The Women of the U.S. Postage Stamps—Part 6

By Jennifer Uhlarik

 

Hello, readers! It’s time for the next installment of women who have been featured on our American postage stamps. In previous posts, we’ve explored nearly 90 years of U.S. Postage history, with many interesting women who have graced the postage stamps. 

 

Today, we jump in with the postal history of 1985. The first lady we’ll see on the postage stamp is a literal First Lady—Mrs. Abigail Adams, the wife of the second U.S. President, John Adams. Interestingly, due to a sickly childhood, young Abigail never attained a formal education. However, that didn’t stop her from learning. Her mother and other family members taught her to read, write, and cipher, and she availed herself of her extended family’s extensive libraries. She read much on many topics. When she was fifteen, a young country lawyer named John Adams came to her house with a friend—the man engaged to be married to Abigail’s sister. Eventually, John and Abigail married, and John whisked her away to an adventure she probably never imagined in her childhood. She birthed six children in twelve years, watched from afar as her husband served in the Continental Congress. During this time, she ran the family farm and wrote many letters to her husband, helping him hammer out ideas on the founding of this fledgling nation. In the 1780s, she accompanied her husband to Paris on a diplomatic mission, served as the very first Second Lady of the United States when John became Vice President under George Washington. Once Washington stepped out of the presidency after two terms, John was elected President, making Abigail the second-ever First Lady. They served only one term in the Presidency, though twenty-four years later, her second-born, John Quincy Adams, was elected as the country’s sixth President, making her one of only two women in American politics to be both the wife and the mother of an American president. (The other is Barbara Bush).

Also featured in 1985 was Mary McLeod Bethune. Born in 1875, Mary was the fifteenth child of seventeen. Her parents had both been former slaves and continued to work as sharecroppers for their former owner, eventually earning enough to purchase five acres of land from him. There, they built a cabin and raised their extensive family. She desired to be a missionary in Africa, but after the mission board turned her down, she became a teacher instead. Eventually moving to Florida, Mary started the Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls in 1904. Initially, the school had six students—five girls and Mary’s son, Albert. A year later, the school had thirty students, and a year after that, the number had swelled to two-hundred-fifty. She sought rich benefactors for her school, grew the institution, and eventually merged it with the Cookman Institute in 1923, making it the first Black college in Florida. Mary Bethune served as president of the college until 1942. In addition to this prestigious work, she also went on to work for many other causes including women’s suffrage and civil rights, among others. 

Our next lady is one I’d not heard of before—Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood. She was born in 1830 New York to a farmer and his wife. By age fourteen, Belva began teaching at the local elementary school, and four years later, she married her first husband, Uriah McNall. Unfortunately, their marriage was short-lived. After five years, Uriah died of illness, leaving Belva a widow with a three-year-old daughter in tow. Fearing her present education level would not serve her well, she fought to enroll in college and, after a semester, was granted a seat at Genesee College. It was there, she gained an interest in the law and began taking private lessons with a local lawyer who advertised for students wanting to learn law. After graduation, she became the headmistress of a school, but still found she was paid roughly half of her male counterparts. Upon meeting and getting to know Susan B. Anthony, Belva’s theory on education changed, particularly in regard to young women. In the schools she oversaw, she began expanding curriculums to include business classes, math, science, and more, so that her female students could do more than manage a household. She married for the second time in 1868, this time to Reverend Ezekiel Lockwood. Lockwood was substantially older than Belva, and supported her unusual goals of wanting to become a lawyer and run for political office. After much difficulty, she fulfilled all coursework and testing to gain her law degree but had to fight for her diploma. It required a letter to then-President Ulysses S. Grant to get the diploma issued, which then allowed her to join the District of Columbia bar. She was the first women to run for President of the United States, but as a member of the Equal Rights Party, she had no real chance of being elected to the highest office. Despite that, she had a forty-three-year career in law, became the first woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, fought to be sure the Cherokee Nation was given the $5,000,000 promised them by the government for land they ceded to the nation, and many other interesting cases.

