Grant, Zilpah (1794–1874)

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Grant, Zilpah (1794–1874)

American educator. Name variations: Zilpah Polly Grant; Zilpah Polly Grant Banister. Born Zilpah Polly Grant, May 30, 1794, in Norfolk, Connecticut; died in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Dec 3, 1874; attended Female Academy of Byfield, Massachusetts; m. William B. Banister (lawyer and politician), Sept 1841 (died 1853).

Always of frail health, grew up under intense pressure, having to aid widowed mother in holding on to family farm; taught at Female Seminary in Byfield, MA, and at a girls' school in Winsted, Connecticut; named a preceptor at Adams Female Academy in East Derry, NH (1824), invited friend Mary Lyon to teacher there and the school flourished.

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