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| RG
30/200 - Mary Sheldon (1825-1887) |
| Biography |
| Mary
Sheldon (1825-1887), the daughter of Rev. Henry Olcott Sheldon
and Ruth Bradley Sheldon, came from Berea, Ohio, to study at Oberlin
in 1848. Upon graduating from the Literary Course in 1852, she
became principal of the ladies department at the Austinburg Academy
in Austinburg, Ohio. On November 10, 1853, she married Rev. James
Vincent, Sr. (1821-1899), who attended Oberlin's preparatory department
from 1850 to 1853. Rev. Vincent was deeply involved in the American
crusade against slavery; accompanied by his wife, he left school
and went to England to present the abolitionists' cause before
the Association of Congregational Churches. Following their return
from this special mission, the Vincents made their home briefly
in Berea. In 1855 they planned to travel to Kansas to assist John
Brown, but a lack of funds forced them to settle in the little
town of Tabor, Iowa, which had become known as a station on the
Underground Railroad for piloting stolen or runaway slaves from
Missouri. There they raised their five children in a deeply religious
environment. Mary Sheldon Vincent taught school part time. In addition,
she assisted her husband in publishing The American Non-Conformist.
This newspaper, which moved around the Midwest, ultimately promoted
the Greenback and Populists parties. Mary Vincent died in 1887,
a victim of a kitchen-stove fire. |
| Sources Consulted |
| Guide
to the Women's History Sources in the Oberlin College Archives,
1990, pp. 73- 74. |
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