Mary B. Birdsall ( Thistlethwaite; born 1828, Chester, Pennsylvania – died February 1, 1894, Philadelphia) was an American suffragette, temperance worker, and journalist.
Born to English immigrants, she grew up on a farm near Richmond, Indiana, where she married Thomas Birdsall in 1848. They had three sons together. She began her journalism career as the woman's editor at the Indiana Farmer newspaper. For about five years she owned The Lily, a newspaper for women, which she purchased from suffragist Amelia Bloomer in 1854. She helped organize the second women's rights convention in Indiana. At that Indiana convention in 1852, she was elected as secretary for the newly-formed Indiana Woman's Rights Association (renamed the Indiana Woman's Suffrage Association (IWSA) in 1869, and eventually became president of the organization. Birdsall was a vice-president at the fourth National Women's Rights Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1853.Stanton et al. p. 125 She was among the first three women to address the Indiana legislature in 1859 to present a women's rights petition, speaking for a half-hour in support of women's suffrage.
Birdsall died in Philadelphia in 1894 and interred at Earlham Cemetery in Richmond."Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803–1915." Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2008, 2010. From originals housed at the Philadelphia City Archives. "Death Records.". FHL film 1871368 Her Richmond home, a model of progressive architecture as espoused by Catherine Beecher, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
Early life and family background
Mary B. Thistlethwaite was born in 1828 in Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.Mary consistently gave Pennsylvania as her birthplace in U.S. Census records She was the sixth of eight children (two girls and six boys). Her father, William Thistlethwaite, a farmer, was born in Aysgarth, Wensleydale, Yorkshire. He married Elizabeth Wetherald about 1814 and they lived in Boynton Parish. The Thistlethwaites emigrated to America in 1817 with their first two children. The family lived a short time in Delaware, before settling in Chester. They stayed briefly in Cincinnati after Mary's birth, where William Thistlethwaite worked as a butcher. The family finally moved to Richmond, Indiana, in 1829, settling on a farm just west of town in 1830. William Thistlethwaite bought and sold several large farms and ran them successfully. Mary's older sister, Eleanor, never married nor had children. Their brother, Timothy, owned various mills in Wayne County,Young pp. 356, 389, 391 and their brother, William, Jr., purchased the Democratic Herald, a Richmond newspaper, in 1871.Young p. 91 Some of the family's ancestors were active in the Society of Friends (Quakers). William Thistlethwaite was a member of the North A Street Meeting in Richmond.
Marriage and children On October 26, 1848, at age 19, Birdsall married a farmer and fellow Quaker, Thomas Birdsall, at the Whitewater Monthly Meeting in Richmond. The year after their marriage, the Birdsalls moved briefly to Chester, Clinton County, Ohio, where Thomas's family lived.Earlham College; Richmond, Indiana; Certificates, 1829-1935; Collection: Indiana Yearly Meeting Minutes. Whitewater Monthly Meeting p. 72 and 121 - via Ancestry.comBirdsall, Thomas. Year: 1850; Census Place: Chester, Clinton, Ohio; Roll: M432_668; Page: 282B; Image: 241 - via Ancestry.com About 1859, Thomas Birdsall went to work for his brother-in-law, Timothy Thistlethwaite, in his flour mill for about four years. Thomas Birdsall also partnered with the Thistlethwaite family in constructing a three-story commercial building in downtown Richmond at the corner of Main and Front Streets.
Mary and Thomas Birdsall were the parents of three sons. Their eldest son, Alvin T. Birdsall, was born there in 1849 and died at age 25 in Brooklyn, New York, where he was working as a dry-goods salesman.Alvin Birdsall. Brooklyn Ward 06, Kings, New York, Household 364. Census of the state of New York, for 1875. Microfilm. New York State Archives, Albany, New York. - via Ancestry.com He left a widow, Mathilda "Mattie" (Hampton) Birdsall. Mattie, who returned to Indiana, remained close to her mother-in-law, even making extended visits to Birdsall in Philadelphia in the 1880s. Their second son, William Wilfred Birdsall (b. 1854), was an educator, author/editor, and for a time, president of Swarthmore College. He married Viola McDill in 1881 and they had three sons, likely Birdsall's only grandchildren. Hubert H. Birdsall (b. 1856), like his older brothers, attended Earlham College in Richmond and was later a journalist in Philadelphia. He married Ella J. Vandyke in Delaware in 1884.Hubert H. Birdsall. Public Archives Commission, Delaware Public Archives; Dover, Delaware; Marriage Records, 1744-1912; Record Group: RG1325.003.004 - via Ancestry.com. Ella, a Catholic, died of fever in 1898.Ella Vandyke Birdsall. Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records; Reel: 241. - via Ancestry.com What happened to Hubert after her death is unknown. William and Hubert were born in Indiana.Burdsall [sic], Thomas. Year: 1860; Census Place: Wayne, Wayne, Indiana; Roll: M653_308; Page: 729; Family History Library Film: 803308 - via Ancestry.com
Journalism career Indiana Farmer D. P. Holloway and W. T. Dennis established the Indiana Farmer newspaper in Richmond in 1851. According to their masthead, they devoted the paper to "agriculture, horticulture, mechanics, and the useful arts." In October 1852, the editors established a "Ladies' Department" and Birdsall was hired to edit the section. She lost no time in promoting a feminist agenda. The section also concerned home economics and agricultural items, such as reporting on the State Fair. Birdsall encouraged her female readers to support women-owned newspapers, such as The Genius of Liberty, published by Elizabeth A. Aldrich in Cincinnati. Birdsall editorialized and published stories urging women to improve their minds and find challenging professions, which she believed would contribute to the betterment of their families, rather than detracting from their roles as wives and mothers. Her tenure at the newspaper, while being well-received, was brief, ending in March 1853. The Indiana Farmer tenure in Richmond was also brief. It was sold and moved to Indianapolis.
