf popped into the
woodshe6 with a great sixteen-quart pail full Of
pound balls of the most delicious butter, and
made her stay to dinner. The girl was wash
ing. and I got tho dinner alone-broiled steak
potatoes, sweet corn. tomatoes and peach pud-
ding with a cup OF tea. All said it good,
and l enjoyed It hugely. How love to receive
in my own home and at my own table,"
For forty years this woman had been travel
ling up and down the face Of the earth, like the
wandering dove. with no place to rest the sole
of her foot. and there IS something pathetic
in her joy over this home which had come to
her after the conclusion of the allotted span of
mans life.
In one sense the home was not new one. 1t
was the old Anthony homestead, and had always
been Miss Anthonys home when she had time to
stay ir it. But this was seldom that after
their mothers death Miss Mary Anthony rented
the lower half and lived upstairs boarding with
ner tenants But when Miss Anthony was
sevonty-one her friends thought # time for her
to give up her long journeys from one end Of the
continent to the other and to direct the work
rather than try to do so much herself The
veteran suffragist felt as vigorous as ever but
she had long wished for the comforts and con-
veniences Of her own home and, now that so
many new workers had arisen and the advO-
cacy Of the cause was attended with less diff
Guilty than IN former years, she thought she
might rest upon her oars a little
So an army Of carpenters, painters and paper
hangers was turned into the house under the
direction Of Miss Mary. The Political Equity
Club. Of Rochester undertook the furnishing
and lifts and congratulations came from far and
near. on her return from an Eastern trip Miss
Anthony found everything in readiness and in
vitationS out for a brilliant hOusewarming, which
took place that evening
NO bride ever enjoyed her first experiment at
housekeeping more than Miss Anthony enjoyed
this old home made new" says her bographer
Mrs Ida Hustled Harper. She loved every
nook and corner Of IT, and wandered lovingly
from room to room, putting finishing touches
here and there and revelling in the sense Of nos
session. Her hospitable instincts, which for
forty years she had been unable to crafty as
serted themselves with all the strength that
comes from long repression, and she fairly lost
her head. She wanted to entertain everybody all
at once. and Miss Mary, who was housekeeper
quite overwhelmed.
Yet all her JOY in her home did not suf
fee to keep her in it. She was ConsraD+I,y ,at-o
coaxed away in the interests OF the "cause and
Miss Mary had to keep a sharp lookout 10 see
that all the friends Of the family didn't disap-
pear in the way. Yet great as was h..
delight in entertaining, she was once known ~
invite number Of people 10 tea and then forget
With Miss Anthony, It is clear. housekeenIps
and public work were clearly irreconcilable. She
recognized thls Tact early In her career, and
deliberately sacrificed the things that she cared
much for any other woman does for tLa
sake Of things that she cared for more In
those early days OF an unpopular Causa sbo
bitterly grudged the time and strength that
some Of the strongest advocates were obIjeed -
give to household cares, and It was with regrets
and not congratulations that she greeted tho
marriage Of Lucy Stone and Antoinette Brown
Grieving over the fact that her married sisters
never had time to write TO her, she wrote:
But il is; every wife and mother r,ve+
devote herself wholly to home duties yyaebfrcr
cleaning, baking mending-these are the must |
beS' the culture or the soul, the enlargement of
the faculties the thought Of anything or any
body beyond the home and family are NAV hes
When society IS rightly organized. the wife and |
mother will have time, wish and will to ero,I, |
intellectually, and will know that the limits Of |
her sphere, the extent Of her duties. nre pre-
scribed only by the measure Of her ability -
On another occasion she wrote: oh this
Babylon, What a constant. never ending ALL
consuming strain! We should never ask anv-
thing else Of the woman who has to endure II y"
Yet so great was her spirit Of self-sacri1ce
mat IN this same letter she offered to take care
Of Elizabeth Cady Stanton's seven children while
she made three months trip abroad.
Perhaps the right man might have induced her
TO attempt what she considered to be the impos-
sible, but her biOgrapher. Mrs. Harper saws that
she believes Miss Anthony never met such a
man. though there are many references in her
letters 70 offers OF maria ge. and during her
school teaching days the various neighborhoods
IN which she was located were in constant fear