DENISON OLMSTED. 25 1 



for instruction, obtained a place for him, when he was about 

 twelve years old, in the family of Governor Treadwell, as a chore 

 boy, with the understanding that he should attend the district 

 school. He was, according to the Rev. Dr. Porter, of Farm- 

 ington, Conn., a very lovely, intelligent boy, and soon engaged 

 the affections of the family. Governor Treadwell became in- 

 terested in him, and took pains to help him along in his stud- 

 ies. Only reading, spelling, and writing were taught in the 

 school. A proposition of Governor Treadwell to teach him 

 arithmetic was readily accepted, and the boy made good prog- 

 ress under this sympathetic attention. Young Olmsted was 

 put into a country store at Farmington, in which Governor 

 Treadwell's son was a partner, and then at Burlington, where 

 he had the same employer. When sixteen years old he became 

 desirous of obtaining a liberal education. He had already 

 acquired a considerable knowledge of English literature, and 

 made creditable progress in the elementary mathematics. 

 With the consent of his guardian and his mother he went to 

 Litchfield South Farms, to attend the school of James Morris. 

 He undertook the care of a public district school for a short 

 time ; completed his fitting for college under the Rev. Dr. 

 Noah Porter at Farmington, and entered Yale College in 1809 

 He took rank at once among the best scholars in his class, 

 being apparently nearly equally proficient in all his studies, 

 excelling also in writing, and cultivating a taste for belles- 

 lettres and poetry. He was graduated with the highest 

 honours in 1813, when he was appointed one of the orators in 

 a class of seventy, of which only ten received that distinction. 

 The subject of his graduation address was the Causes of In- 

 tellectual Greatness. 



After graduation, Mr. Olmsted obtained a position as a 

 teacher in the " Union School " at New London, Conn., a pri- 

 vate institution for boys which had been supported by a few 

 families of the place for several generations. In 1815 he was 

 appointed a tutor in Yale College. Here he joined a small 

 class in theology, instructed by Dr. Dwight, with the intention, 

 which he had formed a short time before having come under 

 strong religious influence of entering the ministry. Dr. 

 Dwight died within a year, and Mr. Olmsted published a mem- 

 oir of him in The Portfolio for November, 1817. The theo- 

 logical studies were terminated in 1817 by Mr. Olmsted's 



