All four of the Thoreau children lived into adulthood, although both Helen and John died prematurely, Helen in 1849 of the tuberculosis that stalked the family, and John of lockjaw in 1842. Sophia outlived them all, to become the devoted editor of Henry 's works and protector of his legacy.
At the time of Thoreau's birth, the family lived with Cynthia's mother, Mrs. Minott; John both managed a general store and worked the farm. After several moves around Concord, Chelmsford, and Boston, a bit of luck helped stabilize the family: Cynthia's brother Charles discovered a graphite deposit in New Hampshire, and in 1823 he asked John Thoreau to help establish a pencil-making business in Concord. The business, soon named John Thoreau & Company, did well enough to provide the family a degree of financial security (especially when aided by Cynthia's management of the family home as a boardinghouse), and from then on the Thoreaus stayed in Concord. Young Thoreau first attended school in Boston, then transferred to Miss Phoebe Wheeler's infant school in Concord, then to the Concord Academy; he entered Harvard College in 1833. The family could afford to send only one son to college, and the younger Henry was chosen over John as the more scholarly of the two.
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