Harriet Miriam North was born on February 17, 1830, in East Berlin, Connecticut. She graduated from Mount Holyoke Seminary in 1851, and married Dr. Charles F. Dowd in 1852. Together, they ran the North Granville Ladies Seminary from 1860-1867, and in 1868 they became co-principals of the Temple Grove Seminary until circa 1900. They also raised six children. In 1904, Dr. Charles Dowd was killed by a train in Saratoga. Harriet Dowd died in December of 1911.