Miss Oliver and I were sitting together in the gal- l ery of the church when the bishop announced his decision, and, while it staggered us, it did not really surprise us. We had been warned of this gentle- m an's deep-seated prejudice against women in the ministry.
After the services were over Miss Oliver and I c alled on him and asked him what we should do.
He told us calmly that there was nothing for us to do but to get out of the Church. We reminded him of our years of study and probation, and that I had been for two years in charge of two churches. He set his thin lips and replied that there was no place for women in the ministry, and, as he then evidently considered the interview ended, we left him with heavy hearts. While we were walking slowly away, Miss Oliver confided to me that she did not intend to leave the Church. Instead, she told me, she would stay in and fight the matter of her ordination to a finish. I, however, felt differently. I had done considerable fighting during the past two years, and my heart and soul were weary. I said: ``I shall get out, I am no better and no stronger than a man, and it is all a man can do to fight the world, the flesh, and the devil, without fighting his Church as well. I do not intend to fight my Church. But I a m called to preach the gospel; and if I cannot preach it in my own Church, I will certainly preach it in some other Church!''
As if in response to this outburst, a young min- i ster named Mark Trafton soon called to see me.
He had been present at our Conference, he had seen my Church refuse to ordain me, and he had come to suggest that I apply for ordination in his Church-- t he Methodist Protestant. To leave my Church, even though urged to do so by its appointed spokes- m an, seemed a radical step. Before taking this I a ppealed from the decision of the Conference to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which held its session that year in Cin- c innati, Ohio. Miss Oliver also appealed, and again we were both refused ordination, the General Con- f erence voting to sustain Bishop Andrews in his decision. Not content with this achievement, the Conference even took a backward step. It deprived us of the right to be licensed as local preachers.
After this blow I recalled with gratitude the Reverend Mark Trafton's excellent advice, and I immediately applied for ordination in the Methodist Protestant Church. My name was presented at the Conference held in Tarrytown in October, 1880, and the fight was on.
During these Conferences it is customary for each candidate to retire while the discussion of his in- d ividual fitness for ordination is in progress. When my name came up I was asked, as my predecessors had been, to leave the room for a few moments. I w ent into an anteroom and waited--a half-hour, an hour, all afternoon, all evening, and still the battle raged. I varied the monotony of sitting in the ante- r oom by strolls around Tarrytown, and I think I l earned to know its every stone and turn. The next day passed in the same way. At last, late on Saturday night, it was suddenly announced by my opponents that I was not even a member of the Church in which I had applied for ordination. The statement created consternation among my friends. None of us had thought of that! The bomb, timed to ex- p lode at the very end of the session, threatened to destroy all my hopes. Of course, my opponents had reasoned, it would be too late for me to do anything, and my name would be dropped.
But it was not too late. Dr. Lyman Davis, the pastor of the Methodist Protestant Church in Tarry- t own, was very friendly toward me and my ordina- t ion, and he proved his friendship in a singularly prompt and efficient fashion. Late as it was, he immediately called together the trustees of his church, and they responded. To them I made my application for church membership, which they ac- c epted within five minutes. I was now a member of the Church, but it was too late to obtain any further action from the Conference. The next day, Sunday, all the men who had applied for ordination were ordained, and I was left out.
On Monday morning, however, when the Con- f erence met in its final business session, my case was reopened, and I was eventually called before the members to answer questions. Some of these were extremely interesting, and several of the episodes that occurred were very amusing. One old gentle- m an I can see as I write. He was greatly excited, and he led the opposition by racing up and down the aisles, quoting from the Scriptures to prove his case against women ministers. As he ran about he had a trick of putting his arms under the back of his coat, making his coat-tails stand out like wings and incidentally revealing two long white tape- s trings belonging to a flannel undergarment. Even in the painful stress of those hours I observed with interest how beautifully those tape-strings were ironed!
I was there to answer any questions that were asked of me, and the questions came like hail- s tones in a sudden summer storm.
