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Henrietta Ward Clarke


Other Name:
Henrietta Jacquelina Ward
Gender:
Female
Born:
October 2, 1814
Died:
October 30, 1890
Home Town:
Bergen, NY
Later Residences:
Rochester, NY
Albion, NY
Marriage(s):
Freeman Clarke (May 27, 1833)
Biographical Notes:
Henrietta Ward Clarke, daughter of Dr. Levi Ward and his wife Mehitable Hand Ward, was born October 2, 1814 in Bergen, NY. In 1819, the family moved to Rochester, NY. From 1830-1831 Henrietta boarded in Litchfield, Connecticut where she studied at Sarah Pierce's Female Academy. Two years after completing her studies she married Freeman Clarke, a merchant and businessman originally of Troy, New York. They resided in Albion NY until 1845, when they moved to Rochester. The couple had ten children during their marriage, and became involved with many benevolent societies. At the time of her death, Henrietta was the vice president of the Rochester Female Charitable Society; a member of the Board of Managers of City Hospital; and an honorary manager of the Home of the Friendless and the Rochester Orphan Asylum.
Quotes:
"Mrs. Clarke was a lady of an unusually sunny and genial nature which drew her own children and grandchildren closer to her, and attracted all, young and old, who knew her. Wherever she went she was always surrounded by young people, who seemed to find in her a friend as congenial as if she had been of their own age."
"Death of Mrs. Freeman Clarke." Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), Fri, 31 Oct 1890, p. 6.

Education
Years at LFA:
1830-1831

Profession / Service
Profession:
Social Activist
Benevolent and Charitable Organizations:
Female Charitable Society; Connecticut School Funds

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:
Henrietta wrote an inscription and signed her name in Jane Wadhams's autograph album while attending the Litchfield Female Academy (Litchfield Historical Society - Litchfield Female Academy collection).

"Catalogue of the Litchfield Academy ... 1830" (Litchfield Historical Society - Litchfield Female Academy collection).

1831 Litchfield Female Academy Winter Session Catalogue (Vanderpoel, Emily Noyes. Chronicles of A Pioneer School From 1792 to 1833. Cambridge, MA: The University Press, 1903).

1831 Litchfield Female Academy Summer Session Catalogue (Vanderpoel, Emily Noyes. Chronicles of A Pioneer School From 1792 to 1833. Cambridge, MA: The University Press, 1903).
Secondary Sources:
"Death of Mrs. Freeman Clarke." Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), Fri, 31 Oct 1890, p. 6 accessed at https://basic.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-death-of-mrs-fr/28104693/ on March 25, 2024.

"Funeral of Mrs. Freeman Clarke," Union Advertiser, 3 November 1890.

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