Suffrage in Morristown
The Morristown Equal Suffrage league
is growing so rapidly, and has become
one of the important leagues of the
state, and our members have begun to
ask the question when was interest first
manifested in the question of equal suffrage. One of our staunchest members,
Mrs. M.A. Hodges,, was a firm believer
in equal suffrage more than half a
century ago. She was the first woman
in Morristown to take the position that
woman should have the ballot. She
espoused the cause when it was very
unpopular. She was also the-first woman to work in an office in Morristown.
Her maiden name was Mary Anzaline
Witt, daughter of Coleman M. Witt,
and she worked in her father's office
helping him with all his different kinds
of work. He had charge of the express
business, was postmaster, and also depot.
All this work was carried on in
one building. Morristown was a very
small place at that time, and the work
was much lighter then than now. Still
it was a responsible position and took
care and judgment to transact all the
business. Often Mr. Witt was sick, and
his daughter took entire charge of the work,
merely employing a colored man
to do the heavy lifting for her. She did
this work for about two years, beginning
in 1860 and continuing until some time in
1862. About this time she married
Capt. James C. Hodges. She continued
to stay in her father's office some time after her marriage.
Mr. Witt had to give up his office
when the federals took charge of this section
of East Tennessee during the civil war.
When the constitutional amendment
came up to give prohibition to the state of Tennessee,
Mrs. Hodges, in company
with some other good women, went to
the court house and worked all day on
election day. They offered tickets to
the voters, said tickets favoring the pro-
hibition amendment. Each man who took
a ticket was entitled to a good
dinner served by these women. Many
men responded to the invitation and
voted for the amendment. If the vote
had depended on East Tennessee, it
would have carried, but it was defeated
in Middle and West Tennessee. Mrs.
M. A. Hodges allied herself with the
W.C. T. U., and was an active member of
that organization for some years. She (missing)
offices of president and record-
ing secretary at different periods. Capt.
Hodges sympathized with his wife in
her views on woman suffrage, the two
being great believers in the ballot for
women and the prohibition of the liquor
traffic. These two have been great influences in molding the thought of the
town. Capt. Hodges is dead now, but
his influence is still felt.
Mrs. L. Crozier French is one of the
pioneers of the woman movement in the
state, and she has never hesitated to express her opinion on woman suffrage.
She has talked and lectured all through
this part of the country. Over twenty
years ago she came to Morristown and
lectured in the M. E. church South, and
the pastor, Rev. R. N. Price, was so
delighted with her views and her boldness in expressing them at this period,
that he asked her to occupy his pulpit
on the following Sunday night. She
said:
"Are you in earnest?" and on receiving an affirmative reply, she agreed to
preach and did so. She took for her
text: "Gen. 3-15, And I will put enmity
between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise
his heel."' She showed in what respect
woman had bruised the serpent's head,
and in what she had failed. She brought
out clearly the thought that woman without the ballot was handicapped in making war on all criminal and vicious interests, and showed that her failure to
bruise the serpent's head was largely due
to the fact that she was not armed with
the right kind of weapon. It was woman
suffrage all the way through, and Dr.
Price has often remarked that it gave
offense to no one. Everybody was
pleased.
