Representative women of New England/Harriet E. Benedict
HARRIET EMILY BENEDICT, Regent of the John Hancock Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, is a native of Le Roy, Genesee County, N.Y. She was born November 13, 1842, daughter of Dr. Moses and Fanny Alvord (White) Barrett.
Her father, who was born January 28, 1815, was the son of Jedediah and Eunice (Gleason) Barrett. His paternal grandfather, Lemuel Barrett, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution. Moses Barrett studied medicine at the Pittsfield Medical College. His wife, whose maiden name was Fanny Alvord White, was born in Heath, Mass., February 19, 1813, daughter of David and Sophia (Kendrick) White. She was a friend and pupil of Mary Lyon prior to the founding of Mount Holyoke Seminary (now College). Mrs. Barrett was thus well qualified to be her daughter's first instructor—"first and last," as held in that daughter's loving, grateful remembrance, but not her only teacher, it must be added.
Harriet Emily Barrett attended the excellent schools of lie Roy in her early childhood. Later, her parents changing their place of residence, she pursued her studies at various institutions of learning in the West. On February 11, 1868, she was married to Washington Gano Benedict, a native of Rhode Island. He was son of Thomas S. and Ruth A. (Smith) Benedict, a lineal descendant of Thomas* Benedict, who settled in Norwalk, Conn., more than two hundred years ago.
Mr. Benedict's paternal grandfather, the Rev. David Benedict, a native of Norwalk, Conn., was for many years the pastor of a Baptist church in Pawtucket, R.I. He married Margaret H., daughter of the Rev. Stephen Gano and grand-daughter of the Rev. John Gano, of New York City, who served as a chaplain in the Revolutionary War. Stephen Gano studied medicine in his youth, and for about two years served as a surgeon in the Continental army. He afterward studied for the Baptist ministry, and was settled in Providence. The Rev. John Gano, Mr. Benedict's great-great-grandfather, was a charter member of the Society of the Cincinnati, and the Rev. Stephen Gano was also a member. Mr. Benedict was well known in the business world. He built the first electric railway in the State of Massachusetts, that from Winthrop Junction to Revere Beach. For some years he was president of the Boston and Revere Electric Railway Company. He died January 24, 1899.
Mrs. Benedict has three sons: Francis Gano, born October 3, 1870; Vallette Lyman, born August 28, 1872; and Clarence Barrett, born October 29, 1874. Francis Gano Benedict, a graduate of Harvard (A.B. 1893, A.M. 1894), continued his studies at Heidelberg, Germany, and took his Ph.D. in one year, something never before achieved by an American. He is now a professor in Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. He married July 28, 1897, Cornelia Golay. A daughter, Elizabeth Harriet, was born March 12, 1902. [For further information concerning Professor Benedict, chemist and educator, author of "Elementary Organic Analysis," 1900, and "Chemicai Lecture Experiments," 1901, see "Who's Who in America."]
Vallette Lyman Benedict, electrical engineer, graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1894, is with the General Electric Company, Schenectady, N.Y. He married Florence Marian Ballard, June 21, 1900. A son, Russell Gano, was born May 15, 1902.
Clarence Barrett Benedict, lawyer, in Boston, married Millicent Emily Thompson, December 5, 1900.
Mrs. Benedict, as noted above, is the present Regent of the John Hancock Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was admitted to membership as a great-grand-daughter of Benjamin White, who served in the war as a Lieutenant and later as Captain, and assisted in the capture of Burgoyne. She has been a member of the New England Women's Club, is still a member of the Castilian Club, and is one of the Board of Visitors to the New England Conservatory of Music.
She is particularly interested in the Conservatory students, in behalf of whom she has exercised generous and cheering hospitality, taking great pleasure in befriending young ladies and girls who were far away from their homes. In religion she is an Episcopalian, being a member of Trinity Church.