Murder Most Conventional by Verena Rose (ed)

Author:Verena Rose (ed) [Rose, Verena]
Language: ell
Format: epub
Tags: mystery, detective, Crime, sleuth, Suspense
Publisher: Wildside Press
Published: 2016-04-25T04:00:00+00:00

COVERTURE, by KB Inglee

July 18-20, 1848

Seneca Falls, New York

Had I heard right? Was someone going to propose letting women vote?

I understood that women were far from equal to men in our world, but the vote?

Clutching the notebook and pencils my husband had thrust into my hands, I found a seat close to an open window. It was hot in the chapel. I was uncomfortable in both mind and body as I took on a task I had no idea how to accomplish, in an unfamiliar situation. The room was filled, and I made a quick count, number of pews times the number each held. Perhaps three hundred people. I wrote my name, Ruth Hill, at the top of the page followed by the approximate attendance.

My husband, Thomas Hill, was a journalist for the Albany Gazette. His editor had sent him to Seneca Falls to cover this Women’s Convention. He was disheartened to learn upon arrival that only women would be allowed into the meeting. He was as adamant about getting in as the organizers were in keeping him out, but it looked like a losing battle.

He took my hands, and said, “They won’t let me in. You will have to take notes for me. I can use the time to interview the other men, who, like myself, are excluded. I know you will see things differently than I would because I am a man and a journalist. Do your best for me.”

* * * *

We had arrived in Waterloo, a few miles west of Seneca Falls, midmorning of the day before the convention. Tom’s old school chum Paul Anderson and his wife, Lucy, had opened their home to us. Staying there with us were another old college friend and his wife, Ned and Martha Longwood.

The two wives could not have been more different. Mrs. Anderson was beautiful of form and dull of mind. Her house was fashionable and comfortable. Mrs. Longwood was horse-faced and intelligent.

Martha Longwood seemed to know everyone who was involved with the convention. She believed fervently that the next two days would herald a change for women. She was not shy about telling anyone within earshot.

After a drink with his friends, Tom left to interview two of the organizers, Mrs. Wright and her sister, Mrs. Mott, who with Mrs. Stanton had organized the meeting. In the evening he planned to find Frederick Douglass, who had offered them his support.

While Tom plied his trade, I joined the wives in the parlor for what I hoped would be a pleasant afternoon. Mrs. Anderson was a gracious hostess, but when Mrs. Longwood talked of the meeting we were to attend the next day, Mrs. Anderson’s eyes glazed over and she began fingering the fringe on her elegant shawl.

“I understand your husbands are in business together. But one lives here and one lives in Albany. How can that be?” I asked Mrs. Anderson, more to be kind than of any interest.

“They broker food from the local farms and ship it to Albany and New York.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.