Cynthia Holmes Belcher (December 1, 1827 – March 22, 1911) was an American journalist born in Lunenburg, Vermont.

Early life

She was the daughter of the Hon. George E. and Mary Moore Holmes. Her father served as a member of the State Senate and as judge in Essex County. Holmes was educated in the academy in

St. Johnsbury, Vermont St. Johnsbury (known locally as "St. J") is the shire town (county seat) of Caledonia County, Vermont, Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 7,364. St. Johnsbury is situated ...

. Her father removed her family of seven daughters from St. Johnsbury to

Port Byron, Illinois Port Byron is a village in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States and part of the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area. The population was 1,647 at the 2010 census. Geography Port Byron is located at (41.618051, -90.332789). According to the 201 ...

, when she was eighteen years old. At age 20, she was married to Nathaniel Belcher, a descendant of prominent New England people and one of the pioneers in the settlement of Illinois. He held various offices of trust and was a member of the Whig Party that nominated General Winfield Scott for the presidency, and was a prolific political writer. They travelled extensively. In 1881, they visited Colorado, and in 1882 went to California, where they passed a pleasant year. Their tour included all parts of the Union. On one of their visits to Washington, D.C., they were received by

President Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unit ...

, and on a later occasion visited President Grant in the White House.

Career

After the death of her husband and two children, Belcher returned to New England and settled in Boston where she developed her literary, artistic, and musical talents. She studied singing in the New England Conservatory of Music and gradually became known as a contributor to leading newspapers. She was a member of the New England Woman's Press Association. In 1889, she visited Europe and contributed letters on her travels through the different countries, also describing the Paris Exposition. Besides her literary work, she has been identified with works of reform and with church and temperance work, the

suffrage movement Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

in particular receiving much thought and labor from her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belcher, Cynthia Holmes People from Lunenburg, Vermont 1827 births 1911 deaths Journalists from Vermont Place of death missing 19th-century American journalists 19th-century American women journalists American newspaper journalists Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century