Sarah Elizabeth Ford was born in Morristown, New Jersey. She graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1857 and then taught at Snow Hill in Maryland. She taught at various schools until 1871 when she opened her own school in New Jersey. In 1886 her father died and she took over control of her family farm in Fordville, New Jersey. She had three sisters who also graduated from Mount Holyoke: Abbie, Charlotte, and Emma J., class of 1858, 1862, and 1864 respectively. Sarah Elizabeth Ford died on November 29, 1916, in Morristown, New Jersey.

The Sarah Elizabeth Ford Correspondence consists of letters to and from family members, including Ford's sisters, Abbie, Charlotte, and Emma, Mount Holyoke Female Seminary graduates, 1858, 1862, and 1864 respectively. The letters primarily consist of social niceties regarding the receipt of letters and are followed by cursory discussions about the health, travel, and gatherings of the immediate, as well as the extended family. Also included are letters to Ford from fellow Seminary classmates, which are limited to the matters of health and social activities of mutual acquaintances. In Ford's correspondence with her family, she peripherally mentions her academic and social activities at Mount Holyoke, including her preparation for exams and outings with classmates.