Elise Clay Bennett Smith (September 9, 1871 – 1964) was President of the Kentucky Equal Rights Association from 1915 to 1916, and served as an Executive Committee member for the

National American Woman Suffrage Association The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National ...

. Her last name changed several times as she married three men in succession: from her birth surname of Bennett she became Smith, then Jefferson, and finally Gagliardini.

Early life, first marriage, and motherhood

Elise "Fanny" Clay Bennett was the second of six children of

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

s Sarah "Sallie" Lewis Clay Bennett (daughter of

Mary Jane Warfield Clay Mary Jane Warfield Clay (January 20, 1815 – April 29, 1900) was an American socialite, suffragist, abolitionist, and political activist. An early leader in the suffrage movement in Kentucky, she began by forming a suffrage club at her home in 18 ...

) and James Bennett of

Madison County, Kentucky Madison County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. At the 2020 census, its population was 92,701. Its county seat is Richmond. The county is named for Virginia statesman James Madison, who later became the fo ...

. She was also the niece of several nationally known activists, including

Mary Barr Clay Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

Laura Clay Laura Clay (February 9, 1849June 29, 1941), co-founder and first president of the Kentucky Equal Rights Association, was a leader of the American women's suffrage movement. She was one of the most important suffragists in the South, fav ...

, and

Belle Harris Bennett Belle Harris Bennett (December 3, 1852 – July 20, 1922), led the struggle for and won laity rights for women in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. She was the founding president of the Woman's Missionary Council of the Southern Methodist Chur ...

. She graduated from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

. She married Thomas Jefferson Smith Jr. of

, on February 3, 1898. They had two children together: Elise Bennett Smith Wenley and Thomas Jefferson Smith Jr. By 1900, the Smiths were renting a house on Fourth Street in

Richmond, Kentucky Richmond is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Madison County, Kentucky, United States. It is named after Richmond, Virginia, and is home to Eastern Kentucky University. In 2019, the population was 36,157. Richmond is the fourth-la ...

, while he worked as a lawyer. Elise was a housekeeper and taking care of their baby daughter, Elise (born 13 July 1899). Their son Thomas Jefferson Smith was also born in

in 1904. In 1912 the family moved to

Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, United States, and the seat of Franklin County. It is a home rule-class city; the population was 28,602 at the 2020 census. Located along the Kentucky River, Frankfort is the prin ...

since her husband had been appointed to a four-year post as a State Banking Commissioner which oversaw regulations of banking. As the niece of the widower Kentucky Governor

James B. McCreary James Bennett McCreary (July 8, 1838 – October 8, 1918) was an American lawyer and politician from Kentucky. He represented the state in both houses of the U.S. Congress and served as its 27th and 37th governor. Shortly after graduating ...

, she served as the hostess of gatherings at the executive mansion at Frankfort. She also served as the chairman of the promotion committee for the "Woman's Shop" at the Kentucky State Fair in Louisville in September 1915. After her first husband died, she moved with her two children (Elise was 30 and Thomas 15) to a high society neighborhood of the St. James–Belgravia Historic District in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, renting an apartment at Saint James Court. She was financially stable, holding stock in the Clay's Ferry Bridge Company.

Club and suffrage activities

1912

Elise Bennett Smith, a member of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

, was elected President of Federation of Women's Clubs in Kentucky. Confident of the Kentucky legislature in early 1912 passing school suffrage for Kentucky women (with educational qualification), she would start planning a campaign for full suffrage thereafter.

1913

She was appointed chairman of Kentucky Day at the National Conservation Exposition in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

. She was also invited as a delegate to the fourth American Peace Congress, held at

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

in May.

1914

Smith served as a founding member of the Woman's Forward Kentucky Movement, a campaign to support

Cora Wilson Stewart Cora Wilson Stewart (January 17, 1875 – December 2, 1958) was an American progressive era social reformer and educator who is well known for her work to eliminate adult illiteracy. In 1911, Stewart was the first woman to be elected to the positi ...

's Illiteracy Commission and combat adult illiteracy in Kentucky.

