Autograph Letter Signed, Matunuck, Rhode Island, September 17, 1885, to a Mr. Howe, referencing the struggle for Woman Suffrage

octavo, one page, formerly folded, written in ink in a clear legible hand.

Hale writes:

"Matunuck R. I. September 17, 1885

Dear Mr. Howe,

Thank you for your kind and full letter. I accept readily your advice to wait till the new election before attacking the members of the Assembly. I have sent a good many parcels of our pamphlets to people in the State of New York by addresses sent me in various ways – We remonstrants will look with interest upon the coming N. Y. Elections hoping that the woman suffragists will upset their own applicant by their attempts to vote prematurely.

Very truly yours Susan Hale"

"Susan Hale was born December 5, 1833, into a prominent family of Boston. She was the youngest of eight children. Her father, Nathan Hale, nephew of the revolutionary war hero of the same name, was editor of the Boston Daily Advertiser. Her mother, Sarah Preston Everett, was a sister of the orator, Edward Everett.

Susan's brother, Edward Everett Hale, was a leading Unitarian minister, a leader in the Social Gospel movement, and author of numerous articles, sermons, pamphlets, and short stories, most prominent of which was "The Man Without a Country," written for The Atlantic Monthly in 1863, to inspire greater patriotism during the Civil War. Her sister, Lucretia, with whom she was very close, also wrote numerous books, many of them on religious subjects or on the art of needlework. Lucretia's major reputation, however, rests on a series of whimsical sketches first published in magazines, later collected into two classic books – The Peterkin Papers and The Last of the Peterkins. Susan's brothers, Nathan and Charles (who later became Consul General of the United States in Egypt), followed in the footsteps of their father, and were also editors of the Boston Daily Advertiser.

See Notable American Women, volume II pp.

Susan became a teacher, an art student, a lecturer and public reader in Matunuck, Rhode Island, for many years. She traveled extensively in Egypt, the Holy Land, all over Europe, throughout the West Indies, Mexico, and across the American continent. She authored numerous books based on her travels. She was a prolific letter writer and, as one of her admirers wrote, her "letters constitute an intimate narrative of the life, activities and thoughts of a cultivated American woman of the highest and best type during an interesting period." She continued her letter writing and traveling until the very end of her life. She died in Matunuck, Rhode Island, in September 1910, at the age of 77.

See Notable American Women, volume II pp., 114-115

The University of Rhode Island Library Special Collections has a collection of Hale's letters, the Sophia Smith Collection Smith College has an extensive collection of Hale family papers including numerous letters written by Susan.