The Autobiography and Letters of Matthew Vassar (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Autobiography and Letters of Matthew Vassar

Matthew Vassar, the Founder of Vassar College, was a plain, self-made business man whose life ran along for years in grooves familiar to many American citizens. His story is indeed only a narrative of thrifty money-making in a homely business until, when he had almost reached the scriptural allotment of three score years and ten, the romance of his life appeared in the shape of a great idea and his dreams of fame were shortly realized. The founding of Vassar College was the opportunity, education, and reward of all Matthew Vassar's latent power.

Viewed then, in the light of the significant ending, the whole story of Matthew Vassar's life has interest. Born in England in 1792, Matthew was brought at the age of four to America by his parents, James and Anne Vassar, who were dissenters and wished to escape the taxation involved in the tithes of the church. In 1797, the family purchased a farm on the shores of Wappenger's Creek, near Poughkeepsie, and here, by raising their own barley and making home-brewed beer, they started in a small way the business in which afterward Matthew made his fortune. In 1801, the Vassar brewery was started in Poughkeepsie and the family moved to town.

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