Blackleach Burritt
Encyclopedia
Blackleach Burritt was a preacher during the American Revolutionary War
. During the American War of Independence, he was incarcerated in the Sugar House Prison
, circa 1744, although no birth records have been found for his birth. He was the son and second child of Peleg Burritt, Jr. and the grandson of Peleg Burritt, Sr. and Sarah Bennett and member of the fifth generation of the Burritt family in America. The Burritts were descended from an old and esteemed Connecticut family and his original immigrant ancestor was William Burritt and his wife Elizabeth who had emigrated to Connecticut around 1640 possibly from Glamorganshire, Wales. They were among the first settlers of Stratford, Connecticut. He was an expert blacksmith, an important trade for the new town.
His mother was Elizabeth Blackleach, the daughter of Richard Blackleach, Jr. and Mehitabel (Leete) Laborie and a great-granddaughter of William Leete
who was the Governor of the Colony of New Haven from 1661 to 1665 and Governor of Connecticut from 1676 to 1683. His mother died circa 1745 and his father remarried at Ripton Parish
on November 25, 1746, Deborah Beardslee, the daughter of Caleb Beardslee and Elizabeth Booth, who was born on February 1, 1726 at Stratford, Connecticut and died at Hanover Green, Pennsylvania
on August 7, 1802. They were the parents of five children.
In 1751, he was made the heir of his grandfather Blackleach's large estate, since his mother had already died. He had aspired to further his education and his college tuition was paid for by the inheritance from his grandfather Blackleach's estate.
His great-uncle was the Rev. Dr. Israel Chauncy, the youngest son of President Charles Chauncy
. He graduated in 1661 from Harvard College
and was called as the pastor at the Congregational Church at Stratford, Connecticut
in 1663. On November 11, 1701, he was chosen Rector, or President of the new founded Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut. Professor Kingsley, in his History of Yale College, remarks of him, that "he had a high reputation for scholarship." He, however, declined the appointment. Dr. Charles Chauncy of Boston says of him, " He spent his days among that people (the people of Stratford) in great reputation as a physician, as well as a divine. It was said of him that he was one of the most hospitable and benevolent old gentlemen.
who along with his wife Alice and six children settled in the late summer 1636 probably in Cambridge, Massachusetts
. He was the only man in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. Following the death of his first wife, he married her sister, Deborah Welles in 1788. There were two children born from this second marriage.
in 1765. After graduating, he studied theology with his pastor, the Rev. Jedidiah Mills, Yale College, 1722, and was licensed to preach in the Congregational Church
on February 24, 1768, by the Fairfield East Association of Ministers. Shortly after this he was preaching in Ridgebury Parish, in Ridgefield, Connecticut
. Sometime prior to 1774, he and his family had relocated to Dutchess County, New York
. He was ordained and licensed to preach that year in the Presbyterian Church and was installed as the pastor of the Pound Ridge Presbyterian Church where he was a very active partisan on the side of the Patriot
s while serving at this parish.
Burritt was influenced by and championed the causes of the evangelical style of the Great Awakening
. He was also greatly influenced by the works of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield
. He heard Whitefield preach, on several occasions, at the Yale College Chapel. He was also known for his use of extemporaneous preaching
.
, and while thus employed, having been prominent in his advocacy of the American cause, he was captured, on the early morning of June 18, 1779, and taken to the Sugar House Prison in New York City, where he was detained for about fourteen months, during which time his family took refuge in Pound Ridge, New York
. The British press referred to Blackleach Burritt as that "most pestiferous rebel priest and preacher of sedition".
It is worthy of record here in this connection, that while Rev. Burritt was so incarcerated, being sick almost unto death, he was kindly ministered unto by William Irving, father of Washington Irving
, and to whom he afterwards gave a quaint certificate vouching for his loyalty and setting forth the facts of the case, he (Irving) evidently being under the impression that his residence in the city during the war might expose him to proscription on the part of the now victorious Patriots. The document is published in Vol. I., of Washington Irving's Biography, and reference is made to the fact in the Burritt Family Record.
where he was serving as pastor of the Presbyterian Church at that location. He served as the pastor of several Presbyterian churches in Westchester County, New York from 1780 to around 1788. In 1788 or 9 he was preaching in the North Parish of New Fairfield, Connecticut, now the town of Sherman, Connecticut
; and in 1790 he was similarly engaged in Greenfield
, then part of Saratoga, New York
. Sometime in 1790, he had relocated to Duanesburg, New York
where many members of his family had settled and he founded the Presbyterian Church in Duanesburg around this same time.
where he was installed pastor on January 1, 1793. He died in Winhall, Bennington County, Vermont of a prevailing fever on August 27, 1794, aged about 50 years.
Mr. Burritt is reported to have had wonderful physical strength and agility. As a preacher he was noted for fluency and a love of argument. He was regarded as somewhat visionary and unpractical, and perhaps eccentric.
, Berkshire County, Massachusetts
on April 12, 1798, Mehitable/Mabel Stratton. She was born July 19, 1779 in Williamstown, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and died at Jacksonville, Illinois
on July 17, 1856. She was a daughter of Dea. Ebenezer Stratton and Mary Blair. She married as his second wife, on August 30, 1831 at Troy, Rensselaer County, New York, John Adams (educator)
(September 18, 1772 – April 24, 1863), Yale College
1795, the son of Captain John Adams, a farmer of Canterbury and an officer in the American Revolutionary War
and Mary Parker, the daughter of Dea. Joshua Parker and Jemima Davenport. John Adams was an educator noted for organizing several hundred Sunday schools. He died in Jacksonville, Illinois
on April 24, 1863, and is buried there beside his wife.
