Wissler, Susan

Mrs. Susan Wissler won election in 1912 as the second mayor of the small town of Dayton, Wyoming. She served two terms, until 1915. In 1911 she beat out a Democratic and a Republican candidate, running as an independent. She campaigned to clean up the town. Many newspaper articles announced her election, several claiming that she was the nation's first woman mayor. She was the first woman mayor in Wyoming. She said she was a Democrat for many years, but in an interview given when she was 82, Wissler said that she had become an independent. In this 1935 interview she also said there would be no need for old age pensions and social security if people "would save a penny now and then." She emphasized the need for people to do for themselves and not wait for the government to "do something for them." She also complained about the number of saloons. Wissler had two children, and later in life lived with a married daughter.