Harriet E. Bishop (January 1, 1817 – August 8, 1883) was an American educator, writer,

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 v ...

, and

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

activist. Born in

Panton, Vermont Panton is a town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. The population was 646 at the 2020 census. Geography Panton is located in northwestern Addison County, along the New York–Vermont border. The western side of the town extends into Lak ...

, she moved to

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

in 1847. There, she started the first public school as well as the first Sunday school in

Minnesota Territory The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Minnesota and west ...

. She was a founding member of temperance, suffrage and civic organizations, and played a central role in establishing the First Baptist Church of Saint Paul.Stright, Hayden, "Together: the Story of Church Cooperation in Minnesota", Denison, 1971, p. 21 An active promoter of her adopted state, she was the author of books such as ''Floral Home, or First Years of Minnesota'' (1857) and ''Dakota War Whoop, or Indian Massacres and War in Minnesota of 1862–63'' (1863).

Harriet Island Harriet(t) may refer to: * Harriet (name), a female name ''(includes list of people with the name)'' Places * Harriet, Queensland, rural locality in Australia * Harriet, Arkansas, unincorporated community in the United States * Harriett, Texas, ...

, now part of the Mississippi shoreline near downtown Saint Paul, was named after Bishop. A young woman in her early 30’s from Vermont named Harriet Bishop arrived to St.Paul in 1847. She traveled by steamboat to find her new school was an old dirty abandoned blacksmiths shop with a mud plaster that held the log walls together. She quickly realized that there were rats and snakes in the corners and still did not run out. After a couple of days cleaning the shop, she opened the school to have nine students that spoke five different languages. The first schoolhouse, which she opened in a former abandoned blacksmith shop with rats and snakes in the corners on July 19, 1847. covered with bark and chinked with mud" at what is now St. Peter Street and Kellogg Boulevard in the relatively isolated fur trading post of Saint Paul. Within less than a year, she organized the Saint Paul Circle of Industry to raise funds to build a new structure for the students. The new building also served as a church, meeting hall, courtroom, and polling place. Of the seven students in her first class, only two were caucasian. She had to rely on a student who was fluent in French,

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, ...

, and English to translate for her classes (which she taught in English). To further aid in the education of Minnesota children, Bishop established the Minnesota Women's Seminary in Saint Paul in 1850.

Activism

Bishop was actively involved in many public concerns, most notably the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

and

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

. She helped organize the Sons of Temperance and encouraged her students to pledge to abstain from alcohol. In 1867 she helped found the Ladies Christian Union and spearhead the construction of the Home to the Friendless, which is now Wilder Residence East. In 1877, she became the first organizer of the Minnesota Women's Christian Temperance Union, working to help form chapters all over the state. Bishop is also recognized as one of the founders of the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association.

Personal life

While Bishop quickly established herself as a dynamic public force in the soon-to-be new state of Minnesota, there is little information about her private life. She was the third daughter of Putnam and Miranda Bishop of Panton, Vermont. She was engaged to marry a young Saint Paul lawyer who was younger than her, but the engagement was called off by the man's sister who believed the age difference between the two to be improper. In 1858 she married John McConkey, a widower with four children. This marriage lasted until 1867 when, having evidently been broken by experiences as a soldier in the First Minnesota Regiment in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, McConkey had become an alcoholic. She successfully sued for divorce and petitioned to have her maiden name restored. In the early 1870s, Bishop was a defendant in a civil suit charging that she had made unauthorized land purchases on behalf of a New York land speculator. Shortly after this, in 1873, she went on a lecture circuit in California. She returned to Saint Paul in 1875 where she continued to work as a lecturer, writer and activist until her death on August 8, 1883.

Partial list of works

*''Floral Home; or, First Years of Minnesota'', published in New York, 1857 *''Dakota War Whoop, or Indian Massacres and War in Minnesota of 1862–63'', published in 1863 *''Minnesota Then and Now'', published in 1869

Legacy

Harriet Island, now part of the Harriet Island Regional Park in Saint Paul, was named after Harriet Bishop. Bishop is the namesake of the ''Harriet Bishop'', a riverboat operating out of Saint Paul. Harriet Bishop Elementary School in Rochester, Minnesota and in

Savage, Minnesota Savage is a suburban city south-southwest of downtown Minneapolis in Scott County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city is on the south bank of the Minnesota River in a region commonly called ''South of the River,'' comprising the souther ...

are also named for her.

References

External links

Harriet E. Bishop in MNopedia, the Minnesota Encyclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop, Harriet 1817 births 1883 deaths People from Panton, Vermont Writers from Saint Paul, Minnesota American suffragists Feminism and history History of Minnesota Temperance movement Baptists from Vermont American temperance activists Educators from Minnesota Baptists from Minnesota 19th-century American educators 19th-century American women educators Proponents of Christian feminism 19th-century Baptists