The City of Taunton’s official seal reads “Dux Femina Facti,” words made famous in the Roman epic poem the Aeneid, referring to Dido's founding of Carthage. Taunton chose this particular reference, meaning “a woman led the deed,” to honor one of their own early and influential founders: Elizabeth Pole. Elizabeth, her brother, and 14 others settled in Taunton, by way of Dorchester, after sailing from Somerset County in southwest England. She played a key role in early Taunton, particularly in establishing its first church and with her purchase of shares in the iron works, only the second in colonial America. She was known to John Winthrop, first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, who wrote in his diary in 1637, “This year a plantation was begun at Teticutt, by a gentlewoman, an ancient maid, one Mrs. [Mistress] Poole.” Today she continues to be honored around Taunton, particularly at the Old Colony History Museum located on the Green where she helped found its first church.