Phoebe Jordan Cast Historic Vote 104 Years Ago
The ballot box that Phoebe Jordan cast her ballot in is still used for every New Ashford election (with an iPad backup).
Did she know she was walking into history? Possibly. She was politically astute and was participating in something of an electoral stunt to splash New Ashford across the national news for being first in the nation to record results in the 1920 presidential election.
Jordan, then 56, would become the first person to vote for president that year. Oddly, her title as the first woman to cast a vote wouldn't be mentioned for another four.
Three days before this latest presidential election, Jordan's place in history was etched in stone — literally.
More than three dozen family and community members made their way to the steep New Ashford Cemetery on Saturday to see the new inscription on her marble gravestone:
"Phoebe Sarah Jordan ... first woman to vote in the United States, November 2, 1920."
Ernest Jordan, whose grandfather Arthur was Phoebe's brother, gave a hearty welcome to the gathering and the youngest in the group — six generations removed from Phoebe — helped to pull off an American flag unveiling the inscription. Then everyone headed to the 1792 schoolhouse where Phoebe cast her vote in the ballot box that's still in use and to Town Hall for cookies made from Phoebe's recipe book.
Rachel Branch, who spearheaded the dedication, recorded the unveiling for Northern Berkshire Community Television.
"I'm happy it was done," said Ernest, who described himself as the "end of the caboose" as the oldest. Chad Cornwell, another several times great-nephew, and his mother, Pamela Cornwell Scalzo, said her mother, Doris (Ernest's older sister), frequently talked about her aunt.
Doris was 11 when Phoebe died in 1940 and frequently visited her New Ashford farm.
"She was an accountant, so she remembered everything," Scalzo said. "Who got married to who, what date, how much they weighed [when born]."
They were well aware of Phoebe's prominence but Scalzo added "it wasn't that cool" for many years.
"Now, it's like, we really have to do something about this, because she needs to be recognized."
The 19th Amendment extending the franchise to women had been ratified on Aug. 18, just months before Jordan cast her historic vote. It was an achievement that another celebrated suffrage advocate and Berkshire native, Susan B. Anthony, did not live to see.
"This was the first presidential election that women had the right to vote in all 48 states," said town historian Cindy Grosso at the dedication. "This responsibility was hard earned after 60-plus years of determination by many women in this country."
(Though it must be pointed out that it would take the Civil Rights Act of 1964 before Black women and indigenous women would be assured of their right to vote.)
Jordan was one of those determined women, Grosso said, but added, "as with any interesting story, some is verifiable and some is oral history handed down through generations, so taken with that thought in mind, I will proceed."
Born in the town of Washington, she was sent to live at age 7 with her aunt and uncle on her grandfather's farm, which she would eventually take over and run until the last two weeks of her life, when she went to live with relative in Dalton.
"Phoebe, a single woman, was described as a petite but strong woman who stood 5-feet tall," said Grosso. "She was more than capable of driving a team of horses to Pittsfield and back, delivering charcoal, plowing a road or cutting the fields. This trait of self-sufficiency and independence surfaced time and time again in her life story.
"In other words, she was a strong woman in charge of her life, managing the responsibilities of the family farm and not at all a dependent woman."
Four years before Jordan's vote, editors at the Berkshire Evening Eagle and the Pittsfield Journal had hatched a plan to turn the national spotlight on New Ashford.
"The editors wanted to organize all the voters in the town to be at the voting poll as soon as it was legally allowed because according to the law, the polls could close early as long as every registered voter voted," Grosso explained. "Done early enough, this would make New Ashford the first to submit election results ... and 'startle the world.'"
The success of 1916 set up the vote for 1920, when 28 voters lined up before dawn to cast their ballots. The ladies went first, and Jordan took the lead.
"Interesting to me, the first news stories just recorded the election results and the honor of being the first town in the nation to record the votes, with no mention of the women voters," said Grosso.
Jordan would be first in town to vote in the next four elections, although New Ashford would lose its "first in the nation" title in 1936 to towns in New Hampshire and Vermont. Dixville Notch, N.H., has delivered the first results since 1960, voting at midnight.
Phoebe would cast the first ballot in the next four elections; she was a Republican but switched the Democrats to vote for FDR in 1932. When she died, her obituary ran in the New York Times.
"Her story is still told in New Ashford and nationally. Some call her mysterious. Some call her independent to the end," said Grosso. "All think of her when women's rights and voting are the topic of conversation.
"She must have been an extraordinary person to get to know, considering her independent qualities during a very pivotal and noteworthy time in U.S. history."
Tags: civil rights, dedication, election, historical figure, voting,
