Chapter II: Hillsboro’, Ohio (1)

I am indebted to Mrs. Dean K. Fenner for this able report; I have
added but little to it.

On the evening of the 23d December, 1873, there might have been seen in the streets of Hillsboro’, Ohio, persons singly or in groups wending their way to Music Hall, where a lecture on temperance was to be delivered by Dr. Dio Lewis, of Boston, Massachusetts.

Some account of the town and people of Hillsboro’ is necessary in this connection. It is a small place, containing something more than 3,000 people, and situated in a beautiful part of southern Ohio. Owing to the educational advantages of the place--there being two colleges for young ladies there and a large public school--the inhabitants are rather better educated than is usually the case in small towns, and its society is indeed noted in that part of the country for its quietude, culture, and refinement.

But Hillsboro’ was by no means exempt from the prevailing scourge of intemperance. The early settlers of Hillsboro’ were mostly from Virginia, and brought with them the old-fashioned ideas of hospitality. No sideboard was considered properly furnished unless the usual supply of decanters and glasses was there. The habit of drinking was almost the rule. For many years previous to the crusade the professional men, and especially of the bar, were nearly all habitual drinkers, and many of them very dissipated. Of course the influence of their example was felt everywhere about them, and extended to the next generation. When a few earnest temperance men, among whom was Governor Allen Trimble, initiated a total abstinence movement in or about the year 1830, the pulpit took up arms against them, and a condemnatory sermon was preached in one of the churches.

Thus it was that although from time to time men, good and true, banded themselves together in efforts to break up this dreadful state of things and reform society, all endeavors seemed to fail of any permanent effect. Outside appearances were indeed better. The farmers could get their harvests in without a keg of whiskey, and the family grocers no longer sold it with their tea and sugar. But in many homes the light of hope was gone out. Mothers were heart-broken and wives worse than widowed. Sighs and tears were continually poured out from sorrowing souls, who saw no hand stretched out for their deliverance.

The plan laid down by Dr. Lewis challenged attention by its novelty at least. He believed and argued that the work of temperance reform might be successfully carried on by women if they would set about it in the right manner--going to the saloon-keeper in a spirit of Christian love, and persuading him for the sake of humanity and his own eternal welfare to quit the hateful, soul-destroying business. The doctor spoke with enthusiasm; and, seeing him so full of faith, the hearts of the women seized the hope--a forlorn one, ’tis true, but still a hope--and when Dr. Lewis asked if they were willing to undertake the task, scores of women rose to their feet, and there was no lack of good men who pledged themselves to encourage and sustain the women in their work.

A meeting for the further development of the plan was agreed upon, to be held in the Presbyterian Church at ten o’clock next morning, Wednesday, December 24th, and at the time appointed there was gathered a solemn assembly. A strange work was to be done, and by unaccustomed hands.

On bended knee, and with uplifted hearts, they invoked the blessing and guidance of Him “who knoweth the end from the beginning,” and then proceeded to the business of the hour.

Rev. W. J. McSurely, pastor of the Presbyterian Church, was called to the chair. A committee was appointed to prepare an appeal which was to be presented to the liquor-sellers; also a druggist’s pledge and a dealer’s pledge.

Leader of the First Crusade Band.]

Officers were then elected: Mrs. Eliza J. Thompson, President; Mrs. Sally McDowell, Vice-President; Mrs. Mary B. Fenner, Secretary.

Mrs. Thompson is the daughter of ex-Governor Trimble, of Ohio. She is a lady of culture, about sixty years of age, of modest and pleasant appearance and very agreeable manners. She speaks with great simplicity, in a conversational style, and with a quaintness that is peculiarly attractive. Whenever she addresses an audience she is sure of an attentive hearing.

Her recital of

“THE FIRST CRUSADE”

is somewhat on this wise: “On the 22d of last December Dr. Dio Lewis lectured before our lyceum. It was a literary lecture, and the subject was ‘Our Girls.’ I wasn’t there. My boy came home and said, ‘Ma, they’ve got you into business;’ and went on to tell that Dio Lewis had incidentally related the successful effort of his mother, by prayer and persuasion, to close the saloon in a town where he lived when a boy, and that he had exhorted the women of Hillsboro’ to do the same, and fifty had risen up to signify their willingness, and that they looked to me to help them to carry out their promise. As I’m talking to you here familiarly, I’ll go on to say that my husband, who had retired, and was in an adjoining room, raised up on his elbow and called out, ‘Oh! that’s all tomfoolery!’ I remember I answered something like this: ‘Well, husband, the men have been in the tomfoolery business a long time; perhaps the Lord is going to call us into partnership with them.’ I said no more. The next morning my brother-in-law, Colonel ----, came in and told me about the meeting, and said, ‘Now, you must be sure to go to the women’s meeting at the church this morning; they look to see you there.’ Our folks talked it all over, and my husband said, ‘Well, we all know where your mother’ll take this case for counsel,’ and then he pointed to the Bible and left the room.

“I went into the corner of my room, and knelt down and opened my Bible to see what God would say to me. Just at that moment there was a tap on the door and my daughter entered. She was in tears; she held her Bible in her hand, open to the 146th Psalm. She said, ‘Ma, I just opened to this, and I think it is for you,’ and then she went away, and I sat down and read

THIS WONDERFUL MESSAGE FROM GOD.

