Mary Norris Dickinson
(1740-1803)
BIRTH
July 17, 1740
PLACE
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
NAME
Mary Norris
DEATH
July 23, 1803
PLACE
Wilmington, Delaware
FAMILY
HUSBAND
John Dickinson
(1732-1808)
HOMES
NICKNAMES
Polly
RELIGIOUS VIEWS
CHRISTIAN
QUAKER
MEMBERSHIPS
AWARDS
Mary “Polly” Norris Dickinson (1740–1803) was a Philadelphia estate owner and daughter of Isaac Norris and Sarah Logan. Before marrying John Dickinson in 1770, she managed Fair Hill with her sister and held a substantial inherited library. Their books and property supported the college later called Dickinson, originally named for both John and Mary. Fighting destroyed Fair Hill; the family later settled in Delaware. Her writings and accounts document her estate management.
EARLY LIFE
Mary Norris Dickinson was born on Jul 17, 1740 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The surviving biographical summary provides only limited evidence about childhood, schooling, and the daily circumstances of the household, so those details are not reconstructed here without documentation. What can be stated securely is that this person belonged to the interconnected family world from which HistoryGPS traces participants, relatives, and later descendants of the Revolutionary generation.
The available biographical record identifies Mary Norris Dickinson with work or public activity as a hostess. Those roles provide the clearest documented basis for including this person in the database and should be read in the political, military, professional, or household context of the period. Mary Norris Dickinson died on Jul 23, 1803 in Wilmington, Delaware. Additional claims about employment, public service, or accomplishments have been omitted where the consulted source did not support them.
CAREER
DEATH
Mary “Polly” Norris Dickinson was a Philadelphia estate owner and daughter of Isaac Norris and Sarah Logan. Before marrying John Dickinson in 1770, she managed Fair Hill with her sister and held a substantial inherited library. Their books and property supported the college later called Dickinson, originally named for both John and Mary. The available biographical record identifies Mary Norris Dickinson with work or public activity as a hostess. Additional claims about employment, public service, or accomplishments have been omitted where the consulted source did not support them. Mary Norris Dickinson died in Wilmington, Delaware, on July 23, 1803. The available biographical account does not describe a continuous final medical course. It gives no dependable sequence of treatment and last symptoms from which to reconstruct a more detailed bedside narrative.
POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
Mary Norris Dickinson, the estate owner and wife of John Dickinson. Moore’s commonplace book includes writings and commentary relevant to her circle; the John Dickinson books concern her husband. Five dedicated biographies were not identified. These editorial selections include biographies where available, with personal writings, collective biography, reference works and related studies clearly labelled.
1. Milcah Martha Moore’s Book: A Commonplace Book from Revolutionary America — Catherine La Courreye Blecki; Karin A. Wulf (editors). [Primary writings and collective biographical commentary] Find on Amazon
2. Not All Wives: Women of Colonial Philadelphia — Karin Wulf. [Related women’s social and biographical history] Find on Amazon
3. Penman of the Founding: A Biography of John Dickinson — Jane E. Calvert. [Related biography of her husband] Find on Amazon
4. John Dickinson: Conservative Revolutionary — Milton E. Flower. [Related biography of her husband] Find on Amazon
5. Quaker Constitutionalism and the Political Thought of John Dickinson — Jane E. Calvert. [Related study of her husband] Find on Amazon
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