Woman of the Century/Susan Hammond Barney

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2239999Woman of the Century — Susan Hammond Barney

BARNEY, Mrs. Susan Hammond, evangelist, was born in Massachusetts. Her father. Or. John A. Hammond, was a prominent physician. She was a contributor to the h>cal press when thirteen years old. It was her desire to become a foreign missionary, but, owing to ill-health and the strong opposition of friends, she reluctantly gave over her purpose. She was married to Joseph K. Barney, of Providence, R. I., in 1854, and has ever since resided in that city, with the exception of several years spent on the Pacific Coast. Her first public speaking was done in the interest of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She was one of the founders of the Prisoners' Aid Society of Rhode Island, and has always been interested in prison and jail work. She was the first president of the Rhode Island Woman's Christian Temperance Union, a position she held for several years. She is now a national evangelist. The enactment of constitutional prohibition in Rhode Island in 1886 was largely due to her executive ability. She has had much to do with securing police matrons for the station-houses of large cities, her work in that direction being second to none. She is an able platform speaker. Mrs. Barney contributed a chapter on the "Care of the Criminal" to " Woman's Work in America" (New York, 1891).