 

Next up is Margaret Mitchell, who you might recognize as the famed author of Gone with the Wind. Margaret was born in 1900 in Atlanta, Georgia, and lived her entire life in that state. Her childhood consisted of hearing grisly stories of the American Civil War from her extended family, who fought for the Confederacy during the conflict, as well as seeing the old brick and stone fireplaces of many of the plantation homes burned in Sherman’s March to the Sea. She took up storytelling and writing at an early age, and by the time she went to college, her mother had many of her stories collected in boxes in the family home. As an adult, she worked for a time as a journalist for the Atlanta Journal but left the job when she injured her ankle. It was during this time that she began writing Gone with the Wind. It took her three years to complete, and it was quickly picked up by a publisher. Other works she wrote and submitted at the same time were rejected, although in 1996, a romantic novella she wrote in her teen years entitled Lost Laysen was discovered among the belongings of a former boyfriend and was published posthumously, to great acclaim. 

Our final lady of the postage stamp for today is Isabella Bomefree. In case that name doesn’t ring a bell, she is better known as Sojourner Truth. Truth was born into slavery around 1797 in New York. In the 1820s, New York made a move toward abolishing slavery, and her owner promised to free her when the statewide abolition took place a year later. However, when he then reneged by stating an injury had made her less productive, she fled with her infant daughter to freedom (leaving several other children behind). A kindly couple took her and her daughter in and, when word came that her son had been illegally sold to another owner, helped Truth fight in court for her son. After months of legal battles, she won the case—a first for any black woman. In her newfound freedom, she became a Christian and believed the Lord called her to preach the truth that was in her. Thus, she began making the circuit to various camp meetings. She became a well-known speaker and singer, lending her voice to various causes from abolition of slavery to equal rights, women’s suffrage, and more. She lived to be eighty-six years old and spent the bulk of her life speaking out on these causes.

 

It's Your Turn: Which of these amazing women do you find the most inspirational or interesting, and why?

 

 

 

Jennifer Uhlarik discovered western novels at twelve when she swiped the only “horse” book from her brother’s bookshelf. Across the next decade, she devoured westerns and fell in love with the genre. While attaining a B.A. in writing from the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. She has finaled in and won numerous writing competitions and appeared on various best-seller lists. Besides writing, she’s been a business owner, a schoolteacher, a marketing director, a historical researcher, a publisher, and a full-time homemaker. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband and fur children.

 

Available Now: Love and Order: A Three-Part Old West Romantic Mystery 

Wanted: 

Family, Love, and Justice

One Old West Mystery Solved Throughout Three Short Romantic Stories

Separated as children when they were adopted out to different families from an orphan train, the Braddock siblings have each grown up and taken on various jobs within law enforcement and criminal justice.

 

Youngest child, Callie, has pushed past her insecurities to pursue a career as a Pinkerton agent. Middle child, Andi, has spent years studying law under her adoptive father’s tutelage. And the eldest and only son, Rion, is a rough-and-tumble bounty hunter. 

 

When the hunt for a serial killer with a long history of murders reunites the brother and sisters in Cambria Springs, Colorado, they find themselves not only in a fight for justice, but also a fight to keep their newly reunited family intact. How will they navigate these challenges when further complicated by unexpected romances?

 

 

 

 

 

Food Riots 1776 to 1779

 With Nancy J. Farrier

 

 

Photo by Jim, The Photographer
Wikimedia Commons

Thanksgiving is almost here. We’re overwhelmed with the cost of groceries and putting together a meal for family and friends. Prices have gone up on everything and we wonder why. This isn’t anything new.

 

During the revolutionary war, the British often blockaded the harbors, limiting access to certain foods. Much of what was available was commandeered to be sent to feed the American troops fighting the war. Plus, some merchants withheld their stock just to raise prices. They hoarded supplies, overpriced what little they offered for sale, monopolizing in particular the coffee, tea, flour, and sugar.

 

Boston Bread Riots (earlier date)
Public Domain
Wikimedia Commons

It was this third practice that angered the women who were struggling to keep up their homes and feed their families while their men were off fighting. This was hard enough without the storekeepers who were taking advantage and wanting to gain wealth at other’s expense. 

