Ella Maria Ballou

Ella Maria Ballou
"A Woman of the Century"
Born	Ella Maria Ballou November 15, 1852 Wallingford, Vermont, U.S.
Died	July 29, 1937(1937-07-29) (aged 84)
Resting place	North Smithfield, Rhode Island, U.S.
Occupation	writer
Language	English
Genre	stenography, court reporter, essaies

Ella Maria Ballou (November 15, 1852 – July 29, 1937)^[1] was an American writer who worked as a stenographer, reporter, and essayist. She started her career as a teacher, but finding the compensation for women in this vocation too small, she took up the study of shorthand and became so proficient that she went into the courts and wrote evidence and arguments until she became noted among attorneys. In 1885, upon the numerous applications of the Rutland County Bar, Judge W. G. Veazey in the Vermont Supreme Court, appointed her Official Reporter of the Rutland County Court. She was the first woman to hold such a position in the state of Vermont, and it is believed, in the United States. She also did some literary work.^[2]