The Temperance Movement New Paltz

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The Temperance Movement New Paltz during the Late Nineteenth Century: A Research Guide

Mary Dew, Undergraduate Intern
SUNY New Paltz, Art History Department
Fall 2002

Introduction

The subject of women has been largely neglected in past studies of New Paltz. Focusing mainly on issues of religion, government, agriculture, architecture, and economics, most research projects have been rooted heavily in the world of men, despite the fact that women were crucial to the existence and prosperity in pre-1900 New Paltz life. Two recent explorations into the world of women in New Paltz include Paula Carlo's 2001 PhD dissertation The Huguenots of Colonial New Paltz and New Rochelle , and a project in progress being conducted by HHS Curator of Education, Kenneth Shefsiek, on Women and Property Rights in Colonial New Paltz . However, both of these works focus heavily on seventeenth and eighteenth century sources, and do not examine the period that was perhaps most important for the status of women in New Paltz, the Victorian Period.

Although it flourished in the Victorian Period, the organized Temperance Movement in America had its roots in the late eighteenth century and continued into the early twentieth century. Some of temperance organizations still exist today. These include the Women's Christian Temperance Union, the Ladies Aid Society, the Epworth League, and the Anti-Saloon League. The Temperance Movement was a moralistic movement that sought to reform society through the abstinence of alcohol consumption. Aside from the moralistic motivations of the movement, there were also threads of feminist, anti-immigration, and religious sentiments driving the movement. And although the Movement was originally founded by both men and women, as time progressed women began to take the forefront. In a time when the country was very socially conservative, the Temperance Movement garnered much support, eventually culminating in Prohibition. The movement was strong in the Ulster County area due to the influence of the Dutch Reformed Church, which took a highly pro-temperance stance throughout the nineteenth century.

This paper is designed to begin the process of exploring and documenting the presence of the Temperance Movement and gender issues in New Paltz during the Victorian Period. All of the records listed in this paper can be found in the library and archival collections of the Huguenot Historical Society. These records include letters, diaries, scrapbooks, event posters and programs, organizational records, newspapers, and other materials. For purposes of description, the collections listed here have been organized into three categories: organizational records, public records, and personal records. Organizational Records include the records ö mostly minutes — from organizations such as the New Paltz Reform Club, Leptondale Temperance Society and the Guilford Reformed Dutch Church. Public Records include local newspaper clippings, and transcriptions of addresses given at Temperance conventions. Personal Records chiefly include letters, scrapbooks, bibles, and diaries, although they may encompass other types of materials as well.

Organizational Records

The organizational records described here provide information about the groups formed to promote temperance ideals and other morals and values associated with the Dutch Reformed Church in the New Paltz area. These records consist of minutes taken at the meetings two local temperance societies and one area church. It is expected that similar accounts can be found in records of other clubs and organizations stored elsewhere.

The records of the New Paltz Reform Club, a local pro-temperance organization document the activities of the club during its first eight years of its existence in the 1880's. Records include minutes, treasurer's books, officers' roll calls, and constitution and by-laws. The minutes contain information on wide range of activities, including membership, pledging, governance, events, and publicity. The minutes routinely mention cooperative activities with other organizations, including other temperance groups such as the Ladies Union, Ladies of the Christian Temperance Union, Walden Reform Club, Lansing Reform Club, New York State Reform Club, Veteran Association, and the Horticultural Society.

The majority of the activities held or sponsored by the club reflected their views on temperance and the abolition of alcohol in society. Towards these ends, the club, which held meetings, formed action committees, raised funds, and planned events - often in cooperation with the local chapters of the Ladies Christian Temperance Union. The club also held prayer meetings, hosted speakers, and held discussions on topics such as "which does the most harm, the moderate drunk or the liquor dealer?" (October 31, 1879) and "Which does more harm, rum or money?" (November 7, 1879). The members were required to sign a pledge that required that there be "no profane, obscene, or boisterous conversation used in the club room to the detriment of the club·also that care be exercised in the playing of games that no money or the equivalent be played for and that the janitor be authorized to quell all boisterousness or betting of any kind and report the same to the president" (April 5, 1879). Also, "for the good of the club·the executive committee·draft suitable resolutions in regard the illegal sale of intoxication drinks and have it signed by officers of the club and published in the village papers" (April 18, 1879). Members often violated their pledges, but were readmitted upon their re-signing of the pledge.

