impressing her scholars. The six or eight old pupils of whom I have had
any knowledge were peculiarly fond of plants. Years ago when I had a
little school in town Miss Harriet Grant brought Fanny to me and in
telling me of her attainments said she had _worked her sampler_ at home
and was well advanced in Grammar, she having taught her, as she herself
had learned, from Murray’s Grammar, which she had used at Miss Pierce’s
school. She considered that the best textbook on the subject. She spoke
with as nearly enthusiasm as her quaint prim manners would allow of her
instruction in Botany while at that school and the pleasure it had been
to her through life, and of a number of rare plants she had found.
LETTER FROM MR. J. DEMING PERKINS.
LITCHFIELD, March 3^d, 1897.
* * * * *
I have been unable to find much of interest to add to your labor of
love, but can say that the house which the Misses Sarah and Mary Pierce
occupied and which was torn down by Mrs. Underwood in 1896, was built in
the year 1800. The “Litchfield Female Academy,” a later building, which
stood north of their house was erected in 1827 by a stock company
incorporated in that year. This latter building was removed to the
Beecher Lot, corner of North and Prospect Streets, prior to 1860, and
was occupied there by the boys’ school of the late Rev. James Richards
D.D., under the name of “Elm Park Collegiate Institute” for some years.
Mr. Henry R. Jones of Brooklyn, N. Y. converted it into a dwelling house
after he purchased that corner about 1882; the “Beecher Homestead”
building having previously been purchased by Dr. Henry W. Buel, and
removed to “Spring Hill,” about 1872 where it now forms a part of his
group of buildings.
1831–1833.
SCHOOL BILL.
The following bill illustrates both the prices for tuition in 1831, and
the custom of taking merchandise instead of money in the days when money
was scarce. Also the amount contributed by each scholar toward the cost
of the exhibition[74] usually held at the close of the term.
John Grant
To J. P. Brace Dr.
Tuition $10.
School expenses „42
————————
$10„42
———————
Exhibition tax „12½
———————
10„54½
Received of Mrs. H. Grant _wood_ 9 3
—————
Due 1—51
Litchfield April 19^{th} 1831
Rec’d payment
L. E. BRACE
Signed by Mrs. Brace.
NEW YORK, Tuesday, Jan’y 27th,
(1831, ’32 or 33.)
MY DEAR MISS PIERCE:
Your kindness and that of all your family towards me and mine last
summer, induces me to think a letter from me would not be
unacceptable.
I often think with satisfaction of the quiet, healthful and pleasant
time I passed at Litchfield, and feel a strong desire to know
something of the friends and acquaintances I made there. After your
own family, no one recurs to my mind with so much interest as Miss
Sheddon. I felt myself peculiarly fortunate to find in the same house
so amiable and intelligent a companion—if she is near you this winter
pray present my best regards to her, and tell her I shall take it very
unkind of her if she ever came to New York without giving me the
pleasure of seeing her at my house.
[Illustration:
PL. LVIII.—MARIA ADAMS (MRS. HENRY TALLMADGE), PUPIL, 1802
From oil portrait
]
Aunt Sally is in the full enjoyment of all her faculties and of her
health, which is uncommonly good this winter—I hope you are as much
delighted as she is with the life of Hannah Moore. I remember you were
very impatient for its appearance; she is most enthusiastic in its
praise—it ever lays open on her table. I want to know your opinion of
it, though I think it cannot but be favorable, but my paper admonishes
me to have done, and I have more messages than I have room for from
Pendleton to the Miss Braces, and from Edmund to the little Abbeys—I
would fain send some myself to my kind Dr. Buel—do, if you see him,
tell him his little patient is grown a fat robust fellow, nor would I
omit Mrs. Talmadge, Mrs. Wolcott and her family, and Mrs. Harrison—I
hope Mrs. Jones too and her son are well. If circumstances permit I
hope to find myself under her roof next summer, though I fear I shall
have to go another way—Edmund is very desirous to go to Mrs. Jones for
he wants to go again for Dr. Abbey’s cows, & Phil thinks he will by
that time be old enough to be of the party, and besides he thinks Mrs.