“‘Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God; which keepeth truth forever; which executeth judgment for the oppressed; the Lord looseth the prisoners; the Lord openeth the eyes of the blind; the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down; the Lord loveth the righteous; the Lord relieveth the fatherless and the widow--_but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down_. The Lord shall reign forever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord!’

“I knew that was for me, and I got up, put on my shoes, and started. I went to the church, in this town where I was born. I sat down quietly in the back part of the audience-room, by the stove. A hundred ladies were assembled. I heard my name--heard the whisper pass through the company, ‘Here she is!’ ‘She’s come!’ and before I could get to the pulpit, they had put me ‘in office’--I was their leader.

“Many of our citizens were there, and our ministers also. They stayed a few minutes, and then rose and went out, saying, ‘This is your work--we leave it with the women and the Lord.’ When they had gone, I just opened the big pulpit Bible and read that 146th Psalm, and told them the circumstance of my selecting it. The women sobbed so I could hardly go on. When I had finished, I felt inspired to call on a dear Presbyterian lady to pray. She did so without the least hesitation, though it was the first audible prayer in her life. I can’t tell you anything about that prayer, only that the words were like fire.

“When she had prayed, I said--and it all came to me just at the moment--

‘NOW, LADIES, LET US FILE OUT, TWO BY TWO,

the smallest first, and let us sing as we go,

“Give to the winds thy fears.”’

“We went first to John ----’s saloon. Now, John was a German, and his sister had lived in my family thirteen years, and she was very mild and gentle, and I hoped it might prove a family trait, but I found out it wasn’t. He fumed about dreadfully and said, ‘It’s awful; it’s a sin and a shame to pray in a saloon!’ But we prayed right on just the same.”

That the choice was dictated by God we must believe, for in all the trials and discouragements which have beset us, and they have been many, her trust in God has never failed. She had tested his faithfulness through many years of heavy and sore trouble, and had proved that his promises are “Yea and amen, to them that believe.” And no other woman could have kept up such a spirit of courage and hopefulness in the little band of devoted women, who have met week after week, all these years, to pray for God’s blessing on the work.

After the election of officers, came the plan for work. It was decided to go to the drug stores first, so that the saloonists might not plead their example as an excuse for themselves.

Mrs. J. M. Boyd was chosen to present the appeal on that visit. All the druggists signed the pledge except Mr. Dunn, of whom more hereafter.

Next day the ladies held another meeting, but decided not to make any visitations, it being Christmas-day, and the hotel-keepers more than usually busy and not likely to listen very attentively to our proposition.

On the 26th, the hotels and saloons were visited; Mrs. Thompson presenting the appeal. And it was on this morning, and at the saloon of Robert Ward, that there came a break in the established routine. “Bob” was a social, jolly sort of fellow, and his saloon was a favorite resort, and there were many women in the company that morning whose hearts were aching in consequence of his wrong-doing. Mrs. Thompson presented the appeal, another lady read a selection in the Bible, and then Mrs. Thompson began to talk to him; and she did it with her heart all stirred up by the memory of the wrongs the man had done to many whose weakness he had taken advantage of, dragging them down to disgrace and ruin. Ward was evidently touched. He confessed that it was a “bad business,” said if he could only “afford to quit it he would,” and then tears began to flow from his eyes. Many of the ladies were weeping, and at length, as if by inspiration, Mrs. Thompson kneeled on the floor of the saloon, all kneeling with her, even the saloonist, and prayed, pleading with indescribable pathos and earnestness for the conversion and salvation of this and all saloon-keepers. When the amen was sobbed rather than spoken, Mrs. Washington Doggett’s sweet voice began, “There is a fountain,” etc., in which all joined; the effect was most solemn, and when the hymn was finished the ladies went quietly away, and that was the first saloon prayer-meeting.

This is a fair specimen of the saloon visiting as carried on in Hillsboro’ for more than three months. Then the doors were locked and the prayer-meetings were held on the pavements; extreme care was taken not to obstruct the passage-way.

Mr. W. H. H. Dunn, the druggist, who refused to sign the druggist’s pledge, and who was known to be selling whiskey for drinking, and to minors, too, in disobedience of the law, became very much incensed at the continuous effort on the part of the women to persuade him to sign the pledge, and I may say here that not the women alone plead with him; a petition signed by a large number of the leading men of the place was presented to him by two of the oldest and most respected citizens, without the least effect. Let it be said as some excuse for him that he had bad advisers, and that large sums of money were sent him by the Whiskey Ring, that he might be able to fight the Crusaders in the courts.

The first thing done was the issuing of a “pronunciamento,” forbidding the women to sing and pray on his store steps, or on the sidewalk in front of his store. This was printed on slips of paper, and copies scattered over the town, and about the front of the drug store in question. This was early in the morning of the 31st January, 1874, and when the hour came for the usual prayer-meeting, there was a great questioning as to what was to be done; finally, some of the gentlemen said the ladies should go on the street as usual, and that by the time they had gone the round of the saloons, a place would be ready in front of Mr. Dunn’s.

Accordingly, in an hour or two, there was erected in front of the drug store a covered structure, made of boards and canvas, enclosed on three sides, and open on the side next the store. The ladies soon took possession and held a prayer-meeting.

