Ethel Small (née Ethel Dallas Horstmann) in 1921 became the second woman elected to the

Toronto city council Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The current term began on November 15, 2022. Structure The cur ...

. She was the younger daughter of Ferdinand Oden Horstmann (1846–1894) and Harriett Kelley Horstmann. The Horstmann family were wealthy Philadelphia manufacturers and merchants of military garment trimmings (

passementerie Passementerie (, ) or passementarie is the art of making elaborate trimmings or edgings (in French, ) of applied braid, gold or silver cord, embroidery, colored silk, or beads for clothing or furnishings. Styles of passementerie include the tas ...

) and military regalia. Until she married Sidney Small of Toronto November 22, 1905 in Washington, D.C., Ethel Horstmann lived the life of a wealthy

socialite A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...

in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. attending races, presidential balls and diplomatic receptions. At the time of 1911 census, Ethel and Sidney Small were residing at 70 Walmer Road, Toronto, in the wealthy Annex. Sidney Small was a successful commercial real estate agent with offices on Adelaide Street. Ethel Small's interest in politics may derive from her mother's side of the family. Her maternal grandfather

William D. Kelley William Darrah Kelley (April 12, 1814 – January 9, 1890) was an American politician from Philadelphia who served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district from 1861 to 1890. He ...

was a founder of the

U.S. Republican Party The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP ("Grand Old Party"), is one of the Two-party system, two Major party, major contemporary political parties in the United States. The GOP was founded in 1854 by Abolitionism in the United Stat ...

and a lifelong advocate of civil rights, social reform, and labor protection.

References

Toronto city councillors Women municipal councillors in Canada Women in Ontario politics Politicians from Philadelphia {{Ontario-politician-stub