Spafford, Mary Otis Preston, 1857-1933

Mary Otis Preston was born in Granby, Mass. on July 20, 1857. Her parents were Calvin Preston, a farmer, and Sarah Montague Moody Preston. After attending local and district schools, she entered Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1876 and graduated in 1879. She then worked as "boy's attendant" at the Clarke Institute for Deaf Mutes in Northampton, Mass. for two years. In the summer of 1882 Spafford went to Wellington, South Africa to work at Huguenot Seminary, the first institution for the higher education of women in that country. She taught Latin, physics, and a number of other subjects, managed the school's financial accounts, and served as acting principal for a short time. She returned to the United States in 1889 and in 1890 married William Swain Spafford, whom she had met when he was stationed in South Africa with the South Irish Artillery. They had four children. She died in South Hadley, Massachusetts on April 29, 1933 at the age of seventy-five.

From the description of Papers 1879-1933 1882-1889. (Lewis & Clark Library). WorldCat record id: 41485270

Mary Otis Preston was born in Granby, Massachusetts, on July 20, 1857. Her parents were Calvin Preston, a farmer, and Sarah Montague Moody Preston. After attending local and district schools, she entered Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1876 and graduated in 1879. She then worked as "boy's attendant" at the Clarke Institute for Deaf Mutes in Northampton, Massachusetts for two years. In the summer of 1882 Spafford went to Wellington, South Africa to work at Huguenot Seminary, the first institution for the higher education of women in that country. She taught Latin, physics, and a number of other subjects, managed the school's financial accounts, and served as acting principal for a short time. She returned to the United States in 1889 and in 1890 married William Swain Spafford, whom she had met when he was stationed in South Africa with the South Irish Artillery. They had four children. She died in South Hadley, Massachusetts on April 29, 1933 at the age of seventy-five.

From the guide to the Spafford papers MS 0717., 1879-1933, 1882-1889, (Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections)