My mother was intimate in the household of Oliver
Ellsworth as in a second home. His children were her playmates.
She was also very intimate indeed with the family of Senator
Hillhouse, whose daughter Mary was one of her dearest friends.
Senator Hillhouse held a very high place in the public life
of Connecticut in his day. He was one of the friends of Hamilton,
and one of the group of Federal statesmen of whom Hamilton
was the leader. He was United States Senator for Connecticut
from 1796 to 1810.
After she became a young lady, my mother, with Fanny Ellsworth,
afterward Mrs. Wood, and Mary Hillhouse, daughter of the Senator,
established a school to teach young colored children to read
and sew. The colored people in New Haven were in a sad condition
in those days. The law of the State made it a penal offence
to teach a colored child to read. These girls violated the
law. The public authorities interfered and threatened them
with prosecution. But the young women were resolute. They
insisted that they were performing a religious duty, and declared
that they should disobey the law and take the consequences.
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