Carrie was born in 1846. Her family had a history of mental illness. Her mother was delusional and she spent her last few years in a mental asylum. Carrie’s first marriage was to an alcoholic who her family tried to warn her about, but she was in love with the charming man. He was drunk their wedding. After a few years, she separated from him and one year later he was dead from alcoholism. This made her very anti-alcohol. She taught for four years, but was fired for teaching her students weird ways to pronounce words. She married David Nation who was a lawyer and a minister. He was 19 years older. She became involved in charity and religious work. She started a sewing circle to make clothing for the poor. She established a shelter for the wives and children of alcoholics. She started a branch of the Womens Christian Temperance Union, the leading anti-alcohol organization. She believed in direct action instead of lobbying efforts. She would go to saloons to sing hymns and harass the patrons. She would greet bartenders with: “Good morning, destroyer of souls.” One day she had a vision that convinced her that actions speak louder than words, or songs. She gathered some rocks (which she called “smashers”) and would go to saloons to smash the bottled of liquor. “Men, I have come to save you from the drunkard’s fate.” (No doubt remembering her first husband.) Her second husband jokingly suggested a hatchet would be more effective than rocks. She first used her hatchet in a saloon in Kansas on Dec. 27, 1900. She became known as “Hatchet Granny”. From 1900-1910, her fame grew and so did her arrest record. She was arrested more than 30 times for vandalism. She called her visits for saloons “hatchetations”. Her followers were called “Home Defenders”. They dressed in black. She raised money to pay her fines by selling hatchet souvenirs with the words “Death to rum” on them. She also earned money on vaudeville reenacting her saloon assaults. She even performed in British music halls. Carrie died at age 64, nine years before Prohibition.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_Nation
https://www.history.com/news/carry-nation-temperance-prohibition-alcohol
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