The records of another temperance organization can be found in the personal papers of a Quaker schoolteacher from the town of Plattekill , just south of the town of New Paltz. Among other personal effects in this collection, entitled the Mary Anne Brown Papers (1867-1945) , is a small notebook containing handwritten meeting minutes of the Leptondale Temperance Society from 1878-1884 (Leptondale, often referred to as "Quaker Street" is a town northwest of the city of Newburgh, Orange County bordering the town of Plattekill). The minutes provide documentation pertaining to the activities of the organization, which included holding meetings, hosting speakers, planning picnics, collecting dues, electing officers, forming committees, admitting new members, attending conventions, giving readings, and singing songs. Some of the readings were entitled "The Old Rum Seller," "The Drunkard's Bride," and "The Liquor Dealer's Plea." Some song titles included "Touch Not The Wine Cup," and "Charge Of The Rum Brigade."

On February 16, 1880, the Leptondale Temperance Society determined that its primary goal was to "plan and carry forward measures which will result with the blessing of God in the suppression of intemperance in our midst." And in the minutes from March 13, 1884 can be found the membership pledge, in which applicants to the Society swore to "solemnly pledge ourselves, God helping us to abstain from all intoxicating liquors as a beverage and promise to use our influence to promote temperance and sobriety in our community." The following month the pledge was amended to include the following clause: "We believe in the extermination of the Liquor Traffic by prohibiting the importation, manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors through the measures set forth by the Prohibition Party." Any person could be admitted, both male and female, to the organization provided he or she signed the pledge. The group also produced a temperance paper entitled "The Living Issue."

Church records also provide a source of information on the Temperance Movement. For example, the Guilford Dutch Reformed Church Records (1832-1930), document one rural Protestant congregation's position on issue of alcohol consumption and other related issues. The collection is a fairly comprehensive record of the entire history of the church, although it is worth mention that there are no correspondence files. Although the collection contains five series -- Vital Records (1833-1930), Consistory Meeting Minutes (1833-1930), Pastor's Register (1873-1886 scattered), Treasurer's Book of the General Benevolence Association of Guilford, NY (1855-1863), and Miscellaneous Records (1832-1892) ö the series containing information most relevant to the study of the Temperance Movement is the Consistory Meeting Minutes.

The minutes generally pertain to issues involving spiritual and moral interests of the consistory and congregation, as well as practical matters involved in the daily administration of the church. Many of the entries in the minutes read like courtroom trials, where the consistory heard and decided cases brought against individual church members against a number of moral and social transgressions. These charges, often described as "immoral behavior" typically include acts such as intoxication, fornication, profanity and absence from church ceremonies (1837- 1863). In such cases, the accused were frequently found guilty and were suspended from the church until "good and satisfactory evidence of their repentance" was presented to the consistory.

Public Records

The Public Records listed here encompass a scattered aggregation of materials found in the archives of the Huguenot Historical Society. They consist of newspapers, published pamphlets and articles, and a published songster.

The Early American Newspaper Collection (1783-1835) is a miscellaneous aggregation of about 35 newspapers (15 different titles) in original print form dating from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The majority of the titles were printed at Kingston , NY , but other issues come from Newburgh, NY, New York City, Philadelphia, and Staunton, VA. There are no runs of papers, only single issues, although there are multiple issues of the Ulster County Gazette, Ulster Palladium, and The Plebian, all from Kingston . More complete runs of all of titles found in the collection are maintained on microfilm by the Library of Congress, the New York State Newspaper Project in Albany, NY, as well as by other libraries around the state. These newspapers contain much information about local business activities, and political and military news at the state, national, and international levels. There are also a few articles relating to the Temperance Movement. These are most notable in newspapers promoting anti-masonic philosophies. For example, in the May 18, 1830 issue of the Ulster Palladium, there is an article recounting the words of sixteenth century writer Sir Walter Raleigh which likens intemperance to "cureless canker"and "beastly affection." Another article can be found in the September 9, 1835 issue of the Ulster County Whig recounting a story about the death of a man who, as a result if intemperance, attempted to kill his neighbor but was killed himself instead.

