The Scribbler: Wright's Live, Written For The Young" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading Jack Brubaker's "The Scribbler" article in my local Sunday News titled "Colonial Pa.'s 'Suzy' Wright gets some long-deserved book" story.  As usual, Jack's writing is remarkable.  I will share a part of his story about Susanna Wright, of Wright's Ferry on the Susquehanna with you as today's story.  The book is one of the of the most detailed published studies of Wright's life which was from 1697-1784.  But, the work, with all its lush photographs, focuses on the mansion and its collections more than Wright and her family.  Somehow a more lively, but abbreviated story of Wright's life for young readers had escaped the Scribbler's notice until now.  Eight years ago, Teri Kanefield, a writer and lawyer who lived in San Francisco published "The Extraordinary Suzy Wright: A Colonial Women on the Frontier," an oversize and amply illustrated exploration of the highlights of Wright's life.  Susanna, or "Suzy," Wright, daughter of the wealthy Quaker John Wright, who ran the ferry at Wright's Ferry, now known as Columbia, Pennsylvania, was a significant poet, as well as a lawyer, doctor and silk manufacturer.  She corresponded regularly with Benjamin Franklin, James Logan and other leaders of Colonial Pennsylvania.  These activities have been thoroughly explored in Schaefer's book and briefer studies of Wright's life and works.  What distinguishes Kanefield's book, besides its target audience and picture-rich layout, is her emphasis on Susanna Wright as a trail-blazing woman in early America.  Wright was probably the second woman to practice law in the British colonies.  She was one of the first American women to operate a business when she raised silkworms and made silk - an enterprise she began when she was in her 70s.  She was one of the few 18th-century women to act as a political adviser and activist.  She helped Benjamin Franklin assemble horses and wagons for General Edward Braddock's ill-fated expedition to capture Fort Duquesne during the French and Indian War.  She also provided detailed information to Franklin that he used to condemn the Paxton Rangers. for massacring the Conestoga Indians in 1763.  She was one of the foremost female poets of 18th century America.  In one of her poems - "To Eliza Norris - at Fairhill" - she advocated equal rights for women long before many owe, let alone men, seriously considered the possibility.  In another poem, "The Grove," Wright described a beautiful grove of trees that were destroyed.  The poem seems to be an allegory about Penn's Woods, where the Quaker's plan for peace was ruined, as Kanefield writes, "by human greed, war and 'turbulent spirits.'"  "The more I learned about Suzy," Kanefield concludes of her research for this book, "the more I found to admire - from her love of books to her hatred of violence.  I discovered in her life and ideals a new look at our nation's beginnings."  While this is a book that the Scribbler would recommend for any young reader, he should point out a misjudgment by the author.  Summing up the impact Quakers in general had on early America, Kanefield quotes a well known aphorism - "They came to do good and did very well" - without explanation.  In Kanefield's positive context, she implies the Quakers simply accomplished the good works the set out do in Pennsylvania.  But, that's not what the phrase means.  It means that the Quakers, not unlike settlers of other religions who coupled high ideals with capitalist ventures, did good deeds while doing very well financially.  Otherwise, this is a splendid book about a great, and good, Quaker leader.  Interesting read if you can find a copy.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.