would have had as judges, jurors and advocates; citizens crowned with all the rights, privileges and immunities justly theirs by law and constitution.
Of the work in Geauga county, Mrs. Sophia Ober Allen, of South Newbury writes:
In the winter of 1851-2, Anson Read circulated a petition praying the legislature to protect married women in their property rights; and from that time the subject of women's rights was frequently discussed in social and literary gatherings. In 1871, Mrs. Lima Ober proposed to be one of six women to go to the township election and offer her vote. Nine[1] joined her, but all their votes were rejected, the judges saying they feared trouble would be the result if they received them. From that year to 1876 these heroic women of South Newbury persisted in offering their votes at the town, state and presidential elections; and though always refused, they would repair to another room with the few noble men who sustained them, and there duly cast their ballots for justice and equality. On one occasion they polled fifty votes—thirty-one women and nineteen men. In 1876 they adopted a series of stirring resolutions with a patriotic declaration of principles.
In 1873, large meetings were held, and a memorial sent to the constitutional convention, asking for an amendment, that "the right to vote shall not be denied or abridged to any adult citizen except for crime, idiocy or lunacy." On January 12, 1874, a political club was organized,[2] which has been active in holding meetings and picnics, circulating petitions and tracts. On July 4, 1874, a basket picnic was held in Ober and Allen's grove, at which Gen. A. C. Voris was among the speakers.[3]Hon. A. G. Riddle, whose early life was spent mostly in Newbury, encouraged and assisted the work, both by voice and pen. During the winter of 1878, Susan B. Anthony, in company with my husband and myself, lectured in several towns under the auspices of the club. Miss Eva L. Pinney, a native of Newbury, was employed by the club to canvass the county. Her success was marked. In 1879 the treasury received a bequest of $50, from Reuben H. Ober, who, though spending much of his time in the East, ever sustained a live interest in the home society.[4]
- ↑ Mesdames Lima H. Ober, Lovina Greene, Hophni Smith, Ruth F. Munn, Perleyette M. Burnett, Sophia L. O. Allen, Mary Hodges, Lydia Smith, Sarah A. Knox. The men who sustained and voted with these women were Deacon Amplias Greene, Darius M. Allen, Ransom Knox, Apollos D. Greene, Wesley Brown. Their tickets were different each year; their first read, "Our Motto—Equal Rights for all—Taxation without Representation is Tyranny. Our Foes—Tradition and Superstition." Among the speakers invited to address the people at the polls were Mrs. Organ, of Yellow Springs, and Mrs. Hope Whipple, of Clyde.
- ↑ President, Ruth F. Munn; Vice-Presidents, Joel Walker, D. M. Allen; Recording Secretary, Ellen Munn; Corresponding Secretary, Julia P. Greene; Treasurer, Mary Hodges; Executive Committee, William Munn, Sophia L. O. Allen, Amanda M. Greene, Apollos D. Greene, Ransom Knox.
- ↑ At other picnics the speakers were, Mrs. S. B. Chase, M. D., Colonel S. D. Harris, J. W. Tyler Jane O. DeForrest, T. W. Porter.
- ↑ The Society of South Newbury, like that of Toledo, refrained from auxiliaryship with the State Association from the time of its organization to June, 1885, when such relationship was made possible by the State Society voting itself an independent organization, free to coöperate with all national or local associations that have for their object the enfranchisement of women; and to Mrs. Allen may be ascribed a large share of the credit for the good work and broad platform of the South Newbury club.
