Essex County Suffrage Activities in 1914-1915 In 1914, Mrs. Katherine Notman began organizing suffrage campaigns in Essex County and local sentiment in favor of the suffrage movement grew rapidly. In mid-July, Mrs. Notman spoke at the Methodist Church in Elizabethtown, then other suffragists spoke from the steps of the drugstore in the center of the village. People gathered about in the street to listen to the speakers, particularly Miss Taylor, who was summering in Keene Valley. Miss Elsie Vandergrift, a famous suffragist from Colorado, toured Essex County on behalf of Woman Suffrage in August. She was scheduled to speak in Keene, August 5; Ticonderoga, Aug. 6; Westport, Aug. 7; Elizabethtown, Aug. 8; Schroon Lake, Aug. 9; Keeseville, Aug. 10; Lake Placid, Aug. 11; Essex, Aug. 12; Ausable Forks, Aug. 13, Port Henry, Aug. 14; and Saranac Lake, Aug. 15. Quite a schedule! |
Despite the efforts of suffrage workers, the voters of NYS failed to pass woman suffrage in 1915. Essex County voted AGAINST suffrage, 2852 to 3433. Yet the suffragists of Essex County continued their campaign in 1916.
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