Dr. Ely Burritt graduated from Williams College
in 1800, and was licensed to practice medicine at Troy, New York, on March 29, 1802 and he quickly gained recognition for his medical skills. A tradition of Dr. Burritt is, that on the capture of his father being then a boy of six years, he threw corn cobs at the British soldiers as an expression of his patriotic indignation!
Dr. Francis Wayland
(1796–1865), fourth president of Brown University
, said the following about his former teacher: "Dr. Burritt was a man of remarkable logical powers of enthusiastic love of his profession, and of great and deserved confidence in his own judgment. He stood at the head of his profession in Troy, and in the neighboring region, and was a person of high moral character".
Ely and Mehitable/Mabel had a daughter, Julia Ann who in 1828 married Dr. Amatus Robbins (1791–1854), the son of the Rev. Robert Robbins Yale College
1760 and Jerusha Estabrook (she was a Great-Great Granddaughter of the Rev. Dr. Charles Chauncey 1592-1672 the second president of Harvard College
1654-1672). Dr. Robbins graduated from Williams College
in 1811 and the Berkshire Medical School, earning his medical degree in 1825.
Ely and Mehitable/Mabel also had a son, Dr. Alexander Hamilton Burritt. He was born at Troy, Rensselaer County, New York, on April 17, 1805. He studied medicine with his father prior to attending college. He was an 1827 graduate of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
and practiced medicine for 11 years as an allopathic practitioner. In 1832, he left Troy, New York locating first in Carrollton, Illinois and the following year in Jerseyville, Illinois
being among the first settlers of that town. He practiced medicine here until 1836, when he moved to an 80 acres (323,748.8 m²) farm in Greene County, Illinois. It was here that he helped his mother and stepfather, John Adams and Mehitable/Mabel Stratton Burritt-Adams, relocate and settle into their new life in Jacksonville, Illinois
. He also donated land and a log building for the Academy.
In 1838, Dr. Alexander Hamilton Burritt left Illinois and relocated to New York City and became a student of his celebrated and distinguished cousin, Dr. John Franklin Gray (1804–1882) for two years of study of the principles and practice of homeopathy.
After completing his studies in 1840, he moved to Pennsylvania and was the pioneer practitioner in Crawford County, where he devoted himself to the study of homeopathy. He also practiced at Conneautville, Ohio and then went to Burton, Ohio in 1840, being the pioneer homeopathic Physician in northern Ohio. He was a founder of the Western Homeopathic College in Cleveland, Ohio
and received an appointment from the trustees of the College to the chair of the Obstetrics Department. He resigned his professorship in 1854 due to his health and removed to Canandaigua, New York
and from there to New Orleans, Louisiana
where he became one of the leading physicians of the South. It was said that he was a man of great ability as a practitioner and physician as well as a writer. He died in New Orleans of paralysis on October 9, 1877.
A grandson of his was Dr. William Henry Burritt (1869–1955). He was an 1890 graduate of Vanderbilt University
, and like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather before him, was a physician. Dr. W.H. Burritt willed his house and the surrounding woodlands to the City of Huntsville, Alabama
to form its first museum and second largest public park, Burritt on the Mountain.
on July 3, 1849. She married at Duanesburg, New York
on October 9, 1791, James Raymond, born September 3, 1767 at Kent, Litchfield County, Connecticut and died at Franklin, Pennsylvania on November 15, 1852. He was a son of David Raymond and Bethia Newcomb.
She was activity involved in the temperance and the abolitionist movements as well an advocate for women's rights and female suffrage. She was a woman of unusual mental gifts and independence. It was said of her: "was noted for her strong traits of character which are perpetuated in her descendants." Her husband, James, was a founder of Sherburne, New York
. They were the parents of three children: Burritt, Philander, and Celestia.
Their second son, Philander Raymond, was born on March 9, 1794 at Sherburne, Chenango County, New York
and died at his residence, at Locust Grove in Bowling Green, Plain Township, Wood County, Ohio
on December 2, 1868 and was buried in Madison, Ohio
. He was thrice married, fathering 11 children.
He was the founder of the Great Western Iron Works which opened at Brady's Bend, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania in December 1839, manufacturing "strap rails" for railways.
In 1844, the iron works was acquired by the Brady's Bend Iron Company, which added a second, third and fourth blast furnace along with additional forges and rolling mills. In 1846, the Brady's Bend Iron Company became the first iron works west of the Alleghenies to produce T-Rails, using the Bessemer process
, which became the industry standard. The company had been known for its innovations since it founding and built the first vertically integrated rolling mill in the United States. This pioneering time and labor saving design would eventually be adopted by all rolling mills. He was the superintendent of the Company from 1839 to 1850. The Brady's Bend Iron Company was, at one time, the largest of the U.S. iron industries plants of the 19th century.
He was a conductor, agent and station master in the Underground Railroad
and was associated with Horace Ensign (was a conductor, agent and station master), Emerson Wadsworth Brewster (station master), James G. Birney
, John Rankin (abolitionist)
, Dr. Patrick Wells Gray (a son of Diantha Burritt and John Gray), Joshua R. Giddings, Benjamin F. Wade and William Lloyd Garrison
. His work as the superintendent of the Brady's Bend Iron Company gave him the opportunity to travel to every State and territory in the Union and take an important role in the Underground Railroad.
It was said of him that he had the capacity of great undertakings and brilliant leadership. He was one of the founders of the city of Toledo, Ohio
. and he was prominently engaged in the Abolitionist movement. One who knew him well said: "He was a fine looking man, very gentlemanly and genial, with a remarkable mental and moral development."
