Take a moment and think about your community or any group or club you’re a part of: is there a person who takes the initiative on projects or solving problems; someone who encourages others to get involved; a leader that people look up to and rely on. You’re probably thinking of a woman, right?
Women have done good, hard work for and within their communities for all time, across all cultures, but this labor is rarely recognized. So, we take time to acknowledge women’s accomplishments and contributions every March as we celebrate Women’s History Month. This year, I wanted to retell a story of a woman whose determination and unwavering dedication to her community made local history and men upset; a story that over the last century, has only been told by men. The story of Isabel Flood, Morrison County’s first female mayor.
Isabel (also spelled ‘Isabelle’) Cox was born September 30, 1859 in Lawrence County, Kentucky to Jeremiah and Elvina (Barsden) Cox. The family moved several times, first arriving in Wright County, Minnesota in 1867, where Isabel was raised with her two sisters and four brothers before moving to Missouri in 1882. Two years later, Isabel came to Swanville to live with her sister and brother-in-law, J. D. and Bazilla Stith, where she became a teacher. Soon after, she would meet a young man named Edwin (or ‘Edward’) A. Flood who also just moved to Swanville that year for work. The pair wed on May 2, 1885.
Quickly, Isabel Flood solidified herself as a pillar of her community. Along with teaching around the area until 1918, she operated her own millinery shop and was a Swanville correspondent for the Little Falls Daily Transcript and Herald. Her obituary stated she was instrumental in bringing a Baptist minister to Swanville for their first religious service, and Dr. J. Frank Locke built the Swanville Congregational Church (now Swanville Bible Church) “largely through her assistance” in 1892. She was an active member of several local organizations, including the Women’s Relief Corps, the Rebekah lodge, and the Women’s Civic Improvement Club (WCIC); her leadership in the final club is where this story begins.
It’s 1919. Minnesota is the 15th state to ratify the 19th amendment, and Isabel was in her second term as WCIC president when the club decided it was about time a woman sat on the village council. Campaigning on her community-driven reputation and backed by the WCIC, Isabel earned herself a seat as president of the council until her term ended in 1922. Instead of a re-election bid, a caucus nominated her as a mayoral candidate against incumbent J.J. Smith the Saturday before the Tuesday election. That weekend, Mrs. Flood and the WCIC campaigned on cleaning up Swanville, as women felt the males had made quite a mess of the town.
What was the most pressing issue for women during the roaring twenties, you ask? Well, as the late Ray Loven put it, Swanville was a “naughty town, and the reason it was naughty was because of liquor.” Prior to prohibition, several neighboring counties were already “dry” while Morrison was more liberal towards drinking. At the time, about four to five saloons were operating in Swanville, so men from the nearby Todd county would cross the county line for their fix. Unsurprisingly, a large drinking culture disturbed the peace of a small town. Fighting was commonplace, almost guaranteed, wherever men were drinking together. No matter where you went, multiple fights would break out between men who, according to Loven, “had to defend [their] title.” What titles these men even had to defend, sadly, was left unanswered, but they must’ve been important to them.
Men’s habitual drinking exhausted their wives and female relatives with their selfish spending and belligerent, oftentimes abusive, behavior, so Flood’s pledge to crack down on alcohol and bootlegging made her a promising candidate for local women. With their support, and just three days after the nomination, Isabel Flood was elected as the first female mayor of Swanville and Morrison County by 23 votes, along with two women trustees, Mrs. Nellie Krousey and Mrs. Louise Muedeking.
Immediately, Mayor Flood began her moral clean-up of Swanville, starting with the ‘blind pigs’—illegal bars operating in backrooms and basements. To do so, she hired a young man from another town, a stranger to the village, to observe and gather evidence of bootlegging activity and report them. This approach resulted in eleven bootleggers appearing in Duluth District Court, six of whom received six month jail sentences and $2,000 fines. Isabel declared two more pool halls as public nuisances during her tenure, which the owners sold to avoid forced closure.
Mayor Flood found herself pitted against J. J. Smith once again in the 1923 election, as Mrs. Krousey opted to run for Justice of the Peace–Mrs. Muedeking would soon move to St. Paul, so she did not run for re-election. While Mrs. Krousey won her position with 125 votes, Smith and Flood came out in a dead tie at 92 votes each. To decide the election, a judge drew a name from a hat, with the odds falling in Isabel Flood’s favor for a second term as mayor.
By the end of her first term, Flood was on a roll, and she wouldn’t stop now. After suppressing the unlawful pool halls and blind pigs, her attention shifted to making physical improvements to Swanville. Teaming up with WCIC, they focused on landscaping the area, planting and trimming trees and flowers, and cleaning up the streets. They renovated and repainted the grandstand and contributed to building a new wire fence around the cemetery. The WCIC was founded on delivering such upgrades within their means, but for the first time, they had the backing of village leadership, an opportunity they did not waste.
While Swanville women used their time and energy to better their community, village men spent their time and energy upset about it. Every article recounting Flood’s mayoralty exposed the typical misogyny you’d expect from 20th century males; with no specific qualms about her policies or her character, they just felt “reform was overdone” and mayoring was a “man’s job”. Soon after the 1922 election, Loven recalled entering Swanville and seeing what he first thought was a cannon in the park. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a culvert propped onto a two-wheeled wagon to resemble a cannon pointed straight at Isabel Flood’s house, but their petty vitriol failed to intimidate her or inspire better candidates.
