298:. Wright is one of the three dominant female contributors to Moore's commonplace book, along with Griffitts and Fergusson. Contrary to the then-usual practice, Wright did not write under a pseudonym; in Moore's book, her poems are attributed either to 'S. Wright' or to 'S.W.' It is uncertain how many poems Wright produced in total, but it is likely that many are now lost. An early 19th-century reminiscence of Wright by the much younger Deborah Norris Logan states that Wright "wrote not for fame, never kept copies" of her work.
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Wright's poems range from occasional verses to mystical poetry and meditations on such enduring themes as justice, time, death, immortality, friendship, family, and marriage. In one poem, for example, she calls memory "A Bubble on the Water's
Shining Face." Some of her poems could be quite trenchant.
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In 1784, just a few months before Wright died, Benjamin Rush wrote in his journal about "the famous Suzey Wright, a lady who has been celebrated above half a century for her wit, good sense and valuable improvements of mind." Wright died on
December 1, 1784, at the age of 88, after showing some signs
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area for the rest of her life. She 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. In the 1750s, Wright moved into a mansion named
Bellmont (since demolished), having been bequeathed a life interest
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Among other pursuits, she raised hops, hemp, flax, indigo, and silkworms, establishing the first silk industry in
Pennsylvania and receiving an award from the Philadelphia Silk Society in 1771. Silk extracted from her several thousand silkworms was dyed locally and then sent to England to be woven
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troubles of 1763–1764, and he remained a regular correspondent of hers, sending her such presents as a thermometer from London. When Wright took part in local election campaigns in 1758, one local politician grumbled about her acting "so unbecoming and unfemale a part."
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A long poem written for one of her close friends and fellow unmarried women, "To Eliza Norris—at
Fairhill," questions the "divine law" used to justify women's inequality, including in marriage. Eliza Norris raised her niece,
160:. Her father, John Wright Sr., purchased the neighboring 150 acres, where he built a small house that was torn down in the 1800s. In 1730, John Wright Sr. obtained a patent to operate what became known as
144:. Her mother died around 1721. As the eldest child, Wright largely raised her brothers and sisters, especially James, who was 16 years younger than her. Around 1724, her father began exploring the
93:(August 4, 1697 – December 1, 1784) was an 18th-century colonial English American poet, pundit, botanist, business owner, and legal scholar who was influential in the political economy of the
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of
Britain as a gift. Wright wrote an essay on silkworm culture that was published posthumously. She also studied the medicinal uses of herbs and formulated medicines for her neighbors.
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families settled in an area known as "Shawanna town on
Susquehanna" in 1726. Her two sisters married and remained in Chester County. Wright purchased 100 acres of land along the
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Through letter writing, Wright cultivated connections among the literary, political, and scientific elites of the eastern seaboard. Her correspondents included the politicians
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on the lower
Susquehanna River. The ferry was built on Susanna's property and run by her two brothers. She had a house built in 1738, which is still standing today.
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and
Patience Gibson. She was the eldest of two brothers, John Jr. and James (who was not born until 1714), and two younger sisters, Elizabeth and Patience.
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286:. She wrote poetry throughout her life, and many of her known poems were produced in later years. Some 30 of her poems are included in Moore's
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and the western frontier, and consequently Wright met a number of notable travelers over the years, including
Benjamin Franklin and physician
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Cowell, Pattie. "'Womankind Call Reason to Their Aid': Susanna Wright's Verse Epistle on the Status of Women in Eighteenth-Century America".
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or principal clerk of the court, in which capacity she drew up legal documents such as land deeds,
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and James Logan, and many writers. Wright's Ferry was well positioned as a stopover point between
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The Mid-Atlantic Region: The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Regional Cultures
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Memory's Daughters: The Material Culture of Remembrance in Eighteenth Century
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in it by one of her father's partners in the ferry venture, Samuel Blunston.
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A to Z of American Women Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs, A to Z of Women
399:, ed. Edward James et al. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971.
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Milcah Martha Moore's Book: A Commonplace Book from Revolutionary America
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Wright was well educated and, in addition to her native English, knew
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women and men writers; female members included the poet and pundit
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Women Poets in Pre-Revolutionary America, 1650–1775: An Anthology
434:"From Benjamin Franklin to Susanna Wright, 21 November 1751"
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Wright was part of an informal but influential group of
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Known for her good judgment and integrity, she became a
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and Anna Young Smith, and the historian and diarist
436:. National Archives, Founders Online website, fn 9.
386:. History of American Women website, Sept. 9, 2008.
200:into the heavier grades of silk cloth suitable for
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547:American Poetry: The Puritans Through Walt Whitman
330:Oft urg'd with none, & oft with little sense."
140:. Her youngest brother, James was born in 1714 in
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445:Biddle, Gertrude D., and Sarah D. Lowrie, eds.
241:Franklin sought out her help in outfitting the
364:Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society
324:And question when or where that law was made,
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536:. Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997.
191:Wright never married and lived in the lower
673:British emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies
549:. University of Massachusetts Press, 1990.
503:Lancaster County Historical Society Papers
419:The Heath Anthology of American Literature
395:Tolles, Frederick B. "Susanna Wright." In
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462:. New York: Facts On File, 2002.
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101:that ultimately engaged in the
384:"Susanna Wright: Quaker Woman"
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447:Notable Women of Pennsylvania
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415:"Susanna Wright (1697–1784)"
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417:. In Paul Lauter, ed.,
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572:Cowell, Pattie (2000).
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514:Marzec, Robert P., ed.
397:Notable American Women
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341:Midlands Enlightenment
158:Columbia, Pennsylvania
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567:. Troy, NY: Whitston.
296:Mary Norris Dickinson
638:American women poets
284:Deborah Norris Logan
276:Milcah Martha Moore
262:Poetry and punditry
243:Braddock Expedition
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308:Mary Norris
247:Paxton Boys
127:John Wright
622:Categories
347:References
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119:Lancashire
115:Warrington
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