Rose, Olive

Olive Rose was elected Register of Deeds in 1853 by the men of Lincoln County, Maine (later Knox County). In the town of Warren Rose received 73 votes and her opponent, Mr. Sylvester, received only 4 votes. This was considered a sign of the town's regard for "female rights". She served in the office until 1857, when her brother was elected. Rose had served as an assistant to the previous Register before her election in 1853. As Recorder Rose earned between $300 and $400 annually. She was almost certainly the first woman elected in the state of Maine, and perhaps in the United States. The editor of the newspaper the Maine Age, unhappily predicted that Rose's election was the harbinger of the entrance of women into the political realm: "Before the morning of the twentieth century dawns, women will not simply fill your offices of Register of Deeds, they will occupy seats in your Legislative Halls, on your judicial benches, and in the executive chair of State and Nation. We deprecate it, yet we perceive its inevitability, and await the shock with firmness and composure."