Women Rulers of Early America

12" Wooden Ruler made in U.S.A. of American-grown basswood. The women on this ruler played important roles during the colonial and revolutionary periods of United States history. For example, English-born Deborah, Lady Moody (1586-1659?), founded the village of Gravesend, now part of Brooklyn. She is the only woman know to have started a village in colonial America. Margaret Brent (c.1601-1671) also came from England and was a founding settler of the colonies of Maryland and Virginia. Elizabeth Greenleaf (1681-1762) of the Massachusetts colony was America’s first female pharmacist. Penelope Barker (1728-1796) organized a boycott of British goods in her hometown of Edenton, North Carolina. Irish-born Lydia Darragh (1729-1789), a Philadelphia Quaker, became a Patriot spy during the Revolutionary War. Native American women had important roles to play as well. Mary Musgrove (c.1700-1765), born to a Creek mother and an English colonist father, was instrumental in keeping the peace between