Generic_female
No image available

Jane E. Shedden


Gender:
Female
Born:
1793
Died:
1872
Home Town:
New York, NY
Later Residences:
Litchfield, CT
Marietta, OH
Norwalk, CT
Natchez, MI
Biographical Notes:
Jane and her sister Annabella were the illegitimate daughters of loyalist William Shedden, a prominent Pre-Revolutionary merchant in New York. The two girls had different mothers however. Jane's mother married William Shedden but only after having Jane and another child, William out of wedlock. Under American law this legitimized Jane and her brother William, however under English law they were still considered illegimiate. By the time Jane was six, both of her parents had died and her guardian had seized her father's estate and sent Jane off to school.

Prior to attending the Litchfield Female Academy, she attended the Bethlehem Female Seminary in Bethlehem, PA in 1799. Aftering studying in Litchfield, Jane was hired as a music teacher at the Female Academy from 1810 to 1813. While ...
[more]
Quotes:
"In London, Eng., Madam Jane R. Shedden, aged 79 years, sixty years ago a music teacher in Litchfield." Columbian Register New Haven, CT, March 16, 1872, Page 3.
Additional Notes:
Primary sources for Jane E. Shedden include a letter and respective transcript, located in the Litchfield Female Academy collection, Series 2: Student Papers, Records, and Documents, Folder 83.

Education
Years at LFA:
1802-1809

Profession / Service
Profession:
Educator


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:
Letter, Jane E. Shedden to John P. Brace, 20 May 1813 (Litchfield Historical Society - Litchfield Female Academy Collection).

Jane E. Shedden is mentioned in Betsy Reynolds 1806-1807 Journal (Litchfield Historical Society - Litchfield Female Academy Collection).
Secondary Sources:
Columbian Register New Haven, CT, March 16, 1872, Page 3.

Contact Us

Do you have more information for the Ledger?

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.