Elizabeth The Boarding House

In 1832, Elizabeth moved to Brookline, a popular suburb of Boston, where she would once again start a private school for girls. Mary would follow her sister to Brookline to teach at the new school. This was Mary’s first encounter with Horace Mann and her heart was touched, something she would remember all of her life. At the boarding house they were staying at in Brookline they would met Horace Mann a newly widowed man with whom Elizabeth would have intellectual conversations. She would grow rather fond of their time together and conversations. Mary would sit quietly for she was a bit shy. Their friendship grew over the coming years. These good friends would become an intricate part of one another’s lives. They made it their duty to keep

They were able to produce books for a third of what it cost for books coming from Europe. Although, Sophia found the work of sketching enjoyable, it turned into more of labor intensive project working with lithographs. It was taking a toll on her health. Mary and Elizabeth could see her becoming frailer with each passing day. They both agreed she needed rest in a warmer climate. Cuba was the chosen destination, Elizabeth arranged for a governess position for Mary with the agreement that Sophia could rest and recuperate. The decision to leave was especially hard on Mary, she did not want to leave Horace. She was hoping he loved her and would object to her leaving. Sophia suffered seasickness on her voyage to Cuba. They were in Cuba from December of 1833 to May of 1835. Sophia kept a journal with sketches and illustrations of the people and landscaping she saw during her trip. She wrote to her mother daily. This journal of her trip Cuba would help to establish her own literary presence. According to many writers, “If she would have published when she returned, Sophia would have been counted among the earliest practitioners of literary Transcendentalism”. Mary’s views on slavery, temperance, and abolition would come to light after her time in Cuba on a plantation and would show up in her writing as well as the education models. Elizabeth would form an even