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From: <>
Subject: Traveling Quaker Women Ministers
Date: Sat, 6 Mar 1999 01:51:04 EST


Hi,
I couldn't let the discussion on traveling Quaker ministers without giving
credit as traveling Quaker ministers to my 9 ggrandmother Charity Cook and her
mother Rachel Wright. Algie Newlin in his book "Charity Cook A Liberated
Woman" says that Charity visited every meeting from Maine to Georgia plus many
in the midwest, England, France and Germany. He also mentions that Charity was
influenced in her ministry by other traveling women ministers : Hannah Wright
Ballinger,Abagail Overman Pike, Catharine Payton, Mary Piesley, Mary Wright
Mendenhall, Lydia Hoskins. Charity had 11 children and Abagil Pike had 9. The
book describes the hardships of traveling by horseback in all kinds of weather
as these women carried out their ministry. Charity's husband Issac Cook stayed
at home and tended the 11 kids while she traveled the world smoking a pipe and
spreading the Quaker message. All of this at a time when non Quaker women were
given credit only for their child bearing ability.

Indeed one of the little discussed topics is the early influence of Quaker
women in the "Womens Liberation" movement. Besides Charity, other notable
women with Quaker background include: Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul (the
original draftor of the Equal Rights Amendment) Margeret Fall Fox and Lucretia
Mott. There are others, but these immediatly come to mind.

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