Jane was born in 1815 in Pittsburgh to a Scottish Covenanter family. She was a writer, newspaper proprietor (most notably, the St. Cloud Democratic), and an advocate for the abolition of slavery and for the property rights of married women.
Jane was a journalist, publisher, abolitionist, women's rights advocate and Civil War nurse.
Under her nom de plumme "Jennie Deans", she wrote for Neal's Saturday Gazette, The Dollar Newspaper, and the The Spirit of Liberty (a weekly abolitionist paper).
Around 1838 she opened a school for African Americans in Louisville, Kentucky, in a home she and her husband rented from Jerry Wade, a man described as Mulatto who had purchased the freedom of himself and his family. Both she and the students were harassed by whites; Wade was notified that his house would be burned down if the school continued, and of the students withdrew from the school.[1]
She founded the Pittsburgh Saturday Visiter, the St. Cloud Visiter and St. Cloud Democratic in Minnesota,[2] and the Reconstructionist in Washington, D.C. In 1850, she was the first woman to sit in the Senate Press Gallery, as a correspondent for Horace Greely's New York Tribune.
She volunteered as a nurse during the Civil War, most notably at the Battle of Fredericksburg. She retired to Swissdale, Pennsylvania and wrote an autobiography called Half a Century. She passed away in 1884.
During their marriage, she and James Swisshelm had one child: Mary Henrietta "Zo" (Swisshelm) Allen. [3]
1850 Census "United States Census, 1850", citing Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Affiliate Publication Number: M432; Line: 18; Digital film/folder number: 004191070; FHL microfilm: 20597; Image number: 508; Packet letter: A; Indexing batch: N01022-4, FamilySearch Record: M446-6ZK (accessed 4 November 2023) FamilySearch Image: S3HT-D1CN-NZ, Jane G Swishelm (33) in Wilkins Township, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States. Born in Pennsylvania.
1860 Census "United States Census, 1860", citing Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Affiliate Publication Number: M653; Digital film/folder number: 005170154_006_M9CN-1H1; FHL microfilm: 803574; Image number: 11; Packet letter: A; Indexing batch: N01742-6, FamilySearch Record: M4L2-BGC (accessed 4 November 2023) FamilySearch Image: 33S7-9BS4-QSJ, Jane G Swisshelm (42) in Stearns, Minnesota, United States. Born in Pennsylvania.
1870 Census "United States Census, 1870", citing Page: 13; Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Affiliate Publication Number: M593; Line: 14; Digital film/folder number: 004257538_001_M9C6-22X; FHL microfilm: 000552215; Image number: 272; Packet letter: A; Indexing batch: N01440-4, FamilySearch Record: MD4G-R8T (accessed 4 November 2023) FamilySearch Image: S3HY-6W93-J3B, Jane Swisshelm (54) in St. Cloud Township, Stearns, Minnesota, United States. Born in Pennsylvania.
1880 Census "United States Census, 1880", citing Volume: 1; Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Affiliate Publication Number: T9; Affiliate Line Number: 00049; Digital film/folder number: 005157405; FHL microfilm: 1254186; Image number: 385; Sheet number: 191; Sheet letter: C, FamilySearch Record: MXNJ-3T1 (accessed 4 November 2023) FamilySearch Image: 33SQ-GYY2-SC85, Jane G Swishelm (64), widowed, Writer, head of household in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States. Born in Pennsylvania, United States.
Death "Pennsylvania Deaths and Burials, 1720-1999", citing Digital film/folder number: 007612158; FHL microfilm: 499311; Packet letter: F; Indexing batch: B58013-4, FamilySearch Record: H5DK-QDMM (accessed 4 November 2023), Jane G Swisshelm death 22 Jul 1884 in Wilkins Township, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States.
Memorial Find a Grave, database and images: accessed 01 February 2023), Find A Grave: Memorial #11436265 page for Jane Grey Cannon Swisshelm (6 Dec 1815–22 Jul 1884), citing Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.
See Also:
Newspaper: "Death of Mrs. Swisshelm" in The National Tribune. Washington, D.C., 31 July 1884. pp.4. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.
"Jane Swisshelm", Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, (accessed November 3, 2023).
Joseph Piriczky, "Swisshelm, Jane Grey," Literary & Cultural Heritage Maps of PA: Biographies. Pennsylvania Center for the Book at Penn State University Libraries. Fall 2005; updated 2018
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She laid out her principles when she began publishing the St. Cloud Visiter newspaper.
"Prospectus" in St. Cloud Visiter. St. Cloud, Stearns County, Minnesota, 24 December 1857. Vol. 1 No.3. pp.1. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85025584/1857-12-24/ed-1/seq-1/