Seymour_mabel_strong
Beckwith Family Collection

Mabel Strong Seymour

Other Name:
Mabel Strong
Gender:
Female
Born:
May 29, 1782
Died:
December 10, 1839
Home Town:
Addison, VT
Marriage(s):
Moses Seymour, Jr. (May 29, 1782)
Biographical Notes:
Born May 29, 1782, Mabel Strong Seymour was the daughter of John and Agnes McClure Strong of Addison, Vermont. In 1797 Mabel travelled to Litchfield, Connecticut where she attended the Litchfield Female Academy. While studying at the school she boarded with Susan Pierce Brace (mother of John P. Brace) at the Brace home on North Street. On May 29, 1782 she married Moses Seymour. The couple resided in Litchfield and had nine children; several of whom also attended the Female Academy. Mabel passed away in 1839.
Quotes:
"In 1797 Mabel Strong, Lucy Case and a Miss Dwight, all of Addison, Vt., made a start for Litchfield, Ct., to attend Miss Pierce's School - They made the journey to Bennington on horseback, and from thence the Rev. Mr. Dwight drove them to Litchfield - the latter part of the journey was made in a wagon." - Dr. Josiah Beckwith (Vanderpoel, Emily Noyes. Chronicles of A Pioneer School From 1792 to 1833. Cambridge, MA: The University Press, 1903).
Education
Years at LFA:
1797
Room and Board:
Boarded with the Brace family
Immediate Family (Why only immediate family?)
Related Objects and Documents
In the Ledger:
help The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation.

Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
Emily Noyes Vanderpoel interviewed Dr. Josiah Beckwith. He recounted some of the students who came from Vermont. "In 1797 Mabel Strong, Lucy Case and a Miss Dwight, all of Addison, Vt., made a start for Litchfield, Ct., to attend Miss Pierce's School - They made the journey to Bennington on horseback, and from thence the Rev. Mr. Dwight drove them to Litchfield - the latter part of the journey was made in a wagon. Mabel Strong made her home during the years of her stay in Litchfield, with Mrs. Brace, a sister of Miss Pierce, and the mother of John P. Brace - her wardrobe was made up after her arrival." (Vanderpoel, Emily Noyes. Chronicles of A Pioneer School From 1792 to 1833. Cambridge, MA: The University Press, 1903).
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