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Susanna Wright (1697-1784) was an 18th-century American poet and pundit, botanist, business owner and legal scholar, who was influential in the political economy of Pennsylvania as one of the Thirteen Colonies and in the formation of the United States. ==Life, Science, Business, Legal Work and Letters== Wright was born in Warrington in the county of Lancashire, England, on Aug. 4, 1697, to the Quaker businessman John Wright and his wife Patience.〔 She had two brothers, John Jr. and James, and two younger sisters, Elizabeth and Patience.〔 In 1714, her parents emigrated to Pennsylvania, taking the three youngest children but leaving Wright in England to continue her education. She joined them in 1718, and her mother died four years later. Around 1724, her father began exploring the Conejohela Valley, and he settled his remaining family there a few years later. In 1730, he obtained a patent to operate what became known as Wright's Ferry on the lower Susquehanna River, and in 1738 he built the still extant Wright's Ferry Mansion for his children. Susanna Wright, who never married, lived in this area for the rest of her life, at first managing her father's household (he died in 1749) and later helping to take care of her brother James's family as well.〔 In the 1740s, Wright moved into a manion named Bellmont (since demolished), having been bequeathed a life interest in it by one of her father's partners in the ferry venture, Samuel Blunston.〔〔 Wright was well-educated, becoming multilingual (besides he native English, she knew Latin, French, and Italian) and displaying the wide-ranging scientific, agricultural, and literary interests typical of Enlightenment culture.〔 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 into the heavier grades of silk cloth suitable for mantuas as well as the lighter grades needed for stockings.〔 There is a tradition that in the 1770s, Benjamin Franklin took a piece of Wright's cloth to Queen Charlotte 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. Known for her good judgment and integrity, she became a prothonotary or principal clerk of the court, in which capacity she draw up legal documents such as land deeds, indentures, and wills for her less-literate neighbors.〔 She was also called on informally to settle local disputes, especially those involving Native Americans.〔 Through letter-writing, Wright cultivated connections among the literary, political, and scientific elites of the eastern seaboard.〔 Her correspondents included the politicians Isaac Norris and James Logan, as well as many writers (see below).〔 Wright's Ferry was well positioned as a stopover point between Philadelphia and the western frontier, and consequently Wright met a number of notable travelers over the years, including Benjamin Franklin and physician Benjamin Rush. In 1784, just a few months before Wright died, 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."〔〔 Franklin sought out her help in outfitting the Braddock Expedition of 1753 and in dealing with the Paxton Boys troubles of 1763-4, 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."〔 Wright she died on Dec. 1, 1784, at the age of 88, after showing some signs of dementia.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Susanna Wright」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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