Modern Americans Part 14

When Anna Shaw was four years old, her mother left Scotland with her family of small children and started for America to join her husband.

After a few days' sail, a fearful storm arose and the s.h.i.+p returned with great difficulty to Queenstown. This was the first impressive experience of Anna's life, and she was destined to live through many exciting ones. Finally, another s.h.i.+p started on the long voyage across the Atlantic and this time the family reached the sh.o.r.es of our country and met the husband and father. Anna remembers his joy over their reunion.

But the next event that stands out clearly in her mind occurred after they had lived in the United States for a year or more. Her parents did not believe in slavery, and were anxious to help runaway slaves gain a place of safety and freedom. They had read Uncle Tom's Cabin aloud to their children, so Anna was not surprised when one day she went into the cellar on an errand and found a negro woman hiding there. The little girl was greatly excited and anxious to know just how the woman came there and where she was going. But when she told her parents of her discovery they became alarmed lest she might, through her interest, say things before strangers that would disclose their secret. Therefore they kept her away from the cellar on one excuse or another, and although Anna was sure her home sheltered many slaves on their journey to a free land, she never again saw one or knew anything about the system that helped these suffering persons.

The Shaw home was in a small Ma.s.sachusetts town, and there was much happening to engage the attention of the children. Anna recalls the first money she ever earned. The amount was twenty-five cents, and she was paid that for riding in a Fourth of July celebration. After this seemingly great sum of money was hers, she and a small sister decided to spend some of it. They bought a banana, which was to them a strange and wonderful fruit, but they did not like it because they did not know how to eat it. They gave it away to a boy who quickly removed the peel and enjoyed eating the fruit. They were amazed, for they had tried to eat it just as they bought it from the dealer. When Anna saw their gift eaten so rapidly she was astonished and disappointed.

This incident was to be one of the last memories of her New England home, for the family moved to Northern Michigan and became pioneers.

For toys she received at Christmas a small saw and an axe. These were typical of the life she was to lead for a number of years. Unlike many girls of her age, she had no time to play with dolls or sew; she was forced to do a man's work in helping with the new home.

Her father was a kind, gentle man, but very much of a dreamer. He did not realize that things must be done promptly if a family is to have food and shelter. Once he spent weeks reading and planning what kinds of grains would be best to sow, but long before he had decided, the planting season was over, the young crops were up, and the Shaws had none. The mother was not strong, yet she did an immense amount of work. As she had been highly trained in sewing, she made the clothing for the entire family. The two older girls, Eleanor and Mary, did the housework and this left Anna and her brother to do the rough outdoor work. Together they accomplished this and many other tasks. They even made a set of furniture for their simple cabin home.

Indians were all about through the woods, and once while out playing Anna saw a band of them going towards her home. She hurried back to see her mother giving them food. This they took with no thanks and departed. But later in the year they returned and brought Mrs. Shaw a large supply of venison to show her they appreciated her kindness.

Another time a number of Indians stopped at the Shaw cabin, and they had been drinking whiskey. They demanded food, and it was prepared for them. Meanwhile Anna and her brother, fearful lest the liquor might excite their guests, managed to go to the attic and let down a rope from the gable window. With it they drew up all their firearms, one by one. Then at long intervals, members of the family would slip away and hide upstairs where they knew they would be safe unless the Indians set fire to the house.

The hungry guests ate up everything, then stretched themselves out and fell into a drunken sleep. The Shaw children watched them all night through cracks in the attic floor, and when morning came were glad to see the Indians sneak away as if they were ashamed.

Many hards.h.i.+ps came to the little family. Their cow died, and for an entire winter they had no milk. They had no coffee either, but made something they called coffee out of dried peas and burned rye. Anna was always cold; she cannot remember that the house was ever warm enough to be comfortable; still she enjoyed life and made up her mind to go to college, to be a preacher, and to be worth one hundred thousand dollars. She named this amount because it seemed so unlikely she would ever have any money. Often she would steal away and preach in the woods to an imaginary audience.

When she was fifteen years of age she began to teach school. She had but fourteen pupils, and they learned to read from whatever books they could find. The result was that their text books were almanacs and hymn books. For teaching she was paid two dollars a week and board.

