Seraph Young Ford (November 6, 1846June 22, 1938) was the first woman to cast a ballot under a law that made women citizens' voting rights equal to men's in the United States. She voted in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

's municipal election on February 14, 1870, becoming the first woman to vote after the

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state. ...

passed a women's equal suffrage law, just two days prior.

Biography

Seraph Cedenia Young was born on November 6, 1846 to Cedenia Clark and Brigham Hamilton Young in

Winter Quarters, Nebraska Winter Quarters was an encampment formed by approximately 2,500 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they waited during the winter of 1846–47 for better conditions for their trek westward. It followed a preliminary ten ...

. The Young family migrated to the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

the next year along with other Mormon refugees, arriving in October 1847 and settling in

. Young, grandniece of

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...

, was the oldest of nine children and eventually became a teacher at the model school at the

University of Deseret The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. She was twenty-three years old and teaching at the university at the time of her historic vote. Utah's territorial legislature unanimously passed a law extending voting rights to women citizens in February 1870. Acting territorial governor Stephen A. Mann signed the bill into law on February 12, 1870 and Salt Lake City's municipal election was held just two days later. Although

Wyoming Territory The Territory of Wyoming was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 25, 1868, until July 10, 1890, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Wyoming. Cheyenne was the territorial capital. The boun ...

had extended voting rights to women citizens before Utah Territory did, Utah held two elections the municipal election on February 14 and a territory-wide election on August 1 before Wyoming women first cast ballots on September 6. Seraph Young's historic vote was cast at Council Hall, which in 1870 served as the city hall for Salt Lake City and housed the territory's Legislative Assembly. The building was moved in 1961 to the grounds of the

Utah State Capitol The Utah State Capitol is the house of government for the U.S. state of Utah. The building houses the chambers and offices of the Utah State Legislature, the offices of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, the State Auditor and ...

. No historical records survive that record Young's feelings about the issue of woman suffrage, but newspapers reported that she was the first woman to cast her vote on February 14, 1870, which made her the first American woman to vote under a law that gave women the same voting rights as men. Young's simple action made history. Young did not go on to become a leader in the women's rights movement, but Utah women remembered her even decades later as the first to vote. In 1872, Young married Seth L. Ford in Salt Lake City. He was a printer from Buffalo, New York and a Union Army veteran during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The couple had three children, two of whom survived to adulthood. She moved farther east as her husband's health deteriorated from wounds sustained during the war. They lived most of their married life in New York and Maryland. She struggled to support the family after he became blind and paralyzed, for a time the family raised money by singing and playing the harmonica on street corners. Young cared for Ford until his death in 1910, and was buried next to him in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

after her death in 1938. Her headstone read “Serath” instead of the correct spelling of her first name until it was fixed in 2020.

Commemoration

A mural depicting Seraph Young's vote, created by artist David Koch, is in the House of Representatives chamber of the

. In 2019, the Utah Capitol Preservation Board approved a women's history sculpture for the lawn in front of Council Hall to honor Seraph Young's historic first vote and commemorate Utah's role in the struggle for women's suffrage. The sculpture, designed by Utah artists Kelsey Harrison and Jason Manning, was installed in the summer of 2020. In 2019, the

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

recognized Seraph Young's vote and passed a bill designating February 14 as Women's Voter Registration Day. On February 14, 2020, the 150th anniversary of Seraph Young's vote, public history non-profit Better Days 2020 led a remembrance walk to Council Hall, where Salt Lake City mayor Erin Mendenhall spoke about the importance of Utah women's leadership in the suffrage movement and encouraged Utah citizens to register and vote.

Biography

Commemoration

References

Further reading