Winhall, Bennington County, Vermont and died on May 20, 1851 in Madison, Lake County, Ohio. She married in 1789, at Dover, Dutchess County, New York
, Elisha Gray born on September 24, 1765 in Dover Plains, Dutchess County, New York, and died in 1823 in Tallmadge
, Summit County, Ohio
, the son of the Hon. Nathaniel Gray and Deborah Lathrop, a direct descendant of the Rev. John Lathrop
.
Their great-great granddaughter was Emily Newell Blair
(January 9, 1877 - August 3, 1951). She was born in Joplin, Missouri and educated at Goucher College
and the University of Missouri
. She was a U.S. political activist, American feminist, suffragist and writer, beginning her work as a suffragist in 1914. After she helped organize the League of Women Voters
, she rejected its non-partisanship. She was the national vice chairman of the Democratic Party
, and worked to elect women to public office.
Their grandson was Philander Raymond Gray (1837–1914). He enlisted in the 121st Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers
at the outbreak of the American Civil War
and fought through the entire conflict. He was the founder of the Tidewater Petroleum
Company. He is also considered to be the first refiner of oil in this country. In 1878, he moved the Tidewater Oil Company of Franklin, Pennsylvania to Bayonne, New Jersey. It sold its products under the trademarks Tydol, Veedol, and Flying A. Flying A was a major gasoline brand in the USA from the 1930s to the mid-1960s.
A grandson of Philander Raymond Gray's was John Lathrop Gray (1905–1982) (Harvard University
, 1926; Harvard Law School
, 1930) who married Nancy Harlan Work (1917–1994). She was a Granddaughter of Frances Work
(1857–1947) and a cousin of the Hon. Frances Shand Kydd
the mother of H.R.H. Diana, Princess of Wales
.
before her marriage, and was a woman of literary taste. She married on May 26, 1793 in Winhall, Vermont
, John Gray (December 15, 1769 - April 24, 1859, the son of John Gray and Elizabeth Skeel.
Their son was Dr. John Franklin Gray
(1804–1882), an 1826 graduate of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
and the first practitioner of Homeopathy
in the United States and an important medical reformer. He is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery
in Brooklyn, New York. His granddaugher, Louise Tillman Warner, married
Charles Loring Brace, Jr.
and they were the parents of writer, sailor, boat builder and teacher, Gerald Warner Brace
(1901–1978). Their great grandson is the prominent biological anthropologist, Dr. C. Loring Brace
IV (1930 - ).
Their only daughter was Diantha Eloise Gray (June 22, 1799 - July 28, 1880) who was eminent as a teacher, poet, and as an advocate for woman suffrage. She was educated at Troy Female Seminary, now known as The Emma Willard School
in Troy, New York. She first taught at what she called the Wadawannuck Female Seminary in Stonington, Connecticut
. In the spring of 1837 she went to LeRoy, New York, where she founded LeRoy Female Seminary. She returned to LeRoy in 1852 and the name of the Seminary was changed to Ingham Collegiate Institute and again in 1857 to Ingham University (1837–1892), the first University for women in U.S. (Rev. Samuel D. Burchard
was the chancellor of the University). The University was named after its benefactor, Mrs. Emily E. Ingham Staunton, a former student of Diantha's at the Wadawannuck Female Seminary.
Diantha and her husband, Rev. Dr. Harvey A. Sackett, Yale College
1838, were instrumental in the founding of Elmira College
in Elmira, New York
. She was also a founder of New York Medical College and Hospital for Women as well as serving on its Board of Trustees. In 1867, the college graduated the first female physician in the country, Emily Stowe
. Three years later in 1870, Susan McKinney Stewart
graduated as the first African-American female physician in New York State. This College merged, in 1918, with the New York Medical College
.
just six weeks before her mother's death. She died at Bristol, Elkhart County, Indiana
on September 19, 1881, Her mother, believing her illness to be fatal, sent for Miss Susannah DeLancey, the unmarried daughter of Governor James DeLancey
, who lived in nearby Crompond, who despite powerful family influence remained true to the cause of the Colonies, and was a very warm friend of the Burritt Family.
On her dying bed she gave her infant daughter to Miss DeLancey's keeping, and she was faithful to the trust. She was tenderly cared for and reared by her foster mother. She brought her up as her own child, and she willed her a considerable estate, 1200 acres (4.9 km²) in Yorktown, Westchester County, New York
, and all her personal estate. She was married twice and was the mother of seven children.
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. During the American War of Independence, he was incarcerated in the Sugar House Prison
Early life and ancestors
Blackleach Burritt was born at Ripton Parish, now Huntington, Fairfield County, ConnecticutFairfield County, Connecticut
Fairfield County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The county population is 916,829 according to the 2010 Census. There are currently 1,465 people per square mile in the county. It is the most populous county in the State of Connecticut and contains...
, circa 1744, although no birth records have been found for his birth. He was the son and second child of Peleg Burritt, Jr. and the grandson of Peleg Burritt, Sr. and Sarah Bennett and member of the fifth generation of the Burritt family in America. The Burritts were descended from an old and esteemed Connecticut family and his original immigrant ancestor was William Burritt and his wife Elizabeth who had emigrated to Connecticut around 1640 possibly from Glamorganshire, Wales. They were among the first settlers of Stratford, Connecticut. He was an expert blacksmith, an important trade for the new town.
