Chapter XIV: Part 14

Last evening we had the melancholy intelligence of the death of our
dear sister Pierce. (Col. John Pierce’s widow) she with her nephew &
niece Mr. & Mrs. Pendleton set out the latter part of June to visit
Green Pendleton.

They reached Cincinnati the 2nd of July, she bore the journey very
well, wrote a long & cheerful letter to Mrs. Muirson, the next day was
attacked with cholera murbus, which terminated in a dysentry, & she
died on the 10th, had her reason to the last, & died full of faith &
hope....

Mr. Kirk spent a day with us, I suppose Mary has written that he made
a strong impression upon the whole school, in six or seven instances
it appeared as if the feeling would be permanent—but like the wayside
hearers they do not appear to have root within, & are again laughing &
playing with the thoughtless & gay....

S. PIERCE

LITCHFIELD, Sep. 21 1835.

DEAR JOHN.

... Are there any little girls who want to learn the French language,
in or near Hartford—I want to procure Mrs. Gimbrede a few boarders, it
is an excellent place for young ladies from eight to fourteen, she
loves young girls, takes great pains with their manners, & it is the
only way to learn to speak French well to live in a French family. I
fear Mrs. G— will leave us this fall if she does not get boarders, & I
do not know as we should be able to let your house if she leaves
it....

S. PIERCE.

LITCHFIELD. Jan. 13. 1842.

MY DEAR EMMA

You must not expect that your old aunt will be able to write to you
very often, as her bodily weakness is great, & her eyes very poor. I
was glad to see your last letter written so handsomely & without any
mistakes in the spelling. I hope you will be careful to acquire a good
style, & a handsome mode of writing letters & notes, as they show a
womans education on more occasions than almost any thing else she is
called to perform.

I suppose Mary had troops of gentlemen on N. Year, the gentlemen made
calls here, which was quite a new thing, but there are so few of them,
they did not take up much of our time.

We had a very affecting death here on Christmas, Henrietta Beers,
cousin to Julia, & who had been adopted by Mr. Beers as a daughter
died on that morning, her funeral was attended on Monday morning. All
Miss Jones’ scholars walked in procession to the grave, she was very
handsome, & very much beloved. Her friends have hope that she was
prepared for death, if so she is now singing the praises of her
Redeemer. May you be prepared to meet your death, at whatever period
the king of terrors may summon you to depart. The Methodist church has
had a protracted meeting which has continued about three weeks, a
number of young people have become hopefully pious, & a few old.

The temperance cause seems to be gaining. Mr. Kirchon (?) from N.
Haven has been laboring here, & a number of drunkards have signed the
pledge, & we hope they may continue firm to their oath. Tell Mary I
will send Charles’ stocking the first opportunity, I have not finished
your Father’s stockings yet, while at C— I knit for your aunt Ruthy &
since that I have gone on slowly as there are but few evenings when I
can keep my eyes open, but they are nearly done.

Love to Mary, Charles & James, to Isabella also—& take a great deal
for your self—from your affectionate aunt

S. P.

LITCHFIELD. March. 14. 1842.

DEAR JOHN

I am sorry that your congregation have got into such a bad state, but
it seems to be the state of the present time to run into extremes, a
few years past, it was with difficulty that we could get a decent
house to worship in, & now people are for emulating Romanists, in
building, & decorating their churches, there is no religion in it, but
as Dinah used to say, “_needless pride_.” Satan was never more active
than at the present day, fomenting contention in churches, where he
has not as yet been able to introduce false principles. I think it a
great sin in these hard times to lay out money needlessly when so many
benevolent institutions are suffering for funds.

... I think you would not do wisely to buy a lot to build on, as it is
always expensive to build, & there is always in the course of every
year, houses to sell at a low rate. Love to the children, tell James
we hope to see him as soon as the mud is dried up, & the weather warm
enough to play out door.

S. P.

LITCHFIELD. June 23. 1842.

MY DEAR NEPHEW.

James was very homesick for a few days, but after the cold rain passed
off, & he became acquainted with a few boys, & could run about & play
in the street with them, he was quite happy, till yesterday, when he
received your letter, the disease broke out afresh. I set him to study
a geography lesson, & it cured him for the time, but if he is not
fully employed, either in play or study, he is unhappy. I am sorry
that the school I spoke of has broken up, but he recites good lessons
to me, & if we could get him interested in the garden, & hay making,
he would improve both in mind, & body very fast, but he does not as
yet take any pleasure in rural occupations. I want he should acquire a
taste for the garden, & other beauties of nature, & learn to depend on
himself for amusement, & hope yet he will be contented to remain with
us during the summer, as I have so much more time to attend to the
cultivation of his heart, & mind than you have. I expect to send on by
this conveyance the money we have received for the rent of your
house....

S. P.

June 24. 1842

MY DEAR EMMA.[79]

... Tomorrow I shall (if I live) be 75 years old. God has given me
long life, & many, very many blessings, that you may meet with as
many, is the sincere wish of your affectionate aunt,

S. P.

1852.

OBITUARY FROM KILBOURNE’S “HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD.”