Jones has got no little boy now to read to her in the bible—and help
her pick cucumbers—
I hope that your health, (never very robust), has at least been as
good as usual this winter, my dear Miss Pierce—present my warmest
regards to Miss Mary Pierce and your excellent Brother, together with
all the good wishes of the New Year for a continuance of your present
earthly happiness—I hope you will occupy some leisure half hour in
giving me the gratification of a letter from you—
believe me your sincerely attached—
ANNA P. ROGERS.
MY DEAR AUNT:[75]
It has been my intention for some time to address a letter to you, but
circumstances have hitherto prevented, and as nothing very interesting
has occurred it has seemed almost useless for me to attempt to amuse
or interest you. The desire to write to one I so highly esteem and
dearly love overcomes every obstacle, and the anticipation of its
being acceptable to you inspires me with confidence to proceed.
I need not dwell on the beauties of this place, or its agreeable
inhabitants to prove how much and truly I have enjoyed myself for the
past month. To one who has spent the brightest and loveliest part of
life amid its delightful scenes, can readily realise the pleasure of
rambling through its woods, or following the wandering course of its
streams. Although the groves are robing themselves in their autumn
livery and reminding us that ere long we too, shall be in “the sear
and yellow leaf,” there is a pleasing pensiveness steals over the soul
in contemplating their varied hues, so nearly resembling the chequered
scenes of life, emphatically calling upon us, so to spend the summer
of our days, that when the winter storms of time howl fearfully around
us, we may with “an unwavering faith, enwrap the drapery of our couch
around us and lie down to pleasant dreams.” ...
Miss S. Pierce desired me to say to Aunt for her, that she should be
very happy to have her come to Litchfield and make her house her home.
I wish sincerely, dear Aunt, you would come up with Pa and Ma when
they come for us, as we hope they certainly will with little Henry....
Miss Lucretia Deming called and favored us with a ride a few days
since. Mrs. Beach (Lucy Sheldon that was) invited us to tea and also
Miss Pierce. We passed a delightful evening at Mrs. Dr. Buel’s with
the young people of the village last evening. I have written too long
a letter already and will close by requesting the favour of a [_torn_]
answer [_torn_] return if you consider it worth the trouble.
[_torn_]ry unites with me in much love to Uncle, Aunt and Cousins, and
believe me
your most affectionate niece.
CORNELIA E. TALLMADGE.
Litchfield, Wednesday A. M. 3rd Oct. ’32.
M— D[_worn_]id Wooster aged 75 was buried yesterday. I took tea at
Miss Pierce’s on Saturday evening with the rest of the family, and was
introduced to Misses Twining, Ferris and Catlin, cousins to a _former
friend_ of mine. Miss T——ng resembles him very much and I happened to
sit next to her all the evening. I found her quite agreeable—she quite
as well satisfied I believe. I write this, dear Aunt, not that it can
be very amusing to you, except as you are acquainted with a few
_peculiar_ circumstances connected with the family, etc. I send this
letter rather than with another, merely to change the date. I hope it
will be no less acceptable on this account. Excuse the unshapely
appearance of this addition, dear Aunt, and remember,
me your truly affectionate niece,
CORNELIA.
Oct. 8th, Monday evening.
FAREWELL ADDRESS ON LEAVING LITCHFIELD ACADEMY, OCTOBER 23, 1832.
