The story is told of the courageous Evangeline Booth, who was sent to New York City to settle a dispute within the newly-founded Salvation Army. The location of the incident is variously given as the rough-and-tumble Bowery, 14th Street, or Cooper Union, where Abraham Lincoln gave the historic speech which catapulted him to the presidency. Miss Booth was confronted by an unruly crowd from the opposing party, who loudly hissed her appearance at the balcony. At a loss what to do, she took a nearby American flag, and gently wrapped it around her. She then turned to the crowd, and issued the following challenge: "Hiss this, if you dare!" It was an age which greatly respected the flag and the ideals it represented, and the crowd immediately fell silent. Today, the crowd would have hissed her more.

Evangeline Booth was also a writer of exceptionally fine devotional works. Here is a sample of her writing.

"The roses of midsummer have no bloom compared with the flowering of Christ's affections. The sun has no heat compared with the warmth of His heart. The waters have no refreshment compared with the streams that will slake the thirst of your poor soul. Whether you accept Him or not, I do not know, but I do right here, in the presence of God and the angels, affirm that I take Him to be my Lord, my Savior, my peace, my life, my joy, my salvation, my light, my heaven, and before earth and sky, and all the angels, declare my unshakeable faith in the limitless sufficiency of the Divine declaration 'I am the Light of the world."