Interest in Woman Suffrage Heightens in 1893
Three developments set the stage for the establishment of woman suffrage clubs in Essex County around 1893:
Mrs. Henrietta Banker, Treasurer of the NYS Woman Suffrage Association, began organizing a suffrage club in Keene Valley in 1893. She also served as representative for the twenty-first district on the Constitutional Convention Campaign Committee. Banker was a close friend of Susan B. Anthony and helped finance marble portrait busts of Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott for display at the 1893 Columbian Exposition. The women of Essex County established a special committee for the 1893 Columbian Exposition. The members were: Mrs. F. S. Witherbee, Port Henry Miss Alice Lee, Westport Miss Marcia Hale, Elizabethtown Miss Hermine Hammond, Crown Point Mrs. A. J. B. Ross, Essex Mrs. Albion Wadhams, Wadhams Mills Mrs. Clayton H. Delano, Ticonderoga Mrs. G. W. Smith, Jay |
Essex County Suffrage and Political Equality Clubs Form in 1897 The Ticonderoga Sentinel of May 20, 1897, reported that a meeting was held in Ticonderoga to establish a “a local Political Equality Club of Ticonderoga, and a club for Essex County women.” Mrs. Joseph Cook presided and “added much to the impulse of the meeting.” She shared a tidbit about Mr. Cook, well-known for his belief in the cause of woman --- his favorite suffrage motto was one he saw in the Tremont Temple in Boston: “No sex, no shirks, no simpletons in suffrage.” In addition to Mrs. Cook, the speakers at the meeting were Miss Harriette A. Keyser, organizer of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association; Mrs. Henrietta M. Banker, organizer of the thriving suffrage group in Keene Valley; and Mrs. Lucy Ellsworth of Montvale, NY. Elected Officers for the Ticonderoga Club:
To serve as part of the Executive Committee: Mrs. Mary Shattuck, Mrs. G. Cook, Mrs. D. Webster Members: Mrs. Joseph Cook, Mrs. J. Milton Delano, Mrs. Mary Shattuck, Mrs. D. Hay Covell, Mrs. Harriet A. Treadway, Mrs. E. A. Crammond, Mrs. G. Cook, Mrs. Thomas Delano, Mrs. Ada Delano, Mrs. M. H. Cook, Mrs. D. Webster At the Ticonderoga meeting, the women also decided to establish an Essex County Club and officers were elected. Elected Officers for Essex County Suffrage Club:
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