This latter did not amount to much, as often all she had for her luncheon was a piece of raw salt pork. Her salary was not paid promptly either, as the school authorities had to wait until the dog tax was collected because it was from this fund that the teacher's salary was drawn.

The largest salary Anna Shaw ever received for teaching was one hundred and fifty-six dollars a year, so at last she stopped and started to learn the trade of sewing. This was very distasteful to her, and she determined she would not earn her living with the needle.

What she wanted to do was to preach. Finally she had a chance to give her first sermon, and her brother-in-law, who owned the county newspaper, printed this notice:

"A young girl named Anna Shaw preached at Ashton yesterday. Her real friends deprecate the course she is pursuing."

This did not discourage Anna Shaw, for she kept on working and in 1873 managed to enter Albion College in Albion, Michigan. She had earned a little money to pay her way, and she intended to get the rest by preaching. Her family disapproved so strongly of this step that they had nothing to do with her, and it was some years before they became reconciled and good feeling was once more established between them and the bright young woman.

Anna was twenty-five when she entered college, and she had had so much experience in her pioneer home she seemed much older. Every Sunday she preached in mission churches to congregations composed chiefly of Indians who sat listening solemnly, while their papooses were hung along the walls in their queer little Indian cradles.

From Albion College, Anna Shaw went to Boston Theological School, and after a hard struggle with poverty, was graduated from this inst.i.tution as a minister. She had given to her for her field of labor a little church on Cape Cod, that part of Ma.s.sachusetts that seems to stretch forth to meet the sea. Here she was the minister for seven years. The members of her church liked her, and she was always busy helping them in every way, from preaching funeral sermons and performing marriage ceremonies to helping settle neighborhood quarrels.

There were many amusing episodes in her life. One over which she has laughed many times was her purchase of a horse. She wanted a horse gentle and safe for a woman, so when she went to look at one that had been offered her the only question she asked was, "Is she safe for a woman?" The family who owned her said she was, so Miss Shaw bought her. When the errand boy at the Shaw residence went out to the barn to hitch up the new horse, the creature kicked so that the boy ran from the building thoroughly frightened. However, Miss Shaw went into the stall and harnessed the horse easily. Soon she discovered the truth; the horse was safe for women, she liked them, but she would not let a man or boy come near her. The only way she could be outwitted was when the errand boy put on a sunbonnet and long circular cloak of Miss Shaw's. Even then the horse would eye him suspiciously, but did not kick. Miss Shaw thought she had made a most peculiar purchase, but she became fond of Daisy, as the horse was called, just as she did of every person and thing in her parish.

At last, feeling the need of more training, in order to do good in the world, she went to a medical school, and after serious study became Dr. Anna Shaw. While there she became interested in the cause of Woman's Suffrage. At that time only a few persons believed that women, as well as men, should have the right to vote, and anyone saying they should was criticized severely.

Dr. Shaw went to work for this cause with great energy and steadfastness of purpose. From 1888 to 1906 she was closely a.s.sociated with Miss Susan B. Anthony who was then the head of the suffrage movement. When Miss Anthony pa.s.sed away, Dr. Shaw became one of the great leaders. In 1906 only four states had granted suffrage to women,

Wyoming in 1869, Colorado in 1893, Idaho in 1896, Utah in 1896.

Suddenly all over the United States women became interested in this cause to which a few devoted women had already given years of their lives, and in 1910 Was.h.i.+ngton was added to the small list of states where women had equal political rights with men. Then in quick succession came

California in 1911, Arizona in 1912, Kansas in 1912, Oregon in 1912, Alaska in 1913, Nevada in 1914, Montana in 1914, New York in 1917.

By 1917 women also had the right to vote for president and all offices except the judiciary, in Illinois, North Dakota, Nebraska, and Michigan. At that time there was partial suffrage for women in Arkansas, New Mexico, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Connecticut, Ma.s.sachusetts, New Hamps.h.i.+re, Florida and Ohio. In some of these states just mentioned, women voted for very few offices, but still they had a slight voice in the affairs of their state, and a large number of states refused women all voting rights. They were Texas, Missouri, Alabama, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maine, Indiana, Delaware and Virginia.

Dr. Shaw's life dream was realized when woman was given the right to vote on all questions in every state in the union by an amendment to the Const.i.tution of the United States.

Dr. Shaw died in the service of her country at Was.h.i.+ngton, in 1918.

