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Martha Whiteside Crafts


Other Name:
Martha Whiteside
Gender:
Female
Born:
July 7, 1799
Died:
February 21, 1820
Home Town:
Mayville, NY
Later Residences:
Bridgewater, NY
Marriage(s):
Willard Crafts (November 20, 1817)
Biographical Notes:
Martha Whiteside Crafts, born July 7, 1799, was the daughter of Oliver and Susanna Prendergast Whiteside of Mayville, New York. From 1813 through 1816 Martha studied at Sarah Pierce's Female Academy in Litchfield, Connecticut. The following year, on November 20, she married Willard Crafts, a lawyer originally from Pomfret, Connecticut. The couple resided in New York, and had one son before Martha's death on February 21, 1820.

Education
Years at LFA:
1813-1816

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:
Martha wrote an inscription and signed her name "M. Whiteside" in Elizabeth Catlin's 1813-1815 memory book (Litchfield Historical Society - Litchfield Female Academy collection).

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