She needed it, for while at Saratoga her purse had been stolen with $15, all she possessed.
In 1854 the Missouri Compromise had been repealed, trouble in Kansas had reached its height, the Know Nothing party was at its zenith, the Whigs were demoralized and the Free Soilers were gaining the ascendency.

This anti-Nebraska meeting at Saratoga may be said to have witnessed the birth of the Republican party.

It possessed an additional interest for Miss Anthony, who attended all its sessions, from the fact that her brother, Daniel R., made on this occasion his first political speech.

He had just returned from Kansas and could describe from personal observation the outrages perpetrated in that unhappy territory.

After leaving Saratoga, Miss Anthony spoke in many places on the way to Rochester, among them Canajoharie, the scene of her last teaching.