Nathaniel Dubbles was born in either 1781 or 1801, according to different sources. Orphaned at a young age, he was adopted by the progressive New England merchant William Dubbles and his wife Helena.
Nathaniel attended and later became a teacher at Moggerhanger Latin School. He observed how the young, eager minds of his pupils were fettered by the clunky ideas of their forebears. During his three years at the school he began to develop his belief that the only way forward is to unshackle pupils from the past.
Nathaniel strove to liberate the hearts and minds of young learners in private schools everywhere, a mission that made him much derided in traditional communities across New England. After being sacked from Moggerhanger for encouraging pupils to wear their crevats around their foreheads, he continued his crusade of education reform. He penned many now-famous essays such as “Letter to an Aspiring Classicist Whose Parents Wish Him to Become a Minister” and “Make Haste to To-morrow Young Dreamers Lest the Tentacles of Your Parents Ensnare You by Your Delicate Ankles.” He went on speaking tours in New England and as far away as Nuuk, Greenland.
With the inheritance he received after his father’s death, Nathaniel bought a printing press and thus The Dandy Goat of New England was born. It was in circulation from 1847 to mid-1849.
Nathaniel Dubbles was last seen as he departed for a walk in the hills of New Hampshire in 1861.