His mother was Elizabeth Blackleach, the daughter of Richard Blackleach, Jr. and Mehitabel (Leete) Laborie and a great-granddaughter of William Leete
William Leete
Governor William Leete was Governor of the Colony of New Haven from 1661 to 1665 and Governor of the Colony of Connecticut from 1676 to 1683....
who was the Governor of the Colony of New Haven from 1661 to 1665 and Governor of Connecticut from 1676 to 1683. His mother died circa 1745 and his father remarried at Ripton Parish
Shelton, Connecticut
Shelton is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 39,559 at the 2010 census.-Origins:Shelton was settled by the English as part of the town of Stratford, Connecticut, in 1639...
on November 25, 1746, Deborah Beardslee, the daughter of Caleb Beardslee and Elizabeth Booth, who was born on February 1, 1726 at Stratford, Connecticut and died at Hanover Green, Pennsylvania
Luzerne County, Pennsylvania
- Demographics :As of the 2010 census, the county was 90.7% White, 3.4% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 3.3% were of some other race, and 1.5% were two or more races. 6.7% of the population was of Hispanic or Latino ancestry...
on August 7, 1802. They were the parents of five children.
In 1751, he was made the heir of his grandfather Blackleach's large estate, since his mother had already died. He had aspired to further his education and his college tuition was paid for by the inheritance from his grandfather Blackleach's estate.
His great-uncle was the Rev. Dr. Israel Chauncy, the youngest son of President Charles Chauncy
Charles Chauncy
Charles Chauncy was an Anglo-American clergyman and educator.He was born at Yardleybury , Hertfordshire, England and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he later was a lecturer in Greek. After serving as a pastor in England at Marston St. Lawrence, Northamptonshire , he emigrated to...
. He graduated in 1661 from Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
and was called as the pastor at the Congregational Church at Stratford, Connecticut
Stratford, Connecticut
Stratford is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Housatonic River. It was founded by Puritans in 1639....
in 1663. On November 11, 1701, he was chosen Rector, or President of the new founded Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut. Professor Kingsley, in his History of Yale College, remarks of him, that "he had a high reputation for scholarship." He, however, declined the appointment. Dr. Charles Chauncy of Boston says of him, " He spent his days among that people (the people of Stratford) in great reputation as a physician, as well as a divine. It was said of him that he was one of the most hospitable and benevolent old gentlemen.
Marriages
Soon after graduating from Yale College in 1765, he married, as his first wife, Martha Welles (1744 - April 1786) with whom he had twelve children. She was a daughter of Gideon Welles and Eunice Walker and a great-great granddaughter of Governor Thomas WellesThomas Welles
Thomas Welles is the only man in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. In 1639, he was elected as the first treasurer of the Colony of Connecticut, and from 1640–1649 served as the colony's secretary...
who along with his wife Alice and six children settled in the late summer 1636 probably in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
. He was the only man in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. Following the death of his first wife, he married her sister, Deborah Welles in 1788. There were two children born from this second marriage.
Education and career
He graduated from Yale CollegeYale College
Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...
in 1765. After graduating, he studied theology with his pastor, the Rev. Jedidiah Mills, Yale College, 1722, and was licensed to preach in the Congregational Church
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
on February 24, 1768, by the Fairfield East Association of Ministers. Shortly after this he was preaching in Ridgebury Parish, in Ridgefield, Connecticut
Ridgefield, Connecticut
Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, the 300-year-old community had a population of 24,638 at the 2010 census. The town center, which was formerly a borough, is defined by the U.S...
. Sometime prior to 1774, he and his family had relocated to Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...
. He was ordained and licensed to preach that year in the Presbyterian Church and was installed as the pastor of the Pound Ridge Presbyterian Church where he was a very active partisan on the side of the Patriot
Patriot (American Revolution)
Patriots is a name often used to describe the colonists of the British Thirteen United Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution. It was their leading figures who, in July 1776, declared the United States of America an independent nation...
s while serving at this parish.
Burritt was influenced by and championed the causes of the evangelical style of the Great Awakening
First Great Awakening
The First Awakening was a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, and especially the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of personal...
. He was also greatly influenced by the works of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield
George Whitefield
George Whitefield , also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican priest who helped spread the Great Awakening in Britain, and especially in the British North American colonies. He was one of the founders of Methodism and of the evangelical movement generally...
. He heard Whitefield preach, on several occasions, at the Yale College Chapel. He was also known for his use of extemporaneous preaching
Extemporaneous preaching
Extemporaneous preaching is a style of preaching that was popular in the late 19th century among Baptist , Methodist, Unitarian, and some Presbyterians preachers, such as Blackleach Burritt...
.
Imprisonment
At the beginning of 1779, he was installed as the pastor of the Congregational Church in Greenwich, ConnecticutGreenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
, and while thus employed, having been prominent in his advocacy of the American cause, he was captured, on the early morning of June 18, 1779, and taken to the Sugar House Prison in New York City, where he was detained for about fourteen months, during which time his family took refuge in Pound Ridge, New York
Pound Ridge, New York
Pound Ridge is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,104 at the 2010 census.The town is located in the eastern corner of the county, bordered by New Canaan, Connecticut, to the east, Stamford, Connecticut, to the south, Bedford, New York, to the west and...
. The British press referred to Blackleach Burritt as that "most pestiferous rebel priest and preacher of sedition".
It is worthy of record here in this connection, that while Rev. Burritt was so incarcerated, being sick almost unto death, he was kindly ministered unto by William Irving, father of Washington Irving
Washington Irving
Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
, and to whom he afterwards gave a quaint certificate vouching for his loyalty and setting forth the facts of the case, he (Irving) evidently being under the impression that his residence in the city during the war might expose him to proscription on the part of the now victorious Patriots. The document is published in Vol. I., of Washington Irving's Biography, and reference is made to the fact in the Burritt Family Record.
