M’Clintock House at Women’s Rights National Historical Park

14 East Williams Street in Waterloo, New York

The M’Clintock House is where the Declaration of Sentiments was written for the First Women’s Rights Convention, making it a significant part of the women’s rights movement. It is only open to the pubic for special events. However, there is a parking area, and visitors are welcome to stop at the house and take a look from the outside from dawn until dusk year-round. For a schedule of events, see the National Park Service’s official Calendar web page for the park.

The M’Clintock House was built in the mid-1830s by Richard P. Hunt, a major local industrialist and landholder. He used the house as a rental property and rented it to fellow Quakers Thomas and Mary Ann M’Clintock when they moved from Philadelphia to Waterloo in 1836.

The M’Clintocks lived at the home for the next twenty years and became pillars of the community. They opened multiple businesses downtown and established themselves as leaders among the local Quakers. Followers of the Quaker religion believed in four main principles: simplicity, truth, equality, and community. Their dedication and commitment to these principles led many to become social activists, including the M’Clintocks.

Mary Ann was one of five women who attended a tea party at the Hunt House on July 9, 1848, hosted by Jane Hunt, Richard’s wife. This is when the idea for the First Women’s Rights Convention was conceived. The same group of women, which also included Elizabeth Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Mary Wright, met again at the M’Clintock home a week later on July 16th to finish planning and organizing the convention.

Using the Declaration of Independence as a model, they drafted a document to be ratified and signed at the convention called the Declaration of Sentiments. The document outlined the rights American women should be entitled to as citizens. It also included 16 grievances, such as the lack of representation in government, the absence of property rights in marriage, divorce law discrimination, and inequality in education and employment opportunities. Signed by 100 people—68 women and 32—the Declaration of Sentiments became a foundational document in the women’s rights movement.

After Richard Hunt died in 1856, the M’Clintocks moved back to Philadelphia, and the property was divided in half by his executors. The half that included the M’Clintock House was sold to the Waterloo Baptist Church in 1875. It was used as the church parsonage for over 100 years until it was purchased by the National Park Service on October 15, 1985, for inclusion in Women’s Rights National Historical Park.

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