Like so many of America's n.o.ble men and women, the secret of Anna Shaw's life has been service to others,--doing good to her fellowmen and working always for human justice.

_AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL_

"_O Beautiful for s.p.a.cious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

G.o.d shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to s.h.i.+ning sea._"

--KATHARINE LEE BATES.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ERNEST THOMPSON SETON and WIFE Founder of the Boy Scout Movement]

ERNEST THOMPSON SETON

How many boys of ten years of age know what they want to do when they are grown? Surely there are some boys of that age who have planned their future work or at least have dreamed about it. But how many ever do in later life just what they had thought of doing when in the fourth grade of the public school? Not many, you may be sure. However, some years ago there was a boy living in England who had decided on his life work by the time his tenth birthday pa.s.sed. What is more, he carried out his plans with great success. Today you may read many of his books and look at interesting pictures he has drawn of wild animals that are as familiar to him as are the pets most boys and girls have in their homes. More than this, if a boy belongs to the Boy Scouts, he is a member of an organization that this man helped to found in the United States.

Ernest Thompson Seton was born in the northern part of England. His family moved to Canada, but he attended school in England and did not stay in America for any length of time until his schooling was completed. His name was originally Ernest E. Thompson Seton, but some years ago he changed it by turning the last two names around and putting a hyphen between them. As he has written under both names, persons sometimes wonder if there are two men who love the out of doors and write with pleasure of their open air experiences.

Mr. Thompson Seton's wish was to spend a large part of his life tramping over the country studying animals and learning woodcraft. The rest of the time he would write and make pictures of what he had seen.

He felt he could stay within doors only part of each year. So as soon as he finished school and returned to the province of Manitoba he went to work in the fields. It did not take him long to earn enough money to live on during the winter, as his wants were few; then he set out to tramp all over the province. He watched the birds; he learned the ways of all the animals and could tell wonderful stories of their instinct and cunning. When he did live under a roof for a few weeks, he was always busy drawing pictures of his friends in the open or writing down accounts of their lives. One of his best known books was published in 1898 and was called, "Wild Animals I Have Known." This brought him to the attention of many readers; but he had been helping make books long before this one, for when the Century Dictionary was published he drew for it more than a thousand pictures of the animals that he had watched and studied.

In the course of his life he has been a hunter, a day laborer, a scientist, a naturalist, and an artist. At the same time he has been able to carry out his plan of spending the greater part of each year out of doors. Loving a free active life from his earliest boyhood, it is not strange that Ernest Thompson Seton was the first man to organize the Boy Scouts in America. In the Outlook for July 23, 1910, he tells the story in a most interesting manner. He says:

"My friend John Moale, a rich man, had bought several thousand acres of abandoned farm lands near Boston in the year 1900. This he made into a beautiful park, all for his own enjoyment. Around this park he built a strong fence twelve feet high so that no one could get into the park. His prospects of peace and happiness were excellent. But the neighbors resented his coming. He had fenced in a lot of open ground that had been the common cow-pasture of the adjoining village. He had taken from the boys their nutting-ground, and forbidden the usual summer picnics. He was an outsider, a rich man despoiling the very poor, and they set about making it unpleasant for him.

"They destroyed his fences, they stoned his notice-boards until they fell, and they painted shocking pictures on his gates. Mr. Moale, a peace-loving man, rebuilt the fences and restored the notice-boards only to have them torn down again and again.

"All summer this had been going on, so I learned on visiting Mr. Moale in September. Finally I said to him: 'Let me try my hand on these boys.' He was ready for anything, and gave me a free hand. I bought two tents, three old Indian teepees, and two canoes. I got some bows and arrows and a target.

"Then I got a gang of men to make a campground by the lake on my friend's grounds. On this I set up the tents and teepees in the form of an Indian village.

"Now I went to the local school house and got permission to talk to the boys for five minutes. 'Now boys,' I said, 'Mr. Moale invites you all to come to the Indian village on his land next Friday, after school, to camp with him there until Monday morning. We will have all the grub you can eat, all the canoes necessary, and everything to have a jolly time in camp.'

"At first the boys were bashful and suspicious, but finally they accepted the invitation, and at 4:30 forty-two boys arrived in high glee.

"'Say, Mister, kin we holler?'

"'Yes, all you want to.'