Nellie Sheridan Wilson, born into a traditional Irish family, rejected the usual domestic role expected of 19th century women and became Somerset's first female postmaster and one of the youngest in U.S. history. At 19, she sought the office and was first appointed by President Harrison in 1889, serving until her retirement in 1930. Because postal regulations forbade married women from holding office, she remained single despite a long-time suitor, Thomas C. Wilson. In 1913 she married her ailing fiancé, who died within hours of the wedding, and she resumed her postmaster duties the following morning, since there was no postal ruling against widows holding the position. She and her sister were chiefly responsible for the creation and placement of her uncle Phil Sheridan's equestrian bronze in Somerset Square. She also ran her own mercantile business from 1914 to 1926 and benefited the citizens of Perry County, especially women, as a role model active in nearly every kind of civic and political enterprise. As chairman of the local American Red Cross during World War I, president of Daughters of Union Veterans, secretary of the Sheridan Monument Association, and in other roles, she earned a seat on the county Republican Executive Committee and the Ohio Committee for Improvement of Rural Government.