In the 1924 election, Mayor Flood’s opponent was the manager of the Lee Lumber Company, A.C. Lee. Some men who backed Lee campaigned on his behalf by spreading sentiments that the women made “a terrible fuss over the peddling of something to drink” and women in the home was enough “without having them rule the town” (Fisher, 1972, p. 182) Unfortunately for him, most Swanville residents did not share his convictions. They reelected Flood with 113 votes to Lee’s 40, revealing how much support she had gained in only a couple years.
For the next year, all seemed well to the mayor and her allies, but there were still murmurings of dissent throughout the village from those still averse to Flood’s authority. Her office was focused on cooperation and village improvements, while men like Lee sneered over store counters and pool balls at her audacity to try, deciding amongst themselves (and in opposition to the majority of Swanville) that her time was done. So, they hatched a plan to make the 1925 election an upset.
The guys first had to find a suitable candidate for mayor. Isabel Flood, before taking office, had been a local teacher for 30 years, a Sunday school teacher, an active church member, a business owner, as well as headed multiple community-based clubs; if a Swanville resident wasn’t literally taught by her, they would know her from something else she did for their benefit. Who did they decide was a worthy opponent? Banker Henry Koester who lived in Swanville for only two years, less than Mayor Flood’s tenure at that point. He was described as “non-aggressive, reticent, and his newness in the community hadn’t worn off” (“Swanville Woman Elected Mayor”, 1925, p. 4). Little is known of what Koester believed or his aspirations for the village, his only appeal was not being a woman. Once receiving their preferred candidate’s consent to run, the men next lied in wait.
Flood and her team heavily campaigned for her fourth term in the month preceding the March 1925 election; some supporters felt assured enough of her victory that they wouldn’t vote, seeing as Koester’s candidacy had not been publicized yet. On the morning of the election, Koester’s group ordered the job press at the Swanville News to print pro-Koester stickers for release with the morning paper. Then, as if they already knew in advance, the newspaper agreed to run the secret sticker campaign.
In a shocking turn of events, the stickers worked! Isabel Flood was unseated by a mere eight votes, as was Nellie Krousey from Justice of the Peace. Krousey’s opponent, Nick Truog, Sr., upon winning via stickers, however, refused the position due to the office’s perceived lack of necessity; Swanville was nearly crime free, leaving little need for consistent court sessions or a sitting judge. If only they figured out how a formerly rambunctious village straightened out so quickly, or who could have possibly led them to achieve their greater potential. Oh well.
Obviously, Flood’s supporters objected to the conniving sticker job, believing the morning-of guerilla campaign lacked the legitimacy of openly advertising one’s candidacy against their opponents. This shameless tactic denied voters the chance to compare and discuss policy, and instead relied on the baseline sexism of the era. Women brought the issue before an election judge, believing the scheme would set a poor precedent for future elections. Alas, the strategy, together with the election results, were deemed legal.
Despite being out of office, Isabel Flood was still devoted to her community. Not long after the 1925 election, Flood once again led the WCIC as their president for a third term. While no longer directly involved in politics, the club maintained its commitment to improving Swanville for future generations from behind-the-scenes. For instance, between March and June 1925, the village council had published in the Swanville News a response to the WCIC requesting specific ordinances be enforced, like keeping bikes and wagons off sidewalks and automobile speed limits. The notice “warned” the public that the council would comply with all the club’s requests.
Isabel Flood didn’t triumph as mayor because she specifically trained for it, but because she already had the skills within her. She focused solely on what her community needed and how she could make that happen. The Swanville boys’ club desired little more than to take her down, yet she never faltered. Isabel stood steadfast in her goals to improve Swanville, regardless of male contempt, having already proven herself as a capable, effective leader.
Much of women’s history is derived from men reacting to women stepping out and away from patriarchal expectations; Flood found herself against 20th century men with 20th century ideas of what women should do and how they should do it, and still her audacious dedication to her community radiated beyond their predispositions. Driven only by a passion to make her home a better place for all, Isabel Flood made Morrison County and women’s history.
By Alesha Ouren
Sources:
Drager, L. C., Loven, R., & Loven, R. (1993). Ray recalls Swanville as it was… In Our hometown, Swanville: A centennial album of photos and memories, 1893-1993 (pp. 135–137). essay, Swanville Print. Co.
DuBois, G. (1969, July 22). “Gentle sex” played important role in early history of village of Swanville. Little Falls Daily Transcript, pp. 1, 15.
Fisher, H. L. (1972). Short sketches – some strange happenings. In The land called Morrison — a history of Morrison county with brief sketches of Benton, Crow Wing and Todd counties (pp. 181–182). essay, Volkmuth Printing Co.
Funeral rites today for Mrs. E. A. flood. (1941, November 6). The Swanville News.
Swanville woman elected mayor three times, then beaten by stickers. (1925, June 13). Little Falls Daily Transcript.
This article first appeared in the Morrison County Historical Society newsletter, Volume 39, Number 1, 2026.