educator, b. Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England. She migrated to the U.S. with her parents about 1820, lived briefly in New York City, and soon settled near Phelps, Ontario County, N.Y. She graduated from Geneva Seminary (N.Y.) in 1838, and for a number of years taught in various academies in the East. In 1850, through the prompting of Catharine Beecher, she moved to Milwaukee to teach in the private female seminary founded (1848) and conducted by Mrs. Lucy Ann [Seymour] Parsons. With the cooperation of Mrs. Parsons, Miss Mortimer began a series of educational experiments along the lines developed by Catharine Beecher, and her sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe. About 1851 she became principal of the seminary, and in 1853 the school was officially named Milwaukee Female College. Miss Mortimer was principal of Milwaukee Female College (1853-1857), later taught in the East, and for a time conducted a seminary in Baraboo. In 1866 she returned to her teaching at Milwaukee Female College, continuing in this capacity until her retirement in 1874. After retiring, she continued to live in Milwaukee where she was prominent in the organization of the Wisconsin Industrial School for Girls and the Woman's Club of Wisconsin. In 1895 Milwaukee Female College was merged with Downer College, Fox Lake, Wis., as Milwaukee-Downer College. Dict. Amer. Biog.; Wis. Mag. Hist., 34; M. B. Norton, True Teacher, M. Mortimer (New York [1894]); WPA MS.Learn More
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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]
