of a School franchise for
those in villages and country districts, up to 1901, when this chapter
begins.

The cause had gradually gained in strength, however, and a factor
which had strong influence was the splendid cooperation of many other
organizations. The president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union
often spoke at the suffrage conventions and legislative hearings and
the superintendent of franchise, Dr. Lavinia R. Davis, sent out
thousands of suffrage leaflets and appeals to the women of the local
unions every year. The State Grange, with its membership approaching
100,000, passed favorable resolutions many times and gave the
president and vice-president of the suffrage association, who were
members, opportunities to speak at its meetings. The State Federation
of Labor granted the vice-president time for an address at its
convention in Troy as early as 1908 and thereafter endorsed the
suffrage bills and sent speakers to the hearings on them. Women from
labor unions spoke at conventions of the State Suffrage Association,
which had a Committee on Industrial Work. The Western New York
Federation of Women's Clubs, under the leadership of Mrs. Nettie
Rogers Shuler of Buffalo, its president, was the first federation to
admit suffrage clubs and a suffrage resolution was passed at its
convention in 1909, at which time it had 35,000 members.

The annual conventions of the State association always were held in
October. The thirty-third in the long series met at Oswego in the
Presbyterian Church in 1901 and was welcomed by Mayor A. M. Hall.
Addresses were made by Miss Susan B. Anthony, honorary president of
the National American Woman Suffrage Association; Dr. Anna Howard
Shaw, its vice-president-at-large; Alice Stone Blackwell, its
recording secretary; Harriet May Mills and Julie R. Jenney of
Syracuse. A memorial service was held for one of the pioneers,
Charlotte A. Cleveland of Wyoming county, Mrs. Jean Brooks Greenleaf,
former State president, and Mrs. Ella Hawley Crossett, vice-president,
offering testimonials of her ability and helpfulness. She left the
association a legacy of $2,000, the first it ever had received. Mrs.
Mariana W. Chapman, president since 1896, was re-elected.

The convention of 1902 was held in Buffalo at the Church of the
Messiah. The wife of the Mayor, Erastus Knight, represented him in
giving a welcome from the city. Owing to the illness of Mrs. Chapman,
Mrs. Crossett presided. She was