Editing Timothy Dexter (section)

==Legacy==
[[File:A view of the mansion of the late Lord Timothy Dexter in High Street, Newburyport, 1810 - J.H. Bufford's lith. LCCN93504543.jpg|thumb|''"Lord" Timothy Dexter House'', Newburyport, Massachusetts.]]

Some of Dexter's social contemporaries considered him very unintelligent; his obituary considered "his intellectual endowments not being of the most exalted stamp".<ref name="HNIIxxvii" /><ref>Timothy Dexter obituary notice, ''Newburyport Herald'', October 24, 1806.</ref> Dexter attempted to burnish his own legacy by enlisting the efforts of Jonathan Plummer, a fish merchant and amateur poet, who extolled his patron in verse:<ref name="Gencarella2018"/> 

{{poemquote|
Lord Dexter is a man of fame;
Most celebrated is his name;
More precious far than gold that's pure,
Lord Dexter shines forevermore.}}

[[File:Lord Timothy Dexter House, as seen on October 22, 2022.jpg|thumb|Lord Timothy Dexter House, as seen in October 2022]]

The [[Massachusetts Probate and Family Court|Massachusetts Probate Office]] valued his estate at $35,027.39 (roughly {{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=35,027.39|start_year=1806|fmt=eq}}) at the time of Dexter's death in 1806.<ref>Todd, William Cleaves. ''Timothy Dexter''. Boston, Massachusetts: David Clapp & Son, 1886: p. 11.</ref> After his death, Dexter's Newburyport house had its household furniture, gilt balls, and much of the garden statuary auctioned off on 12 May 1807. The [[1815 New England hurricane|Great September Gale of 1815]] toppled most of the remaining statues, and the survivors were sold at another auction; some ended up being burned for firewood.<ref name=BrooksHistoryMA>{{cite web |last=Brooks |first=Rebecca |url=https://historyofmassachusetts.org/timothy-dexter-house/ |title=Timothy Dexter House in Newburyport, Massachusetts |website=History of Massachusetts |date=23 October 2022 |access-date=26 January 2024}}</ref>

Ultimately, fewer than six of the original 40 statues survived to the present day, being rediscovered during the [[Great Depression]] as a result of a [[Works Progress Administration]] survey; the most prominent one being that of William Pitt, restored by the [[Smithsonian Institution]]. It was loaned to the local Museum of Old Newbury in 1994, and its ownership was transferred to the local museum in January 2025. In 2013, a pair of carved figurines that once adorned the house's entrance, titled "Peace" and "Plenty", were put on auction by an [[Amesbury, Massachusetts|Amesbury]] auction house, but failed to meet the $40,000 reserve price expected by the seller.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rogers |first=Dave |url=https://www.newburyportnews.com/news/local_news/bid-too-small-for-peace-and-plenty/article_f93aab0e-6fc3-5334-962e-7214c912b28e.html |title=Bid too small for 'Peace' and 'Plenty' |website=Newburyport News |date=13 August 2013 |access-date=26 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://business.newburyportchamber.org/news/details/smithsonian-transfers-iconic-statue-once-belonging-to-lord-timothy-dexter-to-museum-of-old-newbury-01-15-2025 |title=Smithsonian Transfers Iconic Statue Once Belonging to Lord Timothy Dexter to Museum of Old Newbury |website=Newburyport Chamber |date=15 January 2025 |access-date=16 February 2025}}</ref>

The Timothy Dexter House was briefly converted into an inn shortly after Dexter's widow Elizabeth died in 1809, followed by a succession of private owners.<ref name="Nicholas p.147-151"/> In 1984, William Quill, a Newburyport local raised on Johnston St, purchased the house for $200,000 and restored it.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shea |first=Jack |title=Man who faced challenge restoring Lord Timothy Dexter's mansion |url=https://www.newburyportnews.com/news/local_news/man-who-faced-challenge-restoring-lord-timothy-dexters-mansion/article_5e575973-b0c5-5f3f-a21c-7a82e6c9cd06.html |website=Newburyport News |date=29 January 2018 | access-date=26 January 2024}}</ref> As restoration works came close to completion, a [[blowtorch]] accident on 15 August 1988 caused a fire that gutted the building, but original blueprints preserved by the [[Historic New England|Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities]] allowed the house to be rebuilt exactly as it was.<ref name=BrooksHistoryMA></ref> The Timothy Dexter House remains the Quill family's private residence to this day.

After Dexter's death, a street that intersects the High St corner where the Timothy Dexter House is located was named "Dexter Ln" in his honor. The first house built on the street was constructed in 1967. The Dexter Lane Project, a 16-unit affordable housing development, is currently planned to be built at 14 Dexter Ln.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cityofnewburyport.com/affordable-housing-trust/agenda-items/dexter-lane-project |title=Affordable Housing Trust - Dexter Lane Project |website=City of Newburyport, MA|date=8 May 2023 |access-date=26 January 2024}}</ref>