7. Mary Norris Dickinson owned and managed large estates, one of which the British burned
Mary Norris inherited her estates, which she managed with the assistance of her sister, at the age of 26. She also owned one of the largest privately held libraries in the colonies before the American Revolution. Her husband, John Dickinson, participated in the debates over Independence, which he initially opposed, refusing to sign the document. He helped draft the Articles of Confederation, and later became one of the Framers of the Constitution. Mary considered herself, indeed all women, to be equal to men in matters including politics and business. An exasperated John Adams once wrote of her that if he had had such a wife, “I should have shot myself”.
Adams frustration stemmed from Mary’s frank discussion of the perils of Independence with her husband in his (Adams’) presence. Nonetheless, both she and her husband supported the American cause, with John even serving in the Continental Army once Independence was fait accompli. The British burned Mary’s estate outside Philadelphia known as Fair Hill in 1777, though the library survived. It served as the first library for the school to start using funds bestowed by the Dickinson’s, the predecessor of today’s Dickinson University.