“I run for City Atty. on Temperance ticket today.”

Lavinia Goodell, April 6, 1875

In April of 1875, 45 years before women won the right to vote, Lavinia Goodell ran for Janesville City Attorney on the Temperance, or Anti-License, ticket. It is unknown when she made the decision to run. Her diary entry for election day reported, “I run for City Atty. on Temperance ticket today. Don’t know how many votes I got, but N got elected, which I suppose will make him amiable.” The “N” in question was Pliny Norcross, Lavinia’s sometime legal mentor/sometime adversary. The following day, Lavinia reported that she had received about 60 votes, a very respectable showing from Janesville’s all male voting contingent.

The April 17, 1875 issue of the Woman’s Journal reported favorably on Lavinia’s efforts:

The 1875 election was Lavinia Goodell’s only bid for public office, but for the remaining five years of her life she worked tirelessly to help women gain the right to vote.