Essex County Suffrage 1890s
by Sandra Weber

Interest in Woman Suffrage Heightens in 1893
 
Three developments set the stage for the establishment of woman suffrage clubs in Essex County around 1893:

• As of 1892, women in NYS could vote on school commissions. Thus, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) became interested in joining the suffrage cause in the state.
• The 1893 Columbian Exposition (World’s Fair) in Chicago was the first to have a Woman’s Building, a board of Lady Managers, and an expansive Women’s Congress (series of lectures). Women’s dormitories and a children’s house were available to accommodate women visitors.
• In 1893, women in NYS began a vigorous campaign to remove “male” from state voting statutes. The issue was addressed at an 1894 Constitutional Convention (but the appeal failed).

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:

• Mrs. J. Milton Delano, President
• (unreadable), Vice-President
• Mrs. Harriet A. Treadway, Corresponding Secretary
• Mrs. M. H. Cook, Recording Secretary
• Mrs. E. A. Crammond, Treasurer

 
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:

• Mrs. Henrietta M. Banker of Keene Valley, President
• Mrs. Arthur M. Delano, Ticonderoga, Vice-President at Large
• Miss Hannah Handon, Bloomingdale, Corresponding Secretary
• Mrs. M. H. Cook, Ticonderoga, Recording Secretary
• Mrs. Amanda Stoers, Upper Jay, Treasurer

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