er was taken in this direction until the spring of
1895, when Mrs. Annie L. Diggs of Kansas was sent into the State by
the National Woman Suffrage Association but reported that the question
was too new to make any organization possible. In the fall Miss Mary
G. Hay, national organizer, arranged a two weeks' series of meetings
with the Rev. Henrietta G. Moore of Ohio as speaker, and several clubs
were formed in the northern part of the State. A convention was called
to meet in Grafton, November 25, 26, when an association was formed
and the following board of officers was elected: President, Mrs.
Jessie C. Manley; vice-president, Harvey W. Harmer; corresponding
secretary, Mrs. Annie Caldwell Boyd; recording secretary, Mrs. L. M.
Fay; treasurer, Mrs. K. H. De Woody; auditors, Mrs. M. Caswell and
Mrs. Louise Harden.

The second convention was held at Fairmont in January, 1897, Mrs.
Carrie Chapman Catt, chairman of the national organization committee,
assisting. Everything was so new that her presence and instruction
were an inspiration and a help, without which it is doubtful whether
the work would have continued. Officers were elected as follows:
President. Mrs. Fannie J. Wheat; vice-president, Mrs. Mackie M.
Holbert; recording secretary, Mrs. Beulah Boyd Ritchie; auditors, Mrs.
Mary Long Parson and Mrs. Mary Butcher; member national executive
committee, Mrs. Mary H. Grove. The corresponding secretary and the
treasurer were re-elected.

In April, 1898, the annual meeting was held at Wheeling, in the
Carroll Club Auditorium. Mrs. Chapman Catt and the Rev. Anna Howard
Shaw, vice-president-at-large of the National Association, made
addresses each afternoon and evening, and both filled the pulpit of
the large Methodist Church on Sunday. All the officers were re-elected
except the treasurer, who was succeeded by Miss J. B. Wilson.

The next convention took place at Fairmont in the fall of 1899, Mrs.
Chapman Catt again assisting to make it a success. The officers
elected were: President, Mrs. Ritchie; vice-president, Mr. Harmer;
corresponding secretary, Mrs. Boyd; recording secretary, Miss Clara
Reinheimer; treasurer, Mrs. Holbert; auditors, Mrs. Georgia G. Clayton
and Mrs. Belle McKinney; member national executive committee, Mrs.
Wheat; press superintendent, Mrs. Manley.

Prior to 1895, the subject of the enfranchisement of women was
practically unknown in West Virginia, but now there is no part of the
State in which the