Mary Upton Ferrin: Earliest Massachusetts Pioneer in Woman Suffrage by S.M. Smoller
My Hero | Early Days | Address to the Judiciary Committee | Charitable Benevolent Association | A Woman's Defence | Women's Rights | Later Life & Obituary Sketches | There's a Good Time Coming Girls | Notes

House No. 57: The Memorial of the Female Signers of the several petitions of Henry A. Hardy and others, presented March 1, 1849.

Note: This memorial was printed by order of the Legislature.  "The document is not signed and Mrs. Ferrin's name is not found with it upon the records, neither does her name appear in the journal of the House in connection with any of the petitions and addresses she caused to be presented to the legislature of the State.  But for the loyal friendship of the few who knew her work and were willing to give her due credit, the name of Mary Upton Ferrin and the memory of her labors as well as those of many another silent worker, would have gone into the 'great darkness'." - from The History of Woman Suffrage by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, et. al., Volume One, 1881, p. 208-215.

Gentlemen of the Senate and the House of Representatives:

Most respectfully would we, the petitioners, address you in behalf of the females in your own family circle and of those of your constituents, who in the capacity of wives and daughters, mothers and sisters, are ever ready to provide for, protect and defend all within their influence, to the extent of their ability.  Whatever elevates the character and condition of females contributes to the happiness and refinement of society.

Inasmuch as females contribute to the support of the government, their rights ought, in justice, to be respected, even though they have no political existence.   In all civil contracts, except the marriage one, provision is made in case either party fails to fulfill their obligation: how much more vitally important that such provision should be made, where one's whole interest and existence are so unequally and intimately connected.  Seldom would one wish to be divorced except on account of ill treatment.  Were the law as easy as the state of society demand, the cause of temperance would receive an impetus that had never yet been given to it.  Did the drunkard fear his wife's displeasure instead of ruling her by the aid of the law, with a rod of men, intemperance would meet a check which has never yet been realized.  Who, did she know the fate that awaits her, would ever marry an inebriate?  Not one; no, not one.  Why, then, should one through ignorance and misfortune, be compelled, by law, to drag out a miserable, half-fed, half-clad existence, of untold mental suffering, revolting to every sense of propriety, and of moral and intellectual refinement?  What man would provide such a law for his daughters; and whose daughters are secure from such a fate?  Language fails to convey a adequate idea of the sufferings, mortification, and deprivation, of the families of intemperate individuals, even though it could be written with liquid fire.

Seldom do we know a family whose members, more or less remote, are all exempt from the influence of that fell destroyed of human happiness.  No language is too abusive for a drunken man to bestow upon his wife, no hours too late for him to keep, no provision too mean for him to make; and yet there is no redress, except at an expense which a drunkard's wife is seldom about to defray and is able, she feels a reluctance to having her situation and circumstances exposed, as they must be in a court of justice.  Already are her sufferings sufficiently intense, without probing anew the wounds that can never be healed.  We are told of man's inhumanity to man, but man's inhumanity to woman, between whom no lawful equality exists, can never be known, to its full extent, except by personal experience.

The foot of the slave once planted upon freedom's shore, for him there is protection; but the wife who would escape a slavery unspeakably more galling, though she flee to the ends of the earth, it is with the weight of five years in advance of subjugation, to her the most loathsome of created objects, over whom she had no control; apprehensive for the safety of her life, ever liable to being stripped of every thing in her possession; while, on the other hand, the husband may live with his wife so long as he pleases, insult and abuse her to his heart's content, turn her out of his house, or hers, should she happen to own it, destitute upon the world; hold her in subjection to his will; deprive her of every thing that she may earn or come in possession of, and neglect to provide for during five years.

