Emerette Lois Colt Strong was born November 21, 1841. Her parents, Henry Colt and Chloe Catlin Colt, resided in Torrington, Connecticut where they owned a local farm. In 1860 and 1861 Emerette attended the Connecticut State Normal School in New Britain. On June 7, 1866 she married David Strong (1825-1914), businessman and widower of her sister Chloe Maria Colt Strong. David had been a 1st Lieut. in the 24th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers during the Civil War, and established himself as a successful businessman and manufacturer in Winsted, Connecticut after the war's end. He established and served as President of the Strong Manufacturing Company, was President of the Winsted Hosiery Company, the First National Bank and served as Director of the New England Knitting Company. The couple resided in Winsted following their marriage, and Emerette was actively involved in the local community and held a membership with the Congregational Church. The Connecticut state Normal School in New Britain was founded in 1849 with the purpose of training students to become teachers. It was the sixth normal school to be established in the United States, and education reformer Henry Barnard served as the first principal. In 1933 it became a four-year, degree-granting institution and the name was changed to the Teachers College of Connecticut. In 1959 the school became known as Central Connecticut State College, and in 1983 it became Central Connecticut State University.

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