Mary Ann Moore Richardson Collection
The Quaboag Seminary was founded in Warren, Mass., in 1842 by two of Amherst College’s early graduates, and was incorporated eight years later. During its relatively brief period of operation, its best-known student may have bene the abolitionist and feminist Lucy Stone, who enrolled in 1841 to prepare for entrance examinations at Oberlin College. In 1856, the school was purchased by the town to serve as the local high school.
This small collection consists primarily of printed materials associated with the short-lived Quaboag Seminary of Warren, Mass. In addition to a school catalogue for 1847, the collection includes two issues — apparently all that were printed — of the student literary periodical, the Quaboag Quarterly Offering (1845); eight programs for school exhibitions (1842-1854); a flier announcing the spring term 1848; and two writing exercise books kept by Mary Ann Moore (later Richardson) while a student at the Seminary.
Background
The Quaboag Seminary was founded in Warren, Mass., in 1842 by two of Amherst College’s early graduates, and was incorporated eight years later by local residents Nathan Richardson, Joseph F. Hitchcock, and Royal Knight. During its relatively brief period of operation, perhaps its best-known student was the abolitionist and feminist Lucy Stone, who enrolled in 1841 to prepare for entrance examinations at Oberlin College. In 1856, the school was purchased by the town to serve as the local high school.
Mary Ann Moore (1831-1913) and Nathan Richardson, both students at Quaboag Seminary during the mid-1840s, married in 1856. After studying music in Boston and in Europe, Nathan established himself as a pianist and music teacher on the late antebellum Boston scene, as well as an importer, publisher, and dealer of sheet music. He was author of the influential Richardson’s New Method for the Piano-Forte, which went through several editions beginning in 1859. In that year, while visiting Paris in hopes of recuperating from a bout of tuberculosis, Richardson died. He and Mary Ann are buried together in Pine Grove Cemetery in Warren.
Scope of collection
This small collection consists primarily of printed materials associated with the short-lived Quaboag Seminary of Warren, Mass. In addition to a school catalogue for 1847, the collection includes two issues — apparently all that were printed — of the student literary periodical, the Quaboag Quarterly Offering (1845); eight programs for school exhibitions (1842-1854); a flier announcing the spring term 1848; and two writing exercise books kept by Mary Ann Moore (later Richardson) while a student at the Seminary. Moore’s copybooks include individual words or short phrases written out over and over while mastering her hand, and one of the volumes includes unattributed religious and sentimental poetry, possibly transcribed from other sources. Most of the printed items came from the press of Ebenezer Merriam (or Merriam and Cooke), founder of the noted central Massachusetts printing family.
Marginal notes written in a later hand on some items indicate that the collection was owned by a niece of Mary Ann Moore. These notes identify other relatives associated with the Seminary, including a member of the corporation, John Moore (“my grandfather”) and an instructor, Henry P. Underhill (“my grandfather Halliaway’s(?) 3rd wife’s brother”).
Inventory
Catalogue of officers and students of Quaboag Seminary. West Brookfield : E. Merriam
Quaboag Quarterly Offering: A Magazine Devoted to Literature, Art and Science, vol. 1, 1. West Brookfield : E. Merriam
Quaboag Quarterly Offering: A Magazine Devoted to Literature, Art and Science, vol. 1, 2. West Brookfield : E. Merriam
Administrative information
Access
The collection is open for research.
Provenance
Gift of I. Eliot Wentworth, March 2019.
Digitized content
The collection has been digitized and may be viewed online in SCUA’s digital repository, Credo.
Processing Information
Processed by Dexter Haven, Mar. 2019.
Language:
English
Copyright and Use (More information )
Cite as: Mary Ann Moore Richardson Collection (MS 1072). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.
Search terms
Subjects
- Boarding schools–Massachusetts–Warren
- Quaboag Seminary
- Warren (Mass.)–History–19th century
Contributors
- Richardson, Mary Moore [main entry]
Genres and formats
- Broadsides (Notices)
- Catalogues (Documents)
- Periodicals
- Programs (Documents)