Release
The exact date of his release from the Sugar House Prison is not known. However, by October 1780, he was living near Crompond, New YorkCrompond, New York
Crompond is a community and census-designated place located in the town of Yorktown in Westchester County, New York. The population was 2,292 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Crompond is located at ....
where he was serving as pastor of the Presbyterian Church at that location. He served as the pastor of several Presbyterian churches in Westchester County, New York from 1780 to around 1788. In 1788 or 9 he was preaching in the North Parish of New Fairfield, Connecticut, now the town of Sherman, Connecticut
Sherman, Connecticut
Sherman is the northernmost and least populous town of Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,581 at the 2010 census. The town is named for New Haven's Founding Father, Roger Sherman....
; and in 1790 he was similarly engaged in Greenfield
Greenfield, New York
Greenfield is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 7,362 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Greenfield, New Hampshire.The Town of Greenfield is an interior town...
, then part of Saratoga, New York
Saratoga, New York
Saratoga is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 5,141 at the 2000 census. It is also the commonly used, but not official, name for the neighboring and much more populous city, Saratoga Springs. The major village in the town of Saratoga is Schuylerville which is...
. Sometime in 1790, he had relocated to Duanesburg, New York
Duanesburg, New York
Duanesburg is a town in Schenectady County, New York, USA. The population was 5,808 at the 2000 census. Duanesburg is named for James Duane, who held most of it as an original land grant. The town is in the western part of the county.-History:...
where many members of his family had settled and he founded the Presbyterian Church in Duanesburg around this same time.
Death
In 1792 he began to preach to the Congregational Society in the village of Winhall, VermontWinhall, Vermont
Winhall is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 702 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 44.0 square miles , of which 43.7 square miles are land and 0.3 square mile is...
where he was installed pastor on January 1, 1793. He died in Winhall, Bennington County, Vermont of a prevailing fever on August 27, 1794, aged about 50 years.
Mr. Burritt is reported to have had wonderful physical strength and agility. As a preacher he was noted for fluency and a love of argument. He was regarded as somewhat visionary and unpractical, and perhaps eccentric.
Ely Burritt
Blackleach and Martha's eldest son was Ely Burritt, born March 12, 1773 at Pound Ridge, Westchester County, New York and died September 1, 1823 in Troy, Rensselaer County, New York. He married as her first husband, at WilliamstownWilliamstown, Massachusetts
Williamstown is a town in Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,754 at the 2010 census...
, Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Berkshire County is a non-governmental county located on the western edge of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2010 census, the population was 131,219. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield...
on April 12, 1798, Mehitable/Mabel Stratton. She was born July 19, 1779 in Williamstown, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and died at Jacksonville, Illinois
Jacksonville, Illinois
Jacksonville is a city in Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,940 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County....
on July 17, 1856. She was a daughter of Dea. Ebenezer Stratton and Mary Blair. She married as his second wife, on August 30, 1831 at Troy, Rensselaer County, New York, John Adams (educator)
John Adams (educator)
John Adams was an American educator noted for organizing several hundred Sunday schools. His life was celebrated by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr...
(September 18, 1772 – April 24, 1863), Yale College
Yale College
Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...
1795, the son of Captain John Adams, a farmer of Canterbury and an officer in the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
and Mary Parker, the daughter of Dea. Joshua Parker and Jemima Davenport. John Adams was an educator noted for organizing several hundred Sunday schools. He died in Jacksonville, Illinois
Jacksonville, Illinois
Jacksonville is a city in Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,940 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County....
on April 24, 1863, and is buried there beside his wife.
Dr. Ely Burritt graduated from Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
in 1800, and was licensed to practice medicine at Troy, New York, on March 29, 1802 and he quickly gained recognition for his medical skills. A tradition of Dr. Burritt is, that on the capture of his father being then a boy of six years, he threw corn cobs at the British soldiers as an expression of his patriotic indignation!
Dr. Francis Wayland
Francis Wayland
Francis Wayland , American Baptist educator and economist, was born in New York City, New York. He was president of Brown University and pastor of the First Baptist Church in America in Providence, Rhode Island. In Washington, D.C., Wayland Seminary was established in 1867, primarily to educate...
(1796–1865), fourth president of Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, said the following about his former teacher: "Dr. Burritt was a man of remarkable logical powers of enthusiastic love of his profession, and of great and deserved confidence in his own judgment. He stood at the head of his profession in Troy, and in the neighboring region, and was a person of high moral character".
Ely and Mehitable/Mabel had a daughter, Julia Ann who in 1828 married Dr. Amatus Robbins (1791–1854), the son of the Rev. Robert Robbins Yale College
Yale College
Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...
1760 and Jerusha Estabrook (she was a Great-Great Granddaughter of the Rev. Dr. Charles Chauncey 1592-1672 the second president of Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
1654-1672). Dr. Robbins graduated from Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
in 1811 and the Berkshire Medical School, earning his medical degree in 1825.
Ely and Mehitable/Mabel also had a son, Dr. Alexander Hamilton Burritt. He was born at Troy, Rensselaer County, New York, on April 17, 1805. He studied medicine with his father prior to attending college. He was an 1827 graduate of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, often known as P&S, is a graduate school of Columbia University that is located on the health sciences campus in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan...
and practiced medicine for 11 years as an allopathic practitioner. In 1832, he left Troy, New York locating first in Carrollton, Illinois and the following year in Jerseyville, Illinois
Jerseyville, Illinois
Jerseyville is a city in Jersey County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 8,465. It is the county seat of Jersey County, and is also the largest city in the county. The city's current mayor is Richard Perdun.Jerseyville is a part of Southern...
being among the first settlers of that town. He practiced medicine here until 1836, when he moved to an 80 acres (323,748.8 m²) farm in Greene County, Illinois. It was here that he helped his mother and stepfather, John Adams and Mehitable/Mabel Stratton Burritt-Adams, relocate and settle into their new life in Jacksonville, Illinois
Jacksonville, Illinois
Jacksonville is a city in Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,940 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County....
