CHAPTER V.
ENTRANCE INTO PUBLIC LIFE.
1850--1852.
Ill the conditions were such as to make it most natural for Miss Anthony, when she reached the age of maturity, to adopt a public career and go actively into reform work, and especially to enter upon that contest to secure equal rights for those of her own sex, which she was to wage unceasingly for half a century.

Her father's mother and sister were "high seat" Quakers, the latter a famous preacher.

Her mother's cousin, Betsey Dunnell White, of Stafford's Hill, was noted as the only woman in that locality who could "talk politics," and the men used to come from far and near to get her opinion on the political situation.
She was brought up in a society which recognizes the equality of the sexes and encourages women in public speaking.

In her own home the father believed in giving sons and daughters the same advantages, and in preparing the latter as well as the former for self-support.

The daughters were taught business principles, and invested with responsibility at an early age.