 

During the three-year period between 1776 and 1779, there were at least thirty food riots. Sometimes men participated, but most of them were women who were fighting to get food for their families. One of the farmers commented that what they were facing from the shopkeepers was the same oppression that brought on the war with Britain.

 

In 1777, Thomas Boylston, a merchant in Boston, attempted to drive up the price of coffee and sugar by hoarding them in his warehouse. Over one hundred women marched to his warehouse with carts and demanded the keys to open the doors.

 

 

When Boylston refused to give up the keys, one of the women picked him up by the neck and dumped him in a cart. He realized he was in a bad position and agreed to give up the keys. The women retrieved them from him and then tilted the cart and dumped him out in the street. They went on to open the warehouse and load their carts with the goods they needed, which they then distributed to those in need.

 

Abigail Adams !766
Photo by Benjamin Blyth
Wikimedia Commons

It is reported that several men were watching the incident with Thomas Boylston but didn’t interfere. Perhaps, they didn’t agree with the way the shopkeeper was taking advantage of families.

 

Abigail Adams reported the incident to her husband in an letter, telling him, “there has been much rout and noise in the town for several weeks.” She went on to relate the incident in detail in the letter.

In Beverly, Massachusetts, in 1777, women rioted when shopkeepers refused to sell goods for paper money. Some sixty women, wearing cloaks with hoods, marched to the wharves. One of them carried a musket and they brought two ox-carts with them.

 

Marching first to the distil-house where the sugar they needed was kept, the women were thwarted when the foreman locked the gates. The rioters asked some nearby men for assistance and they broke open the gates with their axes.

 

Versailles food riots 1789
Public Domain - Wikimedia Commons

The foreman resisted, but it was reported by Edwin Stone that the women seized the man by his hair, which was a hairpiece. He went on to say in his article, “…he eluded their grasp by leaving his artificial covering in their hands—and fleeing all but scalpless to the counting-room…” The foreman then locked himself in for safety.

 

After the women forced open the doors, they brought out two hogsheads of sugar and loaded them on their carts. Other merchants saw what was happening and opened negotiations with the women, agreeing to sell their products for paper money. 

 

While I don’t think these methods would work for us today, it is interesting to see the power women wield when they stand together against injustice. What are your thoughts? Have you ever heard of these food riots? (I had trouble finding pictures of the food riots talked about in this post so I added a couple of pictures of other food riots done by women in the 1700's.)

 

I do hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving. Enjoy your food and family.

Nancy J Farrier is an award-winning, best-selling author who lives in Southern Arizona in the Sonoran Desert. She loves the Southwest with its interesting historical past. When Nancy isn’t writing, she loves to read, do needlecraft, play with her cats and dog, and spend time with her family. You can read more about Nancy and her books on her website: nancyjfarrier.com.

Happy October Birthday to Five Former Presidents & A First Lady

Five former U.S. presidents celebrated their birthdays in October. 

And so did one remarkable First Lady.

These accomplished individuals have multiple books written about them. 

This post shares only a few basics.

Happy 288^th Birthday to John Adams ~ 2^nd U.S. President

• October 30, 1735 ~ born in Braintree, Massachusetts
• 1776 ~ helped to draft the Declaration of Independence
• 1789 ~ elected first Vice-President of the U.S.
• 1796-1801 ~ presidential term
• July 4, 1826 ~ died at the age of 90 (the same day as Thomas Jefferson, our 3^rd president; James Madison, our 5^th president, died on July 4, 1831).

Adams “was an Enlightenment political theorist and abolitionist who vehemently opposed slavery. Born as the son of a farmer and cobbler, Adams rose from his humble beginnings to become a qualified lawyer after receiving education from a prestigious college [Harvard]” (FP-Adams).

Happy 201^st Birthday to Rutherford B. Hayes ~ 19^th U.S. President

• October 4, 1822 ~ born in Delaware, Ohio
• Major General in the Civil War
• 1877-1881 ~ presidential terms
• January 17, 1893 ~ died at the age of 70

Hayes “soon gained prominence as a criminal defense attorney, and as a strict abolitionist, he also defended slaves who had escaped and were accused under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850” (FP-Hayes).

