Stevens, Lillian (1844–1914)

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Stevens, Lillian (1844–1914)

American temperance reformer. Born Lillian Marion Norton Ames on March 1, 1844, in Dover, Maine; died of chronic nephritis on April 6, 1914, in Portland, Maine; daughter of Nathaniel Ames (a teacher) and Nancy Fowler (Parsons) Ames; educated at Fox-croft Academy and Westbrook Seminary in Portland; married Michael T. Stevens (a grain and salt dealer), in 1865; children: Gertrude Mary Stevens.

One of four children, Lillian Stevens was born in Dover, Maine, in 1844, to Nathaniel and Nancy Parsons Ames . Her father was a teacher and a native of Maine, and her mother was of Scottish ancestry. After completing her education at the local Foxcroft Academy and West-brook Seminary in Portland, Lillian worked as a teacher until her 1865 marriage to Michael T. Stevens, a grain and salt dealer. They settled on his family homestead in Stroudwater, Maine, and had one daughter, Gertrude Mary Stevens .

Like many women in the latter quarter of the 19th century, Stevens joined the temperance movement that was gaining popularity in the eastern United States. She helped found the Maine Woman's Christian Temperance Union in 1875, and advanced from her position as its first treasurer to the presidency in 1878. Active in state-wide campaigns, Stevens frequently spoke on behalf of Neal Dow, the celebrated prohibitionist of Portland, in his 1884 referendum efforts to include a ban on liquor in the state's constitution. She also pressed for legislation to enforce prohibition and to authorize the teaching of temperance in the state's schools.

Throughout her life, Stevens was committed to ameliorating the social conditions of women and children. In addition to supporting the cause of women's suffrage, she crusaded for a state reformatory for women, and helped local service organizations assist indigent women and children and reform those who were delinquent. She also opened her own home to neglected children until a more permanent residence could be found. A longtime representative of Maine at the National Conference of Charities and Correction, Stevens also served as treasurer of the National Council of Women from 1891 to 1895.

Toward the end of the 19th century, Stevens was an especially influential figure in the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Through her close friendship with the union's president, Frances Willard , who chose Stevens as her eventual successor, Stevens rose to the presidency upon Willard's death in 1898. Five years later, she was elected vice-president of the World's Women's Christian Temperance Union. Despite poor health, Stevens was a tireless director of the WCTU, attending conventions, engaging in lecture tours, and contributing to temperance publications. During her tenure, the WCTU's membership expanded by 50%.

Although Stevens and the WCTU supported other progressive legislation, such as the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, the Mann Act of 1910 (also called the White Slave Traffic Act), and the suffragist movement, they never lost sight of their primary focus—the elimination of alcohol. They experienced several important successes, including the removal of alcohol from military bases in 1901, and the adoption of prohibition by six southern states between 1907 and 1912. Believing that the movement was clearly gaining momentum, Stevens redoubled her efforts to secure federal legislation by devoting more of her time to Washington lobbying, joining prohibition demonstrations, and presenting petitions to Congress.

Stevens died of chronic nephritis in 1914, however, before the goal of national prohibition was (briefly) realized. Her assistant, Anna Adams Gordon , carried on the work of the WCTU. Stevens was cremated and her ashes were interred at the Stroudwater Cemetery in Portland.