Susanna M. Salter
| Susanna M. Salter | |
|---|---|
Salter in 1887
|
|
| Mayor of Argonia, Kansas | |
|
In office April 4, 1887 – 1888 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Susanna Madora Kinsey March 2, 1860 Lamira, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | March 17, 1961 (aged 101) Norman, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Resting place | Argonia Cemetery |
| Political party | Prohibition |
| Spouse(s) | Lewis Allison Salter (1880-1916, his death) |
| Children | Nine |
| Alma mater | Kansas State Agricultural College |
Susanna Madora "Dora" Salter (née Kinsey; March 2, 1860 – March 17, 1961) was a U.S. politician and activist. She served as mayor of Argonia, Kansas, becoming the first woman elected as mayor and one of the first women elected to any political office in the United States.
Susanna Madora Kinsey was born March 2, 1860, near the unincorporated community of Lamira in Smith Township, Belmont County, Ohio. She was the daughter of Oliver Kinsey and Terissa Ann White Kinsey, the descendants of Quaker colonists from England.
At age 12, she moved to Kansas with her parents, settling on an 80-acre farm near Silver Lake, Kansas. Eight years later, she entered Kansas State Agricultural College (present-day Kansas State University) in Manhattan. She was permitted to skip her freshman year, having taken college-level courses in high school, but was forced to drop out six weeks short of graduation due to illness.
While a student, she met Lewis Allison Salter, an aspiring attorney and the son of former Kansas Lieutenant Governor Melville J. Salter. They married soon thereafter and moved to Argonia, where she was active in the local Woman's Christian Temperance Union and Prohibition Party organizations, and became acquainted with nationally known temperance activist Carrie Nation.
In 1883, she gave birth to the first baby born in Argonia, Francis Argonia Salter. Lewis and Susanna Salter had a total of nine children, one of whom was born during her tenure as mayor and died in infancy. Following the city's incorporation in 1885, her father and husband were elected as the city's first mayor and city clerk, respectively.
Salter was elected mayor of Argonia on April 4, 1887. Her election was a surprise because her name had been placed on a slate of candidates as a prank by a group of men who were actually against women in politics and hoped to secure a loss that would humiliate women and discourage them from running. Because candidates did not have to be made public before election day, Salter herself did not know she was on the ballot before the polls opened. When, on election day itself, she agreed to accept office if elected, the Women's Christian Temperance Union abandoned its own preferred candidate and voted for Salter en masse, helping to secure her election by a two-thirds majority.
...
Wikipedia