Miss Ellis's MissionSmith, Mary P. Wells (Mary Prudence Wells)
Religion
Miss Ellis's Mission
Smith, Mary P. Wells (Mary Prudence Wells)
Ellis, Sarah, 1835-1885; Home missions -- United States -- Unitarian Church
As her work began to attract attention, many letters came from those
desiring to undertake like work, both East and West, asking advice, full
and explicit accounts of her methods, etc.; and many long letters were
written in reply. A Unitarian Club formed among the soldiers in the
Columbus barracks was one of her interests, until its dissolution by the
ordering of its members to other posts. She supplied much reading matter
to, and corresponded occasionally with, soldiers at the Dayton Soldiers'
Home. A soldier in Wyoming Territory was for a long time a most grateful
recipient of reading from her, which he shared with his company. Small
clubs in several localities were supplied by her with matter for
discussion and study during their existence. Wherever she had two or
three correspondents, she always urged the formation of reading or Unity
clubs. For some months she had an interesting correspondence with a
young man of more than usual intelligence in our City Workhouse, loaning
him such books as Channing's "Life and Works," Dewey's "Human Nature,"
and Merriam's "Way of Life." She never heard from him after he left the
workhouse, but always had faith that he was somewhere living up to, or
towards, the good resolves so often expressed to her. Through him, and
Mr. Beach, of Joliet, Ill., our attention was called to the need of
supplying prisoners with good reading matter, both religious and
secular. Correspondence was opened with the warden and chaplain at the
State Penitentiary, Frankfort, Ky., which led to the sending of their
"Registers" there regularly by two Boston ladies, and eventually to the
sending of many barrels of reading matter both to Joliet and Kentucky by
the Women's Auxiliary Conference of Boston.
A great pleasure of her last years was attending the Western Conference
at Chicago in May, 1883. Published accounts of her work had made her
well known in the denomination; so that, as the Cincinnati party
reported on their return home, "Miss Ellis was decidedly the belle of
the Conference." Every one wanted to see and talk with her, ask her
advice, etc. It was an immense satisfaction to her to meet personally,
to see and hear (for she almost seemed to hear through the eager eyes),
men and women whose fame and writings were so familiar to her. Every
session of the Conference saw Miss Ellis seated in the front pew,
audiphone in hand, eagerly intent on the exercises. Social beguilements
might make other people late at the morning devotions, but never Miss
Ellis, who took her conferences, like all else, conscientiously.
In May, 1885, she again attended the Western Conference at St. Louis,
though in great feebleness of body. Rev. W. C. Gannett, in "Unity," thus
speaks of her:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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