The following bio was assembled by "banjoreno," a seller on eBay:
Mary Lyon (1797-1849) was a pioneer educator, founder and first Principal of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. She grew up in Buckland, MA. Her father died when she was five, and the family all managed the farm. Mary's mother remarried and moved away when she was 13 and Mary stayed behind to help her brother Aaron run the farm. Experiences like these convinced her to commit her life to helping girls of modest and low income achieve an education. She taught at several academies in MA and in 1837 she founded Mount Holyoke Female Seminary at South Hadley. Following her vision of providing an affordable education, she instituted a work/study program and limited the tuition to $60 per year. The school quickly achieved an excellent reputation under her care and she surrounded herself with a loyal and highly competent staff. Her health began to fail in Fall 1848 and she went to Monson, MA, for rest and recuperation. On March 5, 1849, Mary Lyon died at South Hadley. See Twelfth Annual Catalogue of the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary...1848-49; Catalogue of the Memorandum Society, and of the Alumnae of Mount Holyoke Seminary...1837-1877; History of Mount Holyoke Seminary...During Its First Half Century, 1837-1887; and The Power of Christian Benevolence Illustrated in the Life and Labors of Mary Lyon (1858).