Colonial Women of Distinction

June 13, 2025

Colonial Women of Distinction

Colonial Women of Distinction

The following women have been designated as CDA qualifying ancestors as part of the “Colonial Women of Distinction” initiative, initially established in 2021.

To submit a woman for consideration, please see the Colonial Women of Distinction submission form in the Claims Corner of CDA’s Member Library at cda1890.org.

Review the following pages for lists of the eligible services in each of the listed colonies:

Delaware
Maryland
Massachusetts Bay
New Hampshire
New York
Pennsylvania
Plymouth
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Virginia (plus Ancient Planers, Jamestown Muster, and Landowners)

Delaware

Gunilla Andersson – d. aft 1679 – Historic Founder
Christina Carlsdotter (Ollesdotter) bef.1641-WP 13 Mar 1698/9 – Historic Founder
Annika Clementsdotter – d. aft 1690 – Historic Founder
Elisabeth Dalbo – 1622-1700 – Historic Founder
Gertrude Jacobs – ca 1623-bef 1693 – Historic Founder
Aemegot Printz – ca 1625 – ca 1695 – Historic Founder
Gertrude Rambo – 19 Oct 1650-aft 14 Sep 1705 – Historic Founder
Ella Stille – 1634-bur. 22 Jan 1718 – Historic Founder

Maryland

Anne Catherine Hoof Green – ca 1720—23 Mar 1775 – Printer and Publisher of the Maryland Gazette
Jane Lowe Sewall Calvert -d. 1700 – Lady of the Maryland Manor with Seigniory Rights

Massachusetts Bay

Anne Dudley Bradstreet – 20 Mar 1612-16 Sep 1672 – 1st writer in the colonies to be published; 1st woman to be recognized as an accomplished poet in the New World
Mary White Rowlandson (Talcott) – ca. 1637-5 Jan 1711 – Captured by Indians and wrote of her experience; her Diary is considered a classic of the American Captivity Narrative genre
Katherine Marbury Scott – Quaker Advocate

New Hampshire

Mary Hussey – 1570-1660 – Original Grantee of Hampton

New York

Hilletie (Hilletje) Van Slyke Van Olinda – 1646-10 Feb 1707 – Interpretess of the Province

Pennsylvania

Mary “Polly” Norris Dickinson – 17 Jul 1740-23 Jul 1803 – land and estate owner and Manager
Hannah (Callowhill) Penn – bap. 11 Feb 1670-1726 – Manager of Proprietary Affairs for the Colony of Pennsylvania
Milcah Martha Hill Moore – 1740-1829 – Quaker Poet

Plymouth

Priscilla Mullins Alden – Mayflower Passenger
Mary Norris Allerton – Mayflower Passenger
Eleanor Billington – Mayflower Passenger
Mary Brewster- Mayflower Passenger
Mary Chilton – Mayflower Passenger
Mrs. Fuller – wife of Edward Fuller – Mayflower Passenger
Constance Hopkins – Mayflower Passenger
Elizabeth Hopkins – Mayflower Passenger
Elizabeth Tilley – Mayflower Passenger
Joan Tilley – Mayflower Passenger
Susanna White-Winslow – Mayflower Passenger
Hanna Bradford Ripley – First physician, and for years, only doctor in Windham

Rhode Island

Mary Dyer – 1611-31 May 1660 – Founder of Portsmouth, New Port, RI settlement on the Aquidneck
Sarah Updike Goddard – ca 1701-5 Jan 1770 – American Printer, Co-founder and Publisher of the Providence Gazette and Country Journal, which was the 1st newspaper in Providence
Anne Marbury Hutchinson – 1591-1643 – A founder of Aquidneck (Portsmouth) Settlement; Preacher

South Carolina

Eliza Lucas Pinckney – 28 Dec 1722- 27 May 1793 – Changed agriculture in colonial South Carolina by developing Indigo as one of South Carolina’s most important cash crops
Frances Culpeper Stephens Berkeley Ludwell – Lady Frances Berkeley – Carolina Lord Proprietor – 1677-

Virginia

Anna Corderoy Bernard (Barnard, Barnett, Cowdray, Cordray) 1609-1670; Northumberland, Westmoreland and Gloucester Counties, VA; Patented and managed extensive land holdings (3000+ acres) for 2 decades
Catherine (Kaidyee) Blaikley ca 1695-25 Oct 1771, Williamsburg; Business Owner; “Eminent Midwife” 1739-1771
Anne Geddy died bef 1787; Williamsburg and James City Co., VA; Business Owner– The Geddy Foundry – 1744-1760
Mary Marshall Tabb Bolling ca 1737-bef 28 Oct 1814; Merchant; inherited around 1,000 acres from her father. Following the death of her husband, she assumed management of an enormous estate of warehouses, a gristmill, and land on which the rapidly growing town of Petersburg was built.
Pocahontas – d. Mar 1617- Historic Founder

Ancient Planters