Harvard University Alumni Necrology (1851-1863) - Cambridge, Suffolk, Mass. Boston, J Wilson & Son
Middlesex-Suffolk-Statewide County MA Archives Directories
************************************************
Copyright. All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ma/mafiles.htm
************************************************
File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Janice Farnsworth
NECROLOGY OF THE ALUMNI OF HARVARD COLLEGE, 1851-52 TO 1862-63.
BY JOSEPH PALMER OF THE CLASS OF 1820.
BOSTON: PRINTED BY J. WVILSON AND SON,
15 WATER STREET, BOSTON. 1864.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, WILLIAM BRIGHAM,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
NOTE BY THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION.
THE advantage of having in a compact and accessible form the obituary
notices contained in this volume
is so obvious, that no apology for their republication is
needed. It has been often suggested, but was brought
about directly by a communication from a member of the
class of 1811, written in Europe, to a friend in Boston,
a little more than a year ago, urging that it should be
undertaken at once, sketching a plan of operations, and
promising a handsome subscription. This communication resulted
in a meeting of friends of the undertaking,
and in the choice of a committee of publication, who
issued the following circular, drawn up, at their request,
by Hon. Edward Everett:
TO THE ALUMNI OF HARVARD COLLEGE.
It is well known to the alumni that an annual necrology of
those who have died in the course of the year has, for the last
thirteen years, regularly appeared in the Bostont Daily Advertiser
on the morning of Commencement-Day. This necrology has,
from the first, been prepared by DR. JOSEPH PALMER of the
class of 1820. Originally consisting of a very brief notice, it
has gradually swelled to ample dimensions, embracing all the
known facts of any public interest in the life and career of the
individuals commemorated. This work has been executed by
Dr. Palmer with great diligence, fidelity, and good judgment.
From his connection with a daily newspaper, he has derived
early notice of the deaths as they have occurred; and he has
then resorted to the most authentic sources, and especially to the
class-books, since those records began to be kept, for all further
accessible information. It may be said without exaggeration, so
successfully has Dr. Palmer's work been performed, that no
paper in the course of the year is read with greater interest, by
every graduate of Harvard, than the Bostoi Daily Advertiser
which appears on Commencement-Day.
Nor is the interest of
these articles likely to be confined to the present time. As they
will unquestionably be the means of preserving from oblivion
mnany facts which would otherwise perish, they will, for the
classes to which they pertain, form the basis of any future
A4the,ac, Caintabrigiense3. The favor with which Dr. Palmer's
necrologies have been received is not confined to the alumni of
Harvard. They are scarcely less valuable to all who study
American biography, and have served as a model for similar
necrologies in the other New-England colleges.
These articles, including that of the present year, fill above
one hundred columns of the Daily Advertiser, and would make
an octavo volume of about four hundred pages. They are far
too valuable not to be collected in a permanent form, and it is
manifestly a question of time alone when that shall be done.
Thus far the preparation of them has been, on the part of
Dr. Palmer, purely a labor of love. It has involved the employment
of much time; the consultation of many journals,tracts, and larger
volumes; continual reference to surviving
friends; and a voluminous correspondence. All this has been
gratuitous, and that on the part of an individual whose stated
occupation might seem sufficient to fill a busy day. It is manifestly
neither just nor honorable to the body of the Alumni,
that this great amount of labor should continue without
compensation. With this impression it has been proposed by some
personal friends of Dr. Palmer, to take charge of the publication
of his necrologies in a handsome volume for his benefit.
To secure him from the possibility of loss, it has been deemed
expedient, with Dr. Palmer's permission, that the copyright of
the work should be held by a committee by whom the net proceeds
shall be applied for his benefit.... As the volume will
be of common interest to all the sons of Harvard, it is confidently
expected that it will be so generally subscribed for as to yield a
handsome compensation for the labor and care bestowed upon
the work by its worthy compiler.
Messrs. WILLIAM BRIGHAM of the class of 1829, NATHANIEL
B. SHURTLEFF of the class of 1831, and HENRY G. DENNY of
the class of 1852, will act as a committee of publication; and
communications on the subject and subscriptions may be addressed
to them at Boston.
The Committee:
*ROBERT C. WINTHROP. (see insert - Lineage of Hon. Robert C. Winthrop)
WILLIAM BRIGHAM.
NATHANIEL B. SHURTLEFF.
C. WILLIAM LORING.
HENRY G. DENNY.
JOSIAH QUINCY.
EDWARD EVERETT.
JARED SPARKS.
JAMES WALKER.
THOMAS HILL.
SAMUEL SWETT.
Lineage of Hon. Robert C. Winthrop
Lineage of Robert C. Winthrop, Descendant of
Governor John Winthrop of Massachusetts.
Thomas Lindall WINTHROP [Parents] was born on 6 Mar 1760 in New London, New
London Co., CT . He died on 22 Feb 1841 in Boston, Suffolk Co., MA. He married
Elizabeth Bowdoin TEMPLE on 25 Jul 1786 in Boston, Suffolk Co., MA. Elizabeth
Bowdoin TEMPLE [Parents] was born on 23 Oct 1769 in Boston, Suffolk Co., MA. She
died on 23 Jul 1825 in Boston, Suffolk Co., MA. She married Thomas Lindall WINTHROP
on 25 Jul 1786 in Boston, Suffolk Co., MA. They had the following children:
i Robert Charles WINTHROP was born on 12 May 1809. He died on 16 Nov 1894.
Robert Charles WINTHROP [Parents] was born on 7 Dec 1834 in Boston, Suffolk Co.,
MA. He died on 5 Jun 1905 in Boston, Massachusetts. He married Elizabeth MASON on
1 Jun 1869. Elizabeth MASON [Parents] was born on 1 Oct 1844. She died after 1880.
She married Robert Charles WINTHROP on 1 Jun 1869. They had the following children:
i Margaret Tyndal WINTHROP was born on 23 Feb 1880. She died on 7 Jul 1970.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAMBRIDGE, July 15th, 1863.
The enormous labor required by such a compilation as
this must be evident to all; while few but those who
have been engaged in similar works can appreciate the
impossibility of perfect, or even approximate, accuracy of
detail in items so various, and coming, in many cases,
from such remote and uncertain sources. Many errors
and omissions, resulting in part from the circumstances
under which the necrology has from time to time
appeared, have been corrected by the compiler; but
it is much to be regretted that but few, comparatively,
of the friends of deceased alumni, have taken the opportunity
offered them by the public notice given a
year ago, and lately repeated, to correct or add to the
obituaries.
The Committee have given much time to thle arrangements for the
publication of this work, in order that all
sums received from its sale, after paying the actual cost
of paper, printing, and binding, may go for the benefit
of its compiler; and they trust that the considerations
set forth in their circular are such as will secure a speedy
sale of the limited edition that has been issued.
For the Committee of Publication,
HENRY G. DENNY.
BOSTON, July 20th,
PREFACE:
THE suggestion of preparing a necrology of alumni
of Harvard College was made by Hon. Edward Everett
to the compiler of these notices in the year 1851. He
began the work the next succeeding year, and has since,
at the request of the Executive Committee of the Association
of the Alumni, published it annually in the
"Boston Daily Advertiser" on Commencement-Day.
He acknowledges his obligations to Mr. John Langdon
Sibley, the accomplished librarian of Harvard College,
for the use he has been permitted to make of the notes
and memoranda of the alumni, collected by him during
his long connection with the college. The compiler
intended to rewrite the earlier notices, as they were
meagre and imperfect; but he was unable to do it, by
reason of having partially lost his eyesight. They are
therefore republished nearly as they appeared in the
"Advertiser." It is to be regretted that the necrology
was not begun a century earlier; for then much valuable
information would have been preserved which is now
irrecoverably lost. The compiler hopes, that, when he
shall have passed away (which, in the course of nature,
will occur at no distant period), the necrology will be
continued by more able hands.
N E C R O LO G Y.
1851-52.
1785. Dr. SAMUEL EMERSON died in Kennebunk, Me.,
7 August, 1851, aged 86 years and 11 months. He was born in
Hollis, N.H., 6 September, 1765. HIe served in the war of the
Revolution, in the regiment of Col. Prescott, and was quartered
at Cambridge at the time of the battle of Bunker Hill.
1785. - THEODORE LINCOLN died at Dennysville, Me.,
15 June, 1852, aged 89. He was a son of Gen. Benjamin Lincoln,
of Hingham, where he was born 30 December, 1763;
was one of the earliest settlers of the town of Dennysville, and
was Judge of the Court of Common Pleas and Sessions for the
County of Washington.
1788. - HENRY PHELPS died at Gloucester, 18 February,
1852, aged 86. He was born in Salem, 10 November, 1765.
His father was a shipmaster sailing from that town, from which,
about the commencement of the Revolutionary War, he removed
to Beverly. He was lost at sea on his homeward passage from
France in 1786. He was spoken by a vessel when sixty days
out, being short of provisions and water, with his vessel
disabled and leaky. On board of the ship that spoke him, he sent
a letter for his wife, in a sealed bottle attached to a line, written
in a strain of complete despondency as to his chance of reaching
home. From the contents of this letter, it is supposed that the
vessel must have foundered not long after it was written, His
son Henry was then in college.
He had to contend with the
congenital difficulties of a club foot and an imperfectly developed
right arm and hand; but, not allowing them to discourage him,
soon after leaving college he commenced the study of medicine
with Dr. Joshua Plummer, of Salem, quite a distinguished
physician, formerly of Gloucester, who established him in
business as an apothecary and physician in Gloucester, in 1790.
He acquired some practice as a physician, but soon abandoned
that branch of his business. Being a man of lively temperament
and companionable qualities, his shop was the resort of the
most respectable and influential men of the town. He was for
some time postmaster in Gloucester, and also for many years
the principal acting magistrate in the town.
1790. - Dr. WILLIAM INGALLS died in Wrentham, 9 September,
1851, aged 82. He was born in Newburyport, 3 May,
1769, and was for many years an eminent physician in Boston.
1792.- NATHANIEL CHANDLER, of Lancaster, died at the
Insane Hospital in Worcester, 4 June, 1852, aged 78. He was
born in Petersham, 6 October, 1773.
1792. - Rev. JOHN SNELLING POPKIN died in Cambridge,
2 March, 1852, aged 80. He was born in Boston, 19 June,
1771. Ordained pastor of the Federal-street Church in Boston,
10 July, 1799. Dismissed 28 November, 1802. Installed
pastor of the First Church in Newbury, 19 September, 1804.
Dismissed 5 October, 1815, having accepted the appointment of
professor of the Greek language in Harvard College. This
office he held till 1826, when he was appointed Eliot Professor
of Greek literature. He resigned his professorship in 1833,
but continued to reside in Cambridge during the remainder of
his life. He was a member of the Massachusetts Historical
Society, and of the American Academy.
1793.- JOSEPH STOWERS died at North Chelsea, 31 August,
1851, aged 77 years and 10 months. He was born in Chelsea,
10 November, 1773. He was justice of the peace, townclerk,
town-treasurer, selectman, representative; and, in fact,
made himself "generally useful" to the people.
1794. - WILLIAM CROSBY died at Belfast, Me., 31 March,
1852, aged 81. He was born in Billerica, Mass., 3 June,
1770. Soon after he left college, he entered as a student-at-law
in the office of William Gordon, Esq., of Amherst, N.H., and
in due time finished his legal studies with Judge Dana, of
Groton, Mass. In January, 1802, he went to Belfast, and
settled as a practising lawyer. He was one of the pioneer band
of professional adventurers, who, at that early day, dared to
penetrate this new region, and locate themselves east of the
Kennebec River; a tract of country then, as now, comprising
much the largest portion of the now State of Maine. There
were at that period less than a dozen framed houses in the village,
with a few log cabins; some Indian-built wigwams, and
not more than three hundred inhabitants in the whole town.
Thus by his enterprise he became an early citizen of that
undefined space called " Down East," and was the associate and the
first legal adviser of the founders of that beautiful town.
1795. - OLIVER CROSBY died at Atkinson, Me., 29 July,
1851, aged 82. He was born in Billerica, Mass., 17 March,
1769; and settled as a lawyer in Dover, N.H., in 1798. He
subsequently removed to Maine. For several years before his
death, he had discontinued the practice of his profession.
1795. -JOSIAH STURGES died in New York, 22 February,
1852, aged 78. He was son of Jonathan Sturges, of Fairfield,
Conn., Judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, and was
born 10 September, 1773. He was a merchant in New York,
and was at one time wealthy, but lost his property during the
war of 1812.
1796.- Rev. NATHAN TILTON died at Scarborough, Me.,
4 October, 1851, aged 79. He was born in East Kingston,
N.H., 2 July, 1772; was ordained pastor of the church in
Scarborough, 10 December, 1800; and resigned his pastoral
charge, 12 December, 1827.
1798.-THOMAS COLE died at Salem, 24 June, 1852, aged
72. He was born in Marlborough, Mass., 29 December, 1779.
He was preceptor of the Aurean Academy, at Amherst, N.H.,
afterwards teacher of the Ladies' High School at Salem;
a Fellow of the American Academy.
1798. - Rev. ABRAHAM RANDALL died at Stow, 3 March,
1852, aged 80. He was born in Stow, 25 October, 1771; was
fitted for college at Westford Academy, under the tuition of the
late Levi Hedge, LL.D. During a part of his collegiate
course, he was room-mate with the late Judge Story. He was
ordained at Manchester, 2 September, 1802; dismissed September,
1808, and returned to Stow.
1798. - Dr. ROBERT THAXTER died in Dorchester, 10 February,
1852, aged 75. He was son of Dr. Thomas Thaxter, of
Hingham; and was born in that town, 21 October, 1776. He
commenced his professional practice in Hingham in 1802. In
1809 he established himself in Dorchester, and for more than
thirty years was not kept from his professional business a single
day by illness.
1799. - Rev. WILLIAM FROTHINGHAM died at Belfast,
Maine, 24 June, 1852, aged 77. He was born in Cambridge,
14 March, 1777. Ordained pastor of the Third Church in
Lynn, 26 September, 1804; dismissed 7 May, 1817; installed
at Belfast, 21 July, 1819
.
1800. - BENJAMIN MARSTON WATSON died at Newton, 31
August, 1851, aged 71. He was born in Marblehead, 11 January, 1780.
He studied law with the late Chief Justice Parsons;
but soon left the profession, and went into mercantile business in
Boston. He was also president of the Mercantile Marine Insurance Company.
1801. - SAMUEL MATHER CROCKER died at Milford,
9 March, 1852, aged 69. Ite was a lawyer by profession, and
practised successively in the towns of Doug]ass, Uxbridge,
Fitchburg, and Milford.
1804. - JOSEPH E. SPRAGUE died at Salem, 22 February,
1852, aged 69. He was the eldest son of Dr. William Stearns,
and was born in Salem, 9 September, 1782. Soon after he
graduated, he took the name of Sprague, to which family his
mother belonged. He was a member of the Essex bar, and for
many years was an active politician of the Jefferson school.
Under the administration of Jefferson, he was for a time one
of the United-States marshals. In October, 1811, he was ap-
pointed clerk of the courts for Essex County, and continued in
the office about nine months. In 1815, under the presidency
of Madison, he was appointed postmaster of Salem, and retained
the office until the accession of Gen. Jackson to the
presidency in 1829.
Previous to this time he had served several
years as representative from Salem in the General Court, as a
senator from Essex, and as an executive councillor. In September,
1830, he was appointed high sheriff of the county,
succeeding his father-in-law, Bailey Bartlett, whose resignation
of the office in the month preceding had been accepted, to take
effect on the 14th of September. On the 15th, Mr. Sprague's
nomination was unanimously confirmed by the Council; and he
remained in the office until his commission expired, about nine
months before his death, when another person was appointed in
his place. Mr. Sprague died of apoplexy; and it may be mentioned
as a singular coincidence, that his grandfather, whose
name he assumed, died in the same way, in the same room, at
nearly the same age, in the same month, February, 1808.
1804.- Dr. JOHN STARR died at Northwood, N.H., 8 September, 1851,
aged 67. He was son of Dr. Ebenezer Starr, of
Dunstable, N,H., where he was born 3 December, 1783;
studied medicine with Dr. Matthias Spalding, of Amherst, N.H.,
and commenced practice in Peterborough, N.H., where he remained
three years, excepting a brief absence, during the war of
1812, as a surgeon of the Second Regiment of the New-Hampshire
Detached Militia, commanded by Col. John Steele, of
Peterborough. From Peterborough, Dr. Starr removed to
Northwood, where he continued in practice thirty-eight years.
He was a gentleman of the old school. His political principles
were of the Federal stamp. He was constant at town-meeting,
casting his vote for none but just men, whether upon regular
tickets or not.
1805.- WARD CHIPMAN died at St. John, N.B., 26 November, 1851,
aged 65. He was son of Hon. Ward Chipman,
(H.C. 1770), and was born in St. John, N.B., 10 July, 1787.
He was appointed one of the justices of the Supreme Court
of Judicature, 17 March, 1825; and was elected to the office of
chief justice of the same tribunal, 29 September, 1834. He
resigned January, 1851.
1805. - Rev. JOHN WHITE died at Dedham, 1 February,
1852, aged 64. He was son of Deacon John White, of Concord;
and was born in that town, 2 December, 1787. He was
ordained pastor of the Third Parish in Dedham, 20 April, 1814.
1806.- THOMAS PRINCE BEAL died at Kingston, 16 July,
1852, aged 66 years and 5 months. He was a native of
Kingston, and was born 12 February, 1786. He was formerly
a member of the Senate of Massachusetts, and an eminent
counsellor-at-law.
1808. - BENJAMIN RAND died in Boston, 26 April, 1852,
aged 67. He was born in Weston, 18 April, 1785, and was
one of the most distinguished members of the Suffolk bar.
1810. Rev. JOSEPH HAVEN died at Amherst, Mass.,
15 October, 1851, aged 65. He was son of Noah Haven, and
was born at Holden, 19 June, 1786; ordained at Dennis,
27 July, 1814; dismissed 12 May, 1826, on account of his
health, and removed to Amherst to superintend the collegiate
education of his son. On the 8th of June, 1836, his health
having been partially restored, he was installed pastor of the
Orthodox Church in Billerica, and continued in this service five
years; at the close of which period, on account of returning and
increasing bodily infirmities, he felt constrained to relinquish the
labors of a settled minister for ever.
1810. - Dr. JOHN MANNING died at Rockport, 7 February,
1852, aged 62 years and 6 months. He was born in Gloucester,
Mass., 12 October, 1789; and was son of the late Dr. Manning
of that town.
1811. - WALTER BAKER, of Dorchester, died in Boston,
7 May, 1852, aged 59. He was son of Dr. James Baker,
(H.C. 1760), and was born in Dorchester, 28 June, 1792. He
was well known as an extensive chocolate manufacturer, in which
business he acquired an ample fortune.
1813. - Dr. JOHN BROWN died at Lancaster, Erie County,
N.Y., 27 February, 1852, aged 60. He was son of Samuel
Brown of Concord, Mass., where he was born 10 January,
1792. He studied medicine, but relinquished the profession,
and settled as a merchant in the vicinity of Buffalo, N.Y.
1814. - EPHRAIM MAY CUNNINGHAM died in Washington
City, 26 May, 1852, aged 60. He was son of William Cunningham,
of Boston, and was born in Fitchburg, Mass., 4 February, 1792.
He was a lawyer by profession, and practised
successively in Ashburnham, Lunenburg, and Sterling. He
was afterwards an officer in the Boston Custom House, and
finally was employed as a clerk at Washington. He obtained
considerable notoriety by publishing, in the year 1823,
what is known in political circles as the Cunningham
Correspondence."
1814. - AARON PRESCOTT died at Randolph, 24 November,
1851,- aged 64. He was son of Deacon John Prescott, and
was born in Westford, Mass., 19 November, 1787; was preceptor of
Framingham Academy, one year after he graduated;
then studied law, and settled in Randolph, where he practised his
profession with success during the remainder of his life. He
represented that town once or twice in the Legislature.
1816.- Rev. WILLIAM WARE died at Cambridge, 19 February, 1852,
aged 54. He was son of Rev. Henry Ware, D.D.
(H.C. 1785), and was born at Hingham, 3 August, 1797.
ie was ordained pastor of the Unitarian Church in New York,
18 December, 1821; dismissed 19 September, 1836. Installed
at West Cambridge, December, 1843; dismissed 1845.
1819. - WALTER ROGERS JOHNSON died in Washington
City, 26 April, 1852, aged 57. His death was occasioned by
inhaling noxious gas while performing some chemical experiments
in the laboratory of the Smithsonian Institute. He was
born in Leominster, Mass., 21 June, 1794; was for many years
preceptor of an academy in Germantown, Penn.; afterwards
Professor of Chemistry in the Medical College at Philadelphia,
and subsequently of the Smithsonian Institute at Washington.
He was one of the persons employed by the city of Boston,
previous to the construction of the water-works, to examine Long
and Spot Ponds, and ascertain which was the best source for
obtaining a supply of water for the city.
1822. - JOSEPH GREEN COLE died at Paris, Me., 12 November, 1851,
aged 52. He was son of Capt. Abraham Cole, of Lincoln, Mass., and
was born in that town in 1799. After
studying law with Hon. Levi Lincoln, of Worcester, he settled
in Paris. He successively held the offices of clerk of the House
of Representatives, representative to the Legislature, register of
probate, clerk of the courts, and judge of the Western District
Court.
1825. Dr. AUGUSTUS SIDNEY DOANE died at the quarantine station,
Staten Island, New-York Harbor, 27 January,
1852, aged 44. He was son of the late Samuel B. Doane, of
Boston; was born 2 April, 1808; settled in New York as a
medical practitioner, and for several years had been employed as
the quarantine physician of that port.
1827. - Rev. WILLIAM MATTICKS ROGERS died at Dorchester, 11 August,
1851, aged 45. He was born on the Island of
Alderney, England, 10 September, 1806; was ordained at
Townsend, 16 February, 1831; dismissed 2 July, 1835. Installed
pastor of the Winter-street Church, Boston, 6 August,
1835. His original name was Samuel Matticks Ellen Kittle.
1828. - WILLIAM SAWYER was instantly killed on the
Fitchburg Railroad in West Cambridge, near the Waverly
Depot, 24 May, 1852. He was 45 years of age. He had
been a practising lawyer in Charlestown; but, a short time
previous to his death, had removed to Waltham.
1830. - FRANKLIN SAWYER died at Camnbridgeport, 18 November,
1851, aged 51. He was born in Cambridge, 18 June,
1810. He was a lawyer by profession, but for several years was
connected with the newspaper press. He was for a time editor of the
"Crescent" in New Orleans; and, fot about two years
previous to his death, was one of the editors of the " Watchman
and Reflector," in Boston. He was representative of Cambridge
to the Legislature in 1851; and, at the time of his decease,
was a member of the Common Council of the city of Cambridge.
1834. - WILLIAM SMITH CRUFT died in Paris, France,
16 July, 1851, aged 36. He was son of Edward Cruft, of
Boston; was born 17 February, 1815; and was a merchant in
New York, of the firm of Newbold and Cruft.
1845. - GEORGE WASHINGTON BROWN died at Charlestown,
7 December, 1851, aged 29. He was a native of
Charlestown; born 12 May, 1822, and had established himself
as a lawyer in Boston.
1845. Dr. PAUL LEWIS NICHOLS died at Kingston,
28 April, 1852, aged 29. He was a native of Kingston; was
born 24 May, 1823, and had settled as a physician in Roxbury.
1846.- JOHN ADAMS HASTINGS died at Erie, Penn., 16
October, 1851, aged 27. He was son of Jonathan Hastings, of
Brighton; and was born in that town, 16 July, 1824. He was
preceptor of an academy in Erie at the time of his death.
1847.- GEORGE EDWARD WATERS died at Henrietta, N.Y.,
23 July, 1851, aged 23; born in Boston, 17 September, 1828.
His death was occasioned by his being thrown from a carriage.
He was son of the late Isaac Waters, of Boston.
1851. - ARNOLD WELLES BROWN was killed on the Boston
and Worcester Railroad, at Newton Lower Falls, 21 January,
1852, aged 25. He was son of Dr. John Ball Brown, and was
born in Boston, 19 January, 1827. He was very desirous of
having a collegiate education, and entered the Boston Latin
School for the purpose of pursuing his preparatory studies.
But, while in the school, his father lost all his property
by a fire which destroyed a large laundry and two dwelling-
houses belonging to him. His hopes of going to college were therefore
destroyed, and he was placed in a wholesale dry-goods store in
Boston, where he remained a few months, when the firm was
dissolved, and he was thrown out of employment. He was afterwards
put into a dry-goods store in Dover, N.H., where he
remained but a short time.
Being still desirous of going to
college, he went to work on a farm, hoping to earn money enough to
get a liberal education; but, as he was unacquainted with farming,
his father determined to send him to sea as the best way to earn
money to pay his collegiate expenses. He went to New Bedford,
and was shipped on board a whaling vessel, and made a
long voyage. After his return, he entered college; and, with the
money he made in his whaling voyage, he succeeded in going
through college. After graduating, he made a tour as colporter;
and in the fall of 1851 he entered the Theological Seminary at
Andover, where he remained until the following January; when,
about three o'clock in the afternoon of the 21st, as he was passing
along the viaduct on the railroad at Newton Lower Falls, he
was caught between the cars and the railing of the bridge, and
thrown from the latter by the passing train, which struck him
down, and instantly deprived him of life.
1787. - Hon. SAMUEL PUTNAM, Of Boston, died at Somerville,
July 3, 1853, aged 85. He was son of Gideon Putnam,
and was born at Danvers, 13 April, 1768; commenced
the practice of law in Salem about the year 1790; was
senator for Essex in 1808 and 1809, representative from
Salem in 1812, and again senator in 1813 and 1814. On the
death of Chief Justice Sewall, in 1814, he was appointed, by
Gov. Strong, Judge of the Supreme Court.
1790. - Rev. MICAH STONE died in Brookfield, 20 September, 1852,
aged 82. He was son of Rev. Eliab Stone, of Readinfig (H.C. 1758),
and was born in that town, 22 September, 1770; ordained pastor of the
Second Church in Brookfield, 11 March, 1801.
1791. - EZEKIEL HERSEY DERBY died in Salem, 31 October, 1852, aged 80.
He was son of Hasket Derby, of Salem, where he was born 1 November, 1772;
was early in life a merchant, but for the last thirty-five years was a
conspicuous and active agriculturist.
1793.- Rev. CHARLES COFFIN, D.D., died in Greenville,
Tenn., 3 June, 1853, aged 77. He was born in Newburyport,
15 August, 1775, and was successively president of Greenville
and Knoxville Colleges in Tennessee.
1793. - Dr. CHARLES WILLIAMS WINSHIP, died in Roxbury, 27 August, 1852,
aged 78. He was son of Dr. Amos Winship (H.C. 1771), and was born in
Boston, 22 June, 1774, and was considered a skilful physician. He practised
successively in the western country, in Havana, Cuba, in Boston and
Roxbury.
1794. - Hon. CHARLES HUMPHREY ATHERTON died in
Amherst, N.H., 8 January, 1853, aged 79. He was son of
Hon. Joshua Atherton (H.C. 1762), and was born in Amherst,
14 August, 1773; read law with his father, and with Hon. William
Gordon, of Amherst (H.C. 1779); was admitted to the
bar, and opened an office in Amherst in 1797; appointed register
of probate for Hillsborough County in 1798; representative
to Congress from 1815 to 1817; represented his native town
in the State Legislature in 1823, 1838, and 1839.
1794.- Rev. DAVID KENDALL died in Augusta, Oneida
County, N.Y., 19 February, 1853, aged 85. He was born in
Athol, Mass., 20 March, 1768; ordained at Hubbardston, 20
October, 1802; dismissed April, 1809, and removed to Augusta,
N.Y., where he was installed over the Congregational Society in
that town, and where he spent the remainder of his life. For
several years before his death, he was unable to perform his
clerical duties, on account of a paralytic affection.
1795.- Capt. JOSIAH BARTLETT died in Newburyport,
24 February, 1853, aged 77. He was a native of Newburyport,
and was born 15 September, 1775. After leaving college,
he went to sea several years as supercargo, and subsequently as
master. During the war of 1812, he sailed from Bourdeaux as
commander and principal owner of the ship "Volant," with a
very valuable cargo, bound for Boston. When he had nearly
reached his port of destination, he was captured by a British
cruiser, and carried to Halifax, and subsequently to England.
He resided in England and France till the close of the war, when
he returned to Newburyport, and resided there the remainder of
his life, employed principally as a teacher, particularly of the
French language, of which he had acquired a knowledge during
his residence in Europe.
1795. - THOMAS BEALE WALES died in Boston, 15 June,
1853, aged 77. He was son of Dr. Ephraim Wales, of Randolph
(H.C. 1768), where he was born 1 January, 1776. He
was a highly respected and eminently successful merchant in
Boston.
1796. - GEORGE WINGATE died in Stratham, N.H., 12
September, 1852, aged 75. He was son of Hon. Paine Wingate
(H.C. 1759), and was born in Stratham, 14 May, 1778.
He did not study a profession, but devoted himself
to agriculture.
1798.- NATHANIEL LORD died in Ipswich, 16 October,
1852, aged 72. He was son of Isaac Lord, of Ipswich, where
he was born 25 September, 1780. For several years after leaving
college, he was employed as a teacher. He was subsequently
associated with the late Daniel Noyes, register of probate;
upon whose decease he was appointed his successor by Gov.
Strong, in May, 1815, and held the office till he was removed
by Gov. Boutwell in June, 1851
.
1799. -- DANIEL ADAMS died in Medfield, 2 September,
1852, aged 73. He was son of Rev. Daniel Adams, of Watertown
(H.C. 1774), where he was born 26 March, 1779. He
fitted for college with Rev. Dr. Prentiss, of Medfield (H.C.
1766). On leaving college, he was appointed preceptor of
Bristol Academy, where he continued one year; after which he
studied divinity a year with Rev. Dr. Bancroft of Worcester
(H.C. 1778), when his fondness for the law led him to the
office of Benjamin Whitman, Esq. of Hanover, Mass., where
he completed his studies. He then opened an office in Medfield,
where he settled. He also liad for a time an office in Hopkinton.
With the exception of having once represented Medfield in the
Legislature, he was never in public life.
1801. - WILLIAM BARTLETT died in Newburyport, 28 December, 1852,
aged 70. He was son of William Bartlett, of
Newburyport, where he was born 23 July, 1782, and was a
merchant in his native place.
1802. - ISAAC GATES died in Harvard, 9 November, 1852,
aged 74; found dead in his bed. He was born (supposed) in
Charlestown, 7 May, 1777; was a lawyer successively in
Concord, N.H., Brunswick, Me., Lynn, Mass., and Harvard.
1802.- HENRY GARDNER RICE died in Boston, 26 March,
1853, aged 69. He was son of Dr. Tilly Rice, of Brookfield,
where he was born 18 February, 1784; was a merchant in
Boston.
1803. JOHN FARRAR died in Cambridge, 8 May, 1853,
aged 73. He was son of Deacon Samuel Farrar, of Lincoln,
and was born 1 July, 1779. Hie was appointed tutor in Greek
in 1805; and, in 1807, was chosen Hollis Professor of Mathematics
and Natural Philosophy in Harvard College; which latter
office he held till June, 1831, when he resigned on account
of ill health.
1804. - Rev. OLIVER BROWN died at Haddam, Conn.,
while on a journey from Lyme to Middletown, 9 February,
1853, aged 76. He was born in Charlestown, 13 January,
1777; was for some years chaplain of the State Prison; was
installed at Kingston, R.I., 19 December, 1821, dismissed
April, 1835; moved to Bozrahville, Conn.; was afterwards
settled as pastor of the Congregational Society at Grass Hill,
Lyme, Conn.
1804. - SETH LOW died in Brooklyn, N.Y., 19 June,
1853, aged 71 years and 10 months. He was born in the
West Parish of Gloucester, Mass., 19 March, 1782; moved
to Brooklyn about the year 1827, where he resided during the
remainder of his life, and was one of the most influential and
useful citizens of that community. He was a prominent merchant
in New York; and his prosperity furnished him with the ability to
give when needed, and his ripe judgment always made
his donations discreet. At the time of his death, he was
president of the Board of Supervisors, and also of the Association
for the Relief of the Poor.
1806. - JOHN BOIES THOMAS died in Plymouth, 2 December, 1852,
aged 65. He was born in Plymouth, Mass., 28 July, 1787.
He commenced and pursued the practice of law
in Plymouth till he received the appointment of clerk of the
judicial courts for Plymouth County; which office he held for a
period of about thirty-eight years, when he resigned on account
of ill health. He filled numerous municipal offices for many
years; was seventeen years president of the Old-Colony Bank;
was a member of the Convention to revise the Constitution
in 1820; and was elector of President and Vice-President in
1840.
1806.- Dr. TIMOTHY WELLINGTON died in West Cambridge, 6 May, 1853,
aged 71. He was son of Timothy Wellington, of Lexington; where he was
born 8 October, 1781. After completing his professional studies,
he settled in West Cambridge as a physician, where he resided
till his death, always engaged in the active and arduous
duties of an extensive and successful practice.
1807. - ABIEL JAQUES died in Worcester, 7 October,
1852, aged 72. He was son of Samuel Jaques, and was born
in Worcester, 7 March, 1780. Hie was teacher in Salem,
Watertown, Newton, Brooklyn (Conn.), Palmyra (N.Y.), and
Uxbridge (Mass.); then settled, as a farmer, in Worcester.
1807. -Rev. FRANCIS PARKMAN died in Boston, 12 November, 1852,
aged 64. He was son of Samuel Parkman, and
was born in Boston, 4 June, 1778; ordained at the New North
Church in Boston, 8 December, 1813; resigned 1 February,
1849.
1808. - HENRY CODMAN died in Roxbury, 4 May, 1853,
aged 63. He was a lawyer in Boston; he was born in
Portland, 1 October, 1789.
1808. - JOHN FARWELL died in Tyngsborough, 19 Nover.
ber, 1852, aged 66. He was born in Tyngsborough, 2 October, 1785.
He studied law with Hon. Asahel Stearns (H.C. 1797);
settled as a lawyer in Tyngsborough, and became a
member of the Middlesex bar. He succeeded to his father's
landed estate in Tyngsborough, and the greater part of his life
was successfully devoted to agricultural pursuits.
1809. - Major DAVID S. TOWNSEND died in Boston, 28
January, 1853, aged 62. He was son of Dr. David Townsend
(H.C. 1770), and was born in Boston, 19 April, 1790.
Soon after he graduated, he entered a merchant's counting,-room,
where he continued till the commencement of the war of 1812,
when he entered the army as lieutenant and adjutant in the
ninth regiment of infantry, commanded by Col. Tuttle. During a
skirmish on the banks of the St. Lawrence, he received
a wound, from a musket-ball, through the leg, below the knee;
in consequence of which, his leg was amputated. Soon after
the close of the war, he received the appointment of paymaster,
which office he held till his death.
1810. - Dr. BENJAMIN DIXON BARTLETT died in Cambridge, 7 February,
1853, aged 63. He was son of Samuel Bartlett, of Concord; and was
born 17 September, 1789; commenced practice as a physician in that town
in 1813; removed to Bath, Me., in 1816, and subsequently
to Cambridge.
1811. - HENRY HOLTON FULLER, of Boston, died at Concord, 15
September, 1852, aged 62. He was son of Rev.
Timothy Fuller, of Princeton (H.C. 1760), where he was born
1 July, 1790. He was a distinguished lawyer in Boston.
1812. - Dr. ABEL LAWRENCE PEIERSON, of Salem, was
killed on the New-York and New-Haven Railroad, at Norwalk,
Conn., 6 May, 1853, on his return from New York, where he
had been to attend a medical convention. He was son of
Samuel Peirson, of Biddeford, Me., where he was born 25
November, 1794; commenced practice as a physician in Maine;
removed to Salem in 1819, and has been for many years considered
one of the most eminent of the profession in Essex County.
1813. - Dr. CHARLES AUGUSTUS CHEEVER, of Portsmouth,
N.H., died in Saugus, 22 September, 1852, aged 58. He
was born in Lynn, December, 1793; was for many years a
highly respectable physician in Portsmouth; came to Boston
some months before his death on account of ill health, and
entered the Massachusetts General Hospital to be under the
charge of the physicians of that establishment; but after
remaining some time, his disease being considered incurable, he
left, and went to Saugus, where he owned an estate, and died
soon after he arrived there.
1814. - Dr. NATHANIEL BREWER, of Boston, died in Pepperell,
17 May, 1853, aged 57. He was born in Northfield,
Mass., 23 July, 1795; and was a druggist of the firm of
Brewers, Stevens, and Cushing, of Boston.
1814.- ARTHUR MIDDLETON, of South Carolina, died in
Naples, Italy, 9 June, 1853, aged 57. He was son of lIon.
Henry Middleton, who was for many years American minister
at St. Petersburg, and grandson of Hon. Arthur Middleton,
one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He
was born in South Carolina, 28 October, 1795; was, for eight
years, secretary to the American Legation in Spain; married
the Countess Benivoglio, of Rome, who survives him, with two
children. He had resided in Naples with his family for three
years previous to his death.
1815 - JOHN DALL died in Boston, 7 August, 1852, aged
56. He was son of William Dall, and was born in Boston,
22 February, 1797; was for many years teller, first in the
New-England, and afterwards in the State Bank. He became
insane some years before his death, and was for a considerable
time in the McLean Asylum at Somerville.
1815. - JOHN SPRAGUE WHITWELL died at College Hill,
Cincinnati, 30 January, 1853, aged 57. He was born in
Brunswick, Me., 17 September, 1795; was for a time a teacher;
afterwards a merchant; and at the time of his death was
Professor of Ancient and Modern Languages, and Belles
Lettres, in Farmer's College, Cincinnati.
1816. - Dr. GEORGE BAKER died in Chelsea, 25 December, 1852,
aged 56. He was son of Eliphalet Baker, of
Dedham, where he was born 9 July, 1796; was a physician in
Lancaster, next a druggist in Cambridge, afterwards resumed
his profession in Chelsea.
1817. - RICHARD FARWELL died in Marlborough, 20 February, 1853,
aged 63. He was born at Fitchburg, 23 July,
1789, but removed with the family, when quite young, to
Harvard. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and
went to the West,- believed to Dubuque, Iowa; but subsequently
returned to Massachusetts, and established himself at Marlborough,
where he resided the remainder of his life.
1818. - Dr. RALPH EMMS ELLIOTT, of South Carolina,
died in New York, 5 June, 1853, aged 55. He was born in
Beaufort, S.C.,, 15 July, 1797; studied medicine with Dr.
Hosack, of New York, but did not practise his profession.
He was an extensive planter in South Carolina, but resided
during the winter seasons in Savannah, Ga.
1819.- Hon. ALFRED DWIGHT FOSTER died in Worcester,
10 August, 1852, aged 52. He was son of Hon. Dwight
Foster, of Brookfield (B.U. 1774), where he was born 26
July, 1800; settled as a lawyer in Worcester; was
representative, senator, and councillor in the state legislature.
1820. - Rev. WILLIAM GRAGG died in Groton, 19 November, 1852,
aged 66. He was son of Thomas Gragg, of Groton, where he was born
17 September, 1786; ordained at Windham, Me., 15 October, 1828; after
a few years was dismissed, and removed to Carlisle, Mass., thence to Bedford,
and finally returned to his native place, Groton, where he passed
the remainder of his life. His wife died 29 November, having
survived him but ten days.
1820. - Hon. CHARLES PAINE, of Northfield, Vt., died in
the village of Waco, Texas, 6 July, 1853, aged 54. He had
gone to that part of the country for the purpose of exploring a
southern route for the proposed Pacific Railroad; and it was
while in Texas that he contracted the disease common to the
climate, which caused his death. He was son of Hon. Elijah
Paine, of Williamstown, Vt. (H.C. 1781), where he was born
15 April, 1799. After leaving college, he went to Northfield
to take charge of his father's factory in that town. He became
a manufacturer froni necessity, and continued the business until
the burning of his factory in March, 1848,- a period of nearly
twenty-five years. By his influence'and energy, the charter of
the Vermont Central Railroad was obtained, and he was the
first president of that corporation. The Vermont and Canada
Railroad, the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad, and the
Ogdensburg Railroad, were largely indebted to him for their
construction. In the year 1841, he was elected governor of
Vermont; which office he held two years, when he declined
being a candidate for re-election.
1821. - HENRY BULFINCH died at Nahant, 28 January,
1853, aged 55. He was born in Lynn, 6 June, 1797; studied
divinity, and preached occasionally, but, most of his time, was
engaged as a teacher.
1824. - JOHN THOMAS PHILIP DUMONT died in Hallowell,
Me., 6 October, 1852, aged 50. He was a lawyer in Hallowell,
and an ardent politician of the whig school.
1824. - JOHN GREENOUGH died in Paris, France, 16 November, 1852,
aged 51. He was son of David Greenough, and was born in Boston,
19 November, 1801; was an artist by profession.
1825. - HORATIO GREENOUGH died at the McLean Asylum, Somerville,
18 December, 1852, aged 47. He was son of
David Greenough, and was born in Boston, 6 September, 1805.
He was an eminent sculptor, and resided many years in Italy,
pursuing his profession there with great success.
1825. - HIRAM MANLEY died in St. Mark's, Fla., 9 July,
1853, aged 51. He was son of David Manley, and was born
in Easton, Mass., 11 June, 1802. He settled as a lawyer in
Tallahassee, where he resided about ten years, when he removed
to St. Mark's. At the time of his death, he was judge of one
of the courts in Florida.
1825. - SEARS COOK WALKER died at the house of his
brother, Judge Timothy Walker, in Cincinnati, 30 January,
1853, aged 47. He was born in Wilmington, Mass., 28
March, 1805; taught a private school in Philadelphia several
years; was for a considerable period actuary of the Pennsylvania
Life-Insurance Company; a short time attached to the National
Observatory; and, for several years preceding his death, one of
the assistants of the Coast Survey. He was a distinguished
member of the American Academy, and one of the most eminent
mathematicians and astronomers in the country.
1826. - ROBERT RANTOUL, Jun., died in Washington, D.C.,
7 August, 1852, aged 47. He was son of Robert Rantoul, and
was born in Beverly, 13 August, 1805; admitted to the bar in
1828; in 1833 became a resident of Gloucester, which town he
represented in the state legislature several years. In 1843 he
was appointed collector of Boston; but his appointment was not
confirmed by the Senate, and he held the office but one year.
In 1845 he was appointed United-States attorney for Suffolk
District, which office he held till 1849. In 1851 he was chosen
United-States senator, to fill, for a few days only, the unexpired
term of Mr. Webster; and., the same year, was chosen representative
in Congress from Essex District, which office he held at
the time of his death.
1828. - THOMAS PHILANDER RYDER died in the Lunatic
Hospital, at South Boston, 21 November, 1852, aged 47. He
was son of Thomas Ryder, and was born in Hallowell, Me.,
19 August, 1806. He taught school in Dedham for some time;
was afterwards a temperance lecturer, and for several years was
a constable in Boston.
1829. - EZRA WESTON died in Duxbury, 6 September,
1852, aged 43. He was son of Ezra Weston, and was born in
Duxbury, 23 December, 1809. He was a lawyer in Boston,
and for a few years held the office of city-marshal.
1830.- ISAAC APPLETON JEWETT died in Keene, N.H.,
14 January, 1853, aged 44. He was born in Burlington, Vt.;
settled as a lawyer, first in Cincinnati, and afterwards in New
Orleans. For several years latterly, he resided principally at the
North, and was engaged in other business. He had travelled
extensively, and published two volumes entitled "Passages in
Foreign Travel."' He also wrote a series of letters from the
West Indies, which were published in the " Christian Register"
about three years before his death.
1831. - HENRY FREDERICK FRIESE died in Baltimore
County, Md., about seven miles from the city, 24 May, 1853,
aged 42. He was son of Philip R. J. and Julia G. Friese,
of Baltimore, where he was born 16 November, 1810. He
was fitted for college at the Round-Hill School at
Northampton, Mass., under the charge of Messrs. Joseph G. Cogswell
and George Bancroft. By profession he was a lawyer, and practiced
in his native city, where for a time he held a justice's commission.
1831. - FREDERICK FURBER died at the Lunatic Hospital,
South Boston, 1 July, 1853, aged 42. He was son of Thomas
Furber and Elizabeth Green (Foster) Furber, of Boston; and
was born 22 January, 1811. Hle was distinguished for his
mathematical attainments; and, after graduating, qualified himself
for the profession of a civil engineer. He was insane
for twenty years; the last thirteen of which he passed at South
Boston, where he latterly beguiled the tedium of confinement
by draughting plans for similar institutions.
1832. - WILLIAM PRESCOTT GIBBS died in Lexington, 27
July, 1852, aged 39. He committed suicide by drowning himself
in a pond near his house. He was the eldest son of William
Gibbs, of Salem; where he was born 5 August, 1812. He was
a lawyer by profession.
1833. - Rev. JOSEPH HARRINGTON died in San Francisco,
2 November, 1852, aged 39. He was son of Joseph Harrington,
of Roxbury (Y.C. 1803), and was born 21 February, 1813;
ordained in Boston as an evangelist, 27 September, 1840;
installed at Hartford, Conn., 23 April, 1846; was dismissed; went
to San Francisco to take charge of the Unitarian society in that
place, and died of fever a few weeks after his arrival there.
1835. - ALLEN CROCKER SPOONER died in Boston, 28
June, 1853, aged 39. He was born in Plymouth, 9 March,
1814; was a lawyer in Boston.
1835.- JOHN HUNT WELCH died in Dorchester, 9 September, 1852.
He was son of John Welch, and was born in Pennington, N.J., 17
November, 1814. He studied law, but left the profession; went
into mercantile business, and was for a time of the firm of Heard
and Welch in Boston.
1836.- DANIEL COOK died at East Boston, 1 June, 1853,
aged 35. He was son of Nathan Cook, and was born in Salem,
4 January, 1815. After graduating, he went to the South, and
kept school several years in Mississippi and vicinity. For the
last ten years, or thereabouts, of his life, he resided mostly in
Salem, and subsequently in East Boston, as a machinist.
1837. - MANLIUS STIMSON CLARK died in Boston, 28 April,
1853, aged 36. He was son of Rev. Pitt Clark, of Norton
(H.C. 1790), where he was born 17 October, 1816; was a
highly respected lawyer in Boston.
1837. - WILLIAM DAVIS, of Plymouth, died in Boston,
19 February, 1853, aged 34. He was son of Nathaniel Morton Davis
(H.C. 1804), and was born in Plymouth, 12 May,
1818; was a lawyer in Plymouth, and, at the time of his death,
vice-president of the Pilgrim Society.
1843. - FRANCIS WHITNEY BIGELOW died in San Francisco,
11 July, 1853, aged 29. He was son of Tyler Bigelow of
Watertown (H.C. 1801), where he was born 4 June, 1824.
He was a lawyer by profession.
1843. - WASHINGTON VERY died in Salem, 28 April, 1853,
aged 37. He was son of Jones Very, of Salem, and was born
in that place, 12 November, 1815. For some time before he
entered college, he was a clerk in one of the Salem banks.
After he graduated, he studied divinity at the Theological
School in Cambridge. He preached one year, and subsequently
was teacher of a private school in Salem.
1844. - FRANCIS WILLARD SAYLES was killed on the NewYork
and New-Haven Railroad, at Norwalk, 6 May, 1853, as
he was on his return from a journey to the South. He was son
of Willard Sayles, and was born in Boston, 30 September,
1823. Was a merchant, of the firm of Sayles, Merriam, and
Brewer, in Boston.
1846. - JAMES MORRIS died at Staten Island, N.Y.,
28 January, 1853, aged 27. He was born in the city of New
York, 19 March, 1825; and was, by profession, a civil engineer.
1847. - Dr. JAMES BEMIS ADAMS died of yellow fever at
Curagoa, West Indies, 16 January, 1853, aged 28. He was
son of William Henry Adams, and was born at Lyons, Wayne
County, N.Y., 12 January, 1825. He studied medicine, and
received the degree of M.D. at the New-York Medical School
in 1851.
1847. MARK SIBLEY ADAMS died in San Francisco,
19 February, 1853, aged 25. He was son of William Henry
Adams, and was born at Lyons, Wayne County, N.Y., 10 April,
1827.
1849. - JAMES PIERCE, of Brookline, died at sea of consumption, 29 May,
1853, on board ship "Parliament," on the passage from Liverpool to Boston.
He was son of James Pierce, and was born in Dorchester, 20 November, 1825.
1849. - AUGUSTUS WARREN WHIPPLE was scalded to death,
4 September, 1852, at Saugerties, N.Y., on board the steamboat,"Reindeer,"
in consequence of the bursting of the boiler.
He had just completed his studies at the Theological School at
Cambridge.
1852. - ALFRED WELLINGTON COOKE died at Weston,
Mass., 3 August, 1852, aged 22 years. He was the son of
Josiah Wellington and Sarah (Hancock) Cooke, and was born
in Cambridge, Mass., 25 August, 1830. He began his preparatory
course for college at the Cambridge High School, where
he remained till the last two years, which he spent at the
classical school of Edmund Burke Whitman (H.C. 1838), in the same
city. During his last school vacation, before entering
college, he suffered an attack of bleeding at the lungs, from
which, in a few days, he appeared to entirely recover; but
though after that his health seemed to be good till the last year
of his college-life, yet the seeds of disease were probably lurking
in his system, and he gradually sank under confirmed pulmonary
consumption.
By class-day he had become so ill, that
he was unable to take part in its exercises. During his whole
college-course, he was an earnest, faithful student, and performed
his scholastic duties with untiring perseverance. In spite of his
failing health, he continued to labor, till, from bodily weakness,
he could no longer attend the recitations. Never was a more
worthy example of scholarly devotion shown than was displayed
by him in feebly going to and from his college-exercises, after all
could see that the hand of death was already upon him. His
energy, though quiet, was indomitable; and, if a resolute will
could ever avert the approach of mortality, his would have
done so.
From his earliest years, he was impressed with the need of
a religious life; and, at the age of twelve, he made a profession
of his faith, and united with the First Baptist Church of Cambridge
(of which Rev. Joseph White Parker was then the pastor), 24 March,
1842. When very young, he had displayed
great talents for music and painting. He played with much
ability upon the piano and the organ; and his first and untaught
efforts with the pencil showed a hand by no means unskilful.
He was extremely persevering, and never idle. When not
engaged upon his college-studies, he was always busy with his
brush or pencil, or playing upon some instrument of music.
Careful in his choice of friends, and invariably preferring merit
to numbers, he was faithfully devoted to those he had. They
who knew him best thought most highly of him, and warmly
appreciated both his talents and his unassuming virtues. It was
ever his earnest desire to visit Italy, for the purpose of perfecting
himself in the arts he loved so well. He would often exclaim,
with true artistic fervor, "I shall certainly see Italy before I
die!" but Providence had ordained that he should look upon a
fairer land than that.
Only a few days before his death, he received an appointment,
at a liberal salary, as teacher of music in a Southern academy.
He had applied for this in the hope that rest from mental exertion
and a year's residence in a warmer climate might restore
his failing health; but, when the letter announcing his engagement
reached him, he was too weak to answer it. Reserved
and gentle in his manners, ever fearful of obtruding himself
upon the society of others, cordial and kind towards all, his
short life flowed on peacefully into the ocean of eternity. With
his promising talents and abundant sources of enjoyment,
he had much to live for; and it is matter for deep sorrow, that
a youth so bright was so early clouded by the approach of
death.
1784. - THOMAS GREENLEAF died in Quincy, 5 January,
1854, aged 86. He was son of John Greenleaf, and was born
in Boston, 15 May, 1767. He was for many years an apothecary
in Boston: his shop was No. 62, Cornhill, now Washington Street.
1786.- Rev. EBENEZER HILL died in Mason, N.H., 27
May,'1854, aged 88. He was son of Samuel Hill, and was
born in Cambridge, 29 January, 1766; was ordained at Mason,
3 November, 1796.
1787. - Dr. NATHANIEL SHEPHERD PRENTISS died in West
Cambridge, 5 November, 1853, aged 87. He was son of
Nathaniel Prentiss, saddler, of Cambridge, and his wife Mercy
(Pierce), and was born in the old tavern building near Porter's
hotel, in Cambridge, 7 August, 1766. He studied medicine
with Dr. Israel Atherton, of Lancaster (H.C. 1762); and
settled in Marlborough, where he remained twelve or thirteen
years. He then removed to Roxbury, where he had charge of
the Latin School eight years, and fitted many distinguished men
for college; he also practised medicine in Roxbury, and was
town-clerk over thirty years. On leaving Roxbury, in 1850,
he presented to the Roxbury Athenecum a set of valuable books.
For the last few years of his life, he resided with his son-in-law,
the Rev. Mr. Banvard, in West Cambridge.
1789. - Rev. AARON GREEN died in South Andover, 23
December, 1853, aged 89. He was born in Malden, 2 January,
1765; was ordained as pastor of the First Church in his native
town, 30 September, 1795; resigned 8 August, 1827, and soon
afterwards removed to Andover, where he passed the remainder
of his days.
1789. - Hon. NAHUM MITCHELL, of East Bridgewater,
died suddenly in Plymouth, 1 August, 1853, aged 84. a He
was son of Cushing Mitchell, and was born in Bridgewater, 12
February, 1769. He was a lawyer by profession; was for
many years chief justice of the Old County Circuit Court of
Plymouth; was representative in Congress at a most important
period of our history; was representative and councillor in our
state legislature; was for several years librarian of the
Massachusetts Historical Society; and published a valuable history
of his native town.
1790. - Hon. SAMUEL CHANDLER CRAFTS died in Craftsbury, Vt.,
19 November, 1853, aged 85. Hie was son of Col. Ebenezer Crafts
(Yale C. 1759), and was born in Woodstock, Conn., 6 October, 1768,
where his father then resided;but the family soon after removed to
Sturbridge, Mass., and Samuel C. was fitted for college at Leicester
Academy, of which his father was one of the principal founders and patrons.
Soon after leaving college, he moved with the family to Craftsbury,
where his father died in 1810, and where he ever after
resided. In 1792, he was appointed clerk of the town; which
office he held, by yearly re-elections, for thirty-seven successive
years.
In 1796, he was chosen member of the legislature; and,
the two following years, was elected clerk of the same. He was
again elected to the legislature in 1800, 1801, 1803, and 1805.
From 1800 to 1810, he held the office of first assistant judge
of the County Circuit Court; and, after that time to 1816, was
chief judge. In 1816, he was elected a representative in
Congress, and was continued a member for eight years. In
1828, he was chosen governor of the state, and was re-elected
in 1829 and 1830. In 1842, he was appointed, by the executive
of the state, to a seat in the Senate of the United States,
in place of Judge Prentiss, who had resigned; and, at the following
meeting of the legislature, he was chosen for the remainder of the
period for which Judge Prentiss had been elected.
From that time to his death, he retained no important public
office, exept that of justice of the peace for the town.
1796. - FRANCIS DANA died in Cambridgeport, 28 December, 1853,
aged 76. He was son of Hon. Francis Dana
(H.C. 1762), and was born in Cambridge, 14 May, 1777.
He was a merchant by profession; and he passed several years,
after he entered into business, in Russia, Germany, India, South
America, and the western regions of our own country. In the
latter part of his life, he represented his native town in the
state legislature.
1797. - Hon. DANIEL ABBOT died in Nashua, N.H.., 3
December, 1853, aged 76. He was son of Timothy Abbot of
Andover, and was born in that town, 25 February, 1777. He
studied law with Parker Noyes of Salisbury, N.H. (D.C.
1796), where he was a fellow-student with Daniel Webster.
In 1802, he commenced the practice of law in Londonderry,
N.H., but moved to Dunstable the same year. He represented
the town in the legislature many years, and was once a member
of the senate. He was president of the Nashua Manufacturing
Company for several years of its early existence; president of
the Nashua Bank many years; president of the Nashua and
Lowell Railroad Company for fourteen years after its
incorporation; president of the Wilton Railroad from its
organization till within a short time before
his death; and, for a long period, president
of the Hillsborough County bar.
1797. - Rev. FREEMAN PARKER died in Wiscasset, Me.,
24 April, 1854, aged 78. He was born in Barnstable, 13
July, 1776; ordained at Dresden, Me., 2 September, 1801,
and was minister there about twenty-five years; when he resigned
his pastoral charge, and removed to Wiscasset. On the fiftieth
anniversary of his ordination, he went to Dresden, and preached
an occasional sermon to his former congregation. This was the
last discourse he ever delivered. He was blind for upwards of
forty years before his death.
1798. - JOHN ABBOTT died in Westford, 30 April, 1854,
aged 77. He was born in Westford, 27 January, 1777; and
was a lawyer in his native town.
1799. - BARTHOLOMEW BROWN died in Boston, 14 April,
1854, aged 81. He was son of John Brown, and was born in
Danvers, 8 September, 1772; was, lawyer in Sterling fromn
1803 to 1809, when he removed to East Bridgewater, where he
continued in practice of his profession till about ten years before
-his death, when he removed to Boston. He possessed great
talent for music; and, in connection with the late Judge Mitchell, he
edited, for about twenty years, the "Bridgewater Collection of Church
Music," in which book may be found many pieces of his composition.
He wrote the calendars in Thomas's Old Farmer's Almanac"
for fifty-nine years successively.
1800. - Rev. JOSHUA BATES died in Dudley, 14 January,
1854, aged 77. He was born in Cohasset, 20 March, 1776;
was ordained at Dedham as colleague-pastor of the First Church
with the Rev. Jason Haven (H.C. 1754), 16 March, 1803;
resigned 10 February, 1818, and, the following month, was
inaugurated president of Middleborough College, Vt.; which office
he held till 1843, when he resigned, and was installed the same
year as pastor of the Congregational Church in Dudley, where
he remained till his death.
1800. - Dr. JOHN DWIGHT died in Roxbury (Jamaica
Plain), 5 August, 1853, aged 78. He was born in Shirley,
22 December, 1773; studied medicine with Dr. John Jeffries,
of Boston (H.C. 1763); practised his profession in Boston
till 1844, when he joined the "Community" in West Roxbury,
where he remained about four years, continuing the practice
of his profession among them. He then removed to Jamaica
Plain, where he passed the remainder of his life.
1801. - JOSIAH ADAMS died in Framingham, 9 February,
1854, aged 72. He was son of Rev. Moses Adams, of Acton
(H.C. 1771), and was born in that town, 3 November, 1781.
He was a lawyer in Framingham.
1804. - ANDREWS NORTON, of Cambridge, died in Newport,
R.I., 18 September, 1853, aged 66. He was son of Samuel
Norton, of Hingham; and was born in that town, 31 December, 1786.
In 180-1, he entered college a year in advance, and was the youngest
in his class. After graduating, he studied
divinity, but was never ordained. In 1813, he was appointed
librarian, which office he held till 1821. He was also, in 1813,
appointed Dexter Lecturer. In 1819, when the Theological
School was organized, he was elected Professor of Sacred Literature,
which office he resigned in 1830. In 1833-4, in connection with
Charles Folsom, Esq., he edited "The Select Journal
of Foreign Periodical Literature," which closed with the fourth
volume. The elaborate theological works of Professor Norton
are well known.
1806. - JAMES DAY died in Paxton, Mass., 16 December,
1853, aged 74. He was born in Paxton, 14 December, 1779.
After leaving college, he studied law, but soon relinquished the
profession, and devoted himself to teaching in his native town
and the vicinity.
1806. - ABRAHAM MOORE died in Boston, 30 January,
1854, aged 69. He was born in Bolton, Mass., 5 January,
1785; studied law with Hon. Timothy Bigelow (H.C. 1786);
and settled as a lawyer in Groton in 1809, where he resided till
1815, when he removed to Boston.
1807.- Rev. JOSHUA CHANDLER died at the Massachusetts
General Hospital, in Boston, 31 May, 1854, aged 67. He was
son of Major Abiel Chandler, of Andover, where he was born
15 May, 1787; was ordained at Swanzey, N.H., 20 January,
1819; dismissed 26 November, 1822; installed in Orange,
27 November, 1822; dismissed 31 October, 1827; installed in
Bedford, 20 January, 1836; dismissed and installed in Pembroke,
9 February, 1842; dismissed, and removed to Boston, where he
spent the remainder of his days.
1807.- Rev. PHINEAS FISH died in Cotuit (Barnstable),
16 June, 1854, aged 69. He was born in Sandwich, 30 January,
1785; was ordained at Marshpee, 18 September, 1812;
and, for more than forty years, was a devoted and faithful
missionary to the Indian tribe at that place.
1807. - WILLIAM COFFIN HARRIS died in Portsmouth,
N.H., 22 November, 1853, aged 65. He was seized with an
apoplectic fit in his school-room, fell on the floor, and died
within ten minutes afterwards. He was son of Abiel Harris,
of Portsmouth, where he was born 17 March, 1788. He had
been a teacher in Newington and Portsmouth between thirty
and forty years; and, for faithfulness, energy, and thorough-
ness in this capacity, was greatly distinguished and highly
esteemed.
1807.-Hon. JAMES CUSHING MERRILL died in Boston,
4 October, 1853, aged 69. He was son of Rev. Giles Merrill
(H.C. 1759), and was born in Haverhill, 27 September, 1784.
He was a lawyer in Boston; and, for many years, was one of
the judges of the Police Court.
1808. - JOSEPH BOLLES MANNING, of Rockport, died suddenly in Ipswich,
22 May, 1854, aged 67. He was born in Gloucester (now Rockport), 5 March,
1787; was for several years a lawyer in Ipswich; and afterwards removed to
Gloucester.
1810. - Hon. JAMES GORE KING died in New York,
4 October, 1853, aged 62. He was the third son of Hon.
Rufus King (H.C. 1777), and was born in New York, 8 May,
1791. He went with the family to England, on the appointment
of his father, in 1796, as minister from the United States
to the court of St. James. He was placed at school near
London for some time; and was afterwards sent to Paris, where
he also attended school. He returned to the United States in
the year 1805, and was fitted for college by the Rev. Dr.
Gardiner, of Boston. After graduating., he commenced the
study of law with Peter van Schaick, Esq., of Kinderhook;
and completed his studies at Litchfield under the instruction of
Judges Reeve and Goold. He afterwards turned his attention
to commerce, and formed a commission-house in New York,
which he soon after transferred to Liverpool. In 1823, he
returned to New York, and became a partner in the bankinghouse of
Prime, Ward, and King; and subsequently, on its dissolution, was the
head of the house of James G. King and Sons.
1810. - Dr. RUFUS KITTREDGE died in Portsmouth, N.H.,
21 February, 1854, aged 64. He was son of Dr. Benjamin
Kittredge, of Tewksbury, Mass., where he was born 28 June,
1789. His father, who died at the age of 81, had eight sons
and three daughters. All the sons reached manhood, and were
all physicians. Dr. Rufus was the last of the brothers. He
had been a resident of Portsmouth since 1817; had an extensive
practice in his profession, and enjoyed the confidence of the
public.
1810. - Dr. THOMAS GARDNER MOWER died in New York,
7 December, 1853, aged 63. He was son of Thomas Mower,
and was born in Leicester, 18 February, 1790, but removed
with the family, at an early age, to Worcester. He studied
medicine with Dr. Thomas Babbitt, of Brookfield (H.C. 1784).
He was appointed surgeon's mate in the Ninth Regiment of United
States Infantry, 2 December, 1812, and immediately joined his
regiment in winter-quarters at Burlington, Vt. On the 30th
of June, 1814, he was promoted to the surgeoncy of his regiment,
and continued on the New-York frontier till the close of the
war, February, 1815. The war being ended, he was one of
the regimental-surgeons, out of about forty, that were selected
for the peace establishment. After nine or ten years' service on
the frontier, the last two on the Upper Missouri, he was placed
on special duty in the harbor of New York, and charged with
the various duties pertaining to the station. Here, with occasional
absences on duty, he was continued till the time of his death.
1811. - Dr. JOSEPH WHEELWRIGHT died in Heathsville,
Northumberland County, Va., 24 August, 1853, aged 61.
He was born in Newburyport, 29 December, 1791. He established
himself as a physician in Virginia, and for nearly forty
years was actively engaged there in the practice of his
profession. His loss was deeply felt by a large
circle of friends.
1812. - JAMES FOSTER GOULD died in Canton, Miss.,
14 February, 1854, aged 61. He was born in a part of
Dorchester which is now South Boston, 24 November, 1791; was
a teacher, first in Baltimore, and afterwards at the South.
1813.- EDWARD HINKLEY died in Baltimore, 28 June,
1854, aged 63. He was born in Barnstable, Mass.,
26 August, 1790. He was a lawyer by profession, and for many
years had been a prominent member of the Baltimore bar.
1814. - Hon. ELIJAH PAINE died in New York, 7 October,
1853, aged 57. He was son of Hon. Elijah Paine, of Wil
liamstown, Vt. (H.C. 1781), where he was born 10 April,
1796; studied law with Judge Cady, of Montgomery County,
N.Y., and settled in New York City as a lawyer about the year
1823. In 1849, he was elected one of the justices of the
Superior Court, and discharged the duties of his office as long
as his health would permit. His term would not have expired
till 1 January, 1857.
1816. Rev. WILLIAM DANIELS WISWALL died in Roxbury,
30 November, 1853, aged 66. He was son of Timothy and
Diadama Wiswall, and was born in Milford, 23 October, 1787.
His name, originally, was Lot Wiswall. He was ordained at
Ellsworth, Me., 5 July, 1837; dismissed 5 July, 1839. He
was never settled over any other society, but preached
occasionally in various places.
1817. - GEORGE STORER BULFINCH died in Boston, 7
October, 1853, aged 54. He was son of Charles Bulfinch
(H.C. 1781), and was born in Boston, 23 January, 1799;
was a lawyer in Boston, and for some time librarian of the
Boston Library.
1818. THOMAS COOK WIITTREDGE died suddenly of
apoplexy, in Salem, 26 January, 1854, aged 54. He was son
of Capt. Thomas' Whittredge, of Salem, where he was born
28 May, 1799. He adopted the maritime profession, and was,
for some time, master of a merchant-ship; but, several years
before his death, he retired from active life.
1820. - Rev. ALEXANDER YOUNG died in Boston, 16
March, 1854, aged 53. He was son of Alexander Young, and
was born in Boston, 22 September, 1800; was ordained pastor
of the New South Church, in Boston, 19 January, 1825.
1822. - Hon. CHARLES GORDON ATHERTON, of Nashua,
N.H., died at the Manchester House, in Manchester, N.H.,
15 November, 1853, aged 49. He died of paralysis, with
which he was attacked in the court-house, in Manchester,
while engaged in professional business. He was son of Hon.
Charles Humphrey Atherton (H.C. 1794), and was born in
Amherst, N.H., 4 July, 1804; studied law with his father;
was admitted to practice in 1825, and soon afterwards opened
an office in Nashua Village, then called Dunstable. He was
elected to the state legislature in 1830, and in 1831 he was
chosen clerk to the Senate. He was again chosen representative
in 1833-6; and was Speaker of the House during
three of those years. He was elected representative
in Congress in 1837, 1839, and 1841; was elected senator in 1842,
and took his seat in the Senate in March, 1843. His term
expired in 1849; and he was again elected to that place in
1852, and took his seat in March, 1853.
1822. - JOHN THOMPSON died in Centre Harbor, N.H.,
21 January, 1854, aged 52. His house was destroyed by fire;
and while endeavoring to save an article of furniture which he
highly prized, it being a present from his mother, he perished
in the flames. He was son of Benjamin Thompson of Durham,
Nl.H., where he was born 2 December, 1801. He was a
practising lawyer in Centre Harbor.
1826. - Rev. NATHANIEL PHIPPEN KNAPP died in Mobile,
Ala., 17 February, 1854, aged 46. He was son of Capt.
Joseph J. Knapp, of Salem, where he was born 25 June, 1807.
He was for a time a lawyer in Marblehead, but subsequently
relinquished the profession; studied divinity, and became an
Episcopal minister; was ordained priest at Jamaica, N.Y., 15
March, 1837. In 1838, hewas instituted rector of Christ Church,
in Montgomery, Ala.; and afterwards removed to Mobile.
1827. - THOMAS KEMPER DAVIS died in Boston, 13 October, 1853,
aged 45. He was son of Isaac P Davis, and was
born in Boston, 20 June, 1808. He graduated with the
highest honors of his class. He studied law with Hon. Daniel
Webster; was admitted to the bar in 1830, and opened an office
in Boston; but, for several years before his death, was an inmate
of the McLean Asylum at Somerville.
1828. - CHARLES TRACY MURDOCH died in Cambridge,
25 November, 1853, aged 44. Hie was son of John Murdoch;
and was born in Havana, Island of Cuba, 5 January, 1809.
He was a lawyer by profession; had an office in Boston, but
resided in Cambridge.
1830. - JAMES BENJAMIN, of Boston, died in Springfield,
Mass., 28 August, 1853, aged 42. He was son of Ashur
Benjamin, and was born in Boston, 23 April, 1811. He was
fitted for college partly at Exeter Academy, and partly at the
Boston Latin School. He was a lawyer in Boston.
1830. - JOSEPH BARNEY WILLIAMS died in Baltimore, Md.,
30 August, 1853, aged 43. He was son of Nathaniel Williams
(H.C. 1801), and was born in Baltimore, 16 October,
1810. He was fitted for college at the Round-Hill School,
Northampton, and entered the sophomnore.class in 1827. He
was a lawyer by profession; and, for many years previous to his
death, was notary-public and commissioner.
1834. - DRAUSIN BALTAZAR LABRANCHE died at his residence
in the parish of St. Charles, Louisiana, 25 August,
1853, aged 38. He was born in that place, 12 April, 1815,
and was by profession a lawyer.
1837.- EDWARD PINKNEY WILLIAMS died in New Orleans,
18 November, 1853, aged 34. He was born in Baltimore, 9
June, 1819; and was a merchant in New Orleans.
1838. - JONAS WHITE THAXTER died in Watertown, 1
March, 1854, aged 34. He was son of Hon. Levi Thaxter, and
was born in Watertown, 27 February, 1820. He studied
medicine for a time, but did not pursue the profession.
1842. - FRANCIS HENRY APPLETON, of Boston, died at the
McLean Asylum in Somerville, 28 May, 1854, aged 30. He
was son of Hon. William Appleton, and was born in Boston,
11 September, 1823.
1843. - Dr. JOHN GARDNER LADD, of Brooklyn, N.Y.,
died at Saratoga Springs, 19 August, 1853, aged 33. He
was son of John H. Ladd, of Savannah; and was born in
Alexandria, D.C., 4 July, 1820. He was a physician in
Brooklyn.
1845. - GORHAM BARTLETT, of Concord, died at the
McLean Asylum in Somerville, 17 June, 1854, aged 28. He
was son of Dr. Josiah Bartlett (H.C. 181.6), and was born in
Concord, 22 January, 1826. He comnienced the study of
divinity at the Theological School at Cambridge, but
relinquished it on account of his health.
1845.- NICHOLAS LAFAYETTE MARR died in Tuscaloosa,
Ala., 17 April, 1854, aged 29. He was born in Tuscaloosa,
2 August, 1824, and was a planter by occupation.
1848. - EDWARD IRVING BIGELOW died in Cairo, Egypt,
9 April, 1854, aged 26. He was son of Tyler Bigelow, of
Watertown (H.C. 1801), where he was born 1 June, 1827.
He was a lawyer by profession.
1848. - HENRY WHITCOMB HOLMAN died in Carrolton,
La., 1 October, 1853, aged 29. He was son of Hon. Amory
Holman, of Bolton, Mass., where he was born 8 October, 1824.
He taught school in Jackson, Miss., in 1849-50; afterwards
studied law in New Orleans, and established himself as a lawyer
in that city.
1849. - GEORGE WAASHINGTON COGSWELL died in Le Roy,
N.Y., 22 April, 1854, aged 23. He was born in Peterborough,
N.H., 1 July, 1830, and was a student-at-law.
1852. - GORHAM THOMAS died in Cambridge, 16 August,
1853, aged 21. He was son of Dr. Alexander Thomas (H.C.
1822), and was born in Boston, 8 September, 1831. Hie was
a student of medicine.
1853. - EDWARD JARVIS TENNEY was washed overboard
from steamship "San Francisco," 25 December, 1853. He had
taken passage in that ill-fated vessel for Valparaiso, South
America, where he intended to establish himself in mercantile
business. iHe was son of John Tenney, of Methuen, where he
was born 20 September, 1833; and was consequently twenty
years of age at the time he was lost.
1791. - Hon. THOMAS RICE died in Winslow, Me., 24
August, 1854, aged 86. He was son of Dr. Thomas Rice
(H.C. 1756), and was born in Pownalborough (now Wiscasset),
30 March, 1768. He studied law with Hon. Timothy
Bigelow of Groton (H.C. 1786). After completing his studies,
he went to Winslow on horseback, carrying in his saddle-bags
his clothes, and a few law-books which constituted his whole
library. He commenced the practice of law in that town in
1795, where he soon gained a lucrative business, and became
successful as an advocate. In 1814, he was representative to
the Massachusetts legislature; in 1817, he was elected
representative to Congress, where he continued two terms. With
the exception of two years, when he resided in Augusta, he
continued to live in Winslow till his death. He was naturally
of a cheerful and social temperament; and had quite a taste for
gardening, which he indulged to the last. He relinquished the
practice of law about twenty years before he died.
1792. - Hon. JOHN LOCKE died in Boston, 29 March,
1855, aged 91. He was son of Jonathan and Mary (Haven)
Locke, and was born in Hopkinton, Mass., 14 February,
1764. In 1769, he, with his father's family, removed to
Framingham; whence, in June, 1770, they removed to Fitzwilliam,
N.H., then called Monadnock No. 2, and lived in a
log-house. In May or June, 1772, he removed with the family
to Ashby, Mass. He worked on a farm till twenty-two years
of age, when he went to Phillips Academy in Andover, where
he continued till he entered Dartmouth College, in the second
quarter of the sophomore year. He left Dartmouth, and
entered Harvard in the beginning of the junior year.
In November, 1793, he entered the law-office of the late Hon.
Timothy Bigelow of Groton (H.C. 1786). In September, 1796,
he was admitted to the bar in Middlesex County, and opened an
office in Ashby. He was elected representative to the Legislature
in 1804, 1805, 1813, and 1823. In 1820, he was a
member of the Convention for revising the Constitution of
Massachusetts. From 1823 to 1829, he was representative in
Congress from the Worcester North District. In 1830, he was
chosen senator from Middlesex to the Massachusetts Legislature.
In 1831, he was a member of the Executive Council. In 1837,
he removed to Lowell to reside with his son, John Goodwin
Locke; with whom, in 1849, he removed to Boston, where he
passed the remainder of his days.
1792. - Dr. HECTOR ORR died in East Bridgewater, 29
April, 1855, aged 85. He was son of Col. Robert Orr, and
was born in East Bridgewater, 24 March, 1770. He settled
as a physician in his native town, where he passed his life; and,
besides having held offices of honor and trust, he was distinguished
as a skilful physician and a man of cultivated intellect.
1793. - THOMAS WIGGLESWORTH died in Boston, 27 April,
1855, aged 79. He was son of Rev. Edward Wigglesworth,
of Camnibridge (H.C. 1749), and grandson of Rev. Edward
Wiigglesworth, of Cambridge (H.C. 1710); both Hollis Professors
of Divinity in Harvard College. He was born in
Concord, Mass., 2 November, 1775. At the time of his
birth, his father's family were residing temporarily in Concord,
to which place the students and teachers of the college
had removed a short time before, in consequence of the occupancy
of Cambridge and the university buildings by the American forces
collected to besiege the British army, who were then in possession
of Boston.
Mr. Wigglesworth, immediately after
graduating, commenced the study of law at Salisbury, N.H.,
near the residence of the family of the late Daniel Webster,
whom he remembered very well as a boy. In a few months, he
discontinued his legal studies, and went to Newburyport, where
he entered the counting-room of Messrs. Searle and Tyler. At
the age of twenty-one, he came to Boston, and soon formed a
copartnership with William Sawyer, Esq. (H.C. 1788), who
survived him for a few years. They carried on business
together for several years. Mr. Wi,gglesworth early engaged
in the Russia and India trade, and continued in the latter to
the end of his life, having accumulated a large fortune. He
was connected, as a director, with several of our financial
institutions, and was respected for his industry, integrity,
and capacity for business; but he was retiring in his habits,
and never served in any state or city office, except for a
short time on the schoolcommittee.
1795. - SAMUEL ADAMS DORR, died in Boston, 25 February, 1855,
aged 79. Hie was son of Ebenezer Dorr, of Boston, and was born in
Medfield, Mass. (where his parents
resided during the siege of Boston), 1 July, 1775. He studied
law with Gov. James Sullivan, but relinquished the profession;
engaged in commercial pursuits; went abroad, and passed many
years of his life in foreign countries.
1796. - Rev. LEONARD WOODS died in Andover, Mass.,
24 August, 1854, aged 80. He was son of Samuel and Abigail
Woods, and was born in Princeton, Mass., 19 June, 1774.
He commenced the study of Latin with the parish minister of
Princeton; and, after three years, he entered as freshman in
1792, having received but three months' regular instruction,
which he obtained at Leicester Academy, under the tuition of
Ebenezer Adams (D.C. 1791, afterwards professor in Dartmouth
College), and graduated with the highest honors of his
class.
For eight months after he left college, he was engaged
as a teacher in Medford. He united with Rev. Dr. Osgood's
church in Medford in 1797. In the autumn of the same year,
he studied theology three months with Rev. Dr. Charles Backus,
at Somers, Conn. (YALE C. 1769). The following winter he
continued his studies at home. In the spring of 1798, he was
licensed to preach, and was ordained pastor of the Fourth
Church in Newbury, 5 December, 1798. He was dismissed
26 May, 1808; was inaugurated Professor of Theology in the
Institution at Andover, 20 September, 1808; and continued to
give instruction till 1846, when his active connection with the
seminary ceased. After that time, he was engaged in revising
and giving to the world his lectures and other writings, in an
edition of five volumes; and in preparing a history of the semni-
nary, which was nearly or quite completed at the time of his
death.
1797. - Dr. HENRY GARDNER died in Charlestown, Mass.,
22 August, 1854, aged 81. He was born in Charlestown, 13
September, 1772; and settled as a physician in his native town,
where he passed his life.
1800. - Hon. LEONARD JARVIS died in Surry, Me., 18
September, 1854, aged 62. He was born in Cambridge, Mass.,
19 October, 1781. Immediately after leaving college, he
entered the counting,-room of the late David Greene and
Son, where he acquired a knowledge of commerce, and habits
of business, which entitle him to an honorable name among the
merchants of Boston.
He became subsequently connected with mercantile operations,
in the prosecution of which he spent several years
abroad, chiefly in France and South America. On his return
home, he settled in Maine, where he filled various important
positions; being at one time collector of Eastport, afterwards
sheriff of Hancock County. In'the year 1831- 33, he represented
his district in the Congress of the United States. He was a
prominent politician in the Democratic party. Under the
administration of President Van Buren, he was appointed navy
agent for the port of Boston. From this post he was removed
by the administration of Gen. Harrison; and soon afterwards
returned to Maine, where he spent the closing years of his life
in the pursuits of agriculture and literature.
1802. - Rev. JAMES FLINT died in Salem, 4 March, 1855,
aged 73. He was born in Reading, 10 December, 1781. After
leaving college, he spent a few years in teaching; then studied
divinity with the Rev. Joshua Bates, D.D., of Dedham (H.C.
1800). On finishing his studies, he received a call from the First
Church and Society in East Bridgewater, Mass.; which he accepted,
and was ordained 29 October, 1806. Possessing a fine
taste for horticulture, he improved it by embellishing the grounds
about his house, and made it one of the most attractive
residence in the county. Here, too, he cultivated his love
for classical literature by superintending the education of
students who were committed to his care by the college governments
He occasionally wrote poetry, and contributed largely to the
literary journals of the day.
