Amherst College Archives and Special Collections. All rights reserved.
© 2003 Amherst College Archives and Special Collections. All rights reserved.
Noah Webster, influential American lexicographer, author and teacher, was born in 1758 in West Hartford, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale College in 1778, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1781. As a schoolteacher in New York State, he became dissatisfied with children's textbooks, which he felt ignored distinctive elements of American language and culture. In 1783 he published The American Spelling Book, the famed "Blue-backed Speller," a widely used and highly influential textbook that is still in print. Subsequent publications of a grammar (1784) and a reader (1785) formed, with the speller, Webster's three-part Grammatical Institute of the English Language. Webster's advocacy of spelling reform in this period was responsible for most of the differences that exist today between American and British spelling. After marrying Rebecca Greenleaf in 1789, Webster practiced law in Hartford until 1793. In New York City he then founded two newspapers,
From 1812 to 1822, Webster and his family lived in Amherst, Massachusetts, where, living largely off the income from his published schoolbooks, he farmed, served in the Massachusetts legislature and continued work on his dictionary. In Amherst the Webster family lived in a house on Main Street, facing the Common. (This house was destroyed by fire in 1838.) As a trustee of Amherst Academy, he was involved in the founding of the Amherst Collegiate Institute, the precursor of Amherst College. In 1822 the family moved back to New Haven. Noah Webster died in New Haven in 1843.
Descendants of Noah Webster: The following is a partial listing of the descendants of Noah Webster who are represented in the Noah Webster Family Papers.
1. Noah Webster (1758-1843) m. Rebecca Greenleaf
Daughter:
2. Eliza Steele Webster (1803-1888) m. Henry Jones (Oct 15, 1801-Nov. 7, 1878)
Daughter:
3. Emily Ellsworth Jones (1827-1869) m. Daniel Jones Day
Son:
4. Robert W. Day (b. 1854, Bridgeport Conn.; lived in Buffalo, N.Y.)
Son:
5. Rodney W. Day (b. 1883)
Letters, legal and business papers, journals, photographs and other materials belonging to Noah Webster and four generations of his descendants, chiefly Eliza S.W. Jones, Emily J. Day, Robert W. Day, and Rodney W. Day. Much of the early 19th century correspondence concerns Noah Webster's publications, family history, travels and trials. Other family papers relate to the work of Rev. Henry and Eliza Jones as educators in Bridgeport, Conn. and Greenfield, Mass.; and to the personal and business affairs Robert W. Day, a businessman in Buffalo, N.Y.
This collection is organized into two series:
In general, there is no restriction on access to the Noah Webster Family Papers for research use. Particularly fragile items may be restricted for preservation purposes.
Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections.
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
[Identification of item], in Noah Webster Family Papers [Box #, Folder #], Amherst College Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library
Amherst College Early History Collection (see separate finding aid)
Thompson, Everett E. "Noah Webster and Amherst College." Amherst Graduates Quarterly, August 1933.
Consists of letters from four generations of the descendants of Noah Webster (following the line of his daughter, Eliza S.W. Jones, her daughter, Emily J. Day, her son, Robert W. Day, and his son, Rodney W. Day). Some of the more interesting topics discussed in the letters are Noah Webster's publications, and family history, travels and trials. Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by addressor, and chronologically within each folder. When the author of a letter could not be determined, the letter was placed under the name of the person to whom it was addressed.
Relates chiefly to Robert W. Day and his business affairs in Buffalo, N.Y. However, this series also includes an interesting group of papers of or relating to Daniel Jones (brother of Henry Jones) which includes compositions written while in grammar school, two journals written while onboard schooners, records kept while he served as a member of the governor's foot guard and sundry lists of purchases and inventories.
Other manuscript groups of interest in Series 2 relate to Henry and Eliza Jones (educators who founded the Cottage School in Bridgeport, Connecticut and who were involved in the Greenfield High School for Young Ladies in Greenfield, Massachusetts); Illinois land holdings of Noah Webster; spelling reform; and Webster family genealogy.