User:Merilee Blaine/sandbox

Catharine Paine Blaine (December 14, 1829 - March 9, 1908) was an American suffragist, abolitionist, Pioneer, and Seattle's first schoolteacher. Catharine attended the historic 1848 Seneca Falls Convention. A young woman of 18 years, she was the youngest attendee to sign the Declaration of Sentiments. Catharine married Methodist Minister David Edwards Blaine in 1853 and arrived in Seattle late 1853. David was Seattles first minister and Catharine was Seattle's first school teacher.

For a short while, the Blaines lived with Seattle town founder Arthur A. Denny and his wife Mary Ann Boren. After Washington Territory was created in 1853, Arthur Denny was elected to the first territorial house of representatives. In 1854 Washington nearly became the first state to grant women's suffrage, Denny's proposal was defeated by a single vote. Author Shauna Stevenson writes in her book "Women's Votes, Women's Voices" "It may be only be a coincidence that Denny introduced the women's suffrage legislation in 1854, shortly after the Blaine's visit, but his action create an important connection between the Seneca Falls Convention and the start of the Washington's suffrage movement." (Stevenson). In 1854 the Methodist congregation consisted of the Blaines, the Denny's and not many others. Denny donated a piece of land to the Blaines. David and Catharine arranged for newspapers to be sent from the east, carried the news and reform ideas to Seattle. Catharine was in a position to be of influence to Arthur Denny, and through her teaching, Seattle's pioneer children. Catharine Blaine registered to vote in Seattle in 1885 after Washington Territory extended voting rights to women in 1883, making her the first female signer of the Declaration of Sentiments to legally register to vote.

Letters took on great importance for the couple and reveal their internal struggles and external hardships. Possessing a keen interest in all things, they wrote about social, political, religious and economic issues effecting the Pacific Northwest, and the Nation. In total, 75 letters which date from 1859-1864, an 1853 travel journal with 39 entries, and 10 manuscripts. Two of the manuscripts are contemporary to the letters and eight are retrospective. (Figures provided by MLB). In addition, Catharine's unpublished personal journal written during the year prior to her marriage. The collection of letters and other written materials by Catharine and her husband David provide a detailed account of her life. The letters written to family and friends in Seneca Falls when she lived in Seattle from 1853-1856 is one of the richest first hand accounts of early Seattle and has been frequently referenced by Pacific North West Historians.

Family Background
Catharine V. Paine was born December 14, 1829,in Amenia, Dutchess County, New York. She died March 9, 1908 in Seattle, King County, Washington. Catharine was the daughter of John Jefferson Paine (1802-1867) and Louisa Ingraham (1806-1891). The family moved to Seneca Falls prior to 1840. Thomas Paine owned the Paine-Caldwell Pump Manufacturing Company and later manufactured tallow and soap.(Letters and manuscripts, census records)(history of Seneca Falls)

Catharine was the third of seven siblings:


 * 1) Mary Paine (1825-aft 1900) married George Dillabaugh.
 * 2) Ann Paine (1827-1917) married Aaron Riggs Larzelere
 * 3) Catharine V Paine (1829-1908) married David Edwards Blaine
 * 4) Harriet L. Paine (1834-1851) died young
 * 5) Thomas Paine (1837-1868) married Anne Cease
 * 6) John L Paine, Lieut. (1841-1904) married Anna Jane Ogden
 * 7) Diana Lillie Paine (1850-1852) died young.

Courtship and Marriage to David Edwards Blaine
In 1853 newlyweds Catharine Paine and David Edwards Blaine said goodbye to family and friends in Seneca Falls, New York to become Methodist missionaries in the tiny village of Seattle. Tearful goodbyes in the dark of night during one of the worst thunderstorms the couple had experienced added a sense of foreboding, but they were undaunted. As difficult as it was to leave, both were strengthened by the conviction that they were pursuing god's purpose for their lives. (Dec, 1857 letter from David to his parents)

Journey from Seneca Falls to Seattle (1853)
Their journey to Seattle took two months using one mode of travel after another. (Travel journal, 39, entries from Oct 5, 1853 - Dec 6th 1853).

Seattle Pioneers (1853-1856)
David and Catharine arrived in Seattle nearly broke, with almost nothing in the way of tools or personal possessions. In 1853 Seattle was a village with no roads. (Skid road)(Letters)(Retrospective manuscript) Getting around meant slogging through the mud over and around stumps and felled logs. They secured land in town and began the difficult task of clearing the land, planting a garden and building their home. David's job as a traveling missionary involved dangerous canoe travel and long hikes through the wilderness. Catharine, who had taught Sunday School in Seneca Falls, became Seattle's first school teacher, while simultaneously tending to home, garden, hearth and community. Pioneer life in Seattle proved to be a great deal more rigorous than the life they had known, but they adapted and thrived. (Letters of David and Catharine)(Four Wagons West)

By the end of their third year, they had built a home and completed the construction of Seattle's first church. Catharine had just given birth to their first son John Jefferson Blaine aka "Johnny".. There was little time to enjoy the results of their labors. Conflicts between the settlers and the Native Americans had escalated and became too dangerous for David to leave town to minister outside of the town limits. When Native Americans attacked Seattle on January 26, 1856, in what was known as the Battle of Seattle, David and Catharine left Seattle for the safety of the Warship USS Decatur anchored in Elliott Bay.

Oregon Territory (1856-1863)
They were reassigned to Oregon territory for the remainder of their 10 years in the Northwest. (Letters of David and Catharine).

Seattle (1882-1908)
http://www.washingtonhistory.org/files/library/blaine-narrative.pdf

https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/timeline/suffrage.htm