Jane Grey Cannon Swisshelm (December6, 1815July22, 1884) was an American
Radical Republican
The Radical Republicans were a political faction within the Republican Party originating from the party's founding in 1854—some six years before the Civil War—until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Reconstruction. They ca ...
journalist, publisher,
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world.
The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...
, and
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...
advocate. She was one of America's first female journalists hired by
Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congres ...
at his ''
New York Tribune
The ''New-York Tribune'' (from 1914: ''New York Tribune'') was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s ...
.'' She was active as a writer in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, and as a publisher and editor in
St. Cloud, Minnesota
St. Cloud or Saint Cloud (; ) is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is the c ...
.
While working for the federal government in Washington, D.C., during the administration of President
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...
, Swisshelm founded her last newspaper, ''Reconstructionist''. Her published criticism of Johnson led to her losing her job and the closing of the paper. She published her autobiography in 1881.
Early life and education
Swisshelm was born Jane Grey Cannon in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, U.S., one of several children of Mary (Scott) and Thomas Cannon, both of whom were Presbyterians of
Scotch-Irish descent. Her father was a merchant and real estate speculator.
In 1823, when Jane was eight years of age, both her sister Mary and her father died of
consumption
Consumption may refer to:
* Eating
*Resource consumption
*Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically known as consumption
* Consumer (food chain), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms
* Consumption (economics), the purchasing of n ...
, leaving the family in straitened circumstances. Jane worked at manual labor, doing lace making and painting on velvet, and her mother colored leghorn and straw hats. At twelve, she was sent to
boarding school
A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...
for several weeks, as there were no public schools at the time. When she returned home, she learned that the doctor thought she was in the first stage of consumption. Her mother had already lost four of her children to illnesses. She moved with her children to
Wilkinsburg, a village outside
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, and started a store. After more formal study, Jane started teaching classes for village children in 1830. That year, her family learned that her older brother, William, much loved by all, had died of
yellow fever in
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
, where he had gone for work.
Career
On November 18, 1836, at age 20, Cannon married James Swisshelm, from a nearby town. They moved to
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
, in 1838, where James intended to go into business with his brother, Samuel. This is where Jane first encountered
slavery
Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
, which made a strong impression on her. Nearby was a man who had sold away his own mixed-race children. She wrote in her
autobiography
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...
of some of the sights she saw and stories she heard.
In 1839, against her husband's wishes, she moved to
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
to care for her ailing mother. After her mother's death, she headed a girls'
seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
in
Butler, Pennsylvania
Butler is a city in Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is north of Pittsburgh and part of the Greater Pittsburgh region. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,502.
Butler is named after Major General ...
. Two years later, she rejoined her husband on his farm, which she called Swissvale, east of Pittsburgh. (Today the area is
Edgewood).
Activism and newspaper writing
During this time, Swisshelm began writing articles against
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
, and stories, poems, and articles for an
anti-slavery
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world.
The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...
newspaper, the ''Spirit of Liberty'',
and others in Pittsburgh. Prompted by the demise of the ''Spirit of Liberty'' and the similarly themed ''Albatross'', Swisshelm founded the newspaper ''
Saturday Visiter''
'sic''in 1847. It eventually reached a national circulation of 6,000, and in 1854 was merged with the weekly edition of the Pittsburgh ''
Commercial Journal
__NOTOC__
The ''Commercial Journal'' was a mid-19th century newspaper in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.
Beginnings
The paper was founded as the ''Spirit of the Age'' by J. Heron Foster, J. McMillin and J. B. Kennedy on 19 April 1843, wi ...
''. She wrote many editorials advocating women's
property rights
The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership), is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their Possession (law), possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely ...
.
On April 17, 1850, while working for the ''
New York Tribune
The ''New-York Tribune'' (from 1914: ''New York Tribune'') was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s ...
'', she became the first female reporter admitted to the reporters gallery of the U. S. Senate. Both her presence and her account of that day's fracas, in which Mississippi Senator
Henry Foote drew a pistol when Missouri Senator
Thomas Hart Benton charged at him, were widely noted. According to a Wisconsin newspaper, "nobody but a regular woman could make a description of such a scene so interesting. That jerking, nervous, half breathless excitement which would embarrass the narrative of a man only adds piquancy and grace to that of a woman."
In 1857, Swisshelm
divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...
d her husband and moved west to
St. Cloud, Minnesota
St. Cloud or Saint Cloud (; ) is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is the c ...
, where she controlled a string of newspapers. She promoted abolition and
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...
by writing and lecturing. The city was a developing center of trade, located on the
Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
in the central part of the eastern border of the state.
Writing in ''The Saint Cloud Visiter'', Swisshelm waged a private war against
Sylvanus Lowry, a Southern slaveholder and Indian trader who had settled in the area in 1847.
Politically influential, he had been elected to the Territorial Council, and as the city's first
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
in 1856.
["Sylvanus Lowry"](_blank)
Minnesota Legislators Past and Present, accessed 4 July 2012 By then he reigned as Saint Cloud's Democratic
political boss
In the politics of the United States of America, a boss is a person who controls a faction or local branch of a political party. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves; most historical bosses did not, at least during the times of th ...
. Swisshelm was especially infuriated that Lowry owned slaves, as Minnesota was a
free state.