Mr. Dunn could not stand that, so he applied to Judge Safford, then presiding at court in Hillsboro’, for an injunction against this “tabernacle.” The injunction was granted, and a notice served on Mr. Sayler, a very active temperance man, after he had gone to bed. It was Saturday night, and in order that he might obey the law and still keep the Sabbath, he dressed himself, procured some help, and had everything removed by twelve o’clock. An appeal was made at once by the temperance people for dissolution of the injunction; the case was heard by Judge Steele, at the February term of court, and the injunction dissolved on the finding of a legal flaw in the application of the plaintiff. But Mr. Dunn was not to be quieted. He now brought a suit for “trespass” against the Crusaders, and asked $10,000 damages.

This suit was heard before Judge Gray, at the May term of court, 1875. Able counsel was employed on both sides. The question was felt to be a vital one, and the court-room was crowded to overflowing for _seventeen days_. The examination of witnesses occupied thirteen or fourteen days, though not nearly all of the two hundred were called to the stand.

One incident of this trial must be told. It happened during Judge Safford’s speech, one of Mr. Dunn’s counsel. There was in the court-room a dear old lady, Mrs. Margaret Foreaker, a genuine mother in Israel, who, full of faith, prayed much during the trial, and while Judge Safford was speaking, prayed especially that he might be “confounded.” He had been going along swimmingly, and entirely to the satisfaction of his friends, when suddenly he seemed to lose the thread of his argument, dropped his eye-glasses two or three times, could not find his references, made quotations not bearing on the points he was trying to establish, and his embarrassment was so obvious that Mrs. F. said afterward she did not know but she had “prayed too hard.” The judge did not recover himself, and one of Dunn’s friends went over to the hotel and reported the case as “lost,” that Judge Safford had ruined it.

The jury were compelled by the ruling of the court to bring a verdict against the defendants, and laid the costs on them, with $5 damages. Counsel for the defence made a bill of exceptions to the rulings of Judge Gray, and the case was carried to the Supreme Court of the State. It is still pending, but will probably be dismissed, as Mr. W. H. H. Dunn is now a _bankrupt_. _Mr. Sayler owns_ the store, and Mr. Dunn’s assignee will not defend the suit in Supreme Court.

The “street work” was not resumed after the Dunn suits began. It was thought best not to defy the law even in appearance until the decision of the courts should be known. But there was plenty to do. The new constitution was about to be presented to the people of Ohio, and “License” or “No License” was the great question. The women girded themselves for the strife. Into the school districts and smaller towns they went in little parties, held meetings, organized leagues, circulated petitions, and kept on praying. The license clause was defeated.

A few miles north of Hillsboro’ is the little village of L----. It is quite a pleasant little place; the people are intelligent; there are two churches, good schools, and a few stores, etc. But there was one drawback to the peace of the community, and that was the drinking-saloon attached to the hotel. The proprietor was one of the oldest citizens, and when the Crusade began it was hoped that he would at once come over on the temperance side. But as he did not, there was a meeting called in the little white church to consider what should be done. The meeting was large, and after a prayer, a visiting committee of ladies went down to Mr. ----’s saloon. He met them at the door, and very kindly invited them into the parlor with his amiable wife and daughter. There they talked the matter over, but he refused to sign the pledge. The next day they called again, and he was very angry and locked the door; but on the third day, seeing that the whole community was roused, he grew calm, and said, “Ladies, I will not sign your pledge; but I will promise you in the presence of God that I will never sell another drop of liquor in this town after the 20th of this month, and if I violate my word you may have every cent I am worth. I will walk out and you may walk in.” He kept his word for a while, but the temptation to put a few more dimes in his pocket was too strong, and he secretly bought another barrel of whiskey. Just at this time several of the leading temperance women were sick and could not visit him, but “God met him.” The quiet village was alarmed by the cry of “fire!” It was the _hotel_. It caught from a segar thrown into a sawdust spittoon in the _saloon_. While it was burning, a lady said, “O, dear! our town is built so compactly, it will all burn.” “Never thee fear,” said a good Quaker sister, “not a building will burn but that one. Don’t thee see? not a leaf is moving; the flames go straight up, and the sparks fall back on the house.” She was right. The hotel, store, saloon, and all belonging to it were entirely burned, while not another house caught fire. Unappalled by this judgment, Mr. ---- built a room on the same lot in which to sell whiskey, but became paralyzed, and in a short time died a miserable death. There is no whiskey now sold in L----.

I want to relate one or two little incidents that show the hardening effect of liquor-selling on the dealer.

There was a saloon-keeper brought from Greenfield to H---- to be tried under the Adair law. The poor mother who brought the suit had besought him not to sell to her son--“her only son.” He replied roughly that he would sell to him “as long as he had a dime.” Another mother, an old lady, made the same request, “lest,” she said, “he may some day fill a drunkard’s grave.” “Madam,” he replied, “your son has as good a right to fill a drunkard’s grave as any other mother’s son.” And in one of the Hillsboro’ saloons a lady saw her nephew. “O, Mr. B----,” said she, “don’t sell whiskey to that boy: if he has one drink he will want another, and he may die a drunkard.” “Madam, I will sell to him if it sends his soul to hell,” was the awful reply. The last man is a peculiarly hard, stony sort of man; his lips look as if chiselled out of flint, a man to be afraid of. One morning, when the visiting band reached his door, they found him in a very bad humor. He locked his door and seated himself on the horse-block in front in a perfect rage, clenched his fist, swore furiously, and ordered us to go home. Some gentlemen, on the opposite side of the street, afterwards said that they were watching the scene, ready to rush over and defend the ladies from an attack, and they were sure it would come; but one of the ladies, a sweet-souled woman, gentle and placid, kneeled just at his feet, and poured out such a tender, earnest prayer for him, that he quieted down entirely, and when she rose and offered him her hand in token of kind feeling, he could not refuse to take it.

