-> 



\Vhen the world lost a genius for mathematics and astronomy 

 om equaled, rarely surpassed. This monument is erected 

 l>v the Society ot Freemasons, ot which he was an ornament, 

 by whose lustre the path to the high eminence to which he 

 ned is made plain to those who strive for equal excel- 

 lence/' 



.lane Klizabeth, a daughter of the mathematician, Consider 



: v. was married to Peleg Hunt in 1823. Thomas Sterry, 



their oldest child, was born on Septembers, 1826, in Nor- 



,. Conn. 



Mr. Hunt moved his family to Poughkeepsie. X. V.. when 



his son was about ten years old. There the father died in 



1838, and the mother returned with her surviving children 



to her old home in Connecticut. She was a woman in whom 



i-jth of character was combined with tenderness. She 



made a successful struggle; by her own exertions educated 



her children, and was rewarded by their unflagging affection. 



ni ings were devoted to relieving her from the 



burden of self-support and to providing her with a home of 



own. After her death he devoted a large share of his 



to the maintenance in comfort of his two sisters. 

 HI- was twelve years of age when his mother returned to 

 ,vieh. For a short period he attended the grammar 

 school, but it was necessarily fora short period. The finan- 

 cial exigencies of his home were pcMvmptorv. and the lad of 

 thirteen ha<i , his own living. His first employment 



in a pri nt ing office. His next master was an apothecary, 

 his third a bookseller. His inclinations probably dictated 



i;c in each case, for books and chemicals were already 



3 with whici, ping his future rarcer. l>ut 



mo: Jig in the corn. v ot' the 



village Ik Deal Norwich, the future chemist 



accepted it. Fortunately his d re n..t exacting, for 



; him tini" to read and <M some 



,. with tin- Stove as his furnace an 1 the shelve.. 

 ' as his lal- A scientific career 



was us etVorts and studies. His most upp' 



