Noah Webster

Originally Aired: February 23, 1938 Cavalcade of America #123, "Noah Webster," tells the story of America's first great lexicographer during his formative years as a struggling young educator. When Noah returns home from Yale in 1778, his father delivers difficult news: the family farm has been mortgaged to pay for his education, and he must now make his own way in the world. Undeterred, Noah devises a plan to teach school by day while studying law at night, eventually establishing his own academy in Sharon, Connecticut. There he meets and falls deeply in love with Rebecca Pardee, a student in his singing school. However, Noah faces heartbreak when he discovers that Rebecca had a prior understanding with a Major who has returned home on leave. According to custom, Rebecca's father takes the matter to the church elders to decide which suitor she should marry. As Noah and Rebecca share their true feelings for one another, her father arrives with the elders' decision, setting the stage for a resolution that will test both Noah's determination and his heart as he pursues his destiny as the schoolmaster to a nation.