The first working society was that of Hebron, which was organized by Mrs. Stanton, April 15, 1879. The citizens were prepared for the undertaking. E. M. Correll, editor of the Hebron Journal, in editorials, in lectures by himself and others, had urged on women the dignity and importance of interesting themselves in their own behalf. The society had been encouraged by lectures from Miss Couzins and Mrs. H. T. Wilcox, the latter taking the ground then comparatively new, that woman's ballot is necessary for successful temperance effort. Meetings were kept up regularly and with increasing membership, and the Thayer County Woman Suffrage Association won a deserved triumph in being primarily connected with the origin and successful passage of the joint resolution of 1881. The legislators elected in 1880 were Senator C. B. Coon, and Representative E. M. Correll. Both these gentlemen were active members of the Thayer County Association, and after their election a committee waited on them, pledging them to special effort during the coming session.
Meanwhile a general favorable sentiment was growing. In noting this it would not be right to omit mention of Mrs. Harbert's "Woman's Kingdom," in the Chicago Inter-Ocean, which circulated largely among country readers. The Omaha Republican passed, in 1876, under the editorial management of D. C. Brooks, who, with his wife, had been prominent in the suffrage work of Michigan and Illinois. The favorable attitude of this paper, and the articles which Mrs. Brooks from time to time contributed to it, exerted a wide influence. In the winter of 1881, Mrs. Brooks established a woman's department in the Republican which crystallized the growing interest around the leadership of its editor. Letters were addressed to her from various sections of the State, urging immediate action. The following from Mrs. Lucinda Russell will show the interest felt:
Mrs. Harriet S. Brooks—Dear Madam: I have been shown a form of petition for the suffrage which you enclosed to Rev. Mary J. DeLong, of this place. Will you please inform me if this is to be the form of petition to be presented during the present session of the legislature? We wish the exact words in order that we may have it published in our local paper.
We think it best to call a meeting, even now at this somewhat late day, and send women to Lincoln who will attend personally to this matter. We have left these things neglected too long. Will you call on all women of the State who can do so to assemble at Lincoln during the session of the legislature, appointing the day, etc.? I think we would be surprised at the result. This town contains scarcely a woman who is opposed to woman suffrage. We know we are a power here; and we do not know but the same hearty support which Tecumseh would afford may exist in many towns throughout the State. All we need for good earnest work and mighty results is organization.
In accordance with these requests a meeting for conference was called at Lincoln, January 19, 1881, Mrs. Brooks presiding. A second meeting was held at the M. E. Church, January 22, and a Lincoln Woman Suffrage Association was formed. A mass convention was held January 26, and a State Association was formed next day:[1]
- ↑ The officers elected were: President, Harriet S. Brooks, Omaha; Vice-President-at-Large, Clara Bewick Colby, Beatrice; Vice-Presidents—First Judicial District, Mrs. B. J. Thomson, Hebron;
