Planning the city was only play, but in this game as well as in all others Frances Willard showed her remarkable ability as an organizer. Little did she realize that years later this ability would make her a valuable leader of the Temperance Cause.
Frances Elizabeth Willard was born at Churchville, New York, September 28, 1839. When she was but a tiny child, her parents moved to Oberlin, Ohio, in order that they might study at the university. After a few years of happy student life, Mr. Willard was obliged to give up his books and his dream of becoming a minister for a life outdoors in the West.
What an adventure the journey was for the three little Willards! There were no fine Pullman trains in which they could travel, for there were no railroads in that section of the country in those days. Three clumsy prairie schooners carried them to their new home. Frances and her little sister Mary rode in the third, perched comfortably enough among the cushions on the top of their father’s old-fashioned desk. For three weeks they traveled over the prairies, stopping only to cook their meals, gypsy-fashion, and to rest on Sundays.
“Forest Home” was the name given to the pretty rustic cottage that Mr. Willard built among the oaks and hickory groves, by the banks of the Rock River, near Janesville, Wisconsin. It was a delightful place in which to spend a happy childhood. To be sure, the Willards’ only callers at first were the chipmunks and birds, but there were no dull days. Every minute was filled. Frances did her share of the household tasks and far more than her share in planning the family games.
Although the lively Frances was the leader in all the fun, there was one sport in which she was not allowed to join. This was horseback riding. Confiding to her brother that she must ride something, she tried the cow. Her father laughed when he saw her on her clumsy steed, and allowed her to have a horse after that. This simple way of disposing of difficulties served her well all her life.
Active and full of fun as Frances Willard was, she liked to be quiet and thoughtful too. A black oak in the garden bore the sign:
The Eagle’s Nest—Beware!
High up in the leafy branches Frances would sit for hours, making up bits of verse or editing the “Fort City” newspaper.
On Sunday afternoons the children would wander with their mother in the orchard while she talked to them about the beauty that God had created. They realized that God was very near.
Frances was quite young when she first heard from her parents of the unhappiness that drink brings. With the other children she signed a pledge written in the big family Bible, and ending: