Mary Bentley Thomas
Born
Mary Henrietta Bentley

(1845-12-13)December 13, 1845
Maryland
DiedFebruary 11, 1923(1923-02-11) (aged 77)
Maryland
OccupationSuffragist
RelativesCaleb Bentley (grandfather)

Mary Bentley Thomas (December 13, 1845 – February 11, 1923) was an American suffragist and president of the Maryland Woman Suffrage Association from 1894 to 1904. She was also involved in the Friends Equal Rights Association and the National American Woman Suffrage Association, holding various offices in both organizations.

Early life

Mary Bentley was born in Maryland to Richard and Edith Bentley, who were Quakers.[1] Her grandfather, Caleb Bentley, was a silversmith and postmaster.[2]

Career

Thomas was president of the Maryland Woman Suffrage Association from 1894 to 1904,[3][4][5] succeeding the association's founder, Caroline Hallowell Miller.[6] She was in turn succeeded by Emma Maddox Funck.[4] She held offices with the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), and spoke at national suffrage conferences.[1] She wrote to the governors of Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and Colorado, and asked questions about women's suffrage, which was legal in all four states; she published the responses as a broadside.[7] Thomas was also the third president of the Friends Equal Rights Association, and spoke on women's rights at national Quaker gatherings.[8]

Personal life

Mary Bentley married dairyman Edward Porter Thomas in 1865. They had six children together. She died in 1923, aged 77 years.[1] Her scrapbook of newspaper clippings, in the collection of the Sandy Spring Museum, is available online at Digital Maryland.[9] In 2021, a historical marker was erected in Sandy Spring, Maryland, noting Thomas and Miller's work on woman's suffrage; several of Thomas's descendants attended the marker's unveiling.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mafrici, Lizzie. "Biographical Sketch of Mary Bentley Thomas". Alexander Street Documents. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
  2. ↑ Warfield, J. D. (May 1895). "President Madison's Retreat". American Historical Register. 2: 860.
  3. ↑ Annals of Sandy Spring ...: Twelve years history [Apr. 1883-Apr. 1895, by Eliza N. Moore. Cushings & Bailey. 1902. p. 333.
  4. 1 2 Lantz, Emily Emerson (1906-01-07). "Demand the Right to Vote". The Baltimore Sun. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-05-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Last at the Ballot; Woman Suffragists of Maryland in Convention at Friends' Meeting-House". The Baltimore Sun. 1898-12-06. p. 12. Retrieved 2022-05-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Stanton, Elizabeth Cady; Anthony, Susan Brownell; Gage, Matilda Joslyn; Harper, Ida Husted (1902). History of Woman Suffrage: 1883-1900. Fowler & Wells. p. 696.
  7. ↑ Thomas, Mary Henrietta Bentley, 1845?-1923, “Broadside : Testimony from the Governors of the Four Free States. [Circa 1904],” Ann Lewis Women's Suffrage Collection, accessed May 20, 2022,
  8. ↑ Society of Friends Friends General Conference (1908). Proceedings. The Conference. pp. 65–68.
  9. ↑ "Scrapbook: Mary Bentley Thomas". Digital Maryland. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
  10. ↑ "Sandy Spring Museum dedicated marker honoring Mary Bentley Thomas and Carolyn Hallowell Miller". National Collaborative for Women's History Sites. November 1, 2021. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
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