. He also donated land and a log building for the Academy.
In 1838, Dr. Alexander Hamilton Burritt left Illinois and relocated to New York City and became a student of his celebrated and distinguished cousin, Dr. John Franklin Gray (1804–1882) for two years of study of the principles and practice of homeopathy.
After completing his studies in 1840, he moved to Pennsylvania and was the pioneer practitioner in Crawford County, where he devoted himself to the study of homeopathy. He also practiced at Conneautville, Ohio and then went to Burton, Ohio in 1840, being the pioneer homeopathic Physician in northern Ohio. He was a founder of the Western Homeopathic College in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
and received an appointment from the trustees of the College to the chair of the Obstetrics Department. He resigned his professorship in 1854 due to his health and removed to Canandaigua, New York
Canandaigua (city), New York
Canandaigua is a city in Ontario County, New York, USA, of which it is the county seat. The population was 11,264 at the 2000 census...
and from there to New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
where he became one of the leading physicians of the South. It was said that he was a man of great ability as a practitioner and physician as well as a writer. He died in New Orleans of paralysis on October 9, 1877.
A grandson of his was Dr. William Henry Burritt (1869–1955). He was an 1890 graduate of Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
, and like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather before him, was a physician. Dr. W.H. Burritt willed his house and the surrounding woodlands to the City of Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
to form its first museum and second largest public park, Burritt on the Mountain.
Melissa Burritt
Melissa Burritt, Blackleach and Martha's second child, was born on February 26, 1768 at Greenwich, Fairfield County, Connecticut and died at Brady's Bend, PennsylvaniaBrady's Bend, Pennsylvania
Brady's Bend, also known as Bradys Bend, is named for Captain Samuel Brady , famed frontier scout and the subject of many legends. The photo is a composite of three shots taken about 1,400 ft. above sea level...
on July 3, 1849. She married at Duanesburg, New York
Duanesburg, New York
Duanesburg is a town in Schenectady County, New York, USA. The population was 5,808 at the 2000 census. Duanesburg is named for James Duane, who held most of it as an original land grant. The town is in the western part of the county.-History:...
on October 9, 1791, James Raymond, born September 3, 1767 at Kent, Litchfield County, Connecticut and died at Franklin, Pennsylvania on November 15, 1852. He was a son of David Raymond and Bethia Newcomb.
She was activity involved in the temperance and the abolitionist movements as well an advocate for women's rights and female suffrage. She was a woman of unusual mental gifts and independence. It was said of her: "was noted for her strong traits of character which are perpetuated in her descendants." Her husband, James, was a founder of Sherburne, New York
Sherburne (town), New York
Sherburne is a town in Chenango County, New York, United States. United States. The population was 3,979 at the 2000 census. The town contains two villages: one also named Sherburne and the other named Earlville...
. They were the parents of three children: Burritt, Philander, and Celestia.
Their second son, Philander Raymond, was born on March 9, 1794 at Sherburne, Chenango County, New York
Chenango County, New York
Chenango County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 50,477. The county's name originates from an Oneida word meaning "large bull-thistle." Its county seat is Norwich.-History:...
and died at his residence, at Locust Grove in Bowling Green, Plain Township, Wood County, Ohio
Wood County, Ohio
Wood County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 125,488. Its county seat is Bowling Green. The county was named for Captain Eleazer D. Wood, the engineer for General William Henry Harrison's army, who built Fort Meigs in the War of 1812...
on December 2, 1868 and was buried in Madison, Ohio
Madison, Ohio
Madison is a village in Lake County, Ohio, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 2,921.-Geography:Madison is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all of it land....
. He was thrice married, fathering 11 children.
He was the founder of the Great Western Iron Works which opened at Brady's Bend, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania in December 1839, manufacturing "strap rails" for railways.
In 1844, the iron works was acquired by the Brady's Bend Iron Company, which added a second, third and fourth blast furnace along with additional forges and rolling mills. In 1846, the Brady's Bend Iron Company became the first iron works west of the Alleghenies to produce T-Rails, using the Bessemer process
Bessemer process
The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass-production of steel from molten pig iron. The process is named after its inventor, Henry Bessemer, who took out a patent on the process in 1855. The process was independently discovered in 1851 by William Kelly...
, which became the industry standard. The company had been known for its innovations since it founding and built the first vertically integrated rolling mill in the United States. This pioneering time and labor saving design would eventually be adopted by all rolling mills. He was the superintendent of the Company from 1839 to 1850. The Brady's Bend Iron Company was, at one time, the largest of the U.S. iron industries plants of the 19th century.
He was a conductor, agent and station master in the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
and was associated with Horace Ensign (was a conductor, agent and station master), Emerson Wadsworth Brewster (station master), James G. Birney
James G. Birney
James Gillespie Birney was an abolitionist, politician and jurist born in Danville, Kentucky. From 1816 to 1818, he served in the Kentucky House of Representatives...
, John Rankin (abolitionist)
John Rankin (abolitionist)
John Rankin was an American Presbyterian minister, educator and abolitionist. Upon moving to Ripley, Ohio in 1822, he became known as one of Ohio's first and most active "conductors" on the Underground Railroad...
, Dr. Patrick Wells Gray (a son of Diantha Burritt and John Gray), Joshua R. Giddings, Benjamin F. Wade and William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison was a prominent American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, and as one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society, he promoted "immediate emancipation" of slaves in the United...
. His work as the superintendent of the Brady's Bend Iron Company gave him the opportunity to travel to every State and territory in the Union and take an important role in the Underground Railroad.
