Letitia Youmans
| Letitia Creighton | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Letitia Creighton 3 January 1827 Baltimore, Upper Canada |
| Died | July 16, 1896 (aged 69) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | teacher, activist |
Letitia Youmans, née Creighton, (3 January 1827 – 16 July 1896) was a Canadian school teacher who became an activist for the temperance movement. Youmans founded and served as the first president of the Ontario chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union.
Youmans was born in 1827 in Baltimore, Upper Canada, near Cobourg. Later in life, she became well known in the Canadian temperance movement. At ten years of age she had an experience which started her on her temperance vocation. Her teacher introduced his students to the dangers of alcohol. He invited them to sign a temperance pledge. In her autobiography, Letitia Youmans describes the moment:
"I spent three months (1837) with this teacher, during which time an incident occurred which had much to do with shaping my future destiny. One day at the noon recess, after disposing of our lunch, the teacher called us up to his desk. He proceeded to speak of the evils of drunkenness, which had become very apparent in our neighborhood, telling us that unless we were very careful, some of us might become victims of this fearful evil. He closed by informing us that he had discovered a safeguard against the danger, and then proceeded to read a temperance pledge which he had drawn up and signed himself. " Now," said he, " I would like as many as are willing to give me their names." At first, the appeal seemed to be only to the boys, for up to that time I had never seen or heard of such a thing as a drunken woman. I resolved to be on the safe side, however, and consequently put down my name.
"I am happy to say that pledge has never been violated since. This, no doubt, was the beginning of temperance work in the schools of Canada, and if not scientific, it was, at least, eminently practical. Our teacher took the pledge with him to the homes, and in this way obtained many signatures. Would that every common-school teacher from that day to the present had pursued a similar course. I believe Canada would now be free from the curse of the liquor traffic. Someone has said : "The star of hope for the temperance reform is over the schoolhouse."
The Methodist Church in Upper Canada experienced intense internal development and divisions. The United States-based Methodist Episcopal Church, began work in 1791 among British immigrants to Upper Canada. By 1828 the Methodist Episcopal work in Canada had formally severed ties with the US denomination. In 1833 most of it joined with the British Wesleyans to form the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada. Those not forming this union re-organized into the Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada (1834)." These developments in turn affected the organization of Methodist schools such as those located in the Cobourg area.
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