Albany Evening Journal (text)
Thursday May 10, 1900
Secretary of State John T. McDonough was one of the orators at the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of John Brown at the Hamilton Street A.M.E. church, Wednesday night and after cracking a number of good jokes at the expense of Dr. William H Johnson, he began to speak of the passage of the Ellsberg School bill. Mr. McDonald said that Dr. Johnson and others were deserving of great praise but that the people had forgotten “that this little woman, Miss Elizabeth Cisco, of Jamaica, L.I., to whom the most credit is due.”
Just as he was about to take up another topic Dr Johnson asked Ms. Cisco to stand up. Miss Cisco, who weighs in the vicinity of 200 pounds, and who is well proportioned, stood up and with a smile looked at Mr. McDonough, who was completely staggered. The audience got on in a moment and burst into a roar of laughter.