were instrumental in the 1859 legislative effort, addressed the state legislature in 1871. Mary Birdsall House Construction of the Mary Birdsall House, as it came to be known, began in 1859 and was completed in 1860. The Birdsalls called the home "Brightbank." The Italianate house is located on a large lot at the northwest corner of West Fifth Street and Richmond Avenue in Richmond, Indiana. The builders used bricks from the Thistlethwaite brick yard on an adjacent property. The two-story, cruciform house is remarkably similar to a plan published in 1872 by Catherine Beecher and Harriett Beecher Stowe in their book, American Woman's Home. The book promoted a scientific approach to home design The Birdsall's son, William W., acquired the home in 1896. The house was sold to Charles and Laura Moore in 1899. Trustees of the Whitewater Monthly Meeting, Religious Society of Friends, acquired the house in 1927 and named it Lauramoore for the previous owner. They used it as a retirement home for the elderly and as a temporary meeting place for worship after selling their meeting place on North A Street. The society extended the building by adding bedrooms, a kitchen, and back stairs. The Lauramoore Home was privately incorporated in 1951 as a non-sectarian retirement home. Earlham College assumed ownership of Lauramoore in December 2010 as a gift from the retirement home company. The house, now known as the Lauramoore Guest House and Retreat Center, also hosts visitors to the college. In 1999 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2012, a plaque honoring Birdsall was placed on the Lauramoore property in a ceremony that included John Thistlethwaite, one of Birdsall's relatives. Later life Birdsall continued her community service activities through a committee of women who formed the Union Relief Association. This organization was founded to aid the destitute by finding them employment, and they established a home for orphans and other needy children. Thomas Birdsall was also active in the community. He met with other temperance-minded male citizens of Richmond in August 1867 to form the Richmond Temperance Society and was elected to serve as its president. Though she had a long association with the Society of Friends, Birdsall stopped attending meetings around 1869. When the Whitewater Monthly Meeting inquired about her absence in the summer of 1872, she reported that she no longer felt connected with the religion. When they