Ada Chastina Burpee Bowles (August 2, 1836 – August 30, 1928) was a Universalist minister.

Early life

Ada Chastina Burpee was born in

Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester ( ) is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of North Shore (Massachusetts), Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census. ...

, on August 2, 1836. After easily and rapidly learning all that was taught in the public schools of Gloucester, she studied by herself.

Career

At the age of fifteen she began to teach in the public schools. She continued until she was twenty-two, at the same time writing for the press. Her success with an adult Bible class led her to expand her theological study. Her husband encouraged her to preach the gospel. She began in 1869 in New England. In 1872 she was licensed in Boston to preach and became the non-resident pastor of a church in

Marlborough, Massachusetts Marlborough is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 41,793 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Marlborough became a prosperous industrial town in the 19th century and made the transition to high ...

. Her husband at the same time settled in Cambridge, and accepted a call to the pastorate of the Church of the Restoration in Philadelphia, while Bowles was called as non-resident pastor of the Universalist Church in

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in and the county seat of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River and the Delawa ...

, a position she held for three years. She left that parish to lay the foundation of a new church in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...

. She was regularly ordained in 1874 and preached and lectured since then in most of the large cities of the United States. When without a church of her own, she shared the parish work of her husband and was constantly engaged in charitable and philanthropic work. In addition to all her ministerial work, she lectured in various parts of the country under the auspices of the

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far ...

, in which organization she was state superintendent of various departments. She was national lecturer of the

American Woman Suffrage Association The American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) was a single-issue national organization formed in 1869 to work for women's suffrage in the United States. The AWSA lobbied state governments to enact laws granting or expanding women's right to vot ...

and president of State, county and city suffrage organizations, as well as an active member of many other reforms. Notwithstanding all the duties and labors, she was famed among her acquaintances as a wise and affectionate mother and a model housekeeper. One of her most popular lectures was on "Strong-minded Housekeeping" which embodied her own experience in household cares and management. In 1892, she published ''The Old Man of the Mountain and Old Mother Ann''.

Personal life

She married Rev. Benjamin F. Bowles (1824-1892), pastor of the Universalist Church in

Melrose, Massachusetts Melrose is a city located in the Greater Boston metropolitan area in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population as of the 2020 census was 29,817. It is a suburb located approximately seven miles north of Boston. It is situate ...

. She became the stepmother of three children, and later the mother of three more. She was an expert swimmer and could handle a saw, hammer or rolling-pin with equal dexterity. She lived at

Abington, Massachusetts Abington is a New England town, town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, southeast of Boston. The population was 17,062 at the 2020 census. History Before the Europeans made their claim to the area, the local Native Americans r ...

. She died on August 30, 1928, and is buried at

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery, located in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, is the first rural or garden cemetery in the United States. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brahmins, and is a National Historic Landmark. Dedicated in ...

, Cambridge, Evergreen Path Lot 1334.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowles, Ada Chastina 1836 births 1928 deaths People from Gloucester, Massachusetts Woman's Christian Temperance Union people Suffragists from Massachusetts Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery American Universalists Protestant clergy Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century American Woman Suffrage Association activists