Quick Facts
Biography
Sarah Elizabeth Nelson Anderson (1853– December 22, 1900) was one of the first females to sit on the 2nd Utah State Legislature. She challenged Charles Tyree's refusal to allow Utah women to vote in the Utah Supreme Court, where she ultimately lost.
Early life
Anderson was born in 1853 in Weber County, Utah to parents David Nelson and Sarah Brown.At the age of 17, she was married to Porter L. Anderson and bore five children with him until his death in 1888.
Political career
A year prior to her husbands death, Utah passed the Edmunds–Tucker Act which amongst many restrictions also Disenfranchised women. In 1894, Congress passed the Enabling Act, allowing Utah to submit an application for statehood. However, since it did not specify that only men could vote to ratify the state constitution, Anderson used this basis as a challenge towards Deputy registrar Charles Tyre refusal to register her as a voter. Although she successfully argued her case in a District Court, Tyree appealed it to the Utah Supreme Court, where she ultimately lost. Many women withdrew from politics as a result of the Supreme Court ruling, however Anderson would become one of the first women elected to Utah legislature during the 1896 elections. In office, she served as the chairperson of the House Committee on Public Health, although few of her bills passed.
Anderson died on December 22, 1900 due to illness.