1915

Still serving in the role of First Lady of Kentucky, Smith organized the Cotton Ball at the Capital Hotel in

as a fundraiser for the

Kentucky Equal Rights Association Kentucky Equal Rights Association (KERA) was the first permanent statewide women's rights organization in Kentucky. Founded in November 1888, the KERA voted in 1920 to transmute itself into thKentucky League of Women Votersto continue its many and ...

(KERA) in February. In November at the KERA convention, she was elected president.

1916

As KERA president she recruited Senator Thomas A. Combs of Lexington to introduce a full suffrage bill in the Kentucky Senate; and, working from the McClure Building in

together with former KERA president

Madeline McDowell Breckinridge Madeline (Madge) McDowell Breckinridge (May 20, 1872 – November 25, 1920) was an American leader of the women's suffrage movement in Kentucky. She married Desha Breckinridge, editor of the ''Lexington Herald'', which advocated women's rights, ...

she managed the distribution of literature to legislators on suffrage. Smith invited suffragist

Beatrice Forbes-Robertson Hale Beatrice Forbes-Robertson Hale (1883 – 5 September 1967) was an English actress, lecturer, writer, and suffragist. Early life Beatrice Forbes-Robertson was born in England, the daughter of Gertrude Knight and Ian Forbes-Robertson, and the gran ...

to speak on January 18, 1916, in the Kentucky Assembly. The legislature adjourned at noon to hear Hale speak and the galleries filled with women wearing sashes with "Votes for Women." Smith invited the Governor Augustus Owsley Stanley to attend. However, the Governor actively worked against the campaign, even as the bill for woman suffrage in Kentucky passed the Senate, and the bill died. Smith was meanwhile elected state chairman of the Political Science Department of the Federation of Women's Clubs of Kentucky. Her regional and national standing was strengthened when she presented at "Dixie Night" at the

NAWSA convention in Atlantic City on September 7. She was being considered for NAWSA first auditor but was elected NAWSA corresponding secretary instead. Carrie Chapman Catt chose for the new headquarters for NAWSA a historic home at 1626 Rhode Island Ave. NW owned by Mrs. Christian Hemmick; and Catt planned for Smith to live there as a member of the NAWSA Executive Board assigned to the work of local organization. Her daughter Elise joined her there as she worked at the NAWSA national headquarters. Smith and

represented Kentucky at the Susan B. Anthony memorial program at the NAWSA headquarters.

1917

Smith had stepped down as president in order to live in Washington and work for NAWSA. When she moved back to Kentucky, she stayed active in organizing the woman suffrage campaign by serving as the KERA corresponding secretary.

Leaving politics

In the summers of 1920 and 1922, she and her two children, daughter Elise and son Thomas Jr., traveled throughout Europe for the purpose of "recreation and education." On the ship over to Europe she met George David Jefferson of London; she was on her way to France to undertake "reconstruction work in the regions of France under the direction of Miss Anna Morgan, of New York." On November 25, 1920, she married George David Jefferson, a retired secretary (age 58), of Oxford, England. Jefferson was originally from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and had worked in Ayer, Massachusetts as the school secretary at

Groton School Groton School (founded as Groton School for Boys) is a private college-preparatory boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts. Ranked as one of the top five boarding high schools in the United States in Niche (2021–2022), it is affiliated ...

. They were lived with his daughter Miss R.M. Jefferson in London and traveled to the U.S. often. While living in England, they also traveled to Italy in 1923 and Algeria in 1925. They had settled in Rome, Italy when they left in December 1930 to live at 380 Riverside Drive, New York, New York. George Jefferson died in England in July 1932. At the age of 66 and with her brother Warfield C. Bennett as a witness, she married an Italian investment broker, Alessandro Gagliardini, on January 15, 1938, in Manhattan, New York; and, he petitioned for his naturalization papers that day. They lived at 1212 Fifth Avenue in New York, New York. They often traveled to Italy where they would stay half the year.

Death

She died in New York on August 25, 1964.