Sarah Bradford Ripley
| Sarah Bradford Ripley | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Sarah Alden Bradford July 31, 1793 Boston, Massachusetts |
| Died | July 26, 1867 (aged 73) Concord, Massachusetts |
| Resting place | Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (Concord, Massachusetts) |
| Spouse(s) | Samuel Ripley |
| Children | 7 |
| Relatives |
Gamaliel Bradford, father Gamaliel Bradford, brother Gamaliel Bradford, grand-nephew |
Sarah Bradford Ripley (July 31, 1793-July 26, 1867) was an American educator and noted scholar at a time when women were rarely admitted to universities. She acquired most of her knowledge of the classics, philosophy, modern languages, botany, astronomy, and chemistry through independent study. She was reputedly "one of the most learned women of the nineteenth century."
Sarah Alden Bradford was born in Boston on July 31, 1793, the oldest of nine children of Gamaliel Bradford III and Elizabeth Hickling Bradford. Her mother had tuberculosis and her father was a sea captain who was often away on voyages, leaving Sarah to care for her younger siblings.
The family lived in Boston but often spent time in Duxbury, Massachusetts, where her paternal grandfather lived. There she met Abba B. Allyn, who became a lifelong friend. Allyn's father, Dr. John Allyn, tutored both girls in Latin and Greek. Bradford also attended classes taught by Jacob Abbot Cummings in Boston, and read the books her father brought home from his travels. While in her teens she taught herself to read French and Italian, and studied chemistry, physics, and botany on her own initiative.
According to one biographer, it took Bradford two weeks to work up the courage to ask her father for permission to study Latin. When she finally did, her father laughed and said, "A girl study Latin! Yes, study Latin if you want to. You may study anything you please."
In 1813 the family moved to Charlestown, Massachusetts, where Bradford's father became the warden of the Charlestown State Prison. There she tutored her younger siblings in a makeshift schoolroom above the kitchen. She acquired a college education by proxy when her brothers attended Harvard College and she read their books. She also read German biblical criticism and had many discussions of theology with her aunt and mentor, Mary Moody Emerson.
One of her younger brothers, Gamaliel Bradford (1795-1839), went on to become a physician and a noted abolitionist.
...
Wikipedia