Narcissa Whitman - Early Life

Early Life

Narcissa Prentiss was born in Prattsburgh, New York, in the Genesee Valley on March 14, 1808. She was the third of nine children of Judge Stephen and Clarissa Prentiss. She was the oldest of the five girls, followed by Clarissa, Mary Ann, Jane, and Harriet. She also had four brothers. Like many young women of the era, she became caught up in the Second Great Awakening. She decided that her true calling was to become a missionary, and was accepted for missionary service in March 1835. Narcissa was educated at the Female Academy at Troy, on the Hudson before her marriage to Dr. Marcus Whitman. It was on February 18, 1836 in Angelica, New York.

Read more about this topic:  Narcissa Whitman

Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:

    “I do not know that I meet, in any of my Walks, Objects which move both my Spleen and Laughter so effectually, as those Young Fellows ... who rise early for no other Purpose but to publish their Laziness.”
    —Richard Steele (1672–1729)

    “Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.”
    —Henry Miller (1891–1980)