Happy 194^th Birthday to Chester A. Arthur ~ 21^st U.S. President 

• October 5, 1829 ~ born in Fairfield, Vermont
• 1881-1885 ~ became president after James Garfield was assassinated 
• November 18, 1886 ~ died at the age of 57

In 1854, Arthur won a discrimination case on behalf of Elizabeth Jennings Graham, an African-American teacher, which led to the desegregation of New York City’s streetcar lines.

Happy 165^th Birthday to Theodore Roosevelt ~ 26^th U.S. President 

• October 27, 1858 ~ born in New York City, New York
• 1901-1909 ~ became president after William McKinley was assassinated; elected to second term
• 1906 ~ received the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to end the Russian-Japanese War
• October 14, 1912 ~ survived an assassination attempt
• January 6, 1919 ~ died at the age of 60
• 2001 ~ posthumously received the Congressional Medal of Honor 

The assassin’s bullet penetrated Roosevelt’s steel eyeglass case and passed through his fifty-page speech before lodging in his chest. 

“As an experienced hunter and anatomist, Roosevelt correctly concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung” (W-TR). 

He gave his speech, talking for ninety minutes, then sought medical attention.

Happy 133^rd Birthday to Dwight D. Eisenhower ~ 34^th U.S. President

• October 14, 1890 ~ born in Denison, Texas
• Five-star general of the US Army and Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces during WWII
• 1953-1961 ~ presidential terms
• 1956 ~ signed the bill authorizing the Interstate Highway System
• March 28, 1969 ~ died at the age of 78

“In 1945, Eisenhower anticipated that someday an attempt would be made to recharacterize Nazi crimes as propaganda (Holocaust denial) and took steps against it by demanding extensive still and movie photographic documentation of Nazi death camps” (Hobbs). 

Happy 139^th Birthday to Eleanor Roosevelt ~ our Longest-Serving First Lady

• October 11, 1884 ~ born in New York City, New York
• March 17, 1905 ~ married Franklin Roosevelt, her father’s fifth cousin; Theodore Roosevelt signed the marriage certificate as a witness
• 1933-1945 ~ FDR's presidential terms
• November 7, 1962 ~ died at the age of 78

“Her role as the chairman of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women from 1961 to 1962 made her rank in the top ten of the ‘Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century’” (FP-Eleanor).

Your Turn ~ Which of these individuals would you most like to meet. What tidbit of information did you find most interesting? 

Johnnie writes award-winning stories in multiple genres. A fan of classic movies, stacks of books, and road trips, she shares a life of quiet adventure with Griff, her happy-go-lucky collie, and Rugby, her raccoon-treeing papillon. Visit her at johnnie-alexander.com.

Photos ~ all photos are in the public domain.

John & Abigail Adams ~ portraits by American painter Benjamin Blyth.

Chester Arthur ~ portrait by Ole Peter Hansen Balling (1881).

Dwight D. Eisenhower ~ official White House portrait (c. 1960).

Mamie Eisenhower ~ portrait painted by Thomas E. Stephens (1953). 

Rutherford B. Hayes ~ official White House portrait by Daniel Huntington (1884).

Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt with their first two children, Anna & baby James (1908).

Theodore Roosevelt ~ “Theodore Roosevelt as the Badlands Hunter”; photographed by George Grantham Baine (1885 in New York City).

Sources ~ all websites accessed on October 6, 2023.

John Adams, TheFamousPeople.com-Adams.  

Chester A. Arthur, TheFamousPeople.com-Arthur.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, TheFamousPeople.com-DDE.

Rutherford B. Hayes, TheFamousPeople.com-Hayes.

Hobbs, Joseph Patrick (1999). Dear General: Eisenhower’s Wartime Letters to Marshall. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801862191. Pg 223.

Eleanor Roosevelt, TheFamousPeople.com-ER. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/eleanor-roosevelt-270.php

Teddy Roosevelt, TheFamousPeople.com-TR; Wikipedia.

Coffee in Colonial America

As I sit at my desk sipping my morning coffee, it occurrs to me how strange it is that the United States has transitioned into a country of java-drinkers. It was not always so—especially before the American Revolution erupted in 1775. 

