Life Story: Susanna Wright (1697–1784)

Susanna Wright was born on August 4, 1697 in Warrington, England. Her parents John and Patience Wright were Quakers. Susanna spent her early years in England, growing up with her two brothers and two sisters. As Quakers her parents believed that girls should receive the same educational opportunities as boys, so Susanna had a robust education. By the time she reached adulthood she was fluent in French and could read and write Italian and Latin. She was particularly good at science.

Around 1714 John Wright moved his family to the Pennsylvania colony in North America. Pennsylvania was a Quaker colony, so living there meant they would enjoy religious freedom and economic opportunities that they did not have in England. But John and Patience did not want to disrupt Susanna’s education. They left Susanna in England to continue her studies. She stayed until 1718, when she journeyed alone across the Atlantic to join her family in Chester, Pennsylvania.

When Susanna’s mother died in 1722 Susanna took on all the responsibilities of running her father’s household. She helped her father move the family again in 1728, this time to the less settled area of western Pennsylvania. John received a patent to run a ferry across the Susquehanna River and founded a new settlement at the site of his ferry crossing. The settlement became known as Wright’s Ferry after her father’s business. Today it is called Columbia, Pennsylvania.

Susanna flourished in her new home. Living in the Pennsylvania countryside gave her the opportunity to pursue her intellectual and business interests free from the social constraints of the more settled areas of the colony. Susanna studied local plant life and wrote essays about her findings. She became a chief clerk of the Wright’s Ferry court, representing the interests of her poor and illiterate neighbors. She studied medicinal herbs and medical science and helped care for the sick people in her community. She campaigned for the better treatment of the local Indigenous communities who were being displaced by English settlers. She was an active, respected, and vital member of the Wright’s Ferry community.

Meanwhile, her father’s ferry prospered and the Wright family’s wealth and stature grew. In 1745 her father’s business partner died and left his mansion and lands to Susanna. This gift probably changed the course of Susanna’s life. Under the English practice of coverture Susanna chances for independence were slim. Unless her father named her specifically in his will, his wealth and lands would be inherited by her eldest brother when he died. In such a circumstance, Susanna would be forced to either marry or rely on the brother for the rest of her life. The gift gave Susanna the financial security she needed to stay a single and independent woman when her father died in 1749. She could continue her research without the strain of caring for a husband and children.  

Now that she had a home and fortune, Susanna began to pursue her own business interests. After extensive study, she became the first person to successfully cultivate silkworms in Pennsylvania. Her business harvested and dyed the fibers her silkworms produced, then shipped them to England to be woven into fine fabrics and stockings. Her research in the field paved the way for more Pennsylvania colonists to start their own silkworm farms, and for others to establish factories for weaving the fibers into cloth. Establishing industries in the colonies was very important, because without them the colonies would never have been able to survive independently from England.

Susanna’s family’s ferry had made their town an important stopping point for any western travelers. This gave Susanna the opportunity to meet some of the most important people of her time. In the early years of the French and Indian War, Susanna helped Benjamin Franklin prepare British troops heading west to fight the French. Benjamin was so impressed with her that they began a lifelong friendship. He made sure to send Susanna the most up-to-date news and scientific papers, and Susanna sent him her writings and opinions on the most pressing matters of the day. Susanna also became part of the literary circle of Milcah Martha Moore and sent poems and essays to her friend, some of which appeared in Milcah’s textbook for children. Unfortunately, most of Susanna’s writing is lost because she never kept copies or published her works. It was all produced for the private enjoyment of herself and her friends.

Toward the end of her life Susanna witnessed the events of the American Revolution and the formation of the new United States of America. Through her many correspondents, she heard all of the philosophical and political debates that shaped the foundation of the new nation. She was particularly struck with the idea of liberty being a universal right. She understood that her personal freedom was a happy accident of birth and circumstance, and that most women did not have the same opportunities. According to law, religion, and custom, colonial and early American women were expected to live their lives subordinate to the wishes of their fathers and husbands. She began to wonder whether this was fair. 

Susanna sent a poem to her close friend Elizabeth Norris outlining her thoughts on women in the new American society. In the poem, she challenges the commonly held belief that women’s subordination to men was God’s plan. She urges her friend to reexamine the passages of the Bible that were used to keep women under men’s control. She celebrates Elizabeth’s decision to never marry, because it allows her to live free. She applauds the community of women who are starting to champion women’s rights, a tantalizing clue that Susanna was not the only woman in Pennsylvania who held these radical opinions. She also warns that men will be judged for their abuse of power in the afterlife.

Susanna Wright passed away in 1784 at the age of eighty-seven, five years before the new US Constitution failed to give women the rights of citizens. But her life of education, personal freedom, and usefulness had taught her that no matter what her male contemporaries believed, women had all the intelligence and spirit necessary to one day rise up and demand equality.

• clerk: A person who keeps records and accounts in an office.
• coverture: A common-law practice where women fell under the legal and economic oversight of their husbands upon marriage.
• French and Indian War: A colonial war that was fought from 1754 to 1763 between the British and the French. Indigenous communities sided with the colonial power they expected would best protect their sovereignty. The Spanish were allies of the British. Part of the larger global conflict known as the Seven Years’ War. The British triumphed and greatly expanded their territory in North America.
• Quaker: The informal name for the Religious Society of Friends, a Protestant Christian group that was founded in 1650. Quakers differed from other Christian groups in the eighteenth century because of their commitment to nonviolence, rejection of elaborate religious ceremonies, and belief that women should receive formal education.
• silkworm: The caterpillar of the silkworm moth. This caterpillar spins a cocoon that is harvested to make silk fiber.
• subordination: The state of being put into a lower status or class.
• universal right: Something that all human beings are entitled to have.

• To help students better understand how Susanna Wright’s life was improved because of her wealth and unusual education, pair this life story with Children at Work, Spinning Wheels, Spinning Bees, and Symbols of Accomplishment to illustrate the experiences and expectations of colonial girls and women from other social classes.
• Pair this life story with Eighteenth Century Education to learn more about the kinds of education most women and girls received in the 1700s.

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND MEDICINE

• For resources relating to life in the English colonies, see New World—New Netherland—New York.