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Sarah Fanning McKnight
Other Name:
Sarah Gillett Fanning
Gender:
Female
Born:
August 6, 1792
Died:
Unknown
Home Town:
Pittsfield, MA
Marriage(s):
James McKnight (unknown)
Biographical Notes:
Sarah Fanning McKnight, daughter of Oramel Fanning and Sylvia Crofoot Fanning of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was born August 6, 1792. In 1811 Sarah may have travelled to Litchfield, Connecticut where she would have spent the year studying at Sarah Pierce's Female Academy. Little else is known about Sarah's life except her marriage to James McKnight of Buffalo, New York.
Additional Notes:
Sarah Fanning McKnight of Pittsfield, Massachusetts is listed as a subscriber to Sarah Pierce's text "Universal History" in 1811. It is known that not all subscribers necessarily attended the school. Until a solid citation of attendance can be found Sarah will be considered a possible student.
-1811 List of Subscribers in Ist Vol. "Universal History" (Vanderpoel, Emily Noyes. Chronicles of A Pioneer School From 1792 To 1833. Cambridge, MA: The University Press, 1903).
-1811 List of Subscribers in Ist Vol. "Universal History" (Vanderpoel, Emily Noyes. Chronicles of A Pioneer School From 1792 To 1833. Cambridge, MA: The University Press, 1903).
Immediate Family (Why only immediate family?)
- James McKnight
Husband - Sylvia Crofoot Fanning
Mother - Oramel Fanning
Father
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:
[We are currently working to update and confirm citations of attendance.]
Secondary Sources:
Brooks, Walter Frederick. History of the Fanning Family Vol. I & 2. Worcester, MA: Private Printing, 1905.
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