In fact, even by 1773, American colonists had become so angry with Britain’s Parliament for all the taxation on their beloved tea, they threw overboard three cargo ships of the leaves into Boston Harbor. The Tea Party was definitely a statement of outrage that became a sacrifice for the Bohea (Boo-yee) lovers of Chinese tea. 

And so coffee came on the scene as the drink of the Patriots. The demand of the rebels to abstain from drinking taxable tea was so great that the brew was strictly forbidden in the Colony of Massachusetts in 1775. Neighborhood committe men were assigned to monitor private households to ensure that only coffee or herbal teas were served.

Anyone caught drinking the banned brew of tea taxed by England would be deemed a Tory. 

Drinking coffee was akin to declaring independence for America. Coffee became the preferred drink of the patriotic cause although many still desired the black or green tea that they had been accustomed to. But preferences aside, the popularity of coffee in America soared after the Boston Tea Party.

In fact, the Party itself was planned and the details plotted out in a coffee house called The Green Dragon. But while coffee was suddenly in high demand, it had actually arrived in the colonies in the late 17^thcentury, at the same time as tea.

            Coffee originated in the Arab countries but live plants were transported to greenhouses in Holland in 1616. From there, the Dutch began to grow this popular bean in India and Java (now called Indonesia). Within a few years, the Dutch were the main suppliers of coffee to Europe.

The Holland connection brings up another interesting tidbit from my research. A mortar and pestle for “braying” coffee beans into powder was brought over on the Mayflower in 1620 by passengers William and Susanna White. The emigrants onboard the Mayflower had resided in Holland for a time before leaving for the New World. Thus, the first coffee may have arrived with the first colonists arriving at Plymouth, although there was no record of the beans actually carried as cargo onboard.

According to Dennis Picard, historian at Storrowton Village museum (West Springfield, MA), “coffee was shipped and purchased green, and the homeowner had to roast each batch either in a spider (a frying pan with legs) or a metal drum shaped roaster.” It was then ground with a mortar and pestle.

Crank coffee grinders began to be used in homes in the early part of the 19^thcentury.

The first literary reference to coffee consumption in North America is from 1668, when coffee houses were established in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and other cities. Often these coffee houses also served other beverages, such as tea, ale and cider.

A reference to coffee and tea is found in Shirley Glubock’s Home and Child Life in Colonial Days:

“In 1670, a Boston woman was licensed to sell coffee and chocolate, and soon coffee houses were established there. Some did not know how to cook coffee any more than tea, but boiled the whole coffee beans in water, ate them, and drank the liquid; and naturally this was not very good either to eat or drink.

At the time of the Stamp Act, when patriotic Americans threw the tea into Boston Harbor, Americans were just as great tea drinkers as the English. Coffee-drinking, first acquired in the Revolution, has also descended from generation to generation, and we now drink more coffee than tea. This is one of the differences in our daily life caused by the Revolution.”

Just one of the many differences, indeed.

My favorite excerpt about coffee and the American Revolution was an incident recorded by Abigail Adams in 1778, and quoted in Revolutionary Mothers by Carol Berkin:

“An eminent, wealthy, stingy merchant (also a bachelor) had a hogshead of coffee in his store, which he refused to sell…under six shillings per pound. A number of females, some say a hundred, some say more, assembled with a cart and trunks, marched down to the Warehouse and demanded the keys which he refused to deliver. Upon which one of them seized him by his neck and tossed him into the cart. Upon his finding no quarter, he delivered the keys when they tipped up the cart and discharged him; then opened the Warehouse, hoisted out the coffee themselves, put it into the trunks and drove off…a large concourse of men stood amazed silent spectators.”

I suppose the moral of that tale is, never stand between a woman and her coffee—especially during a Revolution!