But it was not always stormy; sometimes it was summer-sunshine, as witness: One bright Saturday afternoon, while we were singing the sweet songs of Zion and offering prayer, an old gentleman, a stranger to us all, stood at a little distance from our band, and while listening to us was led by the Spirit to give his heart to God. He went to his home bearing the glad tidings to his friends. He told it in church the following Sabbath, and a revival began then which resulted in many conversions.

As I go over these facts of a time so full of interest, I recall the figure of a venerable, dignified old gentleman, full of vigor and enthusiasm, though the frosts of seventy-five winters had whitened his head; this was General Jos. J. McDowell, the husband of our vice-president. His interest kept pace with the work, he was at nearly all the meetings, and had ever a word of counsel or encouragement for the women. But there was one thing lacking. He was not a professing Christian, and his many friends grew sad when they saw that he was drawing so near the close of life without the only hope that can lighten the pathway to the tomb. The time came, however, for the Spirit to do its work. The ladies had been holding a series of religious meetings in their consecrated league room, morning after morning, for two months (January and February, 1876). The presence of the One Mighty to save and strong to deliver was gloriously manifesting himself, and on one of these mornings General McDowell came in and took his seat. Mrs. Thompson, who was leading the meeting on that occasion, after a very touching hymn had been sung, Scripture read, and prayer offered, proposed spending a short time in testimony. One and another had spoken, when Mrs. T---- said, in a kind, familiar way, “General McDowell, we are most happy to have you with us this morning, and as you have so often encouraged our hearts in our temperance work, we should love to hear _you speak_.”

He arose slowly, and in a very solemn manner said, “I do not feel worthy to speak on sacred subjects before you good women.” After some hesitation he resumed, “I have been a great sinner; for many years, especially during the war, I had almost come to the conclusion that there was no such thing as religion, but seeing the spirit of divine love displayed by the crusading ladies of our town, as they have knelt _on snow_ even, in front of the barred doors of these worse than murderers, to pray for their souls; and as in the churches I have watched the tears stream down their cheeks as they have prayed the divine blessing upon them and their families, I have felt my heart soften. _Now_ I feel that I can say _I love the Saviour_.” The scene that followed can be better imagined than described, as that devoted wife, who had prayed for her noble husband for more than fifty years, received him a new creature in Christ Jesus. All were baptized afresh by the Holy Spirit, and we grasped with firmer hold the hand of our Almighty Friend who had bidden us walk upon the untried waves, December 23d, 1873.

Since the departure of this dear friend of the Crusade to the “Home of the Soul,” for which home he was _rapidly matured_, wonderful developments of divine mercy have been displayed in our highly-favored town, Hillsboro’. Last spring a gracious revival resulted from the “union services” of the Quaker Evangelists, Nathan and Esther Frame. Scores of young men were converted during these meetings who had been the objects of our _earnest_ and special prayers. Many a mother’s heart was made glad, and the churches all received their dead raised to life again.

Thus God prepared our community for the glorious dawn of the Murphy movement, and wonderfully qualified by _reformation based upon conversion_, our Congressman elect, Hon. Henry Dickey, for its inauguration. The first Murphy meeting was held on the evening of May 15th, 1877, and the first men to sign the pledge were some of our prominent citizens in every profession; but pre-eminently the lawyers, men of talent and influence, but whose habit of intemperance had long been a source of grief and anxiety to their friends. Three hundred signed the pledge upon the first evening; within two weeks over two thousand names were upon the roll; some of the most energetic workers in the movement were men who were foremost in opposing the Crusade, unsparing and bitter in their invectives against all concerned. That which fills us with astonishment and devout thanksgiving is the desire evinced by these men, that old scores be wiped out, and Christian women come to the front and help in the cause by their presence and sympathy.

BAPTIZED IN WHISKEY.

Among the many interesting incidents of work reported at the Woman’s Temperance Camp-Meeting at Ocean Grove was the following, related by Mrs. E. J. Thompson, of Hillsboro’:

“During the Crusade, a saloon-keeper consented to close his business. There was a great deal of enthusiasm and interest, and we women decided to compensate the man for his whiskey and make a bonfire of it in the street. A great crowd gathered about the saloon, and the barrels of whiskey were rolled out to the public square where we were to have our bonfire. Myself and two other little women, who had been chosen to knock in the heads, and had come to the place with axes concealed under our shawls, went to our work with a will.

“I didn’t know I was so strong, but I lifted that axe like a woodman and brought it down with such force that the first blow stove in the head of a barrel and splashed the whiskey in every direction. I was literally baptized with the noxious stuff. The intention was to set it on fire, and we had brought matches for that purpose, _but it would not burn_! It was a villanous compound of some sort, but we had set out to have a fire, and were determined by some means or other to make it burn, so we sent for some coal oil and poured it on and we soon had a blaze. The man who could sell such liquors would not be likely to keep the pledge. He is selling liquors again.”

