Sarah Bradford Ripley

Sarah Alden Bradford Ripley (July 31, 1793 – July 26, 1867) was an American educator and noted scholar at a time when women were rarely admitted to universities. She acquired most of her knowledge of the classics, philosophy, modern languages, botany, astronomy, and chemistry through independent study. She was reputedly "one of the most learned women of the nineteenth century." Early life and education Sarah Alden Bradford was born in Boston on July 31, 1793, the oldest of nine children of Gamaliel Bradford III and Elizabeth Hickling Bradford. Her mother had tuberculosis and her father was a sea captain who was often away on voyages, leaving Sarah to care for her younger siblings. The family lived in Boston but often spent time in Duxbury, Massachusetts, where her paternal grandfather lived. There she met Abba B. Allyn, who became a lifelong friend. Allyn's father, Dr. John Allyn, tutored both girls in Latin and Greek. Bradford also attended classes taught by Jacob Abbot Cummings in Boston, and read the books her father brought home from his travels. While in her teens she taught herself to read French and Italian, and studied chemistry, physics, and botany on her own initiative.