I have been trying to verify a claim that the lady with the alligator purse was suffragist Susan B. Anthony who supposedly carried her speeches with her in an alligator purse. The claim is that this dates back to the California woman suffrage campaign of 1896, and that the last line is "Vote! said the lady with the alligator purse."

I have found this ending among the many variations, but, so far, nothing to link it to Susan B. Anthony.

The rhyme is also sometimes conflated with another popular rhyme:

Mother, mother, I feel sick
send for the doctor quick, quick, quick.

or

Mother, mother, I feel ill
send for the doctor from over the hill

The lady with the alligator purse often shows up in these variants.

I have also found a number of bawdy variants, focusing on the fact that "Miss" Lucy is unmarried. Some of them would seem to stem from the 1920s during prohibition given some of the references to alcohol.

If anyone knows of a connection to Susan B. Anthony that comes from a source OTHER THAN the Susan B. Anthony House in Rochester, NY, please email me: nsilverrod@sfpl.org.

Thanks!