The Revolutionary Smith Sisters of Glastonbury

What do cows have to do with the history of women’s suffrage? The answer to this curious question lies in the town of Glastonbury, Connecticut, at the farm of the well-respected, though unconventional, Smith family.

The Smiths were among the largest property holders in Glastonbury in the 19^th century. Zephaniah Hollister Smith (1759 – 1836), a Yale graduate and former clergyman turned farmer and lawyer, purchased their home, the Kimberly Mansion, around 1790, where he raised five daughters with his wife Hannah Hadassah (Hickok) Smith (1767-1850). Hannah was noted as being “a lady of uncommon literary attainments, speaking French and reading Italian.” She was responsible for writing one of the first anti-slavery petitions presented to Congress by John Quincy Adams, and it is said that it was primarily at Hannah’s urging that the Smith home became a stop on the Underground Railroad (now designated a National Historic Landmark). In 1870, their home was nearly 150 years old, and its beauty, quaintness and antiquity were often remarked upon in newspapers of the time due to its historic interest as the site of “some of the most important anti-slavery meetings…held in the days of the struggle for the freedom of the blacks.” Zephaniah and Hannah’s strong beliefs in women’s rights and education, and the abolition of slavery, were passed on to their daughters.

The family was well known locally for their nonconformist ways, though wealth and social status shielded them from excessive criticism. All five daughters were extremely well educated, attending some of the first institutions dedicated to women’s education, such as Catharine Beecher’s Seminary in Hartford, CT and Emma Willard’s Seminary in Troy, NY. Each uniquely-named daughter had distinct strengths and interests: Hancy Zephinia (1787–1871), the eldest, was a staunch abolitionist who spoke openly and often about the evils of slavery. Cyrinthia Sacretia (1788–1864) was a gifted horticulturalist. Laurilla Aleroyla (1789–1837) and Julia Evelina (1792–1886) were both teachers, but, while Laurilla was gifted in painting and the fine arts, Julia studied languages and could read Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. Abby Hadassah (1797–1878), the youngest, is best remembered for her involvement in the following notable chapter in the women’s suffrage movement.

Though the family led mostly quiet lives, the citizens of Glastonbury certainly considered the Smiths at least slightly eccentric, particularly as the years wore on and none of the daughters opted for marriage. Zephaniah passed away in 1836, Hannah in 1850, and, by the year 1872, only Julia and Abby remained. The two sisters continued to live together in the family home, both attending local and regional temperance and women’s suffrage meetings, and sharing their property with a small herd of seven Alderney cows raised by Julia that were more akin to family pets than livestock.

Their story might end there, had not the town leaders opted to raise taxes selectively: only the Smith sisters and two local widows saw a tax increase, while there was no change for property-holding men. Abby was outraged, and she noted that without a father, husband, brother, son, or any other male relative nearby to represent them, this charge amounted to taxation without representation. When the tax collector came knocking at their door, Abby vowed that they would not pay until she and her sister were given a vote in town elections. The tax man was forced to retreat, unsure of how to proceed against these plucky, wealthy women old enough to be his grandmothers.

Though the sisters were secure financially, this refusal put them in a tenuous position culturally, and they awaited the potential backlash. Abby and Julia hoped to make their case to the town leaders, but the sisters were refused when they asked to speak at a town meeting. A local newspaper reported that upon being denied, “Abby and Julia withdrew, remarking rather pointedly on the injustice which refused them a hearing in the hall for which they had paid more than any voter in town.” Not to be discouraged, Abby (now 76 years old, and the younger of the two) climbed onto an old wagon in front of the meeting house, and gave her speech to a gathering of local men. The response was mixed. Some of the men took the women seriously (whether they agreed with them or not), while others jeered and cracked jokes. Either way, Abby and Julia had their attention.

A few months later local authorities arrived again at the Smith farm and, finding the sisters firmer than ever in their resolve, seized their cows to sell at auction to cover the debt. Newspapers reported on the sad scene: “after the seizure, [the cows] were huddled into an old tobacco-shed, and ‘tied up for seven days and nights together; always having had their freedom before.’ … When the mournful procession started for the place of sale, the animals were harassed by a dog and drum. Several wagons followed. Mrs. K. remarked on the way that it appeared like a funeral.” Still refusing to pay what they considered to be an illegal tax of just over $100, the sisters attended the auction and spent far more than $100 on buying their cows back. This would not be the last time the cows would be marched to auction however, and sadly, several of the cows were indeed eventually sold.