It is always a solemn & interesting moment for a teacher to close a term
of his exertions & instructions. To give the last information to those
who are entering the world to perform their parts on the great theatre
of action; to feel that all that he can do for their improvement &
usefulness, their benefit here, & their welfare hereafter, has been
done; to realize that the account of his influence over them, has been
sealed up by the recording angel, & entered in heaven’s dread chancery,
to be opened no more until the great day of reckoning brings all things
to light; to feel that he has bidden adieu to those, whose welcome
faces, for years, have surrounded his desk, & constituted his happiness
or misery by their conduct; to feel all this clouds his brow with gloom,
& fills his heart with sorrow, when the anticipations of home & friends,
& the buoyant hope of future usefulness, & the false glare of expected
admiration, causes every eye to sparkle, & every heart to throb among
the pupils around him—It is then, that looking on the past, the feelings
of regret, at neglected opportunities for their welfare, once enjoyed,
and now lost forever; at all that he might have done to have made his
pupils more useful, better fitted for the stormy trials of this world, &
the greater trial hereafter; of all his mistakes & errors in intellect;
of his follies in conduct and obliquities in temper; of his example,
shining but to betray, & his influence, powerful, but to mislead; of all
that he has done to injure, or omitted to do to benefit, rush upon his
mind, in a tide of overwhelming sorrow—
At such a time, the most faithful in intellectual discipline, the most
devoted to the future usefulness of his pupils, & the one most willing
“to spend & be spent” in the service of his greater master, feels his
past neglect, & grieves over his deficiences.
If such be the feelings & the regrets at the close of an ordinary term,
how much more shall he feel, the principal of this Academy, who, after
eighteen years devoted to its interests, on this night, with this act,
closes his connection with it, & enters on a new, & almost untried field
of usefulness.
The audience generally, & his pupils in particular, will excuse him for
occupying their attention, a few moments, in a detail of the plan of his
instructions, the motives for the resignation of his present office, &
the regrets that crowd upon his mind in standing for the last time at
the head of the Litchfield Female Academy—
It has always been our belief, that the female intellect was as
susceptible of as high & extensive cultivation as that of man; though,
from her different destination in Society, & her various employments, a
different education must be pursued—
It is not now necessary to enter into a discussion of the question
whether the abilities of the sexes are naturally equal; it is sufficient
to notice, that the circumstances of life require a varied exercise of
these abilities—The employments of man & woman are so dissimilar, that
no one will pretend to say that an education for these employments must
be conducted upon the same plan: but the discipline of the mind, the
formation of these intellectual habits, which are necessary to one sex,
are equally so to the other—The difference in their employments requires
a diversity of personal qualifications, but not a difference of
intellectual exertions—it is equally important to both sexes, that the
memory should be stored with facts; that the imagination should be
chastened & confined within its due & regular limits; that habits of
false judgement, the results of prejudice, ignorance, or error, should
be destroyed or counteracted; that the reasoning faculty should be
trained to nice discrimination, & powerful & rapid research.
It has, therefore, been our endeavor to fling into that course of study
& employments which may be considered peculiar to women; as many of the
mental avocations of the other sex, as were necessary to all that
development of intellectual energy, which woman, in her situation may
require—To this course of discipline & improvement we have endeavoured,
uniformly to adhere with no more variations than were necessary to keep
pace with the changing state of many of the sciences, with the gradual
improvement of our country, & the rapid “march of mind” in the present
century—
During the forty years of the existence of this Seminary, other similar
schools have arisen & fallen; have had their day of reputation, & have
ceased their operations—Fashion has led, during this long period, at one
time to place an undue stress on external accomplishments; at another,
to the study, exclusively of intellectual philosophy; at another, on the
physical sciences; while we have endeavoured to mingle all that was
useful in the existent fashion, with the regular course of study so long
pursued—
A teacher of a large & promiscuously collected school is obliged to act
upon other principles, in the motives & incentives placed before the
mind, than if he were conducting the education of a solitary individual
or a single family or early discipline; the course pursued by parents;
the difference of original constitution; the diversity of prejudice &
feelings, occasion such a contrariety of character among his pupils that
he can find but few motives that will operate alike upon all.
Were human nature perfect, did all act up to the light they have
received, did the great principles of the divine law “thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself,” operate on the heart, the teacher would have
an easy task, a delightful labour—In the ruined state of the human
heart, when the holiest motives are unknown, he is obliged to seize upon
the best that remain to accomplish the great object of public
instruction.