But, in 1857 the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
ruled in the
Dred Scott
Dred Scott ( – September 17, 1858) was an enslaved African American man who, along with his wife, Harriet, unsuccessfully sued for the freedom of themselves and their two daughters, Eliza and Lizzie, in the '' Dred Scott v. Sandford'' case ...
case that slaves had no standing as citizens to file
freedom suits
Freedom suits were lawsuits in the Thirteen Colonies and the United States filed by enslaved people against slaveholders to assert claims to freedom, often based on descent from a free maternal ancestor, or time held as a resident in a free st ...
, and that the
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise (also known as the Compromise of 1820) was federal legislation of the United States that balanced the desires of northern states to prevent the expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand ...
was unconstitutional, so the state's prohibition against slavery could not be enforced. More Southerners migrated to St. Cloud and Minnesota with slaves. After the outbreak of the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, most Southerners returned to the South, taking their slaves with them.
Writing in ''The Visiter'', Swisshelm accused Lowry of swindling the local
Winnebago as a trader, ordering
vigilante
Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority.
A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...
attacks on suspected land
claim jumpers, and abusing his slaves. He started a rival paper, ''The Union'', to offset her influence.
[Ambar Espinoza, "St. Cloud professor unearths history of slavery in Minnesota"](_blank)
Minnesota Public Radio, 7 May 2010, accessed 4 July 2012
After one of her fiery editorials, Lowry formed a "Committee of Vigilance", broke into the newspaper's offices, smashed the
printing press
A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in whi ...
, and threw the pieces into the nearby
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
. Swisshelm soon raised money for another press and raised her attacks to a fever pitch. Formerly being groomed for the state post of
Lieutenant Governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
, Lowry saw his influence over Saint Cloud politics lessened but was elected to the state senate in 1862.
He died young in 1865 in St. Cloud.
Civil War years
When
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
was nominated for the presidency, Swisshelm spoke and wrote in his behalf. When the American Civil War began and nurses were wanted at the front, she was one of the first to respond. After the
Battle of the Wilderness
The Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5–7, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of Lieutenant general (United States), Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General (C ...
, she had charge of 182 badly wounded men at
Fredericksburg for five days, without surgeon or assistant, and saved them all.
In 1862, when a
Sioux
The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin ( ; Dakota/ Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translati ...
Indian uprising in
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
resulted in the deaths of hundreds of white settlers, Swisshelm was among those demanding the federal government punish the Indians. She toured major cities to raise public opinion about this issue and, while in Washington, D.C., met with
Edwin M. Stanton
Edwin McMasters Stanton (December 19, 1814December 24, 1869) was an American lawyer and politician who served as U.S. secretary of war under the Lincoln Administration during most of the American Civil War. Stanton's management helped organize ...
, a friend from Pittsburgh and then
Secretary of War
The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
. He offered her a clerkship in the government. She sold her Minnesota paper and continued to work as an army nurse during the Civil War in the Washington area until her job became available.
Later life and death
After the war, Swisshelm founded her final newspaper, the ''Reconstructionist.'' Her attacks on President
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...
led to her losing the paper and her government job. In 1872, she attended the
Prohibition Party
The Prohibition Party (PRO) is a Political parties in the United States, political party in the United States known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages and as an integral part of the temperance movemen ...
convention as a delegate.
Swisshelm published ''Letters to Country Girls'' (New York, 1853), a collection of newspaper columns she had launched in 1849,
[ and an autobiography entitled ''Half of a Century'' (1881).]
Swisshelm died on July 22, 1884, at her Swissvale home and is buried in Allegheny Cemetery
Allegheny Cemetery is one of the largest and oldest burial grounds in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is a historic rural cemetery.
The non-sectarian, wooded hillside park is located at 4734 Butler Street in the Lawrenceville neighborhood, and b ...
. The city of Pittsburgh neighborhood of Swisshelm Park, adjacent to Swissvale, is named in her honor.
A new edition of Swisshelm's autobiography was published in 2005.
See also
* Anna Elizabeth Dickinson
Anna Elizabeth Dickinson (October 28, 1842 – October 22, 1932) was an American orator and lecturer. An advocate for the abolition of Slavery in the United States, slavery and for women's rights, Dickinson was the first woman to give a political ...
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Endres, Kathleen. "Jane Grey Swisshelm: 19th century journalist and feminist." ''Journalism History'' 2.4 (1975): 128.
*
* Theodore C. Blegen, Larsen, A.J. editor
"Crusader and feminist; letters of Jane Grey Swisshelm"
Narratives and Documents Volume II, Minnesota Historical Society, Saint Paul Minnesota, 1934. Full text available online at Library of Congress.
* Harriet Sigerman, "Jane Grey Cannon Swisshelm", in ''American National Biography'', New York: Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 1999.
External links
Jane Grey Swisshelm in MNopedia, the Minnesota Encyclopedia
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swisshelm, Jane
1815 births
1884 deaths
People of Minnesota in the American Civil War
Writers from Minnesota
Writers from Pittsburgh
Journalists from Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania Prohibitionists
Journalists from Minnesota
19th-century American newspaper editors
19th-century American newspaper publishers (people)
19th-century American newspaper founders
American women newspaper editors
19th-century American women journalists
Burials at Allegheny Cemetery
Women printers
American Civil War nurses
American women nurses
19th-century American businesswomen
19th-century American businesspeople
Radical Republicans
Suffragists from Minnesota