Later Life
By 1820 Pickersgill had become sufficiently successful in her business to purchase the house she had been renting, and lived there for the remainder of her life. Her business success allowed her to become active in addressing social issues such as housing, job placement, and financial aid for disadvantaged women, decades before these issues became prominent concerns in society. The Impartial Female Humane Society had been established to help needy Baltimore families with educating their children, and to help destitute women find employment. Pickersgill served as the president of this society from 1828 to 1851, and under her presidency a home for aged women opened in 1850. Following her tenure as president, a home for aged men was then established in 1869. In 1959 the two homes were combined and moved from Baltimore to Towson, Maryland, and in 1962 the new facility was named the Pickersgill Retirement Community in honor of the woman who had been instrumental in its creation.
Pickersgill died on October 4, 1857, and is buried in Loudon Park Cemetery in Baltimore. Her daughter Caroline erected a monument for her, and later the United States Daughters of 1812 and the Star Spangled Banner Flag House Association placed a bronze plaque at the foot of her grave.
Read more about this topic: Mary Young Pickersgill
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