Marriage and Family
On November 18, 1836, at age 20, Cannon married James Swisshelm, from a nearby town. Jane was strong-willed, and her marriage was difficult. They moved to Louisville, Kentucky in 1838, where James intended to go into business with his brother Samuel. This is where Jane first encountered slavery, which made a strong impression on her. Nearby was a man who had sold away his own mixed-race children. She wrote in her autobiography of some of the sights she saw and stories she heard.
In 1839, against her husband's wishes, she moved to Philadelphia to care for her ailing mother. After her mother's death, she headed a girls' seminary in Butler, Pennsylvania. Two years later, she rejoined her husband on his farm, which she called Swissvale, east of Pittsburgh. (Today the area is Edgewood).
Read more about this topic: Jane Swisshelm
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