Susan Fessenden
Dorchester Illustration 2631
Susan (Snowden) Fessenden (1840-1932) lived in Dorchester from 1891 through 1900. During that time she was the president of the Massachusetts Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and attended the Cincinnati Female Seminary, graduating in 1857.
After graduating, she was a teacher at the seminary, until her marriage in 1864 to John Henry Fessenden. During that time, she became interested in church and temperance work and felt that she could contribute most effectively as a speaker, instead of a writer.
In 1871, Fessenden moved to Sioux City, Iowa. She spoke on such subjects as woman’s enfranchisement, help for the laboring classes, and prohibition of the liquor traffic. She started the Young Women’s Christian Association (Y.W.C.A.) of Sioux City.
Fessenden moved to Boston in 1882, so her children could attend college. Her two daughters entered Boston University with the classes of 1886 and 1889, respectively, and later her son with the class of 1894.
Fessenden’s friends convinced her to work with the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. Initially she held the post of National Superintendent of Franchise. In 1890, she was unanimously elected to the office of State President of the W.C.T.U. of Massachusetts and remained in that office for the next eight years.