235:) in 1839 when the seminary merged with the college. The college, chartered in 1836, began offering classes in 1839. She was the first woman to earn a degree from Wesleyan because her name came first alphabetically among the graduates of the class of 1840. She received diploma on July 16, 1840. Her diploma said that "she had completed the regular course and bestowed on her the
211:, died on March 9, 1896, in Macon; she married firstly Napoleon Bonaparte Corbin on August 8, 1850, and secondly Robert B. Clayton on December 21, 1866, in Macon) and younger brother Edward Ebenezer (born June 4, 1828, in Lexington, died June 8, 1864, in Macon; he married Caroline Elizabeth Jones on July 17, 1858, in
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Members of the graduating class, demands will be made upon you which were not made upon us. Your training, if you are true to it, will amply qualify you to meet those demands. No wiser blessing could I wish for you than that you may be true to every God-appointed
243:. She is remembered each year at the annual meeting of the Wesleyan College Alumnae Association when graduating seniors are inducted into the association using the "Benson Charge", taken from a speech she made to the Class of 1888:
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Thomas Brewer Benson (born
January 22, 1849, in Macon, died on December 1880; he married Hattie E. Freeman on November 24, 1874, in Macon) - railroad conductor
207:, died on January 31, 1871, in Macon) who were married on October 3, 1820, in Roxbury. She had younger sister Adeline (born October 5, 1825, in
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179:(24 January 1822 – 27 February 1908) was one of the earliest women to earn a college bachelor's degree in the U.S.
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Catherine Benson died at her home in Macon on
February 27, 1908, at the age of 86 after several weeks of illness.
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Catherine
Colvard Benson (born November 10, 1844, in Macon, died on January 31, 1885; she married Alex Melrose)
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Gertrude Benson (born
November 12, 1864, in Macon, died on January 16, 1952; she married Henry C. Arnall)
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Eliza Sophie Benson (born
December 24, 1850, in Macon, died on September 7, 1912; she married J.M. Fargo)
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The
Education of the Southern Belle: Higher Education and Student Socialization in the Antebellum South
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Though Benson has been listed as the first woman to receive a bachelor's degree in the U.S., women at
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Frank Cook Benson (born
December 17, 1857, in Macon, died on October 57, 1943) - clerk
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Lexington in the 1820s. In 1838 they moved from Lexington to Macon.
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Howard Burke Benson (born May 4, 1862, died in
September 1887) - clerk
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Program of
Wesleyan College Alumnae Association Annual Meeting, 2007
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Richard Edward Benson (born October 20, 1846, in Macon, died
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She married Richard Aaron Benson (born November 14, 1821, in
203:) and Mary Foster Brewer (born February 29, 1796, in
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408:. University Press of Mississippi. p. 23.
355:Marker Ceremony Speech May 7, 2004 Tena Roberts
467:History of women's rights in the United States
405:Looking Back Mississippi: Towns and Places
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292:- admiral who became the nation's first
187:Benson was born on January 24, 1824, in
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482:People from Brookline, Massachusetts
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442:The Marion County Patriot
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197:Brookline, Massachusetts
111:Catherine Benson Melrose
462:Wesleyan College alumni
290:William Shepherd Benson
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135:Thomas Aspinwall Brewer
80:Clinton Female Seminary
329:Diary of Edward Brewer
264:Putnam County, Georgia
205:Roxbury, Massachusetts
159:Edward Ebenezer Brewer
127:Gertrude Benson Arnall
83:Georgia Female College
444:, 6 March 1908, No. 8
113:Richard Edward Benson
213:Fort Valley, Georgia
115:Thomas Brewer Benson
103:Richard Aaron Benson
376:, NYU Press, 1994,
252:Mississippi College
125:Howard Burke Benson
258:Marriage and issue
209:Lexington, Georgia
141:Mary Foster Brewer
117:Eliza Benson Fargo
241:bachelor's degree
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123:Frank Cook Benson
120:William S. Benson
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237:First Degree
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88:First Degree
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56:(1908-02-27)
477:1908 deaths
472:1822 births
278: 1897
69:Nationality
456:Categories
341:2010-03-28
313:References
227:In nearby
36:1822-01-24
223:Education
162:(brother)
150:Relatives
132:Parent(s)
440:Note in
358:Archived
156:(sister)
144:(mother)
138:(father)
108:Children
72:American
193:Georgia
189:Augusta
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177:Brewer
100:Spouse
246:work.
410:ISBN
378:ISBN
183:Life
92:B.A.
51:Died
26:Born
174:née
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