Dyer was born in New Hampshire and grew up in Concord and Manchester. After graduating from the New Hamilton Institute, she became a high school teacher in Manchester. Soon after, she met and married Micah Dyer, Jr., a Boston attorney. In the 1850s, the young couple moved to Columbia Road in Dorchester, where they raised their three children. As her family grew older, Dyer became involved in numerous charitable activities. She served on the Board of Management of the Dedham House for Discharged Female Prisoners and as president of the Ladies’ Aid Society, which raised money for the Chelsea Soldiers’ Home. Dyer considered her role in establishing the Women’s Charity Club Hospital in Roxbury, pictured here, and serving as its longtime president one of her greatest achievements. In addition, Dyer organized fund raisers for the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union and the Home for Intemperate Women.
Dyer was also involved with the Women’s Christian Temperance Union of Upham’s Corner, the Moral Education Society, the Dorchester Woman’s Club, the Bostonian Society, and many other organizations. Her obituary in The Boston Globe called her “one of the best-known club and society women in Boston.”
