From 1846 to 1852, James S. Griffing was enrolled at Wesleyan
University in Middletown, Connecticut. Wesleyan was one of the first Methodist
colleges established in the United States. While enrolled, James did not
constantly attend the university. Lacking resources, he was
compelled to drop out of his classes from time-to-time to teach Select Schools.
In fact, throughout most of 1849 and 1850, he was away from college teaching
schools in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and New York.
While struggling to earn an education, James corresponded
semi-regularly with his hometown sweetheart, Augusta Goodrich. When not
living with her family in Owego, New York, Augusta lived with her Uncle
Elizur Goodrich in Hartford, Connecticut -- just a few miles up the Connecticut
River from Wesleyan University.
This set of letters describe James' college days, his teaching
days, and his various sight-seeing excursions to see family and friends in
places like Windsor Connecticut, Sheffield Massachusetts, Baltimore Maryland,
and Washington D.C.
An engraving of Middletown, Connecticut, ca. 1850
Wesleyan University is in center at top of hill
Wesleyan University Special Collections & Archives
An engraving of the Wesleyan University Campus in 1850
by Enoch Jagger, a classmate of James S. Griffing
Wesleyan University Special Collections & Archives
(click on picture for enlargement)
1850 Census Record for Middletown, Connecticut
James S. Griffing is listed on line 34 among the students at Wesleyan University
(click on census record for enlargement)
