• INVESTOR
• Only heir of her family's large whaling business fortune
• Learned much from her father while accompanying him on business dealings
• Inherited $5M upon her father's death, and another $1.1M from her aunt soon after
• Married and had two children with Edward Green, a millionaire in his own right, but divorced him after she discovered he was secretly making bad investments and borrowing against her fortune
• Never owned a business, but significantly increased her wealth by investing in government bonds, railroads, and real estate
• Due in large part to her Quaker upbringing, she practiced a life of frugality, for which she was often criticized
• REFUSED to adhere to the expectations of women of her social status, wearing plain, old clothes instead of the latest fashions
• Nicknamed the "Witch of Wall Street," but those closest to her denied the mischaracterization
• Worth more than $100 million at her death (that's equal to about $2.2 BILLION today!), she was the RICHEST woman in the world during her lifetime

Photo by Hollinger & Rockey [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography: Drachman, Virginia G. Enterprising Women: 250 Years of American Business. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2002. Print.

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