Election Week, 1888

Edith here.

I'm writing this the day before the 2016 election, but it's going to appear two days after. Since this is not a political blog, what I write doesn't have to relate to the results of the nation's vote. So I thought I'd give you a quick taste of my fictional Election Day from 1888, which will appear in Turning the Tide, book three in this series, releasing in April, 2018.

Midwife Rose Carroll's mother, a suffrage activist, has come to visit, and the Amesbury Woman Suffrage Association turns out in force across from the poll on Election day. Elizabeth Cady Stanton has also come to town to support the women. 

Here's part of the scene:

The Amesbury Armory, now Town Hall

Voting was taking place at the Armory, a recently completed town building, and the polls had already been open for an hour. I wore my bright yellow sash slung diagonally across my torso, and Mother wore one from a previous event, since the color was a symbol of the movement. She’d told me using the color of sunflowers was chosen because the flower always turns its face to the light and follows the course of the sun, as if worshiping the archetype of righteousness. She’d brought a sash for Faith, too. We received a couple of rude comments from men we passed on our way here, one glare from an older matron, and several admiring glances from women in shops we walked by.

Now I gasped. In front of a three-story brick home on the other side of the street from the Armory a hundred women in matching yellow sashes lined the sidewalk. The women stood mostly in silence, watching men file in and out of the polling place. One demonstrator held a placard reading, “Women Bring All Voters Into The World. Let Women Vote,” and it showed a drawing of a mother cradling a baby. I wished I’d thought to create a poster like hers. Other signs read, “Ballots for Both” or “Equal Suffrage,” and number of others simply had, “Votes for Women” printed in large block letters. Many were decorated with a yellow matching our sashes.

Elizabeth Stanton stood in the middle of the line next to a woman holding an American flag on a pole and I spotted Zula at the far end handing out sashes to newcomers who needed them.

Faith’s eyes went big. “Granny Dot, this is stunning. Has thee ever seen a demonstration so big?”

“I have, but today’s numbers are quite impressive for a town this size.” 

Two tall and wide arched windows flanked the arched door in the middle of the red brick building opposite, which was draped with red-white-and-blue bunting. Representatives from both the Democratic and Republican parties handed colored ballots to the men entering, the Republicans wearing tall white hats with black bands, the Democrats the same hat but with a pearl-colored band. A half dozen men held posters mounted on sticks. Several featured the President’s and A.G. Thurman’s images, and others had the faces of Benjamin Harrison and his running mate, Levi Morton. An older police officer stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes roaming constantly.

A thickset man in a bowler and overcoat approached the polls. When he saw us, he lifted his fist and shook it, an angry look on his face. The flag holder raised her standard, smiled, and waved it at him in return. It was our flag, too, after all. He turned and stomped up the steps into the building.

Edith back in 2016: Readers, what do you think? Did you know who ran that year? How about who won? What's your favorite presidential election year?

The Widow Josiah Taft Votes

by Felicia Donovan

Did you know that in 1756, a woman by the name of Lydia Chapin Taft was, for the first time, allowed to vote in New England Town Meetings? Her husband, Josiah Taft, was one of the largest landowners in the town of Uxbridge, Massachusetts. When Josiah became ill and died, the town voted to allow the "Widow Josiah Taft," as she was known, to vote by proxy on whether or not to appropriate funds to support the French and Indian Wars. Thus, the "Widow Josiah Taft" set her place in history as the first woman to ever vote in the nation. Lydia Taft's historic vote would precede the 19th Amendment in 1920, by 164 years.

One-hundred and sixty-four years. Think about that for a moment. Think about the struggle for women to have a say despite their contributions to the household, their hard labor and trials under often deplorable conditions. Women managed households and budgets, raised children, educated themselves - and often did all of it alone while their husbands were away at war or killed in war - but still, they were not entitled to vote.

Let's not set ourselves back, Ladies. Over two-hundred and fifty years later, we have an opportunity to cast our votes and make sure that women continue to have their rights addressed. This election is more important to women than any other election in our history. No matter what your political leanings, let's never forget that there are many nations that to this day, still do not recognize a woman's right to vote. Let's make the Widow Josiah Taft proud and get out to vote in honor of the millions of women who still don't have that freedom.

One final note - in a small town like my own, voting is akin to a social event during which friends catch up with each other while they wait in line, opinions are proudly rendered, gossip is exchanged, and hunters catch up on how many deer they've bagged thus far this season. Local scout troops sell hot cider, coffee and cookies to satisfy voters as they wait. Civic groups distribute flyers for the upcoming Tree Lighting ceremony downtown to support merchants. It's all quite amicable and pleasant. You know you're a local when the registrar recognizes you and crosses your name off the list without even asking you for it. And for the first time I can ever remember, we'll vote in a new location - a former school - because our Town Hall is not large enough for the anticipated turnout. What are your polling places like?