Covered regularly by the newspapers, the story of the Smith sisters’ plight spread like wildfire, and was followed with great interest across a nation already rumbling with the growing momentum of the women’s suffrage movement. In January 1874, Abby wrote a letter to leading suffragist and abolitionist Lucy Stone (1818-1893) in which she explained the following: “You have probably read the result of taking our cows…We had no idea the town would do any such thing, and we think now had they known what notoriety it would bring they would not have done it.” She goes on to mention that the Defense Fund was suggested without their knowledge in the Springfield Republican, and, while monetary donations would be helpful in demonstrating strong public sympathy for their case, the Smith sisters intended “to pay all expenses ourselves, and return the money.”

Connecticut authorities eventually changed tactics and auctioned off several acres of the Smiths’ land worth about $2000 to a neighboring man for less than $80. This action, the sisters and their lawyer claimed, was against the law, which plainly stated that all moveable property must be sold to cover unpaid taxes before real estate could be seized. The sisters sued the town, and, after a two-year battle with the courts, the case was decided in their favor.

Julia collected several of the newspaper reports and assembled them into a pamphlet, Abby Smith and Her Cows, which she published using her own funds in 1877. The copy in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division is actually part of Susan B. Anthony’s Library, donated to the Library of Congress in 1903. The frontispiece shows Abby with four of the seven cows, seized and sold for property taxes, along with two calves named “Martha Washington” and “Abigail Adams.” The compilation includes Abby Smith’s 1873 and 1874 speeches before Glastonbury town meetings, Julia and Abby’s letters to the press, and reports of the 1876 court case regarding unlawful seizure of their land for taxes.

Though this copy is not annotated by Anthony, a humorous note from the January 1874 edition of the Worcester (Mass.) Daily Press demonstrates Anthony’s early interest in the case of the harassed Smith sisters in the image below.

Contemporary accounts of these events provide striking descriptions of the Smith sisters themselves, particularly the strength that these women showed in the face of difficult odds, their peaceful but resigned insistence on standing for what they considered right, and very often, the wit and humor they consistently displayed throughout the fight. Newspapers also described the pair as unlike other suffrage leaders, who desired notoriety and attention. In fact, celebrity was the very last thing the sisters intended—they were simply fighting against what they saw as a very clear injustice, and they were pleasantly surprised by the outpouring of support that they received.

Furthermore, it did not go unnoticed that the Smith sisters’ resistance began in 1873, the year of the 100^th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. Newspapers and suffrage leaders alike ran with the allusion that compared the sisters to ideals from American Revolutionary history. As Lucy Stone noted in 1874, “Today … Gen. Hawley…is moving heaven and earth to bring together the means by which to celebrate the praises of men, who, a hundred years ago, resisted unto death the taxation which had no representation. In his own state are two women, educated, intelligent, and venerable with years, who are standing for the defense of the same principle.”

Emphasizing the similarities between the Smith sisters’ arguments and that of their American forefathers was extremely effective in illustrating the perceived injustices of the law as it stood in relation to women. An entry in the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) files continues this comparison: “Somewhere the stones are lying, which will one day be builded up to mark the spot where this bloodless victory was won, and the names of these heroic women will be written there, the first signers of this new Declaration of Independence.” Though the sisters won their case, neither lived to see women win the right to vote; but their plight and the newspaper coverage that they received, provided a new face for the women’s suffrage struggle that would eventually win the day.

 

 

Sources and Further Reading: 

Chicago Daily Tribune. (Chicago, Ill.) 1872-1963. January 17, 1874, Image 4. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.

Housley, K.L. (1993). The Letter Kills but the Spirit Gives Life: the Smiths–Abolitionists, Suffragists, Bible Translators. Glastonbury: Historical Society of Glastonbury, Conn.

National American Woman Suffrage Association Records: General Correspondence, 1839-1961; Smith, Abby H. mss34132, box 28; reel 19. Manuscript Division.

National American Woman Suffrage Association Records: Subject File, 1851-1953; Smith, Abby H. and Julia E. Image 12. mss34132, box 74; reel 53. Manuscript Division.

National American Woman Suffrage Association Records: Subject File, 1851-1953; Smith, Abby H. and Julia E. Image 25. mss34132, box 74; reel 53. Manuscript Division.

The Red Cloud Chief. (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923. September 01, 1882, SUPPLEMENT, Image 5. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.

Springfield Weekly Republican. (Springfield, Mass.) 1851-1946. January 09, 1874, Page 2, Image 2. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.

Smith, J.E. (1877). Abby Smith and Her Cows. Hartford, Conn. [American publishing company]. Susan B. Anthony Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

Speare, E.G. (1957). “Abby, Julia, and the Cows,” American Heritage, Volume 8, Issue 4.

Worcester Daily Press. (Worcester, Mass.) 1873-1878. January 13, 1874, Image 2. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.

 

 

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