"what God hath joined together, let no man put asunder," meaning, obviously, let no made intrude to disturb the peace of families, thereby causing a separation.  Inasmuch as nothing can be more sacred than family peace, so likewise can nothing be more bitter than family contention.  What God hath joined together no man can render asunder, without the consent of one or both parties, which would never be obtained except from stern necessity.  Therefore, what man and woman had joined together, by any civil contract, let man and woman rend asunder, rather than live in civil war, until one or the other, or both parties, become insane or exterminated.  Who can tell how long one's mental or physical strength can withstand such afflictions?

At the prospect of cholera, a nation stands aghast!  But neither the cholera, plague, or nor any other disease, can complete with the heart-rendering scenes of trial and suffering which we unavoidable witness and experience in consequence of our present political existence.  Very complacently are we told not to dabble with politics.  The very thing which we should scorn to do did not politics first "dabble" with us, thereby placing us on the defensive. On the day that a woman marries, she is not only politically but civilly dead; the law makes her, with her possessions, the property of her husband, although scarce one in a hundred is, at the time, conscious of the fact.  Her time and talents are likewise devoted to his interest in return for which she had often only the privilege of waiting upon him, to be insulted, abused and trampled upon; in consequence of which, oceans of tears have been shed and many a fine intellect has been hopelessly and forever perverted.  Society differs exceedingly if similar events have not occurred to the knowledge of most, if not all, of you.

Had there been but one such incident within our country's history, it would speak in tones of thunder for redress; but being of so frequent occurrence, the voice of conscience is hushed and protection withheld from suffering humanity.

The following are only a few of the victims whose residence is within two miles of where we now write -

One is a lady who has been hopelessly insane, for more than nineteen years, in consequence of the abusive treatment she received from an intemperate husband.  In her youthful days, she had few if any superiors, either in regard to personal beauty, energy or intellectual endowments, and, had her husband been equally worthy, they would have been an ornament to the age in which they lived; instead of which he became intemperate, wasted his and her property, and after having ruined her health and mind, so as to render her incapable of contributing any longer to their support, he ended his miserable life in the almshouse, leaving his hapless wife to drag out her pitiable existence, bereft of her property, health, sight and reason.

A young woman, by her industry, accumulated a hundred dollars, which she deposited on interest, and, after clothing and furnishing herself respectably, married a man who was recommended to her, as being in every way worth, but who proved to be intemperate and abusive, driving her, is despair, with her infant, from his house, without even a change of apparel.  The poor woman sought employment in a factory, where, after earning sixty dollars, her husband forbid her employers paying her for her services.  Hard labor, disappointment, and suffering soon overpowered her frail constitution, and, despite of the law, a merciful God allowed her a divorce, by providing for her a peaceful grave, enviable, indeed, compared with the drunkard's noisy, restless home.  Her husband has since died, leaving his infant destitute upon the charities of the world, with no legacy except the worthy example of a heart-broken mother, and his own despicable character.

In the face of these facts, the law laughs us to scorn, saying that the "women have every thin that they can ask, and more too".  Thanks to an approving conscience, ridicule, however exalted the source from which is emanates, falls harmless at the feet of such tried spirits as these, even though there is no redress, except in the sympathy of friends, and the privilege of reflecting, in silence and sorrow, upon our own and others' misfortunes.  If, then, two short miles in a country village afford specimen like these, what may we now expect from our densely populated cities.  Instances might be cited to almost an unlimited extent, but suffice to say, that one can scarcely turn to the right, nor to the left, without being greeted by objects of commiseration, that appeal, in the most pathetic terms, to our united efforts, to mitigate their sufferings.

With all due deference, we would ask, where, from what source, in what enlightened age and nation, did the men originally obtain the exclusive right to monopolize the privilege of legislating for females, and of compelling them to submit to their laws however unequal and objectionable they might be?  Echo answers, where?  The Bible, it is said, gives them the right, because it says, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your husbands in the Lord."  How a wife can submit herself "in the Lord", to a man who is "dead drunk" one half of the time; and a fool the other half, in consequence, from whom she received only a scanty subsistence, of the meanest description, is more than woman's wit can devise.  The Lord being no respecter of such persons, "Drunkards shall not enter the kingdom of heaven."

