Mary C. Whitman 1839

Mary C. Whitman 1839
teacher and associate principal 1839-1850 Mount Holyoke Seminary
president of the Memorandum Society 1845-1851 Mount Holyoke Seminary
Married 1851
died 1875 Fall River

Source
All information from One Hundred Year Biographical Directory of Mount Holyoke College 1837-1937, Bulletin Series 30, no. 5; published and compiled by the Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts

The following bio was assembled by "banjoreno," a seller on eBay:

Mary Coolidge Whitman (1809-1874) was born at East Bridgewater, MA, the daughter of Alfred Whitman (1781-1842) and his first wife Betsey Tobbins (1786-1832). Alfred's second wife was Abigail Whitman (1790-1875). Mary graduated from Mt. Holyoke in 1839 and then provided indispensible service to the Seminary as a teacher 1839-1850, Associate Principal 1842-1849, and Principal 1849-1850. She worked closely with Mary Lyon and her duties as Associate Principal greatly relieved some of the burdens of administration from Lyon. In 1846 Whitman's responsibilities increased significantly, due to a shortage of teachers and Lyon's bouts of ill health. Lyon's health improved 1847-1848 and she began the September 1848-1849 term with "increased vigor." However, the additional duties taken on by Whitman took their toll on her. Whitman's own health had declined by the end of the 1847-1848 school year and that she had then given up most of her school duties. She went on vacation during the summer but returned to Mt. Holyoke in September "far from well." Sophia believed that Whitman suffered from "nervous prostration" and arranged for her to stay with Rebecca Atwater in Ravenna to recuperate. At the same time, Mary Lyon's health began to fail and she left Mt. Holyoke and traveled to Monson, MA, for rest. On February 15, 1849, Mary Lyon wrote Whitman, "I trust you will have fifteen years added to your life, if we will all suffer the trial of your taking a thorough rest." Mary Lyon died on March 5, 1849, and Whitman rushed back to Mt. Holyoke from Ravenna. On April 18, 1849, the Trustees elected her Principal. In Fall 1849 Whitman became increasingly concerned about the health of her two main associates, Sophia D. Hazen and Mary W. Chapin. She realized that her own health was not strong and she "had not been able to discharge her duties for several months." In Spring 1850 she requested that the Trustees release her from her duties. On April 23, 1850, the Trustees held a special meeting, granted her request, and appointed Mary W. Chapin Acting Principal. Whitman apparently remained at Mt. Holyoke as a teacher until the end of the term. The 1850 census, taken in South Hadley on July 30, listed her as a teacher at the Seminary. On July 2, 1851, Whitman married insurance agent Morton Eddy (1797-1888) at Cambridge, MA, and they made their home in Fall River, MA. On December 6, 1874, she passed away at Fall River. Her brother Edmund Burke Whitman (1812-1883) married Nancy Russell (1807-1847) in 1839. She died in Cambridge on April 19, 1847, shortly after the birth of their son James Nicholas Whitman. The Mary C. Whitman Eddy Papers are held by Mount Holyoke College Archives & Special Collections. See Twelfth Annual Catalogue of the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary...1848-49; Catalogue of the Memorandum Society, and of the Alumnae of Mount Holyoke Seminary...1837-1877; History of Mount Holyoke Seminary...During Its First Half Century, 1837-1887; A Hundred Years of Mount Holyoke College (1940); the Hartford Courant (December 9, 1874), and The Power of Christian Benevolence Illustrated in the Life and Labors of Mary Lyon (1858).