In Litchfield Jan. 19. 1852, Miss Sarah Pierce aged 84. In 1792 she established the Litchfield Female Academy, which became one of the most celebrated institutions in the country. She remained connected with it until 1832—though for a few years, previous, her nephew, John P. Brace, Esq., was the Principal. More than 2500 young ladies and misses were members of the Academy. It was incorporated in 1827. The successors of Miss Pierce have been Misses Swift, Jones, Heyden and other.

OBITUARY.[80]

In Litchfield Conn. on the 19th of January. Miss Sarah Pierce, at the advanced age of 84.

Miss Pierce was the founder of the Litchfield Academy in 1792, and for forty years an instructor of her sex. She was emphatically the pioneer in the cause of female education in our country, and lived to see the effects of her efforts in the increased attention paid to that important cause, and to witness the advancement & progress of the useful plans she had formed, and the foundation she had laid. The instruction was eminently practical. She strove to make her pupils useful in the stations in which Providence might place them. Among the two thousand pupils, whose mind & character she has aided in forming, there are many who are ready to rise up and call her blessed.

PL. LXII.—MISS SARAH PIERCE

From a silhouette
]

She taught religion as she did science, practically; and openly placed before the young mind, the fear of God as a better motive than the shrine of applause, the love of Christ a stronger impulse, than the flatteries of the world. Her own was noted more for its practical fruit, than enthusiastic impulse. She was humble, submissive, resigned, Her religion was that of the life, not of the imagination. She was more ready to pursue the calls of duty, than to follow the impulse of feeling. Hence her religious character was remarkably uniform. In times of declension, her lamp was always trimmed & burning. In times of revival she was prepared to check the impulses of enthusiasm. Her religious instruction to her pupils, her calls upon them for repentance, faith and a holy life were as numerous, as pungent, and as practical, when all around her was religiously cold, as when under the excitement of a powerful revival.

The same characteristics that marked her life accompanied her through old age and sickness. There was the same humble trust in Christ, the same resignation, the same quiet patience and calm composure under all the trials of daily increasing weakness, and daily decay of the bodily powers.

In her last sickness and near her end when asked what should be the particular petition of the prayer to be offered for her in her suffering, her reply was, “That I may feel the goodness of God.” These were the last connected words she uttered. After lingering under a slight paralysis for several days, she departed to her rest, leaving the bright example of a consistent Christian life to console and animate her friends.

SKETCH OF MISS SARAH PIERCE. BY MRS. ASA GRAY.

Miss Sarah Pierce was a small woman, slender, & fragile. The sisters seem mostly to have been small. Ann Pierce (Nancy) who was the elder sister in the opening of the school, must have been very petite judging from a sleeve of a dress still in existence.[81] Mrs. Ruth Croswell & Mrs. Susan Brace were small women, and Mary Pierce, though differing from her sisters in being plump, was below middle height—

Sarah had a fair complexion & blue eyes, a face expressive of resolution & character; which showed in her manner which was decided & firm. Rather awe inspiring to the young who had to learn the true kindness of her heart. She had a great dislike of affectation, and held up a high standard in every thing—

She was unable to use her eyes much in later years, but enjoyed reading aloud by her young friends—One has a vivid memory of her daily habit of reading to herself, continued to the last, in her big bible, & she was always glad to turn the conversation to religious matters.

Her health was delicate in her old age, and she followed a strict regimen, eating carefully, exercising faithfully indoors, walking about sunset across her room so many times, until she had done certain proportions of a mile, and enjoying at the same time the beautiful western view towards Prospect Mt. of which she never wearied.

She was very fond of her garden, her charge was the flowers, Mary had especially the fruit, & James the brother, whose last years were spent in Litchfield, took the vegetables—Miss Sarah, when she had been away for a visit, always brought home with her some new flower, planted & cherished it—She worked all the summer mornings so much time, in her garden, wearing an old fashioned calash to screen her weak eyes, carrying a bit of old carpet and a little stool for weeding.

She was cheerful and took a lively interest in everything, social, political, literary, and heartily enjoyed a good laugh. A good and fluent talker, and liked to meet good talkers and intelligent people. Very scrupulous in attendance on all religious exercises, but ready to criticise if she thought anything stated wrongly or exaggerated. It was a day of a certain seriousness & sobriety; a reaction perhaps from times of too great freedom and levity. She said once that when she was much younger, dancing & games were considered all right, but as society increased the “balls”[82] generally held in the top story of the hotel lost in a measure, their attraction, although occasionally there were balls there attended by the young ladies of the school and the young men studying law.

It was the same with cards, gambling had increased to a dangerous extent, and in the great revival under Lyman Beecher, these originally harmless amusements, were not considered proper for those who aimed for the better life.

NOTES COLLECTED FOR MRS. ASA GRAY.[83]

Mrs. N. Child, [Elizabeth C. Prince] writes Mrs. Beach’s [Lucy Sheldon] memories—She was Miss Pierce’s next door neighbor:—

“Last evening Aunt again talked with me about your family, and I herewith send what may not be of much use to Mr. B. but may interest the friends.

“The father Mr. John Pierce was a potter, making the red earthen jars, pots, milk pans, & so on, used much in the households of those days.

“The family lived in the old red house, and the large elms now standing were set out by Mr. John Pierce[?] the son.