In addition to the Early American Newspaper Collection, researchers interested in the Temperance Movement are encouraged to review local newspapers from the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The two newspapers of interest here are the New Paltz Times and the New Paltz Independent. The New Paltz Times was started in 1860 by Charles and Eliza Ackert and became a Democratic paper in 1868. The New Paltz Independent was a Republican newspaper begun in 1868 by Easton VanWagenen and taken over by Ralph LeFevre the following year. The Times and the Independent merged in 1919. These publications are stored on microfilm and are available at both the Reference Library of the Huguenot Historical Society and the Haviland-Heidgerd Historical Collection at the Elting Memorial Library in New Paltz. It should be noted, however, that the Haviland-Heidgerd Collection has the more comprehensive collection of newspapers from this period.

Articles on temperance can be found throughout the newspapers from this period, although not necessarily in every issue. General news reports occasionally contain information about alcohol in terms of state and national politics or social issues. In this section can be found articles on national liquor sales, candidate positions, and published papers by noted national Temperance figures. One such paper is entitled "Guilty, But Drunk" and was originally written by "Colonel Bradbury" in 1840 and republished in the September 24, 1868 issue of the New Paltz Independent. Other articles discuss the results of liquor prohibition efforts at Vineland , New Jersey (February 4, 1869), efforts by women in Washington to reduce alcohol consumption at public dinners (February 11, 1869). Another article relates a story about actions taken by the Sons of Temperance against a tavern owner in the Hudson Valley region (April 1, 1869).

Other articles on temperance can found in a section called Vicinity Gleanings, which contain notices and reviews of local temperance meetings and lectures. For example, on August 12, 1869, the Esopus Correspondent reported that the Esopus Temperance Society hosted a lecture that was "the Great Event of the Week" and was attended by "a large and fashionable audience that for over an hour was held spellbound." Another notice from September 7, 1876 reported on a. meeting held at Brunswick where the participants received encouragement to fight against "King Alcohol and heard a stirring address from Mr. Hoy of New York City." And in November 1863, a man named Edward Crummey of "Eastern New York" addressed one of the area temperance societies at the Plattekill Hall.

Other public records available in the archives of the Huguenot Historical Society concerning temperance are publications such as promotional pamphlets and songsters. One such document is a poster listing the "Order of Exercises of the Quarterly Meeting of the Ulster County Temp. Society, at New Paltz, June 11, 1845." This poster includes the texts of hymns to be sung, the names of speakers, and the schedule of events. Another such document is a pamphlet containing the proceedings of the Newburgh Temperance Society, at its Annual Meeting, April, 1832 . This document originally belonged to Elizabeth Bevier of the town of Rochester and is currently filed with the Philip DuBois Bevier Family Papers (1685-1910 ). Other pamphlets in this collection include Women's Rights Tracts (1850-1853) , Every Man: the Friend or the Enemy of Christ . The American Tract Society, A Sermon delivered June 10, 1818 at the Ordination of Rev. Isaac N. Wynkoff to the Pastoral Charge of the Reformed Dutch Church at Catskill by John H. Carle , and 1819 issue of The Belles-Lettres Repository, a Semi-Monthly Literary Gazette, and Magazine of Amusement , and Proceedings of the Indian Board in the City of New York: with Colonel M'Kenneys Address , published by Vanderpool & Cole, New York (1829). The Newburgh Temperance Society pamphlet, using very fiery language and rhetoric, argues that intemperance should be considered in the same light as the Plague. It also discusses ways to eradicate alcohol from society through the regulation of inns and taverns, political campaigns, and prohibition, and blames slavery and the destruction of Native American culture on the consumption of alcohol. Incidentally, another document relating to temperance can also be found in the Philip DuBois Bevier Family Papers (1685-1910 ). This document is a letter from S. Sayer to Edgar Hasbrouck that mentions a temperance meeting and briefly discusses the author's views on temperance.

Another public document on temperance can be found in the Huguenot Historical Society's Rare Book Collection. In particular, a music book entitled The Temperance Songster: A Collection of Songs , compiled by Anna A. Gordon and published in 1904 by the Fillmore Music House in Cincinnati, Ohio and New York City, provides a good source for studying the inspirational anthems of the Temperance Movement. The inside cover of the book contains the signature of woman named Kate A. Couvert, although nothing else is known about her. In the preface of the book, the author writes that the book "contains a large number of new temperance and patriotic songs for chorus, choirs, and soloists·[which are designed] to be found helpful for general temperance meetings, where new music is always in demand." Some of the more provocative song titles include When Prohibition Wins, The Bubble at the Brim, The Temperance Tug of War, The College Boys, Saloons Must Go, Wine is a Mocker, and Woman's Cause Shall Win .

