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Jane Vanderburgh Wells


Other Name:
Jane Vanderburgh; Jane Van Du Burgh
Gender:
Female
Born:
Unknown
Died:
Unknown
Home Town:
Beekman, NY
Marriage(s):
John Wells (February 1830)
Biographical Notes:
Jane Vanderburgh Wells of Beekman, New York was the daughter of James Vanderburgh, Jr. and his wife Margaret. Jane came from a wealthy family who gave the best education possible for their children. In 1820 Jane traveled to Litchfield, Connecticut where she studied at Sarah Pierce's Female Academy. While receiving her education in Litchfield she boarded at Mr. Landon's home. Jane studied under Rev. Lyman Beecher, who was in the prime of his life when Jane attended the female Academy. While in Stamford, Duchess County, Jane met and later married John Wells.

Shortly after their marriage, John Wells and a friend went West to prospect some land. Jane agreed to leave her family and old life behind in New York and travel with John. With them they brought their three children, who at the ...
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Additional Notes:
Primary sources for Jane Vanderburgh Wells include an album of pencil drawings and watercolors located in the Litchfield Female Academy collection, Series 2: Student Papers, Records, and Documents, Folder 95.

Education
Years at LFA:
1820
Room and Board:
Boarded at Mr. Landon's

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:
Jane kept a album of pencil drawings and watercolors while a student at the Female Academy (Litchfield Historical Society - Litchfield Female Academy Collection).

Jane wrote an inscription and signed her name in Adeline Mitchell's 1820 album (Litchfield Historical Society - Litchfield Female Academy Collection).

1820 Litchfield Female Academy Summer Session Catalogue (Vanderpoel, Emily Noyes. More Chronicles of A Pioneer School From 1792 to 1833. Cambridge, MA; The University Press, 1927).

History of St. Clair County, Michigan, (Chicago: Western History Co., 1883).

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If you have family papers, objects, or any other details you would like to share, or if you would like to obtain a copy of an image for publication, please contact us at curator@litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.