Elizabeth J. Smith - Misplaced Pages

Canadian-born American temperance activist; newspaper editor, publisher (b. 1842)

Elizabeth J. Smith
Portrait from A Woman of the Century. Photo by J. J. Ryder Co. Providence, Rhode Island.
Born	Eliza Jane Corscaden 1842 Suburb of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
Died	July 6, 1900 Providence, Rhode Island
Occupation	social reformer newspaper editor and publisher
Genre	Newspaper
Subject	Temperance
Literary movement	temperance movement
Notable works	Home Guard
Spouse	Ransom L. Smith (m. 1861; died 1863)

Elizabeth J. Smith (née, Corscaden; 1842 – July 6, 1900) was a Canadian-born American social reformer and newspaper editor and publisher in Rhode Island, involved in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.). She was particularly engaged with the youth of the temperance movement through the Loyal Temperance Legion, serving as editor and publisher of its organ, the Home Guard.

Biography

Eliza Jane Corscaden was born in a suburb of Saint John, New Brunswick, in 1842. Her parents were Robert Corscaden (b. 1811) and Eliza R. (b. 1822). She was descended from a Scotch ancestry distinguished for scholarly attainments and spirituality; on her father's side from the Scotch covenanters, and from a maternal line marked in every generation, back to the Crusaders. There were three younger siblings: Thomas (b. 1845), Maria (b. 1847), and Robert (b. 1849).

On the removal of her parents to Providence, Rhode Island when Eliza was eight, she entered classes with pupils several years her senior. At fourteen, she was a teacher in one of the public schools and became its principal at sixteen.

After a conversion, she united with the Chestnut Street Methodist Episcopal Church and became a member. At the age of thirteen, she became a Sunday school teacher.

In 1861, at the age of 18, she married Ransom L. Smith (1842-1863), of Winchester, New Hampshire, and two years later, was widowed. Her husband's name was included on the Battle Monument at West Point, New York.

Returning to her parents' home, she decided not to continue teaching music and voice culture but instead, entered into the work of a religious evangelist. Showing a marked aptitude for pulpit work, she delivered sermons nightly for successive weeks to crowded audiences. Large numbers of converts were added to the churches where she spoke.

In 1886, Smith planned to commence a series of winter engagements in New England churches after her return from a National W.C.T.U. meeting to which she was a delegate. However, an attack of pneumonia laid her up for some time. During her convalescence, she thought about channeling her influence towards the young. In addition to her other work, she filled the position of State superintendent of juvenile work in the Rhode Island W.C.T.U. for over 12 years and established the Loyal Temperance Legion, before it was made national. That organization flourished under her care. Her desire to interest young people in temperance work culminated in the publication of an eight-page illustrated paper, the Home Guard, which increased to 12 pages. Its extensive circulation all over the U.S., in Sunday schools of every denomination, demanded her time and efforts as its editor and publisher.

In 1891, she was chosen as vice-president of Providence County for the Rhode Island W.C.T.U. When the effort was made to secure constitutional prohibition in Rhode Island, Smith, as a State lecturer, gave effective addresses in nearly every town and city of the State.

Smith resided in Providence, Rhode Island for over four decades, and died there July 6, 1900.

References

^ Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). "CORNELIUS, Mrs. Mary A.". A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life. Charles Wells Moulton. pp. 207–08. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "Eliza Jane Corscaden Female 1842 – 6 July 1900". www.familysearch.org. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
Battle Monument Association; Larned, Charles William; Miner, Edward F. (1898). History of the Battle Monument at West Point : together with a list of the names of those inscribed upon and commemorated by it, and of the original subscribers thereto. West Point, N. Y.: West Point, N.Y. : Battle Monumanet Association. p. 145. Retrieved 11 September 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
Woman's Christian Temperance Union (1888). Minutes of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union at The... Annual Meeting in ... with Addresses, Reports, and Constitutions. p. 49. Retrieved 11 September 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
"The W.C.T.U. at Wickford". The Providence News. 16 October 1891. p. 1. Retrieved 14 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

External links

Works related to Woman of the Century/Elizabeth J. Smith at Wikisource

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