Matilda Joslyn

24 March 1826–17 March 1898

Born 24 Mar. 1826 in Cicero, Onondaga Co., New York.[1] Daughter of Hezekiah Joslyn and Helen Leslie.[2] Educated at home by her father; attended the Clinton Liberal Institute, in Clinton, Oneida Co., New York.[3] Married Henry Hill Gage, 1845; five children.[4] Moved to Manlius, Onondaga Co., by 1850, and to Fayetteville, Onondaga Co., by 1854.[5] Pledged to aid runaway slaves; her home was a way station on the Underground Railroad until the Civil War ended.[6] Spoke at the Third Women’s Rights National Convention in Syracuse, Onondaga Co., 1852.[7] Cofounded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1869.[8] Served as secretary, vice president, and president of NSWA, 1869–1889.[9] Published opinion pieces, essays, newspapers, pamphlets, and books throughout her life.[10] Testified in Washington, DC, on behalf of a women’s suffrage bill, 1876.[11] Published the monthly journal National Citizen and the Ballot Box, 1878–1881; wrote an extensive article about polygamy in Utah Territory, Dec. 1878.[12] Corresponded with EBW, 1888.[13] Advocated the separation of church and state.[14] Severed her connection with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton; established the Women’s National Liberal Union to counteract the takeover of conservatives in the suffrage movement; served as president of the organization, 1890–1898.[15] Due to her efforts in behalf of disenfranchised American Indians, adopted into the Wolf clan of the Mohawk nation, 1893.[16] Died 17 Mar. 1898 in Chicago; memorial stone placed in Fayetteville.[17]

 

[1] “Who Was Matilda Joslyn Gage?,” Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (http://www.matildajoslyngage.org/about-gage, accessed 21 Oct. 2021). James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, eds., Appletons’ Cyclopaedia of American Biography (New York: D. Appleton, 1887), 569. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 13 Jan. 2021), Matilda Electa Joslyn (LHFQ-Q1G).

[2] “Who Was Matilda Joslyn Gage?,” Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (http://www.matildajoslyngage.org/about-gage, accessed 21 Oct. 2021). Mary Ellen Snodgrass, The Underground Railroad: An Encyclopedia of People, Places, and Operations (New York: Routledge, 2015), 1:208.

[3] “Death of Matilda Joslyn Gage,” Chicago Record, 19 Mar. 1898, 13. Helen Rappaport, Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2001), 247.

[4] “Who Was Matilda Joslyn Gage?,” Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (http://www.matildajoslyngage.org/about-gage, accessed 21 Oct. 2021). “Matilda Joslyn Gage,” New World Encyclopedia (http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Matilda_Joslyn_Gage&oldid=1014330, accessed 11 Oct. 2021).

[5] Helen Rappaport, Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2001), 247. 1850 U.S. Census, Manlius, Onondaga Co., NY, Matilda A. Gage, family no. 1067. “Underground Railroad Room,” Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (http://www.matildajoslyngage.org/about-gage, accessed 21 Oct. 2021).

[6] “Underground Railroad Room,” Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (http://www.matildajoslyngage.org/about-gage, accessed 21 Oct. 2021).

[7] “Speech of Mrs. M. E. J. Gage, at the Woman’s Rights Convention, Held at Syracuse, Sept. 1852,” Commensurate with Her Capacities and Obligations, Are Woman’s Rights (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University, 1853), 1. “Women’s Rights Room,” Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (http://www.matildajoslyngage.org/about-gage, accessed 21 Oct. 2021).

[8] “Who Was Matilda Joslyn Gage?,” Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (http://www.matildajoslyngage.org, accessed 8 Sept. 2018). “Women’s Rights Room,” Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (http://www.matildajoslyngage.org/about-gage, accessed 21 Oct. 2021).

[9] Helen Rappaport, Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2001), 247. “Who Was Matilda Joslyn Gage?,” Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (http://www.matildajoslyngage.org/about-gage, accessed 21 Oct. 2021). “Women’s Rights Room,” Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (http://www.matildajoslyngage.org/about-gage, accessed 21 Oct. 2021).

[10] “Matilda Joslyn Gage,” New World Encyclopedia (http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Matilda_Joslyn_Gage&oldid=1014330, accessed 11 Oct. 2021). “Who Was Matilda Joslyn Gage?,” and “Religious Freedom Room,” Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (http://www.matildajoslyngage.org/about-gage, accessed 21 Oct. 2021). Helen Rappaport, Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2001), 248.

[11] “Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States, 4 July 1876,” Archives of Women’s Political Communication, Iowa State University (https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/2017/03/21/declaration-of-rights-of-the-women-of-the-united-states-july-4-1876/, accessed 11 Oct. 2021).

[12] “Who Was Matilda Joslyn Gage?,” Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (http://www.matildajoslyngage.org/about-gage, accessed 21 Oct. 2021). “The Ballot,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 17 Oct. 1878, 2. “A Lady Writer on Utah,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 18 Dec. 1878, 8–9.

[13] EBW, Diary, 11 Feb. 1888.

[14] “Religious Freedom Room,” Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (http://www.matildajoslyngage.org/about-gage, accessed 21 Oct. 2021). “Matilda Joslyn Gage,” New World Encyclopedia (http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Matilda_Joslyn_Gage&oldid=1014330, accessed 11 Oct. 2021).

[15] “Religious Freedom Room,” Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (http://www.matildajoslyngage.org/about-gage, accessed 21 Oct. 2021).

[16] “Haudenosaunee Room,” Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (http://www.matildajoslyngage.org/about-gage, accessed 21 Oct. 2021).

[17] Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916, Matilda J. Gage (1898) (http://www.matildajoslyngage.org/about-gage, accessed 21 Oct. 2021). “Deaths,” Chicago Daily Tribune, 19 Mar. 1898, 5. “Death of Matilda Joslyn Gage,” Chicago Record, 19 Mar. 1898, 13. “Gage, Matilda (née, Joslyn) (1826–1898),” Virginia Commonwealth University Social Welfare History Project (https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/woman-suffrage/gage-matilda-joslyn, accessed 11 Oct. 2021). “Matilda Electa Joslyn Gage,” Fayetteville Cemetery, Fayetteville, Onondaga Co., NY, Find a Grave, posted 18 Jan. 2006, memorial no. 13063718 (http://findagrave.com, accessed 11 Oct. 2021).