“Mrs. Beach remembers attending Miss Pierce’s school in 1794. And Mary Cutler, my Aunt, died there, of scarlet fever, when one of the pupils, and that was in 1793. [October that year.] This must have been, Aunt thinks about at the Commencement.

“Col. John Pierce, Miss Pierce’s brother, paymaster-General in the army, gave his sister the advantages of schooling by sending her to New York, where she was fitted for a teacher, in the English branches and in dancing.[84]

“The school was at one time kept in the old Landon house, then in the old red one. After that a school house was built very nearly on the site of the later building. The dwelling house which Miss Pierce occupied for many years was built by herself & her sister Nancy, they borrowing the money [600] of Julius Deming Esq.

“Miss Nancy looked after the house.[85] She was a very small woman with a large head & very tiny feet. A fine mind—Miss Pierce was the only teacher at first. Subsequently Mr. John Brace assisted in the teaching of arithmetic.

“History was taught by Miss Pierce’s reading aloud; the scholars then wrote down what they remembered, which was with many of them, kept in their daily journal.

“Every Saturday, the pupils faults noticed by Miss Pierce during the week, were pointed out by her in the presence of the whole school, and credit and debt marks set down accordingly.

“At the close of each month, a ball was given & gentlemen were invited.

“The building was divided by a sort of swinging partition which was shut back on such occasions.

“In the winter only one room was used for recitations warmed by a fire of wood in a large fire place, there being one at each end of the room.

“The balls were kept up until twelve o’clock, commencing early in the evening.

“At the end of six months a stage was erected at one end of the building, with drawing curtains, and plays were written by Miss Pierce from Scriptural stories, Ruth, & Naomi, David & Absolom, Jepthah’s Daughter &c., were performed by the scholars, a few boys who also attended the school assisting.

“In speaking of the school room Aunt added, the seats were without backs, with primitive desks in front, & debt marks were given those who sat crooked!

“Miss Mary Pierce after Miss Nancy’s death taught occasionally in the school, but she did not like it, and was mostly occupied in the house.”[86]

Old Mrs. Pierce, [“Aunt Mary’s” mother] lived with her daughter, [adds Mrs. Gray], leaving Mr. James[?] Brace the red house after her husband’s death.

The reputation of the school, [it being the only one almost for young ladies] was in Aunt’s time very high, pupils coming from Canada & Georgia, & elsewhere.

Mrs. Mary D. Hoppin (wife of Professor Hoppin) writes:

The Geography item was simply this—that at the period of your Aunt’s
success in teaching it, it had not been allowed in other schools, it
was not considered a suitable branch of study for young women. Indeed
Geography as now taught was not known. It was considered a history of
the planet more than of its surface physically. I wish we could see in
some Library a copy of the first Geography used in America. I believe
it was a thick heavy Octavo for students, & had an account of savage
tribes, nations, wars, geology, great men, architecture, &c. &c.

I think Morse’s Geography was not written till long after your Aunt’s
day, I presume she used maps with her own instruction added.

Miss E. W. Davenport writes:

NEW HAVEN, Feb. 16th, 1880.

MY DEAR MRS. GRAY

In accordance with my promise I have written to my Aunt for some
reminiscences of her school day at Litchfield under Miss Pierce’s
tuition and having secured a reply, I hasten to communicate it to you.

PL. LXIII.—MARY PIERCE

_b._ August 3, 1780. _d._ June 22, 1863

From crayon portrait by Rouse
]

She says “she can not tell what gave the school such a reputation and
success, unless it was in part from the rarity of such schools at that
period in our country. When she was one of Miss P.’s pupils the school
numbered from 50 to 60 girls. Miss Pierce attended to all the classes
herself except, when occasionally assisted by her nephew, Mr. J.
Brace. The studies were the common English branches including History,
the text book for which was compiled by Miss Pierce herself, and she
does not remember that any other ones were taught than those in use in
other schools at that time.”

But she adds, “Miss Pierce was an earnest christian woman, a perfect
lady, mingling with her pupils pleasantly and familiarly, but with
dignity. She always sat with them and often talked to them
collectively of deportment, manners, and habits.” And here I doubt not
lay the secret of her success and celebrity, her personal influence
and example, forming their principles, and their manners, and making
the memory of their school days so pleasant.

In addition to the common branches of education Drawing, Painting as
Water-color, and Embroidery were taught.

I am aware that this is but a meager and unsatisfactory account, but
as my Aunt was but 13 years old when under Miss Pierce’s care it is
not to be wondered at that she cannot give more particulars of the
methods of instruction then employed. I trust however that what I have
written will not be without interest, although it may not be new to
you; but it will certainly be an added proof of Miss Pierce’s high
toned character and singular usefulness to her generation that an old
lady of Eighty has been able to recall so much.

SKETCH OF MISS MARY PIERCE. BY MRS. ASA GRAY.

Mary Pierce was a woman of uncommon force of character, and yet with a boundless sympathy for all, which lasted all her life. Her grand nieces would laugh at her after she was eighty, saying they had quite outgrown her in her sympathy for young people and their romantic sentiment, to which she was always ready to listen, to understand, to help. For she was very wise in her counsel, and had more confidences than falls to the share of most people. Many a faltering step she strengthened, many a lofty aim she gave, many a kind deed of thoughtfulness she suggested, the receiver never suspecting its origin.

