Betts Academy was a well-known private academy in
Stamford, Connecticut that operated from 1838 to 1908.
History
The school was founded in 1838 in North Stamford by James Betts, a Congregational Church deacon originally from
Wilton, Connecticut
Wilton is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 18,503. In 2017, it was the sixth-wealthiest town per capita in Connecticut, the wealthiest U.S. state per capita.
Officially reco ...
.
Later his son, William J. Betts, became principal of the school, and the Academy was relocated to Strawberry Hill overlooking Long Island Sound in Stamford.
The school burned in a fire in 1908 and was closed that year.
["SCHOOLBOYS SAVE MATES FROM FIRE; Two Students Hung from Window Sill of Old Betts Academy." ''New York Times,'' Jan. 23, 1908]
Notable alumni
*
Henry Osborne Havemeyer
Henry Osborne Havemeyer (October 18, 1847 – December 4, 1907) was an American industrialist, entrepreneur and sugar refiner who founded and became president of the American Sugar Refining Company in 1891.
Havemeyer was the third generation of h ...
, businessman
*
Theodore Havemeyer, businessman, co-founder of United States Golf Association and U.S. Open
*
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Literature, literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama tech ...
, Playwright
References
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Private schools in Connecticut
Defunct schools in Connecticut