Biographical Database of Militant Woman Suffragists, 1913-1920
Biography of Susan W. Lippincott, 1835-1906
By Flora Boros, Independent Historian
President of the Moorestown Equal Suffrage Association
Susan W. Lippincott was a devout Quaker, suffragist, and patron of education. She was born on January 17, 1835, in Riverton, NJ, to Samuel Roberts Lippincott, a potato farmer and board member of the National State Bank of Camden, and Mary Woodward (Heulings) Lippincott.
Susan and her four siblings grew up attending Moorestown Friends' monthly meetings, and her progressive Quaker upbringing contributed to her belief that women should have equal rights. Susan began speaking in favor of women's suffrage at the Friends' monthly and annual meetings in Moorestown, NJ, and Philadelphia, PA. In 1900, she made a plea for women's suffrage at the Society of Friends' General Conference in Chautauqua, arguing, "why [is] there no mention of the probable value of the voice of our women, if expressed through the ballot, in making and shaping our laws, a potent help in the solution of all the questions [of social and political reforms that] we have been considering." Susan argued that equal suffrage was, "so plainly a righteous movement that even a child should understand it."
Susan was an active life-long member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). From 1883 to 1906, she served as a New Jersey delegate at NAWSA's Annual Conventions. At the 1901 convention, Dr. Anna Howard Shaw pointed her out as one of NAWSA's "veteran workers."
In 1897, Susan became the first President of the Moorestown Equal Suffrage Association. Membership of the Association flourished under Susan's leadership, and the town developed into the center of the suffrage movement in Burlington County, NJ. In 1900, Susan stepped down to serve as Vice President under Mrs. Minola Graham Sexton. The suffragist presence in the state eventually expanded to fifteen local leagues.
Susan's generous financial contributions were regularly noted in annual State and National Convention minutes. In 1897, she was the sole contributor to the Moorestown League's $300 donation to the New Jersey Conference, which was raising funds in support of Oklahoma's bid for suffrage.
An active proponent of education, Susan served on the Board of Managers of Swarthmore College, her father's alma mater, from 1879 until her death on March 20, 1906. In 1911, at the urging of her relatives, and using Susan's bequest of $30,000, the school established a chair in her honor, the Susan W. Lippincott Professorship of French (now the Susan W. Lippincott Professorship of Modern and Classical Languages).
In her will, Susan created a charitable trust with funds of around $20,000 for the erection and maintenance of a public library and free reading room in Cinnaminson, NJ. Under her niece, Mary W. Lippincott, Susan's trust fund grew to around $50,000. Susan's trust contributed to The Riverton Free Library Association and the Moorestown Free Library Association, libraries which serve the Cinnaminson community. All books purchased with Susan's bequest bear an inscribed book-plate, recording her gift.
Sources:
"Call It Independence Day," Asbury Park Press, Asbury Park, NJ, July 19, 1904, pg. 2.
"Equal Suffragists Elected Officers: Moorestown's League Very Active-Social and Personal," Camden Daily Courier, Camden, NJ, December 22, 1903, pg. 3.
"Friends Condemn Legalized Vice: Society in Convention Discusses Women's Suffrage as a Preventative," The Times, Philadelphia, PA, May 14, 1902, pg. 5.
Friends' General Conference, Proceedings of the Friends' General Conference: held at Chautauqua, N.Y., 1900, (Philadelphia, The Society of Friends General Conference, 1900), pgs. 171-172. https://books.google.com/books?id=7MpCAQAAMAAJ.
Friends Intelligencer Association, Friends' Intelligencer and Journal, (Philadelphia, Friends' Intelligencer Associated Ltd, 1900), pgs. 402-403, 860. https://books.google.com/books?id=7Pb7CX8M5ZoC.
Friends Intelligencer Association, Friends' Intelligencer and Journal, (Philadelphia, Friends' Intelligencer Associated Ltd, 1902), pgs. 698, 793. https://books.google.com/books?id=AKEsAAAAYAAJ.
"Hen Politicians," New Brunswick Daily Times, New Brunswick, NJ, November 30, 1895. pg. 1.
"Interest Centered in Swarthmore's Endowment," Delaware County Daily Times, Chester, PA, June 8, 1911. pg.6.
"Moorestown Mentionings," The Camden Daily Courier, Camden, NJ, October 8, 1910, pg. 15.
National American Woman Suffrage Association, Proceedings of the Twenty-ninth Annual Convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, at the Central Christian Church...Des Moines, Iowa, January 26th, 27th, 28th, and 29th, 1897, (Washington, DC: The Association of National American Woman Suffrage, 1897), pg. 108. https://books.google.com/books?id=wiw2AQAAMAAJ.
"New Jersey News in Review: Moorestown," The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, May 9, 1897, pg. 39.
"Obituary: Susan W. Lippincott," The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, March 21, 1906, pg. 7.
Swarthmore College, The Register of Swarthmore College: 1862-1920, (Swarthmore, Swarthmore College, 1920), pg. 10. https://books.google.com/books?id=cmlIAAAAYAAJ.
"To Secure Equal Rights for Women," The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, May 14, 1902, pg. 8.
Township of Cinnaminson v. First Camden National Bank & Trust, 238 A.2d 701 (NJ Super. Ch. 1968). https://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/appellate-division-published/1968/99-n-j-super-115-0.html.
Upton, Harriet Taylor and Nettie Rogers Shuler, Handbook of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and Proceedings of the Annual Convention, (1893-1908), pgs. 20, 24, 36, 44, 48, 119, 125, 136, 156, 170, 185. https://books.google.com/books?id=gqMLAAAAIAAJ.
Ancestry:
"Susan W Lippincott, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Death Certificates Index, 1803-1915," "Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915." Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2008, 2010. From originals housed at the Philadelphia City Archives. "Death Records". Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Death Certificates Index, 1803-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.