She was a most agreeable companion, with all her kindness she had a keen gift of criticism, and a charming originality and force of expression, which showed especially in her letters, with their comments on the times, domestic and public, her descriptions of events and scenery; and which she preserved to the end of her life. She never grew _old_ as we generally mean old, but kept also her bodily activity and energy—

She was most essentially practical, active and energetic in all the duties of daily life,—never were cake and jelly that quite equalled hers, nobody could arrange the white dimity draperies as she could, and the house was always a dainty picture of comfort and elegance—

She was always called upon in sickness and trouble, nurse, friend, comforter, and her influence upon the young men in the Law School, was as great as upon the girls who came under her care.

She had dark eyes and hair, and was said to have been a very handsome young woman. Her face as the years lengthened, was very sober in repose, but lighted as she spoke, with animation and interest, so that no daguerrotype gives any idea of her.

FROM MRS. GRAY’S DIARY.

April 28, 1859.

Aunt Croswell,[87] came to dine, 94 on Feb. 22, 1859. Walked over and back alone.

Told how when in New York she heard Washington take the oath as President.

Took tea with Mrs. Washington, the President sick so did not see him. Dr. Bard with whom she was staying his Physician.

Mrs. Washington, short and stout. One of your real old fashioned women, who always carried her knitting wherever she went, to the offense of some. And nobody ever staid in her house after nine o’clock, all visitors must go home.

Dr. Bard prescribed powders, and put them up in little papers. When they were finished he was going to prepare more and took some paper to tear, when Mrs. W. said, “oh, here are the other papers saved,” producing them. Very characteristic, Aunt said of the woman.

EXERCISES IN CHRIST’S CHURCH, CATSKILL, N. Y., JULY 18, 1875.

Extracts from a biographical notice of Mrs. Ruth Croswell an esteemed and prominent member of Christ’s Church ... Catskill, N. Y.

PL. LXIV.—RUTH PIERCE (MRS. CROSWELL)
]

DIED—In Catskill, on the 7th inst, 1861 at the residence of Mrs. Caroline Wey, Mrs. Ruth Croswell, widow of the late Dr. Thomas O’H. Croswell, aged 96 years, 10 months, and 15 days.

Her long life was passed in a most eventful period of the world’s history, and especially of that portion of the world in which we are most deeply interested. She was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, the 22nd of February, 1765. Her life more than spanned the entire era of our national existence up to the time of her death. Born the year of that celebrated act which first decisively shaped the popular sentiments that eventually led to our independence, when the war of the revolution broke out she was a girl of ten years, and when it ended a young lady of seventeen.

During this eventful struggle her brother, John Pierce, was the paymaster-general of our forces, obtaining the appointment through the personal solicitations of the commander-in-chief himself, who being assured of both his ability and his integrity put forth special, and to him unusual efforts to secure his election to this important post. He held the office throughout the war; discharging its duties so as to meet the approbation of Washington, and to receive from the representatives of the people a vote of thanks with the commendation that he had so fulfilled his trust that “his heart was pure, and his hands were clean.” His name I believe has no place in our formal histories, but it lives in the letters of Washington.

The wife of this brother, was a daughter of Dr. Bard, an eminent physician of New York, and the medical attendant of our commander-in-chief during his residence in that city. In consequence of these connections, Mrs. Croswell, then Miss Ruth Pierce and twenty two years of age, witnessed by invitation the inauguration of Washington as the first President of the United States. She remembered vividly to her last days the majestic form of that man on whom so many and such vast hopes then centered, as he stepped forth upon the balcony of the old Federal Hall in New York, [which stood where the Custom House now stands], and after the enthusiastic shouts of the immense crowd that welcomed him were at last silenced, took the solemn oath to faithfully administer the constitution and the laws of these United States.

Subsequently, while on a visit to New York, she was invited to take tea with the family of the President. He was at the time severely, and it was feared dangerously sick, and she remembered how Dr. Bard came down from his patient’s room with a grave and anxious face, and while they were seated at the table, told them what the President had said to him a few moments before. His disease was the quinsy. Irving, in his Life of Washington, speaks of the attack and the anxiety it caused, and this the more because it occurred so near the commencement of the first term of his administration. Washington, knowing the danger of suffocation, turned to his physician and said, “Doctor, if I am to die do not hesitate to tell me. I am quite prepared. If it be the will of God I am ready to fall asleep, and in this world never wake again.”

In 1791, Ruth Pierce was married to Dr. Thomas O’H. Croswell,[88] and the next year became a resident of Catskill. Her life was one of quiet domestic duties and Christian faithfulness. She was among the members who united with the Presbyterian Church of Catskill at its organization. Through all her long life she was an interested, earnest, useful Christian. Unusually conscientious and prayerful she walked with God, seeking with great sincerity and honesty to know His will, and when it was clearly ascertained doing it if need were quite independently of the opinions of others. An instance of this may be seen in her formation of a Temperance League among the ladies of the village. The custom obtained at the time of gathering by invitation first at one house and then at another early in the afternoon, nominally to spend a few hours socially and “take tea.” But about midway in the visit sweet and intoxicating cordials were handed round, and by some of the ladies partaken of with not a little freedom. Mrs. Croswell was convinced that this custom was a growing danger. She never had heard of a temperance pledge, or society, but after consulting with a Christian friend, a pledge not to provide either cordials or wines on these occasions was drawn up, and after praying God to help her, she went forth to secure the names of all whom she could induce to sign it. Amidst much ridicule and some reproaches she patiently continued her efforts, until they were crowned with unexpected success. The pernicious custom was completely broken up, and principles of temperance were thus early planted in many influential minds.

