Jessie Lafountain Bigwood (1874 – September 23, 1953) was

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

's first female lawyer. She was born in 1874 to Frank Lafountain and Helen Payette in

Plattsburgh, New York Plattsburgh is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. The population of the sur ...

. At the age of sixteen, she graduated early from high school and thereafter attended the Burlington Business School to study bookkeeping and stenography. She served as a government reporter at

Fort Ethan Allen Fort Ethan Allen was a United States Army installation in Vermont, named for American Revolutionary War figure Ethan Allen. Established as a cavalry post in 1894 and closed in 1944, today it is the center of a designated national historic distr ...

. In 1898, she married Frederick H. Bigwood and began working for V.A. Bullard, Esq. Bigwood took a law course at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

in 1900, and by 1902, became the first female lawyer in Vermont after successfully completing her oral examination. Bigwood died on September 23, 1953, in

Toronto, Canada Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. During the final months of her life, a widowed Bigwood supplemented her pension by working as a nurse's aide.

References

Vermont lawyers 1874 births 1953 deaths 20th-century American lawyers People from Plattsburgh, New York 20th-century American women lawyers {{Vermont-stub

See also

References