At his own request, his connection with the church in East
Bridgewater was dissolved 6 April, 1821; when he was invited
by the East Church and Society in Salem to supply their pulpit,
then vacant by the death of the Rev. Dr. William Bentley (H.C.
1777). After officiating a few sabbaths, he received an
invitation for a permanent settlement, which he accepted, and was
installed 20 September, 1821; and continued to be the sole
pastor till the installation of his colleague, the Rev. Dexter
Clapp, 17 December, 1851. His ready humor, lively sympathy,
and rare conversational powers, peculiarly fitted him for
discharging parochial duties; and in these he was eminently
successful.
1803. - Hon. JOSIAH BUTLER died in Deerfield, N.H., 29
October, 1854, aged 74. He was son of Nehemiah and Lydia
(Wood) Butler, and was born in Pelham, N.H., 4 December,
1779. At the age of 14, he was sent to the academy in
Londonderry, N.H., and subsequently to Atkinson Academy, where
he completed his preparation for college under the instruction
of William Merchant Richardson (H.C. 1797). Immediately
after leaving college, he entered, as a student-at-law, the office
of Hon. Clifton Claggett, of Amherst, N.H., where he remained
a short time, and then went to Virginia, where he resided in
1804, 1805, and 1806; taught an academy; pursued his law
studies in the offices of Gov. Cabot and Jacob Kinney, Esq., and
was admitted to practice in that State. In 1807, he returned to
New Hampshire, and practised law in his native town about
two years, during which time he represented the town in the
State Legislature. In 1809, he removed to Deerfield, where
he resided during the remainder of his life. In 1810, he was
appointed high sheriff of the county of Rockingham, and
continued in that office nearly four years. In 1815 and 1816, he
was elected a representative of Deerfield; and, in 1816, he held
the office of clerk of the Court of Common Pleas. In 1816,
1817, he was nominated and elected a representative to Congress;
and, by successive elections, continued in Congress six years. In
1825, he was appointed associate justice of the Court of Common
Pleas; and continued in that office till 1833, when the court was
abolished. He then returned to the practice of law,
which he continued a few years; and was subsequently engaged
in agriculture. 2A few years since, he was appointed postmaster
at South Deerfield, which office he held at the time of his
decease.
1803. - Rev. JACOB COGGIN died in Tewksbury, Mass., 12
December, 1854, aged 72. He was son of Jacob Coggin, of
Woburn (H.C. 1763), and was born in that town, 5 September, 1782.
He studied theology with his pastor, the Rev.
Joseph Chickering (H.C. 1799), then of Woburn. In April,
1806, he received an invitation to take the pastoral charge of
the church and society in Tewksbury, and was ordained on the
22nd of October of the same year. He continued his ministry
till 1847, when the Rev. Mr. Tolman was settled as a colleague
with him. After that time, he was twice a representative to the
legislature; in 1852, was chosen one of the Presidential electors;
and, in 1853, was a delegate to the Convention for revising
the Constitution of the State. Upon the establishment of the
state alms-house in Tewksbury, he was appointed by Gov. Clifford
one of the inspectors, and was chaplain of it till the time
of his decease. He was one of the pioneers in the temperance
cause, and served as agent for it in all the towns around him.
Three sabbaths before his death, he preached his last sermon
from the fourteenth verse of the ninety-second psalm, " They shall
bring forth fruit in old age." Two of his sons have been educated
for the ministry: one died in the ministry, at West Hampton.
1804. - Dr. JOHN MERRILL died in Portland, Me., 7 June,
1855, aged 73. He was son of Thomas Merrill, by his fourth
wife; and was born in Conway, N.H., 2 March, 1782. He
was highly respected as a skilful physician and good citizen.
1808. - Col. JOHN BLISS died in St, Augustine, Fla., 22
November, 1854, aged 66. He was born in Haverhill, N.H.,
26 April, 1788. After leaving college, he entered the U.S.
army. He was appointed first lieutenant in the Eleventh
Regiment of Infantry, 12 March, 1812; and made captain in
May, 1813. He distinguished himself, and was wounded in the
battle of Niagara Falls, 25 July, 1814. When the army was
re-organized, in May, 1815, he was retained in the Sixth
Regiment of Infantry. From April, 1813, to January, 1819, he
was instructor in infantry tactics, and commandant of cadets at
West Point. For "ten years' faithful service," he was made
brevet-major, 13 May, 1823. He was commissioned major of the
First Regiment of Infantry, 15 July, 1830; and commanded his
regiment in person at the battle of the Bad-Axe. He was promoted
to be a lieutenant-colonel of the Sixth Infantry, 30 September
1836; and resigned 6 September, 1837. For several years
subsequent to his resignation, he resided in Buffalo, N.Y.
1809. - Hon. WILLIAM PLUMER died in Epping, N.H.,
18 September, 1854, aged 65. He was the oldest son of Gov.
William Plumer, of Epping, where he was born 9 February,
1789. He studied law with his father, but did not pursue the
profession. He was repeatedly elected a member of both
branches of the New-Hampshire legislature, and was also a
member of the New Hampshire Constitutional Convention of
1850. From 1819 to 1825, he was a representative in Congress;
where, in 1820, he opposed the Missouri Compromise,
on the ground that Congress thus superseded its powers, and
legislated slavery where it did not exist. He commenced his
public career as a member of the Democratic party: but, in 1828,
he became a Whig; and ever after that time he adhered to that
party. He possessed quite a literary and historical turn of
mind, and published two small volumes of poems. He collected
a large library, particularly valuable for the works it contained
on America and American history.
1810. - RUFUS BACON died in Taburg, Oneida County,
N.Y., 6 November, 1854, aged 70. He was born in Plymouth, Mass.,
13 February, 1792. He settled as a lawyer in
Freetown, Mass.; and about the year 1827 removed to Taburg,
where he resided during the remainder of his life.
1810. - STEPHEN FALES died in Cincinnati, Ohio, 3 Sep tember,
1854, aged 64. He was born in Boston, 3 May, 1790.
In the autumn of 1810, he was appointed tutor in Latin and
Greek at Bowdoin College, where he remained two years. He
afterwards read law in the office of Jeremiah Mason (Y.C.,
1788), of New Hampshire; was admitted to the bar in Portsmouth;
and, in 1819, removed to Cincinnati, where he became
a partner with Francis Arthur Blake (H.C., 1814), a
distinguished lawyer, since deceased. In 1821, he removed
to Dayton, Ohio, where he practised law about ten years, when he
returned to Cincinnati. He was elected to the senate of Ohio
while he resided in Dayton, and served with great honor to
himself, and advantage to his constituents. He was a good
classical scholar; and, to the latest period of his life, read the
New Testament in the original Greek, as his constant exercise.
He often carried that volume in his pocket, and perused it in
private. He left behind him many pleasant memories, many
delightful evidences that one lived and died who keenly felt for
his race, and loved the image of God in his fellow-man.
1810. - Col. BENJAMIN FANEUIL HUNT died in New-York
City, 5 December, 1854, aged 62. He was son of William
Hunt, of Watertown, Mass., where he was born 29 February,
1792. His mother, a woman of high spirit, the second wife
of William Hunt, was Jane, daughter of George Bethune, of
Brighton, whose wife was Mary Faneuil, a descendant of one
of the Huguenot families, who fled from France at the
revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Faneuil Hall was named
for her grandfather's brother. Col. Hunt's father died in 1804.
As young Hunt manifested aptitude for study, and a determined
purpose of obtaining a liberal education, his widowed mother
made provision for meeting the expenses. Immediately after
he left college, as all his brothers had died of consumption,
and as his health was very delicate, he adopted the advice of his
physician to quit the New-England climate, and went to Charleston,
S.C., where he arrived 1 November, 1810. He entered
as a student the law-office of the late Keating Lewis Simons,
at that time one of the most distinguished ornaments of the
legal profession in Charleston. After two years' study, he
was admitted to the bar in Charleston, at a period when it was
crowded with eminent practitioners. Gifted with high intellectual
powers, and a ready and powerful rhetoric, he at once took
his place in the front rank of the profession; and, as a jury
lawyer, was perhaps never surpassed at that bar.
His practice was extensive and successful,
and his professional triumphs generally, and especially
in defence of criminals in capital cases, were multiplied and signal.
His ability and eloquenceas an advocate soon gave him
prominence in the field of politics, and he frequently
served in the state legislature as a representative
from Charleston, and was always regarded as one of the
ablest and most influential debaters on the floor of the House.
Although a Northern man, his sympathies were mainly with the
South. He was chairman of the Committee on Federal Relations;
and his reports on the tariff, the tenure of the presidential
office, and the distribution of the sales of public lands,
have been received as text-books of the state-rights democracy.
On the declaration of war in 1812, he was active in the organi
zation of a military company, which was drafted, during the
war, into the service of the United States. He successively
rose through the intermediate military grades; and, about the
year 1818, was made colonel of the Sixteenth Regiment, in
which capacity he served about twenty years. About a year
before his death, he removed from Charleston to the city of New
York.
1811. - ROBERT HAWKINS OSGOOD died in New York,
27 February, 1855, aged 64. He was son of Capt. John
Osgood, of Salem, where he was born 14 June, 1790. After
leaving college, he entered upon the study of the law in his
native town, but did not pursue the profession. With his
brother John, he entered into business as a wholesale clothing
merchant in Baltimore. Here he was one of the most selfsacrificing
and active men in founding the society over which
President Sparks and Dr. Burnap were afterwards settled.
Subsequently, he and his partner engaged in the wholesale
clothing business in New York. Having relinquished this occu-
pation, he became a partner in the house of Harnden and Co.,
and resided, as European agent for the firm, during a few years,
in Liverpool, Eng. The last years of his life were spent in
New York. He was noted for his excellent sense, even temper,
social accomplishments, and kind heart.
1812. - HENRY PETER COBURN died of cholera in Indianapolis,
Ind., 22 July, 1854, aged 64. He was son of Peter and
Elizabeth (Poor) Coburn, and was born in Dracut, Mass.,
12 March, 1790. The Coburns (originally Colburns) came to
America at an early period, and were among the first settlers on
the Merrimack: the family emigrated from Scotland.
The Poors are also an old family in Dracut. The paternal and maternal
grandfathers of the subject of this memoir were both in the
battle'of Bunker Hill. His father was a farmer,-as had been
all his ancestors in America,- and he was brought up on a
farm. At the age of sixteen, he began his preparation for college;
telling his parents, brothers, and sisters, that he would
take, in the form of an education, his portion of his father's
estate. He did so, and graduated with distinction. He studied
law at Ipswich, Mass.; and, in the year 1815, emigrated to
the West. During the session of the Constitutional Convention,
at the organization of the state government of Indiana, in
June, 1816, he went to Corydon, Ind., then the capital of the
state. There he located himself, and began the practice of
the law. He continued to practise until the year 1840.
In 1818, he was appointed clerk of the Supreme Court of the
state, and continued in office till November, 1852. In 1825,
when the state capital was permanently located at Indianapolis,
he removed to that place, and there resided during the remainder
of his life. His name, originally, was Peter Coburn; but,
after he removed to the West, he prefixed Henry to his given
name Peter. As a man, he was quiet, plain, honest, straightforward,
and decided. He had no ambition for notoriety,
public honor, or public favor. He retired from popular
turmoils, and shrank from contention. He took little or
no part in politics, except as a voter, though he was a firm
and unwavering Whig. His character as a lawyer was fair; as a
counsellor, he was considered excellent; as an advocate, he
never shone. He was caller the "honest lawyer." He was a
member of the Presbyterian Church; he was an ardent friend
of education and temperance; his efforts to promote intelligence
and to forward literary enterprises were constant, and in some
degree successful. The Indiana Historical Society, the Indiana
Law-Library, the Marion-County Library, and the free schools
of Indianapolis, owe much to his constant efforts; and were
partly, for years, under his management. Although he made
less public display than almost any one, he did more for the
moral and educational interests of the city of his adoption than
any man in it. He was truly one of those to whom the Saviour
promised an open reward for secret good.
1812. - Rev. JONATHAN MAYHEW WAINWRIGHT died in
New-York City, 21 September, 1854, aged 61. Hie was son of
Henry Wainwright, and his wife Elizabeth Mayhew, daughter
of Rev. Jonathan Mayhew, D.D., of Boston; and was born in
Liverpool, Eng. (during the temporary residence of his parents
there), 24 February, 1793. His father was an English merchant,
who removed to this country shortly after the war, and
became a naturalized' citizen of the United States.
Dr. Wainwright's boyhood was spent in England, at school; and, on the
return of his parents to this country, he fitted for college at
Sandwich Academy, under the instruction of Elisha Clap
(H.C. 1797). After he graduated, he was for two years
instructor in rhetoric and oratory in Harvard College. In
1816, he was ordained a deacon in the Protestant Episcopal
Church, and was soon after placed in charge of Christ Church,
Hartford, where he remained three years. In 1819, he was
called, as an assistant minister of Trinity Church, New York,
to fill the vacancy occasioned by the election of Rev. Dr.
Brownell as Bishop of Connecticut. A few months afterwards, he
became rector of Grace Church, in New York. Here he remained
until 1834; when, upon a very urgent call, he accepted
the rectorship of Trinity Church, Boston, where he resided three
years. On the 25th of March, 1837, he returned to New York,
as an assistant minister, once more, of Trinity Church, and re-
tained this connection during the remainder of his life.
Meanwhile, however, he had been of distinguished service to the
church in many other capacities. He succeeded Bishop Henry
U. Onderdonk as secretary of the Board of Trustees of the
General Theological Seminary in 1828; in which capacity his
zeal and activity were of great and lasting service until his
removal to Boston in 1834. He was for many years a manager
of the Bible, Prayer-book, and Tract Society.
He was secre tary of the House of Bishops from the year 1838 until
he took his seat as a member of that house; and it was in his capacity
as secretary that he went to England, in the summer of 1852,
bearing the resolutions of the American bishops responsive to
the invitation to attend the closing services of the third semi-
centennial jubilee of the venerable Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. But the crowning energies of
his long and laborious life were devoted to the episcopate, to
which he was elected as provisional bishop by the Diocesan
Convention of 1852, and consecrated on the 10th of November
following. Anxious to serve faithfully that diocese which had called
him to preside over it, he refused to moderate his episcopal
labors by any consideration of his own health. This enormous
diocese is too heavy a burden for even the most vigorous man
in the flower of his age; and the determination to do what no
man of his years could reasonably expect to perform hurried
him to the grave.
His last Sunday's duty was at Haverstraw
(on 27 August), where full and somewhat exciting services were
held; he preaching both morning and afternoon to crowded
congregations, with a confirmation of thirteen persons, and an
appropriate address besides. During his brief episcopate of
one year, ten months, and eleven days, he went through a
far greater amount of episcopal labor than was ever before
crowded into the same space of time by any American bishop.
He paid for his brilliant pre-eminence with his life.
1813. - Dr. ZABDIEL BOYLSTON ADAMS died in Boston,
25 January, 1855, aged 62. He was born in Roxbury, Mass.,
19 February, 1793. He was long known as one of the most
skilful and successful practitioners in Boston; and he was
greatly endeared to the many families who availed themselves of
his professional services, as well as to the community at large.
1815.- ELISHA FULLER died suddenly of disease of the
heart, in Worcester, 18 March, 1855, aged 60. He was son of
Rev. Timothy Fuller (H.C. 1760), and was born in Princeton,
Mass., 28 October, 1794. Immediately after he was graduated,
he commenced the study of divinity, and completed his studies
at the Theological School in Cambridge in 1818, when he was
licensed to preach. For three years, he officiated in various
pulpits, but finally relinquished the profession, and in July,
1821, he began the study of law. In May, 1823, he settled
as a lawyer in Concord, Mass. In May, 1831, he removed
from Concord to Lowell; and, in the spring of 1844, from
Lowell to Worcester, where he remained diligently practising his
profession till death suddenly called him away. At the time of
his decease, he held the office of Associate Judge of the Police
Court in Worcester. His interest in the university, which
gave to him- his education, was large and unintermitted. Its
history, as it was unfolded, was his study. It was a subject of
gratulation with him, that, from the period of his matriculation,
no Commencement-Day had come that did not find him a visitor
at Cambridge, if it were only for an hour, to manifest, by his
presence, his interest in his Alma Mater.
1816. - JOHN AMORY DEBLOIS died in Columbus, Ga.,
30 May, 1855, aged 57. He was son of Stephen Deblois, and
was born in Boston, 20 July, 1797. After leaving college, he
engaged in mercantile business in New Orleans. He afterwards
removed to Columbus, where he formed a copartnership under
the firm of Hall and Deblois; and where, for eighteen years, he
was one of the most prominent merchants of that place, possessing
strict integrity, gentle and courteous manners.
1816. - Rev. WILLIAM POOLE KENDRICK died in Bristol,
Kendall County, Ill., 5 November, 1854, aged 64. He was
born in Hollis, N.H., 27 January, 1790. At the early age
of eleven years, he became seriously impressed, and resolved,
by the aid of divine grace, to devote the best of his life
to the eternal welfare of his fellow-man. In accordance with
this resolution, he fitted for college; and, after graduation,
studied his profession at the Theological Seminary in Andover.
He remained some time at the East, ministering to destitute
churches; after which, he removed to the state of New York,
acting as home missionary for nearly thirty years at Shelby,
Parma Centre, and other places. In 1846, he repaired to
Illinois, and there ended his days.
1817. - FREDERICK HOBBS died in Bangor, Me., 10 October,
1854, aged 57. He was son of Isaac Hobbs, of Weston,
Mass., where he was born 28 February, 1797.On his maternal side,
he was a lineal descendant from the celebrated Rev.
John Cotton, the minister of the First Church in Boston. As
such a descendant, he was entitled to, and received, certain
benefits from Harvard College, while a student there, growing
out of bequests to the institution from the Cotton family.
After graduating, he read law in the office of Daniel WVebster, in
Boston; and, in 1820, went to Eastport, Me., where he opened
an office. He soon entered upon an extensive practice, and
gained a high position at the bar of Washington County. He
filled various municipal offices in Eastport, and represented the
town one year in the legislatuire. He was once nominated by
the whig party as their candidate for representative to Congress
in the Eastern Congressional District, and received the
united vote of that party; but, as it was then in a minority in
the district, he failed of an election. In 1836, he removed to
Bangor, where he successfully continued the practice of the law;
having, up to the time of his sickness, more business in the
United-States Court than any practitioner east of the Kennebec.
Although devoted to his profession, he found time for
other employments, and always took a lively interest in
municipal affairs; and, as an alderman, his services in the city
council were laborious and efficient. He was for some time
president of the Musical Association in Bangor, and freely lent
his aid to this branch of education. He was a great friend to
horticulture; was among the few who first started the Bangor
Horticultural Society, and was for some time its president. In
the cause of schools, lyceums, and temperance, he was an
earnest advocate, and contributed his full share for their general
advancement.
He was a good and useful citizen; of stern
integrity, of strict honesty, and highly exemplary in all his
habits. In February, 1849, while engaged in an important
case before the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, in Boston, he
was suddenly attacked with blindness and dizziness, which for
some time incapacitated him for labor. Rallying, however,
from this attack, he continued his business until February, 1852,
when he was struck down with severe paralysis as he was finishing
a written argument to be delivered before the United-States
Court at Washington. He was a Christian. Many years ago,
he embraced the Unitarian faith; and, through all his after-life,
his thoughts and actions appeared to have been regulated from
conscientious motives. He was sincerely attached to his church,
and sought in all proper ways to advance the spread of its doctrines.
A present of a rich silver communion-service, which
he made to the church where he worshipped in Bangor, after he
was taken sick, showed that the effect of his illness tended to
draw his affections still closer to the best object of his wishes.
1817. - CALEB REED died in Boston, 14 October, 1854,
aged 57. He was'son of Rev. John Reed, D.D., of West
Bridgewater, where he was born 22 April, 1797. His mother
was Hannah Sampson. He studied law with his brother, Hon.
John Reed (B.U. 1803), in Yarmouth, Mass.; with whom he
continued in practice until 1828. In that year he removed to
Boston, and entered into business with Cyrus Alger and Co., in a
foundry which is now known as the South-Boston Iron Company,
of which he was treasurer. In 1821, he published in 18mo a
small work entitled "The General Principles of English Grammar."
For more than twenty years of his life, he was editor of
the "New-Jerusalem Magazine," and a liberal contributor to its
pages. He was a very efficient member of the Swedenborgian
Society.
1818.- Dr. JESSE CHICKEPING died at Jamaica Plain,
West Roxbury, 29 May, 1855, aged 57. He was born in
Dover, Mass., 31 August, 1797. After graduating, he entered
the Theological School at Cambridge; completed his studies at
that institution in 1821, and preached for several years; but
was never settled over any society. He then relinquished the
profession, and commenced the study of medicine. He completed
his studies and received his medical degree in 1833. He
practised in Boston for ten years; but, his studious habits
not agreeing with the active life of a physician, he retired from
the service, and devoted himself to statistics, for which he had
great partiality. His elaborate work on the "Population of
Massachusetts from 1765 to 1840" was published in 1846. His
valuable book on "Immigration into the United States" appeared
in 1848. His reports on the " Census of Boston" were printed in
1851. He also contributed many valuable articles to magazines
and other periodicals.
He rendered essential service to the
Senate committee that arranged the details of the last United
States census. He was for several years a confidential
correspondent of Daniel Webster, John Davis, and other leading
statesmen. A few weeks before his death, he was engaged in
writing a long communication to the celebrated Marshall Hall,
of London, who had misunderstood his article in De Bow's
Review for August, 1853. Dr. Hall, in his work on slavery,
alluded to the article as "an admirable paper;" but the author
found his English friend had mistaken his views, and therefore
prepared an elaborate letter in reply. His last published work
was a "Letter addressed to the President of the United States
on Slavery, considered in relation to the Constitutional Principles
of Government in Great Britain and in the United States." It
was issued from the press a few weeks before his death, and will
rank its author among the profound thinkers and writers on the
slavery-question. He was an intelligent, upright, and conscientious
man. Few persons could be in his society without
receiving instruction, as his mind was active and his habits
were communicative.
1818. - Rev. JAMES DELAP FARNSWORTH died in Bridgewater,
12 November, 1854, aged 61. He was born in Groton,
Mass., 11 September, 1793; was ordained at Orford, N.H.,
1 January, 1823; dismissed 9 April, 1832; installed at Paxton,
Mass., 30 April, 1835; dismissed 1840; installed at
Chelsea; dismissed 1853; installed at Bridgewater,
1 September, 1853. In 1853, he was chaplain to the Massachusetts
Senate.
Insert: Rev. James Delap Farnsworth - Source: Farnsworth
Memorial - Benjamin Farnsworth-Mary Prescott Line - Groton,
Mass. p.226
Rev. James Delap Farnsworth b. Sept 11, 1793 at Groton, Mass.,
son of Jonas Farnsworth & his wife, Jane Delap of Groton. He
m. Nov 1, 1825, Rebecca Miller Thayer Fogg of Braintree, MA.
dau. of Dr. Daniel Fogg, a native of N.H., a most worthy &
good physician. He d. Nov. 12, 1854; she d. April 25, 1873.
He fitted for college at the Groton Academy and entered
Harvard College 1814; graduated there A.B. 1818; A.M.,
and B.D., 1821 having studied theology in the Cambridge
Divinity School. He was ordained as an Orthodox Congregational
Clergyman over the church of Oxford, New Hampshire Jan 21, 1823.
He was afterward successively minister of churches of that
denomination in Paxton, Boxboro, North Chelsea and Bridgewater,
and in 1853 he was chaplain to the Senate of Massachusetts. At
the time of his death he was Pastor of the Congregational Church
in Bridgewater, Mass. He died Nov 12, 1854, very suddenly sitting
in his study. The Sunday before he had preached the Sabbath from
the text, "It is finished." He had made a large collection of
material for the genealogies of his family and without his labors,
the fruits of which came into the hands of Claudius Buchanan
Farnsworth, attorney of Pawtucket, R.I., and soon after his death,
much of this valuable information of the family was incorporated
in the book "Matthias Farnsworth" by C.B. Farnsworth (copy of which
is at my webpages in full and freely shared) He and his wife had
six children born at Orford, NH and Paxton, Mass. - Charles, Susan,
Edward, Rebecca, Charlotte Jane and Elizabeth. Edward m. Charlotte
F. Pinkham dau. of Vincent Pinkham of Chelsea, Mass and lived in
Boston. Transcribed by Janice Farnsworth.
1819.- JOHN HARLESTON CORBETT died in Charleston,
S.C., 11 May, 1855, aged 56. He was son of Thomas and
Elizabeth (Harleston) Corbett, and was born in Charleston,
16 February, 1799. He studied the profession of law; but lost
his eyesight in 1826, and was blind to the day of his death.
He enjoyed life, however, very highly; was fond of society; and
kept himself well informed in all the great topics of the day,
and felt an interest in all its leading movements. He was of a
gay and elastic temperament. Still his misfortune necessarily
threw him much into the shade, and he was rarely seen in public
or general society.
1819. - Hon. SAMUEL BAKER WALCOTT, of Salem, died at
the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, 4 December,
1854, aged 59. He was born in Bolton, Mass., 7 March, 1795.
His given name originally was Jesse, which he had changed to
Samuel Baker by legislative enactment. He received a portion
of his academic education at Andover. In 1821, he was appointed
tutor in Greek at Harvard College; which position
he occupied about one year, having previously labored with
much success as a school-teacher in Salem. He subsequently
studied law in the office of Hon. Daniel Webster, and secured
the esteem and confidence of his distinguished teacher, which
never abated during life, and which afterwards placed the pupil
in the position of guardian and guide of the son of that statesman
whose whole time and care were claimed by his country.
After his admission to the bar, he opened an office in Boston,
but soon removed to Salem. After a brief residence in Salem,
he removed to Hopkinton, where he pursued his profession with
success. His public life began in this town; and no man, who
frequented the halls of our legislature for more than twelve
years prior to 1845, can have forgotten the calm and proper
presence of the member from Hopkinton, the senator from Middlesex,
or can have failed to mark the attentive hearing he
always received from whatsoever assembly he addressed. No
representive, no senator, ever served his town and county better
than he, during many years of public life. His scholarship was
excellent, his manners unostentatious; his conduct, in whatever
he undertook, prudent and discreet; in public, a reliable man;
in private, dignified, exemplary, and conscientiously kind and
attentive.
1819. - BENJAMIN WHEATLAND died in Salem, 28 December,
1854, aged 53. He was son of Capt. Richard Wheatland,
of Salem, where he was born 27 May, 1801. After graduating,
he studied law, but did not pursue the profession. He engaged
in the service of the New Market (N.H.) Manufacturing Company
at the commencement of its career, and continued with it
to the time of his death; a faithful, intelligent, upright, and
honorable agent in the various stations he filled.
1822. - LUTHER BARKER LINCOLN died in Deerfield, Mass.,
11 May, 1855, aged 53. He was son of Luther Lincoln, of
Westford, Mass., where he was born 3 April, 1802. At an
early age, hlie lost his mother; and, from that time, he knew little
of a home till he formed one for himself. His father, who was
a sea-captain, was absent most of the time, and he was kept at
school. At one time, his father possessed considerable property,
but lost it during the youth of his son; who was thus left, at an
early age, to struggle hard for means to complete the course of
study on which he had entered. He was fitted for college at
Westford Academy.
In college he took a respectable rank as
a scholar, and was faithful and conscientious in the performance
of every exercise. On leaving college, he went to Sandwich,
and had charge of the academy in that place for several years.
From Sandwich he removed to Hingham, and was associated
with Dr. Willard in a private school in that place. In 1835,
he became the principal of the academy in Deerfield; which
office he filled with much acceptance till 1844, when he resigned
his situation there, and accepted one in the Derby Academy
at Hingham, where he remained till 1848, when he returned
to Deerfield.
The last seven years of his life were devoted to
teaching, for the most part in a private school; a part of the
time in Deerfield, and a part of the time in Greenfield. His
last situation in this capacity was in the Greenfield High School.
The last four months previous to his death were spent in arduous
labors as representative in the legislature, to which office
he was chosen with a unanimity rarely witnessed in these days.
It will thus be seen that teaching was the chosen occupation to
which he devoted more than thirty years of his life. It was an
occupation which he loved, and to which he gave himself with
all the ardor of his soul. He had a rare taste for his work:
he commanded the respect of the young to a degree seldom
equalled. It may be truly said of him, that he led a pure and
blameless life.
1823. - THOMAS WILSON DORR died in Providence, R.I.,
27 December, 1854, aged 49. He was son of Sullivan and
Lydia (Allen) Dorr, and was born in Providence, 5 November,
1805. He commenced his education at the free school and
the Latin Grammar School in Providence; and completed his
studies, preparatory to entering college, at Phillips Academy, in
Exeter, N.H. He graduated as the second scholar of his class.
He attended the law lectures, and was under the instruction of
Chancellor Kent in New York in 1824-25; and after passing
some time in the office of John Whipple, in Providence, was
admitted to the bar in 1827. He did not pursue the practice
of his profession, but early turned his attention to political life,
and the more congenial studies of scholastic lore. He devoted
much attention to matters of public utility and general improvement.
He was a trustee and treasurer of the Providence Historical Society
at the time of the troubles in 1842. He gave long and zealous attention
to the subject of education in the free schools; was president of the
committee in 1842; introduced, and carried through the commnittee, the
plan of a high school, which was finally adopted by the city government,
and resulted in the present improved system of education.
He commenced political life in 1834. Early in that year, he
attended the Freeholders' Convention, designed to bring about
an extension of suffrage, and establish a republican constitution.
In April of the same year, he was elected representative
from the city of Providence; and was re-elected semi-annually
till August, 1837. In June, 1836, he drew up a report of the
investigation of the banks, and a draft of the Bank Act, which
was adopted. In 1839, he was nominated as a candidate for
representative to Congress, but was defeated. While a member
of the Assembly, he exerted himself to obtain an extension of
suffrage; he also attempted to procure the call of a convention,
without success. He took an active interest in the movement
which was organized in 1840 for obtaining a written constitution,
securing an extension of suffrage, &c.; and was a prominent member
of the convention resulting from this movement,
holden in 1841, and which framed and submitted to the people
a constitution, the original draft of which is in his handwriting.
He was tried upon the charge of treason at the term of the
Supreme Court at Newport, in June, 1844; was convicted, and
sentenced on the 25th of June to imprisonment for "life at hard
labor in separate confinement." At the May term of the
General Assembly holden in 1845, an act was passed, providing
for his liberation on conditions which he refused. At the June
session following, he was unconditionally liberated, without being
restored to the rights of citizenship. The time of his continu-
ance in prison was just one year. He was elected a delegate
to the Baltimore National Democratic Conventions in 1848 and
1852, but was unable to attend either of them. The General
Assembly, at their June session in 1851, restored him to all the
rights and privileges of citizenship, without condition. At
the January session in 1853, an act was passed annulling the
sentence passed upon him by the Supreme Court. During his
last illness, he connected himself with the Episcopal Church.
The Democratic State Convention, holden in March last, voted
to erect a monument to his memory, and appointed a committee
to carry the same into effect.
1826. - Dr. GEORGE FRANKLIN TURNER died at Corpus
Christi, Texas, 17 October, 1854, aged 47. He was son of
Robert Turner, and was born in Boston, 22 April, 1807, After
leaving college, he studied medicine in the army hospital with
the late Dr. B. Turner, with a view of entering the army. His
commission as assistant-surgeon was dated 23 July, 1833;
previous to which time, he had practised medicine for a short
period in Indiana. His commission of surgeon was of date
1 January, 1840. He was stationed at Mackinaw in 1834;
when he married Mary, the eldest daughter of the late Robert
Stuart, Esq., of Detroit, Mich. He afterwards served in Florida
during the Seminole War; and was subsequently stationed at
Fort Snelling, at the Falls of St. Anthony, on the Mississippi,
until the Mexican War, when he was ordered to Mexico, where
he served as medical surveyor. Afterwards, in California and
Texas, he continued to render the services of his profession,
which, from the time of his entering the service until the end of
his life, were uninterrupted, and often as arduous as they were
faithful and able.
1827. - MARSIALL TUFTS died in Lexington, Mass.,
18 May, 1855, aged 52. He was son of Thomas and Rebecca
(Adams) Tufts, and was born in Lexington, Mass., 26
September, 1802. In the winter of 1826, he taught a school in
Woburn, Mass. After graduating,+ he entered as a student
in the Theological School at Cambridge, but left after a short
period. In 1828, lie commenced his theological studies with
the Rev. Abiel Holmes, D.D. (Y.C. 1783), of Cambridge.
After completing his studies, he preached for some years, but
was never ordained.
1828.- Dr. JOHN APPLETON SWETT died in New-York
City, 18 September, 1854, aged 45. He was son of John and
Alice (Appleton) Swett, and was born in Boston, 3 December,
1808. He commenced practice as a physician, in Boston; buts
a few years afterwards removed to the city of New York, where
he resided till his death. He was one of the brightest lights of
the profession in that city. For many years, he was recognized
as an authority of the first standing, especially upon diseases of
the chest; on which subject a volume of his, published a year
or two since, has become a valuable text-book. His private
practice was extensive: but he was much more largely known
through his connection with the New-York City Hospital; to fill
one of the most responsible offices in which, he was elected
in the year 1842. His minute pathological examinations, and
their comparison with the diseases illustrated thereby in the living,
made him one of the most instructive lecturers that walked the
wards of that famous charity; and his clinical classes were
always large. He held too, at his death, an important professorship
in the medical department of the University
(the Fourteenth-street School). In that institution, he lectured
with great success on the Institutes and Practice of Medicine.
1829.- ELBRIDGE GERRY AUSTIN died at Nahant, 25 July,
1854, aged 43. He was son of Hon. James T. Austin (H.C.
1802), and was born in Boston, 4 October, 1810. He studied
law, and opened an office in Boston, where he practised several
years. About four years before his death, he removed to San
Francisco; where he opened an office, and soon obtained an
extensive practice. A few weeks before his decease, he came to
Boston on a visit to his relatives; and, on his Passage across the
Isthmus, contracted the seeds of disease which terminated his life.
1831. - CALEB FLETCHER ABBOTT died in Toledo, Ohio,
24 April, 1855. He was son of Caleb and Mercy (Fletcher)
Abbott, and was born in Chelmsford, 8 September, 1811. He
studied law at Lowell and at the Law School in Cambridge;
and, in 1836, removed to Toledo, where he attained a high rank
in his profession, and held many important offices. He was
formerly mayor of the city, and prosecuting-attorney for that
judicial district. He was a ripe scholar, possessed of fine literary
and scientific acquirements. As a speaker, he had but few
equals as a logical and eloquent debater, and held a front rank
among the members of the bar. He was a warm friend, and
possessed elements of character which entitled him to the
admiration and respect of his fellow-citizens.
1831. - FRANCIS LOWELL DUTTON died in Brookline,
Mass., 15 December, 1854, aged 42. He was son of Hon.
Warren Dutton (Y.C. 1797) and Elizabeth Cabot Lowell, and
was born in Boston, 21 June, 1812. He studied law in Boston,
but did not long pursue the profession.
1832. - WILLIAM O'HARA ROBINSON died in Pittsburg,
Pa., 6 February, 1855, aged 41. He was second son of Gen.
William Robinson, and was born in Alleghany, Pa., 7 October,
1813. He was a lawyer in Pittsburg.
1833. - Dr. CHARLES HENRY PEIRCE died in Cambridge,
Mass., 16 June, 1855, aged 41. He was son of Benjamin
Peirce, of Salem, Mass. (H.C. 1801), where he was born
28 January, 1814. He studied medicine, and established
himself as a physician in Salem; but subsequently removed to
Cambridge. For a few years, he held the office of special
examiner of drugs in the Boston custom-house.
1834. Rev. GEORGE HENRY HASTINGS died in Chattanooga,
Tenn., 2 September, 1854. He was the oldest son of
Joseph Stacy Hastings, and was born in Boston, 17 June, 1814.
He was for several years chaplain in the American legation
at Rome, Italy; and held the place until he was compelled to
relinquish it in consequence of the rapid progress of pulmonary
disease. During his residence at Rome, he was a regular
correspondent of the "New York Commercial Advertiser;" and
continued to write for it after his return, and during his travels
through the Southern States.
1834. - Dr. SAMUEL PARKMAN died in Boston, 15 December,
1854, aged 38. He was son of Samuel Parkman (H.C. 1810),
and was born in Boston, 21 June, 1816. He studied medicine
and established himself as a physician in Boston, where he
rapidly gained an extensive practice; and bade fair to take the
highest rank among the numerous members of the profession
in the city, when he was suddenly cut off in the prime of life.
A few days before his death, he had been elected a member of
the School Committee.
1836. - FREDERICK WILLIAM GALE, of Worcester, Mass.,
was lost at sea in the steamship "Arctic" on his passage from
Liverpool for New York, 27 September, 1854. The "Arctic"
left Liverpool 20 September; and on the 27th, off Newfoundland,
was run into by another steamer, and sunk. He was born
in Northborough, Mass., 22 June, 1815. He was a practising
lawyer in Worcester.
1838.- CHARLES HENRY HARTSHORN died in Cincinnati,
Ohio, 2 May, 1855, aged 35. He was son of Caleb Hartshorn;
and was born in Boston, 4 December, 1819. He studied no
profession, but was employed as a clerk in various mercantile
houses in New York, Boston, New Orleans, and Cincinnati.
1842. - WILLIAM GMINNELL CROSS died in New Bedford, Mass.,
29 October, 1854, aged 37. He was son of
Capt. Latham and Deborah (Snell) Cross, and was born in
New Bedford, 6 November, 1816. His father was born in
Fairhaven, 5 November, 1774. His mother was born 4 January,
1779; and died 15 July, 1853, aged 74. In 1789,
his father learned the trade of a hatter in New Bedford, which
he pursued until 1795, when he abandoned it, and went a
whaling voyage on the coast of Brazil. He soon became master
of a vessel, first of a coaster, which he built in 1802, and ran to
New York; but subsequently was commander of a merchantship,
and went to Liverpool; at which port he was at the time
of the declaration of war in 1812. After peace, he resumed the
whaling business, which he continued with success until 1828,
when he retired with an ample competence.
The subject of this notice, at the age of nine years, was
attacked with a severe affection of the right thigh-bone, which
confined him to the house until nearly seventeen years of age;
and resulted in exfoliation and shortening of the bone, and
rendered him a cripple for life. He then entered the Hligh
School in New Bedford, which he attended about a year; when
he entered the counting-room of William T. Russell, afterwards
collector of New Bedford, where ha continued two years. He
then determined to obtain a collegiate education, and pursued his
preparatory studies under the instruction of Dr. Julius Stewart
Mayhew, of New Bedford.
After leaving college, he studied
law under the instruction of Hon. Thomas Dawes Eliot; when,
on being admitted to the bar, he opened an office in New Bedford,
but abandoned the profession within a year. He married
(1st), in January, 1846, Rebecca C. Wady, daughter of Humphrey
Wady. She died without issue, 20 February, 1847, in
her 24th year; and he married (2d), 19 January, 1851, Ruth
Almy Weaver, daughter of John Weaver, and had two children
(daughters), the elder of whom survives him. His second wife
died 13 May, 1857, at the age of 31. Mr. Cross pursued no
business after relinquishing his profession, as his health continued
feeble. The later years of his life were cheered, amid so much
affliction, by devotion to choice literature and by the kind offices
of numerous friends. His integrity of character was unimpeached,
and his society was sought by his religious associates.
1843. - ELIPHALET BIRCHARD died in Lebanon, Conn.,
20 September, 1854, aged 39. He was born in Lebanon,
21 January, 1815. After graduation, he entered the Theological
Seminary in Andover, and completed his studies there in 1846.
Though invited by several churches to settle as pastor, he was
prevented by imperfect health from accepting any of these invitations;
but he was a faithful and acceptable preacher, and will
long be remembered with gratitude by many who were richly
blessed by his labors.
1846. - WILLIAM THADDEUS HARRIS died in Cambridge,
Mass., 19 October, 1854, aged 28. He was son of
Dr. Thaddeus William Harris (H.C. 1815), and was born in Milton,
Mass., 26 January, 1826. He removed with his father's family
to Cambridge when five years old. He began to fit for college in
September, 1840, at the Hopkins Classical School in Cambridge,
then first established by Mr. John B. Henck (H.C. 1840);
and completed his preparatory studies under Mr. Edmund B.
Whitman (H.C. 1838). A physical infirmity, a congenital
weakness of the spine, followed by its permanent curvature,
debarred him from the usual,pleasures of those of his own age;
and he was obliged to have recourse to books, which, in process
of time, became his meat and drink, his only solace, his only
amusement.
While in college, in his junior year, he printed
a collection of "Epitaphs from the Old Burying-ground in
Cambridge." This collection was made mostly during his
boyhood, while attending the town-school. He finished it, and
added the notes, while in college; and the book was published
in May, 1845. Immediately after graduation, he entered the
Law School at Cambridge; and was admitted to the bar on
the 1st of December, 1853. His acquaintance with early New
England history was thorough and extensive. He projected
several historical performances, which, had he lived, would have
been of great value: one was a "Continuation of Prince's Chronology."
To what extent he went with it, is not known; but
what he did was so well done, that Mr. Prince, it is believed,
could not have wished it better done had he been here with all
his former ability to appreciate such a work.
1846. - NATHANIEL GILMAN PERRY died at sea, on board
ship "William Tell," on the passage from Havre to New York,
2 June, 1855, aged 28. He was son of Dr. William Perry
(H.C. 1811), of Exeter, N.H.; where he was born 28 October,
1826. He inherited a feeble constitution; and, at the
age of seven, lost one of his eyes by an arrow in the hands of
another boy. He was fitted for college in Phillips Exeter
Academy, and entered the freshman class in August, 1842. He
was taken with raising blood while in college, which recurred
frequently, on exertion of the arms, for three or four years. On
leaving college in 1846, he commenced reading law with Gilman
Marston, Esq., of Exeter; and entered the Law School
in Cambridge in 1847, where he remained a year. In the
spring of 1849, he accompanied Capt. John C, Long, as his
clerk, in the United-States steam-frigate "Mississippi," to the
Mediterranean.
He returned home in November, 1851, and
was admitted to the Rockingham bar. In March, 1852, he was
chosen to represent the town of Exeter in the legislature, and
again in 1853. His health now became so feeble, that he was
unable to engage fully in the labors of his profession; and,
thinking himself benefited by being at sea, he was reluctantly
induced, in the following October, to accept Capt. Long's
invitation to go again with him to the Mediterranean,
in the United States steamer "Saranac." For a time, his health
seemed to improve; but, in the autumn of 1854, he became so unwell
as to find it expedient to leave the ship for a time, and remain
in Nice. The latter part of the winter, and the first of the
spring, he spent in Florence. In April, he visited Tunis and
Naples; but became so feeble, that he was compelled to leave
for home under the care of a benevolent gentleman and his
wife, who volunteered the responsible and arduous undertaking.
They left Leghorn the 3d of May, and went to Paris by way
of Marseilles. Here he joined a brother, who had previously
been with him in Florence, and now, finding him so ill,
prepared to accompany him home. They sailed from Havre
the 24th of May; and, on the 2d of June, he died in the arms
of his brother, a firm believer in the mercy of God through
the merits of his Son.
1850.- OSCAR FITZALAN PARKER died in St. Louis, Mo.,
5 August, 1854, aged 26. He was son of Peter Parker, and
and was born in Schroeppel, Oswego County, N.Y., 19 February,
1828. He was a young man of pure life, sterling integrity,
and marked abilities. He was a member of the legal profession,
and had recently established himself in St. Louis, with the
intention of making that his place of residence. A meeting of
the St. Louis bar was held on the day of his death, at which
resolutions were passed in warm eulogy of the deceased, who,
though but recently attached to that bar, had already made
himself beloved and respected by his associates.
1851.- WILLIAM COOMBS WHEELWRIGHT was lost at sea,
9 September, 1854, aged 25. He was son of Ebenezer and
Sarah (Boddily) Wheelwright, and was born in Portsmouth,
N.H., 13 December, 1829. His grandparents, on his father's
side, were Ebenezer Wheelwright (born in Gloucester), and
Anne (born at Newburyport), daughter of William Coombs.
On his maternal line, his grandfather, John Boddily, was born
in England, probably in 1760. His grandmother, Sarah
(Tuckmell) Boddily, was born in Bristol, Eng., or, at least,
came from that place.
When the subject of this notice was
four years old, he moved with his father's family to Boston,
where, and at Roxbury and at Salem, he lived till he entered
college in 1847. His childhood was marked with fearlessness
and self-reliance, fondness for the sea, a taste for the mechanic
arts, correct deportment, and benevolence. From a defect in
his vision, he was never able clearly to discern objects about
him; and consequently, being quite liable to accidents, he received
several slight injuries. Although his inclination for a
liberal education was not strong, he began to fit for college, in
1841, at the Boston Latin School; where, with the exception
of ten months at the Salem Latin School, he continued till the
last two years before entering college, when he was at the Roxbury
Latin School. During the first year of his college-course,
he was parietal freshman; and, in his second year, monitor at
the lectures and declamations. In the junior year, he was
absent nearly two months, and seriously threatened with consumption.
While an undergraduate, his love of adventure was
strengthened by his reading; which, besides poetry, to which
he was much attached, consisted principally of travels and
voyages, particularly of the narrations of various arctic exploring
expeditions. The state of his eyesight, however, interfered with
his literary pursuits. His strong memory, enabling him to
repeat long poems, - particularly of Walter Scott, - and his
activity in the college playgrounds, relieved many an hour
which otherwise might have been unemployed. After graduating,
he was engaged for a short time in teaching at Raynham:
but the trouble in his eyesight continuing, and his passion for a
sea-life increasing, he went on board one of his father's vessels, as
a common sailor, to the West Indies; and he was so much pleased
and benefited, that he abandoned all thoughts of studying a profession.
After another voyage to the West Indies, he went to
the Sandwich Islands. While there, he was deeply impressed
with the importance of personal religion, occasioned by the
sabbath worship of the islanders.
He had never witnessed the gospel in New England as he saw
it manifested in the conduct of these converted heathen.
He described their religious
worship as more impressive than could be imnagined; being
marked by a degree of solemnity, sincerity, and reverence,
such as he had never seen. Subsequently, he went on a voyage
to Havre, in France, where he attended the Bethel worship;
and on his return to New York, and thence home, it was
manifest that an important change had taken place in his
character. His mind was solemn and thoughtful. His evening
hours were spent in solitude, reading the Scriptures, and prayer,
He became much concerned for the welfare of seamen, collected money
for tracts, and employed his efforts in various
ways for their good; and, in his conversation with his friends,
it was evident that he was deeply concerned to fulfil the duties
of life, and always to be prepared for death. His eyesight
continuing to improve, he took the post of first officer on
board the brig "Horace Greeley," of Philadelphia.
He made a voyage to Cuba and back; thence proceeded to Charleston,
S.C.; and thence to Georgetown, in the same State. The brig was
there loaded for Philadelphia; and, sailing on the 5th of September,
encountered a hurricane on the eighth and ninth of the same
month, in which the brig, on the last day named, was upset,
and all on board perished. Two other vessels sailed the same
day from Georgetown, bound north; and both vessels, with all
their crews, were lost.
He cherished a love for literature; and, in all his voyages, he
made some of his old Latin classics his companions. The rough
men among whom he was thrown felt the refining influences of
his education, and at once and cheerfully acknowledged his
superiority. His benevolence and sympathy created bonds of
strong attachment between him and his friends. He had no
sunshine of his own which did not gladden the hearts of others,
and he counted no blessing he possessed complete till it was
largely shared by his friends and others. He loved much, and
was greatly beloved, and left a void in the hearts of his parents
and in the circle of his friends which can never be filled. He
kept a journal, on the title-page of which was the following
memorandum: " Should God in his providence see fit to take
my life during this voyage, I wish this book to be kept strictly
private, and sent to my friends in Newburyport, Mass."
1854. - HENRY COBB, of Barnstable, died suddenly, of
inflammation of the bowels, at Tazewell, Tenn., 5 January, 1855,
aged 21 years and 11 months. He was son of Enoch T. and
Abiah Cobb, and was born in Barnstable, Mass., 5 February,
1833. He had studied and qualified himself for civil engineering;
and, seeking a more southern climate for the benefit of his
precarious health, he joined an engineer corps in Tennessee, in
November, 1854, and was actively engaged with them in surveying
for and locating a railroad through that state, when,
after about a week's confinement, he died. He was remarkable
for his studious and correct habits; and though compelled by a
pulmonary attack to leave college, and, by the advice of physicians,
to travel in Europe, passing several months of his junior
year in Italy, he kept his place in his class, and graduated with
the usual honors.
1854 - NICHOLAS GILMAN died in Exeter, N.H., 31 October, 1854,
aged 20. He was son of Capt. Nathaniel Gilman,
and was born in Exeter, 8 May, 1834; was fitted for college
at Phillips Academy, Exeter, and entered the sophomore class
in 1851. He was distinguished for his scholarship, courtesy
of manners, singular sweetness of disposition, and correct
morals.
1782.- Hon. JOHN WELLES died in Boston, 25 September,
1855, aged 90. He was son of Arnold Welles (H.C. 1745),
and was born in Boston, 14 October, 1764; was fitted for
college by,Rev. Daniel Shute, D.D., of Hingham (H.C. 1743),
where he had among his fellow-students Capt. James Sever, of
Kingston, Mass. (H.C. 1781), and Col. Thomas H. Perkins,
of Boston. He was the youngest in his class; having graduated
before he had completed his eighteenth year. Soon after leaving
college, he entered into mercantile business with his father.
About the year 1802, he formed a copartnership with his cousin
Samuel Welles (H. C. 1796), under the firm of John and
Samuel Welles.
This partnership was dissolved in 1815;
and his partner proceeded to Paris, where he became connected
with the celebrated banking-house of Welles and Co. Mr. Welles
soon afterwards took into partnership his kinsman, Benjamin
Welles of Boston, under the style of John and Benjamin Welles.
This firm continued until a recent period, when the infirmities of
age compelled the senior partner to retire, having accumulated
an ample fortune. He was one of the few survivors who were
claimants for French spoliations prior to 1800. He was several
times elected a representative, and also a senator, in our state
legislature. He was a member of the executive council
under the administration of Gov. Strong. When the city
charter was granted in 1822, he was elected a member of the
first common council; and, the following year, was re-elected,
when he was chosen president of that branch of the city government.
He was one of the earliest promoters of agricultural
societies; was for several years an active member of the
Massachusetts Agricultural Society; and was associated with
the late Hon. John Lowell in editing an agricultural journal.
He owned a valuable farm in Natick, Mass., on which, for many years,
he passed the summer season, devoting himself to agricultural pursuits.
This farm has been in possession of the Welles family
ever since the days of the old Apostle Eliot, the translator of
the Bible into the Indian language. In politics, Mr. Welles
was ever a firm and consistent federalist of the Washington
school. In all his business transactions, he was characterized as
a merchant of strict integrity and upright conduct. In the last
two triennial catalogues of the college which were issued before
his death, his name stood as the senior surviving alumnus. He
outlived all his classmates many years.
1783. - ASA ANDREWS died in Ipswich, Mass., 13 January, 1856,
aged 93. He was son of Robert Andrews, and
was born in that part of Shrewsbury which is now within the
limits of Boylston, 11 May, 1762. His father was a native of
Boxford. His mother - who was a Bradstreet, a native of
Topsfield - was a descendant of Gov. Simon Bradstreet. Since
the death of the Hon. John Welles, Mr. Andrews has been the
oldest surviving graduate of Harvard; and, at the time of his
death, was the oldest man in Ipswich. He studied law with
HIon. Caleb Strong, of Northampton (H.C. 1764). After
completing his legal studies, he opened an office in Ipswich, where he
resided during the remainder of his long life. In 1794, he was
appointed, by Washington, collector of the port and district of
Ipswich; which office he held until 1829, when he was removed
by Jackson. At the time of his removal, a balance was claimed
as due from him to the government; but on a trial before Judge
Story, in the Circuit Court at Boston, the jury found that there
was due to him from the government about two thousand dollars.
This was not paid him until about a year before his death; when,
by an appropriation made by Congress, he received the balance
which had been due to him more than a quarter of a century.
He was a man of distinguished ability. He filled many offices
of honor and trust, and enjoyed the entire confidence of
his fellow-citizens.
1785. - Rev. THADDEUS FISKE died in Charlestown, Mass.,
14 November, 1855, aged 93. He was son of Jonathan and
Abigail Fiske; was born in Weston, Mass., 22 June, 1762;
and was, at the time of his death, the oldest clergyman in
Massachusetts. He was ordained pastor of the church in West
Cambridge, 23 April; 1788; and resigned his pastoral charge,
23 April, 1828, on the completion of the fortieth year of his
ministry. It is remarkable that he lived to see five clergymen
successively ordained over the society where he had faithfully
labored for forty years, three of whom passed off the stage
before him: viz., Rev. David Damon, who died 25 June, 1843,
aged 55; Rev. William Ware, who died 19 February, 1852,
aged 54; and Rev. James Francis Brown, who died 13 June,
1853, aged 32. In the year 1821, the degree of D.D. was
conferred upon Dr. Fiske by Columbia College, New York. A
few months before his death, he removed from West Camnbrid,ge
to Charlestown to reside with a relative in the latter place,
where he passed the few remaining days of his life.
1787. - Hon. WILLIAM CRANCH died in Washington, D.C.,
1 September, 1855, aged 86. He was son of Richard and
Mary (Smith) Cranch, and was born in Weymouth, Mass., 17
July, 1769. His mother was sister of the wife of President
John Adams. Hie was prepared for college under the
instruction of Rev. John Shaw, of Haverhill (H.C. 1772);
and entered the freshman class, six months in advance, in
February, 1784. He studied law with Hon. Thomas Dawes, of Boston
(H.C. 1777); and in July, 1790, was admitted to practice in
the Court of Common Pleas in this State. He opened an office
in Braintree, near Quincy; but, one year afterwards, removed
to Haverhill. For three years he attended the courts in Essex
County, Mass., and Rockingham County, N.H.; and was
admitted to practice in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial
Court in July, 1793. In September, 1794, he was employed
as the land-agent of the firm of Morris, Nicholson, and
Greenleaf, in the city of Washington; to which place he removed
in October of that year, and there resided during the remainder
of his life. In April, 1795, he was married to Nancy Greenleaf,
daughter of Hon. William Greenleaf, with whom he lived
nearly fifty years; she having died in Washington, 16 September,
1843.
In 1800, he was appointed one of the com missioners of the city
of Washington, which office he resigned in 1801; when he was
appointed, by President Adams, junior
assistant-judge of the United-States Circuit Court
of the District of Columbia, under the act of Congress of 27
February, 1801: the late Gov. Thomas Johnson, of Maryland, having
been appointed chief judge; and Mr. James Marshall, brother
of the late Chief Justice Marshall, having been appointed elder
assistant-judge.
Mr. Adams consented to give this appointment to
his nephew, only upon the earnest personal appeal of
Chief-Justice Marshall, after a public petition to the same end;
as he was apprehensive, that, in the dispensation of office, the
public might charge upon him that system of nepotism which
has since become so common at the seat of government; and
hence his reluctance to elevate one whom he loved next to his
own son. Gov. Johnson refused to accept the office; and
President Jefferson appointed William Kitty, Esq., chief
judge. Mr. Marshall resigned in 1803; and Nicholas Fitzhugh,
Esq., of Virginia, was appointed in his place. In 1805, Mr.
Kitty having been appointed chancellor of Maryland, Judge
Cranch was appointed by President Jefferson to the office of
chief-justice; and, by virtue of that office, hlie was sole
judge of the District Court of the United States for the
District of Columbia, which has the same jurisdiction as
the other district courts of the United States.
He published nine volumes of
cases in the Supreme Court of the United States; a memoir of
the life, character, and writings of President John Adams, read
before the Columbian Institute, 16 March, 1837; and an address
upon the subject of temperance in 1831, a small pamphlet. He
was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,
and of the American Antiquarian Society. In 1829, he received
the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Harvard
College. For fifty years and more, he was looked up to in
Washington, Alexandria, Georgetown, and in the neighborhood,
as the chief citizen of the district. By his kindness and
benevolence to the poor, by his uniform courtesy to all men, by his
life-long industry and patience in labor, by his love of letters,
by his fidelity to every private and public trust reposed in him,
he won a love and respect which were felt by every man, and
even every child, who knew him. His life, too, was eminently
a religious one; and as he lived, so he died, in the fullest hope
of a blessed immortality.
1787. - Dr. WALTER HUNNEWELL died in Watertown,
Mass., 19 October, 1855, aged 86. He was born in Cambridge,
10 August, 1769; studied medicine with Dr. Marshall
Spring, of Watertown (H.C. 1762); and settled in Watertown,
where he passed the whole of his professional life, and was
highly respected as a good citizen and a skilful physician.
1793.- - Hon. CHARLES JACKSON died in Boston, 13 December,
1855, aged 80. He was the eldest son of Hon. Jonathan
Jackson, of Newburyport (H.C. 1761),- one of the most
prominent men of this state during the revolutionary era; being
a member of the Continental Congress in 1780; marshal of the
district of Massachusetts, under Washington; treasurer of the
commonwealth for five years, and of Harvard College at
the time of his death; - and grandson of Edward Jackson (H.C.
1726), a distinguished merchant of Boston. He was born in
Newburyport, 31 May, 1775; was fitted for college under the
instruction of Nicholas Pike, of Newburyport (H.C. 1766),
and at Dummer Academy. He graduated with the highest
honors of his class. He pursued the study of law in
Newburyport, under the instruction of Hon. Theophilus Parsons (H.C.
1769); was admitted to practice in the county of Essex in 1796;
immediately entered upon the practice of his profession in his
native town, and rose rapidly to eminence. In 1803, he removed
to Boston, and soon attained the highest rank at the
bar, where James Sullivan, John Lowell, Christopher Gore,
Rufus Amory, Harrison Gray Otis, Samuel Dexter, William
Sullivan, and other distinguished men, were his associates and
competitors; and, in partnership with Hon. Samuel Hubbard,
(Y.C. 1802), acquired probably the most lucrative practice ever
before known in Massachusetts.
In 1813, he was appointed by Gov. Strong to the office of
judge of the Supreme Court, to
fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Hon. Theodore
Sedgwick (Y.C. 1765); which appointment, he, after much
hesitation, accepted, impelled by a high sense of duty, and by
the urgency of the chief-justice and his other professional friends
of his peculiar fitness for that high station. He discharged its
duties with eminent fidelity until the year 1823; when he was
compelled by declining health to resign his seat, to the universal
regret of the bar and the people of the state. Immediately on
his retirement, for the purposes of relaxation and recovery, he
went to Europe; and, while in England, received great attention
from the jurists and statesmen of the times. In 1820, he was
a very influential member of the convention for revising the
constitution of the state.
In 1832, Gov. Lincoln, acting under a resolve of the legislature,
appointed three commissioners to revise the General Statutes
of the commonwealth; and Judge Jackson was placed at the head of this
important trust.
His associates were Hon. Asahel Stearns (H.C. 1797), and
John Hooker Ashmun (H.C. 1818). Mr. Ashmun died soon
afterwards, and Hon. John Pickering (H.C. 1796) was appointed
in his place. Before his elevation to the bench of the Supreme
Court, he was elected, in 1808, in 1809, and in 1812, a representative
to the General Court. After his resignation, he was
selected for the performance of various important trusts; among
which was that of a member of the corporation of Harvard College,
which he filled from 1825 to 1834.
In politics, he clung
with the ardor and tenacity of settled principle to the ancient
faith of the old Essex platform, of which his master, Parsons,
so admirably sketched the outlines in his famous "Resolutions,"
and from which so many of the noblest men, whom this country
has ever counted among its jewels, have so often uttered the
words of warning and wisdom and encouragement and patriotism,
in the roughest times the country has ever seen. In
religion, he was a Christian believer in faith and practice,
without ostentatious profession, but with earnest and
never-shrinking fidelity to the great principles which his
faith inculcates. He had long looked upon his work as done upon
earth, and was awaiting in calmness and serene composure the summons
which was at last kindly sent, translating him from this to a higher
world, so gently and free from suffering, that it seemed little else
than falling asleep.
1795.- HENRY GASSETT died in Boston, 15 August, 1855,
aged 81. He was son of Henry and Persis (Howe) Gassett,
and was born in Northborough, Mass., 1 February, 1774. He
was of French extraction, and the name was, originally, Gachet.
About the year 1700, two Frenchmen, brothers, Huguenots,
named Henri and David Gachet, emigrated from Rochelle,
France, and landed in Boston. David married a Miss White,
and settled in Raynham, Mass.: Henri married Miss Sarah
Hoskins, and settled at Taunton, Mass. The descendants of
the two have Anglicized the name in different ways: those of the
elder brother writing it Gassett; and those of the younger,
Gushee.
Most of them reside in Massachusetts, in Bristol
County, where the descendants of both are numerous; and but
few, if any of them, live out of New England. They do not,
however, retain the name of their progenitors to a very great
extent, owing to the large proportion of females in the families.
The subject of this notice was a descendant in the third generation
from Henri the Huguenot. He was fitted for college at
Leicester Academy.' On graduating, he began teaching school,
which he continued some twelve or eighteen months: but, finding
it not a very profitable business, he relinquished it, and engaged
in trade, first in the country, and afterwards in Boston, in a
small, cautious way; till, about the year 1804, he became the
head of the extensive dry-goods importing house of Gassett,
Upham, and Co.; and on the 18th of April, 1805, he sailed for
Liverpool, being the first of three visits he made to England.
He continued doing a large and profitable business for more than
forty years; and retired about eleven years before his death,
having accumulated an ample fortune.
He married, 17 February, 1812, Lucy Wood, of Northborough;
by whom he had nine children, five of whom survive him.
Three of his sons are graduates at Harvard College; namely,
Henry in 1834, Edward in 1843, and Francis in 1847. There
is in the possession of the family a letter from the mother -
then a widow - of the two emigrants, Henri and David, dated
"A la Rochelle, le Irde mars, 1711," and directed thus:
"La pre'sente, qu'il donne a Maitre Henri Gachet, charpentier
de navire, a Boston." Mr. Gassett was one of the most
distinguished of the old antimasonic party, and by his pen
and wealth contributed liberally to its aid. He was an intimate
personal friend of John Quincy Adams, for whose talents
and character he had the most unbounded respect.
1795. - Hon. BENJAMIN GORHAM died in Boston, 27 September,
1855, aged 80. He was son of Hon. Nathaniel Gorham, and was born
in Charlestown, Mass., 13 February, 1775.
Nathaniel Gorham, a member and president of the Continental
Congress, was the father of a numerous family, among whom
was the late Mrs. Peter C. Brooks, and a son, who became one
of the pioneers of Western New York, and died a few years
since at Canandaigua. Beinjamin, who was a younger son,
soon after graduating, entered the office of the Hon. Theophilus
Parsons, in Newburyport, as a student of law, where he
pursued and completed his legal studies. He then opened an office
in Boston, where he permanently resided. He rose rapidly to
eminence in his profession, and soon became one of the leading
members of the Boston bar.
He was a familiar associate of
the famous circle in which were comprised Prescott, Jackson,
Parsons, Gore, Dexter, Sullivan, Cabot, Ames, Otis, Parker,
and Lowell. From 1820 to 1823, he represented Suffolk
District in the United-States Congress. He was succeeded by
Hon. Daniel Webster, who held the office until 1827, when he
was chosen senator; and Mr. Gorham was again elected
representative from Suffolk, which office he filled with
honor to himself and the entire satisfaction of his constituents
until 1831, when, his term having expired, he declined a re-election.
When in Congress, although not a frequent speaker, he was always
listened to with marked attention, as he possessed a mind of
great logical acuteness, and his speeches commanded the respect
even of his political opponents. The great questions which fell
within these periods, under the administration of Mr. Adams
and Gen. Jackson, were those of internal imnprovements, the
revenue-tariff, and the bank of the United States.
No one understood them better than Mr. Gorham. He discussed them
on several occasions with eminent ability; and no student of the
history of our legislation on these subjects should fail to consult
the reports of his arguments. His speech, in 1828, on the
occupation of Oregon, is another monument of his enlightened
and prudent statesmanship. In 1833, after repeated fruitless
attempts of his party to choose another candidate, he was
reluctantly persuaded to accept a third election; and served in
the third Congress, under the administration of Jackson; of the
proceedings of which body, his speech on the removal of
the deposits from the United-States Bank, in February, 1834,
was a prominent feature. After his retirement from Congress,
he never accepted office, except for a short time as a member
of one or both branches of the state legislature.
Being at ease in point of fortune, the remainder of his life was
passed in the company of his books and his friends. He was of a,
singularly sociable nature: he loved to talk, and talked admirably
well. His equanimity was imperturbable, and his cheerfulness
seldom clouded. In the closer relations of life, he was singularly
favored. By his first marriage, he became connected with
the family of Judge Lowell; and by his second, with that of
John Coffin Jones. Left a widower for many years, death had
been made familiar to his mind. He had often expressed a
desire that it might be sudden; and the gentle messenger that
sumnmoned him fulfilled his wish.
1795. - Dr. EBENEZER LAWRENCE died in Pepperell, Mass.,
14 June, 1856, aged 86. He was son of Ephraim and Anna
(Fisk) Lawrence, and was born in Pepperell, 9 January, 1770.
He pursued his medical studies under the instruction of Gov.
John Brooks, of Medford; and settled as a physician in Hampton,
N.H., where he acquired an extensive practice, which he
continued with eminent success for fifty-one years. Unlike
most of his contemporaries in the medical profession, he
administered to his patients but very little medicine; relying rather
upon the vis medicatrix natures to effect a cure.
He married, in 1800, Abigail Leavitt, daughter of Col.
Thomas Leavitt, of Hampton; and had a large family of children.
His wife and four children, two sons and two daughters, survive him.
He was highly esteemed and respected by the citizens among
whom he so long resided, and who intrusted to him many
offices of importance and responsibility. He was repeatedly
elected a selectman, and several times represented the town in
the New-Hampshire legislature. About five years before his
death, he returned to his native town, where he resided in the
family of one of his sons during the remainder of his life. He
died full of years, universally respected; and will long be
remembered as the "beloved physician."
1795. - Rev. SILAS WARREN died in Jackson, Waldo County, Me.,
7 January, 1856, aged 88. lie was son of John and
Mary (Myrick) Warren, and was born in Weston, Mass., 11
May, 1767. For several years after leaving college, he was
engaged in the instruction of youth. He was ordained at
Jackson, 16 September, 1812. He was a liberal divine of the
old school; and after a peaceful ministry of about ten years, in
consequence of some dissatisfaction with the liberality of his
opinions, felt by a portion of his people, his pastoral relation to
the church in Jackson was dissolved. He continued to reside
in the town, and spent the remainder of his days, until overtaken
by the infirmity of age, in teaching, and in cultivating a
farm.
He possessed a naturally vigorous constitution, and
retained his faculties of body and mind to such a degree as
enabled him to enjoy life to almost the close of its period of
eighty-eight years. A cheerful and happy temperament made
him peculiarly acceptable in his favorite occupation of
instruction, and sustained him under the privations of
straitened circumstances. His appearance in the pulpit was
calm, dignified, and grave; and his manners, in private
intercourse, affable and polite. He had long looked
forward to death as a happy release, and at last sank
quietly away as in sleep. It was the natural, peaceful close
of a venerable old age.
1797. LEONARD JARVIS died in Baltimore, Md., 16 November,
1855, aged 76. He was son of Nathaniel Jarvis, and
was born in Cambridge, Mass., 7 January, 1779. For ten
years after leaving college, he followed maritime pursuits,
and was master of an indiaman, making successful voyages.
He then quitted this sphere to enter upon mercantile life, and
formed a partnership with Mr. Asaph Stone; their place of
business being first at No. 9, Union Street, and afterwards at the
corner of Court and Washington streets, Boston; which firm
continued for six years. During the war of 1812, Mr Jarvis
disposed of his interest in the business, and resided in Cambridge
until the close of the war, when he removed to Baltimore for the
benefit of a milder climate. Here he was highly successful in
business, and became wealthy.
He married, in 1806 or 1807,
Mary Cogswell, of Littleton. They had no child. He was a
gentleman without ostentation or display, and remarkable for
his generosity towards young men in the mercantile profession.
By his will, he devised the Melange edifice in Baltimore, known
as the "Jarvis Building," and occupied by the "Baltimore Patriot,"
one half to Harvard College, and the other half to the
Baltimore Humane Impartial Society, the House of Refuge,
the Aged-Women's Home, and the Baltimore Orphan Asylum.
These devises do not, however, take effect until the decease of
his widow, to whom nearly the whole of the income of his estate
is given during her life. The estate is estimated at not less than
twenty thousand dollars a year, and is increasing.
1797. JOSEPH TILTON died in Exeter, N.H., 27 March,
1856, aged 81. He was born in East Kingston, R.I.
10 August, 1774; and was fitted for college at Exeter Academy.
On leaving college, he returned to Exeter, where he
studied law with Hon. Jeremiah Smith (Rutgers College, 1780), who
had that year removed from Peterborough to Exeter. He was
admitted to the bar in 1801; and immediately afterwards opened
an office in Wakefield, N.H., where he practised four or five
years; when he removed to Rochester, N.H., where he remained
two or three years; and, in the summer of 1809, went to
Exeter, and there passed the remainder of his life. He acquired
an extensive and respectable practice, which he continued for
forty-five years, when he retired from the active duties of his
profession.
It is a sufficient proof of his professional success,
that he gained a prominent position at a bar where Webster,
Mason, Smith, Sullivan, Woodbury, Bartlett, Cutts, and Haven
were his contemporaries and competitors. He was held in high
estimation by his fellow-citizens, as was indicated, among other
things, by their electing him to represent the town of Exeter,
in the New-Hampshire legislature, nine successive years,- from
1815 to 1823 inclusive.
He was a director in the old Exeter Bank, for many years,
until it closed. In 1806, he married Nancy Folsom, of Exeter.
She died in 1837. In his pro fessional and social relations,
his good-humor was as unfailing as his integrity was undoubted.
He appeared to regard hisprofession as his post of duty, in which
he was to do his part in guarding and advancing the interests of society.
He passed through life in the enjoyment of the respect of his brethren of
the bar, and the confidence of the community. He lived to a
good old age, and his memory will be long cherished by those
who knew him.
Dr. John Collins Warren.
Descendant of Gen Joseph Warren, martyr of Bunker Hill.
1797. - Dr. JOHN COLLINS WARREN died in Boston, 4 May,
1856, aged 77. He was the eldest of ten children of Dr. John
and Abigail (Collins) Warren.; and was born in Boston,
1 August, 1778. His father, Dr. John Warren (H.C. 1771),
was born in Roxbury, Mass,, 27 July, 1753; studied medicine
with his brother, Gen. Joseph Warren; and acquired a reputation
as a physician and surgeon no less extensive than that to which
his distinguished son afterwards attained. His mother was the
daughter of John Collins, who was governor of Rhode Island
from 1786 to 1789, a patriot of the Revolution, and a delegate
to Congress in 1789. He died at Newport, R.I., March, 1795,
at the age of 78 years.
His uncle, Gen. Joseph Warren (H.C. 1759), was born in Roxbury,
11 June, 1741; and was a physician in Boston. He fell a martyr to
the cause of freedom in the battle of Bunker Hill.
Dr. Warren was a pupil at the Public Latin School in Boston
when the first Franklin medals were distributed; and was a
successful competitor for one of them, an honor of which he was
justly proud. After going through a course of medical studies
under the instruction of his father, he went to Europe, where
he passed several years studying in the hospitals of London and
Paris. While in London, he enjoyed the friendship and instruction
of Sir Astley Cooper. On his return, he established
himself as a physician in Boston, and soon rose to the highest
rank in his profession. In 1806, he was appointed assistant
professor of anatomy and surgery in Harvard College; and on
the death of his father, which took place 4 April, 1815, he
succeeded him to the full professorship in that chair, and was
inaugurated 1 November of that year. The duties of this office
he discharged with signal ability and success for a period of
thirty-two years.
In 1847, he tendered his resignation, which
was accepted so far as to relieve him from the active duties of
the professorship; but he was retained as emeritus-professor until
his death. He was elected president of the Massachusetts
Medical Society, 7 June, 1832; which office he held until 25
May, 1836, when, at the annual meeting of the society, he
declined a re-election. He was a member of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences, of the American Philosophical
Society, of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, of the
Academy of Naples, and the Medical Society of Florence; a
corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of
Paris, and an honorary member of the Medico-Chirurgical Society
of London. He was, at the time of his death, president of the
Boston Society of Natral History.
He was one of the original members of the Boston Light Infantry;
and was third sergeant on the first parade ever made by that corps,
in 1798. After his retirement from the active duties of his
professorship, he devoted much of his time to the study of the
natural sciences.
His museum of specimens in comparative anatomy,
osteology and paleontology, was one of the most valuable private
collections in the world; and he had probably the most perfect skeleton of
the mastodon giganteus of North America known to be in existence. He was,
in conjunction with his friend and contemporary, Dr. James Jackson, mainly
instrumental in originating the Massachusetts General Hospital and
McLean Asylum, by issuing, in August, 1810, a circular to the public
on the need of such an institution; and afterwards rendered valuable service
in arranging and perfecting its organization. He was, for nearly
thirty-six years (from 6 April, 1817, to February, 1853), at
first the sole, and subsequently the principal, acting surgeon,
in daily attendance upon its wards; and by his eminent talents,
knowledge, and practical skill, as well as by his fidelity, energy,
and untiring devotion in behalf of its interests, largely contributed
to make it what it now is, an honor to the city and to the
commonwealth. He married, first, 17 November, 1803, Susan
Powell, daughter of Hon. Jonathan Mason, by whom he had
seven children, six of whom survive him. His wife died 3
June, 1841;
He married, second, 17 October, 1843, Anna Winthrop, daughter of Hon.
Thomas L. Winthrop, by whom he had no issue. She died 17 December, 1850.
He contributed a large number of valuable papers in the Massachusetts
Medical Society's publications. A few years since, he prepared and published,
at his own expense, and for gratuitous
distribution to public institutions and scientific persons, his
great work on the mastodon of this country; and, a few weeks
before his death, he issued a second and enlarged edition, which
is offered for sale at a price which will barely meet the cost of
publication. In 1854, he published, in a splendid quarto volume,
a "Genealogy of Warren." He died full of years and
honors; and, by his death, science lost one of its most ardent and
devoted laborers.
1798. - Hon. SAMUEL PHILLIPS PRESCOTT FAY* died in
Cambridge, Mass., 18 May, 1856, aged 78. He was son of
Jonathan Fay, and was born in Concord, Mass., 10 January,
1778. He was the orator, who, by the appointment of his
classmates, addressed them in Latin, according to the usage of
that time, before the faculty, at the close of the college-studies
of the class, and at the time of their separation until the
recurrence of the annual commencement. On leaving college,
he began the study of law: but soon afterwards he received a
captain's commission in the American army, raised in consequence
of French hostilities; and joined the forces under the
command of Gen. Hamilton, stationed at Oxford, Mass., in
1798-9. His military career, however, was not of long duration.
After the successful issue of the second mission of envoy
sent to France by President Adams, the army was disbanded,
and young Fay resumed the study of the law. Having completed
his course of legal studies, and been admitted to the bar,
he opened an office in Cambridge, where he soon acquired a
high reputation as a successful lawyer. He was early and
happily married, and enjoyed, in an uncommon degree, the
blessings of domestic life; and, when the partner of his comforts
and cares was taken from hlim, he was not left in entire domestic
solitude, but was cared for and solaced by dutiful and affectionate
children. In his professional business, he was faithful
and exact, and possessed the utmost confidence of his clients.
Without seeking for political distinction, he took a reasonable
degree of interest in politics, which was demonstrated by his
pen, and by his acceptance of the office of representative of the
town. He was a member of the governor's council in 1818
and 1819, and of the Convention for revising the Constitution of
Massachusetts in 1820.
On the 1st of May, 1821, he was appointed
judge of probate for Middlesex County; the duties of
which office he discharged with singular fidelity and promptness
for nearly thirty-five years, until the latter part of March, 1856,
when he was compelled to resign it on account of the feeble
state of his health. He was elected a member of the Board of
Overseers of Harvard College in 1824, which office he held until
the new organization of the board in 1852. In all his civil,
social, and official relations, his uprightness and urbanity will
be among the cherished memories of a host of survivors.
Insert: Source - Prescott Memorial.
Subject: PRESCOTT - FAY
Souce: Prescott Memorial - John Prescott/Mary Platts Line, Lancaster, MA
p.66
Lucy Prescott b. April 14, 1757 dau of Dr. Abel Prescott and his wife, Abigail
Brigham of Concord, MA
Lucy Prescott Dec. 6, 1776 Jonathan Fay, Esq. and settled at Concord MA
He represented the General Court for Concord 1792 - 1796. He attended
Harvard. He was the son of Capt. Jonathan Fay of Westbrook, MA and was born Jan 2l,
1752 grad. Harvard 1778 (see p. 88 - 89 for their children)
pp. 88
Hon. Jonathan Fay and his wife, Lucy Prescott of Concord, MA has issue:
1. *Samuel Phillips Prescott Fay b. Jan 10, 1778; m. Harriet Howard. Grad
Harvard 1798 Appointed Captain reg. army and joined forces of Gen. Hamilton at
Oxford, MA He read law and practiced in Cambridge MA In 1821 apptd Judge of
probate for the county of Middlesex, MA Their children were: a. Richard
Sullivan Fay; Samuel Howard Fay; Harriet Howard Fay; Charles Fay; Joseph Story
Fay; Maria D. Fay and Eliza Fay.
2. Lucy Prescott Fay b. July 10, 1781 m. Dr. Abiel Heywood Oct 2l, 1822 He b.
Dec 9, 1759 He grad Harvard 1781 Two sons: Abiel Heywood Jr. b. 1824 and
George Heywood b. 1826.
3. Joanna Phillips Fay b. Oct 27, 1784 m. Jan 26, 1811 Charles Parkman of
Westborough MA and had eight children: Joanna; Charles Breck Parkman; Lucy;
Augusta; Susanna; Sophia; Samuel Parkman and Maria Parkman.
4. Sophia Fay b. April 4, 1786 m. Joseph Barrett of Concord, MA and had 6
children: Lucy Prescott Barrett; Jonathan Fay Barrett; Richard; Eliza;
William E; Ann and Maria Barrett.
5. Maria Fay b. Aug 28, 1788 m. Daniel Denney of Boston, no issue.
6. Abigail Brigham Fay b. Sept. 19, 1790 m. Dec 9, 18l6 Simeon Putnam of
Andover, MA He grad. Harvard 1811 - their children: Charles P. Putnam
and John N. Putnam.
Transcribed by Janice Farnsworth
_____________________
1798. - Hon. RALPH HILL FRENCH died in Manchester,
N.H., 31 October, 1855, aged 79. He was born in Marblehead,
Mass., 31 January, 1776. He studied law with Hon.
William Gordon, of akmherst, N.H. (H.C. 1779); and opened
an office in Marblehead, in which town, and in Salem, he
practised law more than twenty years, during which time he held
many offices of trust and importance. In 1819, he was elected
a senator in the Massachusetts legislature from Essex District.
He was chosen register of deeds for Essex County, and held the
office twenty years, until he was compelled to resign it on
account of the impaired state of his health. Three years before
his death, he removed to Manchester, where he spent the remainder
of his days. He married a sister of Hon. Charles Humphrey Atherton,
of Amherst, N.H. (H.C. 1794). He was
highly respected by the bar, and by the people of
Essex County, among whom he passed the greater portion of his life.