VICTORY AT WASHINGTON C. H.

Most of the facts in the following history of the work at Washington C. H. have been gleaned from the official report of the secretary, Mrs. M. V. Ustick.

It will be seen that the Crusade began in this town only two days later than at Hillsboro’. And Washington C. H. was the first place where the Crusade was made prominent and successful.

On Friday morning, Dec. 26th, 1873, after an hour of prayer in the M. E. Church, forty-four women filed slowly and solemnly down the aisle, and started forth upon their strange mission with fear and trembling, while the male portion of the audience remained at the church to pray for the success of this new undertaking; the tolling of the church-bell keeping time to the solemn march of the women, as they wended their way to the first drug store on the list. (The number of places within the city limits where intoxicating drinks were sold was fourteen--eleven saloons and three drug stores.) Here, as in every place, they entered singing, every woman taking up the sacred strain as she crossed the threshold. This was followed by the reading of the appeal and prayer; then earnest pleading to desist from their soul-destroying traffic and sign the dealer’s pledge.

Thus, all the day long, they went from place to place, without stopping even for dinner or lunch, till five o’clock, meeting with no marked success; but invariably courtesy was extended to them; not even their reiterated promise, “We will call again,” seeming to offend.

No woman who has ever entered one of these dens of iniquity on such an errand needs to be told of the heart-sickness that almost overcame them as they, for the first time, saw behind those painted windows or green blinds, or entered the little stifling “back room,” or found their way down winding steps into the damp, dark cellars, and realized that into _such places_ those they loved best were being landed, through the allurements of the brilliantly lighted drug store, the fascinating billiard-table, or the enticing beer-gardens, with their syren attractions. A crowded house at night, to hear the report of the day’s work, betrayed the rapidly increasing interest in this mission.

On the 27th the contest really began, and, at the first place, the doors were found locked. With hearts full of compassion, the women knelt in the snow upon the pavement, to plead for the divine influence upon the heart of the liquor-dealer, and there held their first street prayer-meeting.

At night the weary but zealous workers reported at a mass-meeting of the various rebuffs, and the success in having two druggists sign the pledge not to sell, except upon the written prescription of a physician.

The Sabbath was devoted to union mass-meeting, with direct reference to the work in hand; and on Monday the number of ladies had increased to near one hundred. That day, December 29th, is one long to be remembered in Washington, as the day upon which occurred the first surrender ever made by a liquor-dealer, of his stock of liquors of every kind and variety, to the women, in answer to their prayers and entreaties, and by them poured into the street. Nearly a thousand men, women, and children witnessed the mingling of beer, ale, wine, and whiskey, as they filled the gutters and were drank up by the earth, while the bells were ringing, men and boys shouting, and women singing and praying to God who had given the victory. But on the fourth day, “stock sale-day,” the campaign had reached its height, the town being filled with visitors from all parts of the county and adjoining villages. Another public surrender, and another pouring into the street of a larger stock of liquors than on the previous day, and more intense excitement and enthusiasm.

Mass-meetings were held nightly, with new victories reported constantly, until on Friday, January 2d, one week from the beginning of the work, at the public meeting held in the evening, the secretary’s report announced the unconditional surrender of every liquor-dealer, some having shipped their liquors back to wholesale dealers, others having poured them into the gutters, and the druggists as all having signed the pledge. Thus a campaign of prayer and song, had, in eight days, closed eleven saloons, and pledged three drug stores to sell only on prescription. At first men had wondered, scoffed, and laughed, then criticised, respected and yielded.

Morning prayer and evening mass-meetings continued daily, and the personal pledge was circulated till over one thousand signatures were obtained. Physicians were called upon to sign a pledge not to prescribe ardent spirits when any other substitute could be found, and in no case without a personal examination of the patient.

Early in the third week the discouraging intelligence came that a new man had taken out license to sell liquor in one of the deserted saloons, and that he was backed by a whiskey house in Cincinnati, to the amount of $5,000, to break down this movement. On Wednesday, the 14th, the whiskey was unloaded at his room. About forty women were on the ground and followed the liquor in, and remained holding an uninterrupted prayer-meeting all day and until eleven o’clock at night. The next day, bitterly cold, was spent in the same place and manner, without fire or chairs, two hours of that time the women being locked in, while the proprietor was off attending a trial. On the following day, the coldest of all the winter of 1874, the women were locked out, and stood on the street holding religious services all day long.

Next morning a tabernacle was built in the street, just in front of the house, and was occupied for the double purpose of _watching_ and prayer through the day; but before night the sheriff closed the saloon, and the proprietor surrendered; thus ended the third week.

A short time after, on a dying bed, this four days’ liquor-dealer sent for some of these women, telling them their songs and prayers had never ceased to ring in his ears, and urging them to pray again in his behalf; so he passed away.

Early in the work Mrs. George Carpenter, Mrs. A. C. Hirst, Mrs. A.
E. Pine and Mrs. Ogle, who were appointed to draw up an appeal,
presented the following

APPEAL.