In her days of greater vigor she visited the poor and the suffering, and watched and prayed with the sick and dying. Unselfish, sympathizing, and patient, she endeared herself to all. From no lips were rebukes received as kindly as from hers. Her quaint direct way of expressing her disapproval or her doubt never gave offense; and when she commended or praised anything that had been done the simple straight-forward heartiness of her words made them very pleasant to hear.

For many years, I think more than a quarter of a century, she gathered about her the mothers and the pious women of the church, and maintained a female prayer meeting, imparting to it not a little of its interest by her own religious fervor. She had “patient continuance in well doing.” Turning over the leaves of a journal in which she wrote down her religious views and aspirations during sixty or seventy years, we find no change except by growth and Christian development. Her hopes became less tremulous, and her faith more assured; but otherwise the record of 1797 and that of 1861 are substantially the same. They reveal the heart of a humble, devoted, trustful, single-minded child of God, very sensible of her imperfections, very penitent, watchful, and prayerful, resting on Christ alone for acceptance with God, and yearning to be holy.

She had friends who were very kind to her in her old age. And her gratitude for their respectful and ready attentions, and all the unforced proofs of their affection which surrounded her with every comfort, and relieved, as far as could be, the infirmities of her many years, is expressed in this journal with such sensibility and tenderness that one cannot read the sentences without some dimness coming over the eyes, and feeling that happiness is brought into the soul by a grateful spirit. When she attempts to thank God for his benefits and for all his patient love, her language often breaks down under the burden of gratitude she would put upon it.

Her death was sudden. A few hours of not severest illness, and enough of pain only to draw to her side in the silent night those whom of all she most loved and trusted and would have desired to be with her in her last hour—and then, so peacefully that one sitting watchfully by her bedside only knew it by the perfected stillness, she ceased to breathe, and passed to the new life.

The funeral services at the Presbyterian Church, on the afternoon of the 9th inst., were attended by a large number of her relatives and connections, some of whom had come from a great distance to testify in this manner their esteem and affection. All the clergymen of the place were present; and the house was crowded by the concourse of her friends. During this time and while the funeral procession was passing through the streets, the places of business were closed, and as the procession slowly wound its way to the beautiful cemetery on the outskirts of the village the bells of all the churches were tolled. Such honor has old age which has been made venerable by a truly Christian character and life.

Letter written by Miss Mary Pierce to Mrs. William Curtis Noyes, after a visit made to her in New York City.

MY DEAR MRS. NOYES

You must have heard before this from Mr. Hollister that his child is well, but that Mrs. Brisbane’s death is an agonizing affliction to her daughter, quite sudden and unexpected....

Of Mr. Beach’s paralysis you must have heard. is prostrated, one side useless, but disease does not seem progressing, and does not affect his head. I carried a box of cake to Mrs. Morse this morning. She seemed much gratified. I enhanced its value by telling her that was the wedding cake of Dr. Vanderbourgs grand daughter. Mrs. Morse is as cheerful as ever....

I do not find stern winter here, the sun shines as brightly as it did in New York—the grass is quite green, and the flower roots in the garden. My Myrtle—is beautiful—I seek to find as many pleasant things as I can to relieve the contrast with the loneliness of my present situation and the happy kind friends who have made such a bright spot in my life—There is satisfaction however in feeling that it is voluntary for I found letters from four different places urging a visit for the winter....

I have given you a dose of a note

My Dear Mrs. Noyes but I am alone this evening and it is pleasant to think that I am talking to you—

My love to all the dear friends who surround you, Emily in particular

Yours most affectionately
MARY PIERCE

MEMORIES OF LITCHFIELD.

_Correspondence of the Evening Post Litchfield Conn. Oct. 31st._

The old East Burying ground of Litchfield lies in a sunny hollow under the eastern front of the town; a solid stone wall, overlaid with an old fashioned coping, surrounds it, and a few spruces and hemlocks overshadow the graves. It is a spot wonderfully rich in historic dust: two famous Governors of Connecticut, a Chief Justice, a genial poet, judges, senators, generals and colonels without number sleep within its confines. To a stranger unfamiliar with the history of Connecticut it reveals the fact, that within the present century the State was ruled by these quiet, dreamy, far inland towns, and not by the present bustling, assuming cities....

THE WOLCOTTS.