1799. - Hon. EBENEZER CLAP died in Bath, Me., 28
January, 1856, aged 77. He was born in Mansfield, Mass.,
21 January, 1779. His father was a respectable farmer of that
town. When a boy, he had an unaccountable presentiment
that he was born to greater things than he saw awaited him
should he remain and labor with his father on a farm: so he
betook himself to study, for the purpose of acquiring a liberal
education. Soon after graduating, he began the study of law
under Hon. Seth Padelford, of Taunton (Y.C. 1770); and
finished his legal studies under the instruction of Hon.
Benjamin Whitman, of Pembroke (B.U. 1788). He was admitted to
the bar at Taunton in 1803, and immediately opened an office
in Nantucket; but removed the same year to Bath, where he
resided during the remainder of his life. During that long
period, he held many important positions among his fellowcitizens;
at the bar, in the legistature of Massachusetts, on
the bench, as judge of the Court of.Sessions, and fourteen
years judge of the Municipal Court in Bath. In 1812, he
married Sarah Winslow, of Marshfield, Mass., daughter of
Dr. Isaac Winslow, and a descendant, in a direct line, from
Gov. Winslow. They had no children. Judge Clap was an
honest lawyer. In disposition he was modest, mild, and
humane; in integrity he was above reproach.
1800. Hon. TIMOTHY BOUTELLE died in Waterville, Me.,
12 November, 1855, aged 77. He was son of Col. Timothy
and Rachel (Lincoln) Boutelle, and was born in Leominster,
Mass., 10 November, 1778. After leaving college, he became
an assistant preceptor in Leicester Academy, where he remained
one year. He began the study of law, in his native town, with
Hon. Abijah Bigelow (D.C. 1795); and completed his studies
in the office of Edward Gray, Esq., of Boston (H.C. 1792).
Soon after his admission to the bar, he established himself in
Waterville, and made that place his home until the close of his
life. He soon acquired a good practice in the counties of Kennebec
and Somerset, to which his attention was principally
limited.
For many years, he devoted himself mainly to the
regular duties of his profession, without being much allured
by the honors and emoluments of political life. With the
exception of acting as elector of President and Vice-President
in 1816, he was not much in public life until after the separation
of Maine from Massachusetts, when he subsequently served at
least a dozen years as senator and representative in the legislature
of Maine.
He was a warm friend of the cause of education, and took
a deep interest in Waterville College, of which
he was, at the time of his death, one of the trustees, and from
which he received, in 1839, the honorary degree of Doctor of
Laws. During the latter years of his life, having in a great
measure withdrawn from the active duties of his profession, he
gave much of his time and labor to the promotion of railroads
and the means of internal improvement. Active, energetic, and
public-spirited, he was ever ready to engage in any enterprise,
which, in his judgment, would tend to promote the best interests
of the public; and,' in all situations of influence and trust, he
enjoyed, in a high degree, the confidence of those associated with
him. He closed a long, active, and useful life with a reputation
for sound judgment, public spirit, and kindness of heart, which
might well afford the richest consolation to those who loved and
respected him.
1802. - JOHN MICO GANNETT, of Walpole, Mass., died
suddenly in Boston, 25 July, 1855, aged 71. He was son of
Caleb and Katharine (Wendell) Gannett; and was born in
Cambridge, Mass., 15 March, 1784. His father, Rev. Caleb
Gannett (H. C. 1763), was born in Bridgewater, Mass.,
22 August, 1745; was ordained in Ilingham, Mass., 12 October,
1767, as minister at Amherst and Cumberland, N.S.;
where he remained until 1771, when he returned to Massachusetts.
He was tutor in Harvard College from 1773 to 1780;
a member of the corporation from 1778 to 1780; and steward
from 1779 till his death, which took place 25 April, 1818.
His mother was daughter of John Mico Wendell, whose wife
was Katharine, daughter of William Brattle. Mr. Gannett was
fitted for college at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass.
Immediately after he graduated, he began to study law in the office of
Hon. William Stedman, of Lancaster, Mass. (H.C. 1784)
but soon went to Plymouth, Mass., and entered the office of
Judge Joshua Thomas (H.C. 1772), with whom he studied two
years. He was admitted to the bar, in Boston, before he was
twenty-one years old. He was married, 30 June, 1805, in Hartford,
Conn., to Mary Woodbridge Wyllys, daughter of Gen.
Samuel Wyllys (Y.C. 1758). He opened an office in Northfield,
Mass., where he remained about two years. While there,
he was chosen major-general of the militia. Early in the year
1807, he was prevailed on by his father-in-law, who was secretary
of the state of Connecticut, and between seventy and eighty
years of age, to move to Hartford. Here he practised law,
became a prominent politician of the old federal school, was a
representative to the General Court, a senator, and a member
of the council.
About 1823, his health became impaired so
much as to prevent him in a great measure from pursuing his
profession. His wife died 25 April, 1825. This produced a
a great effect on his spirits, and he spent two or three years in
Cambridge and Boston. In 1828, his health having improved,
he moved to Walpole, Mass., with the view of leading a quiet
country life. Here he declined entering extensively into the
practice of law; but, as he held a commission of justice of
the peace, he rendered various services, mostly gratuitous, to his
friends and neighbors. He was married a second time, 3 April,
1837, to Hannah, daughter of William Kingsbury, a farmer in
Walpole. She died in April, 1839. He was a member of the
school committee of Walpole during his residence there. He
devoted much of his time to literature, and published many
articles in the newspapers. " He was a fine specimen of a
gentleman of the old school, courteous, genial, of great integrity,
of fine tastes, varied attainments, and of high culture." His
death, which was caused by disease of the heart, took place
while he was on a temporary visit to Boston.
1806. - CHARLES HAYWARD died in Boston, 18 December,
1855, aged 68. He was son of Dr. Lemuel Hayward (H.C.
1768), and was born in Boston, 18 August, 1787. His father
was a surgeon in the Revolutionary army; was afterwards for
many years an eminent physician in Boston, where he died 20
March, 1821, aged 72. Mr. Hayward, after leaving college,
engaged in mercantile business, but relinquished it; and, for the
last thirty-five years, was well known as a notary public. He
was highly respected as a quiet, unobtrusive, upright, worthy
citizen.
1808. - NAHUM HOUGHTON GROCE died in Westford,
Mass., 14 March, 1856, aged 74. He was born in Sterling,
Mass., 8 December, 178]. He was, for fourteen years, preceptor
of Westford Academy. The subsequent part of his life
he devoted to agricultural pursuits.
1812. - GEORGE PHILLIPS PARKER died in New-York City,
19 January, 1856, aged 62. He was son of John Parker, of
Boston; where he was born 2 March, 1793. His name originally
was George Parker; but, some years after leaving college, he
took the intermediate name of Phillips. He entered his father's
counting-room, where he remained a short time; after which he
went to Europe, where he travelled several years. For some
years before his death, he was actively engaged in the
temperance cause, and contributed liberally from his ample means to
promote its objects.
1814.- GORHAM BROOKS died in Medford, Mass., 11 September, 1855, aged 60.
He was son of Hon. Peter C. Brooks, and was born in Boston, 10 February, 1795.
He was prepared for college at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. After reading
law one year in the office of Hon. Lewis Strong at Northampton (Hi.C. 1803),
he made a voyage to Calcutta, not in the
way of business, but for amusement and to see the world.
In 1833, he engaged in mercantile business in Baltimore as one of
the firm of William E. Mayhew and Co. Possessing an ample
fortune, he retired after a few years, and returned to
Massachusetts, where he subsequently resided, passing the winters
in Boston, and the summers at his country seat in Medford; devoting
himself to agriculture and gardening, for which he had great taste
and fondness. He married the only daughter of Resin D. Shepherd, Esq.,
of New Orleans. Being of a modest, retiring disposition, he did not
seek distinction, and was never in public life,
except that he one year represented the town of Medford in the
state legislature. Distinguished by spotless integrity, he added
lustre to a family name already honored in the history of the
commonwealth for its bravery in the field, and its unsurpassed
success in active business.
1814. - EZEKIEL HIILDRETH died in Wheeling, Va., 15
March, 1856, aged 71. He was born in Westford, Mass.,
18 July, 1784, and was fitted for college at Westford Academy.
On leaving college, he entered upon the business of teaching. He
taught in Washington City, D.C.; Wheeling, Va.; Zanesville,
0.; Louisville, Ky.; Newmarket, Va.; and Decatur, Tenn.;
in all, forty-two years. He published a grammatical work, entitled
"Logopolis, or City of Words;" also a "Key to Knowledge";
an "Essay on the Mortality of the Soul;;" and an
"Address on Education," delivered before the Educational
Convention of Virginia, held at Clarksburg, Va., in 1836. He
also left a number of unpublished manuscripts on various subjects,
translations from the Septuagint, &c.
He married, in June, 1818, Sally, daughter of Jonathan Zane; had
three sons and four daughters, of whom all the sons and one daughter
survive him. His wife died in July, 1854. For the last eight
years of his life, particularly, his mind was in an unbalanced
state. The particular form of mental disturbance appeared to
be an alternation of melancholia and hypochondriasis. His
reasoning powers, so far from being obtunded, were, at times,
remarkably acute. Difficult mathematical problems proposed to
him he would work out. Incorrect quotations from Greek and
Latin authors, purposeIl made to him, he would promptly correct.
There was a sullen and dogged idea with him that he
could not "get along," that is, provide for his family, although
the family had not only provided for themselves, but for him.
For the last eight or nine years, the family were very
comfortably situated, without necessity for labor of any kind.
Mr. Hildreth's oldest son, who is an eminent physician in Wheeling,
supplied his father's place in the family, when the latter, from
mental malady, was no longer able to preside over the household;
and watched over him in his last hours with true filial affection.
1815. - ANDREW CUNNINGHAM DAVISON, of Boston, died
in Lexington, Mass., 27 January, 1856, aged 66. Hewas son
of Henry and Mary Davison, and was born in Boston, 5 June,
1789. After graduating, he began the study of law in the office
of Hon. George Blake, in Boston (H.C. 1789). From March,
1818, to November, 1828, he was assistant teacher in the
Adams School in Boston. For many years previous to his
death, his health did not permit him to engage in any active
pursuit; and, for the last few months of his life, his mental and
physical powers were so much impaired, that his friends removed
him to Lexington, where he was tenderly watched and cared for
until death came to his and their relief.
1815. - Dr.THADDEUS WILLIAM HARRIS died in Cambridge, Mass.,
16 January, 1856, aged 60. He was son of
Rev. Thaddeus Mason Harris, D.D. (H.C. 1787); and was
born in Dorchester, Mass., 12 November, 1795. On leaving
college, he chose the medical profession; and, after completing
his studies, he established himself for medical practice in Milton,
in connection with the eminent physician Dr. Amos Holbrook,
whose advanced years (although he lived a score of years
longer) already demanded some relief.
As a physician, he acquired a solid reputation for learning,
fidelity, and skill: but his little confidence in himself, and
a growing taste for natural sciences, led him to desire some
mode of life more consistent with its leisurely cultivation;
and in 1831, on the decease of Benjamin Pierce, the librarian
of Harvard College, he was chosen as his successor.
The first entomologist in the world.
This office he accepted, and held until his decease,
discharging its duties with great assiduity and fidelity.
In the study of nature, he possessed those rare powers of
observation, discrimination, and analysis, which, united to
a hearty love of the pursuit, make a naturalist of the highest
order. He was a learned botanist: but the department of
natural history to which he was especially devoted was the
insect tribes; and he was recognized, by common consent of
European naturalists, as the first entomologist in the world.
His "Treatise on some of the Insects of New England
which are Injurious to Vegetation," first published in 1841
under a commission from the commonwealth, is a permanent
contribution to science, of the highest value. He felt a strong
interest in our New-England antiquities, and the fruits of his
occasional investigations in that sphere often enabled him
to give valuable information to more systematic inquirers.
He was a member of the Boston Society of Natural History,
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of the
Massachusetts Historical Society. He lived a pure, useful
life, and died as a Christian dieth, leaving behind him a good
name.
1816. - JOHN JAMES DEVEREUX died in Salem, Mass.,
16 March, 1856, aged 59. He was son of Capt. James and
Sarah (Crowninshield) Devereux, and was born in Salem,
Mass., 12 June, 1796. His father was born in Waterford,
Ireland, May, 1766; and emigrated, when quite young, to
Salem, where he married, 12 September, 1792, Sarah, daughter
of John Crowninshield and Mary Ives, both natives of Salem.
His mother was born in 1768, and died 13 March, 1815. Mr.
Devereux, the subject of this notice, when in the eighth year of
his age, entered the private school of Robert Rogers (HI.C.
1802) in Salem, where he remained about two years, when he
was transferred to the Branch School, established by an
association of gentlemen, and under the direction of Benjamin
Tappan (H.C. 1805).
Mr. Tappan was succeeded in the school
by Abiel Chandler and Samuel Adams (both H.C. 1806), by
whom young Devereux was fitted for college. He entered in
1812, and remained with his class till 1815, when he left
college to become a merchant. He did not receive his degree of
Bachelor of Arts until 1849, and the following year he received
his degree of Master. He pursued the mercantile profession
until 1829, when he relinquished it, and began the study of
law under the instruction of Hon. David Cummins, of Salem
(D.C. 1806). Upon his admission to the bar, he opened an
office in Boston, where he remained a few years, and then
removed to New York, and, three years afterwards, to
Philadelphia, where he practised nearly twenty years, and
attained an honorable rank among the learned members of
that distinguished bar.
Being endowed with the rare combination of
great versatility of mind, elegant manners, a facility of speech seldom
equalled, and generous impulses, he was a welcome visitor at
every social circle that was graced by his presence. Possessing
all the advantages that ample wealth could bestow, he travelled
extensively in various quarters of the globe, and circulated in
the most polished society of Europe. He visited nearly every
part of the European continent, and most of the islands of the
Eastern Archipelago; having, at one time, actually travelled
the Island of Java from one extremity to another. He was never
married. He was polished without affectation, learned
without pedantry, and, with all his accomplishments, easily
recognizable as a gentleman and a scholar; cheerful as to his
future destiny, sinking to rest with that serenity which results
from a heart at peace with itself, and with a world to which it
bids an everlasting adieu.
1816. - GEORGE FREDERICK FARLEY died in Groton,
Mass., 8 November, 1855, aged 62. He was son of Benjamin
and Lucy (Fletcher) Farley, of Brookline, N.H.; and was born
in Dunstable, AMass., 5 April, 1793; his mother, at the time of
his birth, being on a visit at her father's house. He was prepared
for college at Westford Academy; and, on leaving colleg,e, began
the study of law with his brother, Benjamin Marcus
Farley (H.C. 1804), in Brookline, N.H,; afterwards, for a
time, studied with Luther Lawrence, of Groton (H.C. 1801),
but completed his studies with his aforementioned brother.
He was admitted to the bar in New Hampshire in 1820, and
opened an office in New Ipswich, N.H., where he practised
until 1831 or 1832, when he removed to Groton, Mass., where
he resided during the remainder of his life. For the last two
for three years previous to his death, he had an office in Boston.
He was one of the most eminent and successful lawyers in
Middlesex County.
1817. - Rev. ASA CUMMINGS died at sea, on board the
steamship "George Law," on the passage from Panama to New
York, 5 June, 1856, aged 65. He was son of Deacon Asa
Cummings, and was born in Andover (now North Andover),
Mass., 29 September, 1790. His immediate ancestors lived
to advanced ages. His grandfather died in 1794, aged 102
years. His father was born in Topsfield, Mass., September,
1759; and died in Albany, Me., 22 February, 1845, aged 85.
The family removed to Albany in 1798, where the subject of
this notice resided until 1811; when he left home, and entered
Phillips Academy in Andover, where he was prepared for
college. After graduating, he taught school a few months in
Danvers, Mass. He joined the junior class in the Andover
Theological Seminary, 6 December, 1817, where he remained
about two years, when his health failed, and he feared he should
be obliged to give up his intention of entering the ministry.
Under the advice of physicians, he left the seminary, and went a
journey; and finally became connected with Bowdoin College as
a tutor in 1819-20. His health improved, and he accepted a
call from the First Church and Society in North Yarmouth, Me.,
and was ordained 14 February, 1821.
His pastoral life, however, was brief; for, after a few
years, the difficulty which occasioned the suspension of
his studies at Andover returned, and he was compelled to
give up preaching; but, at the desire of his
people, he retained his pastoral office until his successor's
ordination, 17 February, 1830, when he was released from his
charge, with high testimonials as to his ability and Christian
character both from the church and the ecclesiastical council.
On the 18th of August, 1826, he undertook the editorship of the
" Christian Mirror," a religious paper published in Portland; and
on the 31st of July, 1845, he became sole proprietor of it, and
continued to edit it until the close of the year 1855, when he
transferred it into other hands.
He was a man of vigorous intellect, and devoted all his
energies to the advancement of the cause to which the
"Mirror" was originally consecrated. Amidst
all the conflicts of party strife, he kept on the even tenor of his
way with a zeal and steadfastness worthy of his Christian
calling. His editorial labors, however, yielded him but a
meagre support during the long years of toil; but unexpectedly,
a few months before his death, he became possessed of an abundant
competence of worldly goods.
From 1825 to 1848, he was an efficient member of the Board of Trustees
of the Maine Missionary Society. He was also a member of the American
Board, and was ever a warm friend of missions at home and
abroad. He was deeply interested in the cause of education,
and rendered long and valuable services in connection with the
college at New Brunswick and the academy at North Yarmouth.
In 1847, the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity
was conferred upon him by Bowdoin College. In February,
1856, it being known that he was about to make a voyage to
Panama to visit a daughter who resides there, a large number
of the most respectable people of Portland, irrespective of political
or religious opinions, united in tendering to him a testimonial of
appreciation of his moral worth, and his editorial services
of nearly thirty years, by an entertainment at Lancaster Hall,
in Portland, on the evening of the 29th of February. This invitation,
however, he was obliged to decline, on account of the
brief time allowed for preparation for his proposed journey.
He left New York in the steamship on the 5th of March, arrived
safely at Panama, and enjoyed the new scenes and the reunion
with his children very much; and it was hoped he might return
with re-invigorated health. But, during his stay at Panama,
he was taken ill; and his physicians deciding that there was no
hope of his recovery in remaining there, and that the sea air
might possibly revive him, he was conveyed on board the steamship
which left Aspinwall on the 4th of June for New York;
but he rapidly sank, and died on the second night out. On the
following morning, after a short funeral-service by the Rev. J.
Sessions, of Albany, N.Y., his body was committed to the deep.
He was greatly beloved and respected by the community in which
he lived: his life was one of great activity and usefulness; and
it might be truly said of him, that he was "an Israelite indeed, in
whom there was no guile."
1817. - Dr. EDWARD AUGUSTUS HOLYOKE died in Syra
cuse, N.Y., 17 December, 1855, aged 59. His name, originally, was
Edward Augustus Holyoke Turner; but, in 1820 or
1821, he assumed the name of his maternal grandfather, Dr.
Edward Augustus Holyoke, of Salem. He was son of Wvilliam
and Judith (Holyoke) Turner, and was born in Boston, 12
July, 1796. He studied medicine under the instruction of Dr.
James Jackson, of Boston (H.C. 1796). On completing his
medical studies, he established himself as a physician in Salem,
Mass.; where he continued until 1840, when he removed to
Framingham, Mass. Here he resided two years; at the end
of which time he returned to Salem, and there resided until the
spring of 1853, when he removed to Syracuse, where he remained until
his death. He married Maria Osgood, daughter
of Dr. George Osgood, of Andover, Mass. His widow and six
children survive him. He was greatly respected for his estimable
character and professional skill.
1817. - PAUL WILLARD died in Charlestown, Mass., 18
March, 1856, aged 60. He was son of Paul and Martha (Haskell)
Willard, and was born in Lancaster, Mass., 4 August, 1795.
His maternal grandfather, Col. Henry Haskell, was an
officer in the Revolutionary army. Mr. Willard was fitted for
college at Westford Academy. Soon after he graduated, he
began the study of law in the office of Hon. Calvin Willard in
Worcester. Having completed his studies, he was admitted to
the bar in 1821, and opened an office in Charlestown, where he
resided, and continued in the practice of his profession, until the
day of his death. In September, 1822, he was appointed
postmaster of Charlestown, which office he held for seven years.
In 1823, he was elected clerk of the state senate, and was
re-elected for seven successive years. He held a highly
respectable rank at the Middlesex bar, and had an extensive and
lucrative practice. He enjoyed the full confidence of his fellow
citizens, as was shown by his being repeatedly elected chairman
of the board of selectmen, and of the school-committee, of
Charlestown, before the organization of the city government.
Ile was either cashier or president of the Charlestown Bank the
whole time of its existence; and, at the time of his death, he held
the office of magistrate under the truant-act, to which he was
elected by the city council. He was of an exceedingly sociable
and affable temperament, and his house was the home of
hospitality. He was a worthy and honored citizen.
1821. - GEORGE BARRELL MOODY died in Bangor, Me.,
6 July, 1856, aged 53. He was son of Joseph and Maria
(Barrell) Moody, and was born in Kennebunk, Me., 17 July,
1802. He was fitted for college at the academy in Gorham,
Me. Immediately after leaving college, he began the study of
law under the instruction of Hon. William Sullivan, of Boston
(H.C. 1792). Having, completed his legal studies, and been
admitted to the bar, he opened an office in Kennebunk; but
soon afterwards removed to Gardiner, and thence to Brewer, in
which places he remained but a few months. He then went to
Oldtown, where he continued several years; and finally removed
to Bangor, where he practised law for nearly thirty years.
He acquired a high reputation as a sound, thorough,
rather than a brilliant lawyer; and was especially distinguished
for dignity and courtesy of manners, as well as integrity of
character, which made him esteemed by all his professional
brethren and by his fellow-citizens, so far as his naturally quiet
and reserved habits admitted general acquaintance. On the
next day subsequent to his decease, at a meeting of the Penobscot bar,
Hon. Edward Kent, who was his classmate and room mnate, announced his death,
accompanying the announcement with some eloquent and highly
appropriate remarks, in which he spoke of his guileless and confiding nature,
his simplicity, his high sense of honor, his refined and polished manners,
his domestic virtues, which always rendered his house attractive to
its inmates and his friends. He concluded by offering a series
of resolutions, expressing a high appreciation of his character
as a correct, capable, and honorable lawyer, an upright
man, a useful citizen, a refined and accomplished gentleman.
Chief-Justice Tenney responded in just and touching terms, in
which he bore testimony to the worth and virtues of the deceased,
and concluded by ordering the clerk to place the resolutions upon
the records. Mr. Moody married Mary, daughter of Mr. John Barker,
of Bangor, and had four children (one son and three daughters),
all of whom, with their mother, survive him.
1824.- GEORGE THOMAS SANDERS died in Salem, Mass.,
1 May, 1856, aged 51. He was son of Thomas and Elizabeth Sanders,
and was born in Salem, 30 October, 1804. He was
descended from Thomas Sanders, one of the first settlers of
Cape Ann. His great-grandfather commanded the sloop-of-war
"Massachusetts" at the capture of Louisburg in 1745. His
grandfather, Thomas Sanders (H.C. 1748),
was for several years a counsellor under
the provincial government.
Mr. Sanders did not study a profession. After he graduated, he
spent a few years in travelling on the Eastern continent.
When abroad, and particularly in Italy, he acquired a love for
the music of the opera, which afforded him the greatest pleasure
through life. After his return, he was married to Marianne,
daughter of Samuel Browne; a very estimable lady, who survives him.
His two sons are all that remain to perpetuate the
name. He lived in the old mansion-house of his wife's family,
with hospitality, but without ostentation. He will be long
remembered for his kind and benevolent disposition, his
integrity and truthfulness.
1826. - Hon. TIMOTHY WALKER died in Cincinnati, Ohio,
15 January, 1856, aged 53. He was born in Wilmington,
Mass., 1 Deember, 1802. His father was a farmer, and died
when this son was nine years old; leaving a widow to rear up six
children. Through his paternal grandmother, a Miss Brewster,
he was directly descended from William Brewster, who came
over in the "Mayflower." The patrimony left was small, and
the sons had to labor on the farm for their support. Young
Walker continued to work on the farm until he was sixteen years
old, when his friends reluctantly consented to his earnest desire
to obtain a collegiate education; and he began his studies with a
clergyman in a neighboring town, and completed his preparation
for college at Mr. Putnam's academy, in North Andover.
He graduated with the highest honors of his class. He supported
himself, while in college, by school-keeping, and by translating,
in his junior year, from the French, for Prof. Farrar, Biot's
Course of Natural Philosophy." During the three years succeeding
his graduation, he was employed as a teacher of mathematics in
the Round-Hill School at Northampton. In October,
1829, he entered the Law School at Cambridge, where he
remained until July of the next year; when he concluded to
emigrate to the West, and arrived at Cincinnati on the 6th of
the following month. HLere he completed his studies in the
office of Messrs. Storer and Fox, who were among the leaders
of the Cincinnati bar. Hie opened an office by himself; but
soon afterwards entered into partnership with Edward King
(since deceased) and Salmon P. Chase, then governor of Ohio.
This firm was dissolved in 1835; and he formed a copartnership
with John C. Wright, well known as a distinguished member of
Congress, and judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio.
In 1833, he, together with Judge Wright, established a law-school in
Cincinnati. Two years afterwards, this school was united with
the Cincinnati College, with, at first, three professors; but,
after a short time, it fell under the exclusive charge of Mr.
Walker. In the winter of 1837-8, he delivered a course of
ten or twelve lectures, upon commercial law, before the Young
Men's Mercantile-Library Association. In March, 1842, he
accepted an executive appointment to the place of presidentjudge
of the Hamilton-County Common Pleas, until the next
legislature should fill the vacancy. In his short term of office,
he despatched cases with such rapidity, that the court-docket was
soon materially diminished. In 1844, finding his business
again increasing, he resigned his professorship which he had
held in the law-school from its foundation, and took in John
Kebler as a junior partner. From that time he was a lawyer
in full practice, confining himself chiefly to cases interesting
from their intricacy or from the amount of property involved,
and editing the "Western Law Journal." He declined a judgeship
of the Superior Court which was proffered to him by the governor of
Ohio. The comments and
explanations which he gave to the students upon their text-books,
while professor of the law school, were subsequently developed into
formal lectures,and published in a volume under the title of
"Introduction of American Law." In 1854, the honorary degree of Doctor
of Laws was conferred upon him by Harvard College. By his
death, the Cincinnati bar lost one of its brightest ornaments,
and the profession one of its most profound and learned jurists.
1832. -- LEWIS JOSEPH GLOVER, of Boston, died in Pepperell,
Mass., 24 June, 1856, aged 49.
He was a twin-child (the other being a daughter) of Ezra and Eunice
Glover, and was born in Dorchester, Mass., 26, February, 1807; but was
brought up in Quincy, the family having removed into that town during
his infancy. He began to fit for college at Lexington Academy,
where hlie remained a year, when that school was broken up, and
he was sent to Milton Academy, where he completed his preparatory studies.
On leaving college, he began the study of medicine in Boston, under the
instruction of Dr. James Jackson (H.C. 1796); and received his medical
diploma at the end of three years, when he began the practice of
his profession in Boston. He was quite successful, and was rapidly attaining
a high rank as a physician, until, about two years before his
death, he had a slight attack of paralysis, which was followed
by mental alienation. This continued, with occasional lucid
intervals, until death came to his relief.
1832.- WILLIAM RICHARDSON died in Dorchester, Mass.,
6 June, 1856, aged 42. In a fit of temporary insanity, he
committed suicide by drowning himself in Neponset River. He
was son of Asa and Elizabeth (Bird) Richardson, and was born
in Boston, 2 December, 1813. His father was a native of Billerica.
His mother was a native of Dorchester, but removed to
Walpole, Mass., about 1q04. He was fitted for college at the
Boston Latin School, and graduated with high honors. On the
1st of October, 1832, he was appointed usher in the reading
department of the Mayhew School in Boston, where he remained one year.
In September, 1833, he began the study of divinity in the
theological school at Cambridge, but relinquished
it at the end of six months; and on the 20th of March, 1834,
he began the study of law in the office of Hon. Jeremy
Mason, of Boston (Y.C. 1788). Having completed his legal
studies, he was admitted to the bar in April, 1837; and, on
the 6th of the same month, opened an office in Boston. He
soon attained to a high rank in his profession, and gained an
extensive and lucrative business. He was married in Walpole,
Mass., 30 June, 1836, to Almira Kingsbury, daughter of Hon.
Daniel Kingsbury of that place, but had no children. As a
pleader he was not conspicuous, but as a counsellor he was
considered as one of the safest and most able of his age in Boston.
Mr. Mason, with whom he studied, often spoke in strong terms of
his high intellectual powers and of his great legal attainments.
He was distinguished for perfect integrity, for faithfulness to his
clients, and for the moderation of his charges for his services.
He was largely intrusted with the settlement of estates, and was
president of the Dorchester Savings Bank. He was in affluent
pecuniary circumstances, and happy in his domestic relations;
was highly esteemed by his acquaintances as well as by his
professional brethren; of an exceedingly affable and social
disposition, but of a somewhat nervous temperament; and it
was supposed that anxiety, caused by the overwhelming care
and responsibility of duties intrusted to his charge by his
rapidly increasing professional business, induced a temporary
aberration of mind, which led him to commit the act of
self destruction.
1832. - ARCHER ROPES died in Baltimore, Md., 2 October, 1855,
aged 46. lie was son of William and Rachel (Archer) Ropes, and was
born in Salem, Mass., 10 December, 1808. For several years previous
to his preparing to enter college, he was an apprentice in the apothecary
store of Benjamin F. Browne in Salem. He was fitted for college at the Salem
Latin School, then under the charge of Theodore Eames (Y.C.
1809).
His name, originally, was Jonathan Archer Ropes;
but, the year of his graduation, he dropped the name of
Jonathan, and was styled Archer Ropes. After going through
a course of legal studies, he removed to Baltimore, and in 1835
beg,an the practice of law in that place, where hlie continued until
his death.
He was married in Baltimore, 13 January, 1852 to M. Emilie W.
Tucker, but had no children. He was, for several years, commander
of the Maryland Cadets, at that time regarded as one of the best
disciplined companies in the country; was a colonel of Maryland
militia; a past grand-master of the order of Odd Fellows; a Mason;
and, under the municipal term of Mayor Jerome,
was the city-counsellor of Baltimore. He was a man of great
kindness of heart and of considerable intellectual ability.
1832. - Rev. GEORGE FREDERICK SIMMONS died in Concord, Mass.,
5 September, 1855, aged 41. He was son of Hon. William Simmons
(H.C. 1804), and was born in Boston, 24 March, 1814.
He was fitted for college at the Latin School in Boston.
Immediately after leaving college, he went as a tutor in
a private family to Europe, and travelled through Italy
and Greece, where he had the opportunity of cultivating those
tastes for art, and for foreign languages and literature, which in
him were always strong. On returning, he studied theology at
the Divinity School in Cambridge. He was ordained as an evangelist,
in the Federal-street church in Boston, 9 October, 1838,
and immediately proceeded to Mobile, and there began his ministry,
which went on prosperously and acceptably until the 17th
of August, 1840, when he preached a sermon in which he alluded
to the peculiar institutions of the South in a manner which
gave great offence to the people in Mobile; and, it being feared
that personal violence might be offered to him, he was concealed
on board a vessel in the bay, bound to Boston, and returned to
his native city.
On the 27th of October, 1841, he was installed
at Waltham as associate pastor with Rev. Samuel Ripley, whose
daughter, Mary Emerson Ripley, he married 17 October, 1845;
who now survives him, the mother of four orphaned children.
Here he labored a few years with encouraging results: but his
views with regard to the slavery question, which he occasionally
expressed in the pulpit, created dissatisfaction among some of
his parishioners, which resulted in his leaving the place; and, in
1843, he went to Germany for the purpose of theological study,
where he remained two years. Here he enjoyed the instructions
of Tholuck and Neander, and returned with some peculiarities
of opinion, but with no less of faith, and a marked increase of
scholarship. On the 9th of February, 1848, he was installed
at Springfield as the immediate successor of Rev. William B.
O. Peabody (H.C. 1816), who had deceased the previous
year. In this new and attractive field, his labors were
abundantly rewarded until 1851, when his antislavery zeal broke out
anew; and, as he had little disposition and less power to conciliate
those who differed from him, he was compelled to resign his
post, to bring back peace to the parish. From Springfield he
went to Albany; and, in the prime of life and the maturity of his
mind, he was devoting himself unremittingly to his ministry,
and reaping, even then, a high reward, when symptoms of
consumption manifested themselves in his system, and obliged him
to retire for a short period to the home of his. mother in Concord,
where soon, in middle age, the invalid pastor exchanged
earthly hope for heavenly fruition.
1836. - Rev. JAMES CHISHOLM died of yellow fever in
Portsmouth, Va., 15 September, 1855, aged 39. He was son
of William and Martha (Vincent) Chisholm, and was born in
Salem, Mass., 30 September, 1815. His father, William Chisholm,
was born, 24 September, 1772, in Inverness-shire, near the
city of Inverness, Scotland. His mother, Martha Vincent, was
born at Salem, Mass., 22 September, 1774. Mr. Chisholmn
was prepared for college at the Salem Latin Grammar School.
Immediately after graduating, he went to the South to take the
associate charge of an academy at Charlestown, Jefferson County,
Va. A year afterwards, he went to Washington, D.C., where
he taught a private classical school a year and a half. In the
mean time, he became a candidate for orders in the Episcopal
church, and left Washington to enter the theological seminary
near Alexandria, Fairfax County, Va. He was ordained to
deacon's orders in October, 1840.
His first ministerial labors were over a colored congregation
in Albemarle County, Va., consisting of the servants on the
estate of Hon. William C. Rives and other gentlemen of that
neighborhood, who were desirous that all under their care should
enjoy the best privileges of the gospel in meetings of their own.
In this office he had an opportunity to observe the depth and
fervency of religious feeling which characterizes the African race.
In the spring of 1842, he was admitted to priest's orders, and
was settled over three congregations, viz., Trinity Church, at
Martinsburg; MountZion Church, at Hedgeville; and
Calvary Church, at Back Creek. To the first two of these congregations he
preached on alternate Sundays, and occasionally at Calvary Church, which
was built through his instrumentality. These churches were so
far apart, that it made a circuit of twenty-seven miles to visit
them. From this scene of his arduous labors, he was called, in
1850, to Portsmouth, Va., where he was instituted rector of St.
John's Church. This was a new church, and in a feeble condition, numbering
scarcely twenty communicants; but it flourished under his ministry, and is
now in a vigorous state. Here he continued until his death.
On the 10th of August, 1847, he was married to Jane Byrd Page, daughter
of John White Page, and great-grand-daughter of Carter Braxton, one of the
signers of the Declaration of Independence. She died in February, 1855,
leaving two children, one of whom deceased but a few days before his father.
During the prevalence of the epidemic in Norfolk and Portsmouth
in September last, he felt it his duty to remain at his post.
With a fidelity and courage worthy of his sacred profession, he met
the terrible dangers of the scene, and continued to the last, ministering
consolation and hope to the mourning and the dying. He left an only son,
about seven years old, whose pride it may be, in future years,
to look back upon the well-spent life and glorious death of his
father. As a proof of the estimation in which Mr. Chisholm
was held by the denomination to which he belonged, we may
state, that, at the annual convention of the Protestant Episcopal
Church in Virginia, held at Fredericksburg, in May last, on the
recommendation of Bishop Meade, in his annual report, it was
voted that the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars be appropriated,
from the fund of the society for the relief of widows and
orphans of deceased clergymen, annually, until otherwise ordered,
for the support and education of the son of the deceased, although
the latter was not a member of the society, and therefore his son
was not entitled to any thing from its funds. An interesting
memoir of Mr. Chisholm, by Rev. David H. Conrad, of Martinsburg, Va.,
was published about three months since, and a
third edition of the book is now in press. It has received the
highest commendation from the Rev. Dr. Tyng,, of New York,
and the Rev. Prof. Huntington, of Cambridge.
1838. - Dr. HENRY WARE WALES died in Paris, France,
8 June, 1856, aged 37. He was son of Thomas B. (H.C.
1795) and Ann (Beale) Wales, and was born in Boston,
11 December, 1818. Hie was fitted for college, in Boston, at the
private school of Mr. Daniel Greenleaf Ingraham (H.C. 1809).
Immediately after graduating, he began the study of medicine
under the instruction of Dr. John C. Warren (H.C. 1797);
and received his medical degree in 1841. He then went to Paris
to pursue his professional studies further at the medical schools
in that city; but after studying a few months, finding that the
medical profession was not congenial to his tastes, he abandoned
it, and devoted himself to the study of philology and the
acquisition of languages, for which he had great fondness.
These studies he pursued with great ardor and success. He soon
acquired a thorough knowledge of French, Italian, and German,
and was able to converse fluently in either of them. He also
made himself master of the modern Greek; and, under the celebrated
professors and teachers in Prussia, he pursued the study
of Sanscrit and of other oriental languages. After an absence of
eight years, he returned to his native city. He did not, however,
remain long at home, as his predilections were for a foreign
residence. On this, his second visit to Europe, he extended his
travels to far eastern regions, visiting Egypt and other oriental
places of note. This tour extended through a period of three
years, when he again returned to Boston. Here he remained
until October, 1854, when he started on his third visit to Europe.
Before his departure, his health began to fail; and, some
time after his arrival in Europe, he was seized with an affection
of one of his knees. He passed the last winter in Rome, but
shut up in his house, suffering sickness and pain. In the spring,
he was carried to Paris, where hlie submitted to amputation of his
limb; but this could not save him. He gradually sank, and
breathed his last in a foreign land, comforted, however, by
the presence of friends and the attentions of a devoted brother.
His life was consecrated to literature, which he pursued with
untiring ardor. Ile had collected a large library of rare and
valuable works, with which he delighted to pass his time; the
temptations and frivolities of great foreign cities offering no
allurements for him. He pursued the even tenor of his way,
leading a quiet, blameless life; and, when the hour of his
departure arrived, he calmly resigned his spirit into the
hands of Him who gave it.
1846. - BENJAMIN NEWHALL died in Milwaukie, Wis.,
30 March, 1856, aged 29. He was son of Benjamin Franklin
and Dorothy (Jewett) Newhall, and was born in Lynn, Mass.,
7 March, 1827.
His father was born in Lynn, 29 April, 1802.
His mother was born in Stanstead, Can., in 1807. He removed
with his father's family to Saugus, Mass., when nine years old:
At thirteen, he was placed at the Lynn Academy, where he was
fitted for college by Mr. Jacob Batchelder (D.C. 1830), whom
he mentions in his autobiography, in the " class-book," as a man
of the greatest worth and intelligence. On graduating, he
entered the Law School in Cambridge, and remained three years;
receiving in course the degree of LL.B. in 1849. He then
returned to Saugus, where he resided until June, 1851. In
May of this year, he changed his name to Benjamin Newhall; it
having been originally Benjamin Franklin Newhall. On leaving
Saugus, he went to Brooklyn, N.Y., where he passed about
eight months.
In June, 1852, he removed to Milwaukie, and
entered the office of Messrs. Emmons and Van Dyke for the
further prosecution of his legal studies. Being shortly afterwards
admitted to the bar, he began practising in December, 1852, in
partnership with A. C. May, Esq. Although, at the time of his
death, he had been but four years in practice, he had attained
an enviable position as a sound and well-read lawyer. He had
conducted several very important suits to a successful issue, and
his business was rapidly increasing. He chiefly excelled in
equity- and admiralty-law.
At a meeting of the Milwaukie
bar, held the day after his decease, resolutions of a highly
eulogistic character were passed, in which a tribute was paid to his
courteous demeanor, and manly, elevated principles, which had
won the good-will of all; to his industry, energy, and marked
ability, which had given sure promise of a successful and
distinguished career in his profession. A committee was appointed
"to make suitable arrangements for forwarding his remains to
his friends in Massachusetts, and to invite a clergyman to deliver
a funeral discourse before the members of the bar." tHis remains
were interred at Saugus, 9 April, 1856. When in college, he
attained an excellent rank as a scholar; and, throughout his short
life, he bore a high character for honor and integrity. He was
of an open, frank temperament, a firm friend, and of a most
generous, self-sacrificing disposition. He always evinced the
greatest interest in old college associations; and the favorable
effects of the collegiate course upon his hopes, desires,
and principles, he has himself recorded.
1850. - BENJAMIN PAYSON WILLIAMS died in West Roxbury, Mass.,
17 May, 1856, aged 29. He was son of Major
Benjamin Payson Williams and Margaret (Childs) Williams, and was
born in Roxbury (now West Roxbury), 6 February, 1827.
After going through a course of legal studies, he was admitted
to the Suffolk bar; opened an office in Boston, and had already
attained a highly respectable rank in his profession. He took
an active part in politics, his opinions being those of the
oldlille democracy. He was endeared to all his associates by his
open and generous disposition, his rare social qualities, and
his genial and affectionate nature. Of an unusually strong and
powerful frame, he was foremost in athletic sports, into which
he entered with great zest. In the various literary and social
clubs which make so prominent a feature in college-life, he was
particularly conspicuous; his ready wit, his overflowing humor,
and his lively and poetic fancy, making him one of the most
valued members.
1851. - PETER SMITIH BYERS died in Andover, Mass., 19
March, 1856, aged 27. He was son of James and Mary
(Smith) Byers, and was born at Brechin, in Forfarshire, Scot-
land, 12 September, 1828. He emigrated with his father's
family to Andover, Mass., in 1836.
His father was sent for to take charge of the shoe-thread
manufactory of Smith, Dove, and Co., the first establishment
of the kind in the United States, in which the subject of this
notice worked two years. In 1844, he entered Phillips Academy
for the purpose of being fitted for college.
In the winter of 1846-7, he taught school
in Andover, and entered the freshman class of Harvard College in
1847. In his sophomore year, he taught school in Holliston;
in his junior, in Andover; and, in his senior, in Boxford.
He graduated with high honor, being the third scholar in a class
of sixty-three members. In the following autumn, he was
engaged as an assistant teacher in the Greek and Latin school
where he had prepared for college. There he continued for two
years, discharging the duties of the station with great credit to
himself, and acknowledged usefulness to the pupils. During
most of this time, he was a devoted teacher in the Sunday
school of the Episcopal Church in Andover; and frequently, in
the desk, assisted the rector in reading the service,- an
acceptable duty, which was congenial with his tastes, and
in accordance with the ultimate object of his pursuits.
In the spring of 1853, he was elected principal of the Abbot
Female Seminary in Andover; a position, however, which he did
not long occupy, as he was appointed to the like office in the
High School of Providence, R.I. There he continued but a single
term, since his declining health induced him to listen to overtures
tendered by the trustees of the Punchard Free School in Andover,
who, in choosing him its first principal, showed the exalted estimation
in which they held him and his attainments by offering
him a salary till their building should be erected, that he might,
by relieving himself of all anxiety, have the opportunity of
regaining his strength. But his health continued to fail, and
he fell a martyr to nine years of ceaseless application and
unyielding toil in the pursuit of knowledge.
1851. - EDMOND FRANKLIN RAYMOND died in Cambridge,
Mass., 12 October, 1855, aged 24. He was the eldest son of
Hon. Zebina L. and Rhoda Clark (Hildreth) was born in
Shutesbury, Mass., 31 July, 1831. When about
two years old, he removed with his parents to Boston, where,
and in the vicinity, they have since lived. He was fitted for
college at the Hopkins Classical School in Cambridge, under
the charge of Mr. Edmund Burke Whitman (H.C. 1838). In
October of the sophomore year, in consequence of ill health, he
was obliged to go to Havana, where he spent the winter. In
his junior year, he taught school in Sherborn; and, ill his
senior year, he taught at Taunton, but his health compelled him
to leave at the end of seven weeks. He studied law, and began
the practice of his profession in Greenfield, MIass., with
flattering prospects of distinction; but his health failed, and he
returned to his father's house, in Cambridge, about a week
before his death. His early decease is deeply lamented by his
family circle, and the many friends to whom his amiable
disposition had endeared him.
1853. - JOHN DAVES died in Beaufort, Cartaret County,
N.C., 1 October, 1855, aged 23. He was the eldest son of
John Pugh and Elizabeth (Graham) Daves, and was born in
Newbern, N.C., 24 December, 1831. His father was son of
John Daves, a major in the Revolutionary war, and grandson
of John Daves, who came from Wales. His mother was a third
wife, and was the daughter of Edward Graham, a lawyer, born
at Newbern, whose father came from Scotland. Mr. Daves
studied at the academy at Newbern, N.C., until about fifteen
years of age, when he went to Scuppernong, N.C., where he
spent a year in the family of his cousin, Josiah Collins, Esq.,
under the charge of a private tutor. In 1848, he entered the
freshman class at St. James's College, Md., where he remained
one year. In 1849, he entered the freshman class at Harvard
College. At the end of the first term of the junior year, he
left college on account of his health, and returned at the end of
the junior year, and passed the examinations with his classmates,
but was unable to join the class afterwards.
He was, however, able to return for his degree, which was granted to
him, notwithstanding his absence, and to join his class in their
parting ceremonies. After receiving his degree, he studied law,
privately, one year at Scuppernong, when his failing health
compelled him to abandon it. Possessed of a manly, upright,
and frank nature, and endowed with brilliant conversational
powers,- the natural fruit of a gifted and cultivated mind, -
he was greatly beloved by his classmates and his numerous
friends.
Rev. Henry Lincoln and wife, Mary Otis.
1786. - Rev. HENRY LINCOLN died in Nantucket, Mass.,
28 May, 1857, aged 91. He was son of William and Mary
(Otis) Lincoln, and was born in Hingham, Mass., 3 November,
1765.
His mother was daughter of Dr. Ephraim Otis,
who was born in Scituate, Mass., in 1708, and was a physician
in that town. Mr. Lincoln was fitted for college, partly at the
grammar school in Hingham, under the instruction of Eleazer
James (H.C. 1778), and partly by Dr. Joshua Barker (H.C.
1772), of HIingham. After leaving college, he studied divinity
with Rev. William Shaw (H.C. 1762), of Marshfield, Mass.
He was ordained pastor of the Congregational church in
Falmouth, Mass., 3 February, 1790; and continued his labors with
great fidelity, and to the entire acceptance of his people, until
26 November, 1823,'when, at his own request, his pastoral
connection was dissolved, and he removed to Nantucket, where
he resided, during the remainder of his life, in the family of his
son-in-law, Dr. Elisha P. Fearing (B.U. 1807).
He married, 26 April, 1790, Susannah Crocker, daughter of Timothy
Crocker, of Falmouth, and had, by her, seven children, four sons and
three daughters, of whom six survive him. One son was
drowned in 1798, at the age of five years and seven months.
His wife died 29 July, 1819, aged 51. He was, at the time
of his death, with one exception, the oldest clergyman in
this state; his classmate, Rev. Jacob Norton, of Billerica,
afterwards the oldest surviving graduate of Harvard College),
being his senior by nearly two years. Mr. Lincoln
was a gentleman of the old school, of fine personal appearance,
always remarkably neat in his dress, of an affable and
social disposition, and, above all, a sincere Christian. For
a few years before his death, his eyes were dimmed, so that he
was unable to read; but his mental faculties were unclouded to
the last. He was a highly popular preacher, a fine speaker;
and his sermons were characterized by sound, practical, good
sense. Having finished the work which was given him to do,
with a serenity of mind seldom witnessed, he calmly waited his
summons, and gently passed away, like the twilight of a long
summer's day, into that solemn darkness which mortal eye
cannot pierce, but which, to him, doubtless is lighted up by
the radiance of a never-ending noon.
1786. - Dr. JOSEPH LORING died in Lisbon, Portugal,
about 1 March, 1857, aged 88. He was son of Caleb and
Sarah (Bradford) Loring, and was born in Boston, 11 August,
1768. After leaving Harvard college, he studied medicine under the
instruction of Dr. Samuel Danforth (H.C. 1758), of Boston.
Having completed his medical education, he was employed
as surgeon on board the ship "Massachusetts," on a voyage to Batavia
and Canton.
This ship was built in 1789 for Messrs. Shaw
and Randall, and was the largest merchant-ship in the United
States. Hier commander was Capt. Job Prince, brother of
James Prince, formerly United-States marshal for Massachusetts,
The ship sailed from Boston, 28 March, 1790; and, after a brief
stay at Batavia, arrived at Macao 30 September following.
Soon after her arrival, she was sold to the Danish Company for
$65,000, and Dr. Loring returned to Boston. He then went
to France, and settled as a physician in Paris.
To Lisbon, Portugal.
After remaining there a few years, he relinquished the practice
of his profession, and went to Lisbon, where he established himself as a
merchant, and where he resided during the remainder of his life,
never having afterwards revisited the United States.
He married a Portuguese lady of great personal beauty, and possessing
a large fortune. His mercantile transactions proved, after a
time, unsuccessful, and the property fell a sacrifice to unfortunate
speculations. He left several children.
1792. - JACOB WYETH died in Cambridge, Mass., 14 January,
1857, aged 92. He was son of Ebenezer Wyeth, and was
born in Cambridge, Mass., 29 April; 1764. He worked at
brick-making, which was his father's occupation, twenty-three or
twenty-four years old, when he concluded to
obtain a liberal education; and after six months only, devoted to
the preparatory studies, he was admitted to the freshman class.
Although so imperfectly prepared, he maintained a respectable
rank as a scholar, and graduated with distinction. Soon after
leaving college, he went to Hamburg to transact some business
for Andrew Crigie, Esq., either in Hamburg or England.
On his return, he brought home some European goods, which
he had purchased on his own account. These goods he disposed
of at a large profit, and soon afterwards married Betsey Jarvis,
daughter of Nathaniel Jarvis, of Cambridge. He then entered
into partnership with Phineas Stone (who married his wife's
sister); and they established themselves in Littleton, Mass., as
country traders. In this business they were unsuccessful, became
insolvent, and Mr. Wyeth was left without a dollar. He
returned to Cambridge, and his father gave him a deed of the
land on which the Fresh-Pond Hotel now stands. He made a
contract with Walter and Moore, and they erected for him the
hotel entirely on credit; he giving them a mortgage on the
property as security.
In eighteen months after he opened the
house, he paid the contractors every dollar he owed them;
having made it all in this brief period in keeping the public
house. He continued in the hotel business until he accumulated
a handsome fortune, when he retired, but resided in the
house until death closed his long life.
Samuel Jackson Prescott, Son of Dr. Oliver Prescott (Harvard 1750) & Lydia Baldwin.
1795. - SAMUEL JACKSON PRESCOTT died in Brookline,
Mass., 7 February, 1857, aged 83. He was son of Dr. Oliver
(H.C. 1750) and Lydia (Baldwin) Prescott, and was born in
Groton, Mass., 15 March, 1773.
He was fitted for college at Phillips Academy in Andover.
After graduating, he studied law in the office of Hon. William
Prescott (H.C. 1783), and was admitted to the bar; but soon left
the profession on account of being affected with deafness, and engaged
in mercantile business; having formed a copartnership with
Aaron P. Cleveland, under the style of Prescott and Cleveland.
In this pursuit he was unsuccessful, owing to the embargo of 1807,
the nonintercourse, and the war with Great Britain which ensued.
He then became a magistrate, and for more than twenty years was
a notary-public for Suffolk county.
He married Margaret Hiller, daughter of Joseph Hiller, Esq., by whom
he had five children, - two sons and three daughters; of whom the sons
only survive him. He was a man of strong powers of mind,
and held a high rank in his class as a scholar. He had a
taste for genealogical and statistical investigations: he
compiled the index for the triennial catalogue of Harvard College,
which was first published in the triennial in 1830.
Later in life, to his physical infirmity of deafness was added that
of blindness. His intellectual faculties, too, became clouded;
and he passed his closing years at the residence of one of his
sons in Brookline, where he was kindly cared for with all the
attention which filial affection could bestow.
]
Subject: Dr. Oliver Prescott, Sr. & his wife, Lydia Baldwin
Source: Prescott Memorial by William Prescott, Concord, N.H., 1870
p.77
Dr. Oliver Prescott, Sr. and his wife, Lydia Baldwin had issue:
1. Abigail Prescott b. Feb 21, 1760; d. Aug 5, 1765.
2. Oliver Prescott, Jr. b. April 4, 1762; m. (1) Oct. 22, 1791, Ann, dau. of Leonard
Whiting, Esq., of Hollis, N.H., by whom he had nine children. She d. Sept. 13,
1821. He m. (2), Nov. 6, 1823, Elizabeth (Atkins) Oliver, the widow of Thomas
Oliver and the dau. of Henry Atkins, a merchant of Boston. She was b. Dec. 30, 1762
and d. May 21, 1835. He prepared for college at Dummer Academy, Byfield Parish,
Newbury, Mass.; entered Harvard College in 1779; grad. in 1783; studied medicine
with his father, but completed his professional education with Dr.James Lloyd, a
celebrated physician of Boston. He was admitted a licentiate by the censors of
the Mass. Medical Society in June, 1786.
He was apptd a surgeon to a regiment under Col. Henry Woods, which, together with
other regiments was under the command of Gen. Lincoln. These troops were collected
and organized for the purpose of suppressing the Shay's rebellion.
He was afterward made surgeon of the 6th Regiment of the 3d Division of the militia,
which he held until he resigned in 1800. In 1800 he was elected a member of the
Massachusetts Medical Society, and was afterward one of its counsellors. He
delivered the Annual Discourse before the Society in 1813 and in 1814 received
the honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine from Harvard College.
In 1825 he was elected a member of the Corporation of the Massachusetts General
Hospital and was elected Vice President of the Medical Society in 1827. He had
a very extensive practice in his native town of Groton, Mass., and the towns
adjacent; but becoming of an asthmatic and dropsical habit, he removed his family
from Groton to Newburyport in February, 1811, hoping to receive benefit from a
residencey near the sea, together with a greater regularity of life enjoyed by
physicians in compact settlements. Here his practice soon became extensive, and
continued so until his death, which occurred on the 26th of September, 1827, after
a short illness of typhus fever, in his 66th year.
By his ardent zeal in the cause of his profession, his dilligent study, acute
observation and accurate discrimination, he gained the confidence and esteem
of his patients and of the community. Dr. Oliver Prescott, Jr., contributed
several valuable articles to the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery.
But his most important publication was the discourse before alluded to, which
he delivered before the Medical Society, entitled, "Dissertation on the Natural
History and Medicinal Effects of the Secale Cornutum, or Ergot." This Dissertation
was very favorably received by the profession. It was reprinted in Philadelphia
and London, and was translated into the French and German languages, and was
published under the article, "Ergot," in the 13th volume of the French Dictionary
of the Medical Sciences.
p.78
Dr. Oliver Prescott, Jr. was repeatedly and for many years, called by the citizens
of Groton to participate in the management of their municipal affairs, being
chosen Town Clerk, Selectman, of which he was chairman from 1804 to 1811; was
repeatedly 1809-1810, and on, chosen a representative to the General Court, and
declined repeated solicitations to serve in the Senate for the County of Middlesex.
He was one of the original founders of the Groton Academy and was a Trustee and
Treasurer of that Institution, and manifested a laudable zeal for the promotion
of education and science.
3. Thomas Prescott (son of Dr. Oliver Prescott, Sr. & his wife, Lydia Baldwin,)
Thomas Prescott was b. Oct. 11, 1764; died Aug. 10, 1765; of putrid sore throat
(Distemper), which prevailed as a malignant and fatal epidemic.
4. Thomas Prescott 2d, b. Oct 27,1766; died Oct. 26, 1785; he was a cripple, caused by
rickets.
5. Abigail Prescott b. June 25, 1768; d. October 6, 1783 of consumption from the
effects of whooping cough.
6. Lucy Prescott b. March 13, 1771; m. Sept. 30, 1791, the Hon. Timothy Bigelow,
of Worcester (who commanded one of the Mass. Regiments in the Revolutionary War.
Hon. Timothy Bigelow was born April 30, 1767; grad. from Harvard College in 1786;
read law with Hon. Levi Lincoln, Sr. and opened an office at Groton, Mass., in
1789. He was eminently successful in the practice of his profession; a sound
lawyer and distinguished advocate. In 1802 he was representative to the General
Court and was chosen from that body as one of the Executive Council, in which office
he served two years. He represented the town of Medford and opened an office for
practice in Boston. He represented the town of Medford in the General Court nearly
if not quite all the years from the time of his removal there to the time of his
death. He d. May 18, 1821, aged 54 years and 19 days. His wife, Lucy(Prescott)
Bigelow died in the consolation of a religious faith, Dec 17, 1852 aged 81 years
and 9 mos. The newspapers of the day that recorded her death stated that she
a worthy consort of a good and eminent man. She was well known for her moral
loveliness and beauty, the elevation of her character, the gentleness of her
nature, and calm self-possession. It is said that a prominent trait in her
endowments was a conern for the welfare of others and a resignation and Christian
patience and fortitude under trials and losses of her children.
p.79
7. Samuel Jackson Prescott b. March 15, 1773, graduated at Harvard College in 1795,
and read for the profession of law, but after admission to the bar, he abandoned the
practice on the account of partial deafness. On the 13th of November, 1804, he was
married to Margaret Hiller, the dau. of Major Joseph & Margaret (Cleveland) Hiller of
Salem, b. July 29, 1775 and died at Brookline, Mass., Aug 4, 1841 aged 66 years. Major
Joseph Hiller was the first apptd collector of the Port of Salem, Mass., under Pres.
Washington.
Samuel Jackson Prescott early engaged in mercantile affairs, but after a few years
was unfortunate by reason of the embarrassed condition of affairs occasioned by the
embargo of 1807 and 1808 and the war with Great Britain 1812-1815 which followed. He
died at Brookline, Mass. Oct 7, 1857 aged 84 years, 6 mos. and 22 days.
p.111 - Prescott Memorial.
Samuel Jackson Prescott and his wife, Margaret Hiller had issue:
1. Margaret Cleveland Prescott b. Aug 23, 1805; died May 26, 1833, unmarried.
2. Susan Oliver Prescott b. April 27, 1808; m. July 22, 1833, William A. Wellman,
merchant, and many years Deputy Collector of the Boston Custom House; they removed to
Brookline, Mass. in 1844. She died March 23, 1848.
3. Ellen Sparhawk Prescott b. Mar 21, 1810; d. June 27, 1812.
4. Frederick William Prescott b. Oct 6, 1812; m. Oct. 18, 1841, Emily, the dau. of James
Maxwell of Louisville, Kentucky, formerly of Philadelphia. Frederick William Prescott
was in government employ at the Boston Custom House from 1849 to 1856, since which time
he has been in the service of the English Steamship Company at Boston, Mass.; his home
in Brookline, Mass.
5. Thomas Oliver Prescott, b. May 29, 1814; went to Glasgow, Scotland, in the latter part
of 1847 where he was settled as a minister. He m. Jesse Mackie, dau. of Robert Mackie, Esq.,
of Glasfow, Scotland on June 5, 1849. She died in 1854 and in that year he assumed the name
of Oliver Prescott Hiller in honor of his mother. He is now (1864) settled in London, England.
Transcribed by Janice Farnsworth
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1797. - Hon. NATHANIEL PAINE DENNY died in Barre,
Mass., 23 August, 1856, aged 85. He was son of Col.
Samuel Denny, of Leicester, Mass., a distinguished patriot of
the Revolution, whose father was one of the four original
proprietors of that town, where the subject of this notice was
born 22 July, 1771. His academical education was acquired
at Leicester Academy. After graduating, he studied law with
Hon. Nathaniel Paine, of Worcester (H.C. 1775); and, about
the beginning of the present century, he opened an office in
Leicester, where he practised law for a period of nearly forty
years. His name, originally, was Thomas Denny, which he
changed to Nathaniel Paine Denny, on account of there being
another Thomas Denny in the town. He became widely known
as a thoroughly-read lawyer. He was a man of strong mind;
and, as a citizen and lawyer, he was distinguished for his
sound judgment, and a strict and impartial adherence to justice.
He enjoyed in an eminent degree the confidence and esteem of
his fellow-citizens; having represented the town of Leicester in
the state legislature successively from 1804 to 1809, in 1812,
1826, 1829, 1834, and 1841.
He was elected senator for Worcester District in 1824 and 1825;
was a county-commissioner; and, for several years, president of
the Leicester Bank.
In all these stations, he discharged his duties in such a manner
as to win the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens. His
modesty forbade his seeking public distinctions; and the honors
conferred upon him were voluntary on the part of his friends,
and the result of the unwavering confidence which they placed
in his integrity. In private life he was social and hospitable,
and his numerous acquaintances will long remember his house
on Mount Pleasant as the home of hospitality.
In October, 1798, he married Sally Swan, a native of Leicester,
who was equally distinguished for her humble piety, intellectual
refinement, and personal charms. He had ten children, of whom five
are now living.
His wife died at Leicester in 1843, aged 71
years. In 1845, he married Mary, daughter of the late Daniel
Denny, of Worcester; and removed to Norwich, Conn., where
he resided about eleven years. In June, 1856, he returned
to his native state to pass the few remaining days of his life
with his eldest son, Hon. Edward Denny, of Barre: and they
proved to be few indeed; for in two months he passed peacefully
from this to the other world. With the exception of the last
few years of his life, he was in constant and active intercourse
with his fellow-citizens in their various pursuits; and whatever
relation he sustained towards them, or in whatever position
placed, his motto was always, " Be just, and fear not."
1797.- JOSEPH HURD died in Malden, Mass., 19 March,
1857, aged 78. He was the eldest son of Joseph Hurd, late of
Portsmouth, N.H., formerly an eminent merchant in Charlestown
and Boston; and was born in Concord or Lincoln (during
the temporary removal of the family from their home
in Charlestown at the time of the Revolutionary war), 27 July, 1778.
While in college, he was remarkable for his habitual courtesy
and kindness, and for his upright and exemplary conduct. He
held a distinguished rank in his class, and graduated with high
honor. On leaving college, he adopted the mercantile profession,
and was known and respected for his intelligence and commercial
knowledge in his own country, and also in England, where he
formed important connections in business, and where he passed
several years of his mercantile life. An eminent member of the
Essex bar and a classmate of Mr. Hurd. gives the following
sketch of his subsequent life:
Sketch of Joseph Hurd by a classmate:
"Soon after the disastrous war of 1812 broke out, he retired from the
troubled affairs of commerce, and purchased a farm in Stoneham, beautifully
situated on the borders of Spot Pond. Here he derived the chief enjoyment of
his subsequent life from the indulgence of his rural taste and
his philosophical ingenuity. Science and taste happily co-operated in the
various improvements which he introduced upon his
extensive grounds; but he soon became deeply interested in
various scientific experiments in regard to heat, and the best mode
of constructing stoves, the results of which have inured to the
public benefit through others employed in his service, and who
availed themselves of his discoveries.
He had little thought of profit to himself beyond the ratification he found
in thus endeavoring to promote the general good. He also turned his attention
to the manufacture of maple and beet sugar; and also,
with more important success, to the refining of sugar, for which
he obtained a patent, as well as much celebrity. The following
brief sentence in a letter from France, found among his papers,
asking for a description of his patent, and highly complimenting him
upon it, gives the best idea of the discovery that we
can at this moment present: 'You took, in 1844, a patent,
in your country, for a new system to purify and cleanse
sugar by means of the centrifuge force.'
This patent, without his seeking, inured largely to his profit, and immensely
to the profit of those who were so fortunate as to purchase
it. In his will, he bequeathed the sum of five thousand dollars
to each of the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
and Massachusetts, the income to be applied yearly in giving
prizes to promote and encourage the manufacture and refining
of sugar."
In the early period of Mr. Hurd's residence at his beautiful
retreat in Stoneham, his friends were often attracted to visit him,
and were always received with the kindest hospitality. Ladies
were cordially welcomed among his visitors. Happy would it
have been had he chosen some one to share his fortunes, and bless
him in his retirement. Left to his own solitary resources, he
became so absorbed in his studies and experiments as to impair
his health, and finally to obscure his intellect. During his later
years, he divided his time between Stoneham and Malden;
boarding at the latter place in a worthy family, where he found
every accommodation suited to his simple habits. He retained,
through life, the simplicity of childhood, with the firmness of
the philosopher. He was as independent in his own opinions as
he was deferential to others. In respect to his deeper feelings,
he had great reserve. An unspotted life was his only religious
profession. Throughout his lingering illness he manifested the
resignation of a "Christian; and in peace and serenity his spirit
ascended to God, who gave it."
1798. - Rev. JONATHAN FRENCH died in North Hampton,
N.H., 13 December, 1856, aged 78. He was son of Rev.
Jonathan French (H.C. 1771), and was born in Andover,
Mass., 16 August, 1768. HIe was ordained at North Hampton,
18 November, 1801; formally resigned the active duties of his
pastorate, 18 November, 1851; and actually resigned them at
the ordination of his colleague, Rev. John Dinsmore, 18 November,
1852. Hie was for many years one of the most active,
influential, and highly esteemed clergymen in the Piscataqua
Association of Congregational Ministers. Hle was known and
had preached in all their congregations, had been called to
advise in their churches, and had many friends in all their
parishes. Hle was one of the finest specimens of ministerial
character. Evangelical, sincere, earnest, devoted, he was the
good preacher, the wise counsellor, the sympathizing pastor, the
obliging ministerial brother, the ready helper of all good enterprises.
He was a diligent student until he reached the age of
threescore years and ten. He was a reliable historian, and left
behind him manuscripts of great value.
Above all, he was a good husband, loving and beloved; a good father, honored,
and worthy of honor; a good neighbor and friend, welcoming every
worthy guest to his board, and in turn welcomed by worthy households
everywhere. In 1851, the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity was
conferred upon him by Dartmouth College. Hie delivered a half-century
discourse four years before his death, from the text, "Behold, I die;
but God shall be with you." He "came to his grave in a full age,"
after a useful and honored life.
1798. - Hon. SIDNEY WILLARD died in Cambridge, Mass.,
6 December, 1856, aged 76. He was son of Rev. Joseph
Willard (H.C. 1765), formerly minister in Beverly, Mass., and
subsequently, for nearly a quarter of a century, president of
Harvard College; and was born in Beverly, 19 September, 1780.
Immediately after leaving college, he began the study of theology
under the instruction of the Hollis Professor of Divinity. In
April, 1800, the office of librarian became vacant by the death
of Samuel Shapleigh (H.C. 1789), and Mr. Willard was
elected as his successor.
This office he held five years. In the mean time, having completed
his theological studies, he was licensed as a preacher. He preached
in various places in this state, as well as in Maine and Vermont;
and was invited to settle as a minister in Wiscasset, Me., and in
Burlington, Vt.; but he declined both invitations. In December, 1806,
he was chosen Hancock Professor of Hebrew and other Oriental
Languages in Harvard College, and was inaugurated in February of the
following year. This office he held until 1831, discharging its duties
with great fidelity and ability.
While connected with the college, he was interested in several literary
publications, and contributed valuable articles to the "Monthly
Anthology" and Christian Examiner." He was a member,
with many other distinguished men, of the Anthology Society,
to which the Boston Atheneum is so deeply indebted. He
contributed many valuable articles for the " North-American
Review;" and, about two years before his death, he published his
" Memories of Youth and Manhood," in many points a valuable
work. IHis learning was varied and extensive, his style of writing
clear and plain, his views sound and practical. Accustomed
to the best society for moral worth, social position, and
intellectual power, he appreciated and enjoyed the advantages
he possessed. In his manners he was easy, polite, and urbane. He
was firm in his principles, and amiable in disposition.
His feeling,s were tender and refined; and he was remarkably honest,
sincere, and truthful. Filial reverence and piety marked his
character, and he was esteemed by all who knew him. Nearly
his whole life was passed in Cambridge; and he filled various
offices, always acceptably. He was mayor of Cambridge in
1848, 1849, and 1850; was several times elected a representative to
the state legislature; and was a member of the executive council.
He was the last relic of the officers of the college government
during the first quarter of the present century.
1802. - Hon. SAMUEL HOAR died in Concord, Mass.,
2 November, 1856, aged 78. He was son of Hon. Samuel
Hoar, and was born in Lincoln, Mass., 18 May, 1778. After
leaving college, he spent two years as a private tutor in the
state of Virginia; and it was while he was on his return to
Massachusetts, and during a temporary stay in the city of New York,
that the fatal and memorable duel between Hamilton and Burr
deprived the country of one of its most honored and illustrious
statesmen. Arriving home, Mr. Hoar entered, as a student of
law, in the office of the Hon. Artemus Ward, of Charlestown,
(H.C. 1783), afterwards, and for many years, the learned
chief-justice of the Court of Common Pleas.
He was admitted to the bar in September, 1805; and, the same month,
opened an office in Concord, where he soon attained a high rank;
and for forty years he was one of the most eminent and successful
practitioners in the county of Middlesex. The last few years of his
life were withdrawn from that activity of legal service, to which,
from early manhood to late maturity, he had devoted his energies;
and the people of Middlesex were deprived of the forensic
talents and experience of the veteran leader, who, for more than
a generation, had been engaged in most of the important cases
tried at their bar. To the neighboring bars of Worcester, Essex,
and Suffolk, he had been no stranger; nor was his voluntary
surrender of the excitements of the more public and conspicuous
positions of his honorable profession unnoticed or unregretted by
them. He was associated with Mr. Webster in the celebrated
case of the Commonwealth against Crowninshield and the
brothers Knapp, convicted of the murder of Capt. White,
in Salem, in 1830.
He was repeatedly honored by being elected to offices of honor, trust,
and importance. He was a member of the convention for revising the
constitution of the state in 1820; was elected a senator, in the state
legislature, in 1825 and 1833; was a member of the executive council in 1845
and 1846.
He was a representative from Middlesex in the twenty-fourth Congress
of the United States in 1836-7. He was also
a representative in our state legislature in 1850. In 1844, he
was appointed by Gov. Briggs, in accordance with a resolve
passed by the legislature of Massachusetts, a commissioner to
proceed to Charleston, S.C., to test, in the Court of the United
States, the constitutionality of an act passed by the legislature
of South Carolina on the 20th of December, 1825, legalizing the
imprisonment of colored persons who should enter their boundaries:
but on his arrival at Charleston, and making known the
object of his visit, such was the excitement against him, on
account of his mission's being deemed by the people of the place
an unwarrantable interference with their state rights, that he
was obliged to leave the city forthwith, to escape threatened
personal violence; and he returned to Massachusetts without
fulfilling the object of his appointment.
The most agreeable characteristic of his latter years was the
interest with which he pursued every movement of benevolence
or education. He always possessed a liberal and charitable
spirit; but his retirement from the bar afforded leisure for a
more extensive indulgence and cultivation of such affections.
From the institution of the sunday-school of his church, until
the Sunday of his death, he officiated either as teacher or
superintendent. He was a member of the Massachusetts Peace
Society and of the American Bible Society, and was an invariable
participant in all charitable organizations. His private
charities also were incessant, ample, and intelligent. He was a
member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of
the Massachusetts Historical Society. At the time ofhis death,
he was one of the Board of Overseers of Harvard College; and
the college, in 1838, conferred upon him the honorary degree of
Doctor of Laws.
In 1812, he was married to Miss Sarah Sherman, youngest daughter
of the celebrated Roger Sherman, of Connecticut. They had five
children; viz., Elizabeth,
Sarah, Sherman, Ebenezer Rockwood, Edward Sherman, and George
Frisbie. The sons were graduates of Harvard College in 1835,
1844, and 1846, respectively.
Mr. Hoar was a man of deep religious principles: he was a
sincere and devout Christian. He will be remembered and
regretted longer than many men of more brilliant lives and more
conspicuous history, by the bar, of which he was an ornament; by
the social circle of friendship, where affections always cluster
around one so sincere and earnest as he; by the community
where he dwelt, and which he aimed to serve; and by the
commonwealth, of which he was a wise and faithful son.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Insert:
Subject: Roger Sherman, Signer of the Declaration of Independence
Source: Prescott Memorial by Dr. William Prescott, 1870, Concord, New Hampshire
p.66
Rebecca Prescott, b. May 20, 1742, dau of Benjamin Prescott and his wife, Rebecca Minot of
Salem, Mass.
Benjamin Prescott was the son of Rev. Benjamin Prescott & wife,
Elizabeth Higginson of Salem Village, Mass. (Higginson, founding
father - Higginson Fleet to Salem, Mass. 1629). Rev. Benjamin
Prescott was the son of Capt. Jonathan Prescott & wife Mary Hoar of
Concord, Mass. Capt. Jonathan Prescott was the son of the son of
John Prescott & his wife Mary Gawkroger Platts, founders of Lancaster,
Mass.
Rebecca Prescott m. May 12, 1763, the Honorable Roger Sherman, signer of the Declaration of
Independence. He was born at Newton, Mass., April 19, 1721. He was the son of William
Sherman of Newton, Mass., the grandson of Joseph Sherman and the great-grandson of Capt.
John Sherman, who came from Dedham in England to Watertown, Mass., in 1634/5.
Roger Sherman married (1) about 1749, Elizabeth Hartwell of Stoughton, Mass., by whom he had
seven children. She died in October 1760 and he m. (2) Rebecca Prescott as above stated
and by her had eight children. (listed below)
p.67
Roger Sherman was emphatically a self made man. His father, who was in moderate circum-
stances, died when he was but twenty years of age, when the care of the family and farm
devolved on him. He had previously learned the trade of a shoemaker. In 1743, the family
removed to New Milford, Litchfield County, CT; he then, with his older brother, opened a
store for trade, when he abandoned shoemaking. He was a great reader, fond of books, and
made rapid progress in the acquisition of knowledge. In 1745 he was appointed a surveyor
of lands for the county of Litchfield. Having a taste for the profession of law, he studied
while partly engaged in other occcupations, and was admitted to the bar in 1754. In 1755
he was appointed a justice of the peace, and in the same year was chosen a representative to
the colonial assembly, and was annually elected to that office until he removed to New Haven
in 1761.
The election of Mr. Sherman to the legislature at the age of thirty-four, was the commence-
ment of his public career, which proved to be one of uncommon brilliancy and crowned with
almost unparalleled success. In 1759 he was appointed a judge of the court of common pleas.
In 1761 he removed to New Haven, where he was soon made a justice of the peace and frequently
represented the town in the legislature. In 1765 he was apointed a judge of the
court of common pleas for that county and for many years was Treasurer of Yale College. In
1766 he was elected a counsellor, or member of the upper house in the legislature. About
this time the encroachments of the mother country began to create excitement and alarm,
which finally culminated in the war of the Revolution, and a separation of the then colonies
from Great Britain, tearing asunder all the bonds of relationship and affection which had
long existed between them. The agitation of the public mind during this preliminary con-
troversy was deep and ominous. In all this controversy, Mr. Sherman strongly and fearlessly
advocated the claims of the colonies and defended them against the unjustifiable encroach-
ments of Great Britian.
In August, 1774 he was appointed a delegate to attend a general congress of the colonies for
the purpose of "consulting and advising on proper measures for advancing the best good of the
colonies." It was greatly to the credit of Mr. Sherman, and at the same time it shows
in what high estimation he was held, that he invariabley continued a member of congress
until his death in 1793. He was often placed on important and responsible committees, such
as preparing instructions for the operations of the army in Canada; to regulate the currency
of the country; to purchase and furnish supplies for the army; to concert a plan for military
operations for the campaign of 1776, and many others. One of the most important
and responsible committees of which Mr. Sherman was appointed a member, was that selected to
draft a Declaration of Independence. This world renowned instrument, in common with his
associates in congress, signed on the ever memorable 4th of July, 1776.
To give a mere synoptical view of all the praiseworthy acts and transactions of Mr. Sherman
would far transcend the limits assigned them in this work. We must content ourselves,
therefore, by inserting in conclusion the following inscription which is recorded upon the
tablet which covers his tomb in New Haven, Connecticut:
"In Memory of The Honorable Roger Sherman, Esq., Mayor of the city of New Haven, and Senator
of the United States. He was born at Newtown, Mass., April 19, 1721, and died in New Haven
July 23, A.D. 1793, aged 72 years. Possessed of a strong, clear, penetrating mind and
singular perseverance, he became the self-taught scholar, eminent for jurisprudence and
policy. He was nineteen years an assistant and twenty-three years a judge of the Superior
Court, in high reputation. He was a delegate in the first Congress, signed the glorious
act of Independence, and for many years displayed superior talents and ability in the
National Legislature. He was a member of the general convention and approved the Federal
Constitution, and served his country with fidelity and honor in the House of Representatives
and in the Senate of the United States. He was a man of approved integrity; a cool and
deserving judge; a prudent, sagacious politician, and a true, faithful and firm patriot.
He ever adorned the profession of Christianity which he made in youth, and distinguished
through life for public usefulness and died in the prospect of a blessed immortality."
p.89
Rebecca Prescott and Honorable Roger Sherman of New Haven Connecticut, had issue:
1. Rebecca Sherman b. Feb 22, 1764; m. July 29, 1787, Hon. Simeon Baldwin of New Haven,
son of Ebenezer Baldwin, by his first wife, Bethia Barker. He was b. Dec 14, 1761, grad.
from Yale College in 1781. While in college he was one of the founders of the Connecticut
Alpha of the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity, and delivered before it the first of the annual
orations which ever since formed a prominent part of the attractions of Commencement week
at Yale.
2. Elizabeth Sherman b. Dec 31, 1765, m. (1) Sturgis Burr, Esq., of New York City on Nov
19, 1794. He died leaving one son; she m. (2) April 13, 1800 the Hon. Simeon Baldwin who
had been the husband of her sister, Rebecca.
3. Roger Sherman Jr., b. July 16, 1768, m. Sept 1, 1801, Susannah Staples. They were married
by her father, Rev. John Staples of Canterbury, CT. She was b. Aug 1, 1788; and died Nov
22, 1855 in her 68th years; had eleven children. He grad. Yale in 1787. He d. Mar 5, 1856
in his 88th year.
4. Mehitable Sherman b. Feb 20, 1772; died Nov 7, 1772.
5. Mehitable Sherman 2d., b. Jan 28, 1774; m. (1) March 1793, Daniel Barnes who was born on
the Island of St. Croix, West Indies in 1772, where his father was a planter, but was orig.
from Denmark, to which latter place at Copenhagen he sent his son, Daniel to be educated.
He complete his education at Yale. In 1799 he visited his relatives in St. Croix and died
of yellow fever Aug 3, 1799 aged 27. Mehitable (Sherman) Barnes m. (2) Sept 1804, Jeremiah
Evarts Esq, son of James Evarts, and his wife, Sarah Todd of Sunderland, VT where he was born
Feb 3, 1781. His parents were natives of Guilford, CT and descendants of
John Evarts who settled in Giuilford in 1650. He died in Charleston, S.C. on the 10th of
May, 1831 on his return from Cuba, whither he had been for the benefit of his health, aged
50 years.
6. Oliver Sherman, b. Jun 19, 1777; grad. Yale, 1795; engaged in the mercantile business at
Boston; died in Havana 1820 unmarried.
7. Martha Sherman b. Sept 24, 1779 m. Jan 1805, Rev. Jeremiah Day, LL.D., afterward President
of Yale College. She died April 4, 1806. Had one son, Sherman Day b. Feb 13,
1806, who went to California and was overseer of the Quicksilver mine at Almaden.
President Day died Aug 22, 1867 aged 94 yrs and 19 days.
8. Sarah Sherman, b. Jan 11, 1783; m. Oct 13, 1812, the Hon. Samuel Hoar of Concord, Mass.
who was born May 18, 1778; grad. at Harvard 1802; studied law with the Hon. Artemas Ward
of Charlestown and commenced the practice in Concord, Sept. 1805. He was a member of the
Massachusetts Senate in 1825 and in 1832; a member of the convention to revise the
Contitution of Massachusetts in 1840; representative in Congress, 1835 to 1836; LL.D.
