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Mary Bassett Clarke
Other Name:
Mary Bassett
Gender:
Female
Born:
Unknown
Died:
Unknown
Home Town:
Walton, NY
Later Residences:
Auburn, NY
OH
IL
OH
IL
Marriage(s):
Rufus C. Clarke (September 10, 1833)
Biographical Notes:
While studying at the Litchfield Female Academy in 1823 and 1824, Mary Bassett of Walton, New York boarded with the Lyman Beecher family and became a close, long time friend of Catherine Beecher. Mary became a teacher at the Auburn Seminary in Auburn, New York, and in 1833 married Reverend Rufus C. Clarke. After their marriage Rufus served as minister at several church in western New York, Ohio, and Illinois. Their belief in female education endured throughout their marriage and their daughter, Julia M. Clarke, was sent to and graduated from the Rockford Seminary in Rockford, Illinois in 1857.
Additional Notes:
Primary sources for Mary Bassett are located in the Litchfield Female Academy collection, Series 2: Student Papers, Records, and Documents, Folders 29-35.
Education
Years at LFA:
1823-1824
Room and Board:
Boarded with the Lyman Beecher family
Profession / Service
Profession:
Educator
Immediate Family (Why only immediate family?)
- Rufus C. Clarke
Husband - Emily Bassett Smith
Sister
LFA (1823-1824) - Keziah Curtiss Bassett
Mother - Archibald Bassett
Father
Related Objects and Documents
In the Ledger:
- Mary Bassett Clarke Album
- Mary Bassett Clarke Autograph Album
- Ink Sketch of Goat by Mary Bassett Clarke
- Watercolor of Bird by Mary Bassett Clarke
- Litchfield Female Academy Collection
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:
Mary Bassett kept a diary and several albums while attending the LFA (Litchfield Historical Society - Litchfield Female Academy collection).
1823 Litchfield Female Academy Summer Session Catalogue (Vanderpoel, Emily Noyes. More Chronicles of A Pioneer School From 1792 to 1833. Cambridge, MA: The University Press, 1927).
1824 Litchfield Female Academy Winter Session Catalogue (Vanderpoel, Emily Noyes. More Chronicles of A Pioneer School From 1792 to 1833. Cambridge, MA: The University Press, 1927).
1823 Litchfield Female Academy Summer Session Catalogue (Vanderpoel, Emily Noyes. More Chronicles of A Pioneer School From 1792 to 1833. Cambridge, MA: The University Press, 1927).
1824 Litchfield Female Academy Winter Session Catalogue (Vanderpoel, Emily Noyes. More Chronicles of A Pioneer School From 1792 to 1833. Cambridge, MA: The University Press, 1927).
Contact Us
Do you have more information for the Ledger?
If you have family papers, objects, or any other details you would like to share, or if you would like to obtain a copy of an image for publication, please contact us at curator@litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.