Jane Grey Cannon Swisshelm

Jane Grey Cannon Swisshelm (December 6, 1815 – July 22, 1884) was an American Radical Republican journalist, publisher, abolitionist, and women's rights advocate. She was one of America's first female journalists hired by Horace Greeley at his New York Tribune. She was active as a writer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and as a publisher and editor in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

While working for the federal government in Washington, D.C., during the administration of President Andrew Johnson, Swisshelm founded her last newspaper, Reconstructionist. Her published criticism of Johnson led to her losing her job and the closing of the paper. She published her autobiography in 1881.

Early life and education

Swisshelm was born Jane Grey Cannon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., one of several children of Mary (Scott) and Thomas Cannon, both of whom were Presbyterians of Scotch-Irish descent. Her father was a merchant and real estate speculator.

In 1823, when Jane was eight years of age, both her sister Mary and her father died of consumption, leaving the family in straitened circumstances. Jane worked at manual labor, doing lace making and painting on velvet, and her mother colored leghorn and straw hats. At twelve, she was sent to boarding school for several weeks, as there were no public schools at the time. When she returned home, she learned that the doctor thought she was in the first stage of consumption. Her mother had already lost four of her children to illnesses. She moved with her children to Wilkinsburg, a village outside Pittsburgh, and started a store. After more formal study, Jane started teaching classes for village children in 1830. That year, her family learned that her older brother, William, much loved by all, had died of yellow fever in New Orleans, where he had gone for work.