Another item of interest is the Jonathan Auchmoody Bible , published in 1829 and stored in the Huguenot Historical Society Bible and Religious Book Collection. Stored with this bible are clippings taken from local newspapers and used as page markers or mementos. Two of the clippings kept in this bible are of relevance to us here. The more interesting of the two is an article entitled "Beware of Bad Books" which seeks to compare "bad" or immoral books to alcohol in their detrimental qualities. The author argues that "Bad books are like ardent spirits; they furnish neither "ailment" nor "medicine:" they are "poison," and that such books and beverages are similar in that they both "intoxicate"-one the mind and the other the body, the thirst for each increases by being fed, and is never satisfied; both ruin-one the intellect, the other the health, and together the soul." The author also believes that "books of fiction, romance, war, piracy, and murder are "poison," more or less diluted, and are as much to be shunned as the drunkard's cup." Another clipping kept in the bible describes the death of a resident of Rosendale due to the consumption of too much alcohol.

Finally, an article entitled " License or No License" can be found at the Sojourner Truth Library on the SUNY New Paltz Campus. A copy of this article is also kept in the files of the Archivist of the Huguenot Historical Society. This article is an appeal to the voters of Ulster County to vote against the licensing of retailers to sell alcoholic beverages. The article details the amount of tax dollars used to support those members of society who are either in the poorhouse or jail due to intemperance. It further argues that alcohol is a poison, has adverse effects on the upbringing of children, and claims that alcohol invades the right of the people to personal security, life, property, and the pursuit of happiness. There is a separate appeal to the ladies, who cannot vote, to use their influence over their husbands, brothers, and sons.

Public Records

Personal Records

Personal records consist of items created by private individuals for their own personal use. The items listed here chiefly include letters, diaries, and scrapbooks. Please note that scrapbooks often contain clippings from popular or local magazines and newspapers. These records of particular interest in determining the views of local individuals on religious, social and temperance issues and also provide a good source for studying the frequency of religious meetings and church services where temperance was discussed.

One collection containing such items is the John B. Howell Family Papers (1816-1904) . This collection consists of papers kept by three generations of the Howell Family of the town of Lloyd , Ulster County , New York during the nineteenth century. Records include bonds, deeds, mortgages, wills, legal papers, receipts, and letters chiefly of John Howell, John B. Howell, Brainard Howell, and Esther Howell. But the greatest strength of the collection, particularly in relation to the study of the Temperance Movement and related women's issues lies in the letters written from the 1860's to the 1880's by John B. Howell's daughter, Esther Howell, herself one of the directors of the Ladies Aid Society (Letter, Esther Howell to Mary Stewart, August 9, 1868).

These letters, the large majority of which were written to Esther's friend and future sister-in-law Mary Stewart of Poughkeepsie (and later Cooperstown, NY), provide detailed insight into the life of a rural, well-to-do woman in her twenties who possessed a keen awareness of her surroundings and described in vivid detail her thoughts about womanhood, religion, local and family news, household work, and U.S. national politics. The easily legible handwriting and good physical condition of these letters also serves to make them valuable to researchers interested in the lives of women during the mid-to-late nineteenth century.

The correspondence begins in 1865, but the bulk of the material dates from 1866-1868, when Esther was writing to Mary several times each week. The correspondence from 1869-1897 is very scattered, and many individual years lack any correspondence at all. Esther, as a correspondent is very articulate, descriptive, opinionated, and observant. Her letters discuss a wide range of subjects, including topics that are rarely discussed in letters written by other local women from this period, such as politics and economic issues. Core subjects discussed in the letters, particularly in those from 1866 to 1868 include the role of women in society, particularly in relation to the institutions of religion and marriage; family news and local gossip; U.S. national politics, and household work such as cooking and arranging furniture.