Harvard 1837. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and of the
Massachusetts Historical Society. He died Nov. 2, 1856 aged 78 years, 5 mos & 15 days.
Hon. Samuel Hoar was the son of Hon. Samuel Hoar of Lexington, who was the son of John Hoar
of Lexington and Littleton, the son of Daniel Hoar of Concord, son of John Hoar of Scituate
the emigrant of 1660.
Transcribed by Janice Farnsworth
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1802.- ELIAS UPTON died in Bucksport, Me., 16 June,
1857, aged 85. He was born in Reading, Mass., 16 February,
1772. He devoted a great portion of his life to the instruction
of youth in various places. He was, for eleven years, preceptor of
the Bluehill (Me.) Academy. He afterwards removed to
Bucksport, where he engaged in trade, and kept a store in that
place for many years, and there finally closed his long life.
1803. - Dr. THOMAS IVERS PARKER died in Boston, 10
December, 1856, aged 72. He was son of Rev. Samuel Parker, D.D.
(H.C. 1764), and was born in Boston, 29 March, 1784.
He was fitted for college at the Public Latin School in
Boston. On leaving college, he chose the medical profession,
and pursued his studies under the instruction of Dr. James Jackson
(H.C. 1796). Having been admitted to practice, he established himself
as a physician in the city of New York, where lihe
remained several years. He then returned to Boston, where
he resumed the practice of his profession, and where he resided
during the remainder of his life. For ten or twelve years, he
held the office of county-physician for Suffolk. He was never
married.
1806. - Rev. ISAAC HURD, of Exeter, N.H., died suddenly,
at the residence of his son, in South Reading, Mass.,
4 October, 1856, aged 70. He was son of Joseph Hurd, and
was born in Charlestown, Mass., 7 December, 1785. On
leaving college, he began the study of theology under the
instruction of Rev. David Osgood, D.D., of Medford, Mass.,
(H.C. 1771). He afterwards went to Europe, and completed
his studies at Divinity Hall in Edinburgh. HIe preached his first
sermon in London. On his return he received several invitations to
settle; and finally accepted one given him by the Unitarian society
in Lynn, Mass., and was ordained 15 September,
1813.
He was dismissed, at his own request, 22 May, 1816.
A few months afterwards, he was invited to settle over the
Second Society in Exeter, of the same liberal denomination; to
whom he had rendered himself so acceptable, that although he
frankly avowed he had changed his theological views, and declared
his belief in the Trinitarian doctrine, yet they persisted in
the call, and he was installed pastor of that church, 11 September, 1817.
Notwithstanding a conscientious difference of
opinion on certain important points, he continued to enjoy,
undiminished, their cordial respect and affection. After a ministry
of thirty years, Rev. Samuel Dering Dexter (H.C. 1843) was
ordained, 2 December, 1847, colleague-pastor. Mr. Dexter
died in Roxbury, Mass., 20 April, 1850; and Rev. Asa D.
Mann was settled as a colleague, 19 November, 1851. In
Mr. Hurd the society found a single-hearted devotedness to
his Divine Master as his guide', and to the Scriptures as the
source and illustration of Christian truth, together with solid
learning, true taste, ardent piety, and exemplary fidelity in
all his ministerial and social relations. He was a chaste, correct
writer, and, to the extent of his vocal powers, a good
speaker. He was affable in his manners, and given to hospitality.
In 1854, the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity
was conferred upon him by Dartmouth College. He married,
16 March, 1819, Mrs. Elizabeth Emery, of Exeter, whose
maiden name was Folsom; by whom he had two sons, one of
whom died in early childhood. The other son, Francis Parkman Hurd,
graduated at Harvard College in 1839, and is a physician in Exeter.
1808.- Rev. JAMES JOHNSON died in St. Johnsbury, Vt.,
31 October, 1856, aged 77. He was born in that part of
Lynn which is now within the boundaries of Lynnfield, Mass.,
12 July, 1779. He studied theology in Cambridge under the
tuition of Rev. Henry Ware, D.D. (H. C. 1785), and was
licensed to preach in 1810. Hie was ordained pastor of the
Presbyterian church in Potsdam, N.Y., 11 March, 1812; the
ordination-sermon being preached by Rev. Amos Pettengill, of
Champlain, N.Y. (H.C. 1805). In 1817, he was dismissed
from his charge at Potsdam; and, in October of the same year,
was installed pastor of the Congregational church in Williston,
Vt. While settled at Williston, he preached at St. Alban's the
only sermon of his that found its way to the press. It was
preached at the anniversary meeting of free-masons, on the
festival of St. John the Baptist, 24 June, 1826, from the text,
" Every house is builded by some man; but he that built all
things is God" (Heb. iii. 4).
On the 28th of February, 1827, his pastoral connection was
transferred to the Second Congregational Church in St. Johnsbury,
Vt., where he ministered until 3 May, 1838; when his relation
to that church was dissolved,and he was installed, February,
1839, at Irasburg, Vt., wherehe labored till the autumn of 1849,
when, at the age of seventy, he was dismissed, and passed the
remainder of his days at the Centre Village, in St. Johnsbury,
preaching occasionally, as opportunity offered, without pastoral
relation. He was an industrious, faithful, and successful
preacher of the word of life.
His discourses evinced a most affectionate regard for the welfare
of his hearers, and the simplicity of his manner was as touching
as his love was sincere. To him more than to any other man is
to be attributed a great reformation in the moral condition of
St. Johnsbury.
He found his parish full of pestilent doctrines
and evil practices; and he gave himself no rest until he had
extirpated heresy, root and branch, and trained the people to a
high standard of morality. He " set his face like a flint" against
all isms. Two revivals of more than ordinary interest occurred
during his ministry in St. Johnsbury; one of which, in 1831,
resulted in the addition of more than sixty to the church. The
whole number added to the church during his eleven years'
connection with it was one hundred and seventy. The closing
years of his life were devoted mainly to the care of his faithful
wife, who was for many years a confirmed invalid. She died
only eleven days before him; and when, at length, she was released
from her sufferings, there seemed no more for him to do
on earth, and he hastened to rejoin her above.
1808. - Dr. SAMUEL SCOLLAY died in Smithfield, Jefferson County,
Va., 11 January, 1857, aged 74. He was son of
Grover and Rebecca Scollay, and was born in Ashburnham,
Mass., 21 January, 1782. His personal character and history
furnish a beautiful instance of persevering industry and stern
integrity, united to high mental accomplishments, a heart of the
noblest impulses, and the keenest sensibility. He began life
with no advantages, except those which a good name and a
faithful training of his parents conferred. Having to make the
money to pay for his education, it was several years beyond
the usual period of entering upon college-life that he was
matriculated as a member of an advanced class. While his
classmates were enjoying the recreations of vacation and the
endearments of home, he was exerting himself to provide for
the next term of study by teaching school.
Thus, one term after another, did he succeed in partially anticipating
the expenses of his education. At college he was distinguished no
less by his excellence in scholarship among his fellow-students,
than for his perseverance and fidelity, during the vacation, as a
public teacher. In 1810, he went to Virginia; settled in the
vicinity of Charlestown, Jefferson County; and taught school in
the family of Mr. Henry Turner. His school soon attracted the
mem' bers of other families, and became very large. For three
years, he thus labored to free himself from the encumbrance of
debts contracted in acquiring his education, and also to enable
him to qualify himself for a profession. He at the same time
prepared himself to enter upon the course of study at the
Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, where he graduated as
one of the first in his class. He began the practice of medicine
in Jefferson County at the age of thirty; soon became highly
distinguished in his profession, not less eminent in his humble
sphere than some of his contemporaries at college in the exalted
position they have attained in the nation's councils.
By perseverance and industry, for nearly half a century, he was enabled
to bring up and educate a large family of children, and become
one of the most affluent citizens in that part of the state. His
first wife was Miss Harriot Lowndes, a grand-daughter of the
late Gov. Lloyd, of Maryland, and first cousin of the late
Francis S. Key. His second wife was Miss Sarah Page Nelson,
grand-daughter of the late Gen. Thomas Nelson.
His remains repose in the graveyard of the beautiful Episcopal
church in the village of Smithfield, which his liberality largely
contributed to build.
1809. - Hon. FRANCIS CALLEY GRAY died in Boston;
Mass., 29 December, 1856, aged 66. He was son of Hon.
William Gray, well known as an enterprising and wealthy merchant;
and was born in Salem, Mass., 19 September, 1790.
After leaving college, he went through a course of legal studies
in the office of Hon. William Prescott, of Boston (H.C. 1783),
and was admitted to the bar; but he did not pursue the profession
for any considerable time. Possessing ample wealth, he
became a man of letters, and devoted his powerful and well
cultivated mind to the pursuits of literature. He was private
secretary of Hon. John Quincy Adams, when the latter was
minister in Russia. He was one of the most brilliant and
accomplished writers of his time, and was an early contributor to
the " North-American Review." He was the author of a valuable paper,
entitled " Remarks on the Early Laws of Massachusetts Bay, with the Code
adopted in 1641, and called 'The Body of Liberties,'" which is replete
with important historical information. This paper was published in the
eighth volume of the third series of the Collections of the Massachusetts
Historical Society.
In August, 1816, he delivered the oration
before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard College, which
was published in the "North-American Review" for September of
that year; and in August, 1840, he delivered the annual poem
before the same society, which was highly commended in the
"North-American" for January, 1841. In 1848, he published
a pamphlet entitled "Prison-Discipline in America," in which he
made a powerful argument against the separate system of
imprisonment, or solitary confinement of prisoners. This pamphlet
was noticed, in strong terms of commendation, in an able
article in the "Christian Examiner" for March, 1848.
On the 4th of July, 1818, he delivered the oration, before the town
authorities of Boston, on the anniversary of the Declaration of
Independence. This oration takes rank among the ablest pro ductions
which that occasion has brought forth. He had a decided taste for
antiquarian and historical researches.
On the 29th of January, 1818, he was elected a member of the Massa-
chusetts Historical Society, and he edited several volumes of its
published Collections. He was elected to many offices of honor
and trust. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences, and its corresponding secretary; was president of
the Boston Athenaeum; a trustee of the State Lunatic Hospital
at Worcester, on its establishment; a trustee of the Massachusetts
General Hospital in Boston; and a fellow of Harvard
College from 1826 to 1836. In 1822, he was elected a representative
from Boston to the state legislature; and was reelected in 1823, 1824,
and 1836. He was chosen senator from Suffolk in 1825, 1826, 1828, 1829,
1831, and 1843; and was elected one of the executive council in 1839.
He was vice-president of the Prison Discipline Society; and was, for
several years, chairman of the Board of Directors of the state prison at
Charlestown. In all these several stations, he discharged his
duties with eminent ability. In 1841, the honorary degree of
Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by Harvard College.
He' died a bachelor.
1810. - RUFUS BRADFORD ALLYN died in Belfast, Me.,
25 January, 1857, aged 63. He was son of Rev. John Allyn,
D.D., of Duxbury, Mass. (H.C. 1785), and Abigail (Bradford)
Allyn; was born in that town, 27 March, 1793; and was the
seventh in descent from Gov. Bradford, of Plymouth Colony.
He studied law in the office of Hon. William Sullivan, of Boston
(H.C. 1792); and, having been admitted to the bar, he removed,
28 July, 1815, to Belfast, Me., where he opened an office, and
there he resided during the remainder of his life. He soon acquired
an extensive and lucrative practice, and became one of the
leaders of the bar in Waldo County.
Some of the wealthy men of Boston were proprietors of large tracts of
land in the vicinity of Belfast; and at the solicitation of Mr. Sullivan,
himself one of the proprietors, Mr. Allyn accepted an agency for the sale of
these lands, such an agency not interfering, but being connected,
with the practice of his profession. He continued in this agency
for more than twenty years, when it was terminated by his purchase
of the remaining interest of the proprietors. He was a
scholar of rare attainments, of profound learning, and great
refinement of taste. As a lawyer, he had hardly his superior in
the country. He was thoroughly versed in the authorities, and
of memory so retentive and remarkable as to be able to make a
brief upon any given question, referring with accuracy to volume
and page without taking the books from their cases; and yet he
was by no means exclusively what is called a book-lawyer.
He was master of the great principles of jurisprudence; and, with a
mind of great logical acuteness as well as comprehensiveness, he
applied those principles with wonderful readiness and discrimination.
He was a man of great promptness in business, faithful to
his clients, and of unbending integrity, but of great eccentricity
of character, -reserved to the very borders of misanthropy; an
hereditary temperament, which oftentimes endured very great
depression, and which tended to obscure his faith, and obliterate
the faintest trace of ambition or desire to be known or noticed
by his fellow-men.
He shunned distinction, and every thing
like notoriety he avoided with disgust. He might at one time
have removed to Boston, and become the partner of Daniel Webster;
but he preferred a life of absolute seclusion. Towards the
close of his life, those gloomy doubts superinduced by his
melancholy temperament, which had at times obscured his religious
faith, were dispelled; and he often prayed, "Lord, I believe:
help thou mine unbelief." He was ever a zealous advocate of the
principles of liberal Christianity maintained by his father; and
retained his respect for the institutions of religion, to which he
gave his personal countenance and support. Late in life,
he married Rebecca P., the eldest daughter of his friend
Samuel Upton, formerly of Boston; and he, perhaps, was the
only person not connected by family ties towards whom he had
any feeling deserving the name of friendship.
Mr. Upton resided in Belfast for some years prior to his removal
to Washington, where he died in 1840. His friendship, which was
the sunny spot in Mr. Allyn's early life, was strengthened by the
family tie which united them after Mr. Upton's removal to
Washing,ton, and was only dissolved by death; and now, in
firmer, purer, and better bonds, and brighter realms, the friends
are re-united. His widow and five children survive him in independent
circumstances.
1810. - FREDERICK KINLOCH died in Charleston, S.C.,
7 August, 1856, aged 66. He was son of Francis and Martha
(Rutledge) Kinloch, and was born in Charleston, 17 February,
1790. He began his preparatory studies under the Rev. Dr.
Buist; and at the age of 12 he left Charleston, when his father
took him to Geneva, in Switzerland, where he remained four
years under the instruction of the celebrated Prof. Prevost.
He returned with the family to Charleston in 1806; and, that year,
entered college. For some time after he graduated, he followed
the business of planting; but he was an ardent lover of learning,
and he took great delight in acquiring, knowledge in all useful arts
and sciences, and imparting his information for the benefit of
others. He was a thorough French scholar; was also familiar
with the Italian and Spanish languages.
Amiable in private life,
self-sacrificing for the benefit of others, he was without an
enemy, and was beloved by all who knew him. Perseverance
and punctuality were marked qualities in his character; a sincere
friend, but vindictive when angry, sarcastic when offended, yet,
if opportunity offered, ready to forget and forgive. Such was
Mr. Kinloch. He died at the house of a friend, where he had
resided for the last thirty-one years of his life; and, by his own
request, he was buried in Magnolia Cemetery.
1812. - CHARLES BROWNE died in Boston, 21 July, 1856,
aged 63. He was son of Moses (H.C. 1768) and Mary
Browne, and was born in Beverly, Mass., 24 May, 1793. He
studied law three years in the office of Hon. Nathan Dane, of
Beverly (H.C. 1778); but did not enter upon the practice of the
profession, but became a partner in the extensive publishing
firm of Hilliard, Gray, and Co., of Boston, where he continued
for many years. He was for nearly ten years a director in the
New-England Mutual Life-Insurance Company, in which he
took great interest; and his labors in the management of its
affairs contributed essentially to its success.
He was also, for a long period, one of the most active members of
the Boston Library Society, and through life was much interested in
historical and genealogical researches. Modest and unobtrusive in his
manners, he never sought notoriety, but chose rather to do his
duty as a good citizen and a Christian, and to be known by
his works. He was in truth a just and good man; one who
contributed much to the happiness and dignity of human life;
one who was never weary in well-doing, and sought no other
reward than the consciouness of a life well spent. He married,
14 December, 1825, Elizabeth Isabella, daughter of Bryant P.
Tilden, Esq., of Boston; and had two sons and one daughter,
who, with his wife, survive him.
1812. - LEONARD JACKSON died in West Newton, Mass.,
1 April, 1857, aged 65. He was son of Major Daniel and
Lucy (Remington) Jackson, and was born in Newton, 26 July,
1791. His father was an officer in the Revolutionary war, and
was in the battles of Concord, Bunker Hill, Germantown,
and Monmouth. After leaving college, Mr. Jackson studied
theology, and preached for a few years, but was never ordained.
The subsequent portion of his life was devoted to agricultural
pursuits in his native town.
1812. - GEORGE THACHER died in Westford, Mass.,
12 June, 1857, aged 66. He was son of Hon. George (H.C.
1776) and Sarah (Savage) Thacher, and was born in Biddeford,
Maine, 7 September, 1790. He was partly fitted for college by
Joseph Adams (H.C. 1805), who was private tutor in his father's
family; and completed his preparatory studies at Gorham
Academy, under the instruction of Rev. Reuben Nason (HI.C.
1802).
He studied law with Hon. Cyrus King, of Saco; and
began practice in that place in 1815, where he continued until
1835. For five years, he was senior partner in law-business
with the late Gov. Fairfield. For several years, he was register
of probate of York County. In 1835, he left Saco for Monroe,
where he remained until 1841, when he was appointed, by Pres.
Tyler, collector of Belfast, and removed to that place.
After the expiration of his commission, he returned to Monroe, where
he resumed business; and continued there until 1853, when he
removed to Westford, Mass.
He married, 20 January, 1818, his cousin, Lucy Bigelow, daughter
of Amos Bigelow, of Weston, Mass. By this marriage he had six children,
four of whom survived him. This happy connection was severed by her death
at Belfast in September, 1843.
He married again, 14 June, 1847, to Lucy, daughter of Dr. Amos Bancroft
(H.C. 1791), of Groton, Mass., who survived him. Mr. Thacher was a
gentleman of most pleasing address, and distinguished for his generous
qualities. Hl had a deep sense of the importance of truth
and justice, and discharged every trust and every duty with
conscientious integrity. Believing the truth and importance of
the Christian religion, he was a firm supporter of public worship,
a communicant and constant attendant on the ordinances of the
gospel.
1812.- Dr. EZEKIEL THAXTER died in Abington, Mass.,
11 October, 1856, aged 69. HIe was son of Dr. Gridley and
Sarah (Lincoln) Thaxter, and was born in Abington, 22 July,
1787. Hlis mother was daughter of Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, of
Hingham, the revolutionary hero. He was fitted for college
at Hingham Academy, under the tuition of James Day (H.C.
1806). After completing his collegiate course, he studied
medicine under the instruction of Dr. John C. Warren, of Boston
(H.C. 1797); and, having received his medical diploma in
1815, immediately began practice with his father in Abington.
He was quite successful in his profession, and acquired the fullest
confidence of his patients. As his father advanced in age, he
gradually withdrew from practice; and, for some time before his
death (which took place February, 1845, at the age of 89), he
gave it up entirely, and his son, the subject of this notice, was
the only physician in the town, which is quite large, and embraces
four considerable villages, three of them from one and a half to
two and a half miles from the doctor's residence. Notwith
standing this, so popular was he, that no physician was able to
establish himself even in the remote parts of the town while Dr.
Thaxter retained his health. Now there are seven physicians onl
the territory which he occupied. For the last two or three years,
he was able to ride very little, having suffered from paralysis,
which in a great measure disabled one side of his body; and his
death occurred from a repetition of the shock. As he resided
all his life in Abington, he became one of its fathers; and always
occupied a large place in the community, being highly esteemed
and honored by his fellow-townsmen. In 1821, he was chosen
town-clerk; and held the office, by successive annual re-elections,
until 1832. He married Diantha Brown, daughter of Samuel
Brown, of Abington; and left four children, two sons and two
daughters, all residing in that town. His wife died a few
years since. He was a man of strong social attachments, and
loved to live in the bosom of his family, and in the society of his
near relatives and intimate friends. He was a kind and affectionate
father, a worthy and estimable citizen.
1814.- FRANCIS DALLAS QUASII died in Charleston, S.C.,
17 February, 1857, aged 63. He was born in Charleston,
19 December, 1793.' When in college, he was distinguished by
his strength of memory, his finished recitations, and his graceful
elocution. He graduated with high honors. Many will remember the
animated and graceful manner in which he pronounced the Latin salutatory
oration in August, 1814, and the valedictory oration in August, 1817,
when he took his degree of master of arts. The latter was afterwards
published.
After leaving college, he studied law with Judge Samuel Prioleau, but
did not enter upon its practice. Inheriting a plantation, his time
for several years was devoted to its care.
During eighteen years, he was a member of the legislature of his native
state; and, for some time previous to his decease, he held a
responsible office in the custom-house in Charleston. He married,
6 January, 1819, Emma J. Doughty, by whom he had six children, of whom
one son and two daughters survived him.
1815.- HENRY FELT BAKER, of Cincinnati, died suddenly,
of congestion of the brain, in Portsmouth, O., 20 February
1857, aged 59. His name, originally, was Henry Felt; but
his father having died, and his mother marrying Joseph Baker,
he took the surname of his step-fitther. He was the only child
of Henry Felt, and was born in Salem, Mass. 6 November,
1797. He was fitted for college, in Salem, under the instruction
of Josiah Willard Gibbs (Y. C. 1809).
Immediately after graduating, he entered the counting-room of
Baker and Hodges, of Boston, for the purpose of acquiring a
mercantile education.
Here he remained several years, when the firm was dissolved,
Mr. Hodges retiring; and a new copartnership was formed,
under the style of Joseph Baker and Son. This firm was, after
a few years' continuance, dissolved; and the subject of this notice
went to London, where he established himself as a merchant.
He remained there a little more than two years, and returned to
Boston in the autumn of 1841. Soon afterwards, he went
to New Orleans, with a view of establishing himself in that city;
but, not succeeding according to his wishes, he returned to Boston,
and became one of the most active and efficient persons in
establishing steam flour-mills in East Boston. Hie was subsequently
treasurer of the Flour-Mills Company. It was at this
period that he exhibited his scientific tastes; and he was led to
studies and investigations, that resulted, in 1846, in the patent
of an invention, and the issue of an illustrative pamphlet entitled
"Improvement in Steam-boiler Furnaces." The value of this
improvement, whatever the strength of confidence with which
he regarded it, he was willing that its own intrinsic merits and
practical experience should determine.
A year or two afterwards he went to Cincinnati, where he was employed
as a clerk in a bank, and where he passed the remainder of his life. In
1853 and 1854, he published, in two parts, a work on "Banks
and Banking in the United States;" which, to men of business, is of
intrinsic and durable value. In August, 1856,
he began writing a series of articles, which were published in
the Banker's Magazine," in New York, illustrative of the
specific interests to which that periodical is dedicated. These
evidences of a public nature establish the conclusion, that, even
amid the active and sensitive habits of mercantile life, he did
not suffer his mind to be alienated from that love of science and
letters to which it had been early devoted. Ile was not an
inattentive observer of the course of public affairs; and he will
be remembered by many of his contemporaries in Boston as
always in sympathy with principles of high honor and of a
large and generous patriotism. The interests of private virtue
and social improvement found in him a friend and benefactor.
He was an early associate and patron of the Young Men's
Mercantile-Library Association in Boston, and always watched
its success with the interest of one who had, in some measure,
been instrumental in its establishment. Ini 1828, he was elected
commander of the Boston Independent Company of Cadets; a
post that has ever been connected with high and noble bearing
in the activities of life. He was a gentleman of polished manners;
and, possessing rare colloquial faculties, his acquaintance
was much courted in fashionable society. He was often called
upon to preside at military dinners and on other festive occasions,
which he did with a grace seldom equalled. He married,
21 November, 1822, Caroline, daughter of Capt. John Boit,
of Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, Mass.; and had two children,- a
son and a daughter, - who, with their mother, survive him.
His son graduated at Harvard College in 1848.
Of his domestic virtues and religious aspirations, of his
firmness in trial, his fortitude in disappointment, his trust
in God, and his hope in his Saviour, it is given to those who
were united with him in the loved and loving experiences of home
to cherish memories into which it were not fitting for the present
writer to enter.
After a life of activity, varied, as most lives are, by alternate
elevations and depressions, he passed away; and his grave is
found in the quiet and beautiful Spring-Grove Cemetery, in the
queen-city of the West, Cincinnati.
1818. - WILLIAM AUGUSTUS CARSON died at Sullivan's
Island, near Charleston, S.C., 17 August, 1856, aged 55. He
was son of James and Eliza (Neyle) Carson, and was born
in Charleston, 27 November, 1800. His father was a native of
Camden, S.C., and was a merchant in Charleston. His mother
was a native of Exeter, Eng. Mr. Carson was prepared for
college, in Charleston, by an Irishman of the name of Moriarty,
who was a distinguished scholar.
After leaving college, he studied medicine, but never practised;
being entirely occupied with his business as a planter.
This, however, did not exclude the study of chemistry, botany,
astronomy, and mechanics; for all which he had a strong inclination.
He married Miss Caroline Petigru, the accomplished and interesting
daughter of the Hon. James Louis Petigru, the special friend of Daniel Webster, and
the head of the Charleston bar. He had two sons, William and James Petigru,
who survive him, as does also his widow. Mr. Carson always preserved the
liveliest recollection of his college life and college friends, and
frequently spoke of revisiting those scenes dear to his youth; but his devotion
to his business as a planter, and intendant of Sullivan's Island,
always prevented him from putting this wish into execution.
1818. - CHARLES WILLIAM CUTTER died in Chatfield,
Maine in August, 1856, aged 57. He was born in Portsmouth, N.H.,
11 June, 1799. He studied law in the office of Hon. Jeremiah Mason
(Y.C. 1788); and, having been ad mitted to the bar, he entered upon
the practice of the law in Portsmouth. For several years he was a contributor
to the "Portsmouth Journal." He afterwards entered upon the political
field; and, espousing the whig cause, was a writer of much spirit.
For a year or two, he became a resident of Dover, N.H.; where,
about 1823, he established the "Dover Republican." From July,
1825, to January, 1830, he was an associate editor of the
"Portsmouth Journal." As a writer and public speaker he was
always well received, and enjoyed a confidence which was rewarded
by the honors and emoluments of office. He was aide to
Levi Woodbury when the latter was governor of New Hampshire,
and also aide to Major-Gen. Upham for several years.
-He several times represented Portsmouth in the New-Hampshire
legislature, held the offices of clerk of the United-States District
and Circuit Courts in New Hampshire, naval storekeeper and
navy-agent. With the heads of the national government, enjoying the
personal friendship of Daniel Webster, he at times
possessed an influence from which others have derived advantage.
But, although in a degree successful in his course, he expressed
deep regrets that he ever left his profession to enter the
race in the political arena. To a young man who wished his
influence at Washington for an office, he said, " I would caution
every young man to follow any honest calling rather than rely
for support on any public office." Well informed in the literature
of the day, interested in all that relates to state historical
researches, the promoter of the interest of literary institutions,
the ready public speaker, whether on the political platform, at
the forensic club, or the desk at the lyceum, he was ever
listened to with attention and interest, and cheered with
enthusiasm. Though his aim might be high personal position, he was
ever noble and generous-hearted to all; and, in filial affection,
none could be more devoted. He was never married.
1818. - Dr. JOSHUA HENSHAW HAYWARD died in Boston,
2 December, 1856, aged 59. He was the youngest son of Dr.
Lemuel Hayward (H.C. 1768), and was born in Boston, 6
February, 1797. He was fitted for college in Boston by the
celebrated Ebenezer Pemberton, and graduated with high
honors. On leaving college, he chose the medical profession;
and, having completed the regular course of studies, was
admnitted to the degree of M.D. in 1821. He then went to Europe
for the purpose of more thoroughly qualifying himself for the
practice of his profession. He remained in Europe three years,
and embarked at Havre for New York on board the packet-ship
"Cadmus," Capt. Allyn, in the summer of 1824; being a fellow
passenger with Lafayette, when he visited the United States as
the nation's guest.
He opened an office in Boston, and pursued
the practice of his profession a few years; when he relinquished
it, and became a partner in the house of Fletcher and Hayward,
wholesale druggists. Possessing a taste for the fine arts, he, a
few years afterwards, devoted himself to portrait-painting, which
he-followed for some time with good success. In 1849, he was
appointed a weigher in the Boston custom-house; which office he
held until his death. He was a gentleman widely known, and
universally respected; of an amiable disposition, modest and
unobtrusive in manners, and unblemished moral character. He
married a daughter of the Hon. John McLean, of Ohio, judge
of the Supreme Court of the United States. Her early and
sudden death, after a few years of happy union, made a deep
impression upon him, which was never effaced. She left two
children, - a son and a daughter; both of whom survived their
father.
1819. - Hon. STEPHEN CLARENDON PHILLIPS, of Salem,
Mass., was lost by the burning of the steamboat "Montreal," in
the river St. Lawrence, on the passage from Quebec to Montreal,
26 June, 1857. iHe was the only child of Capt. Stephen
Phillips, an active and enterprising shipmaster and merchant;
and was born in Salem, 4 November, 1801. He graduated
with high honors at the early age of 18. After leaving college,
he began the study of law; but soon relinquished it, and entered
upon his father's business as a merchant, in which he engaged
with great energy and success. While yet quite young, he was
called into the public service. In 1824, he was elected a
representative for Salem to the state legislature; which office he held,
by successive re-elections, until 1830, when he was chosen to the
senate, where he remained two years; and, in 1832 and 1833, he
was again a member of the house of representatives. In 1834,
he was elected a representative in Congress from the Essex South
District to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Hon.
Rufus Choate; and continued to occupy that post until the
autumn of 1838, when he resigned, and was succeeded by Hon.
Leverett Saltonstall.
On the 5th December, 1838, he was
elected mayor of Salem; and remained in office until March,
1842, when he voluntarily retired, giving the whole of his three
years' salary, amounting to twenty-four hundred dollars, for the
benefit of the public schools of Salem. In 1840, he was one of
the presidential-electors for Massachusetts. He was a member of
the Board of Education of Massachusetts from 1843 to 1852, and
a trustee of the State Lunatic Hospital from 1844 to 1850.'Of
positions of less prominence, which he filled with honor, were
those of president of the Salem Young-Men's Temperance Society,
organized 15 February, 1832; trustee and president of the
Bible Society of Salem and vicinity; president of the Salem
Moral Society; one of the managers of the Salem Dispensary,
and vice-president of the Salem Savings-Bank. In 1848, he left
the whig party, and engaged actively in the free-soil movement,
in the success of which his sympathies were thoroughly enlisted.
He was the candidate of that party for governor of Massachusetts
in that and the following year, but failed of an election.
From that time he withdrew from political life. In private life
he was a man of genial disposition, a devoted husband and fond
parent; as a man of business he was prompt and energetic;
as a Christian he was above reproach. He was a member of
the Barton-square Unitarian Church, where he was a constant
attendant for thirty-six years. He was eminently a friend of
youth, and contributed largely to the support of the sundayschool.
Through his munificence a chapel was built; and the
church and society, in his death, lost a valued friend and
member.
He married, first, Jane Appleton, daughter of Willard Peele,
of Salem (H.C. 1792): she dying, he married,
3 September, 1838, Margaret M., sister of his former wife.
The fruits of these marriages are ten children,- six sons and
four daughters. Three of his sons, Stephen Henry, George
William, and Charles Appleton, are graduates of Harvard College
in 1842, 1847, and 1860, respectively.
1820.- Rev. WILLIAM LAWRENCE STEARNS died in Chicopee, Mass.,
28 May, 1857, aged 63. He was son of Rev. Charles (H.C. 1773)
and Susanna (Cowdry) Stearns, and was born in Lincoln, Mass.,
30 October, 1793. His twin-brother, Daniel Munroe Stearns, graduated
at Brown University in 1822.
He was fitted for college by his father. After graduating,
he studied divinity under his father's instruction, and
was licensed to preach in 1823. He was ordained pastor of the
Unitarian church in Stoughton, Mass., 21 November, 1827.
His pastoral relation with this society was dissolved 30 March,
1831.
He was installed at Rowe, Mass., 30 January, 1833;
where he labored as a diligent and faithful pastor until
31 December, 1849, when he was dismissed, and, 1 January, 1850,
was settled over the Unitarian church in Pembroke, Mass. He
continued his labors in this place until a few months before his
death, when ill health compelled him to resign his pastoral
charge; and he removed to Chicopee, where he resided in the
family of his son until death closed his earthly career.
He was married, 5 June, 1828, to Mary Monroe, daughter of Isaac
and Grace (Bigelow) Monroe, of Lincoln; and had four children,
three sons and one daughter, of whom the daughter and
one son died before their father. Mr. Stearns was emphatically
a good man, an honest, worthy Christian. He never aimed at
eminence or sought popularity, but pursued the even tenor of his
way, laboring diligently in the vocation to which he was called,
and no doubt made his calling and election sure. His religious
sentiments, and his views of the course a minister of the gospel
ought to pursue, are well expressed in the following extract of a
letter written by him about five years before his death: "I have
good reason to believe my ministerial services have been as
profitable, in a moral and religious point of view, as those of my
brethren who have had larger salaries and obtained notoriety.
All kinds and degrees of transcendentalism and Germanism I
have detested, and held on in the good old ways of evangelical
preaching, for which I have somewhat lost caste, and been considered
a little old-fashioned; but I have the consolation to
think I have in no way been accessory to infidelity,
comeoutism, and the other abominations in which the times abound.
I wish we had in our denomination fewer of what are called
smart preachers, and more of those who teach for doctrine the
commands of God, and the simplicity of the truth by Jesus
Christ."
1822. - SAMUEL MANNING died in Baltimore, Md., 16 May,
1857, aged 54. He was son of Dr. Samuel (H.C. 1797) and
Lucy (Cogswell) Manning, and was born in Westford, Mass.,
6 July, 1802; but, from the age of eight years until he entered
college, had his home in Lancaster, Mass., and was fitted for
admission at Lancaster Academy under the instruction of Pres.
Jared Sparks (IH. C. 1815); but on account of his youth,
being then only fifteen years of age, he remained one year longer
at the academy under Mr. Sparks's successor, George Barreil
Emerson (H.C. 1817), and entered in 1818.
In his freshman year, he taught a school in Lancaster; and,
in the winter of his senior year, in Leominster. He was captain
of the college company; and, at that time, Capt. Shaw, of the U.S.
Navy, was under suspension. It was intimated to the company
that it would be agreeable to Capt. Shaw to see them. Manning
asked Pres. Kirkland's permission. The president inquired
whether they intended to visit Capt. Shaw as an officer, or as
a private citizen. Manning replied, "As a private citizen."
The company went, and saluted Shaw as had always been the
custom of saluting their hosts. This gave great offence to
the officers of the court-martial, among whom was Com. Hull;
and, shortly afterwards, Hull published a communication in a
newspaper, asking to what literary institution they were indebted
for the insult they had received.
The consequence was, Manning was deprived of a part he was to
have performed at Commencement. It was his intention, through
college, to study medicine with his father; and, accordingly, he
attended the medical lectures in Boston the first winter after he
graduated.
But his father died 11 October, 1822; and he relinquished the
plan of pursuing the medical profession. In 1823, he went to
Maryland, and taught a school of twenty or thirty scholars
in Baltimore County, about eight miles from the city of Baltimore,
for two years. During the winter of 1825-6, he studied
Spanish under Cubiy Soler; and, the following spring, went to
Mexico, about eighty miles from the city, to Timascaltapec,
as agent for a silver-mining company. In the summer of 1827,
he sailed fromn Vera Cruz in a schooner for Philadelphia,
and the voyage occupied sixty-five days.
They were twenty days becalmed in the Gulf.
The vessel had neither quadrant norcompass; and, for
twenty days, all on board were reduced to an
allowance of one biscuit and one pint of water each
a day.
The vessel, too, was leaky; and all were obliged to take their turns
at the pumps fifteen minutes successively, until they got into
Tampa Bay. He lost his hat soon after leaving Vera Cruz, and
had only a paper one, which he made to keep off the heat of
the tropical climate. In the spring of 1829, he returned to Baltimore,
and on the 10th of June, the same year, was married to
Miss Susan Shepard, of Baltimore: and they passed the summer
at Cambridge, Mass. In October, he, with his wife, went to
Mexico, and returned the following spring. A few months
afterwards, he settled as a lawyer in Baltimore, having attended
to the study of law at such intervals as he had after first going to
that city. He was quite successful in the profession, and continued
in practice until the spring of 1838, when he removed to
a farm a few miles from Palmyra in Missouri. The first ground
broken on his farm was to bury one of his five children.
He intended to practise law; but he lost his law-books on the way
out. The Ohio was low, and he had the promise that his books
should go by the next boat; but the last he heard of them was
that the boxes on which his name was marked were seen floating
in the river. Then he lost several hundred dollars' worth of
fencing by prairie fire, and other misfortunes followed.
Subsesequently he lived for a time at St. Louis, where he was still
unsuccessful. About 1843, he returned to Baltimore, where he
remained until his death. For some time, he was in the office
of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company; and afterwards in
the coal and iron business, as one of the firm of Manning,
Stimpson, and Co. Latterly he was in the hardware business with
his brother Joseph, at the Avalon Iron-works. For the last
year, he felt that he had a heart disease, and often said that
he should die suddenly. About four weeks before his death, he
was taken with hemorrhage from the stomach, which confined
him for several days. He recovered, and went daily to
the iron-works. On the 15th of May, on the way to the
cars, on his return, he was taken with fainting, which was
immediately followed by paralysis; and he died about one
o'clock on the following morning. He was a gentleman of fine
personal appearance, great suavity of manner, and of unblemished
integrity.
1823. - Rev. WILLIAM PARSONS LUNT, of Quincy, Mass.,
died at Akabah, a town in Arabia Petrea, 21 March, 1857, aged
51. He left Boston on the 31st December last to make the tour
of Europe, intending to return in July following; and was on a
journey to visit some of the spots memorable in sacred history,
with the intention of proceeding to Jerusalem. He was attacked,
while in the desert, with an illness which seemed to be a sharp
seizure of rheumatism; and it was with some difficulty that he
could reach Akabah. Here his disorder increased in violence;
assumed a more distinct febrile type: delirium supervened, and
death closed the scene.
His last moments were soothed by the kindness and attention
of two English gentlemen - one of them
a clergyman-with whom he had for some time been travelling;
and one of his own countrymen,- Rev. Mr. Dowdney, of New
York,- who was at Akabah, performed the last sacred office to
his remains.
He was son of Henry and Mary (Greene) Lunt,
and was born in Newburyport, Mass. 21 April, 1805. He was fitted for
college at Milton Academy, and graduated with high honors.
On leaving college, it was his intention to have pursued the
profession of law; and accordingly he entered, as a student, the
office of Charles Pelham Curtis (H.C. 1811), of Boston. After
studying one year, he changed his mind, relinquished the study
of law, and entered the Theological School at Cambridge for
the purpose of studying for the ministry.
After completing hisstudies, he was invited to take the
pastoral charge of the Second Unitarian Church (now the
Church of the Messiah) in the city of New York. This
invitation he accepted, and was accordingly ordained 19 June,
1828. His pastoral relation with that church was dissolved
19 November, 1833; and he was installed over the Unitarian
church in Quincy, 3 June, 1835, where he faithfully labored
until his death, - a period of nearly twentytwo years.
He married, 14 May, 1829, Ellen Hobart, daughter of Barnabas Hedge
Hobart, (H.C. 1783), of Plymouth, Mass.,and had seven children, -
four daughters and two sons, - of whom six, with their mother,
survived him: one child died in infancy. Dr. Lunt was one of
the most popular and eloquent divines of the day, and was greatly
beloved by the society among whom he had labored so long.
His writings, both in prose and poetry, display a singularly
pure taste and classic refinement, and have been much admired.
Quiet, unobtrusive, and refined in his manners, he sought rather
to do good than to court popularity.
He was a learned and accurate historian, and was a member of
the Massachusetts Historical Society. In 1850, the honorary
degree of doctor of divinity was conferred upon him by Harvard
College.
1823. - Dr. JOHN MARSH, of Contra Costa, Cal., was
murdered about two miles from Martinez, Cal., by two
Spaniards, named Jose Antonio Olivas and Felipe Morena,
on the evening of 24 September, 1856.
He was son of John and Mary (Brown) Marsh, and was born in that
part of Danvers, Mass., which is comprised within the limits
of South Danvers, 5 June, 1799. His great-grandfather's name
was Ezekiel. He died the same year that John was born. The paternal
estate was given by will to John's father. It has been in the Marsh
family for more than one hundred years.
The subject of this notice was fitted for college at the academy
in Lancaster, Mass.
When a boy, he was more remarkable for active exercises than
for abstruse studies. The groves and the brooks around will bear
testimony to his adroitness in capturing their tenants. No fox,
squirrel, or muskrat, could live in peace where John wandered.
Shortly after he graduated, he went to the Western country,
where he secured employment as Indian agent at one of
the government stations on the Upper Mississippi. While in
this region, he began the study of medicine with a physician
who died before the regular course was completed, and he
did not finish the usual term. He then removed across the
country to California, where he established himself as a physician.
His personal appearance was commanding; his adroitness as
a manager by no means wanting. He had the good
fortune to obtain from the Mexican Government a grant of land
on and about Monte Diablo, and settled thereon in the business
of rearing cattle; and his herds became as numerous as those of
the patriarch of old.
When the gold fever began to rage, Dr. Marsh's lands began to advance
in worth, and it is not now easy to estimate their value. The title
to a large part of his claim was confirmed to him since the United States
came in possession of the territory. On all hands, it is admitted that
his possessions are large and valuable.
He was married in California, in June, 1851, to Miss Abba Tuck,
of Chelmsford, Mass., who went thence to seek her fortune as an
instructress. She died before the doctor, leaving one daughter,
four years old, as his only legal heir.
Dr. Marsh had four brothers and two sisters.
The standing of the family has ever been that of substantial,
respectable farmers. His father survived him, a vigorous old
gentleman of the age of eighty years. He had one brother who
graduated at Yale, and was educated for the ministry, but died
young.
The following additional particulars of Dr. Marsh's life and
character are extracted from a letter written by a gentleman
formerly of Salem, but who has for some years past been a resident
of California.
It is dated San Francisco, Dec. 11, 1856.
He [Dr. Marsh] had seen much of life; was a keen observer
of men and things; had much general information; read much,
and was very ready and willing to communicate of his knowledge
to others. He was a very thorough Spanish and French
scholar, speaking and writing both languages with great fluency
and correctness. In his residence for several years in the
Western states as an Indian agent, he obtained a more perfect
knowledge of the habits, manners, and dialects of the various
Indian tribes than'any other person, I suspect, except Mr.
Schooleraft. His mind was a sound and logical one, capable of
thoroughly discussing and fully comprehending most subjects.
His good judgment, together with his resolute and adventurous
spirit, would, I think, have made him distinguished as a soldier.
I am not aware that he saw more service than while in command of
a company of rangers in the Black-Hawk war, under Gen. Atkinson.
All his qualities of mind,
and experiences of life, made him a most entertaining and instructive
companion. His long residence in California, and his intimate
knowledge of the history of the country in early times, induced Mr.
Larkin and other pioneers in the settlement of the state often to urge
him to write an account of the most important portions of its history.
For such a work he was eminently qualified; but his own affairs
had too many claims upon his time and thoughts to allow him
to do so. He came to this state in 1836, and spent six months,
after his arrival in exploring the state, to select a location.
The one upon which he finally decided is situated beyond the coast
range of mountains, and at the foot of Monte Diablo, a high mountain
across the bay, and in full view from San Francisco. At the
time he came here, land had not much value; and he purchased
the estate of Signor Norriega, a native of California, for almost
a nominal sum.
There are about fifty thousand acres of land
included in the estate. Much of it is excellent for cultivation;
but he has devoted himself to the business of cattle-raising,
gradually increasing his stock, till he had, at the time of his
death, some four or five thousand head. He lived for many
years in an adobe house, which he built with the assistance of
Indians hired for the purpose. He was twice plundered in early
times by gangs of thieves, to which his almost solitary mode of life
exposed him. When the gold-fever broke out in this state, all
the' persons in his employment left him, and went to the mines.
He went there likewise, and was tolerably successful; but fell
sick in a short time, and returned to his rancho. The growth
of San Francisco and other cities and towns has of late greatly
increased the value of his property, as it has opened a market
for cattle, which of course, in early times, did not exist.
He had just completed a beautiful house, and was making arrangements
for that comfort and enjoyment which he had for many
years denied himself. But he was not permitted to carry out his
plans, and to spend the evening of his life in ease and enjoyment,
as he had contemplated. Hle was doomed to death by felon hands
at the very time when all life's projects seemed to be accomplished,
and the burden and heat of the day was to be succeeded
by rest and enjoyment. Truly the ways of Providence are
inscrutable!"
The writer of the above extract states previously that he had
received a letter from the doctor the day but one before his death,
requesting him to go with the bearer of the note to give evidence
against some cattle-thieves, who had committed many depredations on
his property.
The doctor intended to visit San Francisco on the day
of his assassination. He started about noon in
his buggy for Martinez, about twenty miles from his residence,
where he would take water conveyance to San Francisco; and
about dark, when two miles from Martinez, he was met by the two
wretches, who, it is supposed, threw a lasso over him, and then
dirked him.
He never could be induced to go armed, although
so exposed to peril in consequence of plunderers of his timber
and cattle, against whom he had instituted legal proceedings.
The two murderers, however, were not among this class of persons.
They were men who had been in his employ, and who
knew his habits. It is conjectured that they knew of his having
four hundred dollars about his person, which, together with the
gold watch, were taken. Dr. Marsh retained a warm attachment
for his friends, and was intending to visit his native town
the following spring.
1825. - Dr. JOHN GOODHUE TREADWELL died in Salem,
Mass., 6 August, 1856, aged 51. He was son of Dr. John
Dexter Treadwell (H. C. 1788) and Dorothy (Goodhue)
Treadwell; was born in Salem, 1 August, 1805; and was fitted
for college at the Latin School in Salem.
He held a high rank as a scholar in his class, and graduated with
distinguished honors. Immediately after graduation, he began the study
of medicine under the instruction of Dr. William Johnson Walker,
of Charlestown (H'.C. 1810).
He attended two courses of medical lectures in Boston, one in New York,
and spent one season in a dissecting-room in Baltimore. Having completed his
medical studies, he received the degree of M.D. in 1828. In August, 1829, he
went to London; in the spring of 1830, to Dublin; and the following summer to
Paris, at the time of the revolution, the scenes of which he saw.
Thence he went again to London, and returned home in November, 1830. He then
established himself as a physician in Salem, when he rose rapidly to distinction,
and in a few years stood at the head of the medical profession in his native city.
When thus in the full tide of a successful and lucrative practice, in November,
1839, he made a post-mortem examination of a child which had died
of scarlet fever; and, through a slight sore on one of his fingers,
the virus became infused into his system, which affected him
severely, although he continued his practice until March, 1841,
when he was obliged to give up, and did nothing for two or
three years. He subsequently, however, so far recovered, that
he was consulted at home, and occasionally visited some of his
patients. His father died 6 June, 1833, at the age of 65; and
he lived with his mother, who survived him. He was never married.
He was somewhat eccentric, but was enthusiastically fond
of his profession, ignored almost every thing but that, and read
scarcely any work that did not pertain to it. By his will he made
several valuable public bequests. The principal one, amounting
to nearly fifty thousand dollars, was to Harvard College, for the
establishment of a free course of medical lectures. The property
appropriated for this purpose was given to the college after the
decease of his mother, who was then about eighty years of age.
The principal conditions of this bequest are, that the money is
to be appropriated to the establishment of professorships of
anatomy and physiology.
The candidates for these offices are to be
examined, before appointment, by a commission of experienced
men, after the custom of the French university. If the income
of the funds appropriated should not be sufficient for the support
of the professors, then they are to be allowed to lecture before
private classes, but not to the Lowell Institute or to public lyceums.
His valuable library, containing all the latest medical European
publications, was left to the college under certain conditions. In
case the college authorities should not accede to the conditions of
the will, the whole amount, after the death of his mother, goes
to the Massachusetts General Hospital, without conditions. A
valuable theological library he bequeathed to the Barton-square
Church, in Salem, for the use of the pastor. A fine farm of
seventy acres, situated in Topsfield, Mass., he left to the Essex
Agricultural Society, for the purposes of an experimental farm.
1828. - HENRY SWASEY MCKEAN died in Boston, 17 May,
1857, aged 47. He was son of Rev. Joseph (H.C. 1794)
and Amy (Swasey) MeKean, and was born in Boston, 9
February, 1810. He was fitted for college at the Latin School
in Boston, and graduated with high honors.
In the winter of his senior year, he kept school at Nine-acre
Corner, in Concord, Mass. Immediately after graduating, he was
employed as assistant in the private school of Charles Winston Greene
(H.C. 1802), at Jamaica Plain; but was taken sick a few weeks afterwards,
and left.
He next taught a school a short time in Cambridge. In January, 1830,
he entered the Law School in Cambridge, where he remained about
six months; when, on the 18th
of August the same year, he was appointed tutor in Latin in
Harvard College; which office he held until August, 1835, when
he resigned, and began the study of engineering under Loammi
Baldwin (II.C. 1800), of Charlestown, and continued in this
profession, with some intervals, during the remainder of his life.
For this occupation he had peculiar qualifications, as he was an
excellent mathematician, and was thoroughly versed in the theoretical
part of the profession.
He had an accurate eye, was an excellent draughtsman, and performed
with great neatness all the mechanical work which his duties required.
During part of 1842, he was engaged in instruction in Georgia, and in 1845-6
in New Jersey. From July, 1842, until May, 1845, he was
librarian of the Mercantile-Library Association in the city of
New York, during which time he made the catalogue of the
library. From July, 1846, to October, 1848, he was employed
as assistant engineer of the second division of the Boston Waterworks,
residing at Newton Lower Falls; his friend Mr. Chesborough being the
official chief.
Here he labored with great assiduity and skill, and,-earned the praise
and confidence of those who were intrusted with the supervision and
responsibility of that enterprise. Two of the works constructed under
his immediate charge - a bridge across the Charles River, and an
embankment over which the aqueduct is carried, and under which
the county road goes - have been mentioned as works reflecting
great credit on his skill and science. He continued in the service
of the city so long as Mr. Chesborough was chief engineer;
and, upon that gentleman's removal from the city, Mr. McKean
resigned his place, and opened an office as engineer on his own
account. At the time of his death he was meditating a change
of occupation, and proposing to engage in some literary employment.
He married, 3 November, 1851, Anna H. Hosmer,
of Camden, Me., and had one child. His life was eminently
pure, honorable, and faithful. He had excellent capacities,
trained by thorough and careful preparation; and yet his success
in life was not commensurate with his gifts and accomplishments.
No man was less zealous to set forth his own claims, or more
inclined to recognize the claims of others. His health was not
robust. His temperament was sensitive, and inclined to melancholy,
which affected him to such a degree, as to induce, occasionally,
mental alienation, in a paroxysm of which he ended his
life with his own hand. He was a man of warm domestic and
social affections; and in his relations of friend, son, brother,
husband, and father, he tasted the purest joys of which the heart
is capable.
He was often tried, alike by external disappointments and
by struggles with his own peculiar temperament; but he never
lost his sense of the paternal relations
of God, and never murmured at any dispensation of his providence.
1830. - Hon. THOMAS HOPKINSON died in Cambridge,
Mass., 17 November, 1856, aged 52. He was son of Theophilus
and Susanna (Allen) Hopkinson, and was born in New
Sharon, Me., 25 August, 1804. He was fitted for college at
the academy in Farmington, Me., and graduated with the
highest honors of his class. After leaving college, he studied
law under the instruction of Hon. Luther Lawrence (H.C.
1801); and, on being admitted to the bar, became his partner,
and began to practise in Lowell.
He was married, 1 November, 1836, to Corinna Aldrich
Prentiss, daughter of Hon. John
and Diantha (Aldrich) Prentiss, of Keene, N.H.; with whom
he lived in uninterrupted harmony and happiness for twenty
years. In his profession, he soon rose to an eminent rank; and
was extensively known as an able lawyer and safe counsellor. He
was elected a representative from Lowell to the state legislature
in 1838 and 1845; and, in 1846, he was chosen senator from
Middlesex District. He was chairman of the committee on railroads
at a time when the situation was one of great importance.
In 1848, he was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas;
but resigned his seat on the bench the following year, having
been elected president of the Boston and Worcester Railroad
Corporation. When hlie entered upon the duties of his office as
president, he removed to Boston, where he lived until the autumn
of 1855; when he removed to Cambridge, and there resided
until his death.
He was a member of the convention called in
1853 for revising the constitution of the state. In the discharge
of his duties, he was conscientious, judicious, and indefatigable;
and entered into the various details so minutely, that the labor
and anxiety, in connection, perhaps, with organlic tendencies to
disease, seriously impaired his health. In May, 1856, he went
to Europe; travelled in England, Scotland, France, Germany,
Holland, the upper part of Italy; and spent some time in Switzerland.
On his return, he was not able to resume his duties,
but rapidly sank away, until death terminated his severe sufferings.
1831. - Rev. NATHANIEL TUCKER BENT died in Worcester,
Mass., 4 November, 1856, aged 46.. He was son of Josiah and
Susannah Bent, and was born in Milton, Mass., 30 July, 1810.
He began his preparatory studies for admission to college under
the instruction of his brother, Rev. Josiah Bent, of Weymouth
(H.C. 1822), and completed them at Phillips Academy in Andover.
He held a distinguished rank in college, and'graduated
with high honors. After leaving college, he began the study of
divinity at the Episcopal Theological Seminary in New York; and
finished his studies, under the instruction of Bishop Alexander
Viets Griswold, at Salem. He was ordained as deacon at
Salem, and was afterwards instituted as rector over the
following churches: viz., Grace Church, in New Bedford, where he
remained five years; St. John's, in Charlestown, two years;
St. Thomas's, in Taunton, five years; St. John's, in Bangor,
Me., two and a half years; All Saints', in Worcester, two and
a half years; and Grace Church, again, in New Bedford, a few
months. He retired from the ministry in 1853, and removed to
Worcester, where he taught a private school for young ladies,
which he continued until his death. He married, 18 June,
1834, Catharine E. D. Metcalf, eldest daughter of Col. Eliab
W. Metcalf, of Cambridge; and had four children by birth, and
one by adoption; three of whom, including the adopted one, are
now living. Mr. Bent was a man of rare abilities, and, when
engaged in the active duties of the ministry, was very popular
and efficient as rector. Much might be said truly in praise of
his fidelity to all the details of parochial duty, the interest he
took in promoting musical taste in its sacred department, his
zeal in missionary enterprises, and the genial flow which he
manifested in social life. Not a few of his former parishioners
and friends will long cherish a most kindly remembrance of him
as a beloved and respected pastor.
The mortality of the class of 1831, of which Rev. Mr. Bent
was a member, was very great during the first twenty years
after graduation; twenty-four of the sixty-five members of the
class having died before the systematic publication of the obituary
notices commenced in the year 1852. The following list comprises
a brief notice of these twenty-four: William Austin,
jun., a school-teacher, son of Hon. William and Charlotte
(Williams) Austin, born in Charlestown, 15 September, 1811; died
of typhus fever, in Groton, 8 January, 1835; never married.
Rufus Bigelow, son of Tyler and Clarissa (Bigelow) Bigelow,
born in Watertown, 3 June, 1809; died of consumption, in
Watertown, 6 July, 1832; never married. Robert Adams
Coker, a school-teacher, son of John and Hannah (Adams)
Coker, born in Newbury, 19 March, 1807; died of consumption,
in West Newbury, 30 March, 1833; unmarried.
George Clinton Coombs, a lawyer, born in 1810; died of consumption,
in New Bedford, 16 March, 1835; unmarried. Edward Cruft,
jun., a lawyer, son of Edward and Elizabeth (Storer) Cruft,
born in Boston, 7 May, 1811; died of hemorrhage from the
lungs, at St. Louis, Mo., 23 April, 1846; unmarried.
Jeremiah George Fitch, a lawyer, son of Jeremiah and Mary (Rand)
Fitch, born in Boston, 19 February, 1810; died of dropsy at
Orono, Me., 25 February, 1845; unmarried.
John Giles, Jun'r., a lawyer, son of John and Mary (Adams) Giles,
born in Townsend, 3 March, 1806; died of consumption, at Townsend, 14
June, 1838; unmarried.
William Cabot Gorham, a merchant, son of Hon. Benjamin and Susan
(Lowell) Gorham, born in Boston, in the year 1814; died of typhus fever,
in Boston, 18 April, 1843; unmarried.
Robert Habersham, jun., a student of law, son of Robert Habersham,
of Savannah, Ga.; died of typhus fever, at Savannah, 30 August, 1832,
aged twenty years; unmarried.
Charles George Clinton Hale, son of Moses
and Mary Hale, born in Winchenden, August, 1812; died of
consumption, in New York, 6 May, 1832; unmarried.
John George McKean, a lawyer, son of Rev. Prof. Joseph and Amy
(Swasey) McKean, born in Cambridge, 1 December, 1811;
died of spinal disease, in Cambridge, 31 January, 1851; unmarried.
Benjamin Franklin Parker, a physician, son of
Samuel and Eusebia Parker, born in Roxbury, 21 November,
1810; died of consumption, in Roxbury, 27 February, 1844;
unmarried.
John Peters, a merchant, son of John and Charlotte (Langdon)
Peters, of Boston; died in Brooklyn, N.Y., 17 July, 1846; unmarried.
Francis James Russell, a merchant, son of Nathaniel and
Martha (Le Baron) Russell, born in Plymouth, 11 September, 1811;
died in Plymouth, of typhus fever, 6 September, 1833; unmarried.
Francis Henry Silsbee, who studied law, and subsequently became
a bank-officer, son of Zachariah F. and Sarah (Boardman) Silsbee,
born in Salem, 6 September, 1811; died of in Salem, 19 November,
1848; unmarried.
William Hammatt Simmons, a teacher of elocution, and lawv-student,
son of Judge William and Priscilla (Hammatt) Simmons, born in Boston,
11 May, 1812; married at Roxbury, 24 June, 1840, Josephine Matilda
Fellowes, daughter of Nathaniel and Aglaie (de Chambellan)
Fellowes; died of fever, in Boston, 10 August, 1841.
Henry Cheever Simonds, a lawyer, son of Shepherd and Joanna Thayer
(Gool) Simonds, born in Boston, 3 June, 1810; died in
Charlestown, of disease of the brain, 3 April, 1840; unmarried.
Charles Henry Tilghman, a planter, son of William G. Tilghman,
of Talbot County, Md.; died in Talbot County, Md., 18
September, 1842; unmarried.
Abner Bennett Wheeler, a physician, son of Abner and Mary (Swift)
Wheeler, born in Framingham, 2 February, 1812; married at Boston, 26 October,
1836, Caroline Harris Sumner; died at Somerville, of disease of the brain,
8 December, 1847.
Alexander Whitney, a school-teacher, son of Nathaniel Ruggles and Sally (Stone)
Whitney, born in Watertown, 12 March, 1810; died of con-
sumption, in East Cambridge, 13 May, 1842; unmarried.
Samuel Wigglesworth, a physician, son of Thomas and Jane
(Norton) Wigglesworth, born in Boston, 16 December, 1811;
married at Boston, 7 December, 1841, Louisa G. Davenport,
daughter of Isaac and Mary Davenport; died of disease of the
spine, 7 April, 1847, at Boston.
Frederick Wright, a lawyer, son of Theodore and Mary
(Dickinson) Wright, born in Northampton, 6 July, 1811;
married at Willoughby, O., 10 November, 1841, Helen Irene
Wilson, daughter of Samuel Wilson;
died in Manhattan, O., 10 April, 1846.
Hartley Hezekiah Wright, a lawyer, son of Hezekiah and Charlotte (Sewall)
Wright, born in Boston, 22 December, 1812; died in Boston, 8 March, 1840;
unmarried.
1833.- FREDERICK PARKER died in Lowell, Mass., 29
January, 1857, aged 43. He was son of Joseph and Olive
(Bailey) Parker, and was born in Carlisle, Mass., 2 September,
1813. He was fitted for college in the adjoining towns. After
graduating, he taught school in Gloucester and Billerica, Mass.,
and in Hallowell, Maine. In the autumn of 1838, he began the
study of law with Hon. Samuel Wells, of Hallowell. In September,
1839, he entered the Law School at Cambridge, where
he completed his legal studies, and received the degree of LL.B.
in 1841. He then established himself in Lowell.
After spending a short time in the office of Joel Adams, Esq.,
of that city (H.C. 1805), he was admitted to the bar. In October,
1844, he married Harriet M. Kimball. In 1845, he experienced
a long and severe illness, the effects of which never left him;
and, from that time forward, he was forced to struggle with ill
health. In the same year he was chosen one of the school committee,
and held that office during four successive years.
The cause of education always interested him; and, during his term of
office, he suggested several important changes in the arrangements
of the Lowell schools. In 1849, he was instrumental in forming
the Howard Fire-Insurance Company, of which, for several
years, he was secretary and treasurer. In 1852, he opened a
book and print store in Lowell, and, soon afterwards, another
in Boston. The former was soon closed, and he devoted his
energies to the latter. In this employment he manifested great
taste and enterprise. In the summer of 1856, his health failed;
and he gave up his interest in his business in Boston, and retired
to Lowell. In the autumn of that year, he had repeated attacks
of hemorrhages, and died of consumption. He kept up his literary
tastes in a greater degree than is usual with men of business.
In character he was grave and earnest. He encountered
reverses; but maintained, through them all, unsullied integrity.
No misfortune had power to diminish the energy of his spirit, or
to mar his Christian temper.
1834. - Dr. WILLIAM PUTNAM RICHARDSON died in Kendall, Ill.,
27 March, 1857, aged 41. He was son of Capt.
William P. and Deborah (Lang) Richardson, and was born in
Salem, Mass., 15 August, 1815. He was fitted for college at
the Latin School in Salem. He studied medicine with Dr.
Abel Lawrence Peirson, of Salem (H.C. 1812); and in 1837
received the degree of M.D., when he entered upon the practice
of his profession in Salem, where he continued until 1846, when
he removed to Kendall. There he was chiefly engaged in horticultural
and agricultural pursuits, for which his fine tastes, and
love of natural history, peculiarly fitted him. While in Salem,
he was an active and useful citizen, interested in whatever
tended to elevate and improve the community. He was a valuable
member of the school-committee, and a pattern and coworker
in various public institutions. He was unmarried.
1837. - GALES SEATON died in Washington, D.C., 9
February, 1857, aged 39. He was son of William W.
Seaton, and was born in Washington, 27 July, 1817. He
passed through his preparatory studies for admission into
Harvard College under the instruction of the faculty of Georgetown
Colleg,e. On graduating, he selected the law as his profession;
and repaired to the University of Virginia, where he prosecuted
his legal studies with assiduity and success. He was admitted
to the bar, but was not long in discovering that he had given
his nights and his days to the study of that, as a science, which
his mental habitudes and literary tastes rendered distasteful as a
pursuit; and, abandoning the profession of the law, he became
the proprietor and editor of the RIaleigh (N.C.) "Register," in
which station he continued several years. Ite afterwards went
to Europe, where he resided some time. While there, he was
intrusted by the administration of President Taylor with a
confidential commission, which he discharged in a manner highly
creditable to himself, and satisfactory to the Secretary of
State, - the late John M. Clayton.
Of polished manners and commanding presence, without fear
and without reproach, shrinking instinctively from all that was
base in act or indecorous in
thought and word, he was, in all respects, a true gentleman.
In every relation of life, he was remarkable for a singular
combination of modesty and self-reliance. To the inevitable ills of life
he opposed the firmness of manhood with the submission enjoined
by Christianity; and, amid the consolations and hopes of the
latter, his mortal life slowly and calmly ebbed away, until
the waiting spirit dropped the tabernacle of the flesh to take on
the robes of immortality.
1838. - CHARLES DELANO BOWMAN died in Oxford, Mass.,
19 January, 1857, aged 40. He was the youngest son of
Joseph and Sally (Penniman) Bowmnan, and was born in New
Braintree, Mass., 12 December,' 1816. He pursued his
preparatory studies at Leicester Academy, and entered Amherst College,
where he remained one year, and then entered Harvard. After
leaving college, he went to Georgia, where he was instructor in
private schools and families, about three years, at Richmond
Factory, Richmond County, at Athens, and at Augusta. In 1842,
he entered the office of Hon. Emory Washburn (W.C. 1817),
at Worcester, Mass., as a student-at-law.
In March, 1845, he was admitted to the bar; and began practice in Oxford,
22 April, 1845, where he continued to reside until his decease.
He had, considering his experience, a good knowledge of law;
was a man of more than ordinary promise, and of considerable
literary taste. He had a valuable legal and miscellaneous
library. The legal part he gave to the Woreester-County Lawyers'
Literary Association, and the other part to some literary
institution in Worcester.
He married, 24 November, 1846, Almira Louise Jones,
daughter of Elnathan and Almira (Jencks) Jones, of Enfield,
Mass.
1838.- WILLIAM ABIJAH WHITE, died in Milwaukie, Wis.,
10 October, 1856, aged 38. He was son of Abijah and Anne
Maria (Howard) White, and was born in Watertown, Mass.,
2 September, 1818.
He was fitted for college at the school of Rev. Samuel Ripley
(H.C. 1804), of Waltham, Mass. Having chosen the profession
of law, he, immediately after graduating, entered the Law School
in Cambridge, where he pursued his professional studies for a year,
and completed them in the office
of Messrs. Charles P. and Benjamin R. Curtis (H.C. 1811 and
1829) in Boston.
He never, however, devoted himself to the
practice of his profession; but, becoming very much interested
in the antislavery and temperance movements, he devoted much
of his time to lecturing on these subjects, and, in 1843, spent
several months in travelling through Ohio and Indiana, holding
antislavery meetings in company with Frederick Douglass and
George Bradburn. In the course of this tour, their meetings
were frequently broken up by mobs; and both White and Douglass
were, on one occasion, severely wounded by stones. After
his return, he took a' farm in Watertown, which he cultivated
until his father's death in 1845; for two or three years after
which, he was engaged in settling his estate.
He then engaged in manufacturing, and for some time edited a
temperance newspaper in Boston. In 1853, he removed to Madison, Wis.
The circumstances of his death were peculiar. On the 7th of October,
1856, he went from Madison to Milwaukie for the purpose
of attending the state fair. On the evening of the 8th, he went
to Chicago by steamboat, and returned to Milwaukie on the
evening of the 9th. On the morning of the 10th, he left the
hotel, intending to return in a few hours, and was recognized by
a person on the street shortly afterwards.
From that time, nothing was seen or heard of him, although every
exertion was made to find him, until the first day of May following,
when his body was found near the Lake Shore, above North Point, in Milwaukie.
It was so much decayed, that it was identified only by
the clothing, watch, and a peculiar watch-key. By what means
he came to his death, remains a mystery. He married first,
7 May, 1846, Harriet T. Sturgis, daughter of Nathaniel R.
Sturgis, of Boston: she died 18 March, 1850.
On the 15th
of May, 1855, he married Ada A. Butterfield, daughter of
Justin Butterfield, of Chicago, Ill. His children were, by his
first wife, William Howard White, born 21 February, 1847;
Amy, born 25 September, 1848: by his second wife, Justin
Sydney, born 19 April, 1856; died 5 February, 1857.
Mr. White possessed fine natural abilities. He was a fluent
and impressive speaker, and wrote with ease and pungency. He had a
keen wit and a strong sense of humor, which frequently did him
good service in the hot debates in which he was engaged as an
antislavery and temperance orator. He was incapable of a mean
or selfish act; and his first and only rule of action was to do
what was right, without regard to whether it was expedient. As
an eminently brave, sincere, and honest man, who earnestly
sought to do his duty, and to benefit his fellow-men at the cost
of much personal sacrifice to himself, he will long be
remembered with affection and respect by an unusually extensive circle
of friends and acquaintances.
1842. - Dr. HENRY WHITING died in Lowell, Mass.,
23 June, 1857, aged 35. He was son of Capt. Phineas
and Sarah (Coburn) Whiting,, and was born in that part of
Chelmsford which is now Lowell, 19 February, 1822. He was
prepared for college partly in Lowell; partly in Boston, under
the instruction of Mr. Tilly Brown Hayward (Hl.C. 1820);
and partly in Derry, N.H. He studied medicine with Dr. Gilman
Kimball, of Lowell; Dr. Marshall S. Perry, of Boston; at
Jefferson Colleg,e, Penn.; and at the Harvard Medical School.
He received the degree of M.D. at Jefferson College in 1845,
and immediately afterwards went to Paris, where he passed one
year in completing his professional studies; and, in the
succeeding year, travelled over various portions of the continent.
On his return, he began practice in the city of Lowell. He held a
good rank among the profession; was of a frank, noble disposition;
and was popular with all classes. He was never married.
During the last two years of his life, he was confined to the
house by sickness; did not see any person except his nearest
relatives; and, after this long and painful confinement, gladly
welcomed death as a relief from his sufferings.
1843. - CHARLES FREDERICK ADAMS died in Boston,
30 December, 1856, aged 32. He was son of Charles Frederick
and Caroline Hesselrigg (Walter) Adams; was born in
Boston, 3 February, 1824; and was fitted for college at the
Boston Latin School. On leaving college, he entered the Law School
at Cambridge, where he remained one year; and completed his
legal studies in the office of Charles Greely Loring, of Boston
(H.C. 1812). Having been admitted to the bar, he opened an
office in Boston. The profession, however, being crowded,
afforded but little encouragement for one of so modest
and retiring habits as Mr. Adams; and he, after a few years,
determined to seek a new field for practice, and, in 1849, sailed for
California, via Cape Horn; but, on the passage, he was attacked
with pleurisy-fever, and arrived at the end of his long voyage
in a feeble state of health. After remaining a few weeks in San
Francisco, by the advice of friends he proceeded to the Sandwich
Islands; but, on his arrival there, he found the accommodations
for invalids very scanty and undesirable, and he
shortly afterwards sailed for China. But this voyage was of
little benefit to him; and he returned home after an absence of
about thirteen months, and resumed the practice of his
profession in Boston. His health, however, was never fully restored;
and that insidious disease, consumption, closed his mortal career
while in the prime of life. Exeinplary in all the duties of private
life, he showed a diligence, exactness, and fidelity in his profession,
which, had his life been prolonged, would have insured
success, and the confidence and esteem of the comniunity.
He had a taste for archaeological and genealogical studies. An
interesting paper, entitled " Notices of the Walter Family,"
furnished by him, was published in the "Historical and Genealogical
Register" for July, 1854. He died full of Christian hope
and resignation, leaving many devoted friends to mourn his
early death.
1844. - ROBERT LEMMON died at Patuxent, Md., 24 December, 1856,
aged 31. He was son of Richard and S. A. Lem mon, and was born in
Baltimore, 25 September, 1825.
After leaving college, he studied law in the office of the late Judge
Glenn, and practised his profession in Baltimore until 1848;
when he relinquished it to pursue the business of an iron-master
at the Patuxent Furnaces in Anne Arundel County, Md. He
married, in the autumn of 1854, Fannie C., daughter of Henry
A. Hall, of West River, Md. They had two children, sons,
who, with their mother, survived him.
1848. - JOHN EDSON died in New-York City, 29 April,
1857, aged 29. He was born in Quincy, Mass., 27 June,
1827. While very young, he removed with his father's family
to Bridgewater, where he was fitted for college. In September,
1844, he was admitted to the freshman class in Trinity College,
Hartford. There he remained not quite five months; and in
February, 1845, entered Columbia College, in the city of New
York. He was in this institution one year and a half, until the
close of the sophomore year; and in August, 1846, he was
admitted into the junior class at Cambridge. After graduating
in 1848, he spent the remainder of that year and the following
year in Troy, N.Y., in the study of engineering. He then
went to the city of New York, where he studied architecture;
and afterwards established himself there as an architect, which
profession he pursued until his death.
1849.- Rev. JULIUS WALKER STUART died in Beaufort,
S.C., 30 October, 1856, aged 28. He was born in Beaufort,
30 September, 1828. After graduating, he went through a
course of theological studies, preparatory to becoming an
Episcopal clergyman; and was ordained in Beaufort, as
assistantpastor to the Rev. Mr. Pinckney, of Grace Church,
in Charleston, S.C.: but his labors in his sacred calling
were destined to be short. He left Charleston on a visit to
Beaufort; and, a few days after his arrival there, he was taken
with yellow fever,of which he died, after an illness of seven days.
The editor of the "Charleston Mercury," who was his classmate,
in announcing, his death, says, "He had just begun a career in
the ministry of the Episcopal church, which opened the highest prospects
of future usefulness. Knowing him from his early boyhood,
we can say that we have never known a human being more
thoroughly blameless. Nor were his virtues of the negative
sort; he was earnest, conscientious, firm in his convictions, and
courag,eous in their maintenance and defence: but all his manly
qualities were pervaded with a gentleness and unselfishness that
never allowed them to give offence; and we do not believe, that,
in the whole course of his life, he ever made an enemy, or has
left a solitary spark of human unkindness to be extinguished on
his grave."
1850.- WILLIAM LOWELL STONE died in Cambridge,
Mass., 9 January, 1857, aged 27. He was son of William
Fiske and Harriet (Brigham) Stone, and was born 24 June,
1829, during the temporary residence of his mother at
Westborough, Mass., while his parents were inhabitants of East
Cambridge. He was prepared for college at the High School
in East Cambridge, under Justin Allen Jacobs (H.C. 1839).
He maintained, during the whole of his academic career, the
same conscientious industry, and steady excellence of
deportment, which distinguished him in his earlier years at home and
at school; and. graduated with the esteem of his instructors,
and an honorable rank in his class. During the latter part of
his college course, symptoms of failing health began to show
themselves, and it was with difficulty that he performed his
commencement part. For nearly two years after he graduated,
he was employed in the office of the register of deeds in
Middlesex county.
In the mean time, by the advice of his friends, he concluded
to study law, not with a view to practice
in the profession, but to enable him to pursue successfully, at
the offices in East Cambridge, the business of examining land
titles, - a business well suited to his quiet tastes and habits.
Accordingly, he entered the Law School at Cambridge, where he
took his degree in 1854. By this time, his health was so much
impaired, that he abandoned his purpose; and, confined mostly
to his father's house, he experienced great mental depression and
physical suffering, until he was relieved by death. He was a
young man of great purity and delicacy of mind; of unspotted
integrity and truthfulness; of conscientious fidelity to the studies
he pursued, and the work, whatever it might be, that he undertook:
but he was one of those who are ill fitted for the rough
conflicts of life, or for making their way to worldly distinction
and worldly success. He had a morbid sensitiveness of temperament,
an extreme humility and self-distrust, a constitutional
shyness and reserve, that shrank from all publicity, and
sometimes made him unjust to himself. His abilities and merits
could be known only by the few who had opportunity to pass
beyond the barrier of his natural reserve, and to see
the sterling excellence behind.
1852. - JOHN SYLVESTER GARDINER died in Boston,
25 July, 1856, aged 25. He was son of William Howard
Gardiner (H.C. 1816) and Caroline (Perkins) Gardiner, and
was born in Boston, 5 October, 1833. After finishing his
collegiate course, he went to Europe, where he passed a year or
two. After his return, before he had fixed upon any profession,
he was suddenly cut down in the bloom of life, and his earthly
career terminated by the inscrutable decree of an all-wise
Providence.
1852. - Dr. JAMES SENECA HILL died in Sacramento,
Cal., 21 April, 1857, aged 32. He was son of George
Washington and Sallie (Albee) Hill, and was born in Pawtucket,
Rhode Island, 3 March, 1825. His father, who was the son
of Samuel (commonly called Judge) Hill, was a native of
Smithfield, R.I., and died about 1832. When about five years
of age, he moved with his father (who was in feeble health)
to his grandfather's in Smithfield. After'his father's death, he,
with his mother, went to Willimantic, Conn.; his uncle being
appointed his guardian. Soon afterwards, he went to school at
Windham, Conn., and lived with James Wilson. There he
remained three or four years, occasionally residing a while at
Willimantic. Being then eleven or twelve years old, he went to
Willimantic, residing with his uncle; assisting him occasionally
on his farm in summer, but most of the time attending school.
About 1837, he went to Holliston Academy, then under the
charge of Rev. Gardner Rice.
About two years and a half
afterwards, he went to the Colchester (Conn.) Academy one
winter, where his mother then lived. He then went to Chaplin,
Conn., to learn the trade of a carpenter. After working at the
trade two years, he went to Northampton, Mass., whither his
mother and guardian had removed. The following year, he
built a small house for his mother. He afterwards built several
small houses, having two or more hired men under him; always,
after the first winter, attending the academy at Easthampton.
He also built four barns; and, in 1846, assisted his elder brother,
George A. Hill, in building the wood-work to a stone dam.
Working, very hard on the dam, worn down and fatigued, it
occurred to him, one day, to go to college; and, about the 1st
of December, he entered Williston Seminary at Easthampton,
where he was fitted, and entered the freshman class at Amherst
College in 1848, and took the first prize there, as a speaker,
in 1850. He remained in Amherst three years; and, in the
autumn of 1851, he left, and entered the senior class at Harvard
College. He taught school, in his junior year, at East Douglass,
and at Duxbury in his senior year. After graduating,
he studied medicine at the Boylston Medical School in Boston;
and received his degree of M.D., 18 July, 1855. Shortly
afterwards, he was appointed physician to the state almshouse
in Tewksbury, where he remained a year and a half;
when he concluded to go to California, and left New York for
that place on the 21st of January last. During his stay in
Tewksbury, he had some twenty-five hundred patients under his
charge, and performed many difficult surgical operations with
great success.
By his uniform kindness and gentlemanly bearing,
he endeared himself to all. By nature, as well as by early
education, he was eminently qualified to be a surgeon of the
highest order; and there is no doubt in the minds of those who
knew him, that such would have been the case had his life been
spared. While at Tewksbury, many a poor creature had cause
to bless him, not only for his medical and surgical skill, but
also for his ingenious contrivances to alleviate their misery; such
as easy - chairs for those unable to walk; padded crutches
for the lame. Being no respecter of persons, he treated the
poor and unfortunate, whatever their color or country, with the
same kind care and attention bestowed upon the more favored
ones. He was a man of rare genius, and could make almost
any thing, however complicated, to which he turned his attention.
Life-saving articles he was considerably interested in;
being the inventor of a life-boat, and also of a safety-lamp.
Hie sometimes wrote poetry; and a few of his compositions were
set to music, and arranged for the piano-forte. His poetical
writings, while in Amherst College, gave him a high rank
among his fellow-students. Early in April, after his arrival in
California, he was taken sick of typhoid fever at the residence
of his brother in Sacramento; and, after an illness of two weeks,
he died. Thus, at the early age of thirty-two, when a new
field of enterprise was open before him, with flattering prospects
of success, he was cut off, far from the land of his birth,
deeply lamented by his relatives and by his classmates, to whom
he had endeared himself by his amiable disposition, his social
habits, and his unblemished moral character.
1852. - EDWARD HORATIO NEAL died at Newton Lower
Falls, Mass., 24 August, 1856, aged 23. He was son of
Benjamin and Eunice (Daniell) Neal, and was born at Newton,
23 October, 1832. He was fitted for college at the private
school of Mr. William Hathorne Brooks, of Boston (H.C.
1827); going from Newton Falls, and returning daily in the
cars, from February, 1846, till he entered college, at the
beginning of the sophomore year, in 1849. He soon became a
prominent and valued member of his class.
While an undergraduate, he was not ambitious, but he was
conscientious and diligent; and it is a remarkable fact,
that, during his whole collegiate course, he was not absent
from one recitation. After graduation, he studied law at the
Law School in Cambridge, where he received the degree of LL.B.
in 1854. After leaving, the Law School early in that year,
he pursued his studies with his brother, George Benjamin
Neal, of Charlestown (H.C. 1846).
He was distinguished from childhood for moral worth;
and, while a resident in Charlestown, connected himself with the
Episcopal church in that place. In the autumn of 1854, in
consequence of ill health, he travelled in the Southern States,
visiting New Orleans, Savannah, Charleston, and other places,
and returned the following summer; after which he resided at
Newton Lower Falls until his death.
1852.- GEORGE WALTER NORRIS died in Mobile, Ala.,
21 January, 1857, aged 25. He was son of Shepherd Haynes
Norris, then of Boston, but now a resident of Milwaukie, Wis.
was born in Boston, 21 November, 1831; pursued his studies,
preparatory to his admission into college, at the Boston Latin
School. Immediately after graduating, he went to New York,
and pursued the study of law one year in the office of John
Cleveland, an eminent attorney of that city; another year in
the office of N. F. Waring, counsellor to the corporation of the
city of Brooklyn; and there he began the practice of his profession.
Soon afterwards, however, he opened an office, with
William Henry Waring (H.C. 1852), in the city of New
York. In October, 1855, he was seized with hemorrhage of
the lungs, an hereditary disease; and, from that time, fell away
rapidly in consumption. In the summer of 1856, he removed
to Milwaukie to reside, in hopes that a change of climate might
save him; but his physicians soon discovered that his case was
hopeless, and, as soon as cold weather camne, sent him to Mobile,
where he died. He possessed a mind of quick conception,
and with talents which, had his life been spared to a more
mature age, would have enabled him to take an elevated rank
in his profession. Of a mild, amiable, and social disposition,
he was greatly beloved by his classmates and friends; and his
premature death is deeply deplored by his relatives and the
community in which he was known.
1853. WILLIAM HENRY WHITTEMORE died in Cambridge,
Mass., 9 February, 1857, aged 23. He was son of Thomas
Jefferson and Susanna Frances (Boardman) Whittemore; was
born in Boston, 10 October, 1833; and moved with his father's
family to Cambridge in July, 1837. In 1842, he entered the
Hopkins Classical School in Cambridge, under Edmund Burke
Whitman (H.C. 1838); and remained there seven years, until
he entered the freshman class in 1849. In August, 1851, he
was on board the steamer "Governor" when she struck a rock
near Owl's Head in Maine, and the lives of the passengers
were imperilled.
Part of the winter vacation of 1851-2 he spent in
Washington. In his senior year, his eyesight began to fail;
and, instead of studying a profession as he had proposed, he made
arrangements to engage in mercantile business. His sight not
improving, in the September after graduating, he sailed for Rio
Janeiro, and returned in March of the following year. In the
summer of 1854, he had an attack of hemorrhage, which was
followed by two or three others about a year afterwards. A
cough followed; and he finally died, at the residence of his
father, greatly lamented by his class - mates, relatives, and
friends.
1855. - WARREN BROOKS died in Townsend, Mass., 4
February, 1857, aged 25. He was son of Samuel and Sarah
(Campbell) Brooks, and was born in Townsend, 15 February,
1831. He worked on his father's farm until 1850; but,
having always had a desire to obtain a liberal education, in May of
that year he entered the academy of New Ipswich, N.H., to
prepare for college. After staying there two terms, he left New
Ipswich in the autumn, and entered Meriden Academy in Connecticut,
where he remained six months, and then entered Yale
College. He remained at Yale two years; when, having, as he
states in the class-book, a desire to study the modern languages,
he left New Haven, and entered the junior class at Harvard in
1853. While at Yale, he gained a prize, during the freshman
year, for Greek composition. He supported himself almost
entirely, while in college, by teaching school in the winter
vacations; working on a farm and at the coopering business in the
summer.
In the September following his graduation, he
entered the Theological Seminary at Andover: but his health
failing, obliged him, in 1856, to relinquish his studies; and,
leaving the seminary, he returned to his home in Townsend.
He himself supposed that the consumption of which he died
was induced by an attack of typhoid fever in August, 1856;
but his physicians thought it might be traced further back. He
was even told, while studying at Cambridge, that his lungs were
diseased; but his desire to complete his theological studies made
him disregard medical advice. His strength failed so gradually,
that he was not aware of his near approach to death until a few
hours before his departure. His whole scholastic career was
embarrassed by pecuniary troubles. While few, perhaps, of his
classmates knew much of his personal history or his pecuniary
difficulties, no one could help respecting him as an honest,
independent man, who met his duties resolutely, and did his best to
be faithful to them. His whole bearing showed a man of fine
principle, and would have commanded the confidence even of a
stranger.
1786. - Rev. JACOB NORTON died in Billerica, Mass.,
17 January, 1858, aged 93. He was son of Samuel Norton,
and was born in Abington, Mass., 12 February, 1764. He was
prepared for college partly at Hingham Academy, and partly by
Rev. James Briggs, of Cummington, Mass. (Y.C. 1775). He
held a high rank as a scholar in his class, and graduated with
distinction. At the time of his death, he was the oldest surviving
graduate of Harvard College. After passing a brief time
in the study of divinity under the instruction of Rev. Perez
Fobes, of Raynham (H.C. 1762), he was ordained over the
Congregational church in Weymouth, Mass., 10 October, 1787;
where he continued his pastoral labors until 4 July, 1824, when
he resigned his charge, and a few years afterwards removed to
Billerica, where he resided during the remainder of his long life.
He was much esteemed as a preacher, and was particularly
known as a polemical writer. The following are his principal
publications:
1. Sermon preached in Weymouth, and in several other places in
the vicinity, illustrating the Duty of Impenitent Sinners. 8vo.
Boston, 1803.
2. The Will of God respecting the Salvation of all Men;
illustrated. A Sermon at Weymouth, 18 December, 1808. 8vo.
Boston, 1809.
3. Remarks on an Address from the Berean Society
of Universalists in Boston to the Congregation of the First Church in
Weymouth, in Answer to a Sermon delivered there 18 December,
1808, &c. 8vo. Boston, 1809.
4. Sermon before the Massachusetts Missionary Society, May 29, 1810.
8vo. Boston, 1810.
5. Discourse at Weymouth, 3 February, 1811, on the Death of his
Wife. 8vo. Boston, 1811.
6. Seasonable and Candid Thoughts on
Human Creeds, or Articles of Faith, as Religious Tests, connected
with an Humble Attempt to ascertain the true Character of Jesus
Christ, &c., by an Orthodox Clergyman of Massachusetts. 8vo.
Boston, 1813. [Published anonymously.]
7. Things set in a ProperLight; in Answer to a Letter from T. A.
to a Friend, by an Orthodox Clergyman of Massachusetts. 8vo. Boston,
1814. [Published anonymously.]
8. Things as they are; or, Trinitarianism Developed; in Answer
to a Letter of the Rev. Daniel Thomas, of Abington;
with Strictures on the Sentiments of the late Rev. Dr. Hopkins.
8vo. Boston, 1815.
9. The same. Second Part. In Reply to a
Letter written in February, 1815, to the Rev. Jacob Norton, by
Daniel Thomas. 8vo. Boston, 1815.
10. "A Short and Easy Method" with a late Writer, arrogating to himself
the Title of " Orthlodox Clergyman," in a Letter to a young Gentleman
just entered on a Course of Theological Studies, with a View to the Christian
Ministry. By an Aged Clergyman of Massachusetts. 8vo. Boston, 1815.
11. Sermon at the Interment of Hon. Cotton Tufts. 8vo.
Boston, 1816.
12. A Candid and Conciliatory Review of the late
Correspondence of the Rev. Dr. Worcester with the Rev. W. E.
Channing on the Subject of Unitarianism. By a Serious Inquirer.
8vo. Boston, 1817. [Published anonymously.]
13. An Humble Attempt to ascertain the Scripture Doctrine of the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. In Three Discourses. To which is added "The
Awakener," delivered in the Months of January and February, 1819,
before the First Religious Society in Weymouth. 8vo. Boston, 1819.
14. Dispassionate Thoughts on the Subjects and Mode of Christian
Baptism. 8vo. Boston, 1821.
15. The Duty of Religious Toleration, Mutual Sympathy, and Fellowship,
among different Denominations, exhibited in a Sermon delivered in the
South Mleeting-house in Weymouth, 8 November, 1821, on a peculiarly
interesting and important Occasion. 8vo. Boston, 1822.
16. Valedictory Discourse
delivered before the First Religious Society in Weymouth, in Two
Parts, on the morning and afternoon of Lord's Day, July 4, 1824.
8vo. Boston, 1824.
17. "Dialogue between a Minister and a Parishioner on the Trinity,"
begun in the " Boston Observer" in 1835, and continued for several
months in that paper and the " Christian
Register."
Mr. Norton married, 11 February, 1789, Elizabeth Cranch,
the eldest daughter of Hon. Richard Cranch, of Braintree (now
Quincy); sister of the late Judge William Cranch (H.C. 1787),
of Washington, D.C.; and niece of the wife of President John
Adams; by whom he had five sons and three daughters. His
wife died 25 January, 1811, aged 46. He was married again,
by Rev. Henry Cumings, D.D., 7 May, 1813, to Hannah
Bowers, daughter of Josiah Bowers, of Billerica. She died
26 March, 1842, aged 76 years. He left two daughters, eleven
grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren. He outlived
five sons and one daughter. Two of his sons, Richard Cranch
Norton and William Smith Norton, graduated at Harvard College
in 1808 and 1812 respectively. He retained his mental
and physical powers to a remarkable degree until past the age
of ninety. For the last year or two of his life, he spent most
of his time during the day reading, without glasses, which he
never used, with the exception of a short time, and then laid
them aside as useless.
1791. - Hon. CHARLES PORTER PHELPS died in Hadley,
Mass., 22 December, 1857, aged 85. He was son of Charles
and Elizabeth (Porter) Phelps, and was born in Hadley,
8 August, 1772. His name, originally, was Moses Porter
Phelps; which was changed by act of the legislature, 15
February, 1796. He was fitted for college by Rev. Joseph Lyman,
D.D., of Hatfield, Mass. (Y.C. 1767), and graduated with
high honors; the salutatory oration in Latin having been
assigned to him at Commencement. Having selected the
profession of the law, he pursued his legal studies under the
instruction of Hon. Theophilus Parsons, of Newburyport (H.C. 1769).
On his admission to the bar in 1795, he established himself
in Boston, where he resided twenty-two years, and attained a
high rank in his profession. In 1816, he was chosen a
representative from Boston to the state legislature. In 1816 and
1817, he was commander of the celebrated company of cavalry,
well remembered by the elder portion of this community as
the Hussars; being the immediate successor in command to the
Hon. Josiah Quincy. This company was probably the most
splendid one that ever existed in this state. Every member of
it was required to own the horse upon which he appeared in
parade; and the expense of equipment to each man, including
his horse, was not less than fifteen hundred dollars.
The company paraded for the last time on the occasion of the visit of
President Monroe to Boston in June, 1817; and was soon
afterwards disbanded. In 1816, Mr. Phelps was appointed
cashier of the Massachusetts Bank in Boston. This office he
resigned the following year, when he returned to his native
place, Hadley, where he passed the remainder of his long life,
beloved and respected by the community, who manifested their
reg,ard for him by repeatedly electing him to offices of honor
and trust. He represented the town of Hadley in the state
legislature in 1821, 1822, 1823, 1825, 1830, and 1832; and,
in 1828, he was elected senator from the district of Hampshire.
There were two religious societies in Hadley, and it sometimes
happened that they could not agree upon a candidate for
representative. When this was the case, so popular was Mr. Phelps,
that they would compromise the matter by electing him. When,
therefore, the legislature assembled, and Mr. Phelps appeared
as the representative from Hadley, it was at once said that
there had been a quarrel between the societies about the choice
of a person to represent the town. Mr. Phelps married, in
January, 1800, Sarah Davenport Parsons, daughter of Moses
Parsons, of Haverhill, Mass. (H.C. 1765). She died October,
1817; and he married, November, 1820, Charlotte Parsons,
daughter of Honl. Theophilus Parsons. His second wife died
in July, 1830. In 1833, he married, for his third wife, Mrs.
Elizabeth C. Judkins, who survived him. He had fourteen
children, of whom ten survived him.
1792. - HENDERSON INCHES died in Boston, 9 September,
1857, aged 83. He was son of Henderson and Elizabeth
(Brimmer) Inches, and was born in Boston, 7 February, 1774.
He was fitted for college at Andover Academy. Soon after
graduating, he entered the counting-house of Hon. Thomas
Russell, of Boston, where he received his mercantile education;
and, on the termination of his apprenticeship, he began business
in Boston, at No. 47, Long Wharf, where he remained several
years. After the death of Mr. Russell, he purchased Russell's
(now known as Russia) Wharf; whither he removed, and where
he retained an office until his decease. He tnarried, September,
1802, Miss Susan Brimmer, daughter of Martin Briinmer,
Esq., of Boston. They had ten children, of whom seven are
now living. Mrs. Inches died 21 September, 1823, aged 40
years. Mr. Inches was long and favorably known as an
honorable and upright merchant. He was, in every sense, a
gentleman: intelligent, affable, of a genial, social disposition,
he was a welcome guest wherever he went; beloved at home
as a kind husband and affectionate father, and respected by the
community as an estimable and valued citizen.
1796. Rev. LUTHER WRIGHT died in Woburn, Mass.,
21 June, 1858, aged 88. He was son of Samuel and Rachel
5WVright, and was born in Acton, Mass., 19 April, 1770. As
he was afflicted with severe lameness in 1781, which became
permanent, and rendered him incapable of manual labor, he was
designed for college by his parents, as well as by his own inclination.
He pursued his preparatory studies partly at New Ipswich, N.H.,
under the instruction of John Hubbard (D.C.
1785), the preceptor of the academy in that town, and partly
under the tuition of Rev. Moses Adams, of Acton (H.C. 1771).
After leaving college, he taught school five months in Watertown,
and three months in Cambridge, near the college, studying
divinity at the same time; and, a few months after relinquishing
those schools, he placed himself under the instruction of Rev.
David Tappan (H.C. 1771), professor of theology in Harvard
College. He was licensed to preach by the Marlborough Association,
April, 1797. The first society to which he preached
as a candidate for settlement was at Medway, where he was
ordained 13 June, 1798; and over which he continued his
pastoral labors for nearly eighteen years, on a salary of eighty
pounds per annum, and the use of a wood-lot from which he
obtained his wood. By frequent and kind presents from his
people, and by taking into his family lads and youth from Boston,
and other towns in this and other states, to board, and fit
for college, and to study English branches, he was enabled to
supply the deficiency of his salary, and to accumulate something
for his support in the decline of life. In September, 1815, he
asked and received a dismission from his church and society.
He immediately began preaching as a candidate for re-settlement,
and received invitations to settle in Dunstable, and the upper
parish in Beverly, Mass.; in Raymond, N.H.; and Barrington,
R.I. At the last-named place, he accepted the call, and was
installed as their pastor, 17 January, 1817, over a feeble church
and parish, and on feeble support. As the society was small,
its means for competent support scanty, and unhappy divisions
existed in the church and society, he expected his mission would
be short; and so it proved. After a residence of about four and
a half years, he requested a dismission. His request was granted,
5 July, 1821. In May, 1825, he was installed over the church
in Tiverton, R.I., where he continued until 24 May, 1828,
when he was dismissed; and, his health being feeble, he felt it
his duty not to resettle again in the ministry. He, however,
continued to preach in different places,- about six months in
Dartmouth, Mass.; three years in Carver; one year in Billerica;
seven months in South Weymouth; several weeks in
Plymouth, Middleborough, and Lynnfield; besides occasionally
in a few other places for short periods.
About eight years before his death, he relinquished his clerical
labors entirely, and resided in Woburn. His only publications were
(1) A Sermon, occasioned by the Death of Capt. Cyrus Bullard, preached
25 May, 1806. 8vo. Dedham, April, 1807.
(2) A Sermon delivered at Medway, 4 November, 1813, on the Close
of a Century since the Incorporation of the Town. 8vo. Dedham, 1814.
He married, 23 December, 1799, Anna Bridge, second daughter
of Rev. Josiah Bridge (H.C. 1758), of East Sudbury, now
Wayland; but had no children. His wife survived him. By
prudence and good management he accumulated considerable
property, which he bequeathed, after the death of his widow,
to the Congregational Board of Publication, the Massachusetts
Home-Missionary Society, the American Missionary Association,
and the New England Female Medical College.
1797. - Hon. JAMES RICHARDSON died in Dedham, Mass.,
7 June, 1858, aged 86. He was son of James and Hannah
(Clapp) Richardson, and was born in Medfield, Mass., 6 October,
1771. He was fitted for college by Rev. Thomas Prentiss,
D.D., of Medfield (H.C. 1766). He held a high rank in his
class as a scholar, and graduated with distinction. He pursued
his professional studies with the Hon. Fisher Ames, of Dedham
(H.C. 1774); was admitted to the bar in the autumn of 1800;
and began the practice of the law in Dedham, where he continued
it until within a few years of his decease. He was for some
time a law-partner with Mr. Ames, and was ever a great favorite
of that eminent statesman. He attained to a high rank as a
lawyer; and, for many years, was one of the leading members
of the bar in Norfolk county. His connection with Mr. Ames
was dissolved, by the death of the latter, the 4th of July, 1808.
He was but little in public life; for, being in political principles
an ultra-federalist, a majority of the voters of the town, as
well as of the county, in which he resided, were of opposite
politics. These principles he retained through life, although he
acted with new parties as new times demanded. He was elected
a senator in the state legislature in 1813; was a member of the
convention, in 1820, for revising the state constitution; and was
a member of the executive-council in 1834 and 1835. He
was also a master-in-chancery, and a trial-justice, in connection
with his professional practice. He was much interested in
measures designed for public improvement, such as the construction
of turnpikes and the establishment of manufactures. He was at
one time a considerable owner in manufactories, although he
never abandoned the practice of his profession. He was one
of the projectors of the Dedham Bank, and was president of
the Norfolk Mutual Fire-Insurance Company from 1833 until
April, 1857. He delivered a poem before the Phi Beta Kappa
Society, at Cambridge; a Fourth-of-July oration, at Dedham,
in 1808, being the day of the death of Fisher Ames, to which
event the oration contains an allusion; and an address before
the Norfolk bar, at their request, in 1837, upon the profession
and practice of the law.
All these were printed. As a lawyer,
he had a clear and discriminating judgment, and an ample
knowledge of legal principles derived from the very fountains
of jurisprudence. He was president of the Norfolk bar, and
held that position at the time of his death. He was a man of
fine sensibilities, fond of letters, especially of the classics and
of early English poetry; of elevated views of life and character,
especially as applicable to his. own profession.
He married, December, 1813, Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Richards,
of Dedham; by whom he had three children, two sons and one
daughter. One son died in infancy in 1820. His other children
survive him. The son graduated at Harvard College in 1837.
Hiis wife died October, 1820. His peculiarly tender attachment
to her prevented his ever forming a second marriage connection,
although his children were young. Indeed, for many years
after her death, the very mention of her name affected him even
to tears.
1798. - Dr. ANDREW CROSWELL died in Mercer, Me.,
4 June, 1858, aged 80. He was son of Andrew and Sarah
(Palmer) Croswell, and was born in Plymouth, Mass., 9 April,
1778. When in college, he was remarked for his amiable disposition,
and, withal, for his diffidence and retired habits; and he
seldom mingled in the pastimes of his classmates. He studied
medicine under the instruction of Dr. Zaccheus Bartlett, of
Plymouth (H.C. 1789). On completing his professional studies,
he settled as a physician in the town of Fayette, Me.; and
subsequently removed to Mercer, which was afterwards his
perinanent residence. He acquired an extensive practice; and, by
his skill and success, he gained the entire confidence not only of
the people of the town in which he resided, but of all the
neighboring towns; and was frequently called to go long distances for
consultation in critical cases. He was a man of the kindest
feelings; and to the indigent he was ever prompt to render his
best services, without expectation of reward other than the
consciousness of having relieved, as far as was in his power,
the sufferings of a fellow-being. He was justly entitled to the
appellation the apostle bestowed upon St. Luke; namely,
the beloved physician."
He married Susan Church, of Farmington, and had six
children,- four sons and two daughters. His widow, and all
his children, excepting one daughter, survived him. Hie was a
kind and affectionate husband and father, greatly beloved by his
family, and respected by all his acquaintances.
1798. - Dr. HENRY GARDNER died in Boston, 19 June,
1858, aged 78. He was son of Henry and Hannah (Clap)
Gardner, and was born in the old Province-House, in Boston,
2 August, 1779. His father, Henry Gardner (H.C. 1750),
was born in Stow, Mass., 14 November, 1731. He was a
member of the Middlesex Convention in 1774; also of the
Provincial Congress, which met 7 October, 1774, and in
February and May, 1775.
He was judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Middlesex.
In December, 1774, he was chosen
first state treasurer; when he removed to Boston, and occupied
the Province-House, where were vaults for the safe keeping of
the provincial revenues. He held this office until his death.
He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, and had the character of a learned man. He was a
sincere patriot, and rendered very important service
to the province by his diligence and fidelity. He died 8 October,
1782, aged 50.
Dr. Gardner's grandfather, Rev. John Gardner
(H.C. 1715), was born in Charlestown, Mass., 22 July, 1695;
was ordained pastor of the Congregational church in Stow,
26 November, 1718; and died 10 January, 1775, aged 79.
Dr. Gardner was fitted for college in Andover, Mass. He
studied medicine with Dr. John Warren, of Boston, (H.C.
1771), who, at the death of Dr. Gardner's father, had been
appointed his guardian; and received his first medical degree in
1801, but never practised. According to the laws of primlogeniture
then existing, he, being the eldest son, inherited a double
portion of his father's estate; and he was thus placed above the
necessity of engaging in any stated business. He employed
himself in the care of his property, which increased under
his judicious management. He resided many years in Dorchester,
Mass., where he was highly esteemed by the people of
that ancient town, who elected him a representative
to the legislature in 1822, 1823, and 1824.
He was chosen a senator
from Norfolk District in 1825, 1826, and 1827. He was also,
in 1820, a member from Dorchester of the convention for revising
the constitution of the state. He was, for a number of years,
one of the trustees of the State Lunatic-Hospital at Worcester.
Of late years, he declined all public offices, preferring the quiet of
private life. He was a gentleman of strict integrity, and was
highly respected in the community.
He married, first, 17 May,
1803, Joanna Bird Everett, daughter of Rev. Moses Everett, of
Dorchester (H.C. 1771); she died 7 February, 1807, leaving
one daughter, who is now the wife of Daniel Denny, Esq., of
Boston. He married, second, 20 March, 1810, Clarissa Holbrook,
daughter of Dr. Amos Holbrook, of Milton, Mass.; by
whom he had three children,- two daughters and a son; of
whom only the son, Hon. Henry Joseph Gardner, late governor of
Massachusetts, is living. His second wife survived
him.
1799. - Hon. JOSEPH DANE died in Kennebunk, Me.,
1 May, 1858, aged 79. He was son of John and Jemima
(Fellows) Dane, and was born in Beverly, Mass., 25 October,
1778. He was a descendant of John Dane, who emigrated
from England, and settled in Ipswich, Mass., about the year
1648. Both his parents were natives of Ipswich. They died
in Beverly, where they lived: the father, 5 March, 1829, in his
eightieth year; and the mother, April, 1827, aged 76 years.
Mr. Dane was fitted for college at Phillips Academy, Andover,
and graduated with the second honors of his class. After
leaving college, he pursued his legal studies in the office and
under the instruction of his uncle, Hon. Nathan Dane, of
Beverly (H.C. 1778); and, having completed his term of study,
he was admitted to the bar in Essex county in July, 1802.
He was thoroughly prepared for usefulness and distinction in the
honorable profession he had chosen. Besides the advantages to
be derived from the large experience, exact and varied learning,
and practical good sense, of his immediate instructor, he could
not fail to be benefited by the intimate association of the latter
with Prescott, Jackson, Putnam, and Story, who were then
beginning to be distinguished for professional excellence, and
became the ornaments of the bar and the bench. After his
admission to the bar, Mr. Dane immediately began the practice
of law in Kennebunk, at that time a part of the town of Wells;
where he soon became distinguished as an able lawyer, an
upright and safe counsellor. He continued in active practice in
the profession until 1837, when he retired. As a practitioner,
he was courteous, faithful, and honest; and sought, by the
influence of his own example, to elevate the character of the
profession for integrity and moral excellence. " He concerned
himself with the beginnings of controversies, not to inflame, but
to extinguish them.
He felt that -he owed a duty to the community in which he lived,
and whose peace he was bound to preserve. He was eminently a
peacemaker, a composer of dissensions, and constantly aimed
to prevent the mischiefs which follow in the train of litigation."
To him may very justly be applied the language used in regard
to another: "That he cast honor upon his honorable profession,
and sought dignity, not from the ermine or the mace, but
from a straight path and a spotless life."
He was the last survivor of those who were members of the
bar of York when he began practice; among whom were
the honored names of Mellen, King, Holmes, Hubbard, and
Wallingford. Hie was often selected by his fellow-citizens for
places of trust and responsibility. In 1816, he was chosen one
of the delegates from the town of' Wells to the Brunswick convention
for forming a constitution for Maine, which then failed
to accomplish its object; the popular majority required to authorize
it not having been obtained. In 1818, he was elected by the
legislature of Massachusetts one of the executive-council; but
declined to accept the office, on account of professional engagements.
In 1819, he was a member of the convention which
framed the constitution of Maine, and took an active part in its
proceedings and deliberations; and was one of the committee
which draughted the constitution, Mr. Holmes being chairman.
Associated with him in this important committee, among others,
were Chief-Justice Whitman, Generals Wingate and Chandler,
Judges Bridge, Dana, and Parris. On the admission of Maine
into the Union in 1820, he was elected a member of the sixteenth
Congress, from the first district, to complete the unexpired term
made vacant by the election of Mr. Holmes to the Senate, and
also a member of the seventeenth Congress. Subsequently he
was in the state legislature, as a member of the House, in the
years 1824, 1825, 1832, 1833, 1839, and 1840; and was
a member of the Senate in 1829. In 1841, he was elected a
member of the executive-council of Maine, but declined to
accept the office.
He fulfilled the duties of the various and
important public trusts confided to him with acknowledged ability,
great singleness of purpose, and with an earnest, patriotic
desire to advance the public interest. After his retirement from
the bar and from public duties, he always interested himself
deeply in whatever was calculated to promote the welfare of the
community. Few men have lived so long, and enjoyed so
largely and uniformly the confidence, respect, and esteem of
their fellow-citizens.
He married, October, 1808, Mary Clark, daughter of
Hon. Jonas Clark, of Kennebunk, and grand-daughter of the
Rev. Jonas Clark, of Lexington, Mass. (H.C. 1752); a lady
of great excellence of character, who survived him. He had
three children, two sons and a daughter. The sons survived
him, prominent citizens of the county of York,-Hon. Nathan Dane,
of Alfred; and Joseph Dane, jun., of Kennebunk.
He was happy in his domestic and social relations; kind,
affectionate, and benevolent. His death was deeply lamented by
his neighbors and friends, who grieved most of all that they
should see his face no more. He had usually enjoyed good
health, the "ripe fruit of temperance, self-control, and a virtuous
life," until seized by the malady which terminated his earthly
existence. He sustained the suffering of his long and painful
illness with characteristic cheerfulness and equanimity, and with
Christian resignation; and at last calmly and serenely yielded
up his life in the exercise of a reasonable religious faith and a
Christian hope.
1800. - Dr. SAMUEL WEED died in Portland, Me., 24 November,
1857, aged 83. He was born in Amnesbury, Mass.,
10 June, 1774. His father, Ephraim Weed, was a respectable
farmer. He worked on his father's farm until he was 17 years
old; when he was sent to Exeter Academy, where he remained
nearly a year. The next four years he spent alternately keeping
school in Amesbury and Bradford in winter, and working on the
farm in summer. Being now desirous of obtaining a liberal
education, he went to Atkinson Academy, then under the charge
of Stephen Peabody (H.C. 1769), and prepared himself for col lege.
He entered college in 1796, the oldest member of his class.
A distinguished literary gentleman, who was long intimately
acquainted with him, gives the following particulars of his
subse quent life: " It was one of the college customs of that day, for
the freshmen, on the entry of every class, to be initiated into
their new life by a wrestling-match. The sophomores challenged the
new-comers to a trial of strength in this ancient and
classical exercise. The senior class was the umpire, and the
victors were treated to a supper on their invitation. In the
contest in 1796, after a hard and manly struggle, the freshmen
came off victorious, leaving three of their champions ready to
continue the contest: of these, Weed was one. The Monday
after, the juniors, not easy under this defeat, challenged the
freshmen to a new contest with them. This was accepted, and
Weed was the first to enter the list: he threw successively six
of the juniors, the first of whom was the late Judge Fay, of
Cambridge. Reeking, with perspiration, and nearly exhausted,
he was required to renew the struggle with a fresh competitor:
in this struggle he was unfortunately overcome; the victor being
Ebenezer Thatcher, then of Cambridge, but whose manhood
and age were spent in Maine, in the discharge of many
important offices, and who died in 1841. After leaving
college, Mr. Weed took charge of the academy at Framingham,
where he continued four years; when he was invited to
unite with his classmate, Rufis Hosmer, in conducting a
highschool in Medford. In this occupation he remained three years.
He then began in earnest the study of his profession under the
wise and paternal direction of Dr. John Brooks, afterwards governor
of the commonwealth; the brave and gallant soldier, the
skilful physician, the prudent statesman, and the accomplished
gentleman. Here he saw the best practice, and improved his
admirable opportunities to acquire an accurate knowledge of his
profession. At the same time, he had the rare privilege of seeing
and enjoying the company of many of the most distinguished
men of the old commonwealth, as Gore, Dexter, Bigelow, &c.;
and of meeting the old physicians, Danforth, Dexter, Lloyd,
Rand, the elder Warren, &c., who came to Dr. Brooks for
consultation or as friendly visitors. Here, too, he met the eccentric
and gifted Dr. Osgood, pastor of the church in Medford, then
in the vigor of his intellect and of his peculiarities. From these
rich and varied stores of instruction, his mind was imbued with
useful knowledge, and pleasant and instructive anecdote, which
his memory laid up for the entertainment of his friends and
companions through the long period of his remaining life.
Dr. Weed went to Portland, and entered on the practice of his
profession, in 1810. The principal physicians then there were Dr.
Coffin, who had been forty-four years in the practice, and stood
at the head of the profession, both in medicine and surgery;
Drs. Erving, Thomas, Cummings, Harding, Kittridge, and Morrill.
A very healthy town, with a population of only seven
thousand, and pre-occupied with such a number of the faculty,
did not afford a very cheering prospect to a new aspirant,
especially when the charge for a medical visit, including
medicine, was only fifty cents. At that time, it was the custom for
physicians to prepare the medicines which they prescribed:
patients were unwilling to go to the apothecary; and articles
obtained there were not always to be relied on. It happened,
fortunately for Dr. Weed, that Dr. Erving, that good Samaritan,
and a most excellent man, soon after this moved to Boston.
Two years before Dr. Weed came, Dr. Kinsman, one of
the most learned and skilful practitioners who had ever pursued
his vocation in Portland, had died; so that Dr. Weed was enabled
early to enter upon a remunerating practice. He wa
quite successful in securing a goodly number of first-class
patients, which he ever retained, and their families after them,
by a calm judgment, a good knowledge of his profession, and a
uniform gentlemanly deportment. Never was a physician further
removed than he fronm cant and quackery, to which ignorant
practitioners often resort to gain business and popularity.
He gained the confidence of his patients, and secured their affection,
by a safe and judicious application of remedies, by courteous
deportment, and strict attention to the wants of the sick-chamber.
His great caution sometimes gave him the appearance of doubt
and hesitation: but he thought it better to be slow than to be
wrong; that it was better to assist nature, than to prostrate it by
hasty and violent applications. The estimation in which he was
held by his numerous friends, many of whom were children of
parents who had enjoyed the benefit of his earlier services, was
manifested in a manner most gratifying to both parties.
In December, 1852, Dr. Weed fell upon the ice, and broke
his hipjoint; a severe misfortune, which disabled him
from future practice. His friends, believing that, deprived
of his usual resources, he must be straitened in his means
of support, came cheerfully forward, and contributed
to procure for him an annuity of five hundred dollars
a year during his life. This at once relieved his anxiety,
and made him comfortable for the remainder
of his days. In 1816, Dr. Weed married Maria Condy, of
Medford, an amiable and accomplished lady, whose death in
1835 was a deep and lasting sorrow, depriving him of a wise
counsellor, an admirable companion, and an unfailing friend.
Her grandfather, Rev. Jeremiah' Condy (H.C. 1726), was a
Baptist clergyman in Boston; predecessor, in the First Baptist
Church, of the eloquent Stillman. By her he had three sons;
of whom the only survivor is Edward Condy, of Boston. From
his earliest life, Dr. Weed was an example of a true
philosophical and religious moderation.
His whole conduct was regulated
by strict principle. He was never known to deviate from the
paths of rectitude and honor: he knew no guile, and was never
guilty of detraction. He had entire control over himself, and
so was able to apply to useful purposes the whole vigor of his
powers. As a physician, he was not rapid in his perceptions,
nor fertile in expedients; but by great caution, sound judgment,
and natural experience, he arrived at just conclusions in the
diagnosis of disease. By a course so uniform and so worthy,
he conferred dignity on his honorable profession, and grace and
beauty on his daily life."
1802. - CHARLES WINSTON GREENE died in East Green
wich, R.I., 24 December, 1857, aged 74. He was son of
David Greene (H.C. 1768), and was born in Norwich, Conn.,
3 July, 1783; but, when quite young, removed with his father's
family to Boston, where he passed a great portion of his life.
His mother's name was Rebecca Rose; and his father married
her in the island of Antigua, of which she was a native. She
died at the age of forty, leaving eight children. Mr. Greene
was fitted for college at the Boston Latin School, where he won
a Franklin medal for his superior scholarship. On leaving college,
he entered his father's counting-room for the purpose of
preparing himself for the mercantile profession, in which his
father had long held a prominent rank.
In 1805 or 1806, he went to England, where he remained a few months,
when he returned; and on the 7th of December, 1806, he was married
to Esther Ward Bowen, daughter of Hon. Pardon Bowen, of
Providence, R.I., and settled in New York. She died in March,
1808, leaving no children. Mr. Greene shortly afterwards sailed
for Europe; visited many ports in the Mediterranean, and went
as far as Odessa, in the Black Sea, in the ship "Calumet,"
which was the first American vessel that visited that port, and,
it is believed, was the first that ever entered the Black Sea.
He remained in Europe five years; during which time he
acquired a thorough knowledge of the French language, which
he spoke as fluently as he did his native tongue. He returned
in 1813; and, on the 27th of September of that year, he was
married to Frances Bowen, a sister of his former wife. He then
established himself in Boston as a merchant; but, meeting with
reverses, he relinquished the mercantile profession, and engaged
in the business of teaching, for which he was by nature
peculiarly fitted. He opened a private school at Jamaica Plain
(now West Roxbury), Mass., which he continued for more than thirty
years with eminent success. In 1849, he removed to East Greenwich,
R.I., where he continued his school until the 13th of February,
1856; when he was seized with a slight paralytic affection,
which compelled him to relinquish his labors.
During the time he was engaged in teaching, more than seven
hundred youth went forth from his school, many of whom now
fill high places, and have achieved deserved eminence.
Among, those who gratefully testify to the good influences
exerted upon them, while at his
school, may be mentioned George W. Curtis, J. Lothrop Motley,
the historian; Frank B. Goodrich, author of the "Court of
Napoleon; " Charles G. Leland, and Fletcher and
Edward Webster. The great feature of this school consisted
not so much in its educational advantages, though these were
undoubted, as in the excellent influences which were brought to
bear upon the characters of the pupils. The boys were trained
to be courteous and gentlemanly, with a modest but manly
bearing, and a noble scorn of all that was mean or ungenerous.
Himself a gentleman of the old school, Mr. Greene labored
earnestly and successfully to train up his pupils in all the virtues
which beldng to that type. It was to this moral training that
Mr. Greene chiefly confined himself.
Though admirably qualified, it was his custom to devolve
upon assistants the main burden of instruction, under his
general supervision.
Those who have had familiar opportunities to observe how admirably
he understood the nature of boys, and how wisely and well he
managed them - smoothing down their rough angularities, and
instilling into them gentlemanly'courtesy, mutual forbearance,
and a manly deference for their superiors in age and
acquirenients - during his thirty - nine years' experience, will be
tempted to compare him, not out of empty compliment, but
with full conviction, to the celebrated Dr. Arnold, the model
teacher of England. It may not be out of place to chronicle
an illustration of the high integrity which actuated Mr. Greene
in his dealings with his fellow-men. At the close of his
mercantile life, he failed to the amount of thirty thousand dollars,
- a sum which, legally, he was not bound to pay; but, with a
sense of obligation wholly independent of legal enactments, he
discharged the entire debt out of the subsequent profits of his
school. It was many years before he could accomplish it; but
he steadfastly persevered until every dollar was paid. Mr.
Greene employed himself for some time in writing a history of
the country around the Black Sea, an account of his own voyage
and observations while there and at Constantinople, with
the intention of publishing them; but, on being applied to by
Gen. Henry A. S. Dearborn for information on those subjects,
finding the latter was preparing a work on the "Commerce of
the Black Sea," he handed him his manuscripts, desiring him to
make what use of them he might wish, and then gave up all
thoughts of publishing any thing himself.
Mr. Greene's second wife survived him, but had no children.
1803.- Rev. ASA EATON died in Boston, 24 March, 1858,
aged 79. He was born in Plaistow, N.H., 25 July, 1778; was
fitted for college by Rev. Giles Merrill, of Haverhill, Mass.
(H.C. 1759). After a brief preparatory course of theological
studies, he was instituted rector of Christ Church in Boston,
23 October, 1805, where he labored diligently and faithfully
until May, 1829, when he resigned his rectorship; and, for eight
years subsequently, was employed as a city-missionary,-
laboring among the destitute in Boston, and preaching to the poor
in a hall where the seats were free. From 1837 to 1841, he was
connected with a literary institution in New Jersey. For a
short time previous to his death, he was attached to the Church
of the Advent in Boston. He was a distinguished member of
the Masonic Fraternity, and at one time held the office of deputy
grand-master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.' Ile was
widely known throughout the county, from his long connection
with the Episcopal church, his blameless life, and his entire
consecration to the work of the Christian ministry. His tall and
commanding figure, with locks of snowy whiteness, attracted
attention wherever he went; and his memory is revered as a
beloved and faithful expounder of divine truth.
He married, 9 October, 1813, Susannah Storer, youngest daughter of
Ebenezer Storer, of Boston (H.C. 1747), and had six
children,three sons and three daughters; of whom two sons and one
daughter survived him. His wife died 26 November, 1853, aged
71 years.
1804. - BENJAMIN GUILD died in Boston,.30 March, 1858,
aged 72. He was son of Benjamin (H.C. 1769) and Eliza
(Quincy) Guild, and was born in Boston, 8 May, 1785. His
father was born in Wrentham, Mass., 28 April, 1749; was a
tutor in Harvard College from 1776 to 1780; and was a
member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was
for some time a preacher; but subsequently opened a book-store
in Cornhill (now Washington Street), Boston, which he kept for
some years. He died in October, 1792, aged 43 years. The
subject of this notice was fitted for college at Hingham Academy.
He studied law with Hon. William Prescott (H.C. 1783). On
his admission to the bar, he opened an office in Boston, and
afterwards became a law-partner with Mr. Prescott.
He was subsequently associated in the practice of his profession
with Benjamin Rand, of Boston (H.C. 1808).
He married, 31 March, 1817, Eliza Eliot, daughter of Samuel Eliot, a
distinguished and wealthy merchant of Boston; and had five children,
three sons and two daughters, - who, with his widow,
survived him. All his sons have graduated at Harvard College;
viz., Samuel Eliot in 1839, Charles Eliot in 1840, and Edward
Chipman in 1853. Mr. Guild was, for more than thirty years,
an active and efficient member of the Massachusetts Society for
the Promotion of Agriculture; was for some time its recording
secretary; and was the writer of many of its annual reportS.
He was a gentleman of polished' manners, of an exceedingly
affable and sociable disposition, and was highly respected and
beloved by a large circle of acquaintance.
1805. - EPHIRAIM HINDS died in West Boylston, Mass.,
18 June, 1858, aged 77. He was son of Benjamin and Tabitha
(Holland) Hinds, and was born in that part of Shrewsbury
which is now within the limits of West Boylston, 7 November,
1780. His father was a farmer, and one of the earliest settlers
of the town. His mother was a native of Boylston. He was
fitted for college partly at Leicester Academy, and partly by
Rev. William Nash, of West Boylston (Y.C. 1791). After
leaving college, he taught school in Boston, Watertown,
Sterling, Lancaster, Mass., and several places in Vermont.
After some years spent in teaching, he entered upon the study
of law under the instruction of Eleazer James, of Barre, Mass.
(H.C. 1778). On his admission to the bar, he began the
practice of his profession in Barre, where he resided a short time;
when he removed to Athol. From this town he went to Harvard,
where he remained about thirteen years; afterwards he
lived in Marlborough from 1833 to 1841; in South Brookfield
from May, 1841, to May, 1845; in South Orange from May to
Novemnber, 1845; in Deerfield from November, 1845, to May,
1847; and in West Boylston from May, 1847; until his death.
He married, 28 April, 1823, Maria, daughter of
Hutchins Hapgood, of Petersham.
He was greatly respected at the bar as a
man of strict veracity, of unbending integrity, sound judgment,
and practical wisdom. He had been unable to walk for more
than a year before his death, in consequence of a severe
rheumatic affection; but was uniformly cheerful,
and entirely submissive to the Divine Will.
He was remarkable for his habits of
punctuality, systematic arrangement of secular affairs, and rigid
economy. His memory was wonderful. A few days before his
death, his pastor, sitting by his bedside, quoted a passage from
the xc. Psalm: " The days of our years are threescore years and
ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is
their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we
fty away; " and added, "I suppose your experience, Mr. Hinds,
confirms the truth of the Psalmist's declaration, that it is l
aborious and sorrowful work to live."- Yes," said he, "even to
breathe." He then added, " That is a brief but exact description
of ol d age, and reminds me of a passage in Virgil."- Can you
repeat it?" asked his pastor. " Yes," he replied; and did so, as
follows: -
"Optima queque dies miseris mortalibus xvi
Prima fugit: subeunt morbi, tristisque senectus:
Et labor et duraT rapit inclementia mortis."
Georg., lib. iii. 66-8.
"From wretched mortals each best day of life
First takes its flight. Diseases follow next,
Old age disconsolate, and weary toil;
And death, relentless, snatching them away."
Kennedy's Translation.
At the time of his funeral, an old friend, who was his
contemporary at college, and who had been associated with him,
more or less, for nearly seventy years, rose, and said with deep
emotion, "I have intimately known the deceased from early
boyhood, and have distinct and pleasant recollections of him for
more than half a century. I can truly say, that as a companion
in youthful days, as a fellow-student in the schoo], the
academy, and the college, as an associate at the bar and in the
various relations of life, I have never known a man of stricter
integrity, purer life and manners, or more unblemished moral
character, than Ephraim Hinds." It was a beautiful and
affecting tribute of respect and affection, spontaneously given with
tears and a broken utterance.
Mr. Hinds left three sons and one daughter; she being the
youngest child, and about twenty-one years of age. Hie also
left an aminple estate, the fruit of his industry and prudence.
1806.- Hon. WILLIAM PITT PREBLE died in Portland,
Me., 11 October, 1857, aged 73. He was born in York,
Me., 27 November, 1783; was fitted for college by Rev.
Rosewell Messinger, of York (H.C. 1797), and graduated with
hig,h honors. He was distinguished, when in college, for his
skill in mathematics, and his powers of argumentation. On
leaving college, he read law, first with Hon. Benjamin Hasey
(H.C. 1790), and then with HIon. Benjamin Orr, of Topsham, Me.
(D.C. 1798). In 1809, he was appointed tutor in
Harvard College, where he continued two years; and, while
tutor, he married a Miss Tucker, of York, daughter of the
collector of that port. On resigning his tutorship, he began
the practice of law in his native town, and rapidly rose to the
front rank in his profession. He soon removed to Alfred, Me.,
where he remained in practice until 1813; when, having been
appointed United-States district-attorney for Maine District, he
removed to Saco, and thence, in 1818, to Portland.
The following sketch of his life is principally derived from an able
article published in the "Portland State of Maine" soon after
his death. He took an active interest in politics from early life;
was at first an ardent federalist, but subsequently acted with the
democratic party, became a leading advocate for the separation
of Maine from Massachusetts, and wrote a pamphlet in its
favor. He was a member of the constitutional convention of 18th
Maine in 1819, and wrote its address to the people of the state.
In 1820, he was appointed a justice of the Supreme Court of
Maine, -associate with Hon. Prentiss Mellen (II.C. 1784),
chief-justice. This office he resigned in 1829, on
being appointed, with Mr. Gallatin, an agent to prepare the case of the
United-States Government before the King of the Netherlands;
and was finally appointed, by Gen. Jackson, minister-
plenipotentiary to the Hague. His career as a public man,
for which he was most distinguished, was in connection with
the northeastern-boundary question.
His ability in exposing the absurdity of the decision
of the Dutch king was undoubtedly chiefly
instrumental in causing its defeat in the
United-States Senate.
He was one of the commissioners of Maine in 1832 with the
Hon. Ruel Williams and the Hon. Nicholas Emery, and advised
a compromise by taking lands in Michigan in exchange
for lands north of the St. John; but the legislature of Maine
declined the offer to this effect by the general government. At
the close of his foreign mission, he returned to the practice of
law in Portland. He was elected by the legislature as a
commissioner with Gov. Kent and others, in 1842, to arrange
the Treaty of Washington; and finally gave his sanction,
though reluctantly, to the mode of settlement carried out by the
Webster-and-Ashburton Treaty.
This was the last political
office which he held. In 1844, he was called to what he
regarded as the most important duty that had ever engaged his
attention,- the connecting by railway of the waters of the St.
Lawrence with those of the Atlantic. He was slow to engage in
that work, and his natural caution made him at first fearful of
any connection with that enterprise; but, after mature reflection,
he engaged in it with all the enthusiasm of youth, and all the
vigor of early manhood. When his concurrence in the scheme
was known, it gave to it the confidence of the public; and a
large share of credit is due to him for its success. He was
the first president of the corporation, and continued to holJ the
office until 1848; when he declined a re-election, and retired
from public labors. He lived to see the work accomplished,
but not to lose his interest in its prosperity. The last article,
probably, which he prepared for the press, was upon the White
Mountain scenery along the route, and which was published in
the "Portland Argus" a short time before his death. All his
public writings display the most marked exhibition of labor, and
care of preparation. He never allowed any thing from his pen
to appear, without subjecting it to the most elaborate
preparation. But little, however, remains that will serve
as an enduring record of his labors. His reported opinions
as a judge do not give any adequate idea of his power as a lawyer.
He had a reputation for intellectual power far beyond any measure
of success that he obtained; and those who knew him best were
aware of his peculiarities of temperament and of temper, that
were a drawback to popular favor. He appeared to the best
advantage in the oral argument of legal questions. He stated
legal propositions with a clearness and force that were rarely
equalled. When all his faculties were raised into activity by
the excitement of a great occasion, the pressure of a crowd, or
the responsibilities of a great cause, his mind worked with the
greatest ease; and he was capable, on such occasions, of bringing
out an argument, that by its strength of reasoning, force of
illustration, and effective eloquence, gave him the mastery over
others. In 1829, the honorary degree of doctor of laws was
conferred upon him by Bowdoin College.
1807. - Hon. JOHN GLEN KING died in Salem, Mass.,
26 July, 1857, aged 70. He was the second son of James
King, Esq.; and was born in Salem, 19 March, 1787. He
was fitted for college at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass.
He did not graduate with his class, but, like many others of
his own and the succeeding class, left college in May, 1807,
the period of what is known as "the Grand Commons-Rebellion."
His degree was conferred upon him in 1818. He
pursued the study of law under the instruction of
Hon. William Prescott (H.C. 1783) and Hon. Joseph Story (H.C.
1798); was admitted a member of the Essex bar; began the
practice of his profession in Salem, where he continued during
the remainder of his life. He attained an eminent rank, and
for many years was one of the leading members of tile bar in
Essex county.
He was repeatedly elected to offices of honor
and trust. He was chosen a representative from Salem to the
state legislature in 1816 and 1821; and was a member of the
senate from Essex District in 1822, 1823, and 1826. He was
also the first president of the common-council of Salem, under
the city charter. Among his important legislative duties may
be mentioned his share in the great Prescott impeachment case,
in 1821. He, being at that time a member of the house of
representatives, was appointed to make the impeachment at the
bar of the senate, in the name of the house of representatives
and of the people of Massachusetts; and afterwards was appointed
first of the seven managers on the part of the house
to conduct the impeachment before the senate, sitting as a
court; the other six being Levi Lincoln (afterwards governor),
William Baylies, Warren Dutton, Samuel P. P. Fay (afterwards judge),
Lemuel Shaw (afterwards chief-justice of the
Supreme Judicial Court), and Sherman Leland (afterwards
judge).
Horatio G. Newcomb and Francis C. Gray, in the
course of the proceedings, were substituted for Messrs. Lincoln
and Baylies. Mr. King, although younger than several of the
gentlemen comprising this eminent array of legal talent, bore a
distinguished part in the conduct of the laborious and novel case.
He made the opening argument; and, at the close of the proceeding,s,
demanded judgment upon the articles on which the
respondent was found guilty. The following eminent legal gentlemen
were the respondent's counsel: William Prescott,
George Blake, Daniel Webster, Samuel Hoar, Samuel Hubbard,
and Augustus Peabody. Mr. King was, for many years,
commissioner-of-insolvency, and held that office
at the time of his death.
He was also a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
He was a wise and learned counsellor, whose honor and integrity
were without the suspicion of a stain; whose counsel in the
distribution of estates was sought from far and near; and whose
association in any deed of trust gave confidence to all who were
interested in its being honestly and judiciously administered.
His mind was singularly acute and critical; his spirit, of that
justly balanced cast, which, while wisely conservative in all its
tendencies and judgments, was keenly alive to every moral and
social wrong, and resolute in the maintenance of the right and
the true, in the face of any weight of precedent or example on
the other side. His love of literature and of books almost
amounted to a passion. His precious and well-selected library
was his solace through many a year of suffering; and the sight
of it, around his bed of mortal sickness, cheered and enlivened
the last days of his declining life. He was a scholar, and a ripe
and good one. The ancient classics were his mental food and
drink. He nourished his spirit, too, on the old English
master pieces, especially of the theologians, for whose range of
subjects his mind had a natural affinity; but in every stage of
English literature he was at home, and his fine and cultivated taste
appreciated all that was truly worthy.
Mr. King married Susan, daughter of Major Frederick Gilman, of Gloucester.
He had six children, of whom two died in infancy: the others, with his
widow, survived him. One son, John Gallison King, graduated
at Harvard College in 1838.
1807. - JARED WEED died in Petersham, Mass., 6 August,
1857, aged 74. He was son of Elnathan and Lydia (Bouton)
Weed, and was born in North Stamford, Conn., 5 April, 1783.
He was fitted for college in North Salem, N.Y., under the
instruction of a Scotch pedagogue, whom he used to speak of as
"Old Johnny MeNess." He had certain peculiarities of expression
which he undoubtedly contracted under this Scotchman's
teaching. He studied law with Hon. William Stedman, of Lancaster,
Mass. (H.C. 1784), and Judge Nathaniel Paine, of
Worcester (H.C. 1775). With Judge Paine he acquired a
thorough knowledge of probate business, which he was said to
transact remarkably well, and which he continued to practise
until his death. He was admitted to the bar in Worcester, and
in 1813 established himself in the practice of law in Petersham,
where he resided during the remainder of his life.
He made his first entries in the Court of Common Pleas in
Worcester County at the November term in 1812, and continued after
that to make entries at each term. He was admitted an attorney of
the Supreme Judicial Court at the September term in 1816, and
a counsellor of the same court at the September term
in 1818. He attained a very respectable standing in his
profession; was a magistrate in whom the people had confidence,
an honest politician, and a most worthy and excellent man. He
was, for several years, chairman of the board of county-
commissioners; and filled other offices of honor and trust which were
bestowed upon him by his fellow-townsmen and the citizens of
his county, with credit to himself, and satisfaction to his
constituents.
He married, 30 April, 1821, Eliza Prentiss, of
Petersham, daughter of Nathan and Lydia Prentiss (singular
coincidence with the names of his parents). He had three
daughters,- Elizabeth Otis, born 1822; Lydia Pennoyer, born
1823; and Mary Jane, born 1827,- the eldest of whom only
survived him: the others died within six years of the death of
their father. His widow survived him. He was a kind and
indulgent husband and father, thoughtful for others, and
exhibited wonderful patience during the last five weary years of
his life while suffering from a severe attack of paralysis. His
mother always said, "Jared was a good boy at home,- her best
child;" and she had a large family. He was too forgetful of
his own interests for his worldly prosperity; but his generous,
kind heart is remembered by his friends.
Mr. Weed was descended, on the mother's side, from a
family by the name of Pennoyer; one of whom, William Pennoyer,
many years ago, left a legacy to Harvard College on condition
of the awarding of certain benefits to such of his descendants
as should be educated there, of which Mr. Weed had a share.
William Pennoyer never came to this country, but lived and
died in England. It is his brother Robert's descendants who have
lived in the United States.
1811. - Rev. SAMUEL GILMAN, of Charleston, S.C., died
at the residence of his son-in-law, Rev. Charles J. Bowen, in
Kingston, Mass., 9 February, 1858, aged 66. He was son of
Frederick and Abigail H. (Somes) Gilman, and was born
in Gloucester, Mass., 16 February, 1791. His father had
been a very successful merchant in Gloucester, but died insolvent
more than sixty years ago; his insolvency having been caused
by the capture of several of his vessels by the French in the war
of 1798. He left a youthful widow and four male children;
and, when Samuel was about seven years old, his mother took
him to Atkinson, N.H., to be educated in the academy there,
under the charge of Rev. Stephen Peabody (H.C. 1769), whose
quaint, primitive ways are described with inimitable humor in a
biographical sketch by Dr. Gilman, published in the " Christian
Examiner" in 1847. Not long subsequently, the family removed to
Salem, Mass.; and Samuel was for some time employed as a clerk
in the old Essex Bank. He graduated with
high honors in a class remarkable for eminent talent.
A poem, which he delivered on his graduation, "On the Pleasures and
Pains of a Student," was replete with humor, and elicited rapturous
applause from a crowded audience. This poem he repeated
on the evening of commencement-day, in 1852, at the residence
of Hon. Edward Everett, in Boston, whither the class had been
invited to celebrate the forty-first anniversary of their
graduation; and added a sequel, in which he gave a retrospect of
the time from their graduation to that period, paying a brief and
beautiful tribute to the memory of those of the class who had
deceased. The poem concluded with the following fine compliment
to their host, the Hon. Mr. Everett:
"Stay yet, dear friends! the minstrel bids you toast,
In pure, bright water, our accomplished host;
Who gives, one need not say,'our class its name,
Tinged with the lustre of his well-earned fame.
Health for his labors, for his cares relief,
To him, our first and last unenvied chief!"
These two poems were printed immediately afterwards for
distribution to the surviving members of the class.
Among the various pursuits which offered themselves to Dr.
Gilman's choice, was that to which, by character and endowments,
he was best adapted; and it was the profession which was
the choice of his heart. He soon began the study of theology
under the supervision of Drs. Ware and Kirkland, who then
constituted the theological faculty. Fortunately for him, he was
not hurried, like most young Americans, immediately and pre-
maturely into professional life. He lingered long under the roof
of his Alma Mater, maturing his mind, extending his knowledge,
and laying up those intellectual and literary treasures which his
future isolation rendered so important. In 1817, he was appointed
tutor in mathematics at Harvard College; which office
he held two years. Early in 1819, he went to Charleston, S.C.,
where he received a pastoral call as successor to the Rev.
Anthony M. Foster; and, after a few months of probationary service,
he was ordained, 1 December, 1819, as pastor of the Unitarian
or Second Independent church in that city. The ordination sermon
was preached by Rev. Joseph Tuckerman, D.D., of
Chelsea, Mass. (H.C. 1798). Here he labored faithfully and
acceptably until his last sickness. He was universally respected
by the people of the city of his residence, and his influence
extended far beyond the limits of the religious denomination with
which he was connected. He was the life and soul of the New England
society of South Carolina, and was always hospitable
to all visitors from the North.
During his residence in Cambridge, he was a frequent contributor to
the "North-American Review," in which periodical his papers are marked
by their polished elegance of diction, the grace and felicity of their
illustrations, and their racy humor. Among his contributions were
a series of able papers on the philosophical lectures of Dr. Thomas
Brown, and translations of several of the satires of Boileau.
One of his most noted essays was on "The Influence of One
National Literature upon Another." He also wrote a fine paper
on "The Writings of Edward Everett," his classmate and warm
personal friend. After his removal to Charleston, he continued
to write for different periodicals; his contributions embracing a
wide range of subjects, from profound philosophical discussions
to sparkling satirical essays. A selection of these was published
in a volume a few years since, under the title of" Contributions to
American Literature, descriptive, critical, humorous, brigraphical,
philosophical, and poetical." Among his productions, the
"Recollections of a New-England Village Choir" has, perhaps,
become the most generally popular. For apt local description,
a keen sense of the ludicrous, and a happy intuition of character-
istic peculiarities, it has seldom been matched in the humorous
literature of this country. Dr. Gilman possessed the gift of
poetry, which he cultivated with no inconsiderable success. He
had a luxuriant fancy, an excellent command of natural imagery,
and great fluency of expression. As a pulpit-orator, he was
affectionate and persuasive; equally removed from languor and
vehemence; never boisterous, but always in earnest; loving
the sphere of universal ethics rather than the subtleties
of sectarian doctrine; and commending the great lessons
he taught by the shining and noble example of his private life.
Dr. Gilman married, 14 October, 1819, Miss Caroline
Howard, daughter of Samuel Howard, a shipwright of Boston;
a lady of remarkable talents and acquirements. She is
the author of several excellent books: viz., "Oracles from the
Poets;" "Recollections of a New- England Housekeeper;"
"New-England Bride, and Southern Matron;" "Poetry of
Travelling in the United States;" Tales and Ballads;" and
others.
Dr. Gilman had four daughters, who survived him: viz.,
Abby Louisa, wife of Francis J. Porcher, merchant, of
Charleston; Caroline H., widow of William Glover, planter,
of South Carolina; Eliza W., wife of Pickering Dodge, Esq.,
of Salem; Anna, wife of Rev. Charles J. Bowen, of Kingston,
Mass. He had also a son, who died young. His widow
survives him. His occasioned visits to the home of his youth
kept his ancient intimacies unbroken; old associations were
preserved amid the excitement of novel scenes and fresh interests;
and, now that he has passed away, his memory will
be tenderly cherished, both by those to whom he devoted the
maturity of his strength, and those among whom he has found
a grave.
1812. - Hon. FRANKLIN DEXTER died in Beverly, Mass.,
14 August, 1857, aged 63. He was son of Hon. Samuel
(H.C. 1781) and Catharine (Gordon) Dexter, and was born
in Charlestown, Mass., 5 November, 1793. He held a high
rank in college, and graduated with distinction. He studied
law under the instruction of Hon. Samuel Hubbard (Y.C.
1802), and was admitted in regular course to practice
in Suffolk County. He established himself in Boston,
where he soon rose to distinction at the bar, which could
boast, during his connection with it, the names of Otis,
Jackson, Prescott, Webster, Mason, and Hubbard.
Among such rivals, he took rank as a leader. Several of
his competitors, undoubtedly, were more successful; that
is, they had more cases on their dockets,
and much larger incomes by their profession: but he was one
of the first to be sought in important cases, or when great legal
points were to be discussed, or large interests disposed of.
This position he held, with continually increasing reputation,
until his retirement from practice in 1845. He was for
some years a partner of Hion. Charles Greely Loring (H.C.
1812); afterwards of Hon. William Prescott (H.C. 1783);
and, still later, of William Howard Gardiner (H.C. 1816)
and George William Phillips (H.C. 1829). He was employed
as counsel for the Knapps, in their trial for the murder of Capt.
White, at Salem, in 1830; and exhibited great skill and logical
acuteness in their defence against the gigantic powers of Daniel
Webster, who was employed in behalf of the government.
He was afterwards engaged in the defence of Mrs. Kinney,
who was acquitted on a charge of poisoning her husband in
Lowell. He held many public stations, which he filled with
honor to himself, and advantage to the community. On the
4th of July, 1819, by appointment of the authorities of the town
of Boston, he delivered the oration on the anniversary of the
Declaration of Independence. He was elected a representative from
Boston to the state legislature in 1825, 1826, and 1840; in
1835, he was chosen senator from Suffolk District; and in
1836, as one of the select committee, he rendered valuable
and important service in shaping and improving the Revised
Statutes. He was a member of the city-council in 1825. iHe
took much interest in military affairs, and was for some time
commander of the New-England Guards. He had a rare
taste for the fine arts, and was a warm friend and
admirer of Washington Allston.
His beautiful criticism on landscapepainting, in an extended
article in the "North-American Review," attests his information
on this subject. "In political life," says his classmate, the Hon.
Charles G. Loring, "Mr. Dexter exhibited the same love of truth,
and contempt of artifice, the same gentlemanly bearing, and marked
ability fordebate, which distinguished him at the bar. Eminently faithful
to his convictions of duty to his country, he never sacrificed or
compromised them at the behest of a party, or under the more
insidious and dangerous influences of private friendship or
social influence. An enlightened and fervent lover of her
institutions, he was not lost in blind or extravagant admiration to
their peculiar weaknesses and dangers; and contemned the
appeals to that infatuation, so generally characteristic of popular
addresses, and so often the cloak of basely selfish hypocrisy.
It was perhaps in this sphere of duty, more than in any other,
that his resolution and intrepidity were displayed. In the great
struggle of 1850, his convictions upon the great questions which
divided the country impelled him into painful opposition to the
principles avowed, and measures advocated, by the great
champion of the party with which he had hitherto united himself
and his associates, which drew upon him, not merely the reproaches
and suspicions of the zealous partisans, and many of
the public prints of the day, which he could patiently and
calmly endure, but alienated many whom he had been accustomed
to look upon as personal friends, who turned from him
in coldness, or indulged in censure of his course; thus adding
another victim to that lamentable intolerance in public opinion,
by which our community has been too long and unhappily
distinguished, and which seems in strange contrast with its claims
to intellectual position and advancement. But no desertion of
friends, no blandishment or persecution, could damp his courage,
or shake his consistency. He never ceased to maintain, and
press upon the public mind, the views he entertained; and
happily lived long enough at last to enjoy the satisfaction of seeing
them become those of the great mass of his fellow-citizens,
though his sensitive mind never recovered from the wounds thus
ungenerously inflicted, which, to use his own expressive language,
were blows upon the heart."'
In 1841, Mr. Dexter accepted from President Harrison the office of
district-attorney of the United States for the district of
Massachusetts.
To his conduct in office, his friend, who presides over the court in
which his practice necessarily lay, bore ample and just testimony. J
udge Sprague said, " His official duties lay mostly in
the court in which I presided; and I can bear witness that they
were performed with consummate ability, fidelity, and discretion.
Vigilant and firm in the detection and punishment of
crime, it was always with that considerate calmness which
became the representative of a mnild and paternal government.
While he effectually repelled and exposed every effort, however
bold or artful, to turn aside the course of justice, no amount of
opposition in a trial, whatever its force or character, could
convert it, on his part, into a contest for victory, or an occasion
of self-exhibition. He had the most exact appreciation of the
duties of his station, and every qualification for their performance.
Indeed, no man could come nearer to the ideal of a
perfect public-prosecutor." Mr. Dexter married, 28
September, 1819, Catherine Elizabeth Prescott, daughter of Hon.
William Prescott. He had five children.
One died in infancy: the others, with his widow, survived him.
For a few years before his death, he resided permanently in Beverly. In 1857,
the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon
him by Harvard College.
Insert: Hon. FRANKLIN DEXTER and wife, Catherine Elizabeth Prescott.
Source: Prescott Memorial by Dr. William Prescott, 1870.
p.108
Catherine Elizabeth Prescott born at Salem, Mass. Nov. 12, 1799, dau. of
the Hon. William Prescott and his wife Catherine G. Hickling. Her oldest
brother was William Hickling Prescott, world famous historian.
Catherine Elizabeth Prescott m. Franklin Dexter, son of Hon. Samuel Dexter,
the eminent lawyer and statesman, Sept 28, 1819. He was born in 1793. After
receiving his academical and legal education, and taking a tour of Europe, he
established himself as a lawyer in Boston.
He early rose to distinction at the bar but it was not long before his mind
turned to what was refined and beautiful. To use his language of another,
"He loved letters more than law and art more than letters. He gave himself
more and more to the happiness of domestic life and to the product of art."
He died in 1857, aged 54 years.
Transcribed by Janice Farnsworth
1818. - JAMES BARBOUR died in Barboursville, Orange
County, Va., 7 November, 1857, aged 58. He was the eldest
son of the late Governor James Barbour, of Virginia, from
whom he inherited talents that would have distinguished him
in any walk of public life, but for a constitutional modesty,
which kept him in retirement. He was born in Orange county,
Va., 22 December, 1798. He graduated with distinction in a
class which exceeded in numbers any previous one which had
ever left the walls of Harvard. With strong literary tastes,
and a mind enlarged and improved by foreign travel, he pursued
the cultivation of polite learning in the intervals of leisure
afforded him in the management of a large plantation; and there
were few men of wider in-formNation or sounder scholarship in
the state.
In 1828, he accompanied his father to England,
where the late Gov. Barbour was sent as minister to that
country; and served as secretary-of-legation to the court of
George IV. Old enough to have seen some of the greatest
men in Virginia, in the unreserve of social intercourse, around
his father's fireside, his conversation was rich in reminiscences
of political and literary celebrities on both sides of the Atlantic,
and embraced personal anecdotes of Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison,
Mr. Monroe, Lafayette, Sir Walter Scott, and others: but
he never talked for effect; and so little pretension was there in
his manner, that a careless observer might have passed him by
as a person of ordinary powers. But, as soon as he engaged
with zest in the conversation of the moment, it was impossible
not to perceive that he was a very uncommon man. A volume
of his recollections would have been a great addition to the
department of literature which embraces the ana of distinguished
people.
1821. - Dr. OLIVER HUNTER BLOOD died in Worcester,
Mass., 8 April, 1858, aged 57. He was son of Thomas
Howard and Polly (Sawyer) Blood, and was born in Sterling,
Mass., 31 May, 1800. He was fitted for college by Rev.
Lemuel Capen, of Sterling (H.C. 1810). On leaving college,
he determined to become a physician, and pursued his professional
studies under the instruction of Dr. John Green, of Worcester
(B.U. 1804). Having received his degree of M.D.
in 1826, he began the practice of his profession
in Brookfield, Mass., where he remained two years. He then removed
to Worcester, where he resided during the remainder of his life.
He married Ellen Blake, daughter of Hon. Francis Blake, of
Worcester (H.C. 1789), and had eight children, four sons
and four daughters. One son died at the age of four years: his
other children, with his widow, survived him. Hie was a man of
small stature, but of great physical strength; and, on this account,
when in college he became the possessor of the huge herculean
club, which bore the significant name of the "Thundering
Bolus; " a weapon of formidable size, which, for many years,
was transmitted from class to class to the strongest member in
each. Dr. Blood was a man of social and genial disposition.
With a fund of ready wit always at command, he was ever a
welcome guest at the festive board. His name, originally, was
Oliver Blood: but, a short time before he entered college, he,
with some juvenile companions, went on a hunting expedition,
which was attended pith but indifferent success; and on their
return, merely out of sport, he assumed the name of Hunter,
quasi lucus a non lucendo,- which he ever after retained.
Possessed of the kindest feelings, and
of a most obliging disposition, he was greatly beloved,
not only by his family, but by the
community among whom he had so long lived.
1821. - WILLIAM FOSTER OTIS, of Boston, died in Versailles,
France, 29 May, 1858, aged 56. His disease was syncope of the heart."
His death was very sudden, he having been in perfect health until
about fifteen minutes before he breathed his last.
He left Boston on the 17th of June, 1857,
for Liverpool, and had been travelling in England and on the
Continent. The last winter he spent in Paris, and had been
about two weeks in Versailles at the time of his death. He
was the third son of Hon. Harrison Gray Otis (H.C. 1783) and
Sally (Foster) Otis; and was born in Boston, 1 December,
1801. He was fitted for college at the Public Latin School in
Boston. Having chosen the profession of law, he pursued
his legal studies with his eldest brother, Harrison Gray Otis,
jun. (H.C. 1811), and Augustus Peabody (D.C. 1803), of Boston.
On his admission to the bar, he established himself
in the practice of his profession in Boston. In early life he
took an active part in political and military affairs. He was an
officer in the New-England Guards; was a member of the
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1828; and was
commissioned as a major in the Boston regiment. He was
elected a representative to the legislature in 1830, and
was reelected the two following years. On the 4th of July, 1831, he
delivered an oration before the young men of Boston, which
excited much attention from the spirit of "Young America"
which he displayed in it; and which at that time, among the
older class, was deemed to be too much in advance of the age.
He early retired from public life and from the practice of his
profession, preferring the quiet of private life to political strifes
and forensic contests. He was a gentleman of polished manners,
affable in his deportment, and of unblemished moral character.
He was, for several years, president of the Young Men's
Temperance Society; was an active member of the Church of the
Advent in Boston, was a liberal contributor to its support, and,
at the time he left for Europe, was its senior warden. He
married, 18 May, 1831, Emily, daughter of Josiah Marshall,
Esq., a merchant of Boston. She was a lady of remarkable
personal beauty and accomplishments, which were exceeded
only by the goodness of her heart and the loveliness of her life.
She died, 17 August, 1836, at the early age of 29. Her death
was a severe affliction to her husband, from which he seemed
never to recover. He left two daughters. His only son died
24 October, 1848, at the age of 12 years.
1828.- FREDERIC DABNEY died in Fayal, Azores, 29 December, 1857, aged 48.
He was son of John Bass and Roxa (Lewis) Dabney, and was born in Fayal
(where his father resided as United-States consul for many years),
2 August, 1809. Hewas fitted for college, partly by Rev. Henry Colman
(D.C. 1805) at Brookline, and partly by Jacob Newman Knapp (H.C. 1802)
at Jamaica Plain, Mass. He was one of the youngest in his
class, and one of the most juvenile in appearance; he had
however, a manly deportment, which won from his associates
the love given to a younger brother, and the respect paid to an
equal.
He entered with great earnestness into the athletic
sports of the gymnasium (which were introduced during his
collegiate course); and was one of the most graceful and
skilful performers, especially in those exercises which require
agility rather than strength.
He was not ambitious of college distinctions, but was faithful
in the discharge of his duties; held a respectable rank in every department
of study, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his teachers.
Immediately after leaving college, he returned to Fayal, and engaged
in the mercantile business as a partner in the firm of which his father
was the senior member. There was his permanent residence; and
he led an active, useful, and happy life. He visited Boston a
few times, and spent some time in Europe, seeking the restoration
of impaired health. In 1835, while in England, he married Roxana
Stackpole, of Boston. His business, the duties of a wide hospitality,
his books, and his family, filled up his
time pleasantly and profitably.
His classmates, at their periodical meetings, occasionally
received an affectionate letter from him, in which tenderness
of feeling that comes with growing years was in touching
contrast with the boyish light-heartedness
of his college-life. He was greatly esteemed and valued in the
community in which he dwelt; and the general sense of the
loss sustained by his death was expressed in the most emphatic
manner, alike by native and foreign residents, by Catholics and
Protestants. He died of disease of the lungs. He had long
been in failing health, and was watched with much anxiety by
his family and friends; but his summons was at last sudden.
He took part in the Christmas festivities of his household, and
even dined with his family the day before his death; but, in his
enfeebled condition, a few hours of suffering sufficed to release
his spirit. He had ten children; five of whom, with his widow,
survived him.
1828. - Hon. JOHN JAMES GILCHRIST, of Charlestown,
N.H., died in Washington, D.C., 29 April, 1858, aged 49.
He was the eldest son of Capt. James and Susan (Wyman)
Gilchrist, and was born in Medford, Mass., 16 February, 1809.
His father was an active and enterprising shipmaster, sailing for
many years from the ports of Boston and Salem, in the China
and East-India trade; until, having acquired an ample competence,
he retired from a seafaring life, and removed with his
family from Medford, in February, 1822, to Charlestown,
N.H., where he had purchased a farm; and devoted himself to
agriculture until his death, which occurred 15 June, 1826. The
subject of this notice began his preparatory studies for college
under the instruction of Rev. Jaazaniah Crosby, D.D., of
Charlestown (H.C. 1804). He was afterwards sent to Medford,
and placed in the private academy of Mr. John Angier
(H.C. 1821), where he made such rapid progress, that,
although not intending, when he went there, to enter to an
advanced standing, he was enabled to pass a satisfactory
examination, and was admitted in 1825 to the sophomore class.
His conduct, while in college, was exemplary, and his character
unblemished. He was not ambitious for distinction, and his
course of studies was rather general than confined to the
requirements of a collegiate course; and therefore his rank in
his class, although always respectable, was not so high as he
might have attained. After leaving college, he began the study
of the law under the instruction of the late William Briggs, of
Charlestown (D.C. 1799), and completed his legal studies at
the Law School in Cambridge. On his admission to the bar, he
beg,an the practice of his profession in Charlestown. He rapidly
rose to distinction, and soon formed a business connection with
the late Gov. Henry Hubbard (D.C. 1803). He took a prominent
part in politics, and was early elected to offices of trust and
importance. He repeatedly represented Charlestown in the
legislature of New Hampshire, and was also elected solicitor of
Sullivan county.
In March, 1840, at the early age of thirtyone,
he was appointed an associate-justice of the Supreme
Court of New Hampshire. The ability with which he discharged
the duties of this high station developed the eminent
qualifications he possessed for the post to which he had been
elevated; and when, on the retirement of the Hon. Joel Parker (D.C.
1811) from the office of chief-justice, in June, 1848, he was
at once appointed his successor. This office he held until
March, 1855; when he resigned it to accept that of judge
of the United-States Court of Claims, to which he had been
appointed by President Pierce, and which he held at the time
of his death.
Judge Gilchrist was a man of ample and varied learning; a
clear and good reasoner; and, as a judge, quick, attentive, and
courteous. Apart from his judicial sphere, he was a great
lover of literature, and was thoroughly versed in the standard
works of England and his own country. In private life, he
was possessed of a genial, social, and cordial disposition,
seasoned with a fine sense of humor, and a keen perception of the
ludicrous, which rendered him an agreeable and entertaining
companion.
He married, 25 August, 1836, Sarah Dean Hubbard, daughter of
the late Gov. Hubbard, by whom he had two children, - a son
and a daughter, - who, with their mother, survived him; his
son being then a student of Harvard College.
In his domestic relations, as a son, husband, father, and
brother, he was all that could be wished. His house was the
home of hospitality; and his many friends who have been welcomed
at his board will recall with pleasure the many happy
hours passed in his society, with a melancholy regret "that they
shall see his face no more."
1832. - Hon. ALBERT HOBART NELSON, of Woburn, died
at the McLean Asylum in Somerville, Mass., 27 June, 1858,
aged 46. He was son of Dr. John and Lucinda (Parkhurst)
Nelson, and was born in Milford, Mass., 12 March, 1812. He
was fitted for college at Concord Academy. After leaving
college, he entered his name as a law-student in the office of the
Hon. Samuel Hoar, of Concord, Mass. (H.C. 1802); but soon
afterwards entered the Law School at Cambridge, where he
completed his studies, and was admitted to the degree of Bachelor of
Laws in 1837.
On his admission to the bar, he began the
practice of law in Concord, where he remained until
1841; when he removed to Woburn, which was his subsequent
home, although he had an office in Boston. He was a well-read lawyer,
a fine speaker, and a most pleasing, persuasiv~, and successful
advocate before a jury. He was much in public life. For several
years, he held the office of district-attorney for the counties
of Middlesex and Essex.
He was elected as a whig senator,
from Middlesex District, to the legislature in 1848 and 1849;
and in 1855 he was appointed one of the executive-council,
which station he resigned a few months afterwards, having
received the appointment of chief-justice of the Superior
Court. He continued his seat on the bench until the 6th of
March, 1858; when he was compelled to resign it in consequence
of ill health. Mental alienation ensued, which increased to such
a degree, that it became necessary to place him in the asylum for
the insane, at Somerville, where he remained until his death.
In the discharge of his duties as prosecuting-attorney, he was
candid and courteous. His elevation to the bench was entirely
satisfactory to the bar of Suffolk county; and the manner in
which he discharged the duties of the station evinced the
judicious decision of the executive in making the appointment.
His ample experience at the bar had made him familiar with the
rules of evidence and practice; and his
instinctive legal perceptions and quickness
of mind enabled him to decide promptly,
and generally correctly, the
questions that came before him.
To the town of Woburn the death of Judge Nelson was especially
a loss. He had done much for its interests, and with an
enthusiasm which showed that it came from the heart. Many
of the puiblic measures of the town for the last fifteen years bear
the impress of his mind and hand. It was by his efforts, more
than by those of any other individual, that the High Schoolan
institution that reflects the greatest lustre on the town, its
intelligence and generosity was established; and his memory
was appropriately honored at his funeral by the pupils of the
school, who came forth with sorrowful countenances to pay a
last sad tribute to the worth of their thoughtful benefactor.
Judge Nelson married, September, 1840, Elizabeth B.
Phinney, daughter of the late Elias Phinney, of Lexington
(H.C. 1801), clerk of the courts in Middlesex. His widow and
onre daughter survived him. He had one other child, a son, who
died in infancy.
1836. GEORGE MINOT died at his residence in Reading,
Mass., 16 April, 1858, aged 41. He was son of Hon. Stephen
(H.C. 1801) and Rebecca (Trask) Minot, and was born in
Haverhill, Mass., 5 January, 1817. His father was son of
Capt. Jonas Minot, of Concord, Mass., where he was born
28 September, 1776, and has been a lawyer in Haverhill. He
was appointed a judge of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas,
and held the office until 1820, when the law which created that
court was repealed. In 1824, he was appointed county-attorney
for Essex; which office he resigned in 1830. He died
6 April, 1861. Mr. Minot's mother was a daughter of Samuel
Trask, of Bradford, Mass., and deceased several years since.
He began to fit for college at Haverhill Academy, and concluded
his preparatory studies at Phillips Academy in Exeter, N.H.
Immediately after graduating, he entered the Law School in
Cambridge, where he remained two years; when he left, and
completed his legal studies in the office of the Hon. Rufus
Choate (D.C. 1819).
He was admitted to the Suffolk bar in
April, 1839; and immediately opened an office in Boston. He
rose rapidly to distinction, and soon attained an eminent rank
in his profession. Possessing a mind remarkably clear and logical,
his counsel was sought in cases, which, from their intricacy, required
great acumen, keen discernment, and a nice discrimination. But he was
more widely known by his editorial labors.
He was the careful and accurate editor of the "United States
Statutes at Large," during the last ten years. He also rendered
valuable assistance to the late Mr. Peters in the preparation
of the first eight volumes of the statutes published in
1848, the full and complete general-index of which was the
exclusive result of his labors. His name is also familiar to the
legal profession as associate-reporter of the decisions of the late
Judge Levi Woodbury in the first Circuit Court; and his edition
of the nine volumes of "English Admiralty Reports," republished
by Little, Brown, and Co., in 1854, bears evidence of
his industry and learning in this branch of his profession. In
1844, he edited the work which has made his name familiar to
every Massachusetts lawyer, -" The Digest of the Decisions of
the Supreme Court of this State," - to which he added a
supplement in 1852; and, until compelled by the state of his health
to lay aside his labors, he was intending to recast the entire
work, and, including the later reports, to make it more completely
useful to the profession, more just to his own reputation, and to
that of the court, whose learning and ability it would illustrate.
