; Mrs. Amanda Seaver; Miss Marguerite
Allen; Miss Ann Batchelder; Mrs. James A. Merrill.

CHAPTER XLV.

VIRGINIA.[190]

The earliest record of woman suffrage in Virginia bears the name of
Mrs. Hannah Lee Corbin of Gloucester county, whose protest in 1778
against taxation without representation was answered by a letter from
her brother, Richard Henry Lee ("Lighthorse Harry"), who wrote that in
his opinion under the clause in the constitution which gave the vote
to householders she could exercise the suffrage.

There had been a suffrage organization in Virginia in 1893, of which
Mrs. Orra Langhorne, a pioneer worker, had been president. When the
State Equal Suffrage League was organized, Miss Laura Clay of Kentucky
gave to it a trust fund of $2.50 which had been left in the treasury
and Mrs. Langhorne had requested her to give to a Virginia League when
one should be formed. In November, 1909, a preliminary meeting was
held to discuss organization, followed a week later by the forming of
the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia. Lila Meade (Mrs. B. B.)
Valentine, widely known for her public work, was elected president and
served in this capacity for the next eleven years. State and city
headquarters were opened in Richmond and remained there. Miss Mary
Johnston was greatly interested and used her influence in promoting
the new organization. Miss Ellen Glasgow also was very active. The
league was organized to work for suffrage by both State and Federal
action and early in its existence circulated a petition to Congress
for a Federal Amendment. In 1910 this was presented to the Virginia
members by Mrs. Valentine and the State delegates attending the
national suffrage convention.

In January, 1911, the first public meeting ever held in Richmond in
the interest of woman suffrage was addressed by Dr. Anna Howard Shaw,
president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, with
Dr. Lyon G. Tyler, president of William and Mary College, in the
chair. The first State convention was held this year in Richmond with
delegates present from Norfolk, Lynchburg, Williamsburg and Highland
Springs societies, and individual suffragists from Fredericksburg and
Charlottesville. In 1912 the convention was held in Norfolk with
delegates from twenty-two leagues. In 1913 it met in Lynchburg and the
reports showed that 2,500 new members had been added and Mrs.
Valentine had made 100 public speeches.

An outdoor demonstration wa