In those days no one even thought of educating a girl to speak from the pulpit, though to-day it is not uncommon; nor could Mrs. Rice dream that her daughter would one day become a powerful public speaker in an important cause, and deliver speeches in lecture halls and churches. When Mary was twelve, she resolved to assist her father in supporting the large family, for she had observed with sorrow how hard he worked. Dressmaking seemed to offer good opportunities, so she entered a shop as apprentice. In three months she had learned her trade, and was then hired at thirty-seven cents a day to work three months more, but being desirous of earning more money, she engaged to make a dozen flannel shirts at home for a clothier. After sewing all day in the shop and sitting up at home until early morning hours, she could not finish the shirts in the time agreed upon. One evening the man called for them, greatly to Mrs. Rice's surprise, for she had known nothing about Mary's plan. Mary explained the delay, promising to have the shirts finished the next day. When the clothier had left, Mrs. Rice burst into tears. "We are not so poor as that, my dear child! What will become of you if you take all the cares of the world upon you?" she said. Mary completed the shirts, took them to the clothier and received the sum of seventy-five cents. This ended her experience as a seamstress, for her mother would not permit the child to continue such work. At fourteen, Mary was graduated from the Public School, receiving a gold medal for good scholarship. She then entered the Charlestown Female Seminary, where she became one of the best scholars in the institution. Her ability was so pronounced, that when one of the teachers died, she was at once asked to take the vacant position. She conducted her class with much tact and wisdom, earning enough to pay for the four year course, which she completed in two, by studying and reciting out of school hours. At the age of eighteen, she took a position as governess in the family of a wealthy Virginia planter. Her object was not altogether teaching; she wished to investigate for herself the slavery question, which was then much discussed by Abolitionists. She had heard the lectures of Lucretia Mott and John G. Whittier and determined to find out if the facts were as bad as stated. Her two years' experience in Virginia made her an uncompromising Abolitionist. The faculty of the Duxbury High School was in need of a Principal. It was customary to place men in such positions, but Mary Rice's fame had made its way to Duxbury. They had heard of her as an unusual young woman and one of the most learned of the day. So Mary was placed over the High School, and there she remained until she was twenty-three years old, when she resigned to become the wife of the Reverend D. P. Livermore, a young minister, two years her senior, whose church was near her school.