This week: Cornwall! In 1817 a school opened in the village for young men from Hawaii, China, India and the Cherokee Nation. Nine years later the town closed it over two marriages. The last building stands a few doors from Saturday's Lena Dunham talk.
Patrick
The Litchfield Ledger
Cornwall village in 1835, drawn by John Warner Barber. The school's buildings are just right of the church.
The School Cornwall Closed in 1826
Lena Dunham speaks Saturday at the United Church of Christ on Bolton Hill Road in Cornwall. A few doors up the road is a house built in 1817. It is the last building left from the Foreign Mission School.
For nine years the school brought young men from Hawaii, China, India and fourteen Native nations to Cornwall village. It closed after two of them married local women.
What was the Foreign Mission School?
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions ran it. It opened in May 1817. The plan was to educate young men from other countries and from Native nations, convert them, and send them home as missionaries.
The school opened with 12 students, seven of them Hawaiian. A year later it had 24. More than 100 passed through in all, and they spoke 24 languages among them. They studied Greek, Latin, French, calculus, chemistry and geography. They also learned trades like coopering and blacksmithing.
Who was Henry Opukahaia?
Henry Opukahaia, from an engraving made in the 1810s.
He was the first student. He left Hawaii as a cabin boy and landed in New Haven in 1810. Edwin Dwight, who became the school's first principal, befriended him there.
Opukahaia died in Cornwall in 1818, at 26, before he could go home. His story is what sent American missionaries to Hawaii. He was buried in Cornwall Cemetery. In 1993 his remains were returned to Hawaii. People still visit the grave.
What went wrong?
Two students fell in love with local women. John Ridge, the son of a Cherokee leader, married Sarah Northrop, the daughter of the school's steward, in 1824. His cousin Elias Boudinot got engaged to Harriet Gold of Cornwall the next year.
The town burned Harriet in effigy on the village green. Her own brother lit the fire. She married Boudinot anyway in 1826. The school closed that year.
What happened to them?
Both couples moved to the Cherokee Nation in Georgia. Boudinot became editor of the Cherokee Phoenix, a newspaper printed in Cherokee and English.
In 1835 Boudinot and Ridge signed the Treaty of New Echota. It gave up all Cherokee land east of the Mississippi and led to the Trail of Tears. On June 22, 1839, other Cherokees killed both men for signing it.
Other students went home to quieter work. David Carter became a judge on the Cherokee Supreme Court. McKee and Israel Folsom helped create a written alphabet for Choctaw.
What is left?
The Steward's House, at 14 Bolton Hill Road. It became a National Historic Landmark in 2016. It is a private home and can be seen from the road.
The church is at number 8. The Cornwall Historical Society is at 7 Pine Street, and Opukahaia's stone is in Cornwall Cemetery.
🍂 Wednesday the 7th
Litchfield Community Center, Litchfield – A screening of Remember Warsaw, an oratorio about three young people in the Warsaw Ghetto and Auschwitz. Librettist Bernard Kaplan of Sherman introduces the film and leads a discussion afterward. $10 donation at the door. 421 Bantam Road. 6:30 PM SEE THE SCREENING
🕯️ Thursday the 8th
White Memorial Conservation Center, Litchfield – Happy Hour Hiking Club. Gerri Griswold leads a one-hour autumn walk on a different trail each month. Free, with registration. Meet in the museum, 80 Whitehall Road. 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM WALK WITH GERRI
🎃 Friday the 9th
Bantam River, Litchfield – Tiny Trekking: On the Water. Kelly Orr leads a White Memorial family paddle at a child's pace, looking for beavers, herons and turtles. Bring a canoe or kayak and life jackets. Free, with registration. Rain cancels. Meet at the boat launch off Whites Woods Road. 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM PADDLE THE RIVER
🍁 Saturday the 10th
United Church of Christ, Cornwall – Lena Dunham, creator of Girls, talks with author Robert Becker about her book Famesick. Dunham lives part of the year in Cornwall. Presented by the Cornwall Library. In person only, registration required. 8 Bolton Hill Road. 5:30 PM HEAR LENA DUNHAM
🌾 Sunday the 11th
Cornwall Historical Society, Cornwall – The last day to see War Stories: Cornwall in the Revolution. 7 Pine Street. 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM SEE IT BEFORE IT CLOSES
That is one pick a day. The full list, including a Saturday morning walk at the Cooley Preserve in West Cornwall, is on the website.
A few poll respondents mentioned they didn’t know the Ledger was on Instagram! It is. Photographs of the county between issues, plus events that don’t make the newsletter.
Show your business to thousands of Litchfield locals. Email Patrick at patrick@litchfieldledger.com.
