Noah Webster House - West Hartford, CT
Posted by: neoc1
N 41° 44.824 W 072° 44.750
18T E 687427 N 4624149
The birthplace and childhood home of lexicographer, editor, and author Noah Webster is located at 227 South Main St, West Hartford, CT.
Waymark Code: WMQB6G
Location: Connecticut, United States
Date Posted: 01/27/2016
Views: 1
Noah Webster was born and grew up in this 18th century house in West Hartford, CT. The Noah Webster Foundation restored the home and opened it to the public as a museum in the late 1960's. In 1970, the West Hartford Historical Society merged with the Noah Webster Foundation and currently operates the home and museum.
Noah Webster was born on October 16, 1758 in West Hartford, CT. He graduated from Yale College in 1778. He taught school for a while and then studied law under Oliver Ellsworth, passing the bar examination in 1781.
Noah Webster has become, literally, a household name for over 100 years. Before Webster there was no standard for spelling in the United States. He addressed this problem by compiling the first dictionary in America. Over his lifetime he published 385 editions of the "Blue-Backed Speller", first published in 1783, which was used to teach generations of Americans to read.
Politically, Webster was a Federalist. He founded and was the editor of America's first daily newspaper the American Minerva. Later he published the semi-weekly paper The Herald, A Gazette for the Country to become The New York Spectator. In his later years Webster became a devout Congregationalist. He wrote a Collection of Essays and Fugitive Writings on Moral, Historical, Political, and Literary Subjects (1790) and Value of The Bible and Excellence of the Christian Religion (1834).
Noah Webster died on May 28, 1843 and is buried in Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven, CT.