Timothy Dexter, born in 1748 near Boston, was an uneducated farm laborer who aspired to wealth. He dropped out of school at eight to work, and by 19, he married a wealthy widow, becoming rich. Despite his lack of education, he made several seemingly foolish investments that surprisingly paid off due to luck and unforeseen circumstances, such as sending warming pans to the Caribbean and coal to Newcastle during a coal workers' strike. He also bought up worthless currency that later became valuable after the American Revolution. Dexter's eccentricities included faking his death and declaring his living wife a ghost. He wrote an illiterate autobiography with no punctuation, which sold out due to its novelty. Dexter died in 1806, leaving behind a legacy of bizarre success.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. Timothy Dexter was born in Malden, Massachusetts, north of Boston, in 1748.
2. He dropped out of second grade at age eight to work on a farm and then at a leather tannery.
3. At 19, he sold his best suit for money to move to Newburyport, Massachusetts.
4. In Newburyport, he married a wealthy widow named Elizabeth Frothingham and became rich overnight.
5. After gaining wealth, he unsuccessfully ran for political office due to his lack of education.
6. Dexter was given a fake political title, "the informer of dear," by the town to stop his petitions for office.
7. During the American Revolutionary War, he invested in the continental dollar which became valuable after America won.
8. He purchased luxurious mansions with his wealth from the investment.
9. Dexter constructed 40 wooden statues of famous men, including himself, on his front lawn.
10. He was given bad investment tips by aristocrats but ended up profiting from them by chance.
11. His investments included sending warming pans to the Caribbean, coal to Newcastle during a coal workers' strike, and hoarding whalebone which became valuable due to fashion trends in France.
12. Dexter faked his own death to see how people would react and ended up beating his wife when she didn't act sad enough.
13. He claimed his alive wife was a ghost when people saw her after he had declared her dead.
14. Before his actual death, Dexter wrote an autobiography titled "A Pickle for the Knowing Ones" with no punctuation.
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