Knowing, as you do, the fearful effects of intoxicating drinks, we,
the women of Washington, after earnest prayer and deliberation,
have decided to appeal to you to desist from this ruinous traffic,
that our husbands, brothers, and especially our sons, be no longer
exposed to this terrible temptation, and that we may no longer see
them led into those paths which go down to sin, and bring both
body and soul to destruction. We appeal to the better instincts of
your own hearts, in the name of desolated homes, blasted hopes,
ruined lives, widowed hearts, for the honor of our community, for
our happiness; for our good name, as a town; in the name of the
God who will judge you, as well as ourselves; for the sake of your
own souls, which are to be saved or lost, we beg, we implore you,
to cleanse yourselves from this heinous sin, and place yourselves
in the ranks of those who are striving to elevate and ennoble
themselves and their fellow-men; and to this we ask you to pledge
yourselves.

This appeal was adopted, and was afterwards extensively used in other
parts of the State, and in other States.

A property-holders’ pledge was also circulated--pledging men not to
rent, or lease property, to be used as saloons, nor to allow any
dealings of the liquor traffic to be carried on upon any premises
belonging to them. This pledge was generally signed by holders of
real estate.

During this week came a plea for help from Hillsborough. In answer to
that call, on Monday, January 12th, a committee, consisting of Profs.
Morehouse and Dean, and Mrs. M. G. Carpenter, Mrs. Judge McLean, Mrs.
Judge Priddy, and Miss Annie Ustick, went to Hillsborough, spent the
evening in attendance upon a mass-meeting there, and next forenoon in
prayer and conference with the workers, returning in time to attend
the mass-meeting at home, bringing with them encouraging words.

By this time the new method of fighting whiskey began to attract the
attention of the press and people in surrounding places; and meetings
were announced to be held in every village and school district in the
county. Committees of ladies and gentlemen were sent out to assist
in these meetings. Committees were also sent, by request, into all
adjoining counties, the meetings being constantly kept up at home,
and all the while gaining in interest.

About this time came word from Columbus, that the Adair Liquor Law
was in great danger of being repealed; consequently the following
communication was sent to every known Temperance organization
throughout the State, by the Washington League:

“_To the Secretary of Women’s Temperance League, at ----_:

“DEAR SISTER--By order of the entire body of our Temperance League,
we send you an urgent request that you immediately appoint a
committee of not less than six, of the most earnest and effective
workers, who shall be ready at an hour’s notice, to respond to the
call embodied in the following resolution:

“‘_Resolved_, That the secretary of this meeting be requested to
correspond with the ladies in all places where the Temperance
movement is now, or may be progressing, asking the same to appoint
a delegation to appear at Columbus, when called, if any action of
the legislature, threatening the safety of the Adair Liquor Law,
may be contemplated.’

“Please notify us of your decision in the matter, forwarding us
one name to whom we may telegraph if necessary.”--[Signed by the
secretary.]

Responses poured in from all Leagues addressed--the word “_Ready_.”
But the law remained undisturbed that winter.

* * * * *

The names of the following women, chosen by God and men to inaugurate
this great work and carry it forward to success, appeared in the
columns of the _Fayette County Herald_ at the time:

Mrs. George Carpenter; Miss Annie Ustick; Mrs. A. C. Hirst; Mrs. A.
E. Pine; Mrs. B. Ogle; Mrs. P. E. Morehouse; Miss M. A. Love; Mrs.
Wm. Stevens; Mrs. O. Grubbs; Mrs. J. Van Deman; Mrs. E. Milliken;
Mrs. A. Blakemore; Mrs. Wm. Smith; Mrs. P. T. Light; Mrs. H. L.
Hadley; Mrs. F. Nitterhouse; Mrs. D. McLean; Mrs. Allen Hegler; Mrs.
T. N. Ustick; Miss A. E. Robinson; Miss Julia Wood; Miss Anna Cherry;
Mrs. S. Lydy; Miss Brightie Ogle; Miss Flora Ogle; Mrs. Barnett;
Mrs. Farmer; Mrs. Geo. Dahl; Mrs. M. Gardner; Miss Kate Foster; Mrs.
Col. Maynard; Mrs. Dr. Dennis; Mrs. Dr. Coffman; Miss Belle Stuckey;
Mrs. H. P. Cherry; Mrs. J. B. Priddy; Mrs. M. Blackmore; Mrs. A. E.
Silcott; Miss L. Milliken; Miss Emma Wilcox; Mrs. H. P. Ustick; Miss
Ida Dean; Mrs. J. Hopkins; Mrs. C. L. Getz; Mrs. T. Gardner; Mrs. Wm.
Gordon; Miss A. Kephart.

But there still remained the beer hall of Charlie Beck, about half a mile out. Carriages were furnished the ladies, free of charge, from the temperance livery-stable of Collins & Bitzer, and in these the band made daily visits to Beck’s.

At this time the Cincinnati _Commercial_ sent a reporter to view the land, from whose graphic pen we quote the following:

“I reached Washington at noon of January 20th, and seeking Mr. Beck’s beer garden, found him in a state of terrible nervousness, as the ladies had spent the forenoon in front of this place. He evidently regarded me as a spy, but was much mollified when assured that I was only a journalist, and made voluminous complaint in ‘high Dutch’ and ‘low English.’

“‘I got no vitnesses. Dem vimens dey set up a shob on me. But you don’t bin a ’bitual drunkard, eh? No, you don’t look like him. Vell, coom in, coom in. Vat you vant, beer or vine? I dells you, dem vimens is shust awful. By shinks, dey build a house right in the shreet, and stay mit a man all day a singin’ and oder foolishness. But dey don’t get in here once agin already.’

