This is a transcription of the Julia (Knowlton) Dyer biography from New Hampshire Women: A Collection of Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Daughters and Residents of the Granite State, Who are Worthy Representatives of their Sex in the Various Walks and Conditions of Life, The New Hampshire Publishing Co., Concord, NH, 1895, page 87.
Julia (Knowlton) Dyer
JULIA KNOWLTON is the maiden name of one of Boston’s noblest women, born in Deerfield, Aug. 25, 1829, near the birthplace of Benjamin F. Butler. She has a rare heritage indeed, for upon Bunker Hill monument are inscribed the names of two ancestors, her grandfather, Thomas Knowlton, and her maternal great grandfather, Gen. Nathaniel Dearborn, the friend and comrade of General Washington. Her parents, Joseph and Susan (Dearborn) Knowlton, are now deceased. Her early life was spent in Concord and Manchester, and her education was obtained in private schools. She was a pupil in the boarding school of Miss Ela, and later in the New Hampton Institute, where she was graduated at eighteen. For a year she taught languages and mathematics in Manchester, and then “met her fate” in the person of Micah Dyer, Jr., a young Boston lawyer, whom she married in May, 1851, and with whom she has led a most happy life. For nearly forty years they have occupied a fine old estate in Dorchester. Three children have blessed their home, one, a daughter, dying at an early age. Two sons survive, one a physician, Dr. Willard Knowlton Dyer, the other, Walter Richardson Dyer, follows his father’s profession and resides with his young wife at the home of his parents. Mrs. Dyer’s domestic life is beautiful, yet she finds time to shed her kindness in other homes in various ways. She is a club woman, belonging to more than a score of organizations, charitable or literary. She is best known for her work for the Soldiers’ Home, as organizer and president of the Ladies’ Aid Association, though the Charity Club is among her favorite organizations. She is a member of the Castilian club, the Educational and Industrial Union, Helping Hand society, New Hampton Institute association, the Wintergreen club, the Daughters of the Revolution, and first vice president of the New Hampshire’s Daughters. She has fine literary ability, and a wonderful command of language. Everybody loves her and everybody trusts her.