The Wolcott plot is near the centre of the yard, marked by five monuments and four massive tables of marble and granite. On the first table one reads: “In memory of Oliver Wolcott, Secretary of the Treasury of the United States and Governor of Connecticut, born 4th January 1760, died 1st June 1833.” Further west, on a marble table, is another inscription: “To the memory of Oliver Wolcott, late Governor of the State of Connecticut, who was born December 1st, 1726 and who died December 1st 1797.” They were father and son. Of the elder Wolcott history has recorded that he was the son of Roger Wolcott, and took up his residence in Litchfield, as Sheriff, on the organization of the county in 1751. He was Governor from 1796 until his death in 1797, and, before this, had been State Senator, Judge, member of the Continental Congress, major general of militia, and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. On his return from signing the Declaration at Philadelphia, it is said, he found in the village a leaden statue of George III, which had formerly stood in the Bowling Green, New York, but had been thrown down by the patriots and secretly transported to Litchfield. The continental levies, then assuming form, were sadly in need of bullets, and his quick eye at once detected certain encouraging possibilities in the statue. A shed was at once erected in the apple-orchard adjoining the General’s house, and the young ladies of the village invited to a frolic in running bullets. With his wood axe the patriot cut the statue into small pieces, which were then given to the ladies, and by them melted and run in moulds. In the Wolcott Papers we have confirmation of the legend in a statement in General Wolcott’s handwriting of the number of cartridges furnished by the fallen majesty. By this paper it appears that Mrs. Marvin made 6,056 cartridges, Ruth Marvin 6,204 Laura (the General’s daughter) 4,250, Mary Ann (another daughter) 5,762, Frederick (his son) 708, Mrs. Beach 2,002, and “sundry persons,” names not given, enough to swell the total to 42,288.

COLONEL TALLMADGE.

Another famous Revolutionary worthy and former resident of the village, Col. Benjamin Tallmadge, lies near the Wolcott tomb, in a plot surrounded by an iron railing, and containing, besides his own, the graves of his two wives. The inscription on his stone is very simple: “Hon. Benjamin Tallmadge b. Feb 25, 1754, died March 7th 1835,” followed by the Scriptural sentiment, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks so panteth my soul after Thee, O God!” Colonel Tallmadge’s course through the Revolution was a particularly honorable one. For a time he commanded a squadron of cavalry in Colonel Sheldon’s regiment, and distinguished himself for both dash and courage. Later, the whole secret service of the army was intrusted to him, and on the Westchester lines, and in the whaleboat warfare of the sound, he performed many deeds of valor. It was largely due to him that André was detected and held for punishment. From 1778 to the close of the war Colonel Tallmadge was the confidential friend and correspondent of Washington, and a great part of the correspondence between the two is said to be still in the hands of the family. After the war he became a resident of Litchfield, and, as a Representative from Connecticut, was a marked figure in the debates of Congress for sixteen years.

LAW SCHOOL.

The modest tomb near by, of Charles Sanford Dart, of Charleston, S. C., who died in 1823, while a law student in Litchfield, recalls one of the most ancient, and honorable institutions of the village—the law school. A brief search discovers in the southeast corner of the yard the graves of the Hon. Tapping Reeve, its founder, and of Judge James Gould, his associate and successor. Judge Reeve’s stone bears the modest inscription: “Hon. Tapping Reeve. L.L.D.; late Chief Justice of the State, died Dec. 13th 1823, in the eightieth year of his age.” Judge Reeve began his career as tutor to the orphan children, Sally and Aaron, of President Burr of Princeton, and when his gentle pupil became of proper age married her. He came to Litchfield in 1772, and began what later became his law school by taking a few young gentlemen into his family as law students. One of these was his brother in law, the celebrated Aaron Burr, who was pursuing his studies at Litchfield when the news of Lexington called him with other adventurous spirits, to the field. In 1784 Judge Reeve fairly opened his famous school. The legal questions and complications growing out of the war, had created a great demand for lawyers, and, as all the ardent and capable spirits, of the young nation began crowding into the profession the school was thronged from the outset. For over fifty years it continued without a rival, and became as famous and popular in the South as on the hills of New England. Traditions of the school and of the escapades of the students are rife in the village. Judge Gould conducted the school alone after 1820. In the preface of a catalogue of 1828 it is stated that the number of graduates before 1793 probably exceeded four hundred. John C. Calhoun was of the class of 1805. The curriculum then comprised a daily lecture on the rules and principles of law, which the students were required to take down in full; every Saturday an examination was held on the weeks lectures. A moot court for the arguing of law questions was also held once a week, in which the students had practice in the trial and disposition of cases. There was also a society for forensic exercises entirely controlled by the students. The whole course comprised fourteen months, and two years were required to finish it. The students of the law school probably found life in the village much more supportable from the presence there of a hundred or a hundred and fifty fair damsels, pupils in Miss Pierce’s Female Academy. The grave of this lady should be in our old church yard near those of the eminent educators named, though we fail to find it. She was the pioneer in America of the movement for the higher education of women and her school was the first established in this country with that object in view.

MISS PIERCE’S SCHOOL.

