Esther Pugh
{{Short description|American temperance reformer}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Esther Pugh
| image = ESTHER PUGH A woman of the century (page 601 crop) (cropped).jpg
| caption = "A Woman of the Century"
| birth_date = August 31, 1834
| birth_place = Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
| death_date = March 29, 1908 (aged 73)
| death_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| resting_place =
| occupation = temperance reformer, editor, publisher
| signature = Esther Pugh signature.png
}}
Esther Pugh (August 31, 1834 – March 29, 1908) was an American temperance reformer of the long nineteenth century. She served as Treasurer of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), a Trustee of Earlham College, as well as editor and publisher of the monthly temperance journal, Our Union.
Early life
Esther Pugh, daughter of Achilles and Anna Maria Pugh, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 31, 1834. Her parents were Quakers. For many years, the father was a journalist in Cincinnati, and publisher of the Chronicle. Pugh received a good education.{{sfn|Indiana Yearly Meeting of Friends|1905|p=171}}
Career
Early on, Pugh became interested in moral reforms, and soon became prominent in the temperance movement. She was one of the leaders in the movement, joining the WCTU during its first meetings.{{sfn|Willard|Livermore|1893|p=591}} She served as Treasurer of the National WCTU for 15 years, and her management style repeatedly aided the national order in passing through financial difficulties. Considered to be a clear and forcible orator, she traveled for temperance work throughout the United States and Canada, lecturing and organizing unions. Pugh's association with Frances E. Willard was enduring.{{sfn|Indiana Yearly Meeting of Friends|1905|p=171}}
Succeeding Mary Towne Burt,{{sfn|Hanaford|1883|p=407}} Pugh served as publisher and editor of the monthly temperance journal, Our Union, for years.{{sfn|Willard|Livermore|1893|p=591}}{{sfn|Rowell|1882|p=278}} According to Gifford (1995), Pugh, Frances H. Rastall and Caroline Buell used The Union Signal (the paper's name after its merger with The Signal) to promote their private businesses.{{sfn|Willard|1995|p=385}} Because of her journalistic experience, Pugh was called upon to provide guidance for the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church's periodical, Woman's Home Missions, regarding typeset and how to make up a "dummy".{{sfn|Board of Managers of the Woman's Home Missionary Society|1882|p=99}}
Pugh's work in the WCTU, beginning in Cincinnati, caused her residence at different times to be in Columbus, Ohio, Cleveland, Ohio, Brooklyn, New York, and Chicago, Illinois, though made her home is in Evanston, Illinois.{{sfn|Willard|Livermore|1893|p=591}} She served an Elder in the Friends church. She was appointed a Trustee of Earlham College by Indiana Yearly Meeting, and held that position until failing health made it necessary for her to resign.{{sfn|Indiana Yearly Meeting of Friends|1905|p=171}}
Death
Esther Pugh died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 29, 1908.{{sfn|Indiana Yearly Meeting of Friends|1905|p=171}} The funeral service was held at the home of her sister, Mary T. Wildman, in Philadelphia. Pugh was buried either in Waynesville, Ohio{{sfn|Indiana Yearly Meeting of Friends|1905|p=171}} or in Corwin, Ohio at Miami Cemetery.
References
{{reflist|30em}}
=Attribution=
- {{Source-attribution| {{cite book|author=Board of Managers of the Woman's Home Missionary Society|title=Annual Report of the Board of Managers of the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church for the Year ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bIMPAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA6-PA99|edition=Public domain|year=1882|publisher=Western Methodist Book Concern Press}} }}
- {{Source-attribution| {{cite book|last=Hanaford|first=Phebe Ann|title=Daughters of America; Or, Women of the Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cJCCoFLIU5kC&pg=PA407|edition=Public domain|year=1883|publisher=B. B. Russell}} }}
- {{Source-attribution| {{cite book|author=Indiana Yearly Meeting of Friends|title=Minutes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hD9QAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA3|edition=Public domain|volume=58–89|year=1905|publisher=Indiana Yearly Meeting of Friends|location=Richmond, Indiana}} }}
- {{Source-attribution| {{cite book|last=Rowell|first=George Presbury|title=Geo. P. Rowell and Co.'s American Newspaper Directory|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TJkQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA278|edition=Public domain|year=1882|publisher=Geo. P. Rowell & Company}} }}
- {{Source-attribution| {{cite book|last1=Willard|first1=Frances Elizabeth|last2=Livermore|first2=Mary Ashton Rice|title=A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_zXEEAAAAYAAJ|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_zXEEAAAAYAAJ/page/n595 591]|edition=Public domain|year=1893|publisher=Moulton}} }}
=Bibliography=
- {{cite book|last1=Willard|first1=Frances Elizabeth|editor=Gifford, Carolyn De Swarte|title=Writing Out My Heart: Selections from the Journal of Frances E. Willard, 1855–96|url=https://archive.org/details/writingoutmyhear0000will|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/writingoutmyhear0000will/page/385 385]|year=1995|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-02139-8}}
External links
- {{wikisource-inline|Woman of the Century/Esther Pugh}}
- {{Internet Archive author |sname=Esther Pugh}}
{{Portal|Biography}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pugh, Esther}}
Category:19th-century American newspaper editors
Category:19th-century American newspaper publishers (people)
Category:19th-century American writers
Category:19th-century American women writers
Category:American women newspaper editors
Category:Woman's Christian Temperance Union people
Category:People from Cincinnati
Category:American social reformers
Category:Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century