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Carrie Amelia Nation ( November 25, 1846 - June 9, 1911) was perhaps the most famous person to emerge from the temperance movement—the battles against alcohol in pre- Prohibition America—due to her habit of attacking saloons with a hatchet. She has been the topic of numerous books, articles and even an opera, titled Carry Nation, that premiered in 1966 at the University of Kansas.
Born Carrie Moore in Garrard County, Kentucky, Nation attributed her passion for fighting liquor to a failed first marriage to an alcoholic. She got her myth-making last name from her second husband, David Nation. The spelling of her first name is ambiguous; both "Carrie" and "Carry" are considered correct. Official records list the former, and she herself used that spelling most of her life; the latter was used by her father in the family bible. Upon beginning her campaign against liquor in the early 20th century, she adopted the name Carry A. Nation mainly for its value as a slogan, and had it registered as a trademark in the state of Kansas.
She grew up in what most would consider trying circumstances. She was in ill health much of the time; her family experienced a number of financial setbacks and moved several times, finally settling in Belton, Missouri. Some sources indicate that her mother went through periods where she had delusions of being Queen Victoria, and that young Carrie was often tended to in the slave quarters as a result.
In 1865 she met Dr. Charles Gloyd, and they were married on November 21, 1867. Gloyd was, by all accounts, a severe alcoholic; they separated shortly before the birth of their daughter, Charlien, and he died less than a year later, in 1869. Nation attributed her passion for fighting liquor to her failed first marriage to heavy-drinking Gloyd.
Carrie then acquired a teaching certificate, but was unable to make ends meet in this field. She then met Dr. David A. Nation, an attorney, minister and newspaper editor, nineteen years her senior. They were married on December 27, 1877, and moved to a cotton plantation near Houston, TexasHouston redirects here. For other meanings of the word, please see Houston (disambiguation). Downtown Houston Skyline Located in southeast Texas, Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States and one of the two largest economic areas in Texas.. Dr. Nation became involved in the Jaybird-Woodpecker War , and as a result was forced to move back north in 1889Events January-April January 8 Herman Hollerith receives a patent for his electric tabulating machine January 22 Columbia Phonograph is formed in Washington, DC. February 11 Meiji Constitution of Japan adopted; 1st Diet convenes in 1890 January 30 ? Crown, this time to Medicine Lodge, KansasMedicine Lodge is a city located in Barber County, Kansas. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 2,193. It is the county seat of Barber County 6. Geography Medicine Lodge is located at 37°17'4" North, 98°34'52" West (37. 284352, -98., where David found work preaching at a Christian church, and Carrie ran a successful hotel. It was while in Medicine Lodge that she began her temperance work.
A large woman (nearly 6 feet tall and 175 pounds) she described herself as "a bulldog running along at the feet of Jesus, barking at what he doesn't like," and claimed a divine ordination to promote temperance by smashing up bars. Alone or accompanied by hymn-singing women, she would march into a bar and sing and pray, while smashing bar fixtures and stock with a hatchet. Between 1900 and 1910 she was arrested some 30 times, and paid her jail fines from lecture-tour fees and sales of souvenir hatchets. She published newsletters and later in life even appeared in vaudevilleVaudeville is a style of theater, also known as variety which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. Its popularity rose in step with the rise of industry and the growth of North American cities during this period, and declined with. She died after a period of hospitalization in Leavenworth, KansasFor the city in the state of Washington, see Leavenworth, Washington. Leavenworth is a city located in Leavenworth County, Kansas. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 35,420. It is a small city in the northeast portion of Kansas., on June 9, 1911. Nation was a member of the Women's Christian Temperance UnionThe Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is the oldest continuing non-sectarian women's organization in the US. Founded in Evanston, Illinois in 1874, its purpose was to combat the influence of alcohol on families and society. Frances Willard, a note, founded in 1874, which deal with issues ranging from health and hygiene, prison reform and world peace.