“In obedience to this invitation, I had entered by the side door--the front was locked and barred--to find four customers indulging in liquor, beer and pigs’ feet.

“Mr. Beck kept open house nearly all that night; the sounds of revelry were plainly heard in town, and in the morning several drunken men came into town, one of whom tumbled down into a livery-stable, and went to sleep on a manure pile, from which he was carried to the lock-up. Matters were evidently coming to a crisis, and I went out early; but the ladies reached there in force just before me. I met Mr. Beck hurrying into town to consult his lawyer, or, as he phrased it, ‘to see mein gounsel ven I no got a right to my own broberty.’

“The main body of the ladies soon arrived, and took up a position with right centre on the doorstep, the wings extending each way beyond the corners of the house, and a rearward column along the walk to the gate. In ludicrous contrast the routed revellers, who had been scared out of the saloon, stood in a little knot fifty feet away, still gnawing at the pigs’ feet they had held on to in their hurried flight, while I took a convenient seat on the fence. The ladies then sang--

‘Oh, do not be discouraged, for Jesus is your friend;
He will give you grace to conquer, and keep you to the end.’

“As the twenty or more clear, sweet voices mingled in the enlivening chorus--

‘I’m glad I’m in this army,’ etc.--

the effect was inspiring. I felt all the enthusiasm of the occasion, while pigs’ feet party, if they did not feel guilty, certainly looked so.

“The singing was followed by a prayer from Mrs. Mills Gardner. She prayed for the blessing of God on the temperance cause generally, and in this place particularly; then for Mr. Beck, his family and friends, his house, and all that loved him, and closed with an eloquent plea for guidance in the difficult and delicate task they had undertaken. In one respect the prayer was unsurpassed; it was eminently fitting to the place and the occasion. As the concluding sentences were being uttered, Mr. Beck and his ‘gounsel’ arrived. The ladies paid no attention to either, but broke forth in loud strains,

‘Must Jesus bear the cross alone?
No, there’s a cross for me,’

when the lawyer borrowed some of my paper, whispering at the same time, ‘I must take down their names. Guess I shall have to prosecute some of them before we stop this thing.’

“I should need the pen of an Irving and pencil of a Darley to give any adequate idea of the scene. On one side, a score of elegant ladies, singing with all the earnestness of impassioned natures; a few yards away a knot of disturbed revellers, uncertain whether to stand or fly; half way between, the nervous Beck, bobbing around like a case of fiddle-strings with a hundred pounds of lager beer fat hung on them; and on the fence by the ladies, a cold-blooded lawyer and excited reporter scribbling away as if their lives depended on it. It was painful from its very intensity.

“The song ended, the presiding lady called upon Mrs. Wendels, and again arose the voice of prayer--so clear, so sweet, so full of pleading tenderness, that it seemed she would, by strength of womanly love, compel the very heavens to open and send down in answer a spark of divine grace that would turn the saloon-keeper from his purpose. The sky, which had been overcast all the morning, began to clear, the occasional drops of rain ceased to fall, and a gentle south wind made the air soft and balmy. It almost seemed that nature joined in the prayer.

“Again the ladies sang--

‘Are there no foes for me to face,’

with the camp-meeting chorus,

‘Oh, how I love Jesus,
Because he first loved me.’

“As the song concluded, the lawyer suddenly stepped forward, and said:

“‘Now, ladies, I have a word to say before this performance goes any further. Mr. Beck has employed me as his attorney. He cannot speak good English, and I speak for him here. He is engaged in a legitimate business, and you are trespassers on his property and rights. If this thing is carried any further, you will be called to account in the court, and I can assure you the court will sustain the man. He has talked with you all he desires to. He does not want to put you out forcibly; that would be unmanly, and he does not wish to act rudely. But he tells you to go. As his attorney, I now warn you to desist from any further annoyance.’

“Again the ladies sang--

‘My soul, be on thy guard,
Ten thousand foes arise.’

And Miss Annie Ustick followed with a fervent prayer for the lawyer and his client; but they had fled the scene, leaving the house locked up. After consultation, the ladies decided to leave Mr. Beck’s premises and take a position on the adjoining lot. They sent for the ‘tabernacle,’ a rude frame building they had used in front of Slater’s saloon. This they erected on the adjoining lot, put up immense lights to illuminate the entrance to the beer garden, and kept up a guard from early morning till midnight.

“For two weeks religious services were held in the tabernacle day and night, and the women were constantly on duty; at the end of which time an injunction was granted Mr. Beck and the tabernacle was taken down.

“Temperance was still the pulpit theme on the Sabbath, and on Monday morning, February 9th, all the business houses were closed from 8 to 9 to attend the business men’s prayer-meeting. Large delegations were present from adjoining villages at that early hour. At the meeting there came a messenger from this man stating that he would give up his business, which announcement was received with cheers. It was then decided that all who were not enjoined from so doing should march out to Mr. Beck’s beer garden, where the proprietor met them at the gate, and after a brief consultation with a committee appointed for that purpose, he publicly announced: ‘You comes so many, I quits. I will never sell any more beer or whiskey.’ Again the crowd gave vent to their feelings in cheers. Messengers were despatched to the women who remained praying in the church, to join them. All the bells commenced ringing, and the procession, numbering two hundred strong, started out to Sullivan’s beer house, now the only remaining saloon in the township. Marching up Court street, the numbers increased, and amid the most profound silence the men and women pursued their journey. About half way there the man in question was met and interviewed. He asked two days to consider, which were granted. The procession then returned, the bells all the time ringing out their chimes upon the crisp morning air. Meetings, morning and evening, continued with unabated interest, and at each came to us the cry from other points, ‘Come and help us.’

