Today in Wheeling History: February 8--Mary Ann Bynon Reese, nationally recognized temperance leader, poet, and former teacher at Wheeling's Third Ward School (the first free public school in Virginia) who graduated from Wheeling Female Seminary in 1847, died in Everett, Washington (1908).
Mary Ann Bynon Reese (1832-1908) was a prominent temperance leader, poet, and educator who spent her formative years in Wheeling, West Virginia. Born to Welsh parents David and Mary Anna Morgan Bynon, she moved to Wheeling as a child and attended Wheeling Female Seminary, graduating in 1847. Her poetic talents emerged during her school years through contributions to local papers. After graduation, she became one of three teachers at Wheeling's Third Ward public school, the first free public school in Virginia, and later taught at two other Wheeling schools. After marrying John G. Reese in 1853, she moved to Steubenville, Ohio, where she devoted time during the Civil War to helping injured Union soldiers and writing songs for their encouragement. She became a leading figure in the temperance movement as a lecturer and organizer for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), serving as the first national WCTU superintendent of the Department of Narcotics in 1884. Her work took her across the country and to Japan as a WCTU missionary. A prolific writer throughout her 60-year career, she contributed numerous poems and hymns, including "Lizzie Dies To-Night," set to music by Stephen Foster. Reese died on February 8, 1908, in Everett, Washington, with her burial location remaining uncertain.
To learn more: Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/5y5vwkwa), Wikisource (https://tinyurl.com/5yxxh5rz), Hymntime (https://tinyurl.com/2hxz363h), Find a Grave (https://tinyurl.com/zhv8d7ds)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; A Woman of the Century via Wikimedia Commons
Mary Ann Bynon Reese (1832-1908) was a prominent temperance leader, poet, and educator who spent her formative years in Wheeling, West Virginia. Born to Welsh parents David and Mary Anna Morgan Bynon, she moved to Wheeling as a child and attended Wheeling Female Seminary, graduating in 1847. Her poetic talents emerged during her school years through contributions to local papers. After graduation, she became one of three teachers at Wheeling's Third Ward public school, the first free public school in Virginia, and later taught at two other Wheeling schools. After marrying John G. Reese in 1853, she moved to Steubenville, Ohio, where she devoted time during the Civil War to helping injured Union soldiers and writing songs for their encouragement. She became a leading figure in the temperance movement as a lecturer and organizer for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), serving as the first national WCTU superintendent of the Department of Narcotics in 1884. Her work took her across the country and to Japan as a WCTU missionary. A prolific writer throughout her 60-year career, she contributed numerous poems and hymns, including "Lizzie Dies To-Night," set to music by Stephen Foster. Reese died on February 8, 1908, in Everett, Washington, with her burial location remaining uncertain.
To learn more: Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/5y5vwkwa), Wikisource (https://tinyurl.com/5yxxh5rz), Hymntime (https://tinyurl.com/2hxz363h), Find a Grave (https://tinyurl.com/zhv8d7ds)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; A Woman of the Century via Wikimedia Commons
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