Eleanor Vincent

(1806–1886) Two years prior to the Seneca Falls convention, six women petitioned the New York State Constitutional Convention to grant women their God-given equal rights. Eleanor was one of those women.

A 1997 publication by the University of Chicago Press, "1846 Petition for Women's Suffrage, New York State Constitutional Convention," provides the details that follow. "These women were neither prominent nor wealthy. Their level of education is unknown. Eleanor Vincent had ten children. Lydia Williams was married with five children. Susan Ormsby never married and lived with Lydia Osborn. Amy Ormsby was Susan's sister-in-law. Anna Bishop immigrated to the area from Connecticut and was about 56 years old. Their petition was simple and eloquent. They were seeking "rights which have been ungenerously been withheld from them, rights which they as citizens of the state of New York may reasonably and rightfully claim."