Noah Webster Jr.

From a farm boy to a master of words, Noah Webster Jr. made his mark on American History. David Collins wrote about his life in his biography entitled Noah Webster: Master of Words.

Noah was born in 1759 on a farm where he grew up with his father, mother, and older siblings. The children went to the local school until they were old enough to work on the farm and were then given the choice to keep going to school or to work on the farm. Most of the children chose to work on the farm instead of keep on schooling. Noah was of a different sort than most. He loved words. He would read the paper that the family got faithfully. What he really did was study each word.

When Noah became of age to work on the farm he chose to keep schooling. He wanted to go to college. He was tutored by a preacher in town who knew Latin. Noah showed diligence and progress in his Latin studies. He traded his brother his share of hasty pudding for doing his chores so he could study. When it was time to go to college he was well prepared. He went to Yale in 1774 when he was sixteen-years-old. It cost thirty-five British pound notes to enroll. Noah studied well and progressed. His studies were Latin, Greek, mathematics, philosophy, and theology; they were seldom changed. The students were required to split their own wood, build their own fires, and carry their own water for washing and drinking.

Noah’s first year in college was interesting when the Revolutionary War began. In the chapel at Yale the students got word of what was happening with the war. The college students were exempt from military service, but that did not lessen their interest and enthusiasm about the war. When Noah visited home he told his parents about hearing the news of the war in the chapel each day. His mother thought that it was sacrilegious to use the chapel for such talks; however, his father thought that it was fine. That made Noah feel better to have his father on his side. The students at Yale organized their own military company and drilled and exercised with the New Haven militia. Noah played the flute for the militia when they drilled and marched.

During Noah’s second year at Yale geometry was added to his studies. His father was worried that Noah was not interested in agriculture. Noah wanted to study law. He graduated from Yale on July 24, 1776, as a senior. He graduated fully from Yale when he was twenty-years-old. To study law would require money. Noah had to make his own living. He had no useable skill to earn a living; so he decided to teach school. In 1779 Noah moved and taught at a different school than the year before that. He started writing essays about education for newspapers. He studied law using the library of a prominent attorney. Noah moved again and worked at a County Recorder of Deeds during the summer of 1780. He studied law at night and sometimes forgot to eat his meals.

In 1781 Noah took the bar examination to become a lawyer. He passed, which was no big surprise for him. He then tried to get a job, but now that the war was over there weren’t many to be had. Noah had no experience as a clerk or a lawyer so no-one hired him. He finally got a teaching appointment at a high school. He decided to write a speller. Since 1750 Thomas Dilworth had been the authority in the colonial classroom. Noah found little to no support from anyone about writing a speller. Sentence by sentence and page by page his speller grew. He had included charts and important dates of American history in it. In the first month of 1783 Noah finished his book. Now he was going to get it endorsed by notable politicians and educators. He wanted a copy write from the former and approval of his techniques from the later. He got both things. Most Americans loved his textbook. To write the book was a hard task but Noah had no idea how hard it would be to get it published.

Noah soon found that it would be very hard to get his book into the American classrooms. Two men eventually agreed to publish it. The book sold very well and the students liked it. Next Noah wanted to write a reader. It was another success, so Noah ended up writing everything you would need in a colonial classroom.

His most famous publication was his 1828 dictionary. He started when he was forty-seven years old and finished when he was sixty-seven years old. He had written two other dictionaries before this one besides many other publications. Noah Webster Jr. died when he was eighty-four years old on Sunday, May 28, 1843.

Well wouldn’t it be exciting to read about the life of a word master? I enjoyed it. This book is full of information and many WORDS.