Page:The part taken by women in American history.djvu/752

Rh of India overshadow her early deceased missionary pupils, while those left to bear the heat and burden of the day will wail the saint whose prayers and letters they so prized. Among the Nestorians of Persia, and at the base of Mount Olympus will her name be breathed softly as the household name of one whom God hath taken."

Sophia Smith, educationist, was born in Hatfield, Massachusetts, August 27, 1796, daughter of Joseph and Lois (White) Smith, granddaughter of Lieutenant Samuel and Mary (Morton) Smith, and of Lieutenant Elihu White; niece of Oliver Smith, philanthropist, and first cousin once removed of Benjamin Smith Lyman, geologist. Her early education was extremely meagre. She attended school in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1810, for three months, and in 1814 was for a short time a pupil in the Hopkin's Academy, Hadley, Massachusetts. She was an extensive writer, and in 1861 inherited a large fortune ($450,000) from her brother, Austin Smith. In later years she conceived the idea of building a college for women, defined the object and general plan of the institution, appointed the trustees and selected Northampton, Massachusetts, as its site. The college, which bears her name, and which was the first institution for the higher education of women in New England, was opened in September, 1875, with L. Clark Seelye as president. Miss Smith bequeathed for the founding of the college, $365,000 and also $75,000 for the endowment of Smith Academy, at Hatfield, Massachusetts, where she died, June 12, 1870.

Miss Bonney was born June 8, 1816, in Hamilton, Madison County, New York. Her father was a farmer in good circumstances. Her mother had been a teacher before her marriage. Religion and education were prominent in their thoughts and directed the training of their son and daughter. Miss Bonney was a pupil for several years of the Female Academy in Hamilton and also under Mrs. Emma Willard, in Troy Seminary, at that time the best institution for young ladies in this country. Her father's death occurred when she was quite young, obliging her to take up the profession of teaching. In 1850 she decided to establish a school of her own and provide a home for her mother. In connection with Miss Harriette A. Dillaye, one of the teachers in Troy Seminary, and a friend of her earlier days, she founded the Chestnut Street Seminary, located for thirty-three years in Philadelphia and later, in 1883, enlarged into the Ogontz Seminary, in Ogontz, Pennsylvania, one of the famous schools for girls in the United States. Here, for nearly forty years, Miss Bonney presided. Her attention was first attracted to the cause of the Indians through a newspaper article in regard to