Rinaldo Burleigh

Rinaldo Burleigh was born in what is now Eastford, Connecticut in 1774. His father died at an early age, and he was indentured to a local farmer. He lost one of his arms in an accident at the age of 14, and so at 17 was released from his indenture. He attended Yale, and graduated that school in 1803. He taught at academies in both Woodstock and Colchester, but spent the greatest part of his teaching career at the Plainfield Academy. Burleigh was a deacon of the congregational church in Plainfield, and the first president of the Anti-Slavery Society of Plainfield, founded in 1833. Failing vision caused him to give up teaching, and by 1847 he was completely blind. He died in Plainfield on 10 February 1863.

In 1805, Burleigh married Lydia Bradford. They had seven children: Mary Frances Burleigh Ames (1807-1877), John Oscar Burleigh (1809-1848), Charles Calistus Burleigh (1810-1878), William Henry Burleigh (1812-1871), Lucian Rinaldo Burleigh (1817-1884), Cyrus Moses Burleigh (1820-1855), and George Shepard Burleigh (1821-1903).