Two of the most foundational books of American education were the Blue Backed Speller and the Webster Dictionary, originally published as An American Dictionary of the English Language. Both of these works were produced by the same man, Noah Webster. He has been rightly called the “Father of American Education.”

Noah Webster was born in West Hartford, Connecticut, on October 16, 1758. Webster came from an important New England family, and he grew up with a love for history. His father, Noah Webster Sr., was descended from John Webster, an early governor of colonial Connecticut. His mother, Mercy Steele, was a descendant of William Bradford, the dedicated and well-loved Mayflower pilgrim who served as governor of Plymouth Colony for many years.

Noah Webster was raised with an awareness of his place in colonial history and with a sense of destiny. His father did not have any college education, but the man valued learning. He was a deacon in the local Congregational Church and served as captain of the local militia.

Noah’s mother educated her children at home. Thus, Webster was truly homeschooled. His mother instructed him in mathematics, music, and the rudiments of spelling and grammar. For a time he attended a local one-room schoolhouse, but he found the teaching weak and the books poor. Even as a boy, Webster knew that American youth needed better books and better teachers.

Under the instruction of a local pastor, Noah Webster studied Greek and Latin, with an eye toward furthering his education at Yale. By the time he was sixteen, Webster was ready to enter Yale College in the fall of 1774. Young Webster was astonished at the vast library at Yale—2,500 volumes!

The daily grind at Yale was rigorous and unvaried. Some students ruefully called the college “The Brick Prison.” Students rose each day at 5:30. Morning prayers and recitations lasted until 7:30, which was when breakfast was served. The students then studied individually until 11:00, when the bell rang for formal classes to begin. Dinner was served at noon. The students then had a two-hour break for reading, walking, or exercise until 3:00. After this, they studied again for three solid hours until supper was served at 6:00. They were free after supper until bedtime at 9:00.

Timothy Dwight and John Trumbull were at Yale when Noah studied there. These two men were ardent patriots and steadfast Christians. They warned the students that war with Great Britain might break out soon. As they predicted, war did happen. April 1775 brought news of the “shot heard round the world” and the subsequent fighting at Lexington and on the Concord Bridge.

Although college students were exempted from military service, Webster did join a voluntary college militia unit. A lover of music, he played the fife on the drills held periodically on the green.

When Yale briefly closed its doors due to an outbreak of typhoid fever, Noah Webster joined his father and his brothers in the ranks, exchanging his fife for a musket. However, he saw no active combat during his brief stint with the Continental forces and soon returned to Yale.

After graduation in 1779, Webster spent a few years teaching in local one-room schoolhouses. Active war was over in the northern colonies, and Noah felt that he could serve his country best by educating its boys and girls. Time spent in the classroom convinced him that American schools needed new spelling books, better dictionaries, and better libraries. He was frustrated in some cases that several students needed to share outdated and poorly printed textbooks.

Noah Webster studied law under Oliver Ellsworth in Hartford, Connecticut. Ellsworth would eventually become chief justice of the United States Supreme Court. While studying law, Webster continued to teach school. After passing the bar in 1781, he obtained his master’s degree from Yale.

Frustrated that nobody else was taking up the work of providing American textbooks for American children, Noah Webster decided to meet the need himself. By 1785, working in his free time, he had written a speller, a grammar book, and a simple reader for elementary students.

In 1789, at the age of 31, Noah Webster met a young lady named Rebecca Greenleaf. All earlier romantic attractions for Webster had ended in disappointment. But Rebecca was different. He met her on March 1, and noted the fact in his private diary. Six days later, he called her “the sweet Miss Greenleaf.” Two days after that, she was entered into his diary again as “the agreeable Miss Greenleaf.” And before the end of the month, she was “the lovely Becca.”

The two were married on October 26 of that same year. The Lord blessed the union with eight children over the course of a long, faithful marriage. Webster’s wife assisted him in his work, and she shared his desire to give American children a strong and meaningful education.

Proceeds from the sale of the popular “blue-backed speller” provided a modest but sufficient income for Noah Webster to begin a task that would occupy the majority of his life—the writing of an American dictionary. He labored on this work with a patient persistence over the course of many years.

Webster understood the power of words. The Bible is only useful to man when the words of God are understood by the common man. A transcendent, invisible God has chosen the avenue of human speech to convey His Word to man. Words such as redemption, sanctification, atonement, and propitiation make transcendent realities understood. While man can never fully comprehend God, he can and should comprehend the words and ways that God has chosen to reveal about Himself.

Noah Webster saw the work of laying a firm foundation for American education as his task on earth. He was a devout Christian who knew that the Bible must be the foundation of any true system of education. About education he wrote, “Education is useless without the Bible. The Bible was America’s basic textbook in all fields. God’s Word, contained in the Bible, has furnished all necessary rules to direct our conduct.”

When his work was completed, Webster’s dictionary contained many Bible passages that shed light upon the definitions of Biblical words. His goal was to make the Bible an open book, readily understood by all throughout the newly independent United States, even those with the most basic of education such as farmers and housewives. His dictionary standardized English spelling and pronunciation, making American English consistent from Maine to Florida. An ardent patriot, Webster wanted “American” English rather than “British” English to be standardized throughout the new nation.

His dictionary was finally published in 1828 as An American Dictionary of the English Language. Eagerly received by scholars and ordinary folks alike, it was viewed as a masterpiece of precision. The definitions within were thorough, concise, and rich with meaningful examples.

Since that time, the dictionary has undergone numerous subsequent editions. All contemporary Merriam-Webster dictionaries are rooted in Noah Webster’s original 1828 edition. A beautiful reprint of the 1828 original edition is available to this day.

In addition to his dictionary, Webster made many other valuable contributions. He was a model citizen and wrote patriotic articles and pamphlets in support of the United States Constitution and on behalf of the Federalist party. He also wrote an important work titled Value of the Bible and Excellence of the Christian Religion, a book that defended the Word of God from skeptical criticism and advocated the importance of building a society upon the foundational truths of God’s Word.

Noah Webster died in 1843 at the age of 84 in New Haven, Connecticut. His influence lingers wherever parents instruct their children in the Word of God, the foundation of all true education.

Sources and Further Reference:

Collins, David. Noah Webster: Master of Words. Huron, MI: Mott Media, 1989.