“On Wednesday morning, February 11th, at mass-meeting in the Presbyterian Church, Mr. Sullivan came in and publicly pledged himself to ‘quit _forever_ the liquor business.’ A general rejoicing and thanksgiving followed this surrender of the ‘last man.’

“Thus, through most of the winter of 1874 no alcoholic drinks were publicly sold as a beverage in the county.

“The summer was given up to the defeat of the license clause in the new constitution which was to come before the people on the 18th of August.

“Mass temperance picnics were a prominent feature of the season, and the untiring zeal of the workers was crowned with success on election day.

“During the two intervening years weekly temperance league-meetings have been kept up by the faithful few, while frequent union mass-meetings have been held, thus keeping the subject always before the people.

“To-day the disgraceful and humiliating fact exists that there are more places where liquors are sold than before the Crusade. Does any one ask the result of all this labor, and if the movement was a failure? We answer to the first question of results: The idea that _women_ are to take an active part in the great conflict between religion and the rum power, was evolved by this very Crusade. None saw quicker than the women themselves the weak and strong points of the movement, and these praying bands have become thoroughly organized _Women’s Christian Temperance Unions_; and reform clubs, reading-rooms, coffee-houses, and friendly inns are the outgrowth of these ‘unions.’ Other countries have felt the impulse, and the best women of Europe and Canada are being organized into ‘leagues’ and ‘unions.’

“Was this movement, then, a failure? No! No! The long list of reformed lives; the restored happiness and prosperity of once desolated homes; the still longer list of our noble young men, who were arrested in their first downward steps in the path of intemperance and ruin, and whose upright and useful lives will be standing monuments of good for years to come. Who dares to compute such results? The improved public sentiment, banishing the wine cup from the social circle, from the sideboards and cellars of respectable homes--the awakening and uniting of all Christian hearts in one grand work for God and humanity. All these are the outgrowth of a reformation which has since belted the world--the most far-seeing being utterly unable to grasp its results.

“An incident recently under the observation of the writer is in point. During the winter of 1876 a grand banquet was given the Ohio General Assembly, judiciary, and military officers by some of the prominent citizens of our capital city. No labor or expense was spared in ministering to the comfort or pleasure of the guests, yet no wine was to be found in all that banquet hall. One of the hosts of the evening remarked that ‘before the “Women’s Crusade” the giving of such an entertainment without wine would have been impossible.’

“A failure? No! Eternity alone will unfold the glorious success of that work. To have banished liquor from the land, as at first the movement seemed to promise, would have been a miracle, and God does not now work in such manner; and the work we feel he meant to do in this Crusade was to rouse up his people to a sense of their duty; to awaken his church, which seemed to be strangely indifferent and asleep to this terrible evil. Thus He crowned the movement with success; and while His followers believe and trust Him, the good work will go on to completion, for

“‘Right is right, as God is God,
And right the day will win;
To doubt would be disloyalty,
To falter would be sin.’”

WILMINGTON, OHIO.

We are indebted to Rhoda Worthington and Mary Hadley for the following history of the work in Wilmington:

In pursuance to the call of the pastors of the different churches of Wilmington, a large and earnest assemblage of citizens gathered at the M. E. Church, on Saturday evening, January 3d, to devise some plan of procedure, by which all lovers of the race might be brought to work in harmony for the suppression of the sale of intoxicating drinks within the limits of the corporation of Wilmington.

The meeting was called to order by the Rev. William Runyan, pastor of the M. E. Church. After the singing of the hymn, “All hail the power of Jesus’ name,” the audience were led in prayer by the Rev. S. H. Bingman, pastor of the Christian Church. The meeting was then addressed in a stirring and thrilling appeal in behalf of the movement, by the Rev. A. C. Hirst, of Washington C. H., Ohio. Mr. Hirst, in the course of his remarks, set forth the main features of the plan pursued by the people of Washington, but thought that, if the people of Wilmington would take hold of the matter with the one object in view, viz., to suppress the liquor traffic in our midst, some plan suited to the local requirements of the case would develop itself. At the close of Mr. Hirst’s address, remarks on the duties of the hour were made by W. E. Prichard and others. A temporary organization was then effected. Mr. William H. Cole, superintendent of public schools, was called to the chair, and J. H. Grove was nominated as secretary.

A committee of five, consisting of Messrs. Hildebrant, Zeigler, Albright, Gaskill, and Outcalt, was appointed to secure the names of such men as were willing to pledge themselves to support the ladies in efforts to suppress the sale of intoxicating drinks within the limits of Wilmington.

On the suggestion of Mrs. Mary N. Hadley, a minister in the Society of Friends, it was moved, that all women interested in the cause of temperance be requested to meet in the Friends’ Church, Sunday, January 4th, at four o’clock P. M., and that all men willing to aid the ladies in this movement be requested to meet in the Baptist Church, at the same hour, for prayer and consultation.