He has the stupid to arouse; the sluggish to excite; the idle to leave
or _drive into_ a life of industry; the irregular to habituate to a life
of method—
To accomplish these important objects, & to induce our pupils to make
the greatest possible improvement of the time and advantages allowed
them, we have adopted a system of rewards & punishments founded on the
principle of an emulation to excel. Our utmost endeavours have always
been made to prevent this system of emulation from engendering an unholy
ambition, and the approbation of parents, & the plaudits of an approving
conscience, have been the motives most frequently exhibited, and most
affectionately urged upon the minds of our scholars.
Our object has been, not to make learned ladies, or skilful metaphysical
reasoners, or deep read scholars in physical science: there is a more
useful, tho’ less exalted, and less brilliant station that woman must
occupy; there are duties of incalculable importance that she must
perform: that station is home; these duties, are the alleviation of the
trials of her parents; the soothing of the labours & fatigues of her
partner; & the education for time & eternity of the next generation of
immortal beings—Our design has been, to give our pupils enough of
science to conduct the early education of their children and to relish
the conversation of the scientific around them. Our greater aim has
been, however, to cultivate the judgement & improve the taste, to
produce a relish for reading, & especially to create a correct & elegant
style in conversation & letters, where alone, with few exceptions, women
can manifest the extent of their information.
The formation of character; the acquisition of correct habits; the
controul of tempers, & the restraint of appetites; the discipline of
mind, that will lead to perseverance & industry, to order & system
hereafter, are of more importance than the principles of science, than
the refinements of manners, or the elegancies of Literature—
To these objects have our exertions been extended—Every moral precept
that could be drawn from science or literature; from the rewards &
punishments of the school, from the daily occurrences of life, is
applied to these great purposes—Feeling as we do, the importance of
forming the habits & the character, at such early periods, we use all
our endeavours to fulfill the responsible duties devolved upon us—
There is yet one other subject, of higher & holier moment, that forms a
part of these responsible duties: the direction to be given to our
pupils to comply with the great object of their creation, & glorify
their Maker. In our religious instruction, bestowed often upon them, we
have endeavoured to point them to that Saviour, provided for them, & to
impress upon them the duty of repentance & faith required in the gospel.
We trust we have not done this, in a sectarian spirit, & that we have
equally encouraged every sect “who love our Lord Jesus Christ in
sincerity & truth.”
But feeling, as we do, the deep wickedness of the human heart, the
necessity of a change of that disposition to an entrance into the
kingdom of heaven, & the agency of the Spirit of God in accomplishing
that change, we must press these subjects upon our pupils, & to show
them their guilt, their danger, their remedy & their duty; praying that
the Spirit of God would accompany these exhortations with saving power
to their hearts—
Such is very slightly the outlines of the motives, that have guided our
public career & we hope that on looking back over the long list of
immortal beings entrusted to our charge, at the most important &
responsible part of their existence, we can be excused the assertion
that we have attempted to do the good required of us, “in our day &
generation”—
[Illustration:
PL. LIX.—SILHOUETTE OF A LITCHFIELD GIRL OF ABOUT 1830
]
Will the patrons of this school, now, pardon me in giving a detail of
the reasons that have led me to relinquish my charge as the _associate
principal_ in this Institution—These are, very concisely, (for I do not
wish to occupy public attention by an egotistical exhibition of my
private movements,) the diminution in the number of my pupils,
occasioned by the numerous other establishments of a similar
description, springing up all around us; the increased facilities of
travelling to other places which nature has denied as an access to this
village; & the offer to a station, where with less of physical exertion,
a more certain & ample support for my increasing family, can be
obtained, & a greater amount of usefulness be in my power, from the
increased number of pupils, & the enlarged sphere of action—But in
relinquishing this office, let me be believed, when I assert that I
never can efface from my memory, the kindness of those by whom, I have
been surrounded & supported for so many years—The stream of time may
roll many things into oblivion, but whether it stagnate in its course,
or rush on with a cataract’s velocity, it can never bury beneath its
waves, or hurry from my heart, the recollection of all that has been
