Mary Willing Clymer was born Mary Willing on September 15, 1770, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, one of thirteen children born to parents
Thomas Willing and Anne McCall. Her father was a former
Mayor of Philadelphia (1763–1764) and a
Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice (1767–1777). He went on to become the president of the
Bank of North America and
First Bank of the United States after the
American Revolution. Mary wed Henry Clymer on July 9, 1794 and the couple had eight children. Henry was the son of
George Clymer, who signed both the
Declaration of Independence and the
U.S. Constitution. Mary sat for a portrait by famed painter
Gilbert Stuart in 1797. The portrait's caption notes that she was, "one of Philadelphia's premier social figures during the era when the city was the nation's capital". ==Notes==