Ralph Waldo Emerson's world was radically altered in 1811, when his father died, leaving Mrs. Emerson to support and raise the young family on her own. Although she managed to care for and to educate her sons, financial insecurity quickly became a fact of life. The First Church granted her a stipend for a time, as well as the use of the parish house. Mary Moody Emerson (1774–1863), William Emerson's unmarried sister, stayed with the family for several months after her brother's death, and returned again later. A woman of strong religious devotion and intellect, conservative in some ways and liberal in others, opinionated, unafraid to express herself either face-to-face or in her letters, she was a powerful influence on Emerson and his brothers. Her correspondence with him in the 1820s helped to inform his Transcendentalism.
The Emerson brothers stayed in Concord from time to time during their childhood. The Reverend Ezra Ripley, who had married Phebe Bliss Emerson, the widow of Revolutionary minister William Emerson, was their step-grandfather. When in Concord, Ralph Waldo stayed at the Old Manse, Ripley's home, and formerly the home of their grandfather William Emerson. From November 1814 until the following spring, the entire Emerson family lived at the Manse. (Their temporary relocation was prompted by fear of a possible British attack on Boston during the War of 1812, and by high prices in the city.) Ezra Ripley shared his extensive knowledge of Concord history with the Emerson boys, and gave them a sense of their ancestors' importance in the town. In Concord, they had the opportunity to experience both small-town life and the pleasures of nature. Having returned to Boston in 1815, Mrs. Emerson took in boarders to keep her household financially afloat. The family moved frequently, but Ruth Emerson, encouraged by her sister-in-law Mary Moody Emerson, steadfastly applied herself to providing her sons with an education that reflected the standards, the values, and the aspirations of her late husband.
Emerson's education began in Boston, at dame school (a school for small children, in which the basics were taught by a woman in her own home). He then attended grammar school. In 1812, he entered the Boston Public Latin School, where his studies included Latin and Greek. He simultaneously attended a separate writing school. After the family's 1814–1815 stay in Concord, Emerson read extensively on his own in the spring of 1815 and returned to Boston Latin in the fall. He was a serious, though unremarkable, student.
