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Maria Hoffman Downes

Other Name:
Maria Gertrude Hoffman
Gender:
Female
Born:
October 28, 1798
Died:
February 22, 1877
Home Town:
Red Hook, NY
Marriage(s):
John Downes (November 7, 1821)
Biographical Notes:
Maria Hoffman Downes attended the Litchfield Female Academy in 1814 and 1815. Born on October 28, 1798, she was the daughter of Harmanus and Catherine Verplanck Hoffman of Red Hook, New York. On November 7, 1821 Maria married John Downes, and the couple had five children. She passed away on February 22, 1877.
Education
Years at LFA:
1814-1815
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:
"Rules for the School and Home" and Names of the Young Ladies belonging to Miss Pierce's School in the Summer of 1814 (Litchfield Historical Society - Litchfield Female Academy collection).

"M Hoffman" is listed as a cast member in a handwritten copy of the play "Two Cousins" by Sarah Pierce (Litchfield Historical Society - Litchfield Female Academy collection).
Secondary Sources:
Hoffman, Eugene Augustus. Geneology of the Hoffman Family. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1899.
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