M'Clintock, Mary Ann, 1800-1884

<p>Mary Ann M'Clintock or Mary Ann McClintock (1800-1884) is best known for her role in the formation of the women's suffrage movement, as well as abolitionism.</p>

<p>M'Clintock was born on February 20, 1800 in Burlington, New Jersey. She was married to Thomas M'Clintock and they were both invested in their Quaker backgrounds, and social reform. Thomas provided for their four daughters and their son by working as a druggist and minister. From the beginning of their marriage in 1820 the lived in Philadelphia until 1836 when they moved to Waterloo, NY. By 1833 Marry Ann was very active in the anti-slavery movements in Philadelphia and was one of the founding members of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. She worked closely with abolitionist Lucretia Mott. Once moved to Waterloo, Mary Ann took a more active role in the women's suffragist movement. Mary Ann had a hand in organizing the Seneca Falls Convention, held in July 1848. She and her daughters Elizabeth and Mary Ann also attended the convention and signed the Declaration of Sentiments. The base of the convention was to present the Declaration of Sentiments, this document drafted by women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott at the kitchen table of Mary Ann M'Clintock and outlines equal opportunities among men and women. The Declaration of Sentiments was modeled after the Declaration of Independence and was the fuel that started the fire that was the suffragist movement which lasted until 1920. However, Mary Ann never got to vote. In 1856 she retired back to Philadelphia and died on May 21, 1884 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the age of 84.</p>

<p>Mary Ann M’Clintock, who is buried at the Fair Hill Burial Ground, was one of five women who planned the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, at the Waterloo home of her sister-in-law, Jane Hunt. The next day the women met at her house and framed the famous declaration of women’s rights, the first such document in the world. Mary Ann attended the Convention, and was thereafter active in women’s rights.</p>

<p>Born Mary Ann Wilson in Burlington, New Jersey of Quaker parents, she attended Westtown School in 1814 for one year. In 1820, she married fellow Quaker Thomas M’Clintock, a druggist and Biblical scholar, and with him moved to 107 South 9th Street where he kept his drugstore. Here their children, Elizabeth, Mary Ann, Sarah and Julia were born.</p>

<p>Both the M’Clintocks were active abolitionists. In 1833, Mary Ann was instrumental in the creation of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. She helped with the Society’s first Anti-Slavery Fair in 1836.</p>

<p>In 1837, the M’Clintocks and their children moved to Waterloo, New York, where they helped to form the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society, and entertained many traveling radical abolitionists. Thomas also served as clerk of Genesee Yearly Meeting and Mary Ann, as assistant clerk of the women’s yearly meeting. In 1848, when this yearly meeting split to form the more radical Yearly Meeting of Congregational Friends, the M’Clintocks became active in this new group.</p>

<p>They returned to Philadelphia circa 1876. Mary Ann remained active until her death in 1884.</p>