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Frances Kirby Smith
Other Name:
Frances Marvin Kirby
Gender:
Female
Born:
April 6, 1785
Died:
1885
Home Town:
Litchfield, CT
Marriage(s):
Joseph Lee Smith (1804)
Biographical Notes:
Frances Kirby Smith of Litchfield, Connecticut was born April 6, 1785. As a young woman in 1797 Frances attended the Bethlehem Female Seminary in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and it is believed that around the year 1802 she may have studied at Sarah Pierce's Female Academy in her hometown. In 1804 Frances wed Joseph Lee Smith, a lawyer and politician from New Britain, Connecticut. During the couple's marriage they had four children. After a long life Frances passed away at the age of one hundred in 1885.
Education
Years at LFA:
1802
Immediate Family (Why only immediate family?)
- Ephraim Kirby Smith
Son
LFA (1819-1821) - Frances Smith Webster
Daughter
LFA (1819-1823) - Joseph Lee Smith
Husband
LLS (1800) - Reynold Marvin Kirby
Brother
LLS (1809) - Helen Kirby Putnam
Sister
LFA (1814,1816-1819) - Katherine Kirby Russell
Sister
LFA (1816-1819) - Harriot Kirby Belton
Sister
LFA (1811-1816) - Ruth Marvin Kirby
Mother - Ephraim Kirby
Father

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:
[We are currently working to update and confirm citations of attendance.]
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