Noah Webster Pamphlet Collection

Noah Webster, Junior, was born in the West District of Hartford (now West Hartford), Connecticut on October 16, 1758. He entered Yale College in 1774 at age 16, and graduated in 1778. Though he wished to study law, his father could not afford to pay for it, and Webster began teaching. Later he would study law under Oliver Ellsworth, and would also earn a law degree from Yale. His experience in the classroom ultimately led to the publication of his "Blue-Backed Speller." Over the years, Webster continued to write and publish, including "Sketches of American Policy," "A Brief History of Epidemic and Pestilential Diseases," and in 1806, "A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language." Webster, his wife, Rebecca Greenleaf, and their eight children, lived in several places during their life together. These included New York City; Amherst, Massachusetts; and New Haven, Connecticut. While living in Amherst and in New Haven, Webster served in the respective state legislatures. From the late 1780s on, Webster advocated for copyright legislation. "An American Dictionary of the English Language" was published in 1828. At the time of his death in 1843, Webster was working on a second volume of the dictionary. Its rights were acquired by George and Charles Merriam.