Louisa Swain

Louisa Ann Swain (née Gardner; 1801 – January 25, 1880) was the first woman in the United States to vote in a general election. She cast her ballot on September 6, 1870, in Laramie, Wyoming.[1][2]

Louisa A. Swain
Statue of Louisa Swain in Laramie, Wyoming

Biography
See also: Women's suffrage in the United States § Initial successes

Born Louisa Ann Gardner, her father was lost at sea when she was young. Her mother then returned to her hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, but also died soon after. Orphaned at the age of 10, Swain was placed in the care of the Charleston Orphan House. In 1814, she and another girl were placed with a family as domestic servants for a period of four years, after which Swain was transferred to another family who requested specifically for her. She stayed with them until 1820, then moved to Baltimore where a year later she married Stephen Swain, who operated a chair factory. They had four children and in the 1830s, Stephen sold his business and the family moved, first to Zanesville, Ohio, and later to Richmond, Indiana. In 1869, the Swains moved to Laramie, Wyoming, to join their son Alfred.[3]

On September 6, 1870, she arose early, put on her apron, shawl and bonnet, and walked downtown with a tin pail in order to purchase yeast from a merchant. She walked by the polling place and concluded she would vote while she was there. The polling place had not yet officially opened, but election officials asked her to come in and cast her ballot. She was described by a Laramie newspaper as "a gentle white-haired housewife, Quakerish in appearance".[4]

She was 69 years old when she cast the first ballot by any woman in the United States in a general election. Soon after the election, Stephen and Louisa Swain left Laramie and returned to Maryland to live near a daughter. Stephen died October 6, 1872, in Maryland. Louisa died January 25, 1880, in Lutherville, Maryland. Her body was buried in the Friends Burial Ground on Harford Road in Baltimore.[5]

Legacy

The Louisa Swain Foundation was established in 2001 (as the Laramie Foundation) and is dedicated to preserving and celebrating Swain's heritage and history and "fostering education in the areas of democracy, human rights and suffrage".[6] The Foundation runs the Wyoming House for Historic Women (also known as the Wyoming Women's History House) in Laramie, Wyoming, which celebrates thirteen women, including Swain. A statue in her honor was dedicated in front of the museum in 2005.[7]

Congress recognized September 6, 2008, as Louisa Swain Day via House Concurrent Resolution 378.[8]

References
  1. Beeton, Beverly (1986). Women vote in the West: the Woman Suffrage Movement, 1869–1896. New York: Garland Science. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-8240-8251-2.
  2. Danilov, Victor J. (2005). Women and museums: a comprehensive guide. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-7591-0854-7.
  3. Murray, John E. (February 11, 2013). The Charleston Orphan House: Children's Lives in the First Public Orphanage in America. University of Chicago Press. pp. 192–194. ISBN 978-0-226-92410-6.
  4. "69-year-old woman votes in general election in Laramie". Laramie Daily Sentinel. September 7, 1870.
  5. "Louisa Gardner Swain". The Louisa Swain Foundation. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  6. "About the Foundation". Louisa Swain Foundation. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  7. "The Wyoming House For Historic Women". thelouisaswainfoundation.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  8. "Expressing support for designation of September 6, 2008, as Louisa Swain Day". 110th Congress of the United States of America. September 27, 2008. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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