Benton County road dedicated to first female voter in Tennessee

CAMDEN, Tenn. — This October and November, voters will go to the polls and decide who will be the President of the United States.

For many in Tennessee, that started right here in Benton County, where a special ceremony was held for Mary Cordelia Beasley Hudson — who holds the honor of being the first woman voter in Tennessee.

“Women today should especially appreciate our right to vote and take part in any election,” said Lisa Hudson Holladay, a descendant of Beasley Hudson.

A section of Highway 70 was named after Beasley Hudson, who voted in the Camden Mayoral Election in April 1919, just five days after a bill was signed in the Tennessee legislature allowing women to vote.

Officials from across the state gathered, along with descendants of Beasley Hudson, to honor her memory.

“It wasn’t just marching with long dresses and signs,” Holladay said. “It was a very hard fought battle with a lot of them being beaten and jailed.”

“Because of all the women now who have the right to vote — she spearheaded that,” said Julie Hesson, president of the Benton County Genealogical Society. “It’s the basis of our democracy. If we don’t vote, our democracy does not survive.”

And right down the road was the property where Beasley Hudson actually lived all those years ago.

And while she never got to vote in a presidential election, her descendants won’t let her down.

“When I go to the polls to vote in this election, I’m going to think to myself, ‘Aunt Cord, this is for you.'”

The county also held a reenactment of Beasley Hudson’s historic vote back in April.