The Lily
About 1848, the newly formed women's temperance society in Seneca Falls, New York, decided they wish to promote their cause with a local newspaper of their own device. They formed a committee to name and construct the paper, but soon lost heart in the enterprise. Amelia Bloomer, however, was determined to carry it through and took over the paper, editorially and financially. The paper was probably the first one focused on women and entirely published and edited by women. The temperance committee chair had chosen the name, The Lily, to represent its purity motive. Bloomer never cared for it, but didn't feel right about changing it, so the name remained. At first, the paper's focus was strictly temperance, but Bloomer soon began promoting women's rights. Circulation expanded greatly after her proposals on dress reform. The introduction of Turkish pantaloons and a short skirt that became widely known as "bloomers" made national news. When Bloomer and her husband moved from Seneca Falls to Ohio, the paper went with them. However, when they decided to move to Council Bluffs, Iowa, far from any means of distribution, Bloomer decided to sell the paper.Bloomer, pp. 142, 186-188.
Bloomer attended the National Women's Rights Convention in 1853, in which Birdsall also participated. Bloomer visited Richmond, Indiana, on an extension of that trip, giving her ample opportunity to meet Birdsall.Bloomer, p. 137 - 141. Bloomer sold the paper to Birdsall in late 1854 and Birdsall first appeared as editor and proprietor in January 1855. Birdsall was assisted by Mary F. Thomas, another Richmond resident and suffragist who later became city physician. Thomas edited the paper in Birdsall's place throughout 1857. The pair continued to publish feminist and suffragist articles until at least 1859. In 1976, a copy of the second February 1859 edition came to light when it was sold to the Richmond Palladium-Item by Arthur Whalen's estate. Birdsall was still listed as the editor in that issue.
During the time Birdsall was associated with the Indiana Farmer and The Lily, these two semi-monthly publications had circulations of about 3,000.
Activism Indiana women's rights conventions Like many Quakers, the Birdsalls were active in a number of social reform movements including temperance, suffrage, and abolition. At an anti-slavery meeting held at Greensboro in Henry County, Indiana, Amanda Way proposed a resolution to hold the first Indiana women's rights convention, which the assembly adopted and appointed Way to chair the committee.Stanton et al. p. 306 The first convention took place on October 14–15, 1851, at the old United Brethren Church in Dublin, Indiana, with Birdsall serving as secretary for the convention.Stanton et al. pp. 807-8 The second convention was held the following October in Richmond, which Birdsall helped to organize. At that gathering, both she and her husband signed the organizational papers and constitution to form the Woman's Rights Association of Indiana. Birdsall was elected secretary, a position she held for several more years.Stanton et al., pp. 306–13
The attendees at the second convention discussed and passed more than a dozen resolutions pertaining to "elevating" women to equal status with men. They argued that citizenship was a moral and mental condition and that women were, in that sense, the same as men. They wanted women to receive the same education as men, in the same institutions. They encouraged all women to pursue an occupation to support themselves, rather than relying on men, for which they should receive equal pay for equal work. Birdsall wrote and submitted the convention minutes to several newspapers for publication.
Birdsall served as one of a group of vice presidents at the fourth National Women's Rights Convention that was held in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1853. The 1854 Indiana women's rights convention moved from Richmond to the capital city, Indianapolis, Indiana, and was held in Masonic Hall, where the local press regarded it with disdain.Stanton et al. p. 307 In 1855, the convention met at Washington Hall in Indianapolis and attracted national members of the suffrage movement, including James and Lucretia Mott, who spoke at the convention, as did Ernestine L Rose. In 1858, the convention returned to Richmond, largely due to Birdsall's efforts, and it was during this meeting that members of the group composed a petition to the Indiana General Assembly advocating women's rights. At the ninth convention in 1859, Birdsall was elected president of the association.Stanton et al. p. 310 The Civil War pushed suffrage and women's rights out of view, and the next convention was not held in Indiana until 1869, when the organization was renamed the Indiana Woman's Suffrage Association.Stanton et al. v. III, p.534
Address to the Indiana General Assembly