The various articles below appeared in the November 12, 1896, edition of the RANGELEY LAKES. Enjoy this peek back in time and be sure to make some great Rangeley history of your own!
Some items have been redacted for space reasons, otherwise all text reprinted just as it appeared in 1896. Contemporary commentary appears in parenthesis.

(The elections are over and as a country we remain divided; however, if we, as INDIVIDUALS, aspire to follow the sage advice shared one hundred and thirty-six years ago on page one of a tiny local paper… we would all be better off and so would America).
If a man will keep trying to surpass himself in moral and spiritual development, whether in the highest or lowest walks, he will not go down. Today with him will not be good enough for tomorrow. He will aim high and strive to hit the mark. Michael Angelo said, “Nothing makes the soul so pure, as the endeavor to create something perfect.” A cobbler was once asked, “how long does it take to become a good shoemaker?” “All your life, sir,’’ was his reply.
Mr. Maydah, the hammer maker of central New York, said on a certain occasion to Mr. Parton, “I have made hammers for twenty years.” “Well, then you ought to make a pretty good hammer.” “No, sir, I never make a pretty good hammer, I make the best made in the United States.” When Daniel Morrill, in charge of the Cambria iron works of Pittsburg, was asked, “what is the secret of such a development of business as yours?” “We have no secret,” was his answer. “We always try to beat our last batch of work.” When Agassiz was asked why he did not struggle to get rich, replied, “I have no time to make money.” Really, these illustrations make plain the upward track, showing how it is possible to ascend and not descend. What a mistake for one to give himself altogether to heaping up treasures only of this world, to bury himself under the vast pile! … It is the constant striver for the perfect who wins the prize and goes up to the heavens. The littlest and greatest can share in such a work. The smallest pond is supplied with water from above as well as is the ocean, and can in the night, reflect the stars. Society will not become complete, till all do their best in going upward. This is possible whatever be the tide. The storms of adversity are as essential to purity of soul as storms to the sea. Smooth waters never made a skillful mariner. The old martyrs who waded through blood, endured the flames, or fell from the scaffold to emphasize their idea of right, were caught up by angels to the stars.

(The following is a fascinating article written by the editor’s wife Etta Dill. It was found on Page 3 and “hits the nail squarely on the head”! She must have been an amazing woman. It was extremely well-stated, courageous for its time, and appeared an astonishing 33 YEARS before the 19th Amendment was passed giving women the right to vote!)
Shall Women Vote?
The time is still remembered when an election of any description caused hardly a ripple of excitement on the calm sea of woman’s existence. For centuries it had been quite the proper thing for girls to be brought up along the lines recommended by Saint Paul. Now Paul was doubtless a very good man, but had he been a husband and father, we should never have heard the arbitrary decree, “let your women keep silence in the churches.”
How much of eloquence the world has lost through following this command we shall never know; any more than Paul knew feminine human nature. “But old things have passed away,” and the new woman takes as keen an interest in the events of the day as the man whose name she bears. The readiness with which we accustom ourselves to change is shown by the ever-increasing number of women that are entering all paths in which men have been the pioneers. Invading them, some would say, but I dislike that expression, holding that when a woman is capable of doing a man’s work there is no reason why she should not, and moreover, which is seldom accorded her, receive like payment. (Still a problem to this day, but the clairvoyant Etta continues…)
When women first began to appear in public it was spoken of with bated breath, as if they had stepped beyond the bounds of decorum. Today, the world honors the long list of names whose owners are among the most talented of their sex, and yet these women are still asking, as they have asked for years, for the right of suffrage, which, under the circumstances, should, I think, be written “Sufferage”. In every town and village of our land are women that are owners of property, and on this property they pay taxes. But are they allowed to say how the money thus raised shall be expended? Verily they are not! The most ignorant of his sex lazily passes by, and although he has never owned and never will own the roof over his head, yet he has a voice in the disposal of affairs, voting away the money of intelligent women, who, because they are women, must hold their peace. The manifest injustice of this law is so apparent that “he who runs (for office) may read,” and far from pleasant reading is it for those broad-minded men who have too long worked to give women equal rights like themselves. In the campaign just happily ended who ’’can doubt that the women of our country were not equally interested with the men. It has not been candidate against candidate, but the principles for which these men stood that has awakened such an interest as perhaps no campaign ever did before. (Wow, was this ever the case in our last midterms! Go Etta Go!)
And as everyone knows, when it is a question of right and wrong women are as unerring judges as men. The host of arguments once brought against women’s voting has dwindled down to this, that it would be unpleasant for them to be brought into contact with a crowd of rough men. (about as weak an argument as could be mustered and yet this injustice festered on for another 33 years!)

As the time taken to cast a vote is so very limited, there seems to be no reason why a woman should meet with more annoyance than in passing through a crowd on other occasions. To vote, or not to vote, will be for each woman to decide when the right is hers. You, my dear sister, may not care to exercise the privilege, but put yourself in a neighbor’s place. Like yourself she once had a strong arm to lean upon, now alas, forever gone (in reference to widows who struggled to keep heart and home together after their husbands passed). On her little home she pays the taxes. Her small hoard of money is in the bank, and had matters gone wrong on November 3rd, there would have been only half as much for herself and her children, and yet no word of protest can come from her lips for she is only a woman? (This lady was amazing!  It is important to note that what Etta was referencing was the “Free Silver” movement which had just been defeated in the 11/3/1896 election. The new political party wanted to print and circulate more unbacked currency. They lost because the Democrats and Republicans actually agreed that the result would devalue the dollar and lead to inflation.)
Let me venture this prediction, that when the first national election of the new century is held, women as well as men will have the right to say who shall rule over us.
(Etta’s vision was just and true but sadly premature. The 19th Amendment would not be passed until 1919. We can learn so much from history!  Be kind, do good work and strive to aim higher. A rising tide raises all boats! Have a great week everyone).

 

 

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