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George Whitefield Livermore
Birth: 10-15-1794
Death: 8-21-1870
Biography
"George Whitefield Livermore was born Oct. 15, 1794, in Paxton; died Aug. 21, 1870, in Colburn, Ind. ; married Oct. 11, 1828, in Al- bany, N. Y., Sophia, daughter of Gen. Joseph and Asenath (Waters) Farnsworth, born Oct. 29, 1803, in Millbury ; died Dec. 17, 1S5S, in Cambridge. In his eleventh year he lost the full use of his lower limbs through a fever, but could move around with the help of crutches or canes. He worked several years at mechanical business, and when about twenty-one years of age began fitting for college, having finished and fitted up a small room in the attic of his father's house as a study. Not having pecuniary means to defray the expenses of attending a preparatory school, he began his studies under the tuition of his father's clergyman ; making but slow progress, he resumed mechanical labor, earned an amount of money with which he pro- cured better instruction, and thus continued alternately to labor and study for about three years, the last six months of which he spent ill his attic alone and without instruction from anyone; at the end of that time he presented himself at Harvard Col- lege for examination, and was admitted to the Freshman class. At the close of the vacation he returned to Cambridge with twelve dollars in his pocket as the whole pecuniary means to de- fray the expenses of a four years' course. Unaided and unas- sisted, except by his indomitable determination, untiring industry, and rigid economy, living much of the time on bread and water, at a cost of twenty-one cents a week, he earned by writ- ing exercises for indolent students, and by services rendered the government of the College in various ways, sufficient to ]Day his bills for tuition, books, etc., and took his degree as Bachelor of Arts in 1S23. A few weeks before he graduated he made an agreement to go as a private tutor into the family of Mrs. Cath- erine [?]ingaman, at Natchez, Miss., and, on leave of absence from College, started in July of that year, going by stage to New York, Philadelphia and Pittsburg, to Wheeling, Va. ; thence on a keel boat down the Ohio river to Cincinnati ; thence, in a small open skiff, to Louisville, Ky,, and thence, on a small steam- boat, down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to Natchez. While at Natchez he began the study of law in the office of Judge Turner, and after his return home completed his preparation un- der the instruction of Samuel M. Burnside, at Worcester, and was admitted to the bar. He formed a copartnership with Hon. Jonas L. Libby of Sutton, and subsequently opened an office and practiced in Millbury. In 1832 he closed his busi- ness in Millbury and removed with his wife and infant daughter to Westfield, N. Y., and took charge of his father-in-law's busi- ness. He returned to Massachusetts in 1839, leaving his family in Westfield, but they joined him in 1842, and he continued the practice of law..."
Letter References
Citations
Biography and Citation Information:
,
Biography:
"George Whitefield Livermore was born Oct. 15, 1794, in Paxton; died
Aug. 21, 1870, in Colburn, Ind. ; married Oct. 11, 1828, in Al-
bany, N. Y., Sophia, daughter of Gen. Joseph and Asenath
(Waters) Farnsworth, born Oct. 29, 1803, in Millbury ; died
Dec. 17, 1S5S, in Cambridge. In his eleventh year he lost the
full use of his lower limbs through a fever, but could move
around with the help of crutches or canes. He worked several
years at mechanical business, and when about twenty-one years
of age began fitting for college, having finished and fitted up
a small room in the attic of his father's house as a study. Not
having pecuniary means to defray the expenses of attending a
preparatory school, he began his studies under the tuition of his
father's clergyman ; making but slow progress, he resumed
mechanical labor, earned an amount of money with which he pro-
cured better instruction, and thus continued alternately to labor
and study for about three years, the last six months of which he
spent ill his attic alone and without instruction from anyone;
at the end of that time he presented himself at Harvard Col-
lege for examination, and was admitted to the Freshman class.
At the close of the vacation he returned to Cambridge with
twelve dollars in his pocket as the whole pecuniary means to de-
fray the expenses of a four years' course. Unaided and unas-
sisted, except by his indomitable determination, untiring industry,
and rigid economy, living much of the time on bread and
water, at a cost of twenty-one cents a week, he earned by writ-
ing exercises for indolent students, and by services rendered the
government of the College in various ways, sufficient to ]Day his
bills for tuition, books, etc., and took his degree as Bachelor of
Arts in 1S23. A few weeks before he graduated he made an
agreement to go as a private tutor into the family of Mrs. Cath-
erine [?]ingaman, at Natchez, Miss., and, on leave of absence from
College, started in July of that year, going by stage to New
York, Philadelphia and Pittsburg, to Wheeling, Va. ; thence on
a keel boat down the Ohio river to Cincinnati ; thence, in a
small open skiff, to Louisville, Ky,, and thence, on a small steam-
boat, down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to Natchez. While
at Natchez he began the study of law in the office of Judge
Turner, and after his return home completed his preparation un-
der the instruction of Samuel M. Burnside, at Worcester, and
was admitted to the bar. He formed a copartnership with
Hon. Jonas L. Libby of Sutton, and subsequently opened an
office and practiced in Millbury. In 1832 he closed his busi-
ness in Millbury and removed with his wife and infant daughter
to Westfield, N. Y., and took charge of his father-in-law's busi-
ness. He returned to Massachusetts in 1839, leaving his family
in Westfield, but they joined him in 1842, and he continued the
practice of law..."
Citation Notes:
http://archive.org/stream/livermorefamilyo00thwi/livermorefamilyo00thwi_djvu.txt
Biography:
Mentioned in 18381217BJS_WHS1. BJS talks about the Whig men candidates for the 1838 NYS Assembly. Livermore "of this place" is one of the men looking for a nomination.
Citation for Birth Info:
Citation Notes:
http://trees.ancestrylibrary.com/tree/23358327/person/12377045186
Citation for Death Info:
Citation Notes:
http://trees.ancestrylibrary.com/tree/23358327/person/12377045186