There are several well preserved old ladies in Litchfield who were among Miss Pierce’s pupils, and who have exceedingly interesting reminiscences of their school days to relate. Her school house, a long, low, one story structure, stood on the main street, a short distance above the building where Judge Gould gave his lectures. At one time Miss Pierce had under her care 137 young ladies, representing nearly every State in the Union. In addition to the ornamental branches—music, painting, embroidery—she taught philosophy, logic, rhetoric, astronomy, chemistry, and the common English branches, and is described as having been very thorough in all. Not finding in the bulky histories then in vogue anything suited to her purpose, she compiled for her own use a school history in four volumes. Merit was recorded by a system of credit marks and as Judge Reeve’s law students made a point of dropping in on Friday afternoons to hear them read off each young lady was very careful of her record in this respect. It is remembered that Miss Pierce sometimes showed partiality in bestowing these favors, for instance, if a Connecticut girl missed four words in spelling she received a debit mark whereas a Hudson River girl might miss nineteen and only receive the obnoxious mark with the twentieth. It is admitted, however, that this law may have been founded, on Miss Pierce’s knowledge of the superior philological capacities of Yankee girls. The great events of the school year were the balls, given sometimes by the young ladies in the school room and sometimes by the law students in Deacon Buel’s ballroom, or in the large dancing hall of the tavern. Only young ladies of sixteen and over were allowed to attend the latter, however, and the law students were furnished each term with a list of the eligible ones. Then there were charades and amateur theatricals, and for a real frolic a husking bee on some neighboring farm. It is probable, however, that there was little need of the young people looking without for entertainment, for in those days a very courtly and polished society existed in the village. There were at this time, it is said, seventeen graduates of colleges residing in the town; two of these were at different times Governors of the State, two Chief Justices, three members of the national Congress, and four had been general officers in the Revolutionary army.

Graduation exercises in Miss Pierce’s school consisted of an examination of the pupils by a committee appointed for the purpose and the distribution of diplomas. We were shown one of these, a time-discolored relic of fifty years’ standing; it was of white silk bound with blue ribbon, and bore a globe with a female figure studying it; underneath was the recipient’s name and the motto “We look with pleasure on thy opening virtues.” Of course among so many young people—the sifted wheat of their respective communities—there was not a little decorous love-making, and many romantic tales and love episodes are recounted by the village gossips. Col. Aaron Burr, during his frequent visits to his sister, was an object of great interest to the ladies and made many conquests. For several months in 1781 Mrs. Theodosia Prevost, who the next summer became the wife of Colonel Burr, was a resident of the village, and won all hearts by her amiability and wit. John C. Calhoun, the great nullifier, is remembered as a silent, thoughtful young man, rather averse than otherwise to society, although an account against him in the ledger of one of the village merchants shows that he sometimes made use of the good things of life. Perhaps as pleasant a story as we heard was that of Miss Mabel Strong, daughter of Judge John Strong, of Vermont. To attend the school, this young lady, with her escort, rode from her home in Addison, Vt., to Litchfield on horseback, a distance of 150 miles, and without baggage, her wardrobe for the year being made up after her arrival. On completing her school days Miss Strong departed to her northern home, but shortly returned as a bride, and spent the rest of her days in the village as the wife of one of its prominent residents. There are many other graves of note in the churchyard, among them the tombs of the poet Rev. John Pierpont, and two of the children of Lyman Beecher, and some that excite interest from their quaint and curious epitaphs. The tomb of Frederick Asa Bacon, of the navy, attached to the schooner Sea-gull, of the United States exploring expedition, which foundered off Cape Horn May 1st 1839 with the loss of all on board, brings to mind almost the first venture of our navy in the field of scientific discovery.

C. B. T.

[_From Harper’s Magazine for 1877._]

LITCHFIELD HILL.

About one hundred miles from New York city, perched among the hills of Northwestern Connecticut, at an elevation of more than twelve hundred feet above the level of the sea, lies one of the most picturesque of New England’s villages, now chiefly known to the people of the metropolis as a place of summer residence, but whose crown of glory is its connection with the past.

Though most of the modern prosperity of the Hill is due to its improved means of communication with the outer world, its ancient importance may be largely credited to its comparative isolation. On this account, probably, was it selected in the war of the Revolution as one of the chief dépôts for military stores, and for the safe-keeping of royalist prisoners. When New York fell into the hands of the British, the road from Hartford through Litchfield became the principal highway between New England and the West, and over it was hauled most of the provisions and munitions of war for the Continental forces beyond the Hudson. The village being far inland and away from any navigable river, it became the army head quarters in Western Connecticut, and a place of considerable activity. Its workshops rang with the busy sounds of preparation, the lowing of beeves and the shouts of teamsters were often heard in its streets, and its taverns bristled with military importance. Nearly all of the general officers of the Revolution visited it at various times, and although it was never the scene of great events, it bore its share of the burdens of the struggle, and its hospitable roofs doubtless witnessed many a consultation which led to important results.

But great as were the glories of the Hill in the Revolutionary times, they were fairly eclipsed in the period succeeding them, when the celebrated law school, and the no less famous female seminary which existed contemporaneously with it, attracted pupils from every State in the Union. These accessions to its population contributed largely to a society already brilliant, and which included in its numbers a large proportion of highly educated men and women. It is no exaggeration to say that this isolated New England town was at that time the centre of a culture unexcelled, and in some respects unequalled, in its day. The Rev. Dan Huntington, who was called in 1798 from a tutorship in Yale College to the pastorate of the Congregational church, describes it as “a delightful village on a fruitful hill, richly endowed with its schools, both professional and scientific, and their accomplished teachers, with its venerable Governors and judges, with its learned lawyers, and Senators and Representatives both in the national and State departments, and with a population enlightened and respectable.”

