Mary Lyon Biography

Mary Lyon was an American pioneer in women’s education who was born near Buckland, Massachusetts as Mary Mason Lyon. She founded the Norton, Massachusetts Wheaton Female Seminary (now Wheaton College) in the year 1834.

She then set up Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, Massachusetts in 1837 and served for 12 years as her first president (or “principal”). The vision of Lyon combined intellectual challenge with moral purpose. She appreciated socio-economic diversity and sought to make the seminar affordable by modest means to students.

Mary Lyon Death

Lyon died on 5 March 1849, of erysipelas (possibly contracted from an ill student in her care). Lyon was buried on the Mount Holyoke College campus, in front of Porter Hall and behind the Amphitheatre. Her burial site is marked with a granite marker surrounded by an iron fence.

Mary Lyon Age

Lyon died at an age of 52 years as of her death, she was born on 28 February 1797 in near Buckland, Massachusetts. She died on 5 March 1849 in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

Mary Lyon School

Lyon studied various district schools intermittently and, in the year 1814, started teaching in them as well. Lyon’s modest beginnings fostered her lifelong commitment to extending educational opportunities to girls from middling as well as poor backgrounds.

Mary was eventually able to study in two secondary schools, Sanderson Academy in Ashfield and Byfield Seminary in eastern Massachusetts. At Byfield, she was befriended by the headmaster, Rev. Joseph Emerson, and his assistant, Zilpah Polly Grant.

Also, she soaked up Byfield’s ethos of rigorous academic education infused with Christian commitment. Lyon then taught at several academies, including Sanderson, a small school of her own in Buckland, Adams Female Academy (run by Grant) as well as the Ipswich Female Seminary (also run by Grant). Lyon’s attendance at the then-novel, popular, lectures in laboratory botany by Amos Eaton influenced her involvement in the female seminary movement.

Mary Lyon Family

Lyon was born and raised by her parents in Buckland, Massachusetts. She is the daughter of a farming family in Buckland, Massachusetts, Lyon had a hardscrabble childhood. Her father passed away when she was 5 years old, and the entire family pitched in to help run the farm.

Lyon was 13 years old when her mother remarried and moved away; she stayed behind in Buckland in order to keep the house for her brother Aaron, who took over the farm.

She studied various district schools intermittently and, in the year 1814, began teaching in them as well. Lyon’s modest beginnings fostered her lifelong commitment to extending educational opportunities to girls from middling as well as poor backgrounds.

Mary Lyon Net Worth

Lyon has an estimated net worth of 700, 000 dollars as of her death. This includes her assets, money, and income. Her primary source of income is her career as a pioneer in women’s education.

Mary Lyon Measurements and Facts

Here are some interesting facts and body measurements you should know about Mary Lyon.

Mary Lyon Wiki

• Full Names: Mary Mason Lyon
• Popular As: Lyon
• Gender: Female
• Occupation / Profession: Pioneer in women’s education
• Nationality: American
• Race / Ethnicity: White
• Religion: Congregationalist
• Sexual Orientation: Straight

Mary Lyon Birthday

• Age / How Old?: 52 years as of her death
• Zodiac Sign: Pisces
• Date of Birth: 28 February 1797
• Place of Birth: Near Buckland, Massachusetts.
• Death: 5 March 1849

Mary Lyon Body Measurements

• Body Measurements: Not available
• Height / How Tall?: Average
• Weight: Moderate
• Eye Color: To be updated
• Hair Color: Not Available
• Shoe Size: Not Available
• Dress Size: Not Available
• Breast Size: Not Available
• Waist Size: Not Available
• Hip Size: Not Available

Mary Lyon Family and Relationship

• Father (Dad): Died when she was 5 years old
• Mother: Jemima Taylor
• Siblings (Brothers and Sisters): Not Known
• Marital Status: Married
• Husband/Spouse: Not Available
• Dating / Boyfriend: To be updated
• Children:  Sons (Not known) Daughter(s) (Not known)

Mary Lyon Net Worth and Salary

• Net Worth: $700, 000 dollars
• Salary: Under Review
• Source of Income: Pioneer in women’s education

Mary Lyon Elementary Tacoma

Named after her is Mary Lyon Elementary School in Tacoma, Washington.

Mary Lyon Stamp

“There is nothing in the universe that I fear, but that I shall not know my duty, or shall fail to do it.” Lyon was a leader in making women’s education accessible as well as equitable to that available to men. After teaching for over twenty years, Mary established Wheaton Female Seminary which is now Wheaton College) in Norton, Massachusetts in the year 1834.

In the year 1837, she raised funds to found Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, where she worked as president until her death. This school was notably different from other schools of the time, with a developed curriculum in science, mathematics, history, Latin as well as French.

Also, Mary created an endowment ensuring that tuition would remain accessible for students. Hundreds of her graduates followed Mary’s example, becoming home missionaries as well as teachers who founded schools throughout the nation.

Mary Lyon Religion

Conforti (1993) examines Lyon’s central religious importance. Under the influence of her teacher Reverend Joseph Emerson, she was raised a Baptist but converted to a Congregationalist.

Lyon preached revivals at Mount Holyoke, spoke elsewhere, and was a member of New England’s New Divinity clergy fellowship, although not a minister. She played a major role in reviving Jonathan Edwards’s thinking, whose works were then read more often than in his day. Her ideas of self-restraint, self-denial, and disinterested benevolence attracted her.

Mary Lyon Legacy

Many buildings, including Mary Lyon Hall at Mount Holyoke College, have been named in her honor. Built in 1897, the hall houses college offices, classrooms, and a chapel on the site of the former Seminary Building.

The Wheaton Female Seminary’s main classroom building, originally known as the New Seminary Hall, was renamed Mary Lyon Hall in 1910 and still features prominently on the Wheaton College campus. You can also find dormitories named after Mary Lyon at Miami University, New Hampshire Plymouth State University, Swarthmore College, and Massachusetts University Amherst.

After Mount Holyoke and Mary Lyon’s work led Ann Dudin Brown to found Westfield College in London, Vassar College, Wellesley College, and the former Western College for Women were patterned. Oklahoma’s Cherokee Female Seminary (now Northeastern State University) acquired from Mount Holyoke its “first female seminary faculty, and used the Massachusetts school as a pattern for the institution they set up.”

Lyon was inducted into the Bronx, New York, Great Americans Hall of Fame in 1905. She was inducted into the Seneca Falls, New York, National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993. The U.S. Postal Service honored her with a postage stamp of the 2 Great Americans series.

Mary Lyon Quotes

• When you choose your fields of labor go where nobody else is willing to go.
• Nine-tenths of our suffering is caused by others not thinking so much of us as we think they ought. Mary Lyon
• There is nothing in the universe that I fear, but that I shall not know all my duty, or shall fail to do it.
• If anyone thinks he has no responsibilities, it is because he has not sought them out.

Frequently Asked Questions About Mary Lyon

Who is Mary Lyon?

Mary Lyon was a pioneer in women’s education who was born near Buckland, Massachusetts as Mary Mason Lyon. She founded the Norton, Massachusetts Wheaton Female Seminary (now Wheaton College) in the year 1834.

How old is Mary Lyon?

Lyon died at an age of 52 years as of her death, she was born on 28 February 1797 in near Buckland, Massachusetts. She died on 5 March 1849 in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

How much is Mary Lyon worth?

Lyon has an approximate net worth of 700, 000 dollars as of her death.

Is Mary Lyon dead or alive?

Lyon died on 5 March 1849, of erysipelas (possibly contracted from an ill student in her care).

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