Molloy, Emma, 1839-1907

Emma Barrett Molloy July 17, 1839, South Bend, IN – May 14, 1907, Ceadarville, CA; born Emily F. Barett to Harriet (Newton) and William Lovell Barrett; parents were active in the First Methodist Episcopal Church of South Bend; later used the name of Emma Barrett; after mother's death, father re-married Harriet Eaker; became a schoolteacher. Barrett began teaching in a rural one-room school around the age of fifteen or sixteen; 1856, established a school in South Bend; 1856, her first articles were published in local newspapers: poetry appeared in the St. Joseph County Forum, stories appeared under the pseudonym of Nellie More in the St. Joseph Valley Register, also used several pseudonyms in her published works such as Polly Wiggins, Polly Quiggle, and Mabel Claire; married Louis A. Pradt, 1858m had 2 children who both died in infancy, divorced 1867; Married Edward Molloy, civil war veteran and editor of South Bend, Indiana, National Union, 1867; Emma became co-editor of newspaper; sold newspaper, 1871 and moved to NY then to Elkhart, IN, where published Elkhart Observer, 1872; Emma Molloy also became more active in the temperance and women's suffrage movements, delivering lectures on these subjects across the United States and in England; had son, adopted daughter, 3 foster children; Molloys divoroced 1882; married Morris Barrett, 1889; Molloy co-edited and wrote articles for the South Bend National Union and the Elkhart Observer from 1867 to 1876, becoming first female newspaper editor in northern Indiana; 1882 she moved to Elgin, Illinois, where she was editor of the Morning and Day of Reform, but abandoned her career as a journalist in 1885; Molloy also traveled the country delivering lectures on the topics of temperance and women's rights. In her later years Molloy also served the Methodist Church in an unofficial capacity as an evangelist; In the early years of her career, she also had articles published in several U.S. newspapers that included the Mishawaka [Indiana] Enterprise, Montgomery [Alabama] Mail',; Wisconsin Patriot, and the North Iowa Times. Her stories written under the pseudonym of Polly Wiggins appeared in the Wisconsin Capitol and became popular among the newspaper's readers; prominent temperance activist in the United States, work with the Methodist Church, the Women's Crusade movement, and the Women's Christian Temperance Union, Molloy worked with other temperance organizations, including the Good Templars and the Ribbon movement, helping organize local chapters; member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union and in 1875 was elected vice president of the Indiana chapter; Frances E. Willard, leader the WCTU, called Molloy "a much better speaker than any woman now before the public as a temperance lecturer." Molloy's temperance activism also lead to invitation to speak at numerous woman's suffrage conventions; After attending the Western Woman Suffrage Convention in Chicago, Illinois, in 1869, she delivered her first lecture on the subject in 1870 in South Bend, Indiana, and other nearby communities; She also wrote articles, often using psuedomyms such as Aunt Nabby and Mrs. Pat Molloy, among others, for two women's suffrage newspapers, The Woman's Journal and The Revolution; The Molloys' newspapers also carried reprints of articles and editorials written by Stanton, Anthony, and other reformers; Molloy moved with her children to Illinois in 1882 and spent two challenging years in Kansas and Missouri, where her reputation and career were damaged after she and her foster daughter, Cora (Lee) Graham, were falsely implicated in a local murder. After the women were cleared of all charges in 1888, Molloy moved to the Pacific Northwest; Molloy developed a friendship with George Graham, an ex-convict, Graham and his wife, Sarah, along with their two children, followed Molloy and her daughters to Washington, Kansas, where the two families shared Molloy's home; 1885 Graham, who claimed to have divorced his first wife, married Molloy's foster daughter, Cora Lee; 1886, after the remains of a woman and some of Sarah Graham's clothing were found on her Missouri farm, Molloy and her foster daughter found themselves swept up in the murder case of Graham's first wife; Graham, who was found to be a bigamist, was convicted and lynched for the murder in 1886, Although Molloy and her daughter were released from custody and cleared of the charges, the sensationalized coverage of the events in the local press and the conspiracy theories about the two women's alleged involvement in the murder damaged Molloy's career, Molloy left Kansas in 1888, after she and her daughter, Cora Lee, were cleared of the charges. Molloy then moved with her daughter, De'Etta, to Port Townsend, Washington;

Emma Barrett Molloy (1839–1907) was born in South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana; became a school teacher in her teens; 1858 married Louis A. Pradt, a printer from the Sheboygan, Wisconsin; Pradt was an alcoholic. They had two children who died in infancy; Upon the death of their second child in 1864, Emma divorced Pradt and returned to South Bend; in November, 1867, Emma married Edward Molloy, editor of the South Bend National Union; assisted her husband as a reporter and co-editor; became involved in the women’s suffrage movement. She wrote articles for the suffragist journal, The Revolution; delivered lectures on education for women, liberalizing divorce laws and prohibition; Molloys sold the National Union in 1871; moved to Cortland, New York, to edit the Weekly Journal for a short period of time; returned to Indiana in 1872 and started the Elkhart Observer; From 1876–1878 Emma spent most of her time lecturing on suffrage and prohibition throughout the northeastern United States and England; returned to Indiana in 1880 and resumed assisting her husband who was now editing the LaPorte Herald–Chronicle; crusaded for prison reform and half-way houses in addition to continuing her temperance work; divorce Edward Molloy and
moved to Elgin, Illinois in 1882 where she edited The Morning and Day Review. She soon moved to Washington, Kansas where she continued to campaign for prohibition; 1885
abandoned her newspaper business and began working for the Methodist Church while becoming more active in the Kansas WCTU. After a series of controversies that led to her
attempted suicide, she move to Port Townsend, Washington in March 1888 where she worked for Seaman’s Bethel, the Methodist Church and the WCTU; January, 1889 married her cousin, Morris Barrett, a retire printer from Washington, D.C.; died of pneumonia at Cedarville, California on 14 May 1907.