Jennie Fowler Willing (January 22, 1834 – October 6, 1916) was a Canadian-born American educator, author, preacher, social reformer, and

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

. She married a lawyer and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

pastor at age 19. In 1873, she and her husband became professors at

Illinois Wesleyan University Illinois Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Bloomington, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856. History The in ...

. In addition to teaching, she was a leader in the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

. Willing came to notice when she joined the Illinois Woman's State Temperance Union, serving as its leader for some years. She and

Emily Huntington Miller Emily Clark Huntington Miller (October 22, 1833 – November 2, 1913) was an American author, editor, poet, and educator who co-founded ''St. Nicholas Magazine'', a publication for children. Earlier in her career, she served as the Assistant Edit ...

were involved with creating and presiding over the First Woman's National Temperance Convention of 1874 in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

where the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union was formed. She served as the editor of the national organization's journal for a period. In 1895, she created the New York Evangelistic Training School. Willing wrote several books including ''From Fifteen to Twenty-five: A Book for Young Men'' and serials for newspapers.

Early life and education

Jennie Fowler was born in 1834 in

Burford Burford () is a town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswold hills, in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is often referred to as the 'gateway' to the Cotswolds. Burford is located west of Oxford and southeast of Chelt ...

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

. Her parents, Horatio and Harriet (Ryan) Fowler, were of English, Scotch and Irish descent. Her maternal grandmother was disinherited because she chose to share the wilderness perils with an itinerant minister, Henry Ryan. Her father was a Canadian "patriot," who lost all in an attempt to secure national independence. He was glad to escape to the States with his life and his family, and to begin life again in the new West. He could give his children little more than a hatred of tyranny, constant industry, careful economy and good morals. Willing fell into a well at the age of two, and had long term health problems. In 1842, the family removed to Newark, Illinois. Here, her brother Charles Henry Fowler, was engaged for a period to

Frances Willard Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard (September 28, 1839 – February 17, 1898) was an American educator, temperance reformer, and women's suffragist. Willard became the national president of Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 187 ...

. She received the honorary university degree of A.M. degree ( Evanston College for Ladies, 1872 or 1873).

Career

Educator, writer

She began teaching school when she was 15 years old. The next year, she finished teaching the winter term of a village school, from which the "big boys" had "turned out" their young man teacher. In 1853, at the age of 19, she married William Crossgrove Willing, a

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, th ...

minister, and went with him to western

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. The many duties of a pastor's wife left small time for study, but she continued to study language and a science. She began to write for the press at the age of 16, and, besides constant contributions to papers and magazines, she produced two serials for New York papers and 10 books. In 1873, she was elected professor of English language and literature in the Illinois Wesleyan University. After that, she was connected as trustee or teacher with several literary institutions. In 1874, she was nominated, with a fair prospect of election, to the superintendency of public instruction in the State of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. On account of other duties, she was obliged to decline the nomination.

Social reformer

Her inherited love of reform brought her to the fore when the

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

swept over the United States. For several years, she was president of the Illinois Woman's State Temperance Union. With Miller, she issued the call for the

convention, and she presided over that body, in which the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union (NWCTU) was organized. She was the first editor of the NWCTU's organ, later titled ''

The Union Signal ''The Union Signal'' (formerly, ''The Woman's Temperance Union'' and ''Our Union'') is a defunct American newspaper. It was the organ of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union (National WCTU), at one time, the largest women's organizati ...

''. Willing was drawn into public speaking by her temperance zeal, and soon she found herself addressing immense audiences in all the large cities of the U.S.. As one of the corresponding secretaries of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, she presented the temperance claims at conferences of ministers, and in scores of large towns in different parts of the U.S., interesting thousands of people in its work. Her other roles included superintendent of the NWCTU's Evangelistic Training Department, and president of the Frances Willard WCTU. For several years, she rendered similar service to the Woman's Home Missionary Society. As an evangelist, she held many large and important revival services, and with marked success. After her removal to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, in 1889, she was busy with her home mission work, her evangelistic services, her Italian mission and the bureau for immigrants, with its immigrant girls' home, in New York,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. She was a

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

leader in Illinois.

Personal life

Willing died a widow in New York City on October 6, 1916, and left her money to charities."Willing, Jennie Fowler (1834–1916)." Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia.com. 19 Aug. 2017 .

References

Attribution

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Willing, Jennie Fowler 1834 births 1916 deaths People from the County of Brant Writers from Ontario Emigrants from pre-Confederation Ontario to the United States 19th-century American writers American non-fiction writers 19th-century American women writers Suffragists from Illinois American women educators Canadian women educators Illinois Wesleyan University faculty Presidents of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union American women non-fiction writers Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century American women academics