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​Frances Willard House Museum
Home of the WCTU
Official website of the Frances Willard House Museum owned by the WCTU
Preserving the Past, Transforming the Future
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National WCTU Library and Archives - the place where researchers come for primary sources.
The Willard Family Bible
On February 25, 1856, at the insistence of Frances, the family signed a Temperance Pledge which Frances had cut out from the Youth’s Cabinet (the main juvenile paper of the day). She pasted it in the front of the family Bible. Today, this Bible is located in the family parlor of the Willard House.
A pledge we make no wine to take,
Nor brandy red that turns the head,
Nor fiery rum that ruins home,
Nor brewers' beer, for that we fear,
And cider, too will never do.
To quench our thirst, we'll always bring
Cold water from the well or spring;
So here we pledge perpetual hate
To all that can intoxicate.
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