Does the Lord, or the Bible, dispose to the husband all property services, and autocracy; thereby rendering the wife totally destitute and dependent upon the generosity and mercy of the husband, specifying any given period of time that she shall be subjected to his will, after it is utterly impossible for them to live peaceably together?  The mild and equitable precepts of the Bible provide no such despicable laws.  Long enough have we been insulted by their existence and application, inadequate is our ability to express the indignation they excite; better suited are they to the discipline of the most atrocious piratical crew, who would consider them a disgrace to your delicate, sympathetic female relatives and friends.

We are told that "an unnecessary multiplicity of laws would not be advisable."  While man monopolizes every lucrative employment and office, in the gift of the people, at salaries from five hundred to twenty-five hundred dollars per year; employing Congress at eight dollars per day, besides incidental changes, during from one to two thirds of the year; a Legislature in each State, composed of several hundred men, at two dollars per day, from four to six months in the year, for the express purpose of enacting laws, all of which expenditures, not only men, nut women, are invariably taxed to present their wrongs for redress, such a magnanimous apology deserves to be heralded throughout the country, for the benefit of futurity, in case of another scarcity of objections.

Reverse the case, and how long would man submit to such unequal legislation, having every power and privilege monopolized.  Sooner would a resort to arms be justified, from the North to the South pole, from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean.  And why are we so silent and so passive? We have ever been viewed, in a political sense, as an inferior order of beings, totally incompetent of men, solely dependent upon them for protection, who have thus far condescended to rule over us, without ever consulting our pleasure, or our judgment.  Thus we have been led, muzzled and blindfolded from age to age, from the cradle to the grave.  Yet, we trust there are master-spirits enough amongst us, to work out peaceable our redemption, when aroused to a just sense of the position we occupy.  Award to us our proper station in society; abolish all unjust laws in regard to us; withhold from us no longer our natural rights as human beings, children of one Parent, members of the same family.  And with the light of the Bible, and our own sense of justice, we will protect and defend ourselves and each other, with the aid of an enlightened community, which, to their immortal honor be it said, is far in advance of the musty laws that have long disgraced our statute books.  Think not, that, because our rights are wrested from our grasp, we are totally incapable of appreciating the benefits bestowed by nature.  Look at the refined and exalted moral tone of sentiments that characterizes the productions of our female authors; at the decorum that pervades our public and private meetings, our schools and firesides, over which they preside; at their works of genius, industry, and art and say if their inferiority implies inability to govern themselves, or to be on equality with those who usurp authority over them.  In the daily walks of life, common courtesy demands a different state of things.  How much more, than, is expected from our legislative bodies, carefully selected from the highest ranks of society - whose every step is watched with unmingled interest, towards whom every heart is turned for sympathy and protection.

Conscious that these grievances originated at a remote period, when ignorance, bigotry, and superstition, were far more sufferable than at present; trusting that you are sufficiently enlightened to comprehend their extent, liberal and manly enough to eradicate the evils, we appeal to you in confidence; let it not then be misplaced.  As husbands and sons, as fathers and brothers, show to the world that you are not only manly, but humane; that you know how to pity as well as to protect; which will reflect honor, not only to your head, but to your heart, and future generations will revere your memory.  All that we ask, is what justly belongs to us; we ask it not only as a favor, but as a right.  Thus far, has our State been considered the first in regard to education, invention, and general improvement.  Let her sustain her proud eminence, by showing mercy, and dealing justly with all.

Should we, by legislative enactments, receive no redress upon our own strength, then, must we stand or fall; there being but one alternative left.  Better that this earth by depopulated, than that the iniquities of the present and the past be visited upon future generations as they are, and ever have been, upon use and our ancestors from time immemorial.  Let the elements reunited and from a better and nobler race to which war, famine, slavery and inequality shall be unknown.