Mr. Minot was for many years solicitor of the Boston and
Maine Railroad Corporation. As such, he was called on to advise
in many very delicate and difficult controversies and deliberations;
and in all he was remarkable at once for honesty of
purpose, firmness, and discretion. Beyond his profession, he
read and speculated more variously and more independently than
most men of any profession. Elegant general literature; music,
of which, in its science and practice, he was a lover and master;
politics; theology, in its relations to a religion revealed in the
Bible, and to that philosophy which performs its main achievement
in conciliating faith with reason, -were his recreations. To
sacred music and poetry he devoted himself with fervor. He
loved especially the standard hymns and tunes of the church in
which the congregation united in public worship.
While in college, he was the organist of the chapel; and,
during most of his maturer years, he himself conducted
the sacred music of the religious society with which he worshipped.
In his religious belief, while he did not receive, as a whole, the
creed of any sect; he was sincere, earnest, catholic. He made the
Bible his constant study; he read and explained it in his house;
and his heart embraced, as his reason had acknowledged, its truths.
He married, first, in 1844, Mrs. Emily P. Ogle, widow of
Dr. Richard Ogle, of Demarara, an Englishman by birth. She
was the daughter of Dr. Gallup, formerly of Woodstock, Vt.,
but who resided many years at the Hague, Netherlands, where
he married Susan Maria Eversdyk, a Dutch lady, and where
this daughter was born. She died in Boston, 21 November,
1853; and Mr. Minot married, second, 12 December, 1854,
Elizabeth Dawes, daughter of Thomas Dawes (H.C. 1801),
a lawyer in Boston, and grand-daughter of Hon. Thomas
Dawes (H.C. 1777), who is well remembered by the elder
portion of the community as the learned judge successively of
the Probate, the Municipal, and the Supreme courts. He left
two children, - a son by his first wife, and a daughter by
his second wife.
As a citizen, many will bear testimony to his private virtues
and Ifis excellence in all the social relations. As a son, he was
all that could be desired, -attentive, respectful, and affectionate.
He was a loving and considerate husband, and the fondest father.
Yet he was judicious in the training of his son; and, with all his
numerous engagements, he never neglected giving him lessons of
wisdom and Christian counsel. His domestics and neighbors
loved as well as respected him; for he was kind to all. He
had important trusts reposed in him by friends and relations,
who knew their confidence in his ability and integrity could
never be shaken, or their hope in himin disappointed, excel)t by
death. Fidelity to the dictates of conscience was his ruling
principle of action. His faith in religion was firm, and attended
him through life, and shone forth in the perfect resignation with
which he bowed to the appointments of Heaven. He had all
that man could desire to render life attractive. Placed in
circumstances to warrant their liberal indulgence, he was happy
in the exercise of his benevolent sympathies and a generous
hospitality.
He had numerous beloved and loving relatives
and friends, a strong and vigorous intellect, and a heart
disposed to employ it in the service of his fellow-man and his
heavenly Father. Yet when the announcement was made,
which was very sudden and unexpected to him, a few days
previous to his death, that his life on earth was near its close,
hlie was enabled to say, "God's will be done!" He besought
his sorrowing friends around his bed to "trust in God, and all
would be well."
The funeral services of the deceased were conducted in the
church by three clergymen of different denominations: namely,
the Rev. William Barrows, his pastor, Trinitarian; the Rev.
Thomas Dawes, of South Boston, Unitarian; and the Rev.
Thomas Worcester, D.D., of Boston, of the New-Jerusalem
church. The organ at which he had so often presided was
richly draped in mourning in token of respect to his memory,
and the choir executed an appropriate chant as a parting
requiem.
1839. - Rev. AUGUSTUS RUSSELL POPE died in Somerville,
Mass., 24 May, 1858, aged 39. He was son of Lemuel and
Sally Belknap (Russell) Pope, and was born in Boston, 25
January, 1819. His father was for many years president of
the Boston Insurance Company, and died in Roxbury in 1851.
Mr. Pope pursued his preparatory studies for admission into
college, partly under the instruction of Mr. Daniel Greenleaf
Ingraham (H.C. 1809), and partly at the Boston Latin School.
Immediately after graduating he entered the Divinity School
in Cambridge, where he pursued his theological studies. He
was ordained pastor of the Unitarian church in Kingston,
Mass., 19 April, 1843, where he faithfully discharged his
ministerial duties until June, 1849; when he resigned his
pastoral charge, and his resignation was accepted on the 12th
of July following. On the 25th of November in the same year,
he was installed over the Unitarian church in Somerville.
Here he continued to labor with great acceptance to the people
of his charge until his death, with the exception of a few months,
about two years since, during which period he acted as state
agrent and lecturer for the Massachusetts Board of Education.
He was a man of great energy and industry. He possessed
talents well adapted to the profession he had chosen.
His personal character was adorned with Christian virtues, which made
him eminently useful as a minister, and beloved and respected
as a man by a large circle of acquaintances. He delivered many
lectures before conventions of teachers, for the Board of
Education, in which he displayed much ingenuity: one particularly,
on telegraphs, was highly commended. He was well versed in
physics, and had great talent for mechanics. He invented the
electrical apparatus to alarm the inmates of a house against
burglars. He edited or prepared the first "Educational Year
Book," and wrote many articles for the "Massachusetts Teacher."
His published works were:
1. Christian Union: a
Discourse preached before the First Congregational Society in
Kingston, 22 November, 1846.
2. Discourse commemorative of
the Life and Ministry of Rev. Zephaniah Willis, delivered before
the First Congregational Society in Kingston, 14 March, 1847.
3. Address at the Laying of the Corner-stone of the Free
High-school House, Somerville, 17 September, 1851.
4. An Address delivered at the Laying(r of the Corner-stone of a House
of Worship for the Allen-street Congregational Society in the
City of Cambridge, 25 September, 1851 (of which there were
two editions).
5. A Sermon before the First Congreg,ational
Society in Somerville, 4 July, 1852.
6. A Sermon on the Burning of the First Church in Somerville,
preached 25 July, 1852.
7. Agricultural Head-work: an Address delivered before the
Middlesex Agricultural Society, 30 September, 1856.
Mr. Pope married, 2 June, 1843, Lucy Ann, daughter
of Col. George and Mary Meacham, of Cambridge; by whom
he had four children, two sons and two daughters, who, with
their mother, survived him. An aged mother, of whose declining
years he was a dutiful supporter, also survived him.
1844. - FRANCIS LOWELL BATCHELDER, of Cambridge,
Mass., died at Hibernia, Fleming,'s Island, Fla. (whither he had
gone for the benefit of his health), 9 February, 1858, aged 32.
He was son of Samuel and Mary (Montgomery) Batchelder,
and was born in that part of Chelmsford which is now within the
limits of the city of Lowell, 2 April, 1825.
He was fitted for college at Thornton Academy in Saco, Me., where his
father's family resided for several years. On leaving college, he
entered the Law School at Cambridge, where he pursued his legal
studies, and received his degree of bachelor of laws in 1848.
He opened an office in Boston, and there practised his profession
during the remainder of his life, having his residence in
Cambridge. Of a modest and retiring disposition, he had
no ambition to gain distinction by forensic eloquence; but
devoted his attention to the business of conveyancing, a branch
in which hlie attained an honorable reputation; and no man could
say that he had not well done the part of a faithful servant.
Without pretension, without affectation or disguise, his numerous
and constantly increasing circle of friends were witnesses of his
simple and well-spent Christian life. Enemies he had none.
His tastes were refined and cultivated; and an ardent love
of music, in which he was a well-skilled amateur, always afforded an
agreeable relaxation to the routine of daily toil. He was a
zealous and faithful officer of the church to which he belonged,
and took a deep interest in all its concerns. He took no active
part in politics, but faithfully served in the common-council of
Cambridge in 1853 and 1854. He married, 2 December, 1851,
Susan Cabot Foster, of Cambridge, and had two children, a son
and a daughter, who, with his widow, survived him.
1846. - Dr. EDWARD MULLIKEN died in Montpelier, Vt.,
24 July, 1857, aged 30. He was son of Dr. Isaac Walter and
Alicia (Shepard) Mulliken, and was born in Stowe, Mass.,
21 January, 1827, where he resided until he was seven years of
age, when he removed with his father's family to Lowell. lie
resided in Lowell two years, when he removed to WValtham,
where he passed the remainder of the time until he entered
college, excepting one year when at school at Concord.
He was fitted for college at the school of Rev. Samuel Ripley,
of Walthamn (H.C. 1804). He began the study of medicine with Dr.
Daniel Adams, of Keene, N.H. (D.C. 1797), with whom, and
at Dartmouth, he remained one year. The subsequent two
years he studied at the University of New York, where, in 1850,
he received his degree of M.D. He was for some time the resident
physician at the Bellevue Hospital in New-York City. After
leaving New York, he practised his profession about two years
in Milford, Mass., when he removed to Waterbury, Vt., and
afterwards to Montpelier. At Waterbury, he formed an
acquaintance with Miss Elizabeth Robbins, an adopted daughter
of Gen. Robbins, to whom he was married a few months before
his death. Having enjoyed advantages equal to any the country
afforded, he improved them to the best advantage; was thoroughly
qualified for practice; and, had he lived, bid fair to
have attained to an eminent rank in his profession.
He was a well-read scholar in general literature; of fine taste,
and gentlemanly in his habits and manners. He had won for himself the
respect of all who knew him, and his early death was deeply
regretted by his friends and the community.
1850. - JOHN DAVID JONES died in New Orleans, La.,
30 November, 1857, aged 27. He was son of Jesse Rouble
and Rebecca (Ragan) Jones, and was born in Covington, La.,
21 April, 1830. His father was born on a plantation near
Richmond, Va., in October, 1787. An ancestor, the original
emigrant to this country, came firom Wales. His mother, who
was daughter of John and Susanna (Battelle) Ragan, was born
near Milledgeville, Ga., September, 1804. John Ragan was
of Irish origin, and the name was formerly written O'Ragan.
The first of the name settled in North Carolina. The subject
of this notice began to fit for college at home; and completed
his preparatory studies at an academy in Mandeville, La., under
Felix Macmanus. On leaving college, he entered the law
department of the University of Louisiana, where he graduated
in 1852, and, the same year, began the practice of law in
the Eighth Judicial District of the State of Louisiana, which he
continued with success until his death. His disease was yellow
jaundice. He was unmarried. He was a young gentleman of
upright character and generous disposition, with a promise
of a useful and honorable life. The information of his early
death was received with surprise and sorrow by his numerous
friends in this part of the country.
1854. - FREDERICK WHEELER died in Framingham, Mass.,
23 December, 1857, aged 25. He was the only son of Increase
Sumner (H.C. 1826) and Elizabeth A. M. Wheeler; was
born in Framingham, 20 April, 1832; and was fitted for college
at Phillips Exeter Academy. On leaving college, he began the
study of law with Hon. Charles Russell Train (B.U. 1837),
with whom he remained one year. He then entered the Law
School at Cambridge, and received his degree of bachelor of
laws at Commencement in 1857. While engaged in his
legal studies, his health became impaired, and in February,
1857, he sailed for Port au Prince; but, being wrecked on one
of the Bahama Islands, he abandoned the voyage, and returned
in March.
A writer in the "Christian Register" thus beautifully sketches
his subsequent life to the closing scene: Disease
rapidly developed', and assumed, finally, one of the several
forms of consumption. Every means which medical skill or
maternal love could devise to alleviate his pains was adopted;
and seldom has there been a more patient, uncomplaining sufferer.
It was while waiting to pass for dver away that the
strength and beauty of his character were fully manifested. In
his native town, at Exeter, at Cambridge, everywhere, he had
won the confidence of the persons with whom he mingled; and
those who knew him best loved him most. His air of manliness
(as manhood came), his outspoken sincerity, and his
regard for truth, have commanded the respect of persons even
whose opinions were unlike his own. Friends, who had carefully
noted his moral and intellectual development, had seen
that his sense of honor and views of honesty were those of a
Christian gentleman; that he gave promise of becoming a dignified
and eloquent advocate; that he would have borne to the
bar fertility of resource, keen insight, quick discrimination,
surpassing faithfulness to the interests of clients, and a judTgment
uncommonly mature; and that his ambition to' achieve distinction in
politics was founded on a knowledge of the constitutional
and political history of his country: but all this was for life.
M1ortal sickness and the torture of mortal pains came upon
him.
Those who ministered to his wants, saw him for death.
His preparation to depart! - who of those that witnessed it
will forget the spirit in which, amid intense bodily suffering, it
was finished? If the scenes of the last weeks of his life may
not be related here, it is still to be written, that, from the hour
his pastor at his request gave him the bread and wine of the
communion-supper until the silver cord of mortality was gently
loosed and its golden bowl was tenderly broken, his conversation
was on heaven and on the concerns of the soul. He did
indeed say of the body,'Let me sleep,'- such are his exact
words,-'let me sleep in my own native town, amid the scenes
of my childhood and riper years, within the sound of the music
of the bells which have so often summoned me to school and to
church. Let my last resting-place be in some quiet spot in that
beautiful grove which has so often been filled with my joyous
shout.
There, perhaps some friend who cherishes my memory
will drop a flower on my grave.' On the 26th of December, in
the first thick-falling, snow of winter, classmates laid his body
in the'quiet spot' he had asked; and, as the sabbath sun arose,
women who loved him went to the whitened mound, and placed
upon it a cross and crowns and wreaths of evergreen. And,
ere that sun went, down, there was still another offering; for
woman, too, had dropped the expected flower.'"
1787. - Rev. ABIEL ABBOT died in West Camnbridge,
Mass., 31 January, 1859, aged 93. He had been for several
years the onlvy survivor of his class; and, at the time of his
death, was the oldest surviving graduate of Harvard College.
He was the son of Deacon Abiel and Dorcas (Abbot) Abbot,
and was born in Wilton, N.H., 14 December, 1765. He was
a descendant of the sixth generation of George Abbot, the first
of the name who settled in this country. HIis father was a
highly respectable man, was a zealous patriot, and major of
a regiment during the Revolution; and, though originally a
cooper by trade, he was chiefly occupied in farming. He was
remarkable for industry, equanimity, integrity, public spirit,
and benevolence.
Mr. Abbot was the eldest of twelve children,
two of whom died ini infancy. Three of the sons graduated
at Harvard College,- Abiel, the subject of this sketch: Jacob,
born 7 January, 1768; graduated in 1792; was ordained at
Hampton Falls, N.H., 15 August, 1798; resigned in 1827;
afterwards removed to Windham, N.H., where he was drowned
in a pond, 2 November, 1834, while returning from divine service:
Samuel, born 3 March, 1786; graduated in 1808; studied
law; practised for several years in Dunstable, N.H.,
and Ipswich, Mass.; retired from the bar in 1818;
removed to Wilton, and engaged with his brother in the
manufacture of potatostarch on a large scale; and on the
2d of January, 1839, was burnt to death in a starch-mill,
which he had been instrumental in establishing, in Jaffray, N.H.
Mr. Abbot's advantages of education in his earliest years were
very small; being taught chiefly by untaught teachers. When he
was fourteen years old, he began to study Latin under the
instruction of Rev. Abel Fiske, of Wilton (H.C. 1774).
In November, 1780, he was admitted to Phillips Academy, in Andover,
under the preceptorship of Mr. (afterwards Rev.) Eliphalet
Pearson (IH.C. 1773), where he remained until July, 1783,
when he entered college. A few months after graduating, he
was appointed assistant of Mr. Ebenezer Pemberton (N.J.
1765), the principal of Phillips Academy; where he remained
until July, 1789, on a salary of sixteen shillings per
week.
Immediately on leaving the academy, he began the
study of theology. He remained at Andover, and prosecuted
his studies chiefly by himself, with the aid of books from the
library of the Rev. Jonathan French (H.C. 1771), and also
from the town library. In June, 1790, he was approbated by
the Andover Association as a candidate for the ministry, and
preached for the first time at Amesbury, Mass. After preachinmg
successively at Kensington, N.H., Gardner, Mass., and
Cambridge, he was employed, in June, 1791, as a missionary in
the district of Maine, in connection with Rev. Daniel Little,
known as "the Apostle of the East," under the patronage of
the Society for Propagating the Gospel. He continued in
missionary labor for five months; and, notwithstanding the
privations and sacrifices incident to that kind of work, his time
generally passed very pleasantly. After completing
his missionary tour, he preached, in 1792, in several places,
as in Nelson, Greenfield, and Peterborough, N.H.; but in none
of them were the people prepared for a settlement.
In February, 1793, hepreached at Middleton, Mass. In April,
went to Penobscot,and preached there and at Castine until November.
He was invited to settle in Castine, but declined the invitation.
In December, he preached for a few Sundays in West Newbury,
after the removal of Rev. David Tappan (H.C. 1771) to
be Profbssor of Divinity in Harvard College. In January,
1794, he was appointed tutor in Greek at Cambridge, where he
remained one year, preaching occasionally for the neighboring
clergy, and also supplying the pulpit in Newbury and Malden.
In January, 1795, he went to Coventry, Conn., on an invitation
to preach there as a candidate.
He officiated eight Sundays, and was requested to return,
but declined, as he concluded that the prevailing theological
views were much more Calvinistic than his own, and that he
should probably find little sympathy if he were to become
associated with them.
In May, 1795, he preached for several Sundays in Milford, N.H.
In June, at theurgent request of the people of Coventry, he returned
to that place to preach as a candidate. In August, he received an
unanimous call of the church and society to become their pastor.
After considerable hesitation, from an apprehension that his
views were not sufficiently in accordance with those of his
brethren around to warrant the expectation of so peaceable a
ministry as he desired, he accepted the invitation, and was
ordained 28 October, 1795. There he labored faithfully, and
with a good degree of acceptance, until about 1806, when some
suspicions in regard to his Orthodoxy began to be excited, and
several members felt themselves called upon to interrogate him
directly upon the subject. The result was, that their suspicions
were confirmed, and things were forthwith put in train for his
ultimate separation from his charge; but no effective measures
were taken until 1809, when a meeting of the church was
called, at which Mr. Abbot was invited to be present, for the
purpose of ascertaining his peculiar views, and the points of
difference between them. But it resulted in nothing that was
satisfactory.
In June, 1810, there was another similar meeting,
and the result was alike unsatisfactory.
Finally, on the 16th of April, 1811, a convocation of his old
neighbors and friends (the pastors and messengers of Tolland county)
assembled, and, with great unanimity, solemnly decreed that he had
forfeited both his parish and office; and that he was severed
from his people, and deposed from the ministry. He had committed
the old Protestant sin of regarding the Scriptures as the
only standard of faith, and refusing to express his religious
sentiments in the manner prescribed by men. Being subjected to
scrutiny, he was found upon certain difficult points to differ in
opinion from a portion of his society, including chiefly the
church, as distinct from the congregation. He would not take
the words set down for him. He would not stretch to the full
length of the procrustean bed on which he was laid. Neither
Mr. Abbot nor the parish acknowledged the validity of the
sentence, or the jurisdiction of the court; and accordingly he
continued to occupy the pulpit as usual, though he and they
soon afterwards joined in calling another council from
Massachusetts, which assembled on the 6th of June following,
reviewed the whole case, and declared Mr. Abbot's relation to his
people unaffected by the decision of the consociation: nevertheless,
in view of the peculiar circumstances, they concluded
that his interests, and the interests of the parish, required that
his pastoral relation should be dissolved. In August following,
Mr. Abbot published a statement of his difficulties at Coventry,
which was subsequently replied to by the Association of Tolland
county, in a pamphlet said to have been written by Dr. Bassett,
of Hebron.
The General Association of Connecticut, which assembled in June,
took notice of the matter, by request of the Tolland Association,
and made a report on the subject, of considerable length.
About the 1st of September, Mr. Abbot left Coventry,
went to Byfield, Mass., and took charge of Dummer Academy.
Here he continued seven years and a half. In April, 1819,
removed to North Andover, and settled on a farm, which he
superintended for some time. In May, 1824, he 5-emoved to
Chelmsford, wvhere he and his daughter Sarah had a school.
After remaining there two years and a half, he left in the
autumn of 1826, and removed to Wilton.
During his residence at Byfield, Andover, and Chelmsford,
he often supplied for the neighboring ministers, and occupied
the pulpit of North Andover for several months in succession.
While at Wilton he lived on his farm, and superintended it.
In March, 1827, he went to preach at Peterborough, in the
pulpit rendered vacant by the recent dismission of the Rev.
Elijah Dunbar ((I.C. 17.4). About the first of May he received a call,
which he accepted, and was installed 27 June. Here he continued to,
discharge regularly the duties of his office until March, 1839. when,
on account of a bronchial infection, he found it necssary to
a retire fromn the active duties of the ministry. He, however,
retained a nominal relation as pastor until September, 1818;
when, on the settlement of a new pastor, he thought best,
from considerations of delicacy, not to retain any longer even
a nominal pastoral relation. For some years after he ceased to preach
regularly, he occasionally supplied pulpits in the neighborhood,
though for several of the last years he did not undertake any public
service.
About four years before his death, he left Peterborough,
and resided with his grandson, Rev. Samuel Abbot Smith
(H.C. 1849), in West Cambridge.
He married, 19 May, 1796, Elizabeth Abbot, daughter of
Capt. John and Abigail Abbot, of Andover, by whom he had
three children, all daughters: 1. Elizabeth, born 22 May, 1798;
married, 1822, Rev. John Abbot Douglass, of Waterford, Me.
(Bowd. C. 1814); died 12 October, 1823. 2. Abigail, born 17
October, 1799, who survived her father. 3. Sarah Dorcas,
born 22 June, 1801; married, 1828, Samuel G. Smith, of
Peterborough, who died 9 September, 1842, aged 43. She
died 11 June, 1831. Dr. Abbot's wife died 6 April, 1853.
Dr. Abbot was a man gifted with fine talents, was an able
writer, and a very popular preacher. In 1838, the honorary
degree of doctor of divinity was conferred upon him by Harvard
College. His domestic life was most happy and affectionate,
and he pursued the even tenor of his way in all modesty,
gentleness, and meekness. But the noble and heroic elements were
also largely developed in his character.
He lived a life of unsullied integrity, extended far beyond the
usual period allotted to man; and at last departed to receive the
reward of a good and faithful servant.
The following is a list of Dr. Abbot's publications: 1. A
Sermon at North Chelmsford, 4 July, 1825; 2. Right Hand of
Fellowship at Canterbury; 3. Statement of the Coventry Case;
4. Address before the Essex Agricultural Society; 5. History of
Andover; 6. Genealogy of the Abbot Family.
1788. - Dr. WILLIAM SAWYER died in Boston, 18 April,
1859, aged 88. He was the last survivor of his class, and after
the death of Rev. Abiel Abbot, D.D., mentioned above, was
the oldest surviving graduate of the college. He was son of
Dr. Micajah (H.C. 1756) and Sybil (Farnham) Sawyer, and
was born in Newburyport, Mass., 1 February, 1771. His
father, who was an eminent physician, was born in Newbury,
15 July, 1737; and died 29 September, 1815, at the age of 78
years. His mother was daughter of Daniel Farnham, Esq.
(Hi.C. 1739), a highly respectable lawyer in Newburyport, who
was a native of York, Me., and died May, 1776, aged 56. Dr.
Sawyer was fitted for college at Dummer Academy, in Newbury.
After graduating, he studied medicine with his father, and
practised for a few years; but, finding the profession not suited
to his taste, he relinquished it; and near the close of the last
century he removed to Boston, where he engaged in mercantile
business, having formed a copartnership with the late Thomas
Wigglesworth (H.C. 1793), under the firm of Sawyer and
Wigglesworth, at No. 69, Long Wharf.
This partnership was dissolved about six years afterwards.
Dr. Sawyer continued in business by himself at the same place
a short time, and then went to Europe, where he resided
several years.
He returned to Boston about 1817, and resumed business. He was
very successful, and acquired an ample fortune. He retired from
active business about twenty-five years before his death, and
passed the last years of his life almost constantly in reading:
and the kind of reading that occupied him was really surprising;
that is to say, it was hard reading, for an invalid. He especially
delighted in works on astronomy; and he talked more on
that than on almost any other subject. Newton's Life, Sir John
Hierschel's and Prof. Nicol's Works were on his table; and
Hume's too, which he was reading through. But, in alluding
to lHume's, he said, " When I came to the part on miracles, I
passed it over, thinking I had no more faith than I wanted."
A friend carried to him Evelyn's Diary, as an amusing book for
an invalid. The next time this friend saw him, he said, " Is it
not remarkable that Evelyn should not have said a word about
Sir Isaac Newton, living at the same time?" And then he
talked at length of Newton, and ended with saying, what he
often said, " He was the greatest man that has ever lived since
Jesus Christ." Dr. Sawyer was a man of great modesty, of a
sensitive delicacy of nature, and, from these causes, very re
served. But his tenderness and disinterestedness in more intimate
relations were well known to those nearest him. Yet he
shrank from any praise or expressions of gratitude which were
offered to him; saying, " Let that matter rest." He was never
married.
1794. - Rev. ISAAC BRAMAN died in Georgetown, Mass.,
26 December, 1858, aged 88. lIe was son of Sylvanus and
Experience (Blanchard) Braman, and was born in Norton,
Mass., 5 July, 1770. He was fitted for college by Dr. Samuel
Morey, of Norton (Y.C. 1777), and Mr. Stephen Palmer
(H. C. 1789), afterwards minister of Needham, Mass.
He graduated with high honors; and, for several years before his
death, he was the only survivor of his class. After leaving college,
he studied for the ministry with Rev. Jason Haven, of
Dedham, Mass. (H.C. 1754), and Rev. Pitt Clark, of Norton
(H.C. 1790). He was ordained, 7 June, 1797, pastor of the
Second Parish in Rowley, then called New Rowley, and since
incorporated into a town by the name of Georgetown. Hie was
successor of Rev. James Chandler (H.C. 1728), who died 19
April, 1789, at the age of 83 years, and in the 58th year of his
ministry. The parish was without a settled minister for nine
years, and Mr. Braman was the last of sixty-four candidates
who preached there on probation. He continued pastor of this
society until his death,- a period of more than sixty-one years,
-discharging the duties of his profession with great fidelity, and
to the entire acceptance of his people, until 1842; when, on
account of the infirmities of age, it was deemed necessary that
he should be relieved from a portion of his labors; and, in
December of that year, the Rev. Enoch Pond (Bowd. C. 1838)
was ordained as colleague-pastor with him. Mr. Pond died in
1846; and in February, 1847, Rev. John Moore Prince (Bowd.
C. 1841) was ordained as his successor, and continued until
November, 1857, when he resigned.
His last colleague and successor is Rev. Charles Beecher
(Bowd. C. 1834). Mr. Braman was a man of great originality
of mind, and his sermons evinced deep thought and profound
reflection.
He married, August, 1797, Hannah Palmer (born 12 June; 1773),
youngest daughter of Rev. Joseph Palmer, of Norton (H.C.
1747). They had five children: viz.,
1. Harriet, born 17 July, 1798; married Rev. John Boardman
(D.C. 1817), minister in Douglass, Mass.
2. Milton Palmer, born 6 August,
1799 (H.C. 1819); now minister of the First Church in Danvers, Mass.
3. James Chandler, born 29 September, 1801;
died at sea (on his passage from Calcutta for Salem, seventy-five
days out), 5 December, 1820.
4. Adeline, born 10 July, 1805; died 10 September, 1830.
5. Isaac Gordon, born 12 March, 1813; is a physician in Brighton,
Mass. Mr. Braman's wife died 14 August, 1835, aged 62; and he married for
his second wife, in 1837, Sarah Balch, daughter of John Balch, Esq., of New-
buryport. She survived him.
1795.- FRANCIS JOHONNOT OLIVER died in Middletown,
Conn., 21 August, 1858, aged 80 years. He was son of
Ebenezer and Susannah (Johonnot) Oliver, and was born in
Boston, 10 October, 1777. His father was a merchant in
Boston, was for many years a selectman, and was warden of King's
Chapel. He died 14 December, 1826, aged 74. His mother
died 24 August, 1839, aged 84. Mr. Oliver was fitted for
college at the public Latin School in Boston. After
leaving college, he entered as an apprentice the counting-room of Joseph
Coolidge, Esq., for the purpose of qualifying himself for the
mercantile profession. In 1798, when a war was threatened
between this country and France, he was among the young men
of Boston who addressed the elder Adams, offering their services.
He read the president's response in Fanenil Hall, and was the
first to follow the injunctions of the president: "To arms, then,
my young friends; to arms!" About the same time, the Boston
Light-Infantry Company was organized, in which he took a
prominent part, and was elected the first ensign. He began
business in Boston as a merchant in 1805, and established
himself at No. 45, Long Wharf. In 1813, he entered into
copartnership with Cornelius Coolidge (H.C. 1798), under the style of
Cornelius Coolidge and Co. This partnership was dissolved four
years afterwards.
On the 13th of June, 1818, the American
Insurance Company, in Boston, was incorporated, and
Mr. Oliver was elected its first president. This office he continued
to hold until the autumn of 1835, when he resigned it, and was
elected president of the City Bank, where he continued by
successive re-elections until 1840; when he removed to Middletown,
and there passed the remainder of his life. He was elected a
representative to the legislature in 1822 and 1823; and was
a member of the Boston common-council in 1823, 1824, 1825,
and 1828, and was its president in 1824 and 1825. In all these
stations, he discharged their various duties with the strictest
fidelity and integrity. In his political principles, he was an
ardent federalist; and being a gentleman of fine personal
appearance, great suavity of manner, and fluency of speech, he
was often called upon to preside at public meetings and political
caucuses.
He married (first) Mary Caroline, daughter of Richard Alsop,
of Middletown; and had issue: Mary Caroline, who died in infancy;
Francis Eben, who entered Harvard College, but left
in his senior year on account of his health, and died in London,
May, 1850, in his 37th year; Mary Alsop, who married Joseph
W. Alsop, merchant of New York; Richard Alsop, who died in
infancy; and Susan Heard. His wife died 29 August, 1819,
aged 28; and he married (second) Mary Charlotte, daughter of
Ebenezer Jackson, of Middletown (formerly of Newton, Mass.),
by whom he had Caroline Alsop and George Stuart Johonnot:
the latter graduated at Harvard College in 1851.
Mr. Oliver was a gentleman of unblemished moral character,
and was for many years a warden of King's Chapel in Boston.
1796. - Rev. JAMES KENDALL died in Plymouth, Mass.,
17 March, 1859, aged 89. He was the youngest son of Major
James and Elizabeth (Mason) Kendall, and was born in Sterling,
Mass., 3 November, 1769. His mother was a native of Lexington,
Mass.
In some reminiscences of his own life, written at the age of 84,
he describes her as "a sensible and pious woman, of a strong mind,
and a kind and generous heart; discreet and faithful in the discharge
of all the relative duties of life:" and adds, that "her children were
greatly indebted to her for their youthful training, and their early
religious impressions." He pursued his preparatory
studies under the instruction of was nearly fitted to enter
college at the age of 14: but an affection of his eyes, caused
by a too close application to the study of Greek in the evening,
obliged him, for several years to give up the hope of obtaining a
liberal education.
From that time until the age of 21, he worked upon his father's farm
in the summer; and, when old enough, taught school in the
winter. During that period, in which he was accumulating a
capital of physical health to secure a life of such remarkable
vigor, even to his ninetieth year, his eyes recovered their
strength; and, gladly returning to his studies, he was prepared
to enter college in 1792. In his collegiate course, he defrayed
a large portion of his expenses by his own exertions, by teaching
school in vacation, and by other services in term-time.
In his reminiscences, he says, "It is some satisfaction to me, in
looking back to this period of my life as an undergraduate, to
remember that I had no mark for delinquency in college exercises,
unnecessary absences, or any misdemeanor." He held a
high rank as a scholar, and graduated with the second honors
of his class; the late Dr. Leonard Woods, of Andover, having
the first. Immediately after leaving college, he was appointed
assistant teacher in Phillips Academy at Andover, of which
Mr. Mark Newman (D.C. 1793) was then the principal.
Here he passed two years; at the same time pursuing his
theological studies under the direction of Rev. David Tappan,
D.D. (H. C. 1771), then Professor of Divinity in Harvard
College, and Rev. Jonathan French (H.C. 1771>, minister of
the Second Church in Andover. He was approbated to preach
by the Andover Association in 1798. In that year, he was
appointed tutor in Greek in the college, and removed to
Cambridge, where he still continued his theological studies
with the advice and aid of Dr. Tappan.
He resigned his tutorship in
1799. During his residence in Andover, he had occasionally
preached there and in the vicinity. While he lived in
Cambridge, he preached more frequently; and for a short time
supplied the pulpit of the First Church in Boston, and the First
Church in Quincy. IHe first preached at Plymouth on the
second Sunday in October, 1799; and, having preached for
four Sundays, on the 4th of November, 1799, he was invited to
become the minister of that ancient parish. His answer of
acceptance was given on Thanksgiving-Day of that year; and
he was ordained 1 January, 1800. He was the sole pastor of
the society for thirty-eight years. On the 3d of January,
1838, the infirmities of age having begun to come upon him,
the Rev. George Ware Briggs (B.U. 1825) was ordained as
his colleague; where he continued until 15 December, 1852.
Rev. Henry Lewis Myrick was his colleague from 21 September,
1853, to 21 September, 1854; and Rev. George S. Ball
from 8 April, 1855, to 8 April, 1857. On the 5th of January,
1859, Rev. Edward Henry Hall (H.C. 1851) was ordained as his
colleague, and is now sole pastor of the society.
After the settlement of a colleague, Dr. Kendall
preached frequently, for a number of years, in his own
pupit; in the pulpits of those with whom he was accustomed
to exchange; and in comparatively distant places, during several
journeys into various parts of the country. He preached his
semi-centennial sermon, 3 January, 1850.
He never took a formal leave of the
pulpit, and never wished to bid it farewell. He preached for
the last time on Thanksgiving-Day, November, 1857. One of
his last public services was at the ordination of his associate
minister on the 5th of January, 1859. Hie stood in his pulpit
again to offer a fervent prayer at the close of the first services
of the same pastor on Sunday, 9 January; and yet once more
to take the same part at the close of service, Sunday, 17 January;
and then his public ministry was ended. He was connected with
his parish nearly twenty years longer than any of
his predecessors. He was a man of peace, order, integrity,
faith, and devotion.
It is one of the strongest proofs of his
true piety, that during a period of more than fifty years, when
children have been born around him to grow up to mature age,
and in their turn to be surrounded by children and grandchildren,
amongst them all, no one was known to have breathed a
word derogatory to him as a Christian or a man. Genial and
cheerful, he enjoyed every bright hour: humble and trustful
toward his God, he met submissively the discipline of sorrows.
His experiences were the varied ones of the lot of humanity;
and he accepted and used them with the conscientious purpose
to be obedient to the truth, and loyal to duty.
Many have seen him in his hospitable home; many have seen him in the
street, moving with the steady step of a true man; many have
seen him at their firesides, as the visitor, the adviser, and
consoler; many have seen him in the church, and listened to his
honest discourse, and his prayers of singular richness and
fervor: and, of all these, many will hold him in remembrance
as one they trusted, and affectionately revered. In 1825, the
honorary degree of doctor of divinity was conferred upon him
by Harvard College.
He married, first, June, 1800, Sarah Poor, daughter of Deacon
Daniel Poor, of Andover, by whom he had six children; of whom
one died at birth, another at the age of thirteen days,
and another at three years of age: the remaining three survived
him. She died 13 February, 1809, in the thirty-third year of her
age: He married, second, 17 June, 1810, Sally Kendall, daughter
of Deacon Paul Kendall, of Templeton, Mass., who also was the mother
of six children, five of whom survived him: the other died at
Madison, Wis., 9 March, 1853, in the thirty-fifth year of his
age.
She died 5 February, 1845, at the age of 65. She was
a very intelligent person, - of great strength and loveliness of
character. In his reminiscences, Dr. Kendall says, "I have
been singularly favored in my domestic relationships. Although
not exempt from the trials and changes to which every man of
my ag,e, and at the head of a large family, is destined in an
earthly life, I cannot be sufficiently thankful to the Father of
an infinite mercy for the comfort, satisfaction, and consolation
I have enjoyed during the whole period of my connection with
a family." His first wife he describes as "a person of an amiable
disposition, faithful and affectionate as a wife, and tender
and devoted as a mother." Of his last wife he says, " She was
a person of great discretion, sound judgment, and of a pure
and pious mind. Like her Divine Master, she was made perfect
through suffering."
The following is a list of Dr. IKendall's
publications, with the dates of their delivery:
1. Discourse upon
the Character of Washington, delivered at the request of the
Town of Plymouth, 22 February, 1800.
2. Sermon on the
Death of Mrs. Jane Robbins, 21 September, 1800.
3. Sermon
on the Death of Col. George Watson, 14 December, 1800.
4. Sermon on the Death of Rev. David Tappan, D'.D., 4 September, 1803.
5. Sermon at the Ordination of Rev. Caleb
Holmes, at Dennis, 2 January, 1805.
6. Sermon before the
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, 2 June, 1806.
7. Sermon before the Society for propagating the Gospel among
the Indians, 7 November, 1811.
8. Sermon before the Humane
Society, 8 June, 1813.
9. Sermon at the Ordination
of Rev. Oliver Hiaywood at Barnstable, 8 November, 1815.
10. Sermon in the Liberal Preacher" for March, 1828, on
Man's Accountableness to his Creator, and a Future Retribution.
11. Sermon at the Ordination of Rev. Hersey B. Goodwin, at Concord,
Mass., 17 February, 1830.
12. Sermon at
the Ordination of his Son, Rev. James A. Kendall, at Medfield, Mass.,
10 November, 1830.
13. Charge at the Ordination of Rev. Chandler Robbins as Minister of the
Second Church, Boston, 4 December, 1833.
14. Sermon on the Wreck of the Brig "Regulator," 14 February, 1836.
15. Semicentennial Sermon, 1 January, 1850.
1799. - PARKER CLEAVELAND died in Brunswick, Me.,
15 October, 1858, aged 78. He was son of Dr. Parker and
Elizabeth (Jackman) Cleaveland, and was born in Rowley
(Byfield Parish), Mass., 15 January, 1780. His father was
son of Rev. John Cleaveland, and was born in Chebacco, parish
of Ipswich, which is now the town of Essex, Mass. Rev. John
Cleaveland entered Yale College; and, when in his senior year,
he was, with another, expelled for emrnbracing the doctrine of tile
New Lights." Prof. Cleaveland's father was fitted for college;
but the war broke out, and he relinquished his intention
of obtaining a collegiate education, studied medicine, became a
surgeon in the revolutionary army, and was stationed at Cambridge.
Prof. Cleaveland was fitted for college at Dummer
Academy, in Newbury, Mass., under Rev. Isaac Smith (H.C.
1767).
He taught school in Boxford, Mass., in his sophomore
year, and in Burlington or Wilmington, Mass., in his junior
year. Immediately after his graduation, he entered, as a law
student, the office of Ichabod Tucker, of Haverhill, Mass. (H.C.
1791), where he remained one year. In the middle of the
year 1800, he began teaching a school at York, Me.; and, at
the same time, was clerk in the officee of Daniel Sewall, Esq.,
the clerk of the Supreme Court; was with him at the
courts, and continued the study of law. Here he remained
until the autumn of 1803; when he was appointed tutor in
mathematics at Harvard College, which office he held until
Conmencement in 1805, when he resigned it in consequence of
having received an invitation to fill a professorship in Bowdoin
College, which he accepted; and he was installed, 23 October,
1805, as professor of mathematics and natural philosophy; the
college then having been in operation but a single year. The
duties of this professorship, together with those of lecturer on
chemistry and mineralogy, he discharged with distinguished
ability until 1828, when it was deemed expedient to separate
the departments of mathematics and natural philosophy, and
establish a distinct professorship of chemistry and mineralogy.
Mr. William Smyth, the distinguished professor of mathematics,
was raised to that department, and Mr. Cleaveland was installed
in the new professorship of chemistry, mineralogy, and natural
philosophy. This position he occupied until his death, having
acquired a world-wide reputation, and a success seldom attained
by a scientific instructor. He was thus connected with the college
for a period of fifty-three years, during which he devoted
the whole powers of his mind and the energy of his body to the
advancement of his favorite studies; and no man in the country
has done more to inspire a passion and create an interest and
knowledge of the details of the sciences which he taught. He
spent six hours a day in his laboratory, recitation and lecture
room, and was frequently engaged for sixteen of the twenty-four
hours. The college never bought any minerals. James Bowdoin gave
about five hundred specimens: the rest have been
collected either by Prof. Cleaveland's personal labor, or by the
exchange of specimens which he obtained, and they now amount
to upwards of seven thousand. He became widely known in
the United States, in Great Britain, and on the continent of
Europe, by his great work on mineralogy and geology, which
he published in 1816, in one volume, and in 1822, a second
edition, in two volumes. He had contemplated publishing a
third edition; but his eyesight, which had failed by incessant
application, deprived him of the honor, and the world of the
benefit, of his increased learning and experience from the
proposed work.
His high reputation as a lecturer is spread all over the
country by a succession of graduates of the college, who will
transmit the praise of his learning and eloquence, and will rise
up with one accord, and bless his name and memory.
On the 9th of August, 1809, Mr. Cleaveland was elected a
member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; on
the 9th of September, 1814, a corresponding member of the
Academy of National Sciences at Philadelphia; on the 17th of
April, 1818, a member of the American Philosophical Society
at Philadelphia; on the 10th of November, the same year, an
honorary member of the Literary and Philosophical Society of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne; on the 30th of January, 1819, an honoary
member of the Mineralogical Society at Jena; on the 4th of
October, the same year, an honorary member of the Mineralogical
Society of Dresden; on the 26th of April, 1823, a
member of the Society of Natural Science at Halle, in Germany;
on the 16th of December of the same year, a member
of the Mineralogical Society of St. Petersburg; on the 11th
of June, 1834, an honorary member of the Literary and
Historical Society at Quebec. He was also a fellow of the
WVernerian Society at Edinburgh, and the Geological Society of
London; and was for many years the corresponding secretary
of the Maine Historical Society. In 1824, the honorary degree
of doctor of laws was conferred upon him by Bowdoin College.
Mr. Cleaveland married, 9 September, 1806, Martha,
daughter of Levi and Martha (Ball) Bush, of Boston, she
being then but nineteen years old; and they had issue: First,
Moses Parker, born 6 July, 1807 (Bowd. C. 1827); married,
21 October, 1834, Martha Richardson, of Duxbury, Mass.,
and settled as a physician in Natick, Mass., where he died
7 October, 1840. Second, James Bowdoin, born 17 January,
1809 (Bowd. C. 1828); settled as a lawyer at Passadumkeag,
Me.; married, 13 March, 1834, Lucinda P. McKinney, of
Gray, Me.; and died in 1854. Third, George, born 22 September,
1810; and died 11 May, 1811. Fourth, Martha Ann
Bush, born 16 July, 1812; married, 30 November, 1837,
Hon. Peleg, Whitman Chandler, of Boston (Bowd,. C. 1834).
Fifth, Elizabeth Abigail, born 4 September, 1814; married,
16 November, 1847, George W. Woodhouse, of Dover, N.H.
Sixth, Mary Ackley, born 27 September, 1816. Seventh,
John Appleton, born 29 March, 1819 (Bowd. C. 1840);
married, 31 December, 1844, Catharine Alexander, of Brunswick.
Eighth, Nathan Smith (Bowd. C. 1840), is a druggist
in Brunswick.
In private life, Professor Cleaveland was universally respected
for his unblemished moral character, his genial and affable
disposition as a husband, a father, and a friend, and as a
publicspirited and generous citizen. Hlis wife died about 1852.
1802. - SOLOMON KIDDER LIVERMORE died in Milford,
N.H., 10 July, 1859, aged 80. He was the youngest son of
Rev. Jonathan (H.C. 1760) and Elizabeth (Kidder) Livermore,
and was born in Wilton, N.H., 2 March, 1779. His father
was born in Northborough, Mass., 7 December, 1739; was
ordained at Wilton, 14 December, 1768; resigned his pastoral
relation, February, 1777; and died in Wilton, 20 July, 1809,
aged 69. His mother was a native of lillerica, Mass.
Mr. Livermore was fitted for college at Mr. Pemberton's academy in
Billerica, and entered the sophomore class in 1799. He graduated
with a high reputation for scholarship in a class famed for
eminent talent. After leaving college, he taught the grammarschool
in Cambridge for one season. Having chosen the profession of law,
he pursued his preparatory studies in the office
of Oliver Crosby, Esq., of Dover, N.H. (H.C. 1795).
On his admission to the bar, he opened an office in Dover, where he
practised for a short time; but, in 1807, he removed to Milford,
where he resided during the remainder of his life, pursuing the
practice of the profession until he attained the age of 70 years,
when he relinquished it, although he continued to transact
business relating to the settlement of estates for his neighbors until
near the end of his life. He was held in high estimation by the
citizens of the town where he passed so large a portion of his life,
who all regarded him as an honest man, and a sincere, devoted
Christian, whom no temptation, no motives of self-interest, could
turn from the straightforward path of duty. In the whole
course of his long life, not a stain dimmed the pure lustre of his
character for integrity. Having no ambition for political office or
power, his extensive attainments did not achieve so wide a reputation
as they might have won.
Except when the merited confidence of his townsmen selected him to
represent them in the state legislature, he uniformly declined to
become a candidate for office; and yet no man was more strongly
sensible of the grave duties of an American citizen than he.
He was a devoted student of the Bible; and its pure precepts seemed
to have stamped their own beauty upon his life, his thoughts, and
his conduct. Far more anxious to promote the good of others than his
own interest, he always endeavored to bring to an amicable adjustment
the controversies among his neighbors. No one had a more generous
heart or a more open home than he; and neither his benevolence
nor his public spirit was ever appealed to in vain. His death
wvas in harmony with his life. In the caln, still beauty of a
bright summer's Sunday, in the quiet of his home, with its
familiar and beloved objects and associations, the hymn of divine
praise scarcely cold upon his aged lips, his life gently ebbed
away, and his soul went forth to meet its Maker.
He married, 6 July, 1810, Abigail Adkins Jarvis, youngest
daughter of Nathaniel Jarvis, of Cambridge. She survived him.
The offspring of this union were four sons and four daughters;
of whom two, the eldest son and daughter-died early,
the next oldest son and youngest daughter died after
attaining maturity, and four survived their father.
1802.- Rev. ICHABOD NICHOLS died in Cambridge, Mass., 2
January, 1859, aged 74. He was the fourth son of Capt.
Ichabod and Lydia (Ropes) Nichols, of Salem, Mass., and was
born in Portsmouth, N.H., during the temporary residence of
the family at that place, 5 July, 1784; but removed with his
parents to Salem when he was but five or six years old. He
was fitted for college at the Salem High School; and graduated,
at the age of eighteen, with the highest honors of his class,
a class remarkable for eminent talent. Immediately after leaving
college, he began the study of theology with his pastor, Rev.
Thomas Barnard, D.D. (H.C. 1766). In 1805, he was appointed
tutor in mathematics in Harvard College; a position he
held until 1809, pursuing ill the mean time his theological
studies. Here his opportunities for a higher cultivation were greatly
enlarged; and his strong and acute intellectual powers could not
fail to be richly improved in the society of Rev. Henry Ware,
John Quincy Adams, Levi Frisbie, John Farrar, and Ashur
Ware, who were all associated with him in the instruction of
the college. In January, 1809, he preached his first sermon to
the First Congregational Church and Society in Portland, Me.;
and continued to preach for the three following Sundays. On
the 27th of February, the parish concurred unanimously with the
church in giving him a call, and voting him a salary of twelve
hundred dollars; which was much larger than any minister received
in the town or state (then a district), and which was not
changed during his whole ministry.
The venerable Deacon Freeman, then the leading man in the parish
and the town, speaking of the occasion, exultingly said, "The meeting
of the parish was full and respectable; and it is a pleasing circumstance,
that there was not a hand raised nor a word spoken against the subject
of either vote." The invitation he accepted 20 March, and
he was ordained as colleague with the Rev. Samuel Deane,
D.D. (H.C. 1760), 7 January, 1809, the third pastor of that
ancient church, organized in 1727, the first in the state east of
Kennebunk.' The Rev. Thomas Smith (H.C. 1720), the first
pastor, was born in Boston, 10 March, 1702; was ordained,
and the church formed, 8 March, 1727; and he continued in the
pastoral office until his death, 23 May, 1795, at the age of 93,
and in the sixty-ninth year of his pastorate.
Rev. Samuel Deane, born in Dedham, Mass., 30 August, 1733, was ordained
as his colleague, 17 October, 1764; and this was the only
religious society in Portland until 1788, when the Second Parish was
established. Dr. Deane's pastorate continued fifty years; and
was closed only by his death, 12 November, 1814, at the age of
81 years. With him Dr. Nichols was associated five years and
five months; and his connection with the society, which was
terminated by his death, extended to more than forty-nine years.
He was sole pastor from the decease of Dr. Deane, diligently
and faithfully doing his Master's work, until 31 January, 1855;
when the present pastor, Rev. Horatio Stebbins (H.C. 1848),
was settled as his colleague. Dr. Nichols was then desirous of
withdrawing entirely from his official station, on account of the
infirm state of his health: he wished entire repose from the
cares of office. But the parish was unwilling to dissolve a
connection which had existed so long and so harmoniously; and he
consented to retain his official relation, relieved from all duty
and responsibility connected with it. On his retirement, a few
members of his society tendered to him an annuity of five
hundred and fifty dollars for the remainder of his life; but this
tribute to his services and worth, so justly deserved and so
freely offered, he declined, from that innate sense of delicacy
which governed all his conduct. At the time he relinquished
his duties he removed from Portland to Cambridge, which was
subsequently his place of residence. This brief review of the
history of the First Parish in Portland exhibits the striking fact,
of an uninterrupted ministration in the parochial office for a
period of more than a hundred and thirty-one years, not an
hour without a pastor; that its three deceased ministers entered
young upon their ministry, and died in office; and that each has
labored with a colleague. Such a history, in connection with
the protracted pastorates, the three averaging fifty-six years each,
cannot, we think, be paralleled in the annals of the church.
"Dr. Nichols," says an eminent writer who knew him long
and intimately, " not only discharged the duties peculiar to his
station with fidelity, - and in which, with advancing years, he
grew more earnest and spiritual, both in his discourses and
devotional exercises,- but he took an active part in the
philanthlropic and reformatory movements of the day. He was one
of the earliest and most devoted friends of the temperance
cause, of the Bible society, the Sunday school, and of benevolent
institutions. He did not permit his mind to grow rusty
amidst the various and every-day duties of parochial life, but
devoted all his leisure hours to study. He published, in 1830,
a work on natural theology, which is considered as classical
authority in the theological schools. He kept up not only with
the theological progress of the age, but also with the wonderful
advance in scientific attainment, which, in the last half-century,
has almost created a new world. Nothing in the way of discovery
escaped his vigilant observation, from the theories
broached by visionary enthusiasts to the profound problems of
La Place, Cuvier, Bowditch, and Peirce. In his latter days,
after leaving his parochial duties, he had the highest
gratification in a free intercourse with Agassiz upon his wonderful
developments in the animal kingdom. From this new source of
knowledge, his mind received a fresh impulse; and he was able to
add to his great work (now in press, and to be published in a
few weeks, entitled " Hours with the Evangelists," on the
connection of the old and new dispensations) new proofs and
illustrations of the being and attributes of God.
He was equally familiar with the writings of German and English
scholars, and penetrated with a clear discrimination and an unswerving
love of truth into the prevailing fallacies of the philosophies of the
day; and was able rightly to divine the word of truth. It is
impossible that a mind naturally keen and comprehensive, and
which was so thoroughly furnished.by education and reflection,
should not be full and instructive on all the topics which come
under discussion among scholars and in the social circle. This
copiousness of general knowledge gave him great power and
interest in conversation, which few have, surpassed. No one
could be in his society, for even a brief time, without being
deeply impressed with the largeness and variety of his knowl
edge, and his ease and felicity in the communication of it. Yet,
with these rare powers, he was perfectly simple, unaffected, and
unpretending. No man was farther from conceit and unpretending display.
He loved to talk, not for the sake of talking, but
to communicate instruction; to impart from his accumulated
stores to the pleasure and benefit of others. These qualities
made his society to be sought, and, wherever he was known, to
be valued as a ripe and good scholar, an able and sound theologian,
and a most instructive companion. We may apply to
him, with great appropriateness, a truth happily expressed by
Lord Coke, who said,' When a great and learned man dyeth,
much learning dyeth with him.' Though he has left a valuable
legacy in his last great work, which he fondly called the rounding
off of his life, and is the complement of his learning and
best thought, yet there was that in his mind and heart, as in
every wise man, which cannot be stamped on the printed page:
it dies with the possessor. The beautiful expression, the mild
and gentle demeanor, the sensitive appreciation and communication
of the good and true, the noble example of a virtuous
and devoted life,- these all pass on, and leave but their subtle
fragrance in the memory of surviving friends."
Dr. Nichols was early elected a member of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences, of which he held the office of
vice-president. In 1821, he received from Bowdoin College
the honorary degree of doctor of divinity, and the same from
Harvard in 1831. It is worthy of note, that the year 1821 was
the beginning of the academical honors at Bowdoin; and a wise
as well as liberal beginning it was. The clerical distinction was
given (and to them confined) to the two distinguished lights of
the Portland pulpit,- Ichabod Nichols and Edward Payson;
reg,arded, no doubt, throughout the state as the representative
heads of the two opposing sections of its congregational body.
Dr. Nichols married first, probably in the spring of 1811,
Dorothea F. Gilman, daughter of Gov. John Taylor Gilman,
of Portsmouth, N.H. They had four children, all sons, of
whom two survived him; viz., 1. John Taylor Gilman, who
died within about a year of his birth. - 2. George Henry, born
26 August, 1814 (H.C. 1833); a physician in Standish,
Me. 3. John Taylor Gilman, born 24 April, 1817 (IJ.C.
1836); settled as a clergyman in Saco, Me. 4. Charles,
born 12 April, 1819, and died the same year. Dr. Nichols's
wife died 17 April, 1831; and he married for his second wife,
3 May, 1832, Martha Salisbury Higginson, daughter of Stephen
Higginson, Esq., of Cambridge. She survived him.
1803. - WILLIAM DRAPER, of Pontiac, Mich., died at the
Island of Mackinaw, 9 August, 1858, aged 78. He was son of
James and Lois (Battle) Draper, and was born in that part
of Dedham which is now within the limits of Dover, Mass.,
12 February, 1780.
He was fitted for college partly by Rev. Nathaniel Emmons, D.D.
(Y.C. 1767), of Franklin, Mass., and partly by Rev. Tholmas
Thacher (H.C. 1775), of Dedhamn.
On leaving college, he went to Concord, Mass., and entered as
a student-at-law in the office of John Leighton Tuttle (H.C.
1796). Having completed his legal studies and been admitted
to the bar, he opened an office in Marlborou,gh, Mass., where he
acquired an extensive practice, and was quite successful as a
lawyer. For ten years he was president of the Middlesex bar.
In 1832, he removed to Nashua, N.H., where he remained until
the spring of 1833; when he went to Michigan, established
himself in Pontiac, and was a citizen of that place during the
remainder of his life.
He occupied a prominent and distinguished
position in the legal profession; but was no politician, and held
but very few offices during his life. At the time Congress passed
the enabling act for the admission of Michigan into the Union,
a convention was called under that act, that the people might
determine whether they would accede to the proposition of Congress
or not. Mr. Draper was the president of the convention.
This was the first one, which rejected the dishonorable proposition
of a democratic congress; and Mr. Draper always looked
with great satifaction on the part he took in that body of men.
That was an honorable post, and right honorable was the de. o
cision.
Mr. Draper was president of the bar of Oakland county,
Mich., for twenty years, and held the office at the time of his
decease. While few of the high earthly honors were bestowed
upon him, he had, what was far better, the deserved esteem and
respect of every one who knew him.
He was a Christian gentleman, scrupulously upright, and for
twenty-five years was an exemplary member of the Congregational
church in Pontiac.
Hie retained his mental faculties to an extraordinary degree.
About two years before his death, there was a case pending in the
Circuit Court of Michigan, in which he had a personal interest.
HIe wrote out, and read to the court, a brief and an argument of
marked power and great research; and was successful at last.
Mr. Draper was famed for his love of field sports; and it was
his delight, in the last years of his life, to hunt and fish in and
around the beautiful lakes that are so numerous in the vicinity
of his late residence; and the principal reason of his visit
to Mackinac, where he died, was his desire to gratify his taste
in this respect. ie went with several acquaintances; and had
been there only a few days, when he was taken sick; and, before
any of his family could reach there after hearing of his illness,
his spirit had departed to another and better world.
A writer in Porter's "New-York Spirit of the Times," in
announcing the death of Mr. Draper, says, " He was ever
active and assiduous through his early life, and until he had
acquired a competence in the practice of his arduous profession;
but was never so thoroughly absorbed in it, nor in the acquisition
of wealth, as to neglect his gun and his rod. To these
he gave a liberal share of his time, with a keenness of relish
which evinced that the love of sport was natural and inborn.
He was not an indiscriminate sportsman; for he cared but little
for the rifle or the hound, and looked upon the deer-chase with
no favorable eye. His first loves were the fowling-piece and the
well-trained pointer and spaniel; his chosen sphere of enjoyment
the rich summer corn-field, or the brown hill-side covers of
autumn. Scolopax was the bird of his choice; and, more than
half a century ago, the echoes of his gun, and the cheerful call
to his well-trained dogs, were wont to ring through the valleys of
the old Bay State.
The love of sport was a marked feature
in the life of the deceased, from which his highest earthly enjoy
ments were derived; so marked and influential indeed, that
when, after a time, mercenary pot-hunters had depopulated the
reg,ion about his house, that circumstance influenced him in no
slight degree in making choice of a home where the woodcock,
snipe, plover, partridge, quail, and prairie-hen were more
abundant, and less sought after for gain. How fresh in the mind of
the writer of this notice, now in middle life, is the recollection,
when a mere boy, of the exploits of the deceased over the backs of
poor old Sport and Sancho, and the almost boundless admiration
with which we saw him bring down thirty-eight woodcocks in
succession on the Southborough meadow, without missing a bird;
killing more than once with both barrels!
In his earlier days,
while he yet made Massachusetts his home, his associates, drawn
to him by'similar tastes, were to be found among the liberal and
prominent men throughout that state. Of such were Hon. S. P.
P. Fay, some years deceased, and long judge of probate for the
county of Middlesex; his son, Hon. Richard S. Fay; Hon.
Franklin Dexter, late of Boston; and very many others, whose
names, once familiar, have now escaped the writer. Hliaving
changed his residence to Michigan, Mr. Draper continued the
same keen and indefatigable sportsman, with little change;
except that, game being more plenty and in greater variety, his
days in the field were more frequent. He found fewer woodcocks,
which, at the time of his arrival, had just begun to frequent the
bottom-lands of the rivers, and the old French farms of Wayne a
nd Macomb; but in their places he found the prairie hen,
the wild-turkey, the partridge and snipe, more abundant.
He brought with him his small but excellent and well-chosen
armament of guns, his choice stock of ammunition, and his
favorite and reliable old dogs, which, in a short time, made
themselves at home in their new sphere. The rod divided the
sway with the gun in the sport-life of the deceased, and he was
alike skilful and successful in both. If the day was bad for
shooting, it was pretty sure to be good for fishin,g; or, if the
companions who offered happened not to be devotees of old
Izaak, the game-bag and the long tramp were all the same to
him. Sport-love with the deceased did not arise from a mere
spirit of adventure, combined with the exuberance of wealth and
of animal spirits: it was a principle of his being,, which grew,
rather than failed, with advancing age; and yielded to no infirmity
of body short of absolute sickness.
Indeed, he may be said to have almost died in harness; for his
last trip was undertaken by him that he might enjoy the choice
sport of trout-fishing around the picturesque and beautiful Island
of Mackinaw, at a time when declining years and failing strength had
long since warned him that the hours upon the earth for him were short
and few. Thus, with the life of a thorough sportsman, ended thjat
of an honorable, useful man, and a sincere and exemplary
Christian."
Mr. Draper married, in 1810, Harriet Eliza Payne, a daughter
of Major Phineas Payne, of Concord, Mass., of revolutionary memory.
They had six children, -- four sons and two daughters; namely,
William, Charles, Albert F., James, Eliza C., and Ann M.: all
survived their father except James, who was the youngest child.
Charles graduated at Harvard College in 1833, and became a lawyer
in Pontiac.
1805. - Rev. EBENEZER HUBBARD died near Nashville,
Tenn., 2 September, 1858, aged 74. He was son of Rev.
Ebenezer (H.C. 1777) and Abigail (Glover) Hubbard, and
was born in Marblehead, Mass., 12 November, 1783. His
father was born in Concord, Mass., 22 May, 1758; was ordained
at Marblehead, 1 January, 1783; and died 15 December,
1800, aged 42.
His mother was daughter of Col. Jonathan
Glover, of Marblehead. Mr. Hubbard was fitted for college at
the public classical school or academy in Marblehead. After
leaving college, he studied divinity with Rev. Timothy Flint,
of Lunenblurg, Mass. (H.C. 1800), who married his sister
Abigail. He was ordained pastor of the Second Church in
Newbury, Mass., 11 May, 1809. This pastoral relation was
dissolved 16 October, 1810; and he was installed over the
church in Middleton, Mass., 27 November, 1816; resigned his
charg,e, 29 April, 1828; was installed at Lunenburg, 10 December,
1828. HIe was always a Trinitarian, as he declared,
and, as he called himself, a moderate Calvinist; but was very
liberal in his feelings towards Unitarians, and would not
infrequently exchange with clergymen of that denomination.
In consequence of this, a most unrighteous attempt was made,
by some of the more rigid Orthodox, to prevent his settlement at
Lunenburg, by circulating reports injurious to his moral character.
They did not, however, succeed in their plot. The fo]lowing
extract from an article in the "Christian Examiner" for
March, 1831, gives a history of this affair: -
Rev. Mr. Hubbard, a minister of acknowledged Orthodox
sentiments, and late pastor of the church in Middleton, was
invited to a re-settlement in Lunenburg. It was generally
known to his ministerial brethren, that he was in the practice of
exchanging with Unitarians. This circumstance alone induced
some Orthodox preachers in the vicinity of Lunenburg to
make great exertions to prevent his instalration. They went
to Andover, and earnestly solicited from the Orthodox ministers
in the neighborhood of Middleton some information derogatory
to the character of Mr. Hubbard. False and slanderous reports
were invented by an individual in Middleton,
and communicated to an Orthodox minister in Danvers, and
conveyed by him to the principal agent in this unrighteous
work. Rev. Mr. Payson, of Leominster, having obtained the
desired misrepresentations, went into Lunenburg, communicated
them to an influential family, and requested them to put them
in circulation, and conceal the name of the informer. He
affirmed that Mr. Hubbard was a bad man, brought up his
children to swear, and would prove a curse to the society if
they retained him as their pastor. Such reports threw the
parish into consternation, and reached the ears of the pastor
elect. He proceeded immediately to the source of the evil, and
eventually dragged to light the individuals concerned. By the
terrors of the civil law, he compelled them to confess their
wickedness, and agency in the base understanding."
Mr. Hubbard continued pastor of the church in Lunenburg
until 20 November, 1833, when his connection with the society
was dissolved. He studied medicine, but never practised regularly,
except, perhaps, in Boxford, or rather in Lunenburg,
while he was a pastor there. In June, 1838, he removed
to the West, and taught school for a while in Trenton, Tenn.;
and afterwards in Paris, Tenn. In 1843 or 1844, he removed to
Fulton county, Ky., and settled on a farm in
pickman, which a son, dying, left him, and which he called
"Clergyman's Retreat." For some years he pursued the farming
business, overseeing it, and attending to his garden: while
in his leisure hours he read books and wrote sermons; preaching
sometimes, but having no charge. He liked the investigation of
literary and scientific subjects.
He gradually, for three or four years before his death,
became irritable and maniacal under a disease of the brain,
until, in the spring of 1858, his mind was completely gone,
so that he did not know his own wife and children; and, becoming
very furious, his sons took him, in June, 1858, to the state asylum
for the insane, six miles out of Nashville, Tenn., a fine institution;
where he died, not having had, during his stay there, one lucid moment.
Mr. Hubbard married, 10 June, 1808, Charlotte, daughter
of Major Joseph Swazey, of Ipswich, Mass. They had nine
children, six sons and three daughters, of whom three sons and
two daughters are living. His wife died 30 October, 1858, in
the seventy-fifth year of her age, having survived her husband
not quite two months. The remains of Mr. Hubbard were
conveyed to Hickman, and deposited in the family cemetery
with his wife's, at "Clergyman's Retreat," owned by his son
Charles.
1807. - JOSHUA PRESCOTT died in Reading, Mass., the 1st
of January, 1859, aged 78. He was son of Deacon John and
Martha (Abbot) Prescott; was born in Westford, Mass., 15
November, 1780; and was the last surviving member of their
family, which consisted of six sons and one daughter, who
lived to mature age. Three of the sons graduated at Harvard
College, - Samuel in 1799, Aaron in 1814, and the subject of
this notice. He was fitted for college at Westford Academy.
After graduating, he taught school in Saco, Me. He studied
law with Judge James Prescott, of Groton, Mass. (H.C. 1788).
He was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1811, and
immediately opened an office in Reading. He afterwards removed to
Lynn, Mass., where he remained a few months; then returned
to Reading, where he continued actively engaged in the practice
of his profession until a few years before his decease.
In 1824, he compiled a digest of the probate-laws of Massachusetts,
which was considered a valuable work, and had an extensive circulation.
In 1827 and 1828, he was chosen representative to the state legislature.
Being much interested in agricultural pursuits, he superintended and
cultivated success fully his farm, on which he resided for many years.
As a citizen, and in all the social relations of life, he was kind,
generous, hospitable; an honest man, and one who commanded the universal
respect of the people. He never sought public office.
As a lawyer, he was possessed of a sound and discriminating mind;
always carefully and thoroughly examining the matter presented
before he came to a conclusion. His judgment and opinion were
received with great respect and confidence. He never suffered
himself to sacrifice his principles of honor and integrity for
pecuniary advantages; always maintaining, that a lawyer should
govern himself professionally as he would as a citizen, and be
guided by the rule, to do unto others as you wish or expect
them to do unto you.
His faith as a Christian in the unbounded love and goodness of God
was firm and unwavering, and he awaited his departure with calmness
and resignation.
He married, in 1813, Abigail Eaton, only daughter and only surviving
child of Lieut. Thomas Eaton, of Reading. He had five children.
One daughter died in early infancy. Two sons and two daughters are
now living. His wife is also living.
Insert:
The Line of Descent of Joshua Prescott.
Source: Prescott Memorial by Dr. William Prescott, 1870.
Line of John Prescott and his wife, Mary Platts, founders of Lancaster,
Massachusetts.
p.72
Jonas Prescott and his 3rd wife, the widow, Mrs. Rebecca (Jones) Barrett.
9th child: John Prescott b. Apr. 25, 1752; m. Dec. 31, 1776, Martha, dau.
of Deacon John & Hannah (Richardson) Abbott of Westford, Mass., b. April
17, 1755 and died Oct 20, 1842. He was a farmer and deacon of the church
and a useful and pious citizen. He died Oct 30, 1842 aged 90 years. He
removed from Westford to Reading about 1835. He gave his sons what was of
more value to them than money - a liberal education.
p.105
Issue of John Prescott and Martha Abbott*
*footnote: their first child, an infant of a few days died 1778.
1. John Prescott b. Sept 25, 1779; m. Anna Keyes, Aug 20, 1801, b.
Oct 20, 1780; settled at Dunstable, Mass., a farmer, where he died
July 25, 1847. Anna died Jan 21, 1802, leaving an infant nine days
old, named Martha Ann Prescott. She died unmarried June 19, 1841.
2. Joshua Prescott b. Nov. 15, 1780, m. Jan 5, 1813, Abigail Eaton,
dau. of Capt. Thomas Eaton of Reading, Mass., a Revolutionary War
soldier b. Jan 3, 1785 at Reading. He graduated Harvard College 1807.
A counsellor at law in Reading after having practised a few years at
Lynn, Mass., where he commenced. He died Jan 4, 1859. Seven children
(see p.152) He was the author of the Probate Digest in Massachusetts; a
member of the House of Representatives 1826 and 1827.
p.152
Joshua Prescott and his wife, Abigail Eaton of Reading, Mass., had issue:
1. Thomas Eaton Prescott b. June 26, 1814; m. Mar 23, 1843 his cousin,
Abigail E. Prescott b. Feb. 22, 1820; resided at Reading - a farmer.
2. Elizabeth Gerry Prescott b. Feb 23, 1816; was unmarried in 1866.
3. An infant daughter b. April 20, 1818.
4. Alfred Abbott Prescott b. Feb 17, 1820. Was a member of Harvard
Univ., of the class of 1843 but did not graduate. In the practice of
law at Reading; was Register of Probate for the County of Middlesex from
1853 to 1858. Unmarried.
5. Abigail Eaton Prescott b. Jan. 20, 1822; unmarried.
3. Samuel Prescott b. Jan 8, 1782; m. 1805, Frances, dau. of Moses Johnson,
Esq., of Keene, New Hampshire. Samuel Prescott graduated Harvard College
1799; was counsellor at law, Keene, N.H.; died Nov. 13, 1813, leaving one
son and one daughter.
4. Stephen Prescott b. Aug 29, 1784; was a mechanic in Boston where he died
Oct. 5, 1808, unmarried.
5. Hannah Prescott b. Aug 8, 1786; died unmarried, Dec 27, 1841.
6. Aaron Prescott b. Nov 19, 1787. Graduated Harvard College, 1814. A
Counsellor at Law, Randolph, Mass., and for some time Preceptor of
Framingham Academy. He was many years Representative from Randolph
to the State Legislature and one of the Masters in Chancery for the
County of Norfolk. He died unmarried, November 24, 1851, aged 64 yrs.
7. Thomas Prescott b. May 3, 1791; m. Sarah, dau. of Charles Hale of Stow,
Dec 8, 1814, he born Aug 12, 1793. He was a farmer of Westford, Mass.,
where he died August 27, 1854 aged 61 years. She d. June 15, 1857
Transcribed by Janice Farnsworth
1807.- Rev. SETH FREEMAN SWIFT died in Oswego, N.Y.,
12 October, 1858, aged 71. He was son of Joseph and Anna
(Freeman) Swift, and was born in Sandwich, Mass., 25
April, 1787. He was fitted for college at Sandwich Academy.
After leaving college, he went through a course of theological
studies under the instruction of Rev. John Simpkins, of Brewster,
Mass. (H.C. 1786). In the spring of 1809, he went to
Nantucket, where, for a short time, he taught a school of a high
order. The Unitarians of that island, having in view the promotion
of their liberal religious principles, erected the present
South Congregational Church, and invited Mr. Swift to take the
pastoral charge of the new society. The house was dedicated
in November, 1809; and Mr. Swift, having accepted the call,
was ordained 25 April, 1810. Here he labored with great
fidelity for more than twenty-three years.
Many of his parishioners passed away before him; but many still
survive who remember him as one whose ministrations were always
acceptable, because always appropriate to the various circumstances
of human life. The young of his society would often, at his invitation,
assemble at his house, where he would entertain them,
and make them feel at home: always cheerful; welcoming them
with a genial smile; taking a deep interest in their well-doing;
sharing their joys and sorrows; offering counsel, that, if followed,
he was certain would result in the formation of high and
noble characters, as many to whom it was addressed are left to
testify. He always said the right word; and it came from a
warm, sympathetic heart. No one tied the nuptial knot with
more grace than he.' His beaming countenance brightened the
joy of the occasion. In sadder hours, his apt words brought
consolationi to the mourner; and, in the ordinary course of life,
he was a genial friend.
In the autumn of 1833, he resigned his pastoral charge; and,
the following winter, he was a representative from Nantucket,
in the legislature. In the spring of 1834., he removed to Oswego,
N.Y., and was principal of an academy at that place for two years.
For the last eight years of his life he was incapacitated from any
employment, in consequence of having become blind. After his removal
from Nantucket, he ever retained a lively interest for the place. A few
months before his death, he received a letter from a friend there,
reverting to the past, calling up early memories, and speaking
of his friends; and,, when he found he was not forgotten, he wept
like a child, showing how deeply his affections were rooted in
his early home.
He married, 20 March, 1810, Valina Rawson, daughter of
Abel and Lydia (Briggs) Rawson, of New York. He had four
children, - Caroline, who married Philo Stevens, of Oswego,
N.Y.; Edward, Joseph, and Charles. His daughter and two
sons survived him; as did also his widow. His last sickness was
of short duration, but of great suffering, which he bore without
a murmur. His disease was cancerous tumor in the bowels.
At the time of his death he resided with his daughter, whose
unceasing devotions to him were indicative of the purest affection.
His son Edward too, who is well settled in Savannah, Ga., was
permitted to be with him to administer to his comfort even in his
last moments.
1808. - Hon. NATHANIEL WRIGHT died in Lowell, Mass.,
5 November, 1858, aged 73. He was the oldest son of Hon.
Thomas and Eunice (Osgood) Wright, and was born in Sterling,
Mass., 13 February, 1785. He was fitted for college by
Rev. Reuben Holcomb, of Sterling (Y.C. 1774). He held a
very respectable rank in his class, and graduated with
distinction.
He pursued the study of the law in the office of Iton.
Asahel Stearns, of Chelmsford, Mass. (H.C. 1797); was
admitted to the bar in 1814, and opened an office in Dracut,
Mass. In 1816, Mr. Stearns wa,s elected University Professor
of Law in Harvard College, and removed to Cambridge the following
year. Mr. Wright succeeded to Mr. Stearns's office, and
to much of his professional business; and subsequently purchased
his (Mr. Stearns's) residence, which he occupied during
the remainder of his life. He attained to a high rank in
his profession as an able and well-read lawyer. For forensic
display he had little taste, and made no pretension; but when
an eniergency required a sound, reliable, and disinterested opinion,
he was the dependence of his community for many years.
Singularly simple and almost blunt in his manners, and sparing of
words, there was an honesty and independence about him which
won confidence and secured respect. On the organization of
the town of Lowell, Mr. Wright's judgment, counsel, and legal
knowledge were under great and constant requisition.
He performed an important part in the prelimninary purchase of land
by the founders of the town; and, in setting it off from Chelmsford,
he was an efficient agent. When Lowell was incorporated as a town,
in 1826, he was elected its first representative
in the legislature, and was re-elected the two following years.
He was also chosen chairman of the first board of selectmen.
In 1834, he was elected to the state senate from Middlesex district.
In 1836, Lowell was incorporated as a city; and Mr.
Wright was elected its mayor in 1841 and 1842. He was
chosen the first year as an independent candidate,
and the second as the regular whig nominee.
On the organization of the Lowell Bank, in 1828, he was elected,
on the second of June in that year, its president; an office which
he held uninterruptedly for more than thirty years, resigning it only
on the 22d of October, 1858, just two weeks before his death: his failing
health and strength admonishing him that his work on earth was
done; a fact to which he resigned himself with calmness and
cheerfulness. In all the positions which he filled, he gave entire
satisfaction to those whose interests were intrusted to his care.
He married, 5 March, 1820, Laura Hoar. They had five children,
four sons and one daughter; viz., Nathaniel, Thomas,
William Henry Prentice, Emery, and Laura Grace. Two of
his sons, Nathaniel and Thomas, graduated at Harvard College,
in 1838 and 1842 respectively. Nathaniel was a lawyer in
Lowell, and died 18 September, 1847, ag,ed 27. The others
survived him. Thomas is a lawyer in Lawrence, Mass. Mr.
Wright's wife died 21 January, 1857, aged 62.
1810. - Rev. LEMUEL CAPEN died in South Boston, 28
August, 1858, aged 69. He was son of John and Patience
(Davis) Capen, and was born in Dorchester, Mass., 25 November,
1789. His father was a substantial farmer: and, early
discovering in this son a taste for study, he determined to
give him a liberal education; for which purpose he placed him
under the charge of Rev. Peter Whitney, of Quincy (H.C.
1801), where he pursued his preparatory studies. At college
he was exemplary in his conduct, was a diligent student, and
graduated with a respectable rank. On completing his collegiate
course, he determined to study for the ministry, and remained
at Cambridge as a resident-graduate, going through his
course of theological study under the instruction of Prof. Henry
Ware, D.D. (H.C. 1785), and Andrews Norton (H.C. 1804).
He was ordained pastor of the church in Sterling, Mass., 22
March, 1815. He early espoused the side of Liberal Christianity,
and was one of the first to preach these sentiments in the
county of Worcester. In 1813, he wrote a pamphlet, which
was published anonymously, entitled "Memorial of the
Proprietors of the New South Meeting-house in Dorchester to the
Ministers of the Boston Association; " a document which even
the "Panoplist" acknowledged to be "written with more than
ordinary care and ability." His pastoral relation with the
church in Sterling was not of long duration. He resigned his
charge, 21 June, 1819, not on account of any disaffection, but
because his salary was inadequate to his frugal wants, and it
could not be increased without endangering the harmony of the
society. His farewell sermon, which has been twice printed,
was full of the kindest interest in the people who were to be no
longer under his professional charge.
He then returned to his native place, Dorchester; and, from
1819 to 1822, he taught in the Stoughton School in that town.
At the close of 1822, he resumed his ministerial duties, at the
same time taking the part of instructor in the Hawes School in
South Boston.
He was installed pastor of the Hawes-Place Church, 31 October,
1827. During the interval from 1822 to 1827, he received no
pecuniary compensation for his clerical services. He depended
upon his salary as a teacher, which was only about five hundred
dollars a year, for the support of himself and his family. All this
while, and for several years afterwards, the public worship was
held in one of the humblest of meeting-houses. The building
was ten feet high, about a hundred feet long, and less than
thirty in breadth. Under that lowly roof, he labored, in the
preaching of the Word, faithfully, earnestly, and with good
acceptance, for about twelve years. In 1832, he was called to
part with his venerable friend, Mr. John Hawes, the founder of
the religious society to which he ministered; and set forth, on the
Sunday after his funeral, a discriminating account of his character
and benefactions. This discourse was published, with an
"Appendix containing Historical Notices of the Hawes-Place
Church and Society." That sturdy and trusty Christian man,
who has left his name so favorably impressed upon the religious
and educational institutions of South Boston, invariably treated
Mr. Capen with the utmost confidence and regard, and consulted
him often to the day of his death. Soon after his departure,
and by the help of the funds which he bequeathed, a new
meetinghouse was built; but with the enlargement of the
borders of the sanctuary, and the beautifying of its walls, and
the increased comeliness of its appointments, there seems to
have been no corresponding increase of the holy dispositions for
which sanctuaries are built.
It is often the case, that moneyed endowments lead to neither
prosperty nor peace; and, in the present instance, they encouraged
jealousies, expectations more ambitious than pure or considerate,
and growing troubles.
Mr. Capen again resigned his pastorate, with less of his own will
in the surrender than before, and not with the same consciousness
of perfect favor, though he carried a better consciousness
in the testimony of his own breast. He delivered his farewell
sermon, 23 June, 1839. It was written in his usual direct,
dispassionate, and faithful manner. He never afterwards entered
the settled ministry, though his heart was always in that
work; and he continued, to the end of his days, preaching
occasionally where his services were requested. During his
whole residence at South Boston, the scantiness of his income
compelled him to till his grounds with his own hands; and this
he did stoutly and cheerfully. His vigorous health, which never
gave way, nor showed sign of giving way, till it broke up wholly
and at every point at last, enabled him to perform this kind of
toil; and, moreover, he had a taste for it, and skill in it.