done & felt for me, by the people of my native village—
I am going among strangers, & I shall miss your kindly sympathy. I shall
miss the tones of friendship, heard from childhood until now. I shall
miss these advisers on whose arms I have leaned until age has almost
bowed them to the silent & narrow house, & sprinkled my locks with
gray—I shall miss those pupils, who, though years have elapsed since
they heard my instructions, still beam upon me as they pass, with their
kindly faces, & look as if satisfied, that they too were educated in the
Litchfield School—I am going to a land of strangers to acquire new
friends, to lean on new advisers, to see the faces of new pupils, at an
age when change is the most dreaded, & old associations the most
powerfully felt—It would be a gratification in this hour, to feel that I
might retain that friendship, & those regards, I have held so long &
prized so highly—
Permit me to express a hope that the Institution to which I have given
my hopes & my fears, for nearly 20. years, will still be preserved on
its former footing, & that yet very many more may be added to the list
of the 3000 of its former pupils, & that the declining years of her,
who, for forty years, has superintended its operations, & who was the
pioneer in the march of female education in this whole land, may be
soothed by the success of that which has been her object in life, & will
be the “crown of her rejoicing, in the day of her Lord”—
To the pupils of this term, I return my grateful thanks, for their
attention & their kindness; for their progress in science, & their
improvement in character—I hope that their conduct in this world will be
such as to reflect honour on the Institution, that educated them, & that
their preparation for another will be founded on those gospel principals
that will unite them around the throne of God forever.—
The time will soon arrive, when all of us shall have done with all that
is mortal & earthly; when the tongue that utters this farewell, & the
ears that hear it, shall be alike motionless in dust; & when a few
grassy hillocks by the graves of our fathers shall be all that earth has
left to us; shall we not, all of us, then, make that preparation which
will fit us for scenes beyond this world, & its perishing employments,
when the realities of Eternity, will be around us, & nothing but the
faith of the gospel, be of abiding benefit?—
EXTRACT FROM ADDRESS ON ASSUMING CHARGE OF THE HARTFORD FEMALE SEMINARY.
December 2^{nd} 1832
It is useless for me, from this desk & at this period of the history of
education in our country & of the march of the human mind, to enter a
laborious investigation of the uses of information, of the advantages of
study, of the pleasures of intellectual enjoyment. The fountains of pure
happiness which education has opened in our land, are no longer locked
up from the female sex, but all are equally invited to drink of their
waters & in no way is the superiority of our favoured country more
notedly manifest than in the blessings of mental discipline being poured
upon the heads of the female sex. Have you ever, my dear young friends,
as your eyes glanced over the map of the world, & your memories were
stored with the facts of Geography. felt your hearts rise in aspirations
of gratitude to your heavenly Father, that you were not like the unhappy
females of which you read; compelled to the lowest & meanest pitch of
outward degradation, & the darkest night of mental ignorance; condemned
by “man, imperial man” alternately, to be the slave of his passions, &
the victim of his tyranny; condemned to the toil & labour & suffering of
a life of barbarity, the galley slave of ignorance & brutality, with no
other prospect at its close, but to mount the funeral pile of your lord
& master, & with no hope of the brightness of that “life & immortality,”
which the gospel has brought to light. The religion of Christ & the
influence of education have made this difference in your happiness here,
& your prospects hereafter. and it is useless for me to occupy your time
one moment in any laboured proof of the value of education to you. It
was not always so. Eighteen years ago, well can I remember the
prejudices, the fashions, the antipathies with which I had to contend.
The taste for frivolous accomplishments was to be crushed, & something
besides the embellishment of the exterior was to be forced upon the
consideration of the light & trifling. The singular prejudice of some of
the good & pious of the community, that all information beyond that of
the Bible, was profane & useless, was to be softened down & modified.
The false idea that the exclusive station of woman was the kitchen, &
her exclusive discipline an acquaintance with culinary concerns was to
be counteracted, & a better feeling of her value & her influence to be
created. But that time has passed, & the full importance of female
improvement, & the culture of female intellect have been justly
appreciated, & the numerous seminaries that crowd our land, show that
“scattering the seed” of female education is an object of the highest
utility.