Timothy Dexter

Born in Malden, Massachusetts, in 1747, Timothy Dexter started out with little formal education and worked as a leather dresser before marrying a wealthy widow. He later moved to Newburyport and built a fortune through a mix of trading, speculation, and astonishingly lucky ventures that made him famous long before his death in 1806.

Dexter is remembered as much for his personality as for his money. He styled himself "Lord" Timothy Dexter, filled his property with statues, staged his own mock funeral, and cultivated a reputation for behavior that was part boastful performance and part genuine eccentricity.

He also wrote A Pickle for the Knowing Ones, a famously unconventional book with almost no punctuation in its original form. That odd, energetic voice helped keep his legend alive, and today he is still remembered as one of the most colorful characters in early American history.