Ebenezer R. Hoar - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar was born in Concord, Massachusetts on February 21, 1816. Hoar came from a long line of Puritan ancestry, whose family had emigrated to America in 1640 to find religious liberty from England, initially settling in Braintree. His father was Samuel Hoar and his mother was Sarah Sherman. Hoar was sent to a religious private female teacher at the early age of two where in a matter of weeks acquired learning as if he had gone to a public instructor. By the age of three years, Hoar was able to read the Bible fluently as an adult. By the age of four, Hoar was literate; having excelled his older sister in reading and writing. As Hoar grew up he was known for quick thinking and witty sayings. After attending a preparatory Academy, Hoar entered Harvard University at the age of fifteen in 1831. After graduation in 1835, Hoar moved West and served as an instructor at a school for girls in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After teaching in Pittsburgh, Hoar traveled to Kentucky and heard the famous politician Henry Clay speak, afterwards he then returned safely to Concord where he began to study law at his father's office. Hoar returned to Harvard where he studied law for eighteen months and for six months in the law office of Emory Washburn. On September 30, 1839, Hoar passed the bar and had received a LL.B degree from Harvard, where upon he practiced law in 1840 in Concord and Boston.