This is a transcription of the Frances (Bellows) Sanborn biography from New Hampshire Women: A Collection of Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Daughters and Residents of the Granite State, Who are Worthy Representatives of their Sex in the Various Walks and Conditions of Life, The New Hampshire Publishing Co., Concord, NH, 1895, page 231.
Frances (Bellows) Sanborn
MRS. FRANCES B. SANBORN, one of the most scholarly, cultured, and intellectual of the daughters of New Hampshire, was born in Littleton, November 15, 1841. From her parents, Henry Adams Bellows, late chief justice of the supreme court of the state, and Katherine Walley Bellows, the daughter inherited an estate in literary and intellectual gifts, in refinement of character and taste, in a sympathetic nature, and delicacy of moral perception. Her father removed to Concord in 1850, and Mrs. Sanborn attended the public schools in that city. In 1861 she entered the sophomore class of Antioch College, Ohio, of which her uncle, the late Thomas Hill, D. D., was president. Under his instruction she went through the course of study, and made up the work of four terms in one, and graduated in 1863. In 1872 she was married to Hon. Chas. P. Sanborn, a brilliant lawyer, once speaker of the house of representatives, and identified with the political interests of the state. Mr. Sanborn died in 1888, leaving three children. With an indomitable will, with wide learning, and an extraordinary gift at inspiring the love of learning in others, and a happy facility of imparting knowledge from her own abundant stores, Mrs. Sanborn has for fifteen years conducted a private school in Concord, given instruction to private pupils, and carried on classes for ladies in history, literature, and art. Her classes have represented the best culture in the city, and her personal influence has been far-reaching for good. In 1894 she began giving talks on subjects of literary, historical, and social interest in Concord, Keene, Franklin, Manchester, and other places. These talks grew out of a demand, consequent on her success with her classes for ladies, and now meet with steadily increasing appreciation.