Ruth Patten

Ruth Patten was the daughter of Ruth Wheelock Patten and Reverend William Patten, and the granddaughter of Reverend Eleazer Wheelock D.D., founder and first president of Dartmouth College. She was educated at schools in Hartford, Connecticut, and developed excellent needleworking skills.

In 1785, after the death of her father William, Ruth Patten's mother opened a school in Hartford. She ran it with Ruth and Ruth's two sisters, Sarah (1761-1843) and Mary (1769-1850). The school educated approximately 4000 girls by the time it closed in 1825.