Esther often writes of her church, the Methodist Episcopal Church in Highland, mentioning sermons that she heard (and often challenges their conclusions), visits to her home by church officials, and other discussions about internal church politics. She also devotes many lines in her letters to theological subjects, particularly those that concern women, such as "free will," Temperance, the authenticity of the Book of Solomon (Sept. 28, 1867), and St. Paul 's order that women are not to speak in church (Jan. 15, 1868). Quite skeptical of churches and religion at this time, she also raises questions about the integrity and effectiveness of church, sentiments that were also apparently echoed by her brother Brainard: "Is this all that eighteen hundred years of Christianity has accomplished?" (Mar. 5, 1868), and "Of what use is religion to people that don't seem even to make civil to each other?" (June 16, 1867).

A sense of melancholy prevails over much of Esther's letters written in 1867 and early 1868, before she began her courtship with her future husband, Nelson Horton, in the summer of 1868. Abounding throughout the letters are many statements about her loneliness and despondency. For example, in an undated letter, probably from 1867, she writes that (it) "seems to me spiritually everything becomes darker and darker I shudder at the dangerous ground upon which I am treading I have neither the peace of the Christian nor the indifference of the worldly." In June, she writes that "I wish that I did not have such a repugnance to general society·I feel like that I am getting worse and worse somehow·the human face divine has no attraction for me which must be an unnatural condition of mind or am I like the crazy man who declared that all the world was crazy and only he was sane" (June 2, 1867). In the same letter, Esther continues, "You may well be thankful for your children they are part of yourself they belong to you sometimes the longing I feel is almost unendurable for somebody to love that belongs exclusively to me you can understand it perhaps I don't let myself think of it very often because there is no possibility of any such thing it may be a selfish thought but I cant help but think at times of what might be·." Later, in October, she echoes these thoughts with "My friends are not very numerous but if it was not for them I should give up entirely I would give considerable if I had a better opinion of humanity" - "Sometimes I am tempted to give up all faith in an overruling providence and believe that evil controls all things I cant endure the thought though that the Bible is a lie and that we have no saviour" (Oct. 10, 1867).

From 1866 to 1868, women as a topic for discussion abounds throughout the letters, and occasionally appears in the later correspondence as well. Specific subjects that receive significant attention from Esther include the role of women in marriage and courtship, the ill treatment of women by men, and women and work. She specifically directs her anger at people who frown upon women remaining single, a situation to which Esther believes she destined, and the pervasive notion in society that marriage is the end goal of every woman. She often pauses to point out marriages that she witnesses are unhappy or otherwise unsatisfactory, or to voice her support for other women who choose to remain or become single. For example, Esther, writing in 1867, points out that "In novels no matter how ambitious the heroine is it all ends in a wedding It seems to be impossible in everybody's way of thinking for a common woman to be sufficient for herself·But in matrimony·I guess it is better to be a perfect half than a very imperfect whole" (Nov. 17, 1867).

However, after her courtship with Nelson Horton begins, her tone about marriage, religion, and even society in general begins to soften, as she herself acknowledges. "I find I feel more civil to people than I did (one month ago)" (Aug. 4, 1868). She also writes about her intentions of going to live with Mary to be closer to her and Nelson. In writing about a discussion that she had had with her mother, Esther reveals much about the time period and the changing views held by society about love and marriage. "I finally talked her into saying that I must choose for myself I have heard her say that she married father because she thought he was a good man and that he would make a good husband and not that she had any particular love for him Such marriage as that I cannot understand and I don't think she can understand that I marry because of love."

Several letters from this period directly discuss the Temperance Movement. Some letters simply mention Esther's attendance specific temperance meetings (August 3, 1867, October 13, 1867, April 7, 1868, August 18, 1868) while others discuss the topic more broadly, providing insight about the attitudes on the subject held by Esther and other family members towards the subject (August 24, 1867, August 4, 1868, August 11, 1868). In one letter, Esther recounts an incident when a woman became drunk and made a spectacle of herself (Last Day of Summer, 1867). In another, she mentions an election in which she calls the Democratic Party "rummies" (October 13, 1867).

Other personal effects of the Howell family housed in the collection include family financial and estate records, photographs, Esther's 1867 marriage certificate with Nelson Horton, an undated informational pamphlet that belonged to Philip Elting entitled "The Great Geyser Springs of California," and records dating from 1866 of an unidentified religious Sunday School in the town of Lloyd (probably the Methodist Episcopal Church), of which John B. Howell was secretary.

