Meet Mary Olney Brown (ca. 1821 - 1884)

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Meet Mary Olney Brown (ca. 1821 - 1884)

Submitted by Sarah on Thu, 04/17/2008 - 5:43am.

I'm reading up on this Olympia pioneer Mary Olney Brown, I can't yet do a full bio that will do her justice, but because I'm enjoying this research so much, I want to share something from it.

Mary Olney Brown was the first woman to vote in Olympia, Washington Territory. She and others had been turned away from the polls several times previously.

Here is one of her poems:

MOUNT RAINIER

Beautiful mountain, grand and sublime,
Thou standest alone in thy pride;
Thy base firmly fixed on the adamant rock,
Thy head in the clouds thou dost hide.

Say, tell me, how long since thou first was upheaved,
From the bosom of earth thou didst rise;
Since the white snows have crested thy breast
And thy head thou hast hid in the skies?

Was it when the earth in its primeveal state
First came from the hand of its God?
Ere the trees of the forest had spread forth their leaves,
And the grass and the flowers decked the sod?

How oft have I gazed on thy snow covered peak,
With rapture no language can tell;
And thought couldst thou once be permitted to speak,
Of strange things thou surely would tell.

Sarah's blog
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