Two Decades | Page 3

a
hand-to-hand conflict, and have done much to suppress; which has felt
the influence of our work in hundreds of directions, and whose
law-makers declare that it is good, and good only, has not yet awarded
us the right. But long before we reach our second majority the piece of
paper that "does the freeman's will as lightning does the will of God"
will be placed in the hand of woman, and sin and impurity, like the
shadows, will flee away.
And for those who are still in the stress of the battle, for those who will
come after us, and for those who will kindly read these pages, "May
God bless us each and every one."
MARY T. BURT.
NEW YORK, November 9, 1894.

MRS. ESTHER McNEIL.
(VETERAN CRUSADER)
Esther Lord was born in Carlisle, Schoharie county, New York, in the
year 1812. Her father was a Connecticut Yankee, her mother a native of
Massachusetts. When Esther was ten years of age her father died,
leaving ten children. We know little of the struggles through which
they passed before reaching manhood and womanhood.
In 1832 she was married to James McNeil, of Carlisle, and together
they enlisted under the Washingtonian movement to fight the demon

drink. About a month after her marriage she became a Christian, and,
with a new heart, God gave her the desire to be of use to others, and she
offered herself to the Lord to care for homeless children. Although she
has never been blessed with children of her own, yet the mother heart
has not been empty. In 1868 she with her husband moved to Fredonia,
Chautauqua county, New York, with eight homeless children to be put
to school. Two years later her husband, who was a member of the State
Temperance Society, died, and in this same year one of her dear girls
died.
In 1873 she entered the list of crusaders, and became a member of the
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, organized December 22, 1873.
This union has continued to be the leading union in the county, holding
weekly meetings, and loyal always to county, state, and national
organizations. Mrs. McNeil was the first county president, and for the
past seventeen years has been the local president in Fredonia. Although
now past eighty-two years of age, yet at the twenty-first annual
convention she led the "Crusaders' Hour" with great acceptance.
[Illustration: MRS. ESTHER McNEIL.]

PROLOGUE.
When history shall have recorded the events of America's nineteenth
century, prominent among them will be the "Woman's Crusade," a
movement whose strength, please God, will not be spent until the last
legalized saloon has disappeared from this fair land.
Hillsboro, Ohio, claims the birthplace, and December 23, 1873, as the
birthday of this momentous event. True, from this place and day the
influence deepened and widened, spreading to other localities with
wonderful rapidity; but to Fredonia, Chautauqua county, New York, is
accorded the honor of inaugurating the work, December 15, 1873. How
was this brought about? The story in brief is this:
On Saturday evening, December 13, Dr. Dio Lewis, of Boston, had

delivered a popular lecture in Fredonia, and upon invitation of the
Good Templars remained to deliver a temperance lecture at a union
service Sunday night. The audience was large, but there was no
indication of unusual results from the meeting. The speaker presented
the truth so forcibly, and recommended plans of procedure so practical,
that the audience caught his spirit. At the close of the lecture it was
evident something was going to be done, and that right speedily. Dr.
Lewis outlined a plan of work which he had seen tried with success in
his own village when a youth, and later in other places. The thoughtful
ones saw its feasibility, and numbers spoke upon the question. Rev.
Lester Williams, pastor of the Baptist Church, said he believed in
striking while the iron was hot, and asked all the ladies who
sympathized with the proposition to hold a meeting of consultation
relative to the work to rise. Nearly every woman was upon her feet. A
list of fifty names was secured of those who were ready to act, and a
committee consisting of Mrs. A. L. Benton, Mrs. Dr. Fuller, and Mrs. J.
P. Armstrong, Jr., was appointed to draw up an appeal to be presented
to the various liquor dealers of the town.
A meeting was called at the Baptist Church for Monday morning,
December 15, at ten o'clock, to adopt the appeal and inaugurate the
work. The past few days had been dark and gloomy, but Monday was
bright and beautiful. Mr. Williams remarked that in it they could see
the smile of God upon the movement. About three hundred people
gathered at the appointed hour--men and women. The following