Abby Hadassah Smith
American, 1797 - 1878
BiographyAbby Hadassah Smith was born in Glastonbury, Connecticut, on 1 June 1797. She was the daughter of Hannah Hadassah Hickok (or Hickock) Smith (1767-1850) and Zephaniah H. Smith (1758-1836). Her sisters were Hancy Zephina (1787-1871); Cyrinthia Sacretia (1788-1864); Laurilla Aleroyla (1789-1857); and Julia Evelina (1792-1886). Her father was a Congregationalist minister, but later turned to the law. He was a firm abolitionist. Her mother was well educated, having studied Latin, Italian, mathematics, and astronomy, as well as writing poetry.
After the death of her parents and three of her sisters, Abby Smith lived with her sister Julia on the family homestead in Glastonbury. She managed the farm, allowing her more retiring sister to pursue her academic interests. Abby and Julia Smith took an interest in women's suffrage in about 1869, after having to pay the same highway tax twice. They began attending suffrage meetings in Hartford, and in October 1873, Abby Smith, then age 76, attended the Woman's Congress in New York. The following month, she spoke at the Glastonbury town meeting against taxing women, who were not yet allowed to vote. From 1873 until her death in 1878, Abby Smith refused to pay taxes without a vote in the town meeting, and her sister Julia joined in this resistance. A tract of the sisters' land was disposed of at public auction to pay their taxes, and their cows were repeatedly sold to pay delinquent taxes. Abby and Julia Smith supported the women's suffrage movement by writing letters to the press, speaking at local meetings and suffrage conventions, and annually petitioning the Connecticut legislature for a woman's right to vote. In January 1878, the sisters attended a hearing on the equal suffrage amendment before a committee of the United States Senate, where Julia Smith spoke. The Smith sisters and their cows became known throughout the United States and abroad and added impetus to the movement to allow women the right to vote. Abby Hadassah Smith died 23 July 1878.
After the death of her parents and three of her sisters, Abby Smith lived with her sister Julia on the family homestead in Glastonbury. She managed the farm, allowing her more retiring sister to pursue her academic interests. Abby and Julia Smith took an interest in women's suffrage in about 1869, after having to pay the same highway tax twice. They began attending suffrage meetings in Hartford, and in October 1873, Abby Smith, then age 76, attended the Woman's Congress in New York. The following month, she spoke at the Glastonbury town meeting against taxing women, who were not yet allowed to vote. From 1873 until her death in 1878, Abby Smith refused to pay taxes without a vote in the town meeting, and her sister Julia joined in this resistance. A tract of the sisters' land was disposed of at public auction to pay their taxes, and their cows were repeatedly sold to pay delinquent taxes. Abby and Julia Smith supported the women's suffrage movement by writing letters to the press, speaking at local meetings and suffrage conventions, and annually petitioning the Connecticut legislature for a woman's right to vote. In January 1878, the sisters attended a hearing on the equal suffrage amendment before a committee of the United States Senate, where Julia Smith spoke. The Smith sisters and their cows became known throughout the United States and abroad and added impetus to the movement to allow women the right to vote. Abby Hadassah Smith died 23 July 1878.
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Cape Verdean, 1924 - 2005
