ing to form an
association, and on April 12 this was held in the court-house, which
was crowded to the doors. The extension of the franchise to women was
strongly advocated by Judge J. M. Cochrane, Prof. H. B. Wentworth,
Mrs. Sara E. B. Smith, Mrs. Sue R. Caswell and others; and encouraging
letters were read from the Hon. William Dudley Foulke, Lucy Stone and
Julia Ward Howe of the American Suffrage Association. A public meeting
on July 25 at the same place was addressed by Mrs. Ella M. S. Marble
of Minnesota. On September 9 Mrs. Lillie Devereux Blake of New York
gave a strong lecture.

Other local clubs were formed during the following years, and the
first State convention was held in Grand Forks, Nov. 14, 15, 1895. It
was called to order by Dr. Cora Smith Eaton, president of the local
society. Mrs. Laura M. Johns of Kansas, a national organizer who had
just made a successful lecturing tour of the State, was elected
chairman and Mrs. Edwinna Sturman was made secretary. Cordial letters
of greeting were read from Miss Susan B. Anthony, president of the
National Suffrage Association, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, chairman of
the national organization committee, U. S. Senator Henry C.
Hansbrough,[202] Miss Elizabeth Preston, president of the State W. C.
T. U., and others. In Miss Anthony's letter was outlined the plan of
work that she never failed to recommend to State organizations, which
said in part:

First, your local clubs should cover the respective _townships_,
and the officers should not only hold meetings of their own to
discuss questions pertaining to their work, but should have the
men, when they go into their _town meetings_ for any and every
purpose pertaining to local affairs--especially into the meetings
which nominate delegates to county conventions--pledged to
present a resolution in favor of the enfranchisement of women. By
this means you will secure the discussion of the question by the
men who compose the different political parties in each
township--an educational work that can not be done through any
distinctively woman suffrage meeting, because so few of the rank
and file of voters ever attend these.

Then, when the time comes for the county convention to elect
delegates to the State nominating convention, let every town
meeting see to it that they are instructed to vote for a
resolution favoring the submission and indors