[1][3] Stewart began her career in public service during the American Civil War, working with the Soldiers' Aid Societies and the United States Sanitary Commission.

[6] Lewis told the story of how his mother, distressed by her husband's drinking, appealed to the owner of the local saloon to cease selling liquor by praying with a group of other women.

[5] In response to this story, the women of Hillsboro marched through the town, stopping at every saloon (approximately twenty of them) and praying for the souls of the barkeepers and their patrons.

[7] Richard H. Chused described the Crusade as follows: "Leaving the sanctuary of their homes, they carried an aura of moral responsibility and upright character with them as they entered bars filled with smoking and imbibing men and prayed on the streets in front of drinking establishments for weeks on end.

Many men were incredulous that the respectable women of southern Ohio were capable of organizing daily prayer sessions and well-orchestrated marches into male domains".