Susanna Wright was an 18th-century colonial English American poet, pundit, botanist, business owner, and legal scholar who was influential in the political economy of the Province of Pennsylvania, one of the Thirteen Colonies that ultimately engaged in the American Revolution and founded the United States.
17 Facts About Susanna Wright
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2.
Susanna Wright was the eldest of two brothers, John Jr.
3.
Susanna Wright's youngest brother, James was born in 1714 in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
4.
Susanna Wright purchased 100 acres of land along the Susquehanna River in present-day Columbia, Pennsylvania.
5.
Susanna Wright had a house built in 1738, which is still standing today.
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Susanna Wright was well educated and, in addition to her native English, knew Latin, French, and Italian, and displayed wide-ranging scientific, agricultural, and literary interests typical of 18th century Enlightenment culture.
7.
Susanna Wright never married and lived in the lower Susquehanna River area for the rest of her life.
8.
Susanna Wright managed her father's household after her mother's death in 1721 and, after her father died in 1749, helped to take care of her brother James's family.
9.
Susanna Wright wrote an essay on silkworm culture that was published posthumously.
10.
Susanna Wright studied the medicinal uses of herbs and formulated medicines for her neighbors.
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Susanna Wright was called on informally to settle local disputes, especially those involving colonists and Native Americans.
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Susanna Wright's correspondents included the politicians Isaac Norris and James Logan, and many writers.
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Susanna Wright's Ferry was well positioned as a stopover point between Philadelphia and the western frontier, and consequently Susanna Wright met a number of notable travelers over the years, including Benjamin Franklin and physician Benjamin Rush.
14.
Susanna Wright was part of an informal but influential group of Mid-Atlantic women and men writers; female members included the poet and pundit Hannah Griffitts, who considered her a mentor, and Milcah Martha Moore, the writers Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson and Anna Young Smith, and the historian and diarist Deborah Norris Logan.
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Susanna Wright wrote poetry throughout her life, and many of her known poems were produced in later years.
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Susanna Wright is one of the three dominant female contributors to Moore's commonplace book, along with Griffitts and Fergusson.
17.
Contrary to the then-usual practice, Susanna Wright did not write under a pseudonym; in Moore's book, her poems are attributed either to 'S.