He knew how to do the work of a farmer well, and to write about
its experiences. His opinions on agricultural topics, in his
contributions to the "New-England Farmer," are said to have
been valued by the readers of that journal. In the midst of
his pecuniary straits, no one ever knew him to be penurious
or exacting or cringing or shuffling or mean. Some of the
pleasantest associations of his whole existence he declared
to be connected with school-keeping; and there were many to
appreciate the influence of his conscientious instructions.
He was often called to serve on school-committees, where he gave
the best of his diligence. He was elected a representative to the
state legislature in 1836, and again in 1847. When he was
nearly sixty years of age, the old zeal for both his vocations,
teaching and preaching, burned afresh in him.
At an invitation from Baltimore to succeed Rev. Charles H. A. Dall
(H.C. 1837) as a missionary to the poor, he at once left his home,
to no one dearer,- and assumed that laborious service in that
southern city. A printed copy of his first quarterly report,
dated 31 January, 1846, is marked with the deepest feeling of
engagedness in his trying office. The singleness of his mind,
and the tenderness of his heart, were likely to distinguish
themselves in such a mingled work of instruction and charity;.
and the trustees of the Baltimore Ministry at Large bear ample
testimony, in the same document, to the efficiency with which his
hard duties were discharged. Besides his publications which
have been mentioned, there is in the "Liberal Preacher" a
sermon of his on "The Religious Education of Children," printed
in June, 1831; and there is an elaborate article in the
"Christian Examiner" for September, 1855, on "Dr. Codman and the
Second Church in Dorchester." He was also the writer of
several biographical notices of ministers and of old residents
in South Boston, which have been read with interest, and even
republished.
He married, 11 October, 1815, Mary Ann Hunting,, daughter
of Asa and Abigail (Blaney) Hunting, of Roxbury. They
had nine children, six sons and three daughters, of whom five
sons and one daughter with their mother survived him. His
children were Francis Lemuel, born in Sterling, 17 March,
1817; John, born 8 September, 1818; Mary Ann, born in
Dorchester, 19 February, 1820, - died 7 November, 1844;
Edward, born 20 October, 1821; Charles James, born in South
Boston, 5 April, 1823; Sarah Hawes, born 22 October, 1824,
died 5 December, 1825; Barnard, born 31 October, 1826;
Jane, born 5 November, 1828; Eliphalet Porter, born 14
November, 1831,-died 19 November, 1835. Four of his sons have
graduated at Hiarvard Colleg,e; namely, Francis Lemuel in 1839,
John in 1840, Edward in 1842, and Charles James in 1844.
1811. - Hon. THOMAS GREAVES CARY, of Boston, died at
his summer residence in Nahant, Mass., 3 July, 1859, aged 67.
He was son of Samuel and Sarah (Gray) Cary, and was born
in Chelsea, Mass., 7 September, 1791. After finishing his
college course, he studied law in the office of Hon. Peter
Oxenbridge Thacher (iH.C. 1796), of Boston. He was admitted to
the Suffolk bar in 1814, and began the practice of his profession
in Boston.
He married, 30 May, 1820, Mary Ann C. Perkins,
daughter of Hon. Thomas Handasyd Perkins, of Boston. They
had seven children, two sons and five daughters, all of whom,
with their mother, survived him. A short time before his marriage,
he removed to Brattleborough, Vt., where he continued the
practice of his profession until 1821, when he removed to
New York, and engaged in the Canton trade as the senior
partner in the house of T. G. and W. F. Cary. After eight or
nine years, he returned to Boston, and joined the house of J.
and T. H. Perkins and Co. After the dissolution of this firm,
Mr. Cary became the treasurer of the Hamilton and Appleton
manufacturing companies at Lowell, the affairs of which he
managed, with great ability and success, to the day of his death.
In 1838, he became a special partner in the house of Fay and
Farwells, of Boston.
This partnership continued until the dissolution of the firm in
1851. He was often solicited to allow himself to be a candidate
for political honors; but he generally declined. He, however,
served as a senator for the Suffolk district in the state
legislature in 1846, 1847, 1852, anid 1853.
In his political opinions and action he was wholly free from a blind
partisan spirit. Though conservative in his tendencies, he was
a consistent and able advocate of real progress. He took a
great interest in all questions of education and social reform,
and carried through the legislature several of the most important
acts on those subjects now on the statute-book; as, for example,
the law relating to state scholarships. He was for many years
a director of the Hamilton Bank, and president of the Boston
Athenium. He was also a trustee of the Institution for the
Blind; and took an active interest in many other charitable
establishments, giving to their affairs both pecuniary support
and much valuable time.
He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,
and of the Massachusetts Historical Society. He frequently contributed
able essays to the newspapers and the periodical publications.
Hunt's "Merchants' Magazine," the "North-American Review," and several
of the daily journals, were enriched by his elegant and well-considered
writings. In 1847, he delivered before the city authorities of Boston
the Fourth-of-July oration, which was published, and which showed the
refined taste, high moral tone, and purity of style, that were peculiarly
characteristic of him. He published, in 1844, "A Letter to a Lady in
France on National and State Repudiation; " in 1845, "A Letter on Profits
on Manufactures in Lowell," and " An Address on the Fine Arts, delivered
before the Mercantile-Library Association."
In the same year he delivered a lecture on banking, in which the subject
was explained with great perspicuity and beauty. In 1856, besides a
"Lecture on the Gold of California, and its Effects on Prices," he
published the most elaborate of'his works, entitled "A Memioir
of Thomas Handasyd Perkins, containing Extracts from his
Diaries and Letters," in 8vo; a volume of great biographical
interest, presenting a masterly delineation of the life and
character of that great merchant. In February, 1857, he embarked
with his family for Europe; and having travelled through England,
France, Italy, and Switzerland, returned, in October of the
same year, to resume his various occupations at home. His
health, which had not been vigorous for some years, began to
give way a few months before his death. I-e gradually grew
feebler; and, during the last week or two of his life, his
decline was rapid, and he breathed his last as gently as a child
falls asleep. Mr. Cary was a gentleman in the truest and best
sense of the word. His manners were at once unaffected, and
marked by a chivalrous high breeding, recognizing the rights
of the lowest as well as those of the highest to the courtesies
which sweeten the intercourse of life. In thought, word, and
deed, his daily intercourse was characterized by Christian purity.
Into the transactions of business, public and private, as well as
into the intercourse of society and the domestic relations, he
carried the principles of Christianity, as the rule of conversation,
the guide of conduct, and the assurance of happiness here and
hereafter.
1814. - JONATHAN PORTER died in Medford, Mass., 11
June, 1859, aged 67. He had teen confined to his sick-room
for more than a quarter of a century. A disease, whichl no skill
could remove, embarrassed and afflicted him for a time, while
struggling to continue his active labors; and at length compelled him,
in the midst of his days, to abandon his pursuits,
and shut himself up as an invalid for the rest of his life. His
expectations were thus disappointed, his plans broken up, and
his work left unfinished. The story of his life, though brief,
is not without interest. He was son of Jonathan and Phebe
(Abbot) Porter, and was born in Medford, 13 November,
1791. His father was a merchant in Medford: his mother
was a native of Andover, Mass.
He married, 22 July, 1823, Catharine Gray, daughter of Samuel Gray,
of Medford. They had three children, one son and two daughters. One
daughter died in his lifetime. His wife and the other two children
survived him. Until he reached the age of about sixteen or seventeen,
he was employed, as far as he had any employment, as a
clerk in his father's store. It was found that he had no taste
for mercantile pursuits; but from an early age he had discovered
a fondness for books and study, and desired to obtain an education.
When about seventeen years old, having up to that time
enjoyed only the ordinary advantages of common schools, he
began to prepare for college under the instruction of Dr. John
Hosmer, who was the principal of a private school or academy
in Medford. He prosecuted his studies at this school for about
a year; and then entered Harvard College at Commencement in 1810.
His class was large for that time; and is now distinguished by the
eminent abilities, high position, and great fame, of some whose names
stand upon its catalogue. That it possessed a large range and amount of
talent, is evident from the number of its members who have obtained an
honorable rank in their several callings and pursuits. In this class, and
with these associates, Mr. Porter, as a scholar, stood among
the first, and graduated with the highest honors. He was earnest
and assiduous in the prosecution of his studies, faithful in
the performance of all his duties, and exemplary in all his
habits.
His generous and manly bearing in the severe contests of the literary
arena won for him the esteem and friendship
of his classmates, which continued to the close of his life, and
cheered the many long years of his feebleness and confinement.
He cherished good-will toward all; rejoiced at their success,
and bore with meekness his own. When he reached the end of
his college term, and looked forward to the future, the prospect
was brighlt and hopeful. His college honors seemed an earnest
of other and higher, to be won on a wider field. Hie chose the
law for a profession; and pursued his preparatory studies a part
of the time in the office of the Hon. Luther Lawrence (H.C.
1801), of Groton, and a part in the office of the Hon. Asahel
Stearns (H.C. 1797), of Chelmnsford. They were both able
and eminent lawyers, and stood high in public estimation.
They were also gentlemen of hig,h moral character, upright in
all their dealings, and honorable in all their practice.
Mr. Porter was a worthy pupil of such teachers, and in these
schools acquired all which could be expected to be acquired in
the time,- an accurate knowledge of the general principles of
law, and sound professional ethics. He was admitted to the
bar in the county of Middlesex in the fall of 1817, and opened
an office, at first in Medford, and about a year afterwards in
Boston. His intellectual endowments were well suited to the
study of the law as a science. His mind was acute, discriminating,
and logical; and his memory was retentive and ready.
A patient, persevering and critical investigation was to him an
agreeable exercise; and he was unwilling to relinquish a subject,
once taken in hand, until it was mastered and exhausted.
He took pleasure in working, out, with steady, patient thought,
and thorough, laborious research, perplexed and difficult questions
of law. He read much; and his legal learning was
accurate and entensive. There can be no doubt that he was
capable of reaching a hilgh rank as a lawyer. But the practice
of the law, as a business, was not so well suited to his tastes
and habits. He was a scholar, fond of books and study and
retirement, but had no fondness for the turmoil and strife, the
"pert dispute" and "babbling hall," of professional practice.
Still he had considerable business, which was always well and
faithfully managed. He argued some questions of law before
the Supreme Court with decided ability.
He was patient, laborious, and conscientiously scrupulous and
exact in the performance of all his duties. In his professional
as in his private life, he was just and upright, and incapable of
any unworthy artifice or trick. His principles and practice were
pure, elevated, and honorable.
He did not, upon coming to the bar, as is too often the case with
men of the law, relinquish all attention to liberal studies.
The classics still continued to be his companions. So far as
he could command the time, he continued his application to general
literature, and was a diligent student of nmetaphysics, mathematics,
and the exact sciences.
In 1822, he delivered the oration before the Phi Beta Kappa at
Cambridge. At that time, he was in feeble health. His infirmity
was such, that he thought, from time to time, that he should be
obliged to relinquish the task he had undertaken; but he struggled
on to the fulfilment of his elngagement.
Of the literary merit of his performance we have not been informed,
and have no knowledge; but are apprised of the fact, that the oration was
prepared and delivered under much bodily weakness and suffering.
In 1830, the complaint which clung to him ever afterwards made its
presence known. In the summer of that year, he made a voyage to Europe,
in the hope of imnproving his health. In the spring of 1831, he returned
with his health apparently somewhat improved. But, soon after resuming his
business, the disease gained strength, and became more alarming.
Now succeeded a period of much anxiety and suffering.
He still hoped that recovery to health was possible, and was
earnest and persevering in the use of means to that end. At
times he would seem to be improved, and be encouraged; he
would then become worse, and fall into despondency. So he
continued on, hoping and desponding, until at length he was
compelled to settle down in the conviction, that there was no
prospect of his restoration to health, and that his professional
and all other active pursuits must be finally and for ever
relinquished. Then began a distinct and peculiar period of his life.
His complaint was supposed to be a spinal affection, the precise
character and extent of which was never fully ascertained.
The disease gradually increased, until it deprived him of the
power of moving about; and he was obliged to remain constantly
in a lying or sitting posture. In this condition he
remained to the end of life. Until within a year or two of
his decease, he was, from time to time, subject to much pain
and suffering.
All the alleviation which the most affectionate
and untiring attention and efforts of his family could
afford he had. When all hope of recovery or amendment was
extinguished, he became perfectly resigned to his condition. There
was never the slightest murmuring, or discontent or impatience
or dejection. He was calm and cheerful, and grateful for the
many mercies he enjoyed. His chamber was not shrouded in
gloom, but lighted up with the mild and cheering rays of
contentment and peace. He felt that the best place, the happiest
place, the most honorable place, for him, was his own place,
the place which Providence had assigned him. In that place
he was willing and happy to remain until removed to another
state of existence. Though his body was feeble, his mind
retained its activity and vigor. Though confined within the
narrow limits of his own room, his life was not an idle one, or
without significance. For some years, he was constantly occupied
in the education of his children; an employment which he
greatly enjoyed, and for which he was admirably qualified.
The daughters were wholly and thoroughly educated by him.
He was himself, at all times, a diligent student, and never
unoccupied. He was particularly fond of Greek literature, and
took much interest in reading the Greek poets and historians.
He was also a good English scholar; read extensively moral
and religious works, and kept along with the current literature
of the day.
He enjoyed the visits of his firiends, and took an
interest in whatever interested them or the public. He saw
with pleasure, and without repining, his classmates successful
in the world, and winning the prizes of life. For himself, he
was entirely content with his own little spot, as the theatre of
his action. Thus year after year wore away, land the time
of his departure drew on. There was no suffering, no new
complaint, no apparent increase of the old one. His strength
gradually failed; he was confined to his bed; he lost the power
of speech, though evidently conscious of what was passing
around him; his pulse stopped, but he still breathed: at length
his lungs ceased to heave, and he ceased to live.
Mr. Porter gave ample evidence of a high order of intellectual
endowments. He had a calm, well-balanced, active, and vigorous mind,
an ardent desire of knowledge, and firm and unwavering moral and religious
principles.
Thus qualified, he might well be expected to achieve much in any field
of intellectual labor. But he was suddenly stopped in his course, and his
work remains incomplete. His manners were simple, unassuming, and courteous;
and his feelings were liberal, social, and obliging. He was a steadfast and
true-hearted friend.
He loved his friends, and secured their enduring affection. His
friendships ended only with his life. His large attainments as a
scholar, and his pure principles, made his conversation always
interesting and improving. He had no idle or frivolous talk, no
gossip, no slander, no eensoriousness. He was kind and charitable
from principle and feeling, and gave liberally to charitable
and other objects which he thought deserving. The respect in
which he was held by all who knew him bore evidence to his
sterling worth. Of Mr. Porter in the privacy of his domestic
life this is not the fitting occasion particularly to speak.
But it was in his own home where the sympathies, affections, and
amenities of his daily life best exhibited the excellence of his
true character. "A man's religion is the chief fact in regard to
himl." Mr. Porter was a religious man. Ile had deep religious
feelings and principles. He was connected with the church
under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Andrew Bigelow (H.C.
1814) in Medford, and afterwards united with the Episcopal
Church by the rite of confirmation. He reverenced Christianity,
and had a firm belief in the Christian Scriptures as a divine
revelation. He was a constant, earnest, humble student of the
Bible. His patience, resignation, and cheerfulness, during the
long period of his confinement and suffering, were the triumph
of his Christian faith. In the remembrance of what he was,
and how he lived, his family have found consolation in their
bereavement. The many years during which he was shut out
from the world were not lost. This life is not the end of
our being. The fruit of cultivated intellect, of chastened,
purified, elevated, Christian affections, will be gathered,
either in this life or a life hereafter.
1814. - WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT died in Boston,
28 January, 1859, aged 62. He was son of Hon. William
(H.C. 1783) and Catharine Greene (Hickling) Prescott, and
was born in Salem, Mass., 4 May, 1796. His father was born
in Pepperell, Mass., 19 August, 1762; was an eminent lawyer
and judge; and was distinguished for his social qualities, which
won for him troops of friends. He was admitted to the bar in
1787, and began the practice of his profession in Beverly. He
soon afterwards removed to Salem, where he practised extensively
and successfully for nineteen years, when he removed to Boston,
his son being at that time twelve years of age; and there he
continued his professional business until 1828, when his health
obliged him to relinquish it.
He twice had the offer of a seat on the bench of the Supreme
Judicial Court, but in both instances declined it. He was afterwards
induced to accept the office of judge of the Court
of Common Pleas in Boston; but having filled it about a year,
and finding its duties irksome, he resigned it.
Mr. Prescott's mother was one of the noblest women that ever lived.
She was the daughter of Thomas Hickling, Esq., who for nearly
half a century was the American consul at the Island of St.
Michael's. His grandfather, Col. William Prescott, as is well
known, commanded the American forces at the battle of Bunker
Hill.
Soon after the removal of the family to Boston, Mr. Prescott
was placed under the charge of the Rev. John S. J. Gardiner,
D.D., of Trinity Church, where he pursued his preparatory
studies, and entered the sophomore class in 1811.
He immediately gained a high rank of scholarship, and graduated with
distinction. He had intended to devofe himself to the profession of
law; but in his junior year he lost the sight of one
of his eyes, from an accidental blow; and the other,
sympathizing with it, soon became enfeebled: his general health
failed, and he was obliged for a time to relinquish all studies.
Happily his father's circumstances were such that he was not
necessitated to toil for his bread.
He early determined to devote himself to a life of literature.
Soon after leaving college, being advised to travel, he went to
Europe, where he passed two years in an extended journey through
England, France, and Italy, and vainly sought aid from the most
eminent foreign oculists.
He returned home restored in health, but with his
sight permanently impaired. He was never able to use his own
eyes for more than a short time in the day; but was constantly
obliged to use the eyes of others for his studies and researches,
as well as for recording the results of them. His quiet perseverance
and continuous industry enabled him to' triumph over this difficulty,
and to achieve an amount of literary labor which is not only most honorable
to his intellectual powers, but conveys a noble moral lesson to all who may
be afflicted in a similar manner.
His earliest literary efforts were contributions to the
North-American Review." These show the tendencies of his
mind and his favorite studies.
In October, 1824, he contributed a paper on "Italian
Narrative Poetry," which called out some strictures from an
Italian teacher in New York; to which a reply was made in the
"North-American" for July, 1825. A paper on Scottish Song"
appeared in July, 1826; one on Moliere" in October, 1828;
one on Irving's "Conquest of Granada" in October, 1829.
The titles and dates of his other contributions are as follows:
"Instruction of the Blind," July, 1830; Poetry and Romance
of the Italians," July, 1831; "Cervantes," July, 1837; "Sir
Walter Scott," April, 1838; Chateaubriand's "English Literature,"
October, 1839; Bancroft's "United States," January, 1841; Madame
Calderon's "Life in Mexico," January, 1843; Ticknor's
"History of Spanish Literature," January, 1850.
These essays, except the last, were printed in one volume,
in London and Boston, in 1845; and several editions have since
been called for.
The memoir of Charles Brockden Brown, the novelist, published
in Sparks's "American Biography" in 1834, was written by Mr.
Prescott.
But he had long cherished a hope of being able to write a history;
and, as he prosecuted his researches into Spanish literature
and annals, his design assumed form. The friendly offices of the
late Hon. Alexander H. Everett, then United-States minister at
Madrid, were of great service in enabling him to obtain a rich
and extensive body of materials for his work. These valuable
books, manuscripts, and copies of official documents, reached
him at a time when most men, under like circumstances, would
have abandoned all hope of executing the task he undertook.
An extract from the preface of his "History of Peru," dated
April, 1847, will best explain what these were, and most
authentically describe that peculiarity of his literary
history which is so remarkable in itself, and so valuable
and encouraging to others who mlay suffer under any physical
infirmity.
He says, -
"While at the university, I received an injury in one of my
eyes, which deprived me of the sight of it. The other, soon after,
was attacked by inflammation so severely, that for some time I
lost the sight of that also; and, though it was subsequently
restored, the organ was so much disordered as to remain
permanently debilitated; while, twice in my life since,
I have been deprived of the use of it, for all purposes
of reading or writing, for several years together.
It was during one of these periods that I received from Madrid
the materials for my " History of Ferdinand and Isabella;" and
in my disabled conditon, with my transatlantic treasures lying
around me, I was like one pining with hunger in the midst of
abundance. In this state I resolved to make the ear, if possible,
do the work of the eye. I procured the services
of a secretary, who read to me the various authorities; and, in
time, I became so familiar with the sounds of the different foreign
languages (to some of which, indeed, I had been previously
accustomed by a residence abroad), that I could comprehend his
reading without much difficulty. As the reader proceeded, I
dictated copious notes; and, when these had swelled to a
considerable amount, they were read to me repeatedly, till I
had mastered their contents sufficiently for the purpose of
composition."
After some deliberation and hesitation, he selected the reign
of Ferdinand and Isabella as the subject of an extended historical
work; and to this the assiduous labor of many years was cheerfully
and patiently given.
The work was published in 1838, in three volumes, and was received
with the utmost enthusiasm both in Europe and America. Scholars and
philosophers admired its depth of research, while general readers
were charmed by the limpid ease and natural grace of its style, his
brilliant descriptions and animated pictures. It was soon translated
into French, Spanish, and German.
Its author was immediately elected a member of the Royal Academy of Madrid.
The popularity which it gained upon its first publication it has since
steadily maintained.
The seventh revised edition of the work appeared in 1854; and it is one
of the established classics in the language.
Mr. Prescott's literary industry was not checked by
the success of his first work. He did not, for a moment, repose
under his laurels. He immediately devoted himself to the investigation
of another brilliant period in the history of Spain, the
fruits of which appeared in 1843, in a work in three volumes,
entitled the" History of the Conquest of Mexico, with a Preliminary
View of the Ancient Mexican Civilization, and the Life of
the Conqueror Hernando Cortez."
This work was received with no less favor than that which had
greeted the "History of Ferdinand and Isabella." The literary
world recognized in it the same careful research, the same
accuracy of statement, the same persuasive sweetness and magic
beauty of style. In 1847, was published, in two volumes, the
"History of the Conquest of Peru, with a Preliminary View of
the Civilization of the Incas; "a work of kindred and
commensurate excellence to that of the "History of the Conquest
of Mexico."
Mr. Prescott now devoted himself with unabated ardor to
the preparation of a work of wider range and a broader scope,
a work which he was not permitted to finish, - the "History of
the Reign of Philip the Second."
This was a theme requiring a larger and more comprehensive
treatment than his previous works. He had now become one of
the great literary names of the age, and found everywhere persons
who were ready to give him assistance.
Everywhere, both public and private collections
and private archives were thrown open to him. It was while
preparing for this work that he indulged himself with a brief
excursion to England, where he was received with the utmost
enthusiasm by persons of the highest distinction in literature and
social life, and where the favorable impression created by his
works was confirmed by his prepossessing appearance and delightful
manners.
He took ample time for the task which he destined
to be the crowning work of his life. in the latter part of 1855
appeared the first two volumes of this work, under the title of
the " History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain."
The highest expectations of the public were gratified by it.
In 1856, he published an edition of Robertson's "History of
the Reign of Charles the Fifth," with notes and a valuable
supplement, containing an account of the emperor's life after his
abdication.
But a few weeks before his death, the third volume of his
"History of Philip the Second" appeared; and the public journals
and reviews on both sides of the Atlantic were speaking its
praises, as a work worthy the fame of its distinguished author,
when the news of his decease was received.
No native author has shed more lustre on American literature
than Mr. Prescott. The highest acknowledgments of
literary distinction were liberally showered upon him.
The University of Oxford, in 1850, conferred upon him the degree
of doctor of laws. He received the same degree from Columbia
College, N.Y., in 1840; from South Carolina College
in 1841; and from Harvard College in 1843.
He was elected a corresponding member of the Royal Society
of Northern Antiquaries, Copenhagen, in July, 1837; of the
Royal Academy of History, Madrid, May, 1839; of the Royal
Academy of Sciences, Naples, September, 1839; of the Hercul-
anean Academy, Naples, May, 1841; of the Institute of France,
Paris, under the division of moral and political science, and
in the section of general history succeeding Navarete, the Spanish
historian, without the previous knowledge or solicitation of himself
or friends, being the highest of all distinctions of its
class,- an honor said never before to have been conferred on
any native of New England, except Dr. Franklin, 1 February,
1845; of the Prussian Imperial Academy of Berlin, February, 1845.
He was an honorary-member of the RoyalSociety of Literature,
London; of the Royal Irish Academy; of the Literary and Historical
Society, Quebec; of the Mexican Society of Geography and Statistics:
and was elected, in 1850, an honorary-fellow of the Society of
Antiquaries, London. He was also a member of the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the
Massachusetts Historical Society.
In private life, he was a most entertaining and genial companion.
He was as rich in the love of his friends as in the admiration of
the literary world.
His character was thus beautifully and eloquently
described, a few days after his death, by his former pastor:
The man was more than his books. His character was loftier
than all his reputation. So simple-minded, and so
greatminded; so keen in his perceptions, but so kind in his
judgments; so resolute, but so unpretending; so considerate of
every one, and so tasking of himself; so full of the truest and
warmest affections; so merry in his temper, without overleaping
a single due bound; such spirit, but such equanimity; so much
thoughtfulness, without the least cast of sickliness; doing good
as by the instinct of spontaneous activity, and doing labor without
a wrinkle or a strain; unswerving in his integrity, and
with the nicest sense of honor; whom no disadvantage could
dishearten, no prosperity corrupt, no honors and plaudits elate
or alter one whit; modest as if he had never done any thing;
retaining through life all the artlessness of the highest wisdom;
with a liberal heart and open hand; the ingenuousness of youth
flashing to the last from his frank face; walking in sympathy
with his fellows, and humbly before God."
Mr. Prescott married, 4 May, 1820, Susannah, daughter of
Thomas C. and Hannah R. Amory, of Boston. They had
three children, two sons and a daughter, who with their mother
survived him.
1815. - Hon. GEORGE EUSTIS died in New Orleans, 22
December, 1858, aged 62. He was the oldest son of Jacob
and Elizabeth (Gray) Eustis; and was born in Boston, 20
October, 1796. He was fitted for college at the Boston Latin
School. Soon after his graduation, he went abroad in the
capacity of private secretary to his uncle, Gov. William Eustis
(H. C. 1772), then minister to the Hague; the secretary of the
legation being Hon. Alexander Hill Everett (H.C. 1806), so
well known for his varied attainments, with whom he formed a
friendship that was life-long. At the Hague he began his legal
studies, and drew, from the clear fountains of the civil law of
Holland, France, and Germany, those elementary principles and
stores of learning, which, at a later period, he was destined to
exhibit to such advantage in his career at the bar and on the
bench.
On his return from Europe, he went to New Orleans,
where he completed his professional studies with Abner L.
Duncan of that city, and where, on his admission to the bar
about the year 1822, he established himself in the practice of
law. He soon began to attract notice as an able jurist, a
keen logician, and a speaker and writer of great pith and
terseness. The bar of New Orleans then embraced some of the
ablest juridical minds in the country. The learned, laborious,
and eloquent Livingston; the vigorous, ponderous, and sarcastic
Mazureau; the fluent, graphic, and sensible Grymes;
the well-read, sagacious, and vigilant Hennen; and a host
of other younger attorneys,- many of whom have since
reached the highest places in the profession, - were the formidable
rivals among whom young Eustis was thrown to struggle and contend
for the prizes of professional distinction.
He was not unequal to the contest. Discarding the arts of the
advocate, the strategy of the mere attorney, he based his
claims to consideration as a lawyer upon his logical power, his
thorough knowledge of the science of law, his fine analytical talent,
and his clear, perspicuous, laconic style. Oratory, or eloquence,
he held in little esteem; and quibbling technicalities
were his special disgust. The reason of the law, its equity and
philosophy, were the objects of his constant study and search;
and, in the pursuit of these, he deemed it necessary to render
himself perfectly familiar with the history of jurisprudence.
He was a thorough civilian, - one of the most accomplished in
the United States.
He was several times elected a member of the state legislature;
was secretary-of-state of Louisiana; and was for several
years the leading commissioner of the Board of Currency, an
institution which has been eminently serviceable in guarding
and regulating the banking system. He possessed a thorough
knowledge of the system of banking, and was the author of
many of those reforms which have given so much stability and
such a high character to the currency of the state of Louisiana.
He was also attorney-general and assistant-justice of the Supreme
Court of the state; which last position he resigned to
enter on a somewhat lengthened tour in Europe. He was a
leading member, as a conservative democrat, of the convention
for amending the state constitution, in 1845; and became the
chief-justice of the Supreme Court as it was remodelled by
that instrument.
During his term of office he performed
much mental labor, with great success. He was indefatigable,
and possessed an admirable method, and great command
of his resources. His judicial decisions were marked by a
clearness of style and logic, and a thorough acquaintance with
law, which made them compare favorably with the best to be
found in the English or American reports. After the adoption,
in 1852, of the present constitution of the state, which provides
for popular election of the judiciary, he retired from public
life- being utterly opposed to the election of judges by the
people-to resume his practice at the bar; which he did under
flattering circumstances.
To his great professional learning he united an extensive
acquaintance with English, French, and Spanish literature; and
was esteemed by his large circle of friends as a most entertaining,
and instructive companion; and, if his conversation was
occasionally dashed with sarcasm, it was often replete with
genuine humor and racy wit. He was incorruptibly honest, a
high-minded gentleman, a virtuous citizen, and an excellent
man. He was naturally of a vigorous, mental, and physical
constitution, maintained by habits of out-door exercise. In
1849, the honorary degree of doctor of laws was conferred
upon him by Hlarvard College.
He married, in 1825, Clarissa Allain, of Louisiana, by whom
he had six children, — four sons and two daughters; one of
whom, the Hon. George Eustis, jun., was for several years
the representative in Congress from the First Congressional
District of Louisiana. His wife survives him.
1816. - WILLIAM JOHN ALDEN BRADFORD died at sea, of
Chagres fever, on the passage from Central America to New
York, 28 November, 1858, aged 61 years. He was the oldest
son of Hon. Alden (H.C. 1786) and Margaret (Stevenson)
Bradford, and was born in Wiscasset, Me., 19 November, 1797.
IHis father was born in Duxbury, Mass., 19 May, 1765; was
ordained minister of Pownalborough (now Wiscasset), Me.,
14 November, 1793; was dismissed 21 September, 1801;
relinquished the ministry, removed to Boston, and was clerk of
the Supreme Court.
He afterwards engaged in the book-trade
as a partner of the firm of Bradford and Read. Leaving, trade
for politics, he was secretary of state from 1812 to 1824. He
published a history of Massachusetts from 1760 to 1820, and
several other valuable works. He died 26 October, 1843, aged
78 years. The mother of this notice was daughter of Thomas
and Isabel Stevenson, of Boston. He was fitted for college
principally at Exeter (N.1J.) Academy, but completed his
preparatory studies at the public Latin School in Boston. After
leaving college, he studied law under the instruction of Hon.
James Savagle, of Boston, (H.C. 1803), and practised his
profession in Essex and New Bedford. He subsequently went to
Iowa, and practised in Dubuque some ten or twelve years, where
he was for some time district-attorney. He afterwards returned
to Massachusetts; was a clerk in the United-States Branch Bank
in Boston; but, finding that the confinement was injurious to his
health, he resigned his situation, resumed the practice of the law,
and acted as a justice in Charlestown, Mass., two or three years.
He then went to Central America, intending, if he liked the
country, to settle there: but, it not meeting his expectations, he
concluded to return to the United States; and on the voyage
home he was seized with the fever which proved fatal, and he
was buried at sea. He was never married.
1816. - AUGUSTUS THORNDIKE died in Boston, 25 November, 1858,
aged 61. He was son of Hon. Israel and Anna (Dodge) Thorndike,
and was born in Beverly, Mass., 8 July, 1797. His father was a man
of great ability and energy. It has been justly remarked, that "few
individuals, endowed with such mental powers, appear in a generation;
and when their influence is united, as was his, with high moral powers,
and exerted during a long life on the side of virtue, and in promoting
the best interests of society, it is enduring, and serves to give
a character to the age in which they live." *
At an early age, Augustus manifested a quickness of apprehension,
and much aptitude for learning; and Col. Thorndike was very desirous
that his son should receive the best possible education. With this
object in view, he sent him, when about eleven years of age, to Edinburgh,
and placed him under the care of the Rev. David Irving, D.D., a very
distinguished classical scholar, in whose family he resided during all
the time he remained in Scotland. After some preparation, under the
instruction of Dr. Irving, Augustus entered that well-known seminary
called the High School of Edinburgh. There he pursued his
studies with diligence, and made very satisfactory proficiency,
until about August, 1813, when his father directed him to return
home, for the purpose of having him enter college at Cambridge.
As war existed at that time between England and the
United States, some delay occurred before a suitable ship could
be obtained in which he might cross the Atlantic. On the 28th
of September, he left Liverpool in what was denominated a cartel,
together with forty-one other Americans; and arrived at
Boston on the 4th of November.
It may be proper here to state that Augustus conducted himself
well while he lived in Edinburgh, and was held in good
estimation by his instructors and acquaintances. The late Earl
of Buchan, the friend of Washington, took much interest in him,
familiarly calling him little Thorndike; and he, as well as the
celebrated Francis Jeffrey, the late Lord-Advocate of Scotland,
showed Augustus much attention and kindness. At the High
School, at that time, there were several pupils who were sons
of noblemen; and, when Augustus entered the school, these
pupils manifested a disposition to be rude to this young American.
One of the boys, who was son of an illustrious duke, often
took the liberty to run upon and hector young Thorndike; and
he seemed to be encouraged in this practice by some of his comrades.
This was borne with a good degree of patience for a
time; but at length it became intolerable; and Augustus, having
consulted with his old friend, the Earl of Buchan, took a favorable
opportunity, when he was grossly assailed by the young
duke, as he was commonly called, to redress his grievances.
Whereupon these two champions had a furious set-to and fight.
A ring was formed, and a large majority of the boys insisted
upon fair play. Augustus, who was very athletic, and was
expert in boxing, gave the young duke such a severe drubbing,
that he cried for quarter, and at length surrendered at discretion.
The young American was cheered, and proclaimed the
victor. Thenceforth he was in the ascendant, and was treated
with great deference and civility by all the boys in the school.
On the return of Augustus, in November, 1813, he reviewed
his studies, and made some additional preparation under the
instruction of Mr. George Morey (H.C. 1811), who was then a
student-at-law in Boston. On the 9th of February, 1814, Mr.
Morey offered him for admission into Harvard College.
He bore a very satisfactory examination, and was admitted into the
sophomore class by the unanimous voice of his several examiners.
Augustus went to Cambridge under circumstances not
likely to insure to him a satisfactory progress through college.
He entered at an advanced standing, and became at the outset a
member of the sophomore class. At the Iigh School in Edinburgh
he had been thoroughly drilled in Latin and Greek, and
his manner of pronouncing Greek and reciting in these studies
was peculiar and striking. His advent at Cambridge produced
quite a sensation among the students. Hliis dress and manners
attracted much notice. Certain members of his class, and also of
the two upper classes, whose companionship was not calculated
to be particularly beneficial to him, sought his acquaintance.
They were disposed to express surprise at his acquirements, and
at all times they courted and flattered him. IHe frequently spoke
of the feats and exploits perpetrated at the High School in Edinburgh,
and often gathered a crowd around him while he narrated what he had
seen and done. He often expressed much admiration of the arrangements
at the school he had just left; and, finding the rules to which he was
now subject very different from those he had been accustomed to, he was
not slow to manifest his dissatisfaction and disgust with the regulations
at Cambridge.
This state of feeling led him not unfrequently to disreg,ard and disobey
them, and he was encouraged to do so by his associates. In consequence of
this, he was several times called to account by the officers of the college;
and, when arraig,ned, he was not inclined to mnanifest a proper respect or
deference to those who administered admonition to him. At
length, on the Gth of November, 1814, having become involved
in a complication of ordinary college difficulties, his relations
with the university were, by a vote of the faculty, wholly suspended.
He then left Cambridge, and went to Groton, Mass.; and there pursued his
studies under the direction of his former instructor, Mr. Morey, who had
entered his name as a studentat-law in the office of the Hon. Luther
Lawrence (H.C. 1801).
He remained at Groton about six months, where his conduct was
unexceptionable; and he fully kept up with his class in their
studies. On the 29th of May, 1815, he was again offered by
Mr. Morey for admission; and, having borne a very good examination,
he was again restored to his former standing in college.
At the commencement in 1816, he took his degree; but, as
might well have been expected, he had no share in the special
honors of the day.
After leaving college, he went to Gottingcn, and there took
up his residence, in company with Mr. Joseph G. Cogswell
(H.C. 1806). After remaining a considerable time at Gottingen,
he, with Mr. Cogswell, made an extensive tour, and visited
various parts of Europe. In due time he returned to the United
States.
He married, about the year 1824, Henrietta Steuart,
daughter of Dr. James Steuart, formerly of Annapolis, Md.,
and afterwards of Baltimore. The children of this marriage are
four, - two sons and two datughters. Their names are Rebecca
(now the wife of Lieut. H. C. Marin, of the navy), James
Steuart, Charles, and Henrietta Augusta. James Steuart
graduated at Harvard Colleoe in 1848, and Charles in 1854.
In the year 1836, Mr. Thorndike left Boston, with his family,
for the purpose of proceeding to Scotland, and taking up his
residence there for an indefinite length of time. On his arrival
in Scotland, he took a lease, for a term of years, of an estate
situated not far from Edinburgh, with a preserve attached thereunto,
well stocked with game. On this estate he resided several
years, amusing himself by shooting game in the season, and
by fishing in the Tweed and the various waters in Scotland. Hie
was as enthusiastic an angler as Izaak Walton. He visited the
coast of Norway with a fiiend from Boston, and spent several
days in fishing on the coast of that country. He invented a fly,
which he used for the purpose of catching fish. It was called
the Thorndike fly, and became very famous throughout Scotland.
Such was his success with this artificial fly, that he was invited
to go to Arundel, in England, and use it for the purpose of
catching mullet in the river Arun. This was a favorite fish with
Heliogcabalus and other Roman emperors. They often paid for
it at the rate of a sestertium ($40) for a pound. The Duke of
Norfolk, through whose estate this stream runs, has a regulation
forbidding the taking of mullet by the seine, net, or spear; and
as this wary fish cannot be caught by a hook used in the ordinary
mode, which fact his sagacious lordship well knew, the
above regulation amounted to an entire prohibition. But Mr.
Thorndike declined going to Arundel for the purpose suoggested,
until the consent of the noble duke should be first obtained.
He remarked that it should not be said that an American gentleman
had attempted to practise any circumvention upon the Earl-Marshal
of England.
After Mr. Thorndike had resided several years in Europe, he
returned, with his family, to the United States. He became owner
of a beautiful estate in Newport, R.I., which he occupied a
considerable period, until the marriage of his eldest daughter with
Lieut. Marin. After tlhis event, he sold his estate, broke up his
establishment at Newport, and went, with his family, to Europe.
He came to Boston in 1856, and remained here several months.
Hie, at this time, took an active part in the managemnent of his
property. He built a block of stores on the site of the old
Commercial Coffee-house, and to some extent superintended the work
himself. He went back to Europe, and spent most of his time in
PLaris; and again, in the month of June, 1858, he returned to
Boston, for the purpose of purchasing a mansion-house in this
city, to be occupied by himself and his wife during their remaining
days.
At the time of his return, and for some months
afterwards, he appeared to be in excellent health.
In the course of the summer, he set about making that
long will, which has been published, hats attracted much
attention, and has been pointedly commented on in divers
newspapers.
It was completed and executed 24 September, 1858; and was deposited,
by order of the testator, in the office of the Probate Court for the
county of Suffolk; to which tribunal he, without doubt, expected and
intended it should, upon his decease, be presented for allowance
and approval.
This will bears, in a peculiar manner, the impress of Mr. Thorndike's mind.
It is obviously the result of much reflection and consideration; and is,
in a great measure, his own handiwork. Undoubtedly he received assistance
on the occasion from one or more friends learned in the law.
The circumstance that it is all in his own handwriting, furnishes, to
those who knew him well, pregnant evidence that he took a deep
interest in the matter, and devoted particular attention to the
preparation of this elaborate instrument. This is not the place
to discuss the character of this important document, or the
merits of some of its provisions, the nature of which resulted
from a certain family-difficulty.
What the precise character of this difficulty may have been, no one can
fully know and coml)rehend but the parties themselves: while there is no
doubt, that, if he had consulted any of his judicious friends as to what
sort of a will he should make, a very different instrument, in one
important particular at least, would have been the result of such
consultation: but the testator, in this case, chose to make and
publish his own will, and not that of a friend. The will actually
executed is emphatically Mr. Thorndike's own will. He alone
is responsible for all its provisions, and he expected to be so
responsible. It is just such a will as those who best knew Augustus
Thorndike would have expected him to make, under the
circumstances stated by him in the instrument.
Mr. Thorndike possessed much intellectual power and vigor.
His mind was highly cultivated. He was a good classical
scholar. He was a great reader of ancient and modern history.
He had visited the most interesting portions of Europe.
He had seen much, and had an excellent opportunity to make
discriminating observations upon men and maniners. He possessed a
large fund of accurate information in relation to European society,
and was familiar with its prevailing manners, customs, and usages.
He possessed colloquial powers of a high order. He could make his
conversation exceedingly pleasant and interesting. His bearing was
that of a gentleman. His manners indicated good breeding, and a perfect
knowledge of the forms and civilities belonging to the best society.
In his opinions and feelings, he was always conservative. He was
early taught to respect and venerate the principles of Theophilus
Parsons, Nathan Dane, George Cabot, and other Essex statesmen.
He was, during, the greater part of his life, on terms of intimacy and
friendship with many distinguished noblemen in England and Scotland.
He was averse to labor, especially of an ordinary kind; but
he was capable of great physical exertion, and would not shrink
from long, vigorous, and continued effort in any thing about
which he felt a particular interest. Pride was not a stranger to
his bosom.
He was always desirous of having reaso to be proud of every member
of his family, and of whatever possession belong,ed to him. Any
disappointment, therefore, in this respect, was to him a sore grievance
and mortification. He was ever anxious to give all his children a perfect
education. On some occasions, there were indications of his being actuated
by a spirit of jealousy.
He manifested much sensibility when he suspected that some wrong or fraud
was intended to be practised upon him. Nothing provoked him so much as to
discover that he had been deceived, or imposed upon. He was slow
to forget or forgive a supposed injury of this kind, especially
when he thought it had been accomplished by concealment or
management.
He had an iron will; and, whenever he had
given formal notice of a particular purpose, he was very certain
to fulfil it. WVhen he had made a decision or resolve, the thing
was fixed, and a change in his determination could hardly be
expected. If, like the Israelitish captain, lie made a vow, like
him he was sure to perform it. He never harbored, for any length
of time, those ordinary resentments which many persons persistently
cherish. He uniformly entertained much respect for those who had
been his tutors and instructors, and always expressed kind
feelings towards them.
Those who had been strict and severe in their discipline formed no
exception to this rule. Notwithstanding he received some rebuffs during
his residence at Cambridge, he manifested much affection for the
university. He sent his two sons to Harvard College, where
they graduated in due course; and in his last will, which has
been so much criticised, he remembered his Almna Mater, and
gave a legacy of twenty thousand dollars to establish a
professorship of music at the college, to be managed,
as far as practicable, according to the statutes
of the University of Oxford.
His provision respecting the management of the professorship
is perfbctly characteristic of the testator.
No one could question his veracity or honesty. Whatever
he stated might always be implicitly relied upon; and whatever
debt he owed he was certain to pay promptly, and to the
uttermost farthing. Every promise he made, or contract he entered
into, he never failed to perform, in the spirit and to the letter.
While he exacted strict and perfect justice of others,
such justice he was at all times ready to do on his part.
This was with him a constant maxim and fixed principle of conduct.
He was conscious of having committed errors during his career. This,
notwithstanding his pride, he on several occasions confessed to
some of his most intimate and confidential friends. He often
regretted that he had not studied a profession, or engaged in
some business, which would have required constant attention,
and given him regular employment. One circumstance should
not be forgotten in this connection. He eschewed the great
mistakes 6ften committed by the sons of rich men. He not
only did not waste or impair the large property derived from
his father's will, but greatly increased it by his prudence and
good management. For this, his family certainly have much
reason to express feelings of pride and thankfulness. Every
member thereof may well be particularly grateful, that, by the
provisions Mr. Thorndike has made for his worthy and excellent
wife, he has given her the means, in her own judicious way, to
make amends, in a great degree, for the most objectionable
feature of her husband's will; and it is hoped that it will not
be deemed impertinent to suggest, in conclusion, that her quiet
and prudent management will be vastly more likely to promote
justice and equity, the peace of the family, and the good of all
concerned, than a long and protracted course of litigation.
1820. CHARLES BUTTERFIELD died in Tyngsborough,
Mass., 26 July, 1858, aged 62. He was son of Capt. Asa
and Abiah (Colburn) Butterfield, and was born in
Tyngsborough, 21 December, 1795. He was fitted for college at
Westford Academy. Having chosen the profession of law, he
pursued his legal studies under the tuition of Hon. Daniel
Richardson, of Tyngsborough. On the completion of his
professional studies, and having been admitted to the bar, he
opened an office in his native town; but relinquished the profession
a few years afterwards, and devoted himself to agriculture.
He was never married. He was a man of a most amiable and
genial disposition, with a firnd of wit ever at command. liHe
was one of the four, of the class of 1820, who established in
1818, in college, the renowned "Med. Fac. Society." The
other three were James Ferdinand Deering, of Portland, Me.;
David Priestley Hall, of Pomfret, Conn. (now of New-York
City); and the writer of this notice.
Mr. Butterfield was universally esteemed by the inhabitants
of his native town. He represented the town in the state legislature
in 1834 and 1835.
Possessed of the most kind and philanthropic feelings, he was always
ready to afford his services to benefit his fellow-beings. At the
bedside of the sick, he was unwearied in his watchings; to the afflicted,
he was a comforter; to those who needed counsel in worldly matters, his
services were always freely given; and, being a well-read lawyer, he had
great influence in preventing litigation.
In 1857, he was appointed librarian of the Middlesex Mechanic Association
in Lowell, and took up his residence in that city. It was a quiet place
among books; and, with the changes contemplated, was just the situation where
he hoped to pass, in a manner suited to his tastes, among pleasant companions,
many long years of a healthy and vigorous old age.
He was in perfect health, was careful of himnself, and was of a long-lived
race; his father having lived,. in robust health, to the age of 94
years. But it was decreed otherwise. In the midst of the happiness he
enjoyed in his new position, and the pleasure which his
friends took in having him there, he was suddenly, in February,
1858, attacked with a disease of the heart, which satisfied him
at once that his plans for the future were soon to come to an
end. He remarked, that, amid all the death-scenes he had witnessed,
he had always hoped for a sudden exit for himself, and
was happy that the nature of his disease promised this.
But in this he was not gratified. He went home to die, contentedly
and patiently; but for weeks he lingered with great suffering,
though with perfect submission to his fate. He was greatly
beloved and respected by the people among whom he passed
nearly the whole of his life; and who, in his death, mourn the
loss of a worthy, good man.
1822. - Rev. BENJAMIN CLARK CUTLER PARKER died in
New-York City, 28 January, 1859, aged 62. He was the sixth
son of Rev. Samuel (H.C. 1764) and Anna (Cutler) Parker,
and was born in Boston, 6 June, 1796. His father was rector
of Trinity Church, Boston, and bishop of the Protestant
Episcopal Church in Massachusetts. Deprived of the directing care
of his father before he had completed his eighth year, he enjoyed
the careful tutelage of a Christian mother, whose fidelity and
consistency were a lantern irr his path. He entered the Boston
Latin School in the year 1808; and, having successfully pursued
a literary course in that institution for three years, he left, and
went into the counting-house of Blodget, Power, and Wheeler,
where he remained until the dissolution of that firm, when he
was transferred to the counting-house of the late James Carter,
on Central Wharf. Soon after the breaking-out of the war, he,
being of the age at which military duty was required, was
draughted from the militia to serve on the defenceless forts in
Boston harbor; but a substitute was obtained by his employer,
with whom he remained a year or two longer, when, by one of
those little incidents directed by the guiding Spirit, he was led
to the determination to devote himself to the Christian ministry.
One Sunday, after attending the services of the church, he
was thoughtlessly induced to enter one of those places of
refreshment which the vigilant eye of the law often overlooks or
ignores; and, on coming out of that place, his thoughts became
ill at ease, at what, from maternal instruction, he was convinced
was a violation of the sanctity of the Lord's day. He at first
thought of the pain it would give to a Christian mother, should
she know where he had been; and this reflection was followed
by a consideration of the reasons why she would disapprove of
such a resort on such a day. Stung by the reflection, his walk
homeward was prolonged, he knew not whither, until he reached
the open air and sunshine of the country.
There was a quietness around him not in unison with his feelings
within; and it became evident to him that he was the object of an
internal struggle between the world above and that below. By the grace
of God, the world below was vanquished; nor did he rest until
he had resolved to give himself heart and soul to the service of
God.
This was the beginning of a new life. From that time,
he determined to relinquish the flattering prospects of mercantile
advancement before him, and to renew his studies under the
direction of that rare and ripe classical scholar, the late Rev.
Dr. John S. J. Gardiner, of Trinity Church, the assistant and
successor of his father, with the view of preparation for the ministry.
He was soon prepared for college, and entered in 1818.
In his freshman year, he obtained a Bowdoin prize for an essay
on the Life and Character of Dr. Johnson.* He graduated with
high rank. His religious sympathies received fostering encouragement
under the faithful ministry of the Rev. Dr. Asa Eaton
(H.C. 1803), of Christ Church, of which he became a communicant in 1816,
two years before his entrance into college.
While preparing for the ministry, he opened a private school in
the vestry of St. Paul's Church, in his native city; and, as a
remarkable instance of his perseverance, it may be mentioned, that
for nearly four months he here labored with only three pupils.
His persevering fidelity, however, was soon rewarded; and he
was compelled to limit his numbers, and deny many applications
for admission. He was ordained a deacon by Bishop Griswold,
in Trinity Church, Boston; and was admitted to priest's orders
at St. Michael's Church, in Bristol, R.I., 17 May, 1826. Soon
after his ordination, he gave up his school, then in the full tide
of successful experiment, for the beloved object of his heart,
the work of the Christian ministry. His first labors were in the
church in Gardiner, Me.; but, by the persuasion of his bishop,
he was induced to visit Lenox, in Massachusetts, to attempt
to resuscitate a church then almost extinct in that place.
Becoming interested in this new field of labor, he remained six
years in that beautiful but retired village, instead of a few months
as he expected. From Lenox he removed to Woodstock,
Vt., where he labored for a similar period. He afterwards
labored in Plainfield and other places for three years; uniting,
as it were, the labors of a pious missionary with those of a faith
* This production will be found entire in the "Aids to English Composition,"
a work prepared by his brother, Richard Greene Parker (H.C. 1817),
In 1842, he removed to the city of New York, and supplied the Church of
the Ascension during the absence of its rector, the present Bishop of
Massachusetts. He subsequently took charge of a church in Flushing, L.I.,
for six months; when he was invited to the scene of his
last labors, the "Floating Chapel for Seamen," where for
more than fifteen years he labored with singular ability
and fidelity.
This was a field of labor entirely congenial to his taste, and for
which he possessed signal qualifications.
The hardy mariners, they who go down to the sea in ships, and behold
the wonders of the Lord on the deep, were met with a sympathy, which,
like a key, opened the secrets of their souls; and thousands of volumes -
Bibles, prayer-books, tracts, religious stories-were sent on their
missionary labors in the ships' forecastles; and many a foot, that
came to the chapel to scoff, "remained to pray." His labors
were brought to a sudden close. He died, after an illness of
six days, of congestion of the lungs. His physical sufferings
during this period were intense; but his mind was clear, tranquil,
and composed. He was fully aware of his situation; but
his soul, in perfect peace, reposed in Christ. Disdaining all
dependence on his own merits, he trusted solely to the atoning
sacrifice of his Saviour for his acceptance at the mercy-seat; and,
with simple, childlike faith, he resigned himself wholly - to
use his own words -"to the adorable, lovely, blessed will of
God;" and, in this delightful frame of mind, he passed at last,
without a struggle or a groan, to a blissful immortality.
He married, 7 February, 1833, Frances, daughter of the
late Dr. Shirley Erving,- a descendant of the celebrated Gov.
Shirley,- a lady whose religious sympathies had long been in
unison with his own, and with whom he enjoyed a life of
matrimonial harmony, extending over a period of more than a quarter
of a century. She survived him. They had no children.
1825.- Dr. CLIFFORD DORR, of Boston, died in the McLean
Asylum, Somerville, Mass., 19 August, 1858, aged 52. He
was son of John and Esther (Goldthwait) Dorr, and was born
in Boston, 2 November, 1805. He was fitted for college at the
public Latin School in Boston. *After graduating, he studied
medicine under the instruction of Dr. George Hayward,
of Boston (H.C. 1809); and received the degree of M.D. in 1829.
He practised his profession in Braintree and Quincy, Mass., and,
for a short time, in Matagorda, Tex. On the 6th of Septemnber,
1840, he sailed from New York, as a passenger, in the ship
Coriolanus," Francis A. Bertody (his brother-in-law), master,
to Sydney, New South Wales; and returned home by way of
Calcutta and St. Helena; arriving at New York in January,
1842. In March, 1855, he was seized with a severe paralysis
of the brain; from which, however, he partially recovered the
following year, and his convalescence continued for five months:
but in December, 1856, he experienced a second attack, which
so affected his mental faculties, that it became necessary to
remove him to the Hospital for the Insane, in Somerville, where
he remained until death closed the scene. He was never married.
1826. - Dr. SAMUEL SAWYER died in Cambridge, Mass.,
5 January, 1859, aged 54. He was son of Samuel Flagg and
Patience (Learned) Sawyer, and was born in Cambridge, 20
March, 1804. His father was a mason in Cambridge, and was
born in Sterling, Mass. His mother was a native of Watertown,
Mass., and survived him. After leaving college, he was
for some time employed as a teacher in Chelnsford, Mass. He
then began the study of medicine; and after going through a
regular course, and receiving the degree of M.D., he settled as
a physician in Fairhaven, Mass., where he practised with good
success for several years. Soon after the discovery of gold in
California, about the year 1849, he was applied to by a company
to go to that place; which application he accepted, and went
round Cape Horn. On his arrival there, he resumed the practice
of his profession, and also kept an apothecary's-shop. After
remaining there about four years, he returned, and settled in
Cambridge, where he passed the remainder of his life. He was
a very successful agent, for a year or two, among the poor in
Cambridge, during which time he published one or two reports.
He was also a member of the city-council; and, in 1857 and
1858, was one of the school-committee. He was highly es
teemed as a physician and a citizen.
He married, 23 November, 1833, Miss Lucy Tufts, of Charlestown,
Mass., by whom he had six children,- all daughters,
who, with their mother, survive him.
1830. - HORATIO SPRAGUE EUSTIS died at his plantation
in Issaquena County, Miss., 5 September, 1858, aged 46.
He was son of Gen. Abraham (H.C. 1804) and Rebecca
(Sprague) Eustis, and was born at Fort Adams, Newport,
R.I., 25 December, 1811. He was fitted for college at
RoundHill School, Northampton, Mass., under the superintendence
of Joseph Green Cogswell (H.C. 1806) and George
Bancroft (H.C. 1817). After leaving college, he studied law;
went to the West; and finally settled, as a lawyer, in Natchez,
where he continued in the practice of his profession, with the
exception of an interval of a year or two, until his death. He
married, 10 May, 1838, Catharine, daughter of Henry Chotard,
a planter. He left a widow and ten children, seven sons and
three daughters.
1830. - Rev. BARZILLAI FROST died in Concord, Mass.,
8 December, 1858, aged 54. He was born in Effingham, N.H.,
18 June, 1804. He was fitted for college at Exeter (N.HI.)
Academy, under the charge of Benjamin Abbot, LL.D. (H.C.
1788), and graduated at that institution with the highest honors.
He then entered the sophomore class at Harvard. While in
college, he held a high rank in his class, and graduated with
distinction.
On leaving college, he was appointed preceptor of
Framin,gham Academy, which situation he held two years. In
1832, he entered the Divinity School at Cambridge, where he
completed his theological studies. During this period, he was
appointed instructor in mathematics to the senior class in the
college, in place of Prof. Farrar, who visited Europe for the
benefit of his health. This situation he filled two years, pursuing his
theological studies at the same time. (On leaving the Divinity
School, he began to preach; and in Jamnuary, 1836, received an
invitation to settle as pastor of the Unitarian Church and Society
in Barnstable, Mass.; and, in September of the same year, he
received a call to settle in Northfield, Mass.: both of which
invitations he declined. On the 1st of February, 1837, he was
ordained as colleague with Rev. Ezra Ripley, D.D. (H.C. 1776),
over the Unitarian Church and Society in Concord.
Dr. Ripley died 21 September, 1841, at the age of 90 years; and Mr.
Frost continued in the uninterrupted, active, and successful discharge
of his duties as pastor until the autumn of 1855, when,
in consequence of a severe cold, his lungs became seriously
affected, and he was obliged to relinquish his pastoral duties.
In February, 1856, he sailed for St. Thomas; and, after spending
nearly three months on that island, and on the islands of
Jamaica, Cuba, and St. Croix, he returned to the United States.
He came home by way of Charleston, S.C.; and reached Concord the
last of May. His health continuing feeble, he sailed on
the 24th of November for St. Croix, where he passed about five
months; and, on his return, he visited the Island of Bermuda,
where he remained several weeks. He arrived home the latter
part of June, 1857. His health being still in a very precarious
state, he was obliged, on the 13th of September, 1857, to ask a
dismission, which was granted with great reluctance; his parishioners
unanimously expressing on the occasion their great regret
that the interesting relation which had so long existed between
them and their beloved pastor should be terminated, and manifesting
in various ways their strong and affectionate regard for
him. His pastoral relation closed on the 3d of October, 1857.
A few weeks before the termination of his connection with
the church and society, he suffered a severe affliction in the
departure from this life of his distinguished and excellent
parishioner, the Hon. Samuel Hoar (H.C. 1802).
One of the last, and probably the very last sermon which he wrote, was that
which he preached on the Sunday after the interment of his lamented
and faithful friend. Though written by Mr. Frost while in a
feeble state of health, it was a full and just tribute to the memory
of a great and good man. For a period of about twenty years,
Mr. Frost performed all the duties of an active, zealous, and
faithful minister. Every good cause found in him an earnest
and efficient friend and advocate. His ministry was a very
useful and successful one. A satisfactory evidence of this is, that,
during the whole course of his labors at Concord, he secured the
entire respect, and enjoyed the uninterrupted confidence and
friendship, of Samuel Hoar.
On the 24th of November, 1857, Mr. Frost, accompanied
by his faithful and excellent wife, and his youngest son, a very
interesting boy of about ten years of agcre, sailed from Boston
for Fayal, one of the Azores, in the hope that it might restore
him to health. After remaining at the island about eight
months, hlie returned to his native shore. He arrived at Boston
on the 17th of August, 1858. His visit to Fayal was a most
unfortunate movement. It happened that the weather was, for
a considerable time, cold and chilly: so inclement a season was
never before known at that island. Mr. Frost suffered very
much on -account of the cold and dampness; and it became
manifest that there was little or no chance of his recovery. In
the midst of his suffering, a most distressing affliction befell him,
in the loss of the child who accompanied him. On the 31st of
May, the lovely boy went up a mountain near the residence
of his parents, in company with a party of friends; and, on
their return, he deviated from the path usually taken, and fell
over a precipice into a ravine'about seventy feet deep: by
the fall his spine was broken.
After lingering about two days, he expired in the arms of his
distressed mother. Great sympathy was manifested on the occasion
by the members of the several very respectable families
of Fayal; and great kindness was shown to Mr. Frost and his family
by all the people, during their residence on the island.
On the arrival of Mr. Frost at Boston, he was in a very
prostrate condition; and was borne from the ship to the
residence of a friend in the city, where he remained about a week.
He was then carried to Concord, and was there received into
the house of his kind and faithful friend and physician, Dr.
Josiah Bartlett (H.C. 1816). Finding himself in so comfortable
a mansion, among a host of his friends, consisting of
his former parishioners and other esteemed acquaintances, his
spirits revived, and his strength seemed to be considerably
improved.
He rode out a few times, and had the satisfactionof taking a parting
look at the places endeared to him as having been the scenes of the
cares and pleasures with which he was conversant during his Christian
ministry. He took great comfort in being able to see and converse with
his dear friends once more.
At length, he began to grow weaker; and, about the 1st of November,
the symptoms of a speedy dissolution were manifested: but he still
lingered until the 8th of December, when, in the presence of his
wife and son, and his faithful physician and other dear friends,
his spirit took its flight to another and a better world.
Mr. Frost married, 1 June, 1837, Elmira Stone, youngest
daughter of Daniel and Sally (Buckminster) Stone, of Framingham.
They had four children, two of whom died in infancy. Another died
in Fayal, under the circumstances above
mentioned. The surviving son graduated at Harvard College
in 1858; and became a student-at-law in the office of Hon.
Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, in Boston (H.C. 1835). This son
stood by the bedside to smooth the pillow and administer to the
wants of his languishing parent. The faithful and affectionate
wife devoted herself, with unremitting care and watchfulness, to
the beloved husband through all the stages of his disease, until
the last moment came, when she closed his eyes, and witnessed
with what faith and hope a Christian could die.
1834. - EUGENE FULLER was drowned from on board the
steamship "Empire City," 21 June, 1859, on the passage from
New Orleans to New York via Havana. He was forty-four
years old. He was the eldest son of Hon. Timothy (H.C.
1801) and Margaret (Crane) Fuller, and was born in Cambridg,e,
Mass., 14 May, 1815. After leaving college, he
studied law, partly at the Law School in Cambridge, and
partly in the office of George Frederick Farley, Esq., of
Groton, Mass. (H.C. 1816). After his admission to the bar, he
practised his profession two years in Charlestown, Mass. He
afterwards went to New Orleans, and was connected with the
public press of that city. He spent several summers there;
and, some two or three years ago, was affected by a sun-stroke,
which resulted in a softening of the brain, and ultimately in a
brain-fever, which came very near proving fatal, and left him in
a shattered condition. His friends hoping that medical treatment
at the North might benefit him, he embarked with an
attendant on board the "Empire City," for New York.
When one day out, his attendant being prostrated with sea-sickness,
Mr. Fuller was left alone, and was not afterwards seen. He
must have been lost overboard. The "New-Orleans Picayune"
of the 30th June, with which he was some time connected, says,
His industry, reliability, and intelligence were equalled only by
his invariably mild, correct, and gentlemanly demeanor; and he
was liked and respected by all who knew him."
Mr. Fuller married Mrs. Rotter, a widow lady of New
Orleans, originally of Philadelphia. They had five children,
three sons and two daughters.
1835.- Dr. AARON LARKIN LELAND died in Detroit,
Mich., 14 Novetliber, 1858, aged 45. He was son of Joseph
P. and Tryphena (Richardson) Leland, and was born in
Sherburne, Mass., 21 August, 1813. His mother was daughter
of Dr. Abijah Richardson, of Medway, Mass., a surgeon in the
Revolutionary war. He was fitted for college by Mr. Nathan
Ball (B.U. 1826), and Rev. Amos Clarke (H.C. 1804), of
Sherburne. After leaving college, he pursued his medical
studies with Drs. Charles Harrison Stedman and Jerome Van
Crowninshield Smith, of Boston. During his pupilage, he
spent much of his time in various hospitals in the vicinity of
Boston: viz., at the Marine Hospital in Chelsea, of which Dr.
Stedman was then the physician; at Rainsford Island, of which
Dr. Smith was superintendent, and where Dr. Leland remained,
and took much of the charge during a season when the
small-pox was very prevalent; and also at the Lying-in
Hospital on Boston Neck. In July,. 1839, he removed to Pontiac,
Oakland County, Mich.; and settled there in the practice of
his profession, in connection with Dr. Isaac Paddack, an old
and esteemed practitioner of that place. In 1847, he removed
to Detroit, where he continued in successful practice until his
death. He was a thorough and scientific practitioner; having
brought to the aid of discriminating qualities of a high order,
and a judgment of great soundness, minute and extensive reading
and a wide practice.
He deservedly ranked among the first medical men of the day.
In his personal attributes, he was eminently prudent, thoughtful,
reflecting, and sagacious; correct in every principle; of scrupulous
uprightness; prompt and diligent in his profession; trustworthy and
punctilious in every transaction. He won the esteem of all who knew him,
by his urbane manners, his integrity of character, and his humane disposition.
He married, 17 June, 1856, Sarah Elizabeth Livermore, daughter of Hon.
Isaac Livermore, of Cambridge, Mass. He had two children, a son and a daughter.
The former died in infancy: the latter, with her mother, survived
him.
1836. - EDWARD AUGUSTUS CROWNINSHIELD died in Boston, 20 February,
1859, aged 41. He was the fourth son of Hon. Benjamin William and Mary
(Boardmnan) Crowninshield, and was born in Salem, Mass., 25 February, 1817.
He was fitted for college at Round-Hill School in Northampton,
Mass., under the charge of Joseph Green Cogswell (H.C.
1806) and George Bancroft (H.C. 1817). After leaving
college, he went through a course of legal studies in the office
of Franklin Dexter (H. C. 1812) and William Howard Gardiner
(H.C. 1816), and was admitted to the bar, but never
practised; his pecuniary circumstances being such as not to
require him to toil for his daily bread. About the first of
December, 1859, in company with some friends, he went on a
pleasure-excursion to Europe, and returned the next year.
In 1856, he again went to Europe, with the hope that the
voyage would be the means of restoring his health, which had
been for some time previously in a delicate state. He spent the
winter of 1856-7 at Pau, in the south of France; thence he
went to Madeira, where he passed the winter of 1857-8; and
returned the following June, without having experienced any
permanent relief.
He was a gentleman of exceedingly pleasing
manners and prepossessing appearance. Of an equable
temperament, he had no ambition for public honors or political
prominence; but was a great lover of literature, and was passionately
fond of books. He had one of the rarest and choicest private
libraries in this part of the country. His taste in bibliography
was exquisite. He wanted not only the best books, but the best
editions. His library was particularly rich in early American
history and biography. He had a copy of the "Bay Psalm
Book," the first book that was printed in New England.
Among other rarities, he had an original copy of Cushman's
Plymouth Sermon;" Purchas his Pilgrimes; " Smith's "History
of Virginia and New England" (an original copy)
Hypocrisie Unmasked," by Edward Winslow; Hakluyt's Voyages,
published in 1582; an original copy of "The Christian
Commonwealth," by John Eliot; and a similar copy of "Bradford
and Winslow's Relation," published in London; "The
Schoolmnaster," by Roger Aschanm; "Coryat's Crudities" of
1611-; from the library of he Duke of Sussex; "The Whole
Book of Psalms," by Sternhold and Hopkins; a book on
angling, by Bernes, bearing date of 1486; the "Nuremburg
Chronicle" of 1493; King James's Works; Dibdin's bibliographical
works; and "Samuel Gorton's Answer to Morton's
Memorial," in manuscript.
Mr. Crowninshield read the books he bought, with discrimination
and profit. His mind, manners, and language indicated
refinement and scholarship. His whole life was regulated by
good sense, good taste, and good feeling. He secured the
esteem, the confidence, the affection, of all who were sufficiently
acquainted with him to know his true character. He was for
some time a trustee of the Boston Athenoeum, and took a deep
interest in the art-exhibitions of that institution. He was
elected, 11 November, 1858, a member of the Massachusetts
Historical Society; an honor to which his scholarly acquirements
and literary taste justly entitled him. He married, 15
January, 1840, Caroline Maria Welch, daughter of Francis
Welch, Esq., of Boston. They had three children, all sons;
the eldest of whom graduated at Harvard College in 1861.
1838. - Dr. WILLIAMI AUGUSTUS BRIGGS, of Boston,
died in Baltimore, Md., 19 May, 1859, aged 39. He was the
only child of William and Mary (Clark) Briggs, and was
born in Boston, 12 July, 1819. His father, who was a native
of Little Compton, R. I, was a merchant in Boston,
and died of consumption in Matanzas, Cuba (whither he had
gone for the benefit of his health), 14 May, 1828, aged 37.
His remains were brought back to Boston, and conveyed to
Watertown, Mass., for interment. His mother was a daughter
of John Clark, Esq., of Watertown, where she was born
March, 1796: she died in Boston, 19 January, 1854, aged 57.
Young Briggs began his preparatory studies for admission into
college at Woburn Academy, under the instruction of Alfred
Washington Pike (D.C. 1815). Thence he went to Framingham
Academy, under Barzillai Frost (H.C. 1830). At these
institutions he remained four years; and he completed his
studies under Rev. Theodore Parker, of Watertown, afterwards
of Boston, with whom he remained one year. After leaving
college, he studied medicine at the Tremont Medical School in
Boston, under the charge of Drs. Jacob Bigelow (H.C. 1806),
Edward Reynolds (H. C. 1811), David Humphreys Storer
(Bowd. C. 1822), and Oliver Wendell Holmes (H.C. 1829).
On completing his medical studies, he began the practice of his
profession in Boston but, being left with an ample competence,
it was not necessary for him to depend upon his profession as a
means of support. Still, however, he was very successful; and,
until his health failed, was rapidly rising to distinction. He
was of a most amiable disposition, and led a blameless and
exemplary life. The death of his mother was a sad. affliction
to him, from which he seemed never to recover. The incipient
symptoms of consumption not long afterwards began to develop
themselves, and he endured a long and painful sickness. But,
notwithstanding all his sufferings, not a word of complaint ever
passed his lips. In order ta escape the rigors of a northern
climate, he passed the last two winters of his life with a relative
in Baltimore, where he received every attention and comifort
which kind affection and endearment could procure, and where
he calmly and peacefully passed away. He was never married.
His remains were brought to the North, and interred at Mount
Auburn.
1838. - ASA HAMMOND WHITNEY died in Vicksburg,
Miss., 8 October, 1858, aged 39. He was son of Asa and
Mary (Hammond) Whitney, and was born in Boston, 17 June,
1819. After leaving college, he made a voyage to the
Mediterranean for his health, and subsequently went to Rio Janeiro as
supercargo. On his return, he embarked in business as a
junior partner in the house of Henshaw and Whitney, wholesale
druggists, in Boston; but for several years resided in Cambridge,
where he built and occupied the house now owned by Charles
Russell Lowell, Esq. He subsequently removed to Norfolk,
Va., where he managed the financial affairs of the Seaboard and
Roanoke Railroad Company for many years with marked
ability; and, at the time of his decease, was filling an important
trust in Mississippi. He was a man of great energy and earnestness
of character, of warm and cordial feelings, and most
courteous and winning manners; of an ardent temperament and
a strong will; a most genial companion, and a steadfast friend.
He married, 3 October, 1842, Miss Laura Leffingwell Henshaw, of
Alabama, niece and adopted daughter of the late
David Henshaw, of Leicester, Mass. He had five children,
viz., Laura Leffingwell, Anna tenshaw, Catharine Virginia,
Hammond, and Emily, -who, with their mother, survived him.
1843. - JOSEPH HURD WALKER, of West Townsend,
Mass., died at the residence of his father, in Boston,
16 October, 1858, aged 36. He was son of Dr. William Johnson Walker
(H.C. 1810) and Eliza (Hurd) Walker, and was born in Charlestown, Mass.,
19 September, 1822.
He was fitted for college in Exeter, N.H. He held a very respectable
rank in his class, and graduated with distinction. He was particularly
distinguished for talents in mathematics.
After leaving college, he prepared himself for the profession of a civil
engineer, in which business he became quite distinguished. He
made the surveys and superintended the construction of the
Peterborough and Shirley Railroad, which he completed to the
entire satisfaction of the stockholders, and at much less than
the estimated cost. A few years afterwards he relinquished the
business of engineering, purchased a farm in West Townsend,
and devoted the remainder of his days to agriculture. He
married, in 1845, Anna M. Babbit, of Charlestown. They had
six children, of whom five survived him: one died in 1855.
His widow also survived him.
1844. - JOSEPH BROWN SMITH died in Louisville, Ky.,
6 May, 1859, aged 36. He was born in Dover, N.H., 14
March, 1823. At birth, his sight was perfect; but, ere a week
had passed, a disease fastened upon his eyes, which resulted in
total, incurable blindness. When three years of age, he lost his
father. His mother then removed to Portsmouth, N.H., where
he passed eight years. The following sketch of his life is
compiled from a funeral discourse on his life and character,
delivered by Rev. John H. Heywood, of Louisville (H.C. 1836).
He was endowed with a mind active and vigorous, a memory very
retentive and capacious. From early childhood, he was marked
for his love, his yearning, for knowledge. Sent to school when
but four years old, he was so fortunate as to have for his teacher
a lady who had a just view of education, and whose schoolroom
was pervaded by the affectionateness which makes the charm of
a home. When nine years of age, he was placed in the Institution
for the Blind in Boston, under the charge of Dr. Samuel
Gridley Howe, who saw what was in the boy, and determined
that it should be fully brought out. Under his instruction, he
prosecuted his studies, until, at the age of seventeen, he was
prepared to enter college.
He passed through his collegiate course with credit
to himself, and received, at its expiration, his
diploma; being the first totally blind man who ever graduated
at any college in this country. He was a good scholar in Latin,
Greek, and mathematics. He was a proficient in French and
German, both of which languages he understood well, and
spoke fluently; and had an extensive and thorough acquaintance
with the best English literature. He had a remarkable talent
for music, in which, by his attainments, he became pre-eminent.
At eighteen months, he could sing three tunes. When nine
years of age, he composed a march. So fond of musical thought
and expression was he, that, when a mere child, he was often
overheard composing in his sleep. Sometimes, when between
the ages of eight and ten, strains and tunes taught him by his
instructor would escape him; and he would try in vain, before
going to bed, to recall them. In his sleep they would come,
as if conscious, that, having once been given him, they had no
right to leave him long; and then he would rise, go to the
piano, and, like a true poet or sculptor, embody them, not in
words or marble, but in harmony. Not far from the time when
he entered college, he composed an overture, which
was performed by the Boston Academy of Music, and which was deeply
interesting, not only as a manifestation of his rare susceptibility
and extraordinary capacity, but also of the wonderful knowledge
he even then possessed of the deep, intricate science of music.
In September, 1844, he went to Louisville, Ky., having
been appointed professor of music in the Asylum for the Blind
in that city; and there he resided until his death. With so fine
a susceptibility to the influence of music, with so thorough a
knowledge of its principles, he was eminently fitted to appreciate
and enjoy music of the highest order. In that he revelled.
His soul responded to the songs and choral symphonies in which
the great masters gave expression to thoughts and emotions too
vast for words, too deep for tears. Such were the rare musical
powers and attainments of this gifted man; and how kindly and
faithfully he employed them, there are many to testify. The
private pupils whom he patiently instructed-all connected with
that home for the blind to which he consecrated fourteen of the
best years of his life, and for whose benefit he labored with the
fidelity of an earnest, conscientious Christian teacher-can never
forget him. He was a sincere, hearty Christian. He loved
the Bible dearly. Eight years before his death, he connected
himself with the church. In an earnest, humble, and devout
spirit, he made the Christian profession, and sought to live in
harmony with it. His resignation to the will of God was
perfect, for life and for death, for time and eternity.
He married, first, 9 August, 1846, Elizabeth Jane Cone,
who died 14 June, 1851; and second, 26 July, 1853, Sarah
J. Nash. He left two sons: the elder, the child of the first
marriage, bearing the name of the great composer, Joseph
Haydn; the younger, named for an intimate friend, Bryce
Patten.
1848. ENOCH LINCOLN CUMMINGS died in Portland, Me.,
21 January, 1859, aged 31. Hle was son of Col. Simeon and
Mary (Cushman) Cummings; and was born in Paris, Me.,
23 May, 1827. His father, who was son of Jesse and Nancy
Cummings, was born in Bridgewater, or Sutton, Mass. His
mother was a native of Paris. He pursued his preparatory
studies mostly at North Yarmouth, Me.; and entered WTaterville
College in 1843, where he remained one year and two terms.
He then left; went to Cambridge, where he continued his
studies privately, and entered the sophomore class at Harvard
in 1845. After graduating, he studied law a little more than a
year with his brother, Benjamin C. Cummings, in Paris; and
then entered the office of William Willis (H.C. 1813), and
William Pitt Fessenden (Bowd. C. 1823), in Portland, where
he completed his legal studies; and was admitted to practice
in Cumberland county, in October, 1850.
He immediately opened an office in Portland, and devoted himself
entirely to business. His brother, with whom he studied in Paris, moved
to Portland a few years after, where he died in 1857 or 1858.
Their mother (a woman of great energy and good sense) and
one brother survived him, both living in Paris. Their father
has deceased. Had Mr. Cummings's life been spared, and
an opportunity been given for the full development of his
powers, his habits of industry and perseverance were such, that
he would have attained a high rank in his profession. But,
dear as was the tie which bound him to his associates in life,
there was a closer and more endearing fellowship to which his
surviving friends turned in the hour of their bereavement.
The last year of his life was one of Christian activity and
usefulness, which makes up his brightest record. Having, about a
year before his death, united with the church of which the Rev.
Dr. Chickering was pastor, he entered at once heartily into
the new service to which he committed himself; and carried
into it the same elements of activity and devotion which had
characterized him as a business-man. A meeting of the mem
bers of the Cumberland bar was held immediately after his
death, at which appropriate resolutions were passed, expressive
of their profound regret and sincere sorrow at the loss of their
associate, and tendering to his wife and family their deepest
sympathy and heartfelt sorrow for their bereavement.
Mr. Cummings married, 28 July, 1852, Annie N. Clifford, only
daughter of Hon. Nathan Clifford, of Portland, an associate
justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, formerly
a member of Congress from Maine, attorney-general of the United
States, and minister to Mexico. They had three children, all
of whom survive. Judge Clifford began practice in Newfield,
a small town in York county, Me.; and removed to Portland
about the year 1849.
1851.: Rev. GEORGE BRADFORD died in Watertown,
Mass., 17 February, 1859, aged 30. He was son of Ephraim
and Lucy (Peterson) Bradford, and was born in Duxbury,
Mass., 3 June, 1828. He was a lineal descendant of Gov.
Bradford of Plymouth Colony. He was fitted for college at
Partridge Academy in Duxbury. While in college, he held
a high rank as a scholar; was elected by his classmates to
deliver the class-oration at the'close of the senior year, and
graduated with distinguished honors. He returned to Duxbury
at the end of his collegiate course, and was for two years
preceptor of the academy at which he had pursued his preparatory
studies.
In August, 1852, he became a member of the Unitarian church in
Duxbury; and, about that time, he decided to enter the gospel-ministry,
a choice of profession of which his friends soon acknowledged the wisdom.
He entered the Divinity School at Cambridge in 1853; and, after finishing
the regular course of study, was ordained as pastor of the Unitarian church
in Watertown, 6 November, 1856. He had only time to fairly enter upon his
career of professional and social usefulness, when the symptoms of consumption,
of long standing, perhaps, but hitherto scarcely observed, manifested themselves;
and, after an illness of a few months, he gave way,and, sinking at the last rapidly,
but peacefully died, surrounded by his friends and relatives, without pain
and without regret.
