Dorothea Lynde Dix was born technically in Massachusetts because the actual location was on the Maine frontier which had not ratified statehood yet. She was said to have had an unhappy childhood which entailed her leaving home at the young age of 12 to live with relatives in the Boston and Worcester areas. "Her father was an itinerant Methodist preacher. Hampden was taken over by the British in the War of 1812, however, the Dix's took refuge in Vermont shortly before the war began. Her family life can be described as abusive and nonexistent. Her mother was not in good mental health and her father was an abusive alcoholic." (Bumb, 2005).

             To demonstrate her advanced mental posture, she opened a school for young children in 1816 when she was only 14 years old. "In the fall of 1816, at age fifteen, she faced her first twenty pupils between the ages of six and eight. She ran this school of sorts for three years. All this time Edward would continually visit her and keep her company. She was forever grateful to Edward for getting her dream of a school to become a reality." (Bumb, 2005) .

             She enjoyed a brilliant twenty year educational that consisted of teaching the subjects of poetry and religion for young readers. She was known to have written several textbooks and critiqued other existing manuals of her time. Although she suffered from poor health, her ambition forced her to travel often to England where she was considered ahead of her time in regard to dealing with the mentally challenged. She was known especially for meeting and instructing various reformers regarding the treatment and methods for instituting change for the mentally ill. "Once she got to Europe she had no time to rest for she began her process of inspecting jails and almshouses there as well. She traveled to England, Scotland, France, Austria, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium and Germany.