The "A Female Hero In Colonial America" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading a bit more about a young woman by the name of Susanna Wright who became well-known as a poet and pundit, botanist, business owner and scholar.  She lived at one time in the family home in Columbia, Pennsylvania along the Susquehanna River which was known as Wright's Ferry Mansion.  

Wright Ferry Mansion in Columbia, Pennsylvania

I toured the Mansion several times in the past dozen years, but never was told the entire story of Miss Wright.  The story I found today shed a totally different light upon the woman that I found wouldn't back down to any man.  Susanna was born to Quaker parents, John and Patience Wright, in Lancashire, England.  The oldest of eight children, she remained in England for schooling in 1712 when her parents and siblings came to Philadelphia.  Six years later, after completing her education, she also came to America.  Her mother died in 1722 leaving Susanna with all the household duties and responsibilities.  Her father John moved his family to the banks of the Susquehanna River in Columbia, Pa. in 1730 and began operating Wright's Ferry.  Robert Barber and Samuel Blunston, fellow Quakers, joined John in his business.  Susanna's brother, James, built a family home which then became known as Wright's Ferry Mansion.  At the time the west side of the Susquehanna River was disputed territory between Pennsylvania and Maryland while the east side was considered Pennsylvania land.  While Susanna's father ran his ferry business with his friends, she ran a large agricultural operation.  In the 1740s she moved to nearby Bellmont Mansion, since she was willed the property after the death of Mr. Blunston.  

A ferry scene on the Susquehanna River.

This move was momentous since Susanna would now be considered indepen- dent which was something a female at the time couldn't become under English practice of coverture.  In 1749 her father died, but left his land to his sons.  She used the land around Bellmont Mansion to grow hops, hemp, flax and indigo as well as experiment with native and European plants.  She wrote to Benjamin Franklin frequently about growing Spitzebburgs and Poppins apples.  But, her biggest agricultural achievement was her silk production in a northern climate.  She developed a method that allowed the silkworms to spin in specially created paper cones and in 1759 she made her first pair of silk stockings.  They were presented to Gen. Jeffrey Amherst, the commander of Britain's forces in America during the French and Indian War.  In 1771 the Philadelphia Silk Society awarded her a prize of ten pounds for the largest number of cocoons raised by a single individual; a woman at that!  She became a prothonotary or principal of the court for the Susquehanna River settlement, drafting legal documents including land deeds, indentures and wills.  She was known to settle many disputes between settlers and native Americans.  Judge Judy would have been envious!  One of her clients, Benjamin Franklin sought her help in outfitting the Braddock Expedition of 1753 during the French and Indian War.  Susanna was fluent in French and versed in Latin and Italian and literature was a welcome delight in quiet times.  Friends Benjamin Rush and James Logan shared their collection of books with her, though she was slow at times to return them.  

Laying out mulberry leaves to feed silk worms.

She belonged to an informal group of male and female writers causing her contemp- oraries to refer to her as the "Susquehanna Muse."  But, she never kept copies of her work, thus only about three dozen of her poems and writings remain.  In her poem titled "To Eliza Norris-at Fairhill" Susanna meditates on the status of women in the eighteenth century.  Her mediation concerning the inequality of women to men is one of her most analyzed poems.  Her reputation had grown so much by 1784 that friend Benjamin Rush mentioned in his journal that he had met "the famous Suzey Wright...a lady who's been celebrated for her wit, good, sense & valuable improvements of mind."  Later that year she died at the age of 88.  She was a woman well respected in colonial life and her writings and poetry were called brilliant and passionate.  She was a true heroine for woman as well as men in colonial times. A person who is admired who is admired for her courage and brave acts and fine qualities.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  
PS - you can find stories I've written about Wright's Ferry Mansion of Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017 and Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019.