Susanna M. Salter

Susanna "Dora" Madora Salter (March 2, 1860-1961), U.S. politician, She served as mayor of Argonia, Kansas, becoming the first woman elected as mayor in the United States.

Early Life

Susanna Madora Kinsey was born near Lamira in rural Belmont County, Ohio, and moved to Kansas with her parents, Olver Kinsey and Terissa Ann White, at age 12. Eight years later, she entered Kansas State Agricultural College (present-day Kansas State University) in Manhattan, but was forced to drop out six weeks short of graduation due to illness. While a student, she met Lewis J. Salter, an aspiring attorney and the son of former Kansas Lt. Governor Melville J. Salter. They married soon thereafter and moved to Argonia, where she became a leader in the local Woman's Christian Temperance Union organization, and in 1883, she gave birth to the first baby born in Argonia, Francis Argonia Salter. Lewis and Susanna Salter had a total of eight children, one of who was born during her tenure as mayor and died in infancy. Following the city's incorporation in 1885, her father and husband were elected as the city's first mayor and city clerk, respectively.

Related Topics:
Belmont County, Ohio - Kansas - Kansas State University - Manhattan - Woman's Christian Temperance Union - 1883 - 1885

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