Sabra BillingsSabra Billings lived a life that was unconventional for the period. She chose not to marry, and instead ran the family business with her sister, travelled extensively, improved her education, and owned her own property. Some of Sabra’s uniqueness can be attributed to her parents’ emphasis on education. When she was only eight, Braddish and Lamira sent Sabra to a boarding school in Brockville. This was a progressive move considering most pioneer girls had to cut their educations short to help with chores at home. Sabra continued studying through her early teens while she attended schools in Montreal. In general, Sabra would have been instructed in a number of areas. Ladies and gentlemen studied under separate curricula, even when they attended the same school. A pamphlet dated 1854 illustrates the difference:
The brochure advertises the opening of the Fort Plain Seminary and Female Collegiate Institute in New York Country, America. Here, courses deemed appropriate for women are catalogued. For example, a young girl going into school could expect to receive instruction in languages such as French or German, lessons on the piano, as well as lessons in English, or ornamental needlework. Men on the other hand received instruction on ancient languages, natural sciences, and mathematics.
While the brochure is dated to 1854, the list of instruction represents the type of education Sabra would have received. Sabra’s education did not end with her teenage years. Much later in her life, during her forties, she again attended a ladies college in New York. Nevertheless, while her education may have been atypical of her female contemporaries, she still did not receive the same instruction as that of her brothers, or other male contemporaries. |
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