American reformer; born in South Adams, Mass., Feb. 15, 1820.
She was of
Quaker parent-age, and received her education at a Friends' school in
Philadelphia.
From 1835 to 1850 she taught school in New York.
In 1847 she began her efforts in behalf of the temperance movement, making speeches and organizing societies; in 1852 she assisted in organizing the Woman's New York State Temperance Society.
In 1854-55 she held conventions in each county in New York in behalf of female suffrage.
She was a leader in the anti-slavery movement, and one of the earliest advocates of the coeducation of women.
Greatly through her influence, the New York legislature, in 1860, passed the act giving married women the possession of their earnings, and the guardianship of their children.
In 1868, with
Mrs. E. C. Stanton and
Parker Pillsbury, she began the publication of the
Revolutionist, a paper devoted to the emancipation of women.
In 1872 she cast test ballots at the
State and congressional elections in Rechester, N. Y., and was indicted and fined for illegal voting, but the fine was never exacted.
She attended, as a delegate, the International Council of Women, in
London, in 1899.
In 1900 her birthday was celebrated by a popular demonstration in
Washington.
D. C., and she retired from the presidency of the
National American Woman Suffrage association, which she had held for several years.
