Location: United States
Member Since:
Oct. 24, 2018
Gladys Stetson Leahy
Biography
Gladys Stetson Leahy was born in 1897 in Poland, Maine, where she grew up with her mother in her grandparents’ home, a small produce farm. A bright girl with some promise beyond her current circumstances, she graduated from Edward Little High School in Damariscotta.
Presumably under the auspices of her aunt and uncle, Harriett and Luther Spiller, she attended and graduated from Bates College with a B.A. degree in 1919. (Aunt Harriett was the Regional Superintendent of Schools and Uncle Luther was the local postmaster.)
After marrying and being deserted by her third cousin, Abner H. Stetson, and bearing his son, she embarked on a teaching career. She started that career at the Edward Little High School. Over the next several years, she changed jobs and locations frequently, seeking to increase her wages in order to support her son, John Howard, who lived with Gladys’ blind mother. To further advance her position, she spent several summers gaining her M.A. degree from Boston University, which she achieved in 1928.
Her career travels eventually brought her to Danbury, Connecticut, where she began teaching at Danbury High School. She was introduced to John W. Leahy by a mutual friend in the mid-1930s. Eventually marrying him, she joined in helping her new husband with his various business ventures and was cajoled into writing a book (this book) about him and the Great Danbury State Fair.
Presumably under the auspices of her aunt and uncle, Harriett and Luther Spiller, she attended and graduated from Bates College with a B.A. degree in 1919. (Aunt Harriett was the Regional Superintendent of Schools and Uncle Luther was the local postmaster.)
After marrying and being deserted by her third cousin, Abner H. Stetson, and bearing his son, she embarked on a teaching career. She started that career at the Edward Little High School. Over the next several years, she changed jobs and locations frequently, seeking to increase her wages in order to support her son, John Howard, who lived with Gladys’ blind mother. To further advance her position, she spent several summers gaining her M.A. degree from Boston University, which she achieved in 1928.
Her career travels eventually brought her to Danbury, Connecticut, where she began teaching at Danbury High School. She was introduced to John W. Leahy by a mutual friend in the mid-1930s. Eventually marrying him, she joined in helping her new husband with his various business ventures and was cajoled into writing a book (this book) about him and the Great Danbury State Fair.
Where to buy in print
Books
The Life and Times of the Great Danbury State Fair
by John H. Stetson & Gladys Stetson Leahy
Price:
$14.99 USD.
Words: 94,080.
Language:
English.
Published: January 20, 2017
by
Emerald Lake Books.
Categories:
Nonfiction » History » Modern / 20th Century, Nonfiction » Biography » Autobiographies & Memoirs
Western Connecticut consists of a rich mixture of culture, history, sport, ingenuity and agriculture and the Danbury Fair drank deeply from its roots.
Under the unique influence of John W. Leahy, the last owner and general manager of the Fair, it grew into much more, while remaining true to its unique heritage. His story is captivating, as shared here by those who knew him best.