 Elaine Marie Cooper has two historical fiction books that recently released: War’s Respite (Prequel novella) and Love’s Kindling. Love’s Kindling is available in both e-book and paperback. They are the first two books in the Dawn of America Series set in Revolutionary War Connecticut. Cooper is the award-winning author of Fields of the Fatherless and Bethany’s Calendar. Her 2016 release (Saratoga Letters) was finalist in Historical Romance in both the Selah Awards and Next Generation Indie Book Awards. She penned the three-book Deer Run Saga and has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies. You can visit her website/ blog at www.elainemariecooper.com

Love Letters Sustained Abigail and John Adams

An original letter from John Adams to his future wife Abigail
Elise Amendola/AP

“Dear Miss Adorable,” John Adams wrote in one of his first letters to Abigail, and so began one of the great romances of our American history. John Adams was twenty-four years old when he met the oh-so-young Abigail Smith. She was just fifteen and he was not particularly impressed with her in the beginning. “Not fond, not frank, not candid,” was his assessment of the young girl.

But over the next three years she matured, and he began to view her in a different light. And when love finally bloomed, it burst into full blush. “I hereby order you to give him, as many Kisses, and as many Hours of your Company after 9 O Clock as he shall please to Demand ...”

Portrait of John Adams - 1766

Portrait of Abigail Adams - 1766

This was a love that could stand the test of time and distance. John served in Europe in the Netherlands, France, and Britain from 1774 to 1784 as an envoy for the fledgling United States. Kindred spirits, the Adams love was sustained by their affection and intimacy.

Even though Abigail’s formal education was sadly lacking, she was a voracious reader and thus understood John’s important work representing the young government. While John roamed the world for a great cause, Abigail astutely ran their household and raised their five children, one of whom would later become president following in the footsteps of his father.

In a time when we can communicate with almost anyone on the planet instantly, it is almost impossible to understand how two people could write 1,160 letters when each took about six weeks to cross the ocean. Sometimes those letters were lost and never delivered at all. When decisions had to be made regarding the children, or when something written in a letter caused consternation, it was a slow response indeed. Abigail was John’s confidante, supporter, best friend, and most loyal critic.

John Adams Jr., American statesman and Founding Father, served
 as the first Vice President and second President of the United States.

Later, when he returned home and they could have taken up life on their Massachusetts farm, John accepted the presidency and became America’s second president. Abigail then stepped into her role as first lady—even before the term “first lady” was used—and began to define the job. It was she who set up much of the protocol still observed today. She entertained dignitaries at dinner. She conducted a great Fourth of July party to which everyone in the area was invited. But most importantly, she was a listening ear to her husband, offering wise advice and counsel.

Why did this love relationship work so well? Probably most of all because of the respect each had for the other. John realized that what they had written to each other over many years could stand as a primer on successful marriage. He had all the letters in his possession bound in a leather binder, and he advised Abigail to do the same. The marriage also survived because it was without an exit clause. They were in it together for the duration.

Those letters and the information and strength of character they portray are the fruit of many lonely years spent away from each other. It was not fun, and it was not easy, but both buckled down to whatever task presented itself and endured. Was there never a blip in their relationship? Oh, yes. John wrote to Abigail and extolled the French ladies. He said they were “handsome, and … exceedingly brilliant.”

That didn’t fly well with Abigail. In a slow-motion quarrel, she fired back at him. “How much female Education is neglected … tho I acknowled it my happiness to be connected with a person of a more generous mind and liberal sentiments.” Ouch! But quarrels and disputes didn’t last long, and they were soon back addressing each other as “My Dearest Friend.”

Equal Franchise Society reproduces extract from famous Abigail Adams
 letter of March 31, 1776, in which she warns John to “Remember the Ladies.”
Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress

Abigail was a very forward-thinking woman, and 150 years before the House of Representatives voted to pass the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote, she wrote, “I long to hear that you have declared on independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.” We can only imagine what John must have thought when that letter arrived.

After one term in office, John was defeated in his second run for the presidency in 1800. He decided the time had come to retire. In one of his last letters, he wrote to Abigail that “It is fit and proper that you and I should retire together and not one before the other.” The letters ceased soon afterward because these two devoted and loving people were at last together and there was no longer a need for written communication.

Abigail summed up the marriage relationship well: “And there is a tye more binding than Humanity, and stronger than Friendship.” True, Abigail. True indeed.