The Letter Kills But the Spirit Gives Life by Kathleen L. Housley

An article in The Hartford Courant led me to this wonderful book about five Smith sisters who lived extraordinary lives on a farm in Glastonbury, CT. They were abolitionists, feminists, and women of unusual faith. Most of the book focuses on the two youngest girls, Julia and Abby. Julia was the first woman ever to translate the Bible from the original Greek and Hebrew and to publish it.

The incident that brought notoriety to Julia and Abby Smith was a run-in with the Glastonbury tax collector. They noticed that their taxes had jumped and on investigation found that the increase was levied only against themselves and two widows in town. None of the male taxpayers had had an increase. The sisters appealed through town meetings and eventually through the courts, arguing that this was taxation without representation since women did not have the vote. The newspapers of the day loved the story, and the women were invited to speak at feminist meetings as far away as Washington, D.C.