Quaker, Thomas Birdsall, at the Whitewater Monthly Meeting in Richmond. The year after their marriage, the Birdsalls moved briefly to Chester, Clinton County, Ohio, where Thomas's family lived. About 1859, Thomas Birdsall went to work for his brother-in-law, Timothy Thistlethwaite, in his flour mill for about four years. Thomas Birdsall also partnered with the Thistlethwaite family in constructing a three-story commercial building in downtown Richmond at the corner of Main and Front Streets. Mary and Thomas Birdsall were the parents of three sons. Their eldest son, Alvin T. Birdsall, was born there in 1849 and died at age 25 in Brooklyn, New York, where he was working as a dry-goods salesman. His body was returned to Richmond for burial. He left a widow, Mathilda "Mattie" (Hampton) Birdsall. Mattie, who returned to Indiana, remained close to her mother-in-law, even making extended visits to Birdsall in Philadelphia in the 1880s. Their second son, William Wilfred Birdsall (b. 1854), was an educator, author/editor, and for a time, president of Swarthmore College. He married Viola McDill in 1881 and they had three sons, likely Birdsall's only grandchildren. Hubert H. Birdsall (b. 1856), like his older brothers, attended Earlham College in Richmond and was later a journalist in Philadelphia. He married Ella J. Vandyke in Delaware in 1884. Ella, a Catholic, died of fever in 1898. What happened to Hubert after her death is unknown. William and Hubert were born in Indiana. Journalism career Indiana Farmer D. P. Holloway and W. T. Dennis established the Indiana Farmer newspaper in Richmond in 1851. According to their masthead, they devoted the paper to "agriculture, horticulture, mechanics, and the useful arts." In October 1852, the editors established a "Ladies' Department" and Birdsall was hired to edit the section. She lost no time in promoting a feminist agenda. The section also concerned home economics and agricultural items, such as reporting on the State Fair. Birdsall encouraged her female readers to support women-owned newspapers, such as The Genius of Liberty, published by Elizabeth A. Aldrich in Cincinnati. Birdsall editorialized and published stories urging women to improve their minds and find challenging professions, which she believed would contribute to the betterment of their families, rather than detracting from their roles as wives and mothers. Her tenure at the newspaper, while being well-received, was brief, ending in March 1853. The Indiana Farmer's tenure in Richmond was also brief. It was sold and