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HISTORICAL 50CIETY MONTGOMERY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA JVONR/Stovm BULLETIN jo/^t/te. HISTORICAL 50CIETY MONTGOMERY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA JVONR/STOVm PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY AT IT5 ROOM5 18 EAST PENN STREET NORRI5TOWN.PA. APRIL, 1948 VOLUME VI NUMBER 2 PRICE ONE DOLLAR Historical Society of Montgomery County OFFICERS Kieke Bryan, Esq., President S. Cameron Corson, First Vice-President George K. Brecht, Esq., Second Vice-President Foster G. Hillegass, Third Vice-President Eva G. Davis, Recording Secretary Helen E. Richards, Corresponding Secretary Mrs. LeRoy Burris, Financial Secretary Lyman a. Kratz, Treasurer Rudolf P. Hommel, Librarian TRUSTEES Kirke Bryan, Esq. Mrs. H. H. Francine H. H. Ganser David E. Groshens, Esq. Nancy P. Highley Foster C. Hillegass Mrs. a. Conrad Jones David Todd Jones Hon. Harold G. Knight Lyman A. Kratz Douglas Macfarlan, M.D. Katharine Preston Franklin A. Stickler Mrs. Franklin B. Wildman, Jr. Norris D. Wright LUGRETIA MOTT (Photograph by F. Gutekunst, Philadelphia. See note at end of paper.) THE BULLETIN of the Historical Society of Montgomery County Published Semi-Anmudly—October and April Volume VI April, 1948 Number 2 CONTENTS Montgomery County's Greatest Lady: Lucretia Mott Homer T. Rosenberger, Ph.D. 91 The Second Troop, Montgomery County Cavalry, Rudolf P. Hommel 172 The Naming of Obelisk 177 Librarian's Report Rudolf P. Hommel 179 Fall Meeting, November 15, 1947 Eva G. Davis 180 Annual Meeting, February 23,1948 Eva G. Davis 180 Report on Membership Helen E. Richards 181 Publication Committee Anita L. Eystbr David E. Groshbns, Esq. Hannah Gerhard Charles R. Barker, Chairman 89 Montgomery County's Greatest Lady: Lucretia Mott^ By Homer T. Rosenberger, Ph.D. INTRODUCTION During" the middle of the 1800's Lucretia Mott of Pennsyl vania.was a leader of social thought in America and at the front of a number of important reform movements. She was not a wild-eyed radical; as are many pioneers of social reform, nor was she a large or domineering person. She was a simple Quaker Minister, frail and of slight build, weighing 90 pounds or less during most of her long life. She had the courage of her convictions, a quality which, when combined with her logical mind, quiet but convincing argument, winsome personality, and sincerity, of purpose, brought her into prominence and placed her far above most of her contemporaries. Lucretia Mott was a. very human person, and one with liberal and large views. With all her liberalism she was deeply religious. She preached human rights and non-violence. She was opposed, virtually persecuted, by fellow Quakers and others and was the center of many exciting events—court trials, public meetings, riots, and the assisting of fugitive slaves. Through these events she was courageous, calm, and forceful. Among the subjects which engaged much of her attention were freedom of religious thought, temperance, abolition of slavery, equal rights for women, international peace, and better working conditions and a higher standard of living for the wage earner. She was widely known, and exercised influ ence over people of all walks of life. "In Europe she was re garded as one of the great "American Liberators.' ^Read"before the Society, Pehruary 22, 1947. 91 92 BULLETIN or HISTORICAL SOCIETY OP MONTGOMERY COUNTY The reason Lucretia Mott was able to exercise such exten sive influence probably lies in the fact that she was many-sided rather than devoting her life mainly to one cause. She was particularly outstanding in the anti-slavery move ment from 1833 to about 1860 and in the woman's rights move ment from 1848 almost to the time of her death 32 years later. Lucretia Mott adhered to Quaker customs of speech and dress. She was exceedingly industrious, a very good home- maker, a persuasive speaker and a thrifty, philanthropic and self-sacrificing person. In 1870, ten years before the death of Lucretia Mott, the J. B, Lippincott Company, of Philadelphia, brought out a re markable work. It was reissued in 1886, 1897, 1901, 1905, 1908, 1915, and 1930. The work is entitled Universal Pro^ nouncing Dictionary of Biography and Mythology, and was prepared by Joseph Thomas. Its first edition carried a sketch of Lucretia Mott which ended with these words: "Mrs. Mott has long been known as an earnest and elo quent advocate of anti-slavery principles, of the rights of women, and of other reformatory movements. As a speaker she is characterized by an unaffected simplicity and earnest ness of manner, as well as by clearness and propriety of ex pression. Her high moral qualities, her uncommon intelligence, the beauty and consistency of her general character—illus trated in her domestic as well as in her public life—are such as to command the respect even of those who in opinion differ most widely from her in regard to religious and social ques tions." In the 1886 edition of the Lippincott work three words were changed in this beautiful statement concerning Lucretia Mott, one was deleted, and a sentence was added. All these Changes were prompted by her death in 1880. The succeeding SIX editions of the work each carry the statement exactly as printed in the 1886 edition. This is one small indication that Lucretia Mott's fame extended far beyond her own lifetime or the circle of her most intimate friends. Theodore Tilton, a well-known New York journalist of MONTGOMERY COUNTY'S GREATEST LADY: LUCRETIA MOTT 93 I the last century, stated: "In the sam^jsense, in which the great est man ever produced in this country was Benjamin Franklin, the. greatest woman ever produced in this country is Lucretia Mott." Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopedia 'Americana, The Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, and a host of other en cyclopedias carry sketches of this plain Quaker -woman who spent the last 23 years of her life, 1857-1880, in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Numerous biographical dictionaries tell of her fame. Many of the leading magazines published in America, and some in England, since 1850 include articles on Lucretia Mott, written by prominent authors, as for instance: Potter's American Monthly (Philadelphia, Pa.), March, 1881, "Lucretia Mott," by Elizabeth Oakes Smith. MacMillan's Magazine (London, England), April, 1881, "Lucretia Mott," by Agnes MacDonell, The American Magazine (New York, N. Y.), January, 1910, "The American Woman" (section devoted to Lucretia Mott), by Ida M. Tarbell. Christian Herald (New York, N. Y.), February, 1945, "Moral Heroism," by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. The primary source materials concerning Lucretia Mott are fairly extensive. She left a short autobiography, a diary covering a few months, a considerable number of letters, and several short published works. Many brief biographical sketches by people who knew her have been published and are still available. Newspapers of her time and the extant proceedings of various organizations in which she was active give us much information about her. The records of Quaker meetings, however, are not very helpful. Much useful material on the life of Lucretia Mott is contained in Chapter XI, "Lucretia Mott. Eulogy at the Me morial Services held.in.Washington by the National Woman Suffrage Association, January 19, 1881. By Elizabeth Cady Stanton^V-in. volume ;one of History of Woman Suffrage, by 94 BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Matilda Joslyn Gage. A biography of Lucretia Mott and her husband, entitled James and Lucretia Mott, Life and Letters, was prepared by Anna Davis Hallowell, their granddaughter, and published in 1884 by Houghton, Mifflin and Company. The Hallowell biography prints quite a number of letters written by and to Lucretia Mott, some of them very important. The Americana carried in its July and October, 1936, and January and April, 1937, issues a thought-provoking but rela tively undocumented biography of Lucretia Mott entitled "The Greatest American Woman, A Life of Lucretia Mott, Social Pioneer," by Lloyd 0. M. Hare. This biography was reprinted in book form in 1937 with the title The Greatest American Woman, Lucretia Mott. It was published by The American Historical Society, Inc., New York, N. Y., the publishers of Americana. EARLY LIFE Lucretia Mott's early life was spent in Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. She was born on January 3, 1793, in New England—on little Nantucket Island, a part of Massa chusetts. Lucretia came from a family of sturdy, upright Quakers. Her father, Thomas Coffin, was a sea captain and was de scended from one of the original purchasers of the island. Her mother, Anna Folger, was related to Benjamin Franklin. Thomas and Anna Coffin provided a good home and excel lent training for their six children, of whom Lucretia was the second. They carefully raised their children according to Quaker principles. Lucretia's rigid adherence to the Quaker "thee" and "thou" and simplicity in dress and action through out her life can be traced to these early influences. As a small child she grew up on Nantucket Island among Quaker sailors and fishermen. Life on the island was simple but rigorous, and developed sturdy, self-reliant, high-type indi viduals. The responsibility of helping to take care of the other HONTGOMEBV COUNTY'S GREATEST LADY: LUOEETIA MOTT 95 greater responsibilities. T^oston in 1804 when Lucretia TViP Coffin family moved to isoston in ifslFslss in business in Boston, consented to Nine Partners, as he favored having women trained mile at the Friends' boarding school Lucretia Coffin met T Mnft a teacher there. He was a native of Long Island, nX York,'and was descended from a long line of Q"ak«s He was almost five years older than Lucretia, and was tall, shy and grave but pleasant-looking, with sandy hair and kindly blue eyes.
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