Timothy Dexter

Born in Malden, Massachusetts, in 1747, Timothy Dexter rose from a modest background and worked as a leather dresser before building a fortune. Sources agree that he became wealthy through marriage and a series of highly improbable but successful investments, including speculation tied to depreciated Continental currency.

Dexter later settled in Newburyport and became famous for behavior that made him a local sensation. He styled himself "Lord Timothy Dexter," filled his property with statues, and developed a reputation for outrageous self-promotion and eccentric public antics.

He also wrote A Pickle for the Knowing Ones, a book that is still remembered for its highly unconventional spelling and lack of punctuation. By the time of his death in 1806, he had become less a conventional businessman than a lasting American curiosity: part entrepreneur, part performer, and part folk legend.