In 1833, Connecticut farmer George Benson became a leading supporter of Prudence Crandall and her school for black children. In 1834, Benson’s sister married William Lloyd Garrison. Benson married Catherine Stetson, sister of James Stetson. In 1841, the Bensons moved to Northampton where George and three others purchased the buildings and property of the bankrupt Northampton Silk Company and formed the Northampton Association of Education and Industry.