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Mary Underwood

Mary Lowe, Mary C Lowe, Mary L Dickinson, Mary C. Dickinson, Mrs. J. B. Dickinson, Mrs. John B. Dickinson, Mary Caroline Underwood

23 January 1839—8 June 1914

Born 23 Jan. 1839 in Fitchburg, Worcester Co., Massachusetts.1 Daughter of Timothy Underwood and Ruth Burgess.2 Began teaching at age fifteen, 1854; served as assistant principal of Hartford Female Seminary, before 1872, and later as principal at Vassar College.3 Married first George P. Lowe, 3 Apr. 1858, in Fitchburg; later widowed.4 Married second John B. Dickinson, 1872, in New York City.5 Editor of Lend a Hand Magazine and the Silver Cross Magazine; published her first novel, Among the Thorns, 1880.6 Served as president of the Women’s National Indian Association, by 1885.7 Cofounder of the King’s Daughters (later the King’s Daughters and Sons), a charitable organization; served as general secretary, 1886–1914.8 Became the dean of belle lettres at the University of Denver, 1889.9 Actively petitioned for the rights, education, and welfare of women; corresponded with EBW while serving as the president of the National Council of Women, 1895–1897.10 Committee member representing women at the National Arbitration and Peace Congress, 14–17 Apr. 1907.11 Died 8 June 1914 in New York City.12

Footnotes

  1. 1 New York City, NY, Department of Health, Manhattan Death Certificates, 1866–1919; Index, 1868–1890, Works Projects Administration, Project No. 265-1-97-28; Work Project No. 1: cert. nos. 18601, 20350, Mary Lowe Dickinson, 8 June 1914, Felix W. Rousseau, 30 June 1914, microfilm 1323358, DGS 4002146, image 4/1864, FHL. Lucien Marcus Underwood, comp., The Underwood Families of America (Lancaster, PA: New Era, 1913), 60–61.  “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 12 June 2018), Mary Lowe Dickinson (KC5K-38Y).

  2. 2 Lucien Marcus Underwood, comp., The Underwood Families of America (Lancaster, PA: New Era, 1913), 60–61.  

  3. 3 Fitchburg, MA, Town Clerk, Vital Records, 1844–1910, George P. Lowe and Mary C. Underwood, 3 Apr. 1858, microfilm 2258329, DGS 7011273, image 363/731, FHL. Lucien Marcus Underwood, comp., The Underwood Families of America (Lancaster, PA: New Era, 1913), 60–62. William A. Emerson, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Past and Present (Fitchburg, MA: Blanchard and Brown, 1887), 101. John W. Leonard, ed., Who’s Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Living Men and Women of the United States, 1899–1900 (Chicago: A. N. Marquis, 1899), 191. 

  4. 4 Fitchburg, MA, Town Clerk, Vital Records, 1844–1910, George P. Lowe and Mary C. Underwood, 3 Apr. 1858, microfilm 2258329, DGS 7011273, image 363/731, FHL. William A. Emerson, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Past and Present (Fitchburg, MA: Blanchard and Brown, 1887), 101. Lucien Marcus Underwood, comp., The Underwood Families of America (Lancaster, PA: New Era, 1913), 60–61.   

  5. 5 William A. Emerson, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Past and Present (Fitchburg, MA: Blanchard and Brown, 1887), 102. “Obituary,” New York Herald, 18 Mar. 1875, 7. Lucien Marcus Underwood, comp., The Underwood Families of America (Lancaster, PA: New Era, 1913), 60–61. 

  6. 6 1910 U.S. Census, Manhattan Ward 22, New York, NY, ED 1290, p. 10A, Mary L. Dickinson. John W. Leonard, ed., Who’s Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Living Men and Women of the United States, 1899–1900 (Chicago: A. N. Marquis, 1899), 191. Mary Lowe Dickinson, Among the Thorns: A Novel (New York: G. W. Carleton, 1880). Mary Simmerson Cunningham Logan and John A. Logan, The Part Taken by Women in American History (Wilmington, DE: Perry-Nalle, 1912), 715. 

  7. 7 Valerie Sherer Mathes, The Women’s National Indian Association: A History (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2015), 25, 50.  Lucien Marcus Underwood, comp., The Underwood Families of America (Lancaster, PA: New Era, 1913), 62. Mary Simmerson Cunningham Logan and John A. Logan, The Part Taken by Women in American History (Wilmington, DE: Perry-Nalle, 1912), 714.

  8. 8 Sue Buck, “A Brief History,” International Order of the King’s Daughters and Sons (https://iokds.org/home/a-brief-history/, accessed 5 June 2018). Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen’s Magazine, Nov. 1914, 637. Lucien Marcus Underwood, comp., The Underwood Families of America (Lancaster, PA: New Era, 1913), 62.

  9. 9 “A Western Welcome,” Rocky Mountain News (Denver), 2 Feb. 1889, 2. “Woman’s World: New President of the National Council of Women,” Lima (OH) Times-Democrat, 5 Apr. 1895, 3. Lucien Marcus Underwood, comp., The Underwood Families of America (Lancaster, PA: New Era, 1913), 62.

  10. 10 Louise Barnum Robbins, ed., History and Minutes of the National Council of Women of the United States, Organized in Washington, D.C., March 31, 1888 (Boston: E. B. Stillings, 1898), 173, 188, 299, 309, 311. EBW, Diary, 18 Feb. 1895; 1 Sept. 1895; 1 Oct. 1895; 26 Mar. 1896; 7 June 1899.

  11. 11 The National Arbitration and Peace Congress (New York: Carnegie Hall, 1907), 24.

  12. 12 New York City, NY, Department of Health, Manhattan Death Certificates, 1866–1919; Index, 1868–1890, Works Projects Administration, Project No. 265-1-97-28; Work Project No. 1: cert. nos. 18601, 20350, Mary Lowe Dickinson, 8 June 1914, Felix W. Rousseau, 30 June 1914, microfilm 1323358, DGS 4002146, image 4/1864, FHL.