It was said of him that he had the capacity of great undertakings and brilliant leadership. He was one of the founders of the city of Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
. and he was prominently engaged in the Abolitionist movement. One who knew him well said: "He was a fine looking man, very gentlemanly and genial, with a remarkable mental and moral development."
Martha "Patsy" Burritt
Their third child and daughter was Martha "Patsy" Burritt. She was born October 9, 1770 inWinhall, Bennington County, Vermont and died on May 20, 1851 in Madison, Lake County, Ohio. She married in 1789, at Dover, Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...
, Elisha Gray born on September 24, 1765 in Dover Plains, Dutchess County, New York, and died in 1823 in Tallmadge
Tallmadge
Tallmadge may refer to one of the following people:*John Tallmadge, a nature writer from Cincinnati*Benjamin Tallmadge , a congressman from New England and a Major in the American Revolution...
, Summit County, Ohio
Summit County, Ohio
Summit County is an urban county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population was 542,899. In the 2010 Census the population was 541,781. Its county seat is Akron...
, the son of the Hon. Nathaniel Gray and Deborah Lathrop, a direct descendant of the Rev. John Lathrop
John Lathrop
John Lathrop is the name of:* John Lothropp , British clergy* John Lathrop , of Boston, Mass* John Hiram Lathrop , educator...
.
Their great-great granddaughter was Emily Newell Blair
Emily Newell Blair
Emily Newell Blair was an American writer, suffragist, feminist, national Democratic Party political leader, and a founder of the League of Women Voters.-Early life and ancestors:...
(January 9, 1877 - August 3, 1951). She was born in Joplin, Missouri and educated at Goucher College
Goucher College
Goucher College is a private, co-educational, liberal arts college located in the northern Baltimore suburb of Towson in unincorporated Baltimore County, Maryland, on a 287 acre campus. The school has approximately 1,475 undergraduate students studying in 31 majors and six interdisciplinary...
and the University of Missouri
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
. She was a U.S. political activist, American feminist, suffragist and writer, beginning her work as a suffragist in 1914. After she helped organize the League of Women Voters
League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters is an American political organization founded in 1920 by Carrie Chapman Catt during the last meeting of the National American Woman Suffrage Association approximately six months before the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution gave women the right to vote...
, she rejected its non-partisanship. She was the national vice chairman of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, and worked to elect women to public office.
Their grandson was Philander Raymond Gray (1837–1914). He enlisted in the 121st Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers
121st Pennsylvania Infantry
The 121st Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was a regiment of the Union Army during the United States Civil War.-History:This regiment, chiefly recruited in the city of Philadelphia, and in the county of Venango, was organized at camp of rendezvous, near Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, early in...
at the outbreak of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
and fought through the entire conflict. He was the founder of the Tidewater Petroleum
Tidewater Petroleum
Tidewater Oil Company was a major petroleum refining and marketing concern in the United States for more than 80 years. Tidewater was best known for its Flying A-branded products and gas stations, and for Veedol motor oil, which was known throughout the world.Tidewater was founded in New York City...
Company. He is also considered to be the first refiner of oil in this country. In 1878, he moved the Tidewater Oil Company of Franklin, Pennsylvania to Bayonne, New Jersey. It sold its products under the trademarks Tydol, Veedol, and Flying A. Flying A was a major gasoline brand in the USA from the 1930s to the mid-1960s.
A grandson of Philander Raymond Gray's was John Lathrop Gray (1905–1982) (Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, 1926; Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, 1930) who married Nancy Harlan Work (1917–1994). She was a Granddaughter of Frances Work
Frances Work
Frances Ellen Work was an American heiress and socialite. She was a great-grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales, and her great-great-grandchildren include The Duke of Cambridge, Prince Harry, and the American actor Oliver Platt.-Biography:Born in New York City, she was a daughter of Franklin H...
(1857–1947) and a cousin of the Hon. Frances Shand Kydd
Frances Shand Kydd
Frances Ruth Shand Kydd was the first wife of John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer and the mother of Diana, Princess of Wales...
the mother of H.R.H. Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
.
Diantha Burritt
Diantha Burritt was the seventh child of Blackleach and Martha's. She was born January 9, 1776 in Pound Ridge, Westchester County, New York and died on October 14, 1846 in Sheridan, Chautanqua County, New York. She had been a school teacher in VermontVermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
before her marriage, and was a woman of literary taste. She married on May 26, 1793 in Winhall, Vermont
Winhall, Vermont
Winhall is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 702 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 44.0 square miles , of which 43.7 square miles are land and 0.3 square mile is...
, John Gray (December 15, 1769 - April 24, 1859, the son of John Gray and Elizabeth Skeel.
Their son was Dr. John Franklin Gray
John Franklin Gray
John Franklin Gray was an American educator and physician a pioneer in the field of and the first practitioner of homoeopathy in the United States...
(1804–1882), an 1826 graduate of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, often known as P&S, is a graduate school of Columbia University that is located on the health sciences campus in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan...
and the first practitioner of Homeopathy
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine in which practitioners claim to treat patients using highly diluted preparations that are believed to cause healthy people to exhibit symptoms that are similar to those exhibited by the patient...
in the United States and an important medical reformer. He is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery was founded in 1838 as a rural cemetery in Brooklyn, Kings County , New York. It was granted National Historic Landmark status in 2006 by the U.S. Department of the Interior.-History:...
in Brooklyn, New York. His granddaugher, Louise Tillman Warner, married
Charles Loring Brace, Jr.
Charles Loring Brace
Charles Loring Brace was a contributing philanthropist in the field of social reform...
and they were the parents of writer, sailor, boat builder and teacher, Gerald Warner Brace
Gerald Warner Brace
Gerald Warner Brace was an American novelist, writer, educator, sailor and boat builder. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England.-Early life and ancestors:...
