Ada Celeste Sweet

President Ulysses S. Grant appointed her United States agent for paying pensions in Chicago, the first position as disbursing officer ever given to a woman by the US government.

[4] When the American Civil War began, her father entered the Union Army as Major of the 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

In 1872, General Sweet was made first deputy Commissioner of Internal Revenue, and moved to Washington, D.C. Ada accompanied him as his private secretary.

[5] President Grant then appointed Ada Sweet as US agent for paying pensions in Chicago, the first position as disbursing officer ever given to a woman by the government of the US.

In 1888, she opened a United States claims office in Chicago, and did a large business in securing pensions for soldiers or their families, retiring in 1905.

[11] She was the founder and first President of the Municipal Order League of Chicago, a society formed to improve the sanitary condition, and thereby the healthfulness, of the city.

[12] In October, 1890, she gave the first police ambulance to the city, having raised money among her friends to build and equip it, and thus originated the present system in Chicago of caring for those who are injured or fall ill in public places.

[5] On 17 September 1928, Sweet died at the home of her sister, another important figure in the history of women's rights, Winifred Bonfils in San Francisco, California.