The first Women’s Rights Convention was held in Seneca Falls in 1848. The ideas born here spread quickly. Below is what we’ve found so far about the Suffragists in Fair Haven. Please contribute any additional information you have for this page.
Below is an excerpt from a paper written by Belle Kirk Rea and read by her at the Oswego Historical Society on the evening of May 17, 1949. Mrs. Rea was then 76 years old and died three years later. He was born in February of 1873 at Sterling Center. Her paternal grandmother, Martha McCrea Kirk, died in 1886 when Belle was 13 years old, placing the probable date of the meeting mentioned between 1878 and 1885.
The Baptist Church in Sterling Center had the largest seating capacity of the school and three churches in Sterling Center. It was used for guest speakers such as Frederick Douglas, Reverend William L. Roberts, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The speakers were hosted for the night at the home of William and Martha McCrea Kirk, Belle’s grandparents.
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Oswego Palladium-Times
Wednesday, May 18, 1949
page 6
Foe Of Slavery
As a carpenter on a boat, in harbor in New Orleans, Grandfather Kirk saw the Slave market in action there. He came home determined to fight the slave trade. Grandmother was with him. Their home became a station on the Under-Ground Railroad. Fugitive slaves crept up the old lane in the dark, tapped on a window, as they had been directed, softly called, “Massa.” They were often taken in, hidden somewhere. I often wonder where.
If there were a boat for Canada in harbor at Fair Haven they were secretly gotten on board… the refugee slaves were not the only ones to be entertained in the Kirk home. Frederick Douglas, himself, was at one time a guest there…
Distinguished Visitors
When the time came to do something about the liquor traffic, William and Martha were one against it, joining what was probably the first State Temperance organization.
Grandma became associated with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. At one time when they were guests of hers at her Sterling Centre home she brought them up across lots to see her youngest son’s daughter (now Mrs. Belle Kirk Rea). Mrs. Stanton sat in Mother’s best rocker and they stood me up in front of her. She talked to me. I don’t recall what she said. But, I’ve been an advocate of woman’s rights ever since.
| 1 Ada Turner 2 or 3 Mrs John Phillips 4 Bessie Wyman Howell 5 Mae Bennett Phillips 6 Effa “Effie” Turner 7 Iva Phillips Vought 8 Agness Brown Turner or Liela Phillips ? 9 Kenny McFadden 10 Dyna Vought 11 Mayme Van Fleet Bennett 12 Minnie Bradley 13 Mrs. Hewett or Mrs. Downs ? 14 Louise Wells Turner 15 Rebecca A. Turner ? 16 _______________ 17 Maude Snyder or Libbie Miller |
18 Eva Beast or Mattie Turner ? 19 Mrs. Will Baily 20 Clara Phillips 21 Permelia Rasbeck or Mrs. Smith ? 22 Rhoda Carris Smith 23 Rohanna Willey or Mrs. Byer ? 24 Sally Ann Cooper 25 Alice Turner 26 Mary “Mame” Byer Hill 27 Dora Bradley Brown 28 Dora Moore 29 Ella Hilton 30 Minnie Wright 31 Nettie or Nellie Turner ? 32 ______ Cooper ? 33 Florence Turner |
Further research is needed to locate other photos of these ladies to help identify them. It is not yet known if Fair Haven had its own Suffrage organization or if this was simply a local gathering to hear a visiting speaker.
If number 33 is the Florence Turner, born October 30, 1905, who appears to be about four years old, it dates this photo to the spring or summer of 1910, which matches the era of the popular white shirtwaists. Many of these forward minded women were also the force behind the Women’s Christian Temperance Union WTCU and other causes.
One would think that an independent woman like Edna Williams would be among those at this meeting. Perhaps she does not appear in this photograph because she is the most likely Fair Haven photographer to have taken the photo.
Prior to passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920, several states had already implemented legislation granting voting right to women in local elections. New Yorkers passed their own law on November 6, 1917.
In March of 1918 Fair Haven’s trustees voted to appoint Dr. Virginia McKnight as President of the Village of Fair Haven, making her possibly the first female mayor in New York State. Fair Haven thus won the distinction of being “in the front ranks of modern politics.”
Read more about Virginia McKnight