(1901–1978). Their great grandson is the prominent biological anthropologist, Dr. C. Loring Brace
C. Loring Brace
C. Loring Brace is an anthropologist at the University of Michigan. He considers the attempt "to introduce a Darwinian outlook into biological anthropology" to be his greatest contribution to the field of anthropology.-Life and work:...
IV (1930 - ).
Their only daughter was Diantha Eloise Gray (June 22, 1799 - July 28, 1880) who was eminent as a teacher, poet, and as an advocate for woman suffrage. She was educated at Troy Female Seminary, now known as The Emma Willard School
Emma Willard School
The Emma Willard School, originally called Troy Female Seminary and often referred to simply as "Emma," is an independent university-preparatory day and boarding school for young women, located in Troy, New York on Mount Ida, offering grades 9-12 and postgraduate coursework...
in Troy, New York. She first taught at what she called the Wadawannuck Female Seminary in Stonington, Connecticut
Stonington, Connecticut
The Town of Stonington is located in New London County, Connecticut, in the state's southeastern corner. It includes the borough of Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Lords Point, Wequetequock, the eastern halves of the villages of Mystic and Old Mystic...
. In the spring of 1837 she went to LeRoy, New York, where she founded LeRoy Female Seminary. She returned to LeRoy in 1852 and the name of the Seminary was changed to Ingham Collegiate Institute and again in 1857 to Ingham University (1837–1892), the first University for women in U.S. (Rev. Samuel D. Burchard
Samuel D. Burchard (clergyman)
Rev Samuel Dickerson Burchard was a nineteenth century clergyman from New York.Born in Steuben, New York, Burchard moved to Kentucky with his parents in 1830, attended Centre College and graduated in 1837. He was licensed to preach in 1838. He was pastor of several Presbyterian churches in New...
was the chancellor of the University). The University was named after its benefactor, Mrs. Emily E. Ingham Staunton, a former student of Diantha's at the Wadawannuck Female Seminary.
Diantha and her husband, Rev. Dr. Harvey A. Sackett, Yale College
Yale College
Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...
1838, were instrumental in the founding of Elmira College
Elmira College
Elmira College is a coeducational private liberal arts college located in Elmira, in New York State's Southern Tier region.The college is noted as the oldest college still in existence which granted degrees to women that were the equivalent of those given to men...
in Elmira, New York
Elmira, New York
Elmira is a city in Chemung County, New York, USA. It is the principal city of the 'Elmira, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses Chemung County, New York. The population was 29,200 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Chemung County.The City of Elmira is located in...
. She was also a founder of New York Medical College and Hospital for Women as well as serving on its Board of Trustees. In 1867, the college graduated the first female physician in the country, Emily Stowe
Emily Stowe
Dr. Emily Howard Stowe was the first female doctor to practice in Canada, and an activist for women's rights and suffrage. Emily Stowe was born in Norwich Township, Oxford County, Ontario...
. Three years later in 1870, Susan McKinney Stewart
Susan McKinney Stewart
Susan Maria McKinney Steward was an American physician and author. She was the third African-American woman to earn a medical degree, and the first in New York state.-Biography:...
graduated as the first African-American female physician in New York State. This College merged, in 1918, with the New York Medical College
New York Medical College
New York Medical College, aka New York Med or NYMC, is a private graduate health sciences university based in Westchester County, New York, a suburb of New York City and a part of the New York Metropolitan Area...
.
Susannah Burritt
Their youngest child, Susannah Burritt was born on March 6, 1786 in Westchester County, New YorkWestchester County, New York
Westchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
just six weeks before her mother's death. She died at Bristol, Elkhart County, Indiana
Bristol, Indiana
Bristol is a town in Washington Township, Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,602 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Bristol is located at ....
on September 19, 1881, Her mother, believing her illness to be fatal, sent for Miss Susannah DeLancey, the unmarried daughter of Governor James DeLancey
James DeLancey
James DeLancey served as chief justice, lieutenant governor, and acting colonial governor of the Province of New York.DeLancey was born in New York City on November 27, 1703, the first son of Etienne DeLancey and Anne-daughter of Stephanus Van Cortlandt...
, who lived in nearby Crompond, who despite powerful family influence remained true to the cause of the Colonies, and was a very warm friend of the Burritt Family.
On her dying bed she gave her infant daughter to Miss DeLancey's keeping, and she was faithful to the trust. She was tenderly cared for and reared by her foster mother. She brought her up as her own child, and she willed her a considerable estate, 1200 acres (4.9 km²) in Yorktown, Westchester County, New York
Yorktown, New York
Yorktown is a town in Westchester County, New York, in the suburbs of New York about north of midtown Manhattan. The town lies on the north border of Westchester County...
, and all her personal estate. She was married twice and was the mother of seven children.
External links
- Biographical sketches of the graduates of Yale college with annals of the college history ... Volume 3 of Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College with Annals of the College History. Publisher: Holt & Company, (1903).
- Gray genealogy : being a genealogical record and history of the descendants of John Gray, of Beverly, Mass., and also including sketches of other Gray families. New York: Higginson Book Company, (1887).
- Sketch of Rev. Blackleach Burritt and related Stratford families : a paper read before the Fairfield County Historical Society, at Bridgeport, Conn., Friday evening, Feb. 19, 1892 (1892)
- Souvenir of the Sherburne Centennial Celebration and Dedication of Monument to the Proprietors and Early Settlers, held on Wednesday, June 21, 1893 (1893).
- The Children's Aid Society
- Biographical sketch of Thomas Welles Connecticut State Library
- Biographical sketch of William Leete Connecticut State Library
- Burritt on the Mountain