“ She was one of the most conspicuous persons in the famous literary and educational circles of Boston, and is now the only survivor of the persons who wrought so well for freedom, for light and for morality. ”

“ Her sister Sophia became the wife of Nathaniel Hawthorne, and her sister Mary the wife of Horace Mann. Elizabeth was the oldest of a family of six children. She was a precocious child. She received a liberal and varied education, including the complete mastery of ten languages. At the age of sixty she learned Polish, because of her interest in the struggle of Poland for liberty. In early womanhood she put her attainments to use in a private school, which she taught in her home. ”