Clara Celestia Hale Babcock (31 May 1850 – 12 December 1925) was one of the first women preachers to be ordained within the Restoration Movement, and was a leader within the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).

Biography

Clara Celestia Hale was born on May 31, 1850 in

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. She married Israel Babcock in 1865.Pereira, Mary Ellen Lantzer. "Babcock, Clara Celestia Hale (1850-1924)". In Foster, Douglas A. ''The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement''. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004. p. 54. . Formerly members of the

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, the Babcocks joined the Stone-Campbell Movement in 1880 at the Sterling Christian Church in Sterling, Illinois. Babcock was also active in local temperance movements and served as a leader in the WCTU, becoming president of the Whiteside County union in Whiteside, Illinois in 1887. Following a speaking engagement that was likely on behalf of the WCTU at an

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church in 1888, the congregation urged Babcock to be their minister. She was ordained by Andrew Scott of the Sterling Christian Church in 1889.Hull, Debra B. ''Christian Church Women: Shapers of a Movement''. St Louis, Chalice Press, 1994. p. 29-30. Babcock participated in twenty-eight annual revivals and served as a pastor at churches throughout Illinois, Iowa, and North Dakota. Prior to her death in 1924, Babcock served as a pastor in Savanna, Illinois.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babcock, Clara 1850 births 1925 deaths Woman's Christian Temperance Union people People from Huron County, Ohio American Protestant ministers and clergy