It is no reflection on the intelligence of summer visitors to the Hill to say that there are probably some among them who never heard of its chief claim to distinction, and who pass by the simple head-stone that marks the grave of Reeve and the more ambitious monument that commemorates in Latin the virtues of Gould, unconscious that through their efforts Litchfield became better known throughout the Union than any other place of its population in the country. Yet in many a distant State their memory is still green, and the writer has often been questioned concerning the law school, particularly in the South, by those whose fathers or grandfathers had enjoyed its benefits, yet who had never heard of its discontinuance.

It was in 1772 that Tapping Reeve, a young lawyer fresh from his studies, removed from Princeton, New Jersey, where he had for several years held a tutorship in the college, and began the practice of law upon the Hill, then a quiet country village, but already beginning to feel the leaven of the Revolution. With him came his newly married wife, born Sally Burr, daughter of the Rev. Aaron Burr, president of the College of New Jersey, and granddaughter of Jonathan Edwards. But a few years sufficed to give him a reputation for intellect and varied learning and a commanding position among the lawyers of the State. Mr. Reeve was a remarkable man in many respects.

In 1784 Mr. Reeve began the instruction of legal students, and met with such success that up to 1798 more than two hundred young men from his office had been admitted to the bar. In this year he was chosen a judge of The Superior Court, and he associated with himself in the conduct of the school James Gould, one of his own graduates, and who had previously held a tutorship in Yale College.

It is, perhaps, necessary to explain that the school was never an incorporated institution, nor were any buildings ever erected for its use. The instructors lectured each in his own law office, and the students boarded in the houses of the village. The office of Judge Reeve, which stood in his own door-yard, was removed several years ago to West Street, and transformed into a cottage. Judge Gould’s office, which also stood near his dwelling, is now a cottage without the village.

Of the graduates from 1798 to 1833, whose names alone appear in the printed catalogue,[91] no register having been kept for the first fourteen years, sixteen became United States Senators, fifty members of Congress, forty judges of higher State courts, eight Chief Justices of States, two justices of the United States Supreme Court, ten Governors of States, five cabinet ministers, and several foreign ministers, while very many were distinguished at the bar.

Like the law school, Miss Sarah Pierce’s female seminary was the first institution of its kind in the United States, and, like it also, it was for many years pre-eminent in its sphere. It was begun in 1792, and during the nearly forty years of its existence more than fifteen[92] hundred young ladies were educated in its halls, and fitted for the elevated positions which so many of them attained. Its fame still lives in the memory of many who shared its benefits; but the visitor curious in regard to its site is now pointed only to the great elms which once shaded its roof.

APPENDIX A.

Col. John Pierce, born 1750, son of John Pierce of Litchfield and Mary Patterson, married Anna Bard of New York, daughter of Dr. Bard, physician to General Washington. He entered the army May 31, 1775; was made assistant paymaster to the Continental Army February 10, 1776, and the same to the Connecticut Colonial troops; deputy paymaster-general June 7, 1779; paymaster-general January 17, 1781, with rank of colonel. He was made commissioner after the close of the war to settle the accounts of the army. He died in New York August 1, 1788. He was thirteen years in the paymaster’s department of the army; he belonged to the order of the Cincinnati and was an able officer and a friend of Washington. He “served his country with a fidelity and patriotism in those days of peril and great financial stress worthy of great admiration.”[93]

The following are letters and verses by and to Col. John Pierce:

DEAR BROTHER

I sincerely thank you for your obliging Letter of the 20th Ult. and am
very glad to find you have some of your old warmth of spirit
remaining, for my part placed among so many difficulties & such a
constant scene of Disappointments & Delays, I am sometimes very
melancholy. but your Letter like a chearing Ray of Light, for a moment
Illumined my soul and made me for a while forget our Public Troubles.

Tho’ at the same time the object we aim at, Inspires me to undergo the
greatest and most insurmountable difficulties—it is not the pursuit of
present, but for the lasting happiness, which like the Smiles of
Heaven —— imparted to Thousands, who shall receive the blessing at
_OUR_ Hands. Such a prospect as this I own is flattering and is very
different as you justly observed from the Ideas we in Studious
Emulation, passed happily together in the Calm morning of Social Life,
can I own to you, that the same principles of Ambition which I then
had, are not in my Mind. Dull Metaphysicks & Duller Law Books, and
even Law itself is not my Pursuit, new Connections, and new Schemes of
Ambition are opening, in the very Centre of Intelligence & Politicks.
I am perpetually on the eve of Expectation, or desponding [which is
too often the Case] on Ill concerted Measures and worse Execution
among us, while at the same time my heart is wrung for Human Misery,
especially that which is the Consequence of War.

When we were together, we should have formed in our Poetical
Imaginations, the anxious Parent or the Fonder Virgin, on the flutter
of Apprehension with every Passion of the Soul, for the least whisper
of news that might affect the Object of their Passion, and when the
Youth falls a sad victim of his Virtues, we should partake with True
tears of humanity, the grief, the Pain, the heart breaking Anguish of
their Distress, while all their busy expectations of happiness—and
their warmest wishes are dropped at once into the dark & senseless
grave.

But Dear sir a more cruel scene has fallen to our share, which so far
from being Imaginary——bounds of Language cannot paint, and we can only
say—that every misery the Alotment of poor wretched Mortals fell to
their share. destitute of every thing either to defend them or remove
the cause of their Sickness they were neglectedly left without
Consolation.