Mary Willing Clymer (1770–1852) was an American socialite in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

during the city's time as capital of the United States.

Life

Mary Willing Clymer was born Mary Willing on September 15, 1770, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, one of thirteen children born to parents Thomas Willing and Anne McCall. Her father was a former

Mayor of Philadelphia The mayor of Philadelphia is the chief executive of the government of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The current mayor of Philadelphia is Cherelle Parker, who is the first woman to hold the ...

(1763-64) and a

Pennsylvania Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It began in 1684 as the Provincial Court, and casual references to it as the "Supreme Court" of Pennsylvania were made offici ...

justice (1767-1777). He went on to become the president of the

Bank of North America The Bank of North America was the first chartered bank in the United States, and served as the country's first ''de facto'' central bank. It was chartered by the Congress of the Confederation on May 26, 1781, and opened in Philadelphia, Pennsy ...

and

First Bank of the United States The President, Directors and Company of the Bank of the United States, commonly known as the First Bank of the United States, was a National bank (United States), national bank, chartered for a term of twenty years, by the United States Congress ...

after the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. Mary wed Henry Clymer on July 9, 1794 and the couple had eight children. Henry was the son of George Clymer (1739–1813), who signed both the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

and the U.S. Constitution. Mary sat for a portrait by famed painter

Gilbert Stuart Gilbert Stuart ( Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter born in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best-k ...

in 1797. The portrait's caption notes that she was, "one of Philadelphia's premier social figures during the era when the city was the nation's capital". She is buried at Friends Burying GroundFind-A-Grave
/ref> in Mercer County, Trenton, New Jersey along with her husband.

Notes

Sources

ancestry.com Burnell, Jim ''George Clymer the Signer''
(accessed 16 October 2011)
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress ''Clymer, George''
(accessed 16 October 2011) *Independence National Historical Park portrait gallery {{DEFAULTSORT:Clymer, Mary Willing People from colonial Pennsylvania Socialites from Philadelphia 1770 births 1852 deaths