JERUSHA BAILEY MUSSINA
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| Jerusha Bailey Mussina |
Jerusha Bailey was born in Lycoming County on April 20, 1813. She was the daughter of John Bailey, who was a soldier in the War of 1812 and was injured and died. Her mother remarried and moved out of the area. Peter Vanderbelt, Williamsport blacksmith, adopted her. We do not know how she was educated.
In 1834, when she was 20 years old, she married Jacob Lyons Mussina and they had eight children over the next twenty years. One of those children was Helena Julia Mussina, who graduated from Dickinson Seminary in 1862, and whose graduation address, autograph album, and a story she wrote as a student are included in the LCWHC collection.
Jerusha Bailey Mussina was active in charitable and church work in Williamsport. She was a Sunday school teacher at the Pine Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Williamsport. She was the leader of the Woman's Temperance Crusade in Williamsport in 1874. For 11 years she held the position of president of the local Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, which met for a time above the family watch and jewelry shop, at the northwest corner of Market Square. The Prohibition Party had its headquarters in the Mussina Building also.
She was known as "Mother Mussina" in the temperance movement. Her portrait and a history of the Temperance Crusade in Williamsport are a part of the LCWHC collection. Jerusha Bailey Mussina died on February 11, 1887 in Williamsport.
A biographical essay, “Jerusha Bailey Mussina: Williamsport Crusader for Temperance,” by Mary Sieminski, was published in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette on January 13, 2013, E-1, 3.
Want to more more about Jerusha Bailey Mussina? Type "Mussina" in the search box below to find source material in the Lycoming County Women's History database.
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