The Solomon DuBois Family Papers (1812-1944) include personal materials created by the DuBois, Elting, LeFevre and Deyo, families of New Paltz , New York during the mid-to-late 19th century. Records include family and Civil War letters, school essays and report cards, school and church event programs deeds, mortgages, wills, receipts, stock certificates, photographs, farm surveys, financial correspondence, and business cards. The major subjects documented in the collection include school life at Poughkeepsie , New York and Westfield, Connecticut during the 1860s; military life in Louisiana during the Civil War; travels to and land speculation in Detroit, Iowa, Kansas and Wisconsin ; and the agriculture business. Several of the letters in this collection written by Mary DuBois LeFevre discuss temperance. These letters, one of which dates from 1912, mention the Anti-Saloon League and temperance sermons urging politicians to rid the nation of saloons.

Among the family correspondence found in The Patterson DuBois Family Papers (1775-1921) is an 1817 letter to Charles Ewing DuBois at Cherryville, PA from an unidentified family member of Doylestown, PA discussing a recent trip to Germany and strong views against alcohol consumption. This letter also contains references to Christmas, as well as thoughts on spirituality and the afterlife.

The diaries of Cyrus Freer (1845-1927) stored in the Cyrus Freer Papers (1889-1916) provide a good source for studying the development of religious revivalism and fundamentalism in New Paltz and Ulster County during the late nineteenth century. Freer worked as a wagon and furniture repairman in and around New Paltz from the 1860's to the 1920's. He also worked as a sexton for the New Paltz Dutch Reformed Church and served as Sunday School Superintendent of the New Paltz Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he was a devoted member. Freer was also involved with the temperance and revivalist movements. According to his obituary, he was known for his strong sense of piety, and his devotion to religious causes. In his diaries, Freer documents all of the prayer and other meetings that he attended and provides the names, residences and affiliations of visiting preachers. He also often writes brief descriptions of their sermons and gives his opinions of them. Occasionally, he even writes of his views of the state of religion among his fellow man. On Sunday, Sept 15, 1901, for example, Freer wrote "it is to bad to live in a world where the gospel is so quer and whol familys out of Christ with out mutch fear about him." Another entry provides a vivid account of the conversion of Mrs. Vradenburg to a born-again Christian in 1902. Another diary entry, dating from February 17, 1892, mentions an incident where a man had to have some of his fingers amputated because they froze while he was drunk Freer also makes mention of the Epworth League (1892).

A scrapbook housed in a collection known as The Levi Hasbrouck Family Papers: the Locust Lawn Collection (1672-1968) can also be used to study the Temperance Movement. This scrapbook belonged to Hylah Bevier (1795-1874), the wife of Levi Hasbrouck (1791-1861), and contains references to women's issues and Temperance. One of these articles makes the case that through women, men can become Temperate. Another article speaks out against the use of "ardent spirits," opium, and tobacco. The Levi Hasbrouck Family Papers as a whole encompass the personal papers the members of the Hasbrouck and extended families who lived in four historic houses that are now museums: the Jean Hasbrouck House at New Paltz, the Locust Lawn House and Terwilliger House in Gardiner, and the Locust Grove House in Poughkeepsie. This collection represents one of the strongest and most comprehensive collections of family papers at the Huguenot Historical Society. The collection documents virtually all aspects of the lives of the Hasbrouck and related families and extended families from the late 17th through the early 20th centuries. Records include wills, estate inventories, deeds, mortgages, court papers, survey maps, bonds, promissory notes, account books, receipts, insurance papers, correspondence, military and political records, family letters, scrapbooks, poetry journals, photographs, calling cards, childhood papers, and ephemeral material.

Another letter relating to temperance can be found in the Mary Deyo Papers (ca. 1850-1932). This letter, dating from October 12, 1885, refers to a candidate for state senator on the Prohibition ticket. Mary Deyo (1858-1932) of the town of Gardiner , just south of New Paltz, graduated from Normal School at New Paltz, NY in 1887 and taught the first grade at the Union Free School in Livingston, Columbia County , NY during the mid-1880's. But Deyo is most known for her work as a Christian missionary to Japan as part of the Women's Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church in America during the late 1880s and in the 1890s. She also wrote articles on missionary work in religious publications such as the Christian Intelligencer and became involved in several reading clubs. She again returned to Gardiner in 1906, where she resided until her death in 1932. It is possible that further research into the life and works of Mary Deyo will uncover more materials about the Temperance Movement in the New Paltz area.

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