Ellen Hardin Walworth Believed in Learning from History

Ellen Hardin, author, lawyer and activist, was born on October 20, 1832. Not a time when empowering women was prevalent. She is a woman I admire because she believed in the importance of studying history and in historic preservation.

At the age of 20, Ellen married Mansfield Tracy Walworth, her stepfather’s youngest son. She had eight children with Mansfield but he was a violent man who physically abused her. The last assault was when she was pregnant with her youngest child, Sarah, and at that point, she obtained a “Limited divorce,” giving her the right to live separately but not remarry.

Unfortunately, Mansfield continued to threaten Ellen and, in 1873, her eldest son, Frank, shot his father to death and was sent to prison. Ellen studied law to find a way to get her son’s conviction overturned and was successful in 1877, on the grounds he was insane.

Needing a stable income for her family, Ellen opened the family homestead in Saratage, New York, as a boarding school for females and then later as a summer hotel.

Now, one would think this difficult, busy life would have been enough for Ellen, but like most great women, she strove to make the world a better place in many, many ways, which I will talk about in my next blog.

History Buffs: Great Beach Reads

It is that time of year again where we can sneak away with a good book, find a quiet corner of beach and immerse ourselves in the exploits of those brave souls who came before us.

Looking for ideas? Here are some enticing titles:

http://earlyamericanists.com/2015/04/09/spring-reads

While you are at it, try being a regular reader of the The Junto history blog. Great stuff.

Mary Katherine Goddard - Part 2

When we left Mary in the last blog, she had just taken over as publisher of the Journal and Advertiser, putting her name as publisher on the masthead as M. H. Goddard on May 10, 1775.

This was also the year Mary became the first female postmaster in America. These positions put her at the center of the information flow right at the start of the war for independence, at a time when the public was thirsty for news.

These were tough economic times and it took all of Mary’s intelligence and courage to keep publishing the paper and the mail circulating.

The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776, but the copies circulating through the colonies did not contain the names of the signers because they could be arrested for treason. As a courageous newswomen Mary changed that when in January 1777, she published the Declaration including the names of the signers. This forced the signers to stand behind their signatures and support the cause more openly.

Her brother, William, who had been unsuccessful thus far with his endeavors at publishing, the postal system and politics, fought his sister for control of the paper and won, in 1784 removing her name from the masthead. She had not missed publishing an edition of the paper from when she took it over in 1775 until her brother and the courts took it away from her.

The new Constitution adopted was not favorable to women (until we fought for amendments) and Mary’s post office job went to a male appointee. Mary appealed these injustices but to no avail. Thereafter, she ran a bookstore in Baltimore until her death in 1816.