In announcing the change in her residence and the transfer of the Lily to Mrs. Birdsall, at Richmond, Ind., Mrs. Bloomer wrote among other matters connected with the change as follows:
“We have deeply cherished The Lily, and we have been greatly cheered by the daily evidence we have had of the good it was doing. This has encouraged us to go forward even when we were nearly fainting under our self-imposed task, and did circumstances favor it we should probably labor on, weary as we have sometimes felt and great as has often been the effort necessary to the discharge of duty. But the Lily, being as we conceive of secondary importance, must not stand in the way of what we believe our interest. Home and husband being dearer to us than all beside, we cannot hesitate to sacrifice all for them; and so we cheerfully resign our pet to the care of its foster-mother, feeling well assured that our readers will lose nothing by the change, if they will only put forth their hands to strengthen her in her undertaking.
“As will be seen by the prospectus, we do not entirely sunder our connection with the Lily, but only throw off its greater burdens. As Corresponding Editor, we shall hold frequent chats with our old friends and readers provided they will listen to us and welcome it to their homes as of old. We have no idea of retiring into obscurity, but shall keep the public posted as to our whereabouts, and tell them of the events occurring in our far-distant home amid the Bluffs of the Missouri.”
CHAPTER EIGHTH.
Mrs. Bloomer gave up her residence in Mount Vernon with sincere regret, but with the earnest hope that it would bring a much-needed rest and improved health. She had mingled freely among the people, and many social courtesies had been extended to her. She had worked faithfully in the temperance cause, through the medium of the Good Templars and in other ways, and enjoyed greatly the fact that the sale of intoxicating drinks had been almost entirely suppressed in the town.
ON HER TRAVELS.
On leaving Mount Vernon she proceeded to Richmond, Indiana, where she transferred the Lily and all belonging to it, type, cases, subscription books and lists, to Mrs. Mary Birdsall, the new editor and proprietor. She spent several days there very pleasantly visiting, among others, the family of Mr. James S. Starr, a resident of Richmond. On its becoming known that Mrs. Bloomer was in the town, an invitation was soon extended to her to deliver her lecture on woman’s wrongs and rights. This she accepted, and was greeted with a large audience. She gave to Mrs. Birdsall all information in her power relative to the new work she had taken upon herself in assuming the publication of the Lily, and promised to write frequently for its columns, a promise which she faithfully discharged so long as the paper continued to be published; but of these productions it is now impossible to obtain a copy—at least the writer hereof has found it so.
The two or three months following were spent in travel and in visiting relatives and friends. She first journeyed to Indianapolis, reaching there on the first day of January, 1855. The city was resonant with the sounds of rejoicing on the advent of the New Year and firecrackers and toy pistols were ablaze on all the streets. On the following evening, she delivered her lecture on woman’s rights in one of the principal public halls of the city to a large audience. Leaving the next day, she passed on to Cincinnati, viewing on the way the point on the Ohio River known as North Bend from which General Harrison had been taken to assume the responsible duties of the presidential office, which he was able to meet only for a single month. In Cincinnati she delivered but one lecture, having been taken dangerously ill and being in consequence confined to the hotel for several days. With the first signs of returning strength, she left for the home of a relative in central Ohio where she remained until her health was partially restored. She was then able to accept invitations to lecture in surrounding towns; among those she visited, was West Jefferson where she met Mrs. Mary Swan and her son, Mr. A. B. Walker, who subsequently became respected and useful residents of Council Bluffs and renewed their acquaintance with Mrs. Bloomer. Leaving Ohio towards the end of the month, she spent the remainder of the winter with relatives in her old home in New York.
Brothers and sisters both of herself and of her husband were then living, and all were in the prime of life. The journey was made by rail from Cleveland to near the head of Seneca Lake, where some days were passed. Then down the lake to Geneva, at which place and at Buffalo, Canandaigua, Waterloo, and Seneca Falls their relatives mostly resided. Mrs. Bloomer delivered one or more of her lectures during the winter; but this was a season of rest for her, and one she greatly needed. Her long years of work on the Lily had ended, although she still continued to write monthly communications for its columns. The little village of Aurora, the place of her husband’s nativity, was also one of her stopping places. Near it was a Friends’ or Quaker neighborhood, and her sojourn was with some of these kind-hearted people. One of them was Humphrey Howland, a venerable man and an old resident. With these kind hosts Mrs. Bloomer attended a fifth-day morning meeting in their plain frame meeting house, and had an opportunity of witnessing their peculiar customs and their mode of religious service. The building was of the plainest kind and wholly devoid of paint. The people sat on wooden benches, in profound silence, the women on one side, the men on the other with their hats on. After the stillness had lasted nearly half-an-hour a comparatively young woman arose, and after laying aside her bonnet proceeded to deliver a most earnest exhortation to all present to live holy lives. And so Mrs. Bloomer on that day listened to a woman preacher. Then ensued a season of quiet thinking; after which all arose to their feet, handshaking followed all round, and the good people departed to their homes. By special invitation, Mrs. Bloomer delivered one of her lectures in the village. And so the winter passed among relatives and friends rapidly and pleasantly away, and the time drew near when she must leave for her new home in the far distant west.