| Catherine Elizabeth Benson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Catherine Elizabeth Brewer January 24, 1822 Augusta, Georgia |
| Died | February 27, 1908 (aged 86) Macon, Georgia |
| Residence | Lexington, Georgia Macon, Georgia |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Clintom Female Seminary Georgia Female College First Degree (B.A.) |
| Known for | the first woman to receive college degree |
| Home town | Macon, Georgia |
| Spouse | Richard Aaron Benson |
| Children | Catherine Colvard Benson Richard Edward Benson Thomas Brewer Benson Eliza Sophia Benson William S. Benson Frank Cook Benson Howard Burke Benson Gertrude Benson Arnall |
| Parents | Thomas Aspinwall Brewer (father) Mary Foster Brewer (mother) |
| Relatives | Adeline Corbin (sister) Edward Ebenezer Brewer (brother) |
Catherine Elizabeth Benson, née Brewer (24 January 1822 – 27 February 1908) was the first woman to earn a college bachelor's degree.
Catherine Elizabeth Brewer was born on January 24, 1822 in Augusta, Georgia. She was daughter of Thomas Aspinwall Brewer (born on August 20, 1792 in Brookline, Massachusetts, died on September 26, 1874 in Macon, Georgia) and Mary Foster Brewer (born February 29, 1795 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, died on January 31, 1871 in Macon) who were married on October 3, 1820 in Roxbury. She had younger sister Adeline (born on October 5, 1825 in Lexington, Georgia, died on March 9, 1896 in Macon; she married firstly Napoleon Bonaparte Corbin on August 8, 1850 and secondly Robert B. Clayton on December 21, 1866 in Macon) and younger brother Edward Ebenezer (born on June 4, 1828 in Lexington, died June 8, 1864 in Macon; he married Caroline Elizabeth Jones on July 17, 1858 in Fort Valley, Georgia).[1] Her family moved from Massachusetts to Lexington in the 1820's. In 1838 they moved form Lexington to Macon. In nearby Gray, Georgia she enrolled in Clintom Female Seminary. When the seminary was closed, the students, including Brewer, entered Georgia Female College (now Wesleyan College) in 1839. The college, chartered in 1836, began offering classes in 1839. The honor of being the first woman to earn a degree from a chartered college fell to her because her name came first alphabetically among the graduates of the class of 1840, an honor of which she was well aware, as Wesleyan alumnae relate anecdotally.[2] She received diploma on July 16, 1840. Her diploma said that "she had completed the regular course and bestowed on her the First Degree"[3], which was commonly referred to the bachelor's degree. She is remembered each year at the annual meeting of the Wesleyan College Alumnae Association when graduating seniors are inducted into the association using the "Benson Charge", taken from a speech she made to the Class of 1888:[4] Members of the graduating class, demands will be made upon you which were not made upon us. Your training, if you are true to it, will amply qualify you to meet those demands. No wiser blessing could I wish for you than that you may be true to every God-appointed work.
She married Richard Aaron Benson (born on November 14, 1821 in Putnam County, Georgia, died on October 10, 1877 in Macon) on November 24, 1842 in Macon. They had eight children:
Catherine Benson died at her home in Macon on February 27, 1908 at the age of 86[5] after several weeks of illness.[6]