It is hard to leave the world when one has but just begun his
work here," he said, on the last day of his life, to a near friend;
but death of itself has no terrors." All those who knew him
intimately could well understand, that in that calm and steadfast
mind, trained to early maturity by a life of Christian
virtue, and imbued with the deepest Christian faith, there was
no regret, except for those whom he left behind him. He
was a devoted pastor, who brought to his work a mind of no
ordinary depth and compass, a judgment singularly correct,
and a devotion to duty which is rarely seen. His generous
friendship never failed, while his exterior reserve covered a
nature of wondrous geniality, and of genuine enthusiasm; and
his calm, upright, and resolute walk in life seemed the
characteristics inherited from the Puritan governor from whomn he
was descended. He married, 18 February, 1857, Ruth Ann
Ford, of Duxbury, who survives him. They had no children.
1851.- FRANCIS OLIVER DABNEY, of Boston, died in
Beirut, Syria, 26 December, 1858, aged 28. He was son of
Charles William and Frances Alsop (Pomeroy) Dabney, and
was born in Fayal, Azores (where his father resided as
American consul), 17 March, 1830.
His mother was formerly of Brighton, Mass. He was fitted for college
mostly under tutors in Fayal, and the last year under the instruction
of Eben Smith Brooks, of Cincinnati (H.C. 1835). Immediately after
graduating, he entered the counting-room of Messrs. Dabney and
Cunningham, of Boston, for the purpose of preparing himself
for the mercantile profession. He was subsequently admitted
as a partner in that house, where he remained until his death.
He was unmarried. On the 15th of September, 1858, he left
New York, in the steamship " Africa," for Liverpool, on business
of the house with which he was connected; expecting to be
absent about a year. Immediately after his arrival at Liverpool,
he proceeded east as far as Beirut, in which place and
vicinity he intended to remain until his return home. He was
in perfect health until near the middle of December; when he
was seized with an alarming illness, which, in two weeks,
terminated fatally. Although he died in a distant land, he was
surrounded by kind and sympathizing friends; and all that love
and skill could do was done to rescue him from death.
The last three months of his life, he was the honored guest of a
wealthy and influential Arab gentleman, who evinced a devotion
and regard for him, in his last illness, that could not have
been surpassed by the dearest relative. During the last days of
Mr. Dabney's life, this gentleman never left his bedside; and
he saw the grave close over the object of his solicitude with a
grief that did honor to his heart, and that told most eloquently,
to all who witnessed it, what must have been the character of one
who could inspire such afflection. His mortal remains were laid
in the beautifully-situated cemetery of the American mission.
Mr. Dabney had not gone far enough in life's journey to be
known to many beyond the circle of his friends; but his energy
and upright manliness struck all who came near him. Seldom
are so much firmness and integrity, aid such a chivalrous sense of
honor, shown by one so young. For these noble qualities, he
might well be esteemed by all who knew him.
1851. - WILLIAM PAISLEY FIELD, of Randolph, Mass.,
died at the residence of his father, in Newton Lower Falls,
Mass., 5 May, 1859, aged 31.'He was the youngest son of
Justin and Harriet (Power) Field, and was born in Northfield,
Mass., 27 December, 1827. His father, now living in Newton,
and doing business in Boston as a lawyer, was the son of Samuel
Field, and was born in Northfield. His mother was born
in Boston. The family removed to Boston when the subject of
this notice was one year old. He entered the Boston Latin
School in August, 1836; and left in the spring of 1841, on
account of ill health. He remained at home a year or two;
after which he entered, as an apprentice, the flour-store of
Messrs. Earle and Brown, No. 9, Lewis Wharf; where he remained
about four years. He then suddenly determined to go
to college; left the store on the 1st of May, 1847, reviewed his
studies by himself, and entered the freshman class the same
year.
He attained a high rank in his class, and graduated
with distinguished honors. In his junior year, he gained a
second prize for a dissertation. In his senior year, he taught
school for a short time in Harvard, Mass. He possessed
great musical talent; was organist at the Episcopal church
in Cambridge, when in college; and had constantly played the
organ in church from the age of fourteen years. Two of his
brothers - Thomas Power and Justin - graduated at Amherst
College in 1834 and 1835 respectively. On leaving college, he
went to Philadelphia; where he taught one year in the Protestant
Episcopal Seminary. He then returned, and spent the
following year in teaching private pupils in Cambridge.
He entered the Law School in Cambridge, at the second term in
1853-4; and took his degree of LL.B. in July, 1855. In
March, 1857, he began the practice of his profession in
Randolph, Mass.; where he continued during the remainder of his
life. He was unmarried. He was of an amiable disposition,
and led a life of unblemished integrity.
1853.- WILLIAM HENRY ROWE died in Boston, 22 July,
1858, aged 27. He was son of Samuel and Lydia Ann
(Fletcher) Rowe, and was born in Boston, 6 October, 1830.
His father was a native of Kensington, N.H.; was a carpenter;
and died in Boston, 28 August, 1843, aged 43. His mother
was probably born in'Newburyport, Mass. She died in Boston,
13 October, 1830, aged 23. The subject of this notice, when
five years of age, was accidentally hit on the left knee by a
stone, which lamed him for life. He was fitted for college at
the Boston Latin School, where a Franklin medal was awarded
to him for his superior scholarship. While in college, he taught
school during the winter vacations, in his freshman year, in
Middleton, Mass; in his sophomore year, in Deerfield, N.H.;
in his junior year, in Braintree, Mass; in his senior year, in
Taunton, Mass. He was a diligent student, his conduct was
unexceptionable, and he graduated with high honors. Immediately
after leaving college, he entered as a student the office
of Fisher Allen Kingsbury, Esq., in Weymouth, Mass.; under
whose tuition he pursued the study of the law two years.
While in this place, he was instrumental in establishing a
debating society, of which he was the leading spirit, and which
was highly successful. Meeting accidentally, in Boston, some
gentlemen from the West, he was induced, by the flattering
prospects held out for young lawyers in that part of the country,
to go to Davenport, Io.; where he entered the office of Hon.
John P. Cook, who was at that time a representative in Congress
from Iowa. Here he finished his legal studies; and in
March, 1856, he was admitted to the bar in Davenport. He
immediately began practice, still continuing in the office of Mr.
Cook. His success was very great; and he was soon in full
practice, with a brilliant prospect before him. He was a man
of great energy; and a too-constant attention to business
probably affected his health.
Early in the year 1858, he experienced a change of heart,
which induced him to resolve upon a different course of life.
In a letter, dated 9 March, 1858, to a friend in Boston, he
writes: "I humbly trust that I have bec6me a Christian;
that God, in his infinite mercy, has pardoned me, through the
atoning merits of Christ. I feel that I am weak indeed; far,
very far, from being established as a disciple of Christ: but I
also feel that I have obtained something that I never had before;
that my life, slowly and waveringly indeed, is inclining up to
God and Christ, and away from the world and death." He
further adds: "I shall probably give up the profession of
law, and study for the ministry; and I earnestly pray to God
that he will accept and prepare me for the holy work. With
God's permission, I expect to enter the seminary at Andover at
the commencement of the next term, viz., September next; and
shall probably therefore return to the East in the course of a
few months: when, I don't exactly know."
But upon this new profession he was not permitted to enter.
In March, the incipient symptoms of that fell disease, consumption,
began to be developed, and rapidly increased; and it
soon became manifest that death had marked him for its victim.
His illness was not known to his friends here until some time
afterwards; but, when the sad news reached them, they took
measures for his return to his native city. He reached Boston
the 1st of July, in a state of extreme debility; and after three
weeks' great bodily suffering, but in a very happy state of mind,
he expired, with a full confidence of a joyful immortality. He
was greatly beloved by his acquaintances and relatives, who,
from his blameless life and brilliant prospects, had anticipated
for him a long career of success and usefulness. He was
unmarried.
1853. - JOHN HENRY SULLIVAN was drowned in Lake
Michigan, 27 August, 1858, aged 25. On the afternoon of
that day, he and Mr. R. P. Jennings went out from Milwaukie
for a sail on the lake, in the "Galatea," a four-oared boat
belonging to the Galatea Boat-club, of which Mr. Sullivan was a
member. Both the gentlemen were skillful and experienced in
the management of a boat: but a gale came on at nightfall,
causing a heavy sea; and they did not return. The members of
the boat-club took a tug-boat, and went in search of their friends.
In the mean time'the tidings reached Chicago, where Mr. Sullivan had
resided for nearly two years previously to settling in
Milwaukie; and a party of his friends started immediately for
Milwaukie, and joined in the anxious search for the missing ones.
Fragments of the "Galatea" were found scattered along the shore
for a, distance of six or seven miles. She was a new and beautiful
boat, and the fragments were easily identified by her owners
and builder.
Day after day the search was renewed, and rewards
were offered to enlist the services of the shore fishermen;
but each day weakened the slender hope that the young men had
been saved. The body of Mr. Jennings was at length found,
half-buried in the sand; but Mr. Sullivan's has never been
recovered. He was unmarried. He was the only son of John
Whiting and Marion (Dix) Sullivan, of Boston, and was born
in Dorchester, Mass. (where his parents were then temporarily
residing), 30 October, 1832. He entered the Boston Latin
School when only nine years old, but completed his preparatory
studies at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. While in
college he bore an unblemished character, and was much beloved
by his class. In Plymouth, Mass., where he spent several of
his vacations, he had many true friends, who will long remember
him as a most genial companion, a kindly and pure-minded
boy. After graduating, he studied law for two years in the
office of Baker and Peabody, in Concord, N.H.
He then entered the Law School at Cambridge, where he completed
his legal studies, and soon afterwards emigrated to the West. He
settled first in Clinton, Io.; but soon removed to Chicago,
where he was induced to abandon the practice of his profession,
and enter the commercial-agency office of B. Douglass and Co.
Here he remained until the spring of 1858, when he went to
superintend the Milwaukie branch of the agency. He was also
connected, from time to time, with various newspapers in New
England and the West, as correspondent, contributor, and
literary-critic. Wherever he went, he made warm and appreciating
friends, both among his business acquaintance and in general
society. Not only was he highly educated, thoroughly well
read, possessed of business ability and decided literary and
musical talent, a most sprightly wit and lively fancy, but he had
a truly kind and pure heart. He never spoke slightingly of any
one, was peculiarly generous and noble in his disposition, and
invariably courteous to old and young, to rich and poor alike.
When all hope Of his safety was given up, the Galatea Boatclub
met, and passed the following resolutions in regard to their
lost brother: "Whereas we may no longer indulge the hope
but that a sudden and grievous dispensation of Providence has
severed the links of our brief association in the transition from
this earth of a gifted and highly esteemed fellow-member, the
going-out of whose life, in the full vigor of manhood and usefulness,
has filled our hearts with the profoundest sorrow; and
whereas, after long and patient endeavor, the poor consolation
of recovering, and consigning to a fitting resting-place, all that
remains to earth of our departed friend has thus far been denied
us: therefore be it Resolved, That we deeply and sincerely deplore
the removal from this life of our late friend and fellow club-man,
John H. Sullivan, whose refined and scholarly attainments, blameless
life, and generous impulses, endeared him by ties of no ordinary
regard to each and every member of our association.
Resolved, That to those, who, from ties of kindred
or long and happy association, were nearer and dearer to our
lost companion, unto whose hearts this great affliction shall
bring the tenderest sorrow, - to such, and to all who are compelled
with us to taste of this bitter cup, we extend our kindliest sympathy
and condolence." The Wisconsin bar also passed a series of resolutions
in expression of their kind feeling and respect for him.
1854. - DAVID HENRY MORDECAI, of Charleston, S.C.,
died in Nice, Italy, 22 January, 1859, aged 25. He was
the eldest son of Hon. Moses Cohen and Isabel (Lyons)
Mordecai, and was born in Charleston, 13 November, 1833.
Both his parents were of Jewish origin. His father, who is a
merchant, was born in Charleston in February, 1805; and is
the son of Moses Cohen Mordecai, who was born in England.
His mother, who is the daughter of Isaac and Rachel Lyons,
was born in Philadelphia, during a temporary residence of her
parents in that city, in March, 1805. Mr. Mordecai was fitted
for college at home; entered the junior class in South-Carolina
College in December, 1851; and remained there until December,
1852, when, with several others, he received an honorary
dismissal (the college refusing to abolish the system of bursary
commons), and entered Harvard the second term of the junior
year. Here he immediately took a very high rank, and was
one of the most brilliant scholars in his class. He remained
until the 14th of April of the following year, when he was
obliged to leave on account of the delicate state of his health;
but the college faculty conferred upon him his degree with the rest
of his class. He afterwards read law in the office of the Hon.
James Lewis Petigru, of Charleston; and then went to Europe
to finish his studies and improve his health.
But death, with its relentless hand, - who knows no distinction
between man and man, between virtue and vice, genius and imbecility,
struck him down in his promising manhood, at the very threshold of
the goal at which the hopes of his family and friends would have
been realized. He was, in point of talents and attainments,
perhaps the first man of his age in his native state. A brilliant
sphere was opened before him: his future was a perspective of
the brightest auguries. Possessing a mind among the quickest
in conception, a memory that appropriated without effort
the treasures of learning, a judgment ripe for his years, he
united with these endowments that patient perseverance, without
which natural gifts are the foliage without the fruit of intellectual
culture. Alas that a life so rich in promise should be
so soon ended; that the associations which so intimately blended
social with intellectual merit should be so suddenly severed;
that the memories of friendship, the anticipations of future
eminence, the images of parental hope, the visions that cluster
round one with faculties so gifted, and a life so radiant in its
prospects, should have been so prematurely obliterated!
1854. - ALFRED HAMPTON PRESTON, of Columbia, S.C.,
died in Rome, Italy, 16 January, 1859, aged 24. He was
the eldest son of Hon. John S. and Caroline Martha (Hampton)
Preston, and was born in Abingdon, Washington county,
Va., 3 June, 1834. His father, a sugar-planter, was son
of Gen. Francis Preston, whose wife, Sarah Campbell, was
daughter of Gen. William Campbell, of King's - Mountain
celebrity (where he was commander), and niece of Patrick
Henry. His mother was daughter of Gen. Wade Hampton,
and was born at The Woodlands, Richmond District, S.C.
Gen. Hampton's second wife, Mary Cantey, of St. Matthew's
Parish, S.C., was a niece of Gen. Sumter. Mr. Preston's
father had established himself in Columbia, Richland District,
S.C., where he married; and he travelled to and from Virginia
each season. His interest was in Louisiana, but his citizenship
was in South Carolina; and he was twice in the South-Carolina
Legislature.
Mr. Preston travelled much in the United States.
He studied with a private tutor several years; came to Cambridge
15 July, 1852; and in six weeks, under James Coolidge Carter
(H.C. 1850), was prepared, and entered the junior class, 1
September, 1852. After graduating, he went to Germany to
continue his studies, which were cut short by a fever, which
settled upon his lungs. The slow and insidious decline which
followed, resisting all that human kindness could effect, served
but to show in bright characters the beautiful confidence of the
young Christian in his progress to the rich inheritance, through
his Redeemer, of eternal life. In his later moments, his gentle
ness and meek submission to the will of God were only exceeded
by his cheerful enjoyment of that " peace which passeth
understanding," and which divested his dying bed of any fear of the
destroyer. Cut down as he was in the brightest promise of
early usefulness, his bereaved parents and sorrowing friends
would not recall him from that bliss which is the attainment of
the righteous. He was a high-toned gentleman, an affectionate
and devoted son and brother, and a true friend.
1796. - WILLIAM WELLS died in Cambridge, Mass., 21
April, 1860, aged 87 years lacking six days. He was son of
Rev. William and Jane (Hancox) Wells, and was born in
Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England, 27 April, 1773. His
father was a Unitarian clergyman, an intimate friend of Dr.
Priestley. During the occurrence of the riots which drove that
eminent theologian from his congregation and his home, Mr.
Wells's chapel at Bromsgrove, fifteen miles from Birmingham,
was threatened with destruction by the mob. In consequence
of such a prospect, and the gloomy and distracted state of that
part of the kingdom, he determined to emigrate with his family
to America; and arrived in Boston in June, 1793.
From Boston he went to Brattleborough, Vt., where he preached
"the faith that was in him," but was not settled as pastor of any
society. In 1818, the honorary degree of doctor of divinity
was conferred upon him by Harvard College.
He died in Brattleborough, 9 December, 1827, aged 83. Mr. Wells's mother
was daughter of Rev. James Hancox, of Dudley, in Worcestershire, England.
Before coming to this country, Mr. Wells,jun., had gone through a course
of studies at the college in Hackney, England; having been fitted by the
celebrated classical scholar, Gilbert Wakefield.
After he came to America, and before going to college, he taught
school in Wethersfield, Conn. He entered college in the last term of
the junior year in 1795, and at once took a high rank in his class.
Hewas particularly distinguished for his attainments in the Latin
and Greek classics. In 1798, he was appointed Latin tutor in
the college; an office which he held two years. He intended to
study for the ministry; but as his health was delicate, his lungs
being somewhat affected, he relinquished his purpose. In 1800,
he visited England.
In 1802, he was appointed usher in the
Boston Latin School, where he remained until August, 1804.
He then engaged in business as a bookseller, in Court Street,
Boston; which he conducted alone until about 1815, when he
formed a partnership with Robert Lilly, under the firm of Wells
and Lilly. While in this business, he taught a private classical
school in Boston. He retired from his partnership with Mr.
Lilly about the year 1830, and removed to Cambridge; where
he opened a classical school for boys, which he continued for
many years with much success, until the infirmities of age
compelled him to relinquish it.
He was highly respected as a man of extensive literary acquirements,
as well as a good and useful citizen of unblemished moral character.
He had been for many years a member of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences.
He married, 3 May, 1808, Frances Boott, daughter of Kirk
Boott, Esq., of Boston. The issue of this marriage was seven
children, -three sons and four daughters. One of the sons
deceased. The other children, with their mother, survived him.
One of the daughters- Frances Boott is the wife of Rev.
William Newell, D.D., of Cambridge.
1800. - WILLIAM SAWYER died in Wakefield, N.H., 5
July, 1860, aged 85. He was son of Nathaniel and Jerusla
(Flint) Sawyer, and was born in Westminister, Mass., 26
October, 1774. His parents were both natives of Reading,
Mass., and removed to Westminster soon after their marriage.
His father died 26 July, 1797. While laboring in the field, he
suddenly fell, and instantly expired. His mother died 20 February,
1821. Young Sawyer was fitted for college at Westford
Academy, under Amos Crosby (H.C. 1786).
While in college, he taught school, in vacation, one winter in
that part of Chelmsford which is now Lowell, and two winters in
his native town. He studied law with Henry Mellen, of Dover, N.H.
(H,C. 1784); and, having been admitted to the bar, he, in
August, 1803, established himself as a lawyer in Wakefield,
where he passed the remainder of his life. He was quite
successful in the practice of his profession. He was several
times elected a representative to the New-Hampshire legislature;
and, after the division of the county of Strafford, he was chosen
president of the Carroll-county bar. He retired from professional
practice many years ago, having acquired a competence; and devoted
himself to agriculture and the improvemnent of the farming interest
in his vicinity. He sustained through life an unblemished moral
character.
He married, in 1804, Mary Yeaton, of Portsmouth, N.H.
The issue of this marriage was five children, three sons and two
daughters. William, the eldest son, settled as a trader in
Wakefield. George Yeaton, the second son (Bowd. C. 1826),
studied law with his father, and settled in practice in Nashua,
N.H. He became an associate-judge of the Supreme Court of
New Itampshire. Charles Haven, the third son, settled on
his father's farm. All the sons married. The eldest daughter
married Dr. Thomas Lindsey, a physician in Lincoln,
Me. The second daughter, Augusta Mehitabel, married
Joseph Pike, and lived in Brookfield, N.H., a town adjoining
Wakefield.
1800. - JOHN WADSWORTH died in Hiram, Me., 22 January, 1860,
aged 78. He was son of Hon. Peleg (H.C. 1769) and Elizabeth
(Bartlett) Wadsworth, and was born in Plymouth, Mass., 1 September,
1781. His father, who was son of Deacon Peleg Wadsworth, was born in
Duxbury, Mass., 6 May, 1748. He was an officer in the revolutionary
war.
He joined the army as captain of a company of minute-men at
Roxbury, in the beginning of the war; and, by his skill and
courage, rose to the rank of brigadier-general. He was chosen
representative to Congress in 1792, and was successively re-
elected until 1806, when he declined a further nomination. He
died in Hiram, 18 November, 1829, aged 81. His mother was
born in Plymouth, 9 August, 1753. She was sister of Joseph
Bartlett (H.C. 1782), the eccentric poet and humorist. Mr.
Wadsworth was fitted for college at Fryeburg Academy. He
was remarkably comely and graceful: his manners and carriage
were polished and courtly in the highest degree.- He possessed
superior talents, and ranked-very high as a scholar in his class.
Towards the close of his collegiate course, his health failed; and
he left in the latter part of his senior year, but received his
degree with his class. He soon afterwards made a voyage to
Liverpool for the benefit of his health, but returned in the same
vessel in which he went out. He went to the South as a teacher,
and spent several years in the southern and middle states.
He taught in Natchez, Miss.; was a private teacher in the
Berrien family in Georgia, and also in that of Governeur
Morris in New York. He then studied law with Hon. Isaac
Parker (H.C. 1786), and opened an office in Vassalborough,
Me., but soon abandoned the profession. While his father was
a member of Congress, he passed a considerable time at Wash=
ington, much to the detriment of his business-habits.
He retired to his father's residence in Hiram; and, his health being
in a somewhat precarious state, he did not pursue any regular
business.
He married, in 1836 or 1837, Ellen George, of Concord, N.H.,
or vicinity, but had no children. His wife survives him.
1802. - JAMES DAVENPORT died in Boylston, Mass., 27
April, 1860, aged 81. He was son of Matthew and Patience
(Goodnow) Davenport, and was born in Sterling, Mass. (where
his parents resided a few months), 24 January, 1779. His name,
originally, was Matthew Davenport, which he changed about
1835, taking the name of James for a son who died in St. Louis
in 1833, and because James was an ancient family name, and the
name of the first Davenport who came from England to New
Haven, and settled in 1656 on the present Davenport place, -
situated partly in Boylston and partly in West Boylston, and
a considerable part of which has continued in the family
ever since. Mr. Davenport was fitted for college at Leicester
Academy. After leaving college, he studied law two years with
Hon. Edward Bangs, of Worcester (H.C. 1777), and one
year with Hon. Tristram Burgess, of Providence, R.I. (B.U.
1796). Having been admitted to the bar, he settled in
Cumberland, R.I., where he practised his profession from
March, 1804, to April, 1815; when he removed to his homestead in
Boylston; where he resided during the remainder of his life,
being occupied in the business of farming, although he continued
to be a member of the bar and a justice of the peace.
He was universally respected, and was frequently consulted, as
well as called upon to act, as a triar-justice. Three or four years
before his death, his mental faculties became impaired, and at
times his once-strong mind seemed but a mere wreck of what it
had been. It was thought that the deaths of several of his
children, and the loss of his property, with other trials, seriously
affected his mind. He had been failing in health the whole of
the last year, in consequence of a cancer on his lip; but the
immediate cause of his death was influenza, which induced inflammation
of the lungs. Three days before his last, one side
became paralyzed, which deprived him of the power of speech;
but previously he appeared conscious of his near dissolution, and
spoke of his faith and trust in God.
He married, 27 May, 1804, Sallie Andrews, daughter of
Deacon Daniel Andrews, of Boylston, a most excellent man,
and father of an equally excellent family. The issue of this
marriage was twelve children,- six sons and six daughters; of
whom six survived him,- four sons and two daughters. One
son died at ten years of age, and one daughter at the age of
seven months. All the others lived to maturity. Their mother
survived her husband, retaining much of her youthful vigor.
1803. Rev. DAVID TENNEY KIMBALL died in Ipswich,
Mass., 3 February, 1860, aged 77. He was son of Lieut.
Daniel and Elizabeth (Tenney) Kimball, and was born in
Bradford, Mass., 23 November, 1782.
When a boy, he exhibited a great passion for learning; but so
industrious was he in the business of agriculture, that his
father used to say that he should not know how to spare him,
and send him to college, if he had health to pursue the labors
of the field. He began the study of Virgil, in the district school,
under the instruction of Moses Dow, of Atkinson, N.H., afterwards
Rev. Moses Dow, of Beverly, Mass. (D.C. 1796). He became a student,
3 May, 1798, in Atkinson Academy, under Hon. John Vose (D.C. 1795)
as preceptor. That thorough scholar, judicious teacher, and
upright man always spoke of him as one of the most exemplary
and amiable young men, and one of the best scholars
under his instruction; and, when he was requested to name a
Fourth-of-July speaker from among his students, he selected
young Kimball for the purpose, who delivered an oration which
was well received. Leaving the academy 14 August, 1799,
he entered college. He sustained a very respectable standing in
his class, attended diligently to every branch of study, but
excelled in belles-lettres, almost invariably receiving distinguished
marks of approbation on his themes from that accomplished
scholar and accurate writer, Dr. Eliphalet Pearson.
Immediately after leaving college, he was appointed instructor in
Phillips Academy, Andover, where he remained one year. He
then began his theological studies with Rev. Jonathan French,
of Andover (H.C. 1771); having, as fellow-students, Samuel
Walker (D.C. 1802), afterwards Rev. Mr. Walker, of Danvers,
Mass.; Samuel Gile (D.C. 1804), afterwards Rev. Dr. Gile,
of Milton; Samuel Greele (H.C. 1802), now Deacon Greele,
of Boston; and John Farrar (H.C. 1803), his classmate,
afterwards professor of mathematics in Harvard College. His first
pulpit-performances on a Sunday were 17 March, 1805. He
preached for the first time in Ipswich, 22 September, 1805.
From that time until his ordination, with the exception of
thirteen Sundays, he supplied the pulpit in Ipswich. On the 17th
of June, 1806, the church unanimously invited him to become
their pastor, and the parish concurred with only one dissenting
vote. He was ordained 8 October, 1806; and there he labored,
with great diligence and faithfulness, for nearly forty years
before he was relieved from a portion of his duties by the
assistance of a colleague. For ten or twelve years, he instructed
the children of his society at the meeting-house, and
at his own dwelling-house, in the Asselmbly's Catechism. The number
of children present varied from 120 to 200. When the Sundayschool was
established, 20 June, 1818, with 145 scholars, he acted as superintendent,
and took part in its immediate instruction. Few men took a deeper
interest in the intellectual, moral, and religious welfare of the
community than he.
In December,1818, he instructed the young ladies of his society,
at his house, in Wilbur's Catechism, and continued it a long time;
and also, during the same time, he instructed the young of both
sexes in sacred history. He preached more than a hundred sermons
exclusively to the young. Fourteen evenings in one winter
were occupied in a course of fourteen lectures to young men, on
the text, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" in which he
aimed, as far as possible, to bring before them those principles
and practices which tend to the moral ruin of the young. He
was one of the original signers of the Massachusetts Society
for the Suppression of Intemperance, constituted in May, 1813.
He was also secretary of the Education Society of Essex County
and Essex North, from the establishment of the former, in
1816, to the time of his death; and, what is remarkable, never
failed, it is said, in an appointment, and never went to the
annual meeting unprepared with a report carefully made out. He
was a man of great modesty and humility, a faithful servant in
his Master's vineyard, and one of the worthiest members of the
community. For many years he kept a journal, in which were
recorded interesting incidents of his life. In this journal,
under date of 12 October, 1806, is a prayer which he offered the
Sunday after his ordination, of which the following is a part:
"Teach me how to pray for this people. May they always
be near my heart, especially when I address the throne of
grace! While I have breath to pray, may I not cease making
mention of them in my prayers!" This petition was literally
answered; for the last audible prayer he uttered was "for my
people."
He married, 20 October, 1807, Dolly Varnum Coburn,
daughter of Capt. Peter and Mrs. Elizabeth Coburn, of Dracut,
Mass., and grand-daughter of Deacon David Poor, of Andover.
This union was replete with happiness. They had
seven children, - five sons and two daughters; of whom two
sons died before their father. The other children, with their
mother, are living.
He never lost his interest in the languages. He read almost
daily a portion of the Old Testament in Hebrew, and of the
New Testament in Greek. He enjoyed greatly a good recitation
in Latin, and also in mathematics. He wrote in his diary,
18 November, 1859, "In the afternoon, I attended the examination
of the Ipswich High School.
I took the direction of a Latin class, and made a short address
to the school, in which I spoke of the great interest I felt in
this and all our schools, and mentioned the fact, that it is my
constant practice, every evening, to seek the greatest blessing from
the highest source on all the young people in this
town. I then spoke of the immense amount of moral power concentrating
in the scholars belonging to this school, and urged them to do all
in their power for the general good.
" November 23. This is my birthday. I am now seventyseven years old.
My day of probation is almost ended. The question which I have often
put to others is a solemn one to me,- Are you ready for its close?
I surely ought to have my lamp trimmed and burning.
"December 11. My wife having observed that few of those
who have died in our society during the time of my ministry,
according to the record, were as old as we are, my thoughts,
after retiring to bed, ran very much on our nearness to our
eternal home; and when I awoke in the morning, as well as
a number of times during the night, I found myself praying
that an abundant entrance might be administered to her, and
to us both, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and
Saviour."
His mind and body were so vigorous, that he was likely, in
the estimation of his family and friends, to live to a very
advanced age. Though his call was sudden, and his sufferings,
owing to his disease (lung fever, attacking both his lungs),
extreme, not a murmur escaped his lips. It was a privilege never
to be forgotten, to stand by his bedside, and witness his
transition from earth to heaven.
At the moment of his soul's departure from the body, there came
to his lips a smile of ineffable beauty.
His attachments were very strong. He enjoyed Commencement
at Cambridge exceedingly. These seasons of re-union
with his beloved classmates and very many literary friends gave
him heartfelt pleasure; although, as he expressed himself not
long before his death, "it was sad to miss so many who have
gone to their graves, with whom I have trodden the paths of
literature in company.
1803.- Rev. SAMUEL WILLARD died in Deerfield, Mass.,
8 October, 1859, aged 83. He was son of William and Catherine
(Wilder) Willard, and was born in Petersham, Mass., 18
April, 1776. He was fitted for college principally by Rev.
Nathaniel Thayer, D.D., of Lancaster, Mass. (H.C. 1789).
At the close of his collegiate studies, he determined upon the
gospel-ministry as his future vocation; but, immediately after
graduating, he went to Exeter as assistant-preceptor in the
academy at that place, where he continued until August, 1804,
and employed most of his leisure time in the studies of his
chosen profession, under Rev. Jesse Appleton, D.D., of Hampton,
N.H. (D.C. 1792), afterwards president of Bowdoin
College. His continuance with Mr. Appleton was of short
duration; for early in October, the same year,
he was appointed tutor in Bowdoin College; which
appointment he accepted.
There, too, he employed his leisure time in preparations
for the ministry, under the instruction of Rev. Joseph
McKeen, D.D. (D.C. 1774), president of the college. In
September, 1805, he returned to Cambridge to finish the course
of theological study he had begun under Dr. Appleton, and
continued under Dr. McKeen. After a few weeks, he was
licensed by the Cambridge Association to preach. He preached
his first sermon in Deerfield, 15 March, 1807. In June, he
received an invitation to settle there, and accepted it. The 12th
of August was the day first appointed for his ordination; and
the council assembled, composed principally of the Calvinistic
persuasion. It was about this time that the first indications
were made apparent that this denomination were preparing to
separate themselves from the Arminian and liberal churches.
The council, after a two-days' session and a rigid examination
of the candidate, refused to ordain him; not deeming the
principles he avowed to come up to their standard of faith.
Another council was called, and he was ordained 23 September,
1807.
From that time, he became a pioneer in the cause of liberal
Christianity. He labored faithfully and acceptably among the
people who had called him to be their spiritual guide. He early
took a deep interest ii public schools, and wrote a series of
schoolbooks, which were long and successfully used. He was
a scientific musician; and was the author of the "Deerfield
Collection of Sacred Music," which deservedly held a high rank.
It aimed to secure, by the simplest and most practicable means,
an invariable coincidence between the poetic and the musical
emphases, and thus to combine the two powers for the high
purpose of religious impression."
Many of the hymns in his collection were of his own composition;
and, after its publication, he committed to memory every hymn in
the volume. In 1819, his sight became so dim that he could neither
read nor write; and then his devoted and affectionate wife cheerfully
supplied all his needs, as far as human help could do it, aided by
their children and friends.
In September, 1829, he resigned his pastoral
charge, but continued to officiate to his people occasionally
until near the close of his life. His loss of sight induced him
to make attempts to strengthen his memory, which he did to a
wonderful degree; and he accordingly accustomed himself to
commit to memory daily something of value. His wife would
read passages over and over, until he attained them; and, in
his hours of solitude, he would keep repeating them. The
amount thus committed became prodigious. Many books of
the New Testament, and the Psalms and Prophets of the Old,
he could repeat with an accuracy which was unerring. The
severe affliction of blindness he submitted to with meek
submission to the will of the Sovereign Disposer. For forty
years, he was not able to look upon the beauties of the earth,
or the glories of heaven. He had not seen the face of his beloved
wife, of his virtuous children, or his troops of friends; yet not a
word of complaint, not a whisper of uneasiness, nor a tear of
sorrow. He was a modest but large benefactor to society, and
his parish loved and respected him without cessation. If there
was a truly Christian household in the state, that family circle
was his; and many loved to sit, and sun themselves in the light
that was ever pouring from his rich and healthy mind. He was
a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences;
and, in 1826, the honorary degree of doctor of divinity was
conferred upon him by Harvard College.
He married, 30 May, 1808, Susan Barker, daughter of Dr.
Joshua Barker, of Hingham, Mass. (H.C. 1772). They had
three children, - two daughters and one son, - who survive
him. The son inherited his father's sad infirmity of blindness.
His wife died 24 August, 1857, aged 74 years.
1804. - Dr. JOHN MAITLAND BREWER died in Beverly,
N.J., 5 November, 1859, aged 78. He was son of David and
Comfort (Wheeler) Brewer, and was born in Framingham,
Mass., 10 April, 1781. His name, originally, was John Brewer,
but many years since he took the intermediate name of
Maitland. He was fitted for college at Framingham Academy.
He entered Brown University in 1800, where he remained two
years; when he left, and entered the junior class at Harvard
College, 14 October, 1802. Immediately after graduating, he
was appointed perceptor of the same academy in which he had
pursued his preparatory studies for college, where he continued
two years. He then studied divinity with his pastor, Rev.
David Kellogg, D.D. (D.C. 1775), of Framingham.
After preaching a short time to good acceptance, he received a
call to take the pastoral charge of the church in Dover, Mass.,
but declined the invitation on account of the inadequacy of the
salary offered.
He soon afterwards relinquished preaching, and took charge of an
academy in New Bedford, Mass., where he remained several years.
He then removed to Germantown, Penn., where he continued the
occupation of teaching with much success as an instructor,
and with pecuniary profit to himself. He afterwards went to
Philadelphia, where he studied medicine.
In 1837, he received the degree of M.D. from the University of
Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, and practised medicine in that
city until 1850; when, having become wealthy, he removed to
Beverly, N.J., where he owned real estate to a considerable
amount, and where he built several houses, one of which he
occupied himself, and there passed the remainder of his days. He
was an expert financier, and the latter years of his life were
devoted almost exclusively to "increasing his store," in which he
took great satisfaction, and was highly successful. He was
never married.
1808. - CHARLES FLANDERS died in Plainfield, N.H., 15
April, 1860, aged 72. He was son of Nehemiah and Sarah
(French) Flanders, and was born in Newburyport, Mass., 11
February, 1788. He was fitted for college by Michael Walsh,
of-Newburyport. After leaving college, having chosen law for
a profession, he pursued his studies partly under the
instruction of Samuel Lorenzo Knapp (D.C. 1804), and partly with
Little and Banister, of Newburyport (D.C. 1797). Having
been admitted to the bar, he established himself in the practice
of his profession in Plainfield. Possessing a clear, discerning,
and logical mind, by untiring industry and devoted attention to
the interests of his clients, he soon rose to distinction, and
acquired an extensive and lucrative practice. For nearly fifty
years, he was distinguished as an honored member of the New
Hampshire bar, an able lawyer, a safe counsellor, and an honest
man.
Nor were his talents and usefulness without appreciation
by the people among whom he so long resided. He several
times represented Plainfield in the New-Hampshire legislature:
not so often as he would have done, had his political views been
different. He was of the old Federal National-Republican
school, to which he adhered consistently and strenuously. He
was, at one time, solicitor for Sullivan county. In 1847, the
honorary degree of master of arts was conferred upon him by
Dartmouth College. About the year 1848, he removed to
Manchester, N.H., where he resided several years; but
returned to Plainfield some four or five years before his death.
He was a kind husband and father, a worthy and respected
citizen; fulfilling all the relations of life with conscientious
and scrupulous integrity and fidelity.
He married, 20 August, 1815, Lucretia Kingsbury, of Keene,
N.H. The issue of this marriage was four sons and one daughter,
Charles, George M., William M., Henry, and Ellen.
Charles was a merchant in New York, and died a few years
since. George M., a lawyer, and William M., a merchant,
both resided in Boston. Henry became a distinguished lawyer
and writer in Philadelphia. He is the author of" Lives and Times
of the Chief-Justices of the United States," in two parts:
the first containing the lives of John Jay and John Rutledge,
published in 1855; and the other those of William Cushing
Oliver, Oliver Ellsworth, and John Marshall, in 1858. The
work is written in a beautiful style, the biographies being
interspersed with many stirring incidents of the times,
rendering it an exceedingly fascinating book. He has also written
two other works, which are esteemed high authority by the legal
profession, "A Treatise on Maritime Law," published in 1853; and "A
Treatise on the Law of Shipping," published in 1858. Ellen
became the wife of Dr. Norman Curtis Stevens, a much-esteemed
physician in Boston.
1808. - Rev. RALrH SANGER died in Cambridge, Mass.,
6 May, 1860, aged 73. He was the fourth son of Rev. Zedekiah
(H.C. 1771) and Irene (Freeman) Sanger, and was born
in Duxbury, Mass., 22 June, 1786. His father, who was son
of Richard and Deborah (Rider) Sanger, was born in Sherborin,
Mass., 4 October, 1748; was ordained at Duxbury, Mass.,
3 July, 1776; dismissed, at his own request, 10 April, 1786;
was installed at Bridgewater as colleague with Rev. John
Shaw (H.C. 1729), 17 December, 1788. Mr. Shaw died 29
April, 1791, aged 84; and, from that time, Mr. Sanger
discharged the laborious duties of pastor alone until his death,
which took place 17 November, 1820, at the age of 72. In
addition to his pastoral duties, he instructed a classical school.
He was highly esteemed for genius and learning, reverenced as
a minister, and sought for as a counsellor. He was a member
of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and, in 1807,
the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon
him by Brown University. The subject of this notice was fitted
for college by his father, and graduated with the highest honors
of his class.
After leaving college, hle studied divinity with his
father. In 1811, he was appointed tutor at Cambridge, where
he remained one year. He was ordained pastor of the church
in Dover, Mass., 16 September, 1812, as successor of Rev.
Benjamin Caryl (H.C. 1761), who died 13 November, 1811, at
the age of 79 years. Here he labored with great fidelity, and
in perfect harmony with the people of his charge, until his death,
a period of forty-seven years and seven months. He was sole
pastor until about a year before his decease, when the Rev.
Edward G. Barker was ordained as colleague with him. Mr.
Caryl was ordained 10 November, 1762; and it is worthy of
note that the pastorates of these two clergymen comprised, with
an interval of only ten months, a period of ninety-seven years
and six months. About four years before his death, his house
was set on fire by an incendiary, and destroyed. He soon
afterwards removed to Cambridge, to the house of his son-in-law,
Mr. William W. Gannett, where he resided during the remainder of
his life, although he continued his pastoral labors over
his society in Dover, as before. He was elected a representative
in the state legislature from Dover in 1837, 1845, 1847, 1851,
and 1854. In 1858, the honorary degree of doctor of divinity
was conferred upon him by Harvard College.
Dr. Sanger was extensively known, and universally respected
for his mild, amiable disposition, and spotless integrity.
As a Christian minister, his wisdom, prudence, fidelity, and
usefulness won for him a name that will be sacredly cherished in the
church, and in many homes where his influence was felt and his
labors were known. For the promotion of agriculture, of temperance,
and of social elevation and improvement in every way,
his labors were modestly yet earnestly employed.
He was a man of scholarly and liberal attainments, of a frank and
cheerful temperament, distinguished for his sterling virtues and
his modest worth. In his death, a worthy man and a sincere Christian
has gone to his rest.
He mnarried, in July, 1817, Charlotte Kingman, of East
Bridgewater, who was born 5 July, 1792. The issue of this
marriage was six children,- four sons and two daughters.
1808.- Hon. SAMUEL EMERSON SMITH died in Wiscasset,
Me., 3 March, 1860, aged 71. His death was very sudden.
Heretired, about eleven o'clock, in his usual health, -having just
completed the solution of a difficult mathematical problem upon
which he had been engaged during the evening, and soon afterwards
breathed his last. He was the seventh child and third
son of Manasseh (H.C. 1773) and Hannah (Emerson) Smith,
and was born in Hollis, N.H., 12 March, 1788. His parents
removed to Wiscasset the year of his birth. His father, who
was the son of Abijah Smith, was born in Leominster, Mass.,
25 December, 1749. He was a lawyer in Leominster, in Holliston,
and in Wiscasset; and was clerk of the Supreme Court. He
died 21 May, 1823, aged 73. The subject of this notice was
fitted for college, partly at Wiscasset, and partly at Groton
(Mass.) Academy. He attained to a distinguished rank in his
class, and graduated with high honors. After leaving college,
he studied law, for a time, with Hon. Samuel Dana, of Groton;
afterwards with his brothers Manasseh Smith (H.C. 1800), of
Warren, Me., and Joseph Emerson Smith (H.C. 1804), of Boston.
He was admited to the bar in Boston, 25 February, 1812,
and established himself in the practice of his profession
in Wiscasset. In 1819, he was elected to represent Wiscasset in the
general court in Boston, and was elected to the legislature of
Maine in 1820, after the separation of that state from Masssachusetts.
He was appointed chief-justice of the Court of Common
Pleas in 1821, and a justice of the state Court of Common Pleas
in 1822; which situation he retained until 1830, when he was
elected governor of Maine. He was re-elected governor for the
political years 1831-32 and 1832-33, and was re-appointed
justice of the Court of Common Pleas early in 1835; which office
he resigned in 1837. In October, 1837, he was appointed one
of the commissioners to revise the public laws of Maine. On
his election to the gubernatorial chair, he removed to Augusta,
where he resided until July, 1836, when he returned to Wiscasset.
He was unostentatious in his intercourse with his fellowcitizens,
honest in all his dealings, exemplary in his habits of
life, beloved and respected by all who knew him.
He married, 12 September, 1832, Louisa Sophia, daughter
of Hon. Henry Weld Fuller (D.C. 1801), of Augusta and
had five children,- all sons. His wife and children survived
him.
1810. - Dr. JOSEPH EATON died at Fort Hamilton, N.Y.,
17 March, 1860, aged 75. He was son of Edmund and Sally
(Brown) Eaton, and was born in Reading, Mass., 24 July,
1784. His mother was a descendant of Nicholas Brown, one of
the first settlers of Reading. She was also a relation of Gen.
Benjamin Brown, of Reading, who was a colonel in the Revolution,
and a general in the militia. The subject of this notice was
fitted for college at Phillips Academy, in Andover, Mass.
He was much assisted, in acquiring his education, by his relative,
Rev. Oliver Brown (H.C. 1804), of Charlestown, Mass., then
chaplain of the state-prison. After leaving college, he chose the
medical profession; and, havtng pursued his studies for some
time, he entered the army of the United States, 14 April, 1812,
as surgeon's-mate. This position he resigned, 12 December,
1813. He was appointed hospital-surgeon's mate, 15 April,
1814; and, having completed his medical studies, he received
his degree of M.D. that year. He was commissioned as assistant-
surgeon with the rank of captain, 1 June, 1821; which post
he retained during the remainder of his life; and, at his death, he
was the senior surgeon in the service. lie was an intelligent
gentleman, and a faithful public servant.
He married Sally Smith, of Salem, Mass. The issue of this marriage
was six children,- one son and five daughters. The son, whose name
is Joseph, entered the army; and, during the Mexican war,
was aide to Gen. Taylor. He had the reputation of being a brave
officer. The daughters have resided in the vicinity of Fort
Hamilton. Their mother died about nineteen years since.
1810. - ISAAC REDINGTON HOWE died in Haverhill, Mass.,
15 January, 1860, aged 67. He was son of David and Elizabeth
(Redington) Howe, and was born in Haverhill, 13 March,
1791. He was prepared for college at Phillips Academy,
Andover. After graduating, he began the study of law, under
the instruction of Hon. George Bliss, of Springfield, Mass.
(Y.C.1784); and completed his studies with Hon. William Prescott,
of Boston (H.C. 1783). After his admission to the bar, he
opened an office in his native town, where he resided during the
remainder of his life. He was, for many years, active in his
profession, in which he acquired a highly respectable rank; but
he gave up his business some sixteen years before his death,
alleging, as it is said, that he did not regard it as an honest
profession.
In this, probably, his peace principles, which were well
known, actuated him. He wrote much for the press, and was
at one time associated in conducting the "Haverhill Gazette."
He was a great advocate of all that related to mechanics and the
arts; and, in these matters, his mind was far in advance of
the age. He was never selfish or partisan in his character. He
aimed at truth and independence, and never committed his conduct
or opinions to the dictation of party. He was a gentleman
of great kindness and gentleness of disposition. For several
years before his death, he was in ill health, and was but little
known away from his own fireside, being but seldom abroad.
Possessed of unusual amiability, he had no enemies. He was
particularly upright and honorable in all his business transactions,
and left a character above reproach.
Mr. Howe married, 16 June, 1816, Sarah, daughter of Dr.
Nathaniel Saltonstall, of Haverhill (H.C. 1766), and sister
of Hon. Leverett Saltonstall, of Salem (H.C. 1802). They
had eight children,- four sons and four daughters,- of whom
three sons and one daughter, with their mother, survived their
father. The children are as follows:
1. Nathaniel Saltonstall Howe, born 24 April, 1817 (Y.C. 1835);
lawyer in Haverhill, and judge of probate; has been member of the
state senate.
2. Mary Cooke Howe, born 25 March, 1819; married, 30
September, 1851, James H. Carleton, a merchant in Haverhill.
3. Caroline Matilda Howe, born 27 September, 1821; died 9 August,
1844.
4. Ann Elizabeth Howe, born 14 November, 1823; died
7 July, 1845.
5. William Garland Howe, born 28 June; died 26
August, 1826.
6. Frances Garland Howe, born 8 October, 1827;
died 5 September, 1828.
7. William Garland Howe, born 1 August,
1829; broker in Boston.
8. Francis Saltonstall Howe, born 8 November, 1831 (H.C. 1852);
lawyer in Chicago.
1810. - Rev. CYRUS PEIRCE died in West Newton, Mass,
5 April, 1860, aged 69. He was the youngest of twelve children,
five sons and seven daughters - of Isaac and Hannah
(Mason) Peirce; and was born in Waltham, Mass., 15 August,
1790.
He began his preparatory studies for college at Framingham Academy,
and completed them under the instruction of Rev. Charles Stearns, D.D.
(H.C. 1773), of Lincoln, Mass.
While in college, he maintained the reputation of a pure, upright
young man; a faithful and indefatigable student; an accurate, though
not a brilliant, scholar. During his sophomore year, in the winter of
1807-8, he began his labors as a schoolteacher in the village of West
Newton,- in the same town, and not far from the very spot, where he
closed his life, upwards of fifty-three years afterwards.
Immediately after leaving college, he accepted an invitation to take
charge of a private school in Nantucket. Here he taught, two years,
with great fidelity and success. During that time, he determined to
study for the ministry; and, in 1812, he returned to Cambridge to
pursue his theological studies.
After three years spent there, he was persuaded to return to Nantucket,
and resume his work as a teacher, where he remained three years.
In 1818, he left, and began preaching. He was ordained pastor of a
church in North Reading, Mass., 18 May, 1819. Here he remained a
most faithful and discreet preacher of the gospel for eight
years; but, having come to the conclusion that he was not called to
preach so much as to teach, he resigned his pastoral charge, 19 May,
1827, and returned to school-keeping, as that which should thenceforth be
the business of his life. In company with a relative, Mr. Simeon Putnam
(H.C. 1811), he took charge of a school in North Andover, Mass.
Here he remained four years; when at the earnest solicitation of his
former friends, in 1831, he returned to Nantucket. His return was
most cordially welcomed; and he immediately found himself
at the head of a large and lucrative school.
This school he continued to teach six years,
during which time he was occasionally blessed with able
assistants; and among, them was Miss Maria Mitchell, who had
been his pupil, and who has since obtained a world-wide fame as an
astronomer. In 1837, he relinquished his private school, and
became the principal of Nantucket Hiigh School. This school
he kept two years. In 1839, when the first normal-school on
this continent was established at Lexington, Mass., he was, at
the earnest solicitation of the late Horace Mann, induced to take
charge of it; and entered upon his labors, 3 July, 1839. He
began with only three scholars. The contrast between the full
and flourishing establishment he had just left at Nantucket, and
the " beggarly account of empty boxes" which was daily before
him for the first three months, was very disheartening.
However, he had put his hand to the plough, and of course the
furrow must be driven through, and, had the whole field be turned
over, before he would relinquish his effort. He set about his
work as one determined to " do with his might what his hand
found to do." He soon made his three pupils conscious that
there was more to be known about even the primary branches of
education than they had dreamed; and better methods of teaching
reading, spelling, grammar, and geography, than were
practised in the schools.
Their reports of the searching thoroughness and other excellent
peculiarities of the normal-teacher attracted others to him.
The number of his pupils steadily increased from term to term,
until, at the expiration of his first three years' service,
there were forty-two; at which time
he was obliged to Fesign in consequence of failing health, and he
returned to Nantucket: but, at the end of two years, he was so
far recruited as to be able to resume the charge of the school, to
which he was unanimously elected in 1844; it having been removed
to West Newton. He continued in charge of the school
until 1849, when he was again compelled to resign on account
of his health. He retired with the highest recommendation of
the Board of Education and others for his fidelity and success.
A purse containing five hundred dollars was contributed by
his pupils and other friends, and was presented to him, to enable
him to go to Europe as a delegate to the Peace Congress, then
to be held shortly in Paris. This was almost the only recreation
he had allowed himself to take after leaving college in 1810.
He spent several months in travelling in England and on the
Continent. Soon after his return, he became an associate with
Mr. Nathaniel T. Allen, a young and ardent successful teacher,
in the management of an academy in West Newton. Here he
labored with all the zeal of his younger days, until his health
again compelled him to retire, although he nominally remained
an associate until his death. He passed away calmly and
serenely, with the love and respect of all who knew him.
He married, about the year 1816, Harriet Coffin, of Nantucket,
but had no children.
1811.- CLARKE GAYTON PICKMAN died in Boston, 11 May,
1860, aged 68. He was the second son of Col. Benjamin
(H.C. 1784) and Anstis (DI)erby) Pickman, and was born in
Salem, Mass., 22 November, 1791. His father was born in
Salem, 30 September, 1763. He was a gentleman of fortune;
was a member of both branches of the state legislature and of
the executive-council; a delegate in 1820 to the convention
for revising the constitution of Massachusetts; and a
representative in Congress, from Essex South District, from
1809 to 1811.
He died 11 August, 1843, aged 79. His mother was a daughter
of Elias Hasket Derby, an eminent and wealthy merchant
of Salem. He was fitted for college by Jacob Newman Knapp
(H.C. 1802), who for several years kept a classical- school in
Salem. He was taken ill in his sophomore year, and did not
again reside in college; but received a degree with his class.
He then turned his attention to theological studies, intending to
take orders in the Episcopal church, but not under the direction
of any clergyman. He was ordained a deacon, and read the
service a few times; but did not afterwards pursue the
profession. He was'long subject to undue nervous excitement, which
occasionally resulted in temporary alienation of mind to such a
degree, that it was necessary, more than once, to place him in an
asylum for the insane, for short periods. He possessed a benevolent
disposition, which he manifested by educating several
meritorious children who were left orphans in straitened
circumstances. lie delivered an address before the East-Cambridge
Temperance Society, 22 December, 1835, and another
before the Ladies' Benevolent Society at East Cambridge, 18
December, 1836; both of which were published.
In the following extract from the latter, he evidently alludes to
himself:
"It has pleased God to create men with different degrees
of talent; and, of course, their pursuits must be attended with
different degrees of success. In the complicated concerns of
human life, it must also happen, that to equal talent there cannot,
at all times, be given equal opportunities of exertion.
Hence it is, that, while one man is able to succeed in his object
of desire, another is kept back, sometimes by weakness, sometimes
by his crimes, often by a course of events which he cannot
control, and for the influences of which no cause can be assigned
but the good pleasure of our Creator."
For many years, he had no permanent place of abode. He
resided in Charlestown, East Cambridge, Boston, and other
places in this vicinity. He was never married.
1814. - BENJAMIN APTHORP GOULD died in Boston, 24
October, 1859, aged 72. He was son of Capt. Benjamin
and Grizzel (Apthorp) Gould, and was born in Lancaster,
Mass., 15 June, 1787; but removed, when quite young, with
his father's family, to Newburyport, Mass., where most of his
youthful days were passed. He was fitted for college at Dummer
Academy in Newbury, Mass. While in college, he attained
a high rank in scholarship, and was particularly distinguished
for his attainments in the Latin and Greek classics. In April
of his senior year, an offer was made to him to take charge of
the public Latin School in Boston; which had become greatly
reduced, both in regard to the number of its scholars, and the
want of a proper discipline. Whereupon he made application
to the government for leave of absence for the remainder of his
collegiate course; which, in consideration of his diligence as a
student, his exemplary deportment, and the urgency of the
Boston school-committee to obtain his valuable services, was
granted, with the further privilege, that he should receive his
degree with his class at the next Commencement. In the month
of May following, he began his labors as principal of the school;
and the highest anticipations of his friends were realized. The
institution, under his vigorous and unwearied exertions, soon
rose to a degree of prosperity which it had never before attained.
He continued to hold the office of principal, with undiminished
popularity and success, for fourteen years. In 1828,
his health having become somewhat impaired by his long and
arduous labors, he resigned his situation, and entered upon
mercantile business, in which he continued the remainder of his life.
He became a large ship-owner, and was extensively engaged in
the Calcutta trade, which he pursued with good judgment and
with much success; but he always retained an interest for the
school of which he was so long the head. When the Latin School
Association was formed, he was unanimously elected its
president; a post which he held, by successive re-elections, until
his death. He was a member of the Boston common-council
in 1834, 1835, 1836, and 1837, and was for several years one
of the school-committee. He was a man of extensive literary
attainments, and was a member of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences. He was greatly beloved by his numerous
pupils, who ever retained an affectionate regard for their
faithful instructor. His moral character was without a blemish.
He married, 2 December, 1823, Lucretia Dana Goddard,
daughter of Nathaniel Goddard, Esq., of Boston, - a most
amiable and accomplished lady, -who survives him. They had
four children, - two sons and two daughters, - all of whom are
living. The elder son, Benjamin Apthorp Gould, graduated at
Harvard College in 1844, and is the well-known astronomer.
1814. - THOMAS WALLEY PHILLIPS, of Boston, died at
his summer residence in Nahant, Mass., 8 September, 1859,
aged 62. He was the eldest son of Hon. John (H.C. 1788)
and Sally (Walley) Phillips, and was born in Boston, 16
January, 1797. His father was born in Boston, 26 November,
1770, was an eminent lawyer, was judge of the Court of
Comnmon Pleas in Suffolk county, was for many years president of
the state senate, and was the first mayor of Boston. He died
29 May, 1823, aged 52. His mother was the daughter of
Thomas and Sarah Walley; was born 25 March, 1772; and died
4 November, 1845, aged 73. His brothers and sisters, all of
whom survive him, are Sarah Hurd, wife of Professor Alonzo
Gray, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Margaret, wife of Dr. Edward
Reynolds, of Boston; Miriam, wife of RIev. George
Washington Blagden, of Boston; Rev. John Charles Phillips
(H.C. 1826), of Methuen, Mass.; George William Phillips
(H.C.1829); Wendell Phillips (H.C. 1831); and Grenville
Tudor Phillips (H.C. 1836), the last three of Boston.
He was sent in early boyhood to Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass.,
which was founded by one of his relatives, and was there fitted
for college. After graduating, he read law with Hon. Lemuel
Shaw (H.C. 1800), and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1817.
For about fourteen years, he practised law with much
success in Boston, until he succeeded the late Joseph IHI. Pierce
as clerk of the Municipal Court; the arduous duties of which
office he filled with great ability, and with perfect acceptance to
the public, until his decease. Although of a retiring disposition,
he was at various times called from his much-loved, quiet life at
home, to take part in other official duties. In 1827, he was an
influential member of the common-council, under the mayoralty
of the elder Quincy; and, in 1829, he performed the duties of
school-committe man for the ward in which he resided. In 1834
and 1837, he served the city as a'representative in the legislature.
But the most important position which he occupied was
that of clerk of the Municipal Court; which office he held under
the appointment of Judge Peter Oxenbridge Thacher (H.C.
1796), in 1830, and which, in its various changes, he retained
by successive appointments and elections. For many years, he
was a worthy and conscientious member of the Masonic fraternity;
having received the degrees in Mount-Lebanon Lodge, of
Boston, in July, 1821. The next year, he became a member
of St. Andrew's Lodge, of Boston, -one of the most ancient
and respectable in the country, -in which he for many years
held the office of treasurer; and was one of the members-committee,
dispensing charity with an open hand and liberal heart.
In all the relations of life, he was a most worthy man; and
by his genuine kindliness of heart, and amiability of character,
made warm friends of all with whom he associated.
He married, 18 March, 1824, Anna Jones, daughter of
Samuel Dunn, of Boston. Two children of this marriage
survived him,- John, an engineer of promise, at one time
employed in the construction of railways in Chile; and Samuel
Dunn (H.C. 1861), who died in the service of the Educational
Commission for Freedmen, in 1862. His wife also survived him.
1814.- THOMAS WETMORE died in Boston, 30 March,
1860, aged 64. He was son of Hon. William (H.C. 1770)
and Sarah (Waldo) Wetmore, and was born in Boston, 31
August, 1795.
His father, who was the son of Jeremiah and Hannah (Hobbs)
Wetmore, was born in Middletown, Conn., 30 October, 1749;
was a lawyer by profession; practised a short time in Salem,
and removed thence to Boston, where he was appointed judge
of the Court of Common Pleas; an office which he held many
years. He died in Boston, 18 November, 1830, aged 81.
The subject of this notice was fitted for college
at the public Latin School in Boston. After graduating, he
studied law; and, having been admitted to the bar, he opened
an office in Boston, but retired from practice many years before
his death, being possessed of an ample competence of worldly
estate. He was a most useful and highly respected citizen, and
devoted many years of his life to the interests of the city. He
was a member of the common-council from 1829 to 1832;
was an alderman in 1833, 1834, 1835, 1837, 1838, 1839,
1841, 1842, 1843, 1844, and 1847.
He was also for several years a member of the board of water -
commissioners. He was once a candidate for the office of mayor;
but there being two other candidates, and a majority of all the
votes cast being necessary for a choice, there was no election;
and he then withdrew from the contest. He was never married.
1818. - Rev. JOSEPH AUGUSTUS EDWIN LONG died in
Hookset, N.H., 3 May, 1860, aged 65. He was son of
Nathan and Mary (Blaisdell) Long, and was born in Amesbury,
Mass., 8 November, 1794. His name, originally, was
Joseph Long; but, in 1820, he, by authority of the legislature,
took the intermediate names of Augustus Edwin. He was
fitted for college at Amesbury Academy, but concluded to
become a merchant; and for that purpose entered the counting
room of Zebedee Cook, on India Wharf, Boston, as a clerk,
where he remained one summer: but, business being dull in
consequence of the embargo which existed at that time, he
relinquished his purpose of a mercantile life, went to Phillips
Academy, Exeter, N.H., where he reviewed his studies under
Dr. Benjamin Abbot, and entered college in 1814. Immediately
after graduating, he entered the Divinity School at Cambridge
as a student, where he remained one year and a half;
instructing, at the same time, a select number of private pupils.
He then returned to Amesbury, where he continued his theological
studies with his brother-in-law, Rev. Benjamin Sawyer
(D.C. 1808), now of Salisbury, Mass. He was licensed to
preach by the Essex North Association, 10 October, 1820; and
went immediately to Kensington, N.H., where he preached, for
the first time, 29 October of the same year.
He continued his labors there to good acceptance until 5 June,
1822, when he was ordained as an evangelist; the church and
society not being able to settle and support a pastor.
He continued to preach, and perform all the ministerial duties,
until 8 April, 1823. He then went to Chelmsford, Mass., where
he performed the duties of ministerial pastor six or eight months.
After leaving this place, he was employed as a missionary in the
state of Maine about a year and six months. He often spoke of these
eighteen months as the most pleasant in his life; and the people among
whom he labored spoke of him with much respect and warm affection.
He then went to Hookset, where he preached most
of the time until 1832; when he went to Sandown, where he
preached; and at Epping,, Nottingham, and Poplin (now Fremont),
for three or four years. In Biddeford and Lyman, Me.,
he was employed, as stated supply, about two years. In the
autumn of 1837, he returned to his house and home in Hookset.
After this time, his health being feeble, he preached only
occasionally. He was often sent for to officiate at funerals; on
which occasions, he was said to be gifted in prayer, and in
adapting his remarks to the bereaved mourners.
His death was very sudden. He went to Concord, N.H.,
the 2d of May; returned home about five o'clock, P.M., as well as
he had been for some weeks; and died the next morning,
exchanging this for a better world, calmly and peacefully. For
some weeks previous to his death, he often said he thought he
should not live but a short time; that he should die suddenly;
and gave directions respecting his funeral.
He married, 9 September, 1830, Anna Matilda Milton,
daughter of Rev. Charles William Milton, of Newburyport,
Mass.; by whom he had a son, Joseph Samuel Head, and a
daughter, Mary Jane, -both well settled in life. These, with
their mother, survived him.
1819. - Hon. ROBERT CROSS died in Lawrence, Mass., 9
November, 1859, aged 60. He was son of Major William and
Ruth (Stacy) Cross, and was born in Newburyport, Mass., 3
July, 1799. He was grandson of Col. Ralph Cross, of the
army of the Revolution, - afterwards Gen. Cross of the militia;
and was appointed, by Jefferson, collector of Newburyport. His
mother was a native of Gloucester, Mass. He was fitted for
college at Phillips Academy, Andover; and graduated with high
honors.
Immediately after leaving college, he was appointed
usher in the Boston Latin School, where he remained one year.
He then studied law in the office of Hon. Ebenezer Moseley, of
Newburyport (Y.C. 1802); was admitted a member of the
Essex bar in December, 1823; and began the practice of his
profession in Newburyport, where he remained several years.
He then removed to Amesbury, Mass., where he continued his
profession with great industry, fidelity, and success, and
enjoyed repeated marks of the public confidence. He was elected
a representative to the state legislature from Newburyport in
1827. In 1832, he was chosen senator from Essex district,
and again in 1842. In 1844, he removed to Marshall, in the
state of Michigan, where he resided until 1849, when he
returned to Massachusetts, and settled in Lawrence, where he
continued in the practice of his profession until his death. He
was an accomplished scholar, a sound lawyer, and, in the highest
sense of the word, a gentleman, -endeared to his friends, and
respected by the community.
He married, in 1828, Mary Cabot Tyng, daughter of Hon.
Dudley Atkins Tyng, of Newburyport (H.C. 1781). They
had four children; viz., Robert D., Mary R. (deceased), Ralph
(deceased), and Charles E. His eldest son resides in Michigan,
and his youngest is a cadet at West Point. His wife died very
suddenly, of cholera, in Michigan, in July, 1849.
1820. Rev. BENJAMIN KENT, of Roxbury, Mass., died in
the insane-hospital at Taunton, Mass., 5 August, 1859, aged
65. He was son of Samuel and Rhoda (Hill) Kent, and was
born in that part of Charlestown which is now within the limits
of Somerville, Mass., 25 May, 1794. He pursued his preparatory
studies under the instruction of Hon. James Russell, of
West Cambridge, Mass. (H.C. 1811). He held a high rank
in his class, and graduated with distinction. The part assigned
to him on his graduation was a poem "On Rank and Titles;"
which was replete with sparkling wit, and elicited greater
applause than any other performance that day. After leaving
college, he studied theology at the Divinity School in Cambridge.
He was ordained, 7 June, 1826, as colleague with
Rev. John Allyn, D.D. (H.C. 1785), over the Unitarian
church in Duxbury, Mass. Here he labored with great fidelity,
and to the entire acceptance of the society, until ill health
compelled him to ask a dismission, which was with much reluctance
granted 7 June, 1833. To his unwearied labors the town was
much indebted for the establishment of a high-school, which,
principally through his instrumentality, was begun; and by his
exertions a sum sufficient for its maintenance was raised, and
teachers eminently qualified for the duties of instructors were
procured. It was first under the charge of Mr. George Putnam
(H.C. 1826), now the Rev. Dr. Putnam, of Roxbury; who
was succeeded by Mr. William Augustus Stearns (H.C. 1827),
now the Rev. Dr. Stearns, president of Amherst College.
From Duxbury, Mr. Kent removed, in 1833, to Roxbury;
where he taught a private academy for young ladies for several
years. He was afterwards librarian of the Roxbury Athenoeum
until within two or three years, when the feeble state of
his health compelled him to relinquish it. He was a great
sufferer for many years from extremely severe headache,- so severe
that it several times resulted in fits of insanity, such as to render
it necessary to remove him to the hospital for the insane. He
was aware when these fits were coming upon him, and would
give directions for his removal when it should be necessary.
But all these afflictions he endured with remarkable patience and
resignation.
Mr. Kent was a great lover of antiquity. He ransacked
garrets, collected many autographs and literary documents of the
Pilgrims, and made several discoveries of interest. He was a man
of superior intellect, great originality, keen wit, and a fine poetic
taste. He delivered, several years ago, the poem before the
Phi Beta Kappa Society at Cambridge. His health was broken
down by hard labor. His life affords a noble example of
patience, self-devotion, enthusiasm, and virtue, through a life of
uncommon trials.
He married, 27 September, 1826, Eleanor Bradford, of
Boston. They had four children, all daughters, who, with
their mother, survive him.
1820. - Rev. STEPHEN SCHUYLER died in Rhinebeck,
Duchess county, N.Y., 1 November, 1859, aged 58. He was
son of Philip J. and Sarah (Rutsen) Schuyler, and was born
in Rhinebeck, 18 April, 1801. At the age of eight years, he
was sent to Medfield, Mass., to school, under the charge of
Rev.Thomas Prentiss, D.D. (H.C. 1766), preparatory for entering
college, where he remained three years; thence to Cambridge
and Brighton three years; thence to Albany, N.Y., one year;
when he entered Union College at Schenectady. There he
remained two years, when he left; and in August, 1818, he
entered the junior class at Harvard College. While in college,
he was studious, exemplary in his deportment, attained a high
rank in his class, and graduated with honors. Immediately
after leaving college, he selected the profession of law,
and became a student in the office of Francis Livingston, Esq.,
at Rhinebeck, and in that of Samuel Jones, Esq. (Y.C. 1790),
who was subsequently chancellor of the state of New York,
the first judge of the Superior Court of the city of New York,
and finally judge of the Supreme Court of the state, by elec
tion under the new judiciary system.
He received his diploma as an attorney in the Supreme Court
of the state of New York in October, 1823. He then turned
his attention to the study of the divine law, and became a
student in the Divinity School at Cambridge for two years,
from September, 1824, to August,1826.
Compelled by ill health to abandon the practice of
law in the city of New York, he became, in 1830, a permanent
resident of his native place, Rhinebeck.
He married, 11 December, 1831, Catharine Morris.
Three children were the issue of this marriage; viz.,
1. Stephen R., born 23 November, 1832.
2. Sarah Catharine, born 27 April, 1840; died
8 June, 1848, aged eight years, one month, eleven days
3. Rutsen, born 19 April, 1849; died 8 March, 1852, aged two
years, ten months, eighteen days. The lady whom he married,
was, by religious profession, a member of the Methodist-
Episcopal church, and he became a member of the same church in
1834; was licensed as a local preacher in the same year; was
ordained to the order of deacon in 1839, and to that of elder in
1844. He was a most sincere believer in the doctrine of the
denomination which he had embraced, and was a faithful and
efficient laborer in his Master's vineyard until his health failed.
In 1851, he had a severe hemorrhage from the lungs; but, by
great care, he rallied again, although he was always, after that,
subject to a severe cough and occasional bleeding.
For the last two years of his life, his health was very feeble.
In May previous to his death, he said to his friends that he
might get through the summer, but should not live through the fall.
The disease gradually wasted his body away, but his mind continued
calm and cheerful until the very last.
He made all his arrangements for his departure to that bright world
which his pure spirit was so fully prepared to enter, and he gradually
passed away into that solemn darkness which mnortal eye cannot pierce,
but which to him, doubtless, is lighted up by the radiance of a never
ending noon. His wife survived him; and his only remaining
child was a civil-engineer, residing in Mississippi.
1822.- JOHN FROST died in Philadelphia, 28 December,
1859, aged 59. He was son of Nathaniel and Abigail
(Kimball) Frost, and was born in Kennebunk, Me., 26 January,
1800. In early life he manifested great fondness for
study. He pursued his preparatory studies at the academy in
Gorham, Me.; and, in 1818, he entered Bowdoin College,
where he remained one year, when he left, and entered the
sophomore class at Harvard College. He held an honorable
rank of scholarship in his class, and graduated with high honors.
In the winter immediately subsequent to leaving college, he
taught school in Cambridgeport. In 1823, he was appointed
principal of the Mayhew School in Boston, which position he
held about four years. In 1828, he removed to Philadelphia;
passing the winters of 1827-8 and 1828-9 in Cuba to recover
from severe attacks of bleeding from the lungs. From 1828 to
1838, he conducted a school for young ladies; and, at the latter
date, accepted the situation of professor of belles-lettres at
the Central High-School in Philadelphia, which he resigned, in
1845, to devote himself entirely to literary pursuits.
He was, during a great portion of his life, a book-maker,- probably
the most prolific one our country has yet produced. To that pursuit
he sacrificed every thing else. He made his pupils his assistants,
and thus lost for his female school the patronage of some of the
wealthy families. He mingled the same pursuit
with his teachings in the High School, and with a similar result.
The two things were incongruous, and the passion for literature
triumphed. It is impossible to give arlist of the numerous
works he wrote and compiled. They were principally histories,
many of them bearing a fictitious name on the titlepage.
History was his speciality, and this exhaustless mine hlie worked in
every way. His " Pictorial History of the United States" sold
largely, upwards of fifty thousand copies having been disposed
of some years ago; and it is still popular. Next to his historical
works, his biographies fill the largest space. He employed
writers, engravers, and designers, and had a regular workshop
for the production of books. Nevertheless, his mind, which
was exceedingly suggestive, was the architect of every thing.
By unceasing industry in his vocation, the volumes of his
compilation numbered upwards of three hundred. He was a
scholar of ripe attainments, well versed in the Spanish and
French languages. Although his talents and attainments were
universally admitted to be of a high order, his love of study
and reading never flagged. Every new publication, from which
he hoped to derive fresh information, was read with attention;
and his wonderfully fine memory treasured up all of interest.
In 1843, the honorary degree of doctor of laws was conferred
upon him by Marshall College in Pennsylvania.
He married, 4 May, 1830, Sarah Ann Burditt, daughter of
James White and Mary (Rhoades) Burditt, of Boston. They
had ten children, all born in Philadelphia; viz.,
1. Mary Cordelia, born 28 April, 1831.
2. Caroline Augusta, born 3 July,
1833; married, 8 March, 1854, Dr. J. R. Rowand.
3. James W. Burditt, born 31 July, 1835; died 15 December, 1835
4. Sarah Annie, born 20 May, 1837.
5. George Frederic, born 16 October, 1839.
6. Frances Emily, born 19 May,
1842; died 6 August, 1846.
7. Morton, born 6 February,
1845; died 5 February, 1847.
8. Charles William, born 10
April, 1848.
9. Arthur Burditt, born 17 January, 1851.
10. Francis Burditt, born 5 November, 1855; died 15 April, 1857.
Mr. Frost's domestic relations were those of a sincere Christian,
a most loving husband, and a kind parent. A long life of
incessant study and labor ended with a peaceful and happy
death. Weighed down in his last years by business per-
plexities and troubles, his perfect trust in a protecting
Providence, and his gentle loving-kindness in his family, were
never disturbed by worldly difficulties.
His last illness was very short, and his
death fearfully sudden: yet, though often in severe bodily
pain,his mind was, through all his sickness, calm, quiet, and
peaceful; seeming to have laid aside all earthly cares, to wait in
perfect love and hope the release from his burdens here.
1824. - Rev. GEORGE WASHINGTON BURNAP died in Baltimore,
Md., 8 September, 1859, aged 56. He was son, and
the youngest of thirteen children, of Rev. Jacob, D.D. (H.C.
1770) and Elizabeth (Brooks) Burnap, and was born in Merrimack,
N.H., 30 November, 1802. His father was born in
Reading, Mass., 2 November, 1748; was ordained pastor of
the church in Merrimack, 14 October, 1772; and died 26 December,
1821, aged 73; having sustained his pastoral relationship with
his people upwards of forty-nine years. His mother
was the daughter of Caleb and Ruth (Albree) Brooks, of Medford,
Mass., and sister of the late Gov. John Brooks. The
subject of this notice was fitted for college at the academy in
Thetford, Vt., and graduated with high honors. After leaving
college, he studied theology at the Divinity School in Cambridge.
He was ordained pastor of the First Independent
(Unitarian) Church in Baltimore, 23 April, 1828, as successor
of Rev. Jared Sparks (H.C. 1815), where he labored with
great acceptance until his decease, a period of thirty-one years.
In this outpost of the Unitarian faith, although not gifted with
such an address as might be supposed to captivate a Southern
audience, he soon obtained a standing in his congregation, and
a reputation with the public, such as few clergymen have enjoyed;
and maintained them unimpaired through his ministry.
He retained to the last an earnest simplicity of character,
which was his peculiar trait; and commanded universal respect
for his genial disposition and high Christian aims. He was not
brilliant, but was solid; and his discussions, whether social or
from the pulpit, were marked by strict logic and conscientious
fairness. His publications, mostly upon religious topics and
moral subjects, were numerous, and of a high order of merit.
His social position in Baltimore gave him a wide sphere of usefulness,
independently of his labors in his pastoral relation; and
he did much, by means of lectures, to elevate and refine public
sentiment, and to diffuse useful knowledge. He was a member of
the Maryland Historical Society; and was one of the board
of trustees of the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, the building
for the accommodation of which has just been erected.
His thorough scholarship, and his large acquaintance with
books, rendered his aid in that body most valuable, particularly
in connection with the organization of the library, a subject in
which lie felt a deep interest. In 1849, the degree of doctor
of divinity.was conferred upon him by Harvard College.
He married, 18 July, 1831, Nancy Williams, daughter
of Amos A. Williams, Esq., a distinguished merchant of Baltimore.
They had three children, - one son and two daughters; of whom the
son and one daughter died in infancy. The
other daughter and her mother are living.
He published, in 1835, a volume of "Lectures to Young
Men on the Cultivation of the Mind, the Formation of Character,
and the Conduct of Life;" in the same year, a volume of
"Lectures on the Sphere and Duties of Woman;" in 1842,
"Lectures on the History of Christianity." In 1844, he
contributed to Sparks's American Biography a memoir of Leonard
Calvert, first Governor of Maryland. In 1845, he published
"Expository Lectures on the Principal Texts of the Bible
which relate to the Doctrine of the Trinity;" a volume of
"Miscellanies," and a "Biography of Henry T. Ingalls." In
1848, he published a small work entitled "Popular Objections
to Unitarian Christianity Considered and Answered;" and, in
1850, twenty discourses "On the Rectitude of Human Nature."
He was a contributor to the pages of the "Christian Examiner"
from the year 1834.
1824. - CALEB MORTON STIMSON died in Newton Lower
Falls, Mass., 6 July, 1860, aged 56. He was son of Samuel
and Susanna (Bigelow) Stimson, and was born in Newton,
13 April, 1804. His father, who was son of Jeremiah and
Sarah Stimson, was born in Boston in 1765; was brought up
a merchant; travelled abroad to some extent; and finally settled
in business, as a grocer, on Long Wharf, Boston, having entered
into partnership with his younger brother, Caleb. He
was married, 4 July, 1796, by Rev. John Thornton Kirkland,
to Susanna Bigelow. They had but two children, the subject
of this notice, and one elder brother who died in infancy. When
the yellow-fever broke out in Boston, his father relinquished
business, removed to Newton, where he purchased a farm, on
which he lived until his death, which took place in November,
1849, at the age of eighty-four years. His mother was the
daughter of Thoinmas and Betsey (Wales) Bigelow, of Waltham,
Mass. Young Stimson was fitted for college mostly by
Rev. Charles Train, of Framingham, Mass. (H.C. 1805), but
passed a few months in completing his preparatory studies at
Milton Academy.
After leaving college, he studied law in part
at the Law School in Cambridge, and partly in the office of
Hon. Lemuel Shaw (H.C. 1800), of Boston. He was admitted to
the bar in Boston in 1827 or 1828, but did not enter into
practice; for, being an only child, at his father's express desire
he went to reside with him at Newton, and remained there, with
the exception of some brief intervals, during the remainder of
his life. Inheriting an ample competence, and his health having
been for many years in a very feeble state, he pursued no regular
business. Possessing a most amiable disposition, he led a
blameless life, and finally passed away with calmness and composure,
leaving no enemy behind him.
He married, 27 April, 1847, Charlotte Augusta Crehore,
daughter of Lemuel Crehore, of Newton, but had no children.
His wife survived him.
1825. - HILARY BRETON CENAS died in New Orleans, 26
October, 1859, aged 53. He was son of Blaise and Catharine
(Baker) Cenas, and was born in Philadelphia, 5 November,
1805. He was prepared for college by Rev. James F. Hull,
rector of Christ Church, Philadelphia. On leaving college, he
chose the profession of law, and pursued his studies under
the instruction of William Christy and John R. Grymes, of New
Orleans; and, after his admission to the bar, he opened an office
in that city, where he practised for several years; but subsequently
relinquished it, and established himself as a notarypublic.
He was a gentleman of great affability of manner, was
highly esteemed for his many excellent personal qualities, and
retained the confidence of a large business-acquintance in the
exercise of the duties of his important profession.
He married,.February, 1833, Margaret Pierce, of New Orleans,
who survived him. They had thirteen children,- seven
sons and six daughters, - of whom two sons and all the daughters
survived him.
1830. -JOHN WHITE BROWNE, of Boston, was instantly
killed in Braintree, Mass., 1 May, 1860, by accidentally falling
from the platform of a railroad-car while the train was in motion.
He was fifty years of age. He was son of James and Lydia
(Vincent) Browne, and was born in Salem, Mass., 29 March, 1810.
His father was the eldest lineal descendant of Elder John Browne,
the ruling elder of the First Church of the Massachusetts-Bay
Colony at Salem, whose acceptance of the eldership the Rev.
Mr. Higginson made the condition of his own settlement as
pastor. His great-grandfather, for whom he was named, was
John White; whose daughter, Mary White, was the wife of
Elder William Browne, and mother of James Browne, the father
of John White Browne. Both William and James were elders
in the East Church, Salem,- Unitarian, under the pastorate of
the late Dr. William Bentley (H.C. 1777), - James succeeding
at the death of his father.
The subject of this notice was fitted for college at the Salem
Classical School, under the charge of Theodore Ames and Henry
Kemble Oliver. While in college, he was the chum of Hon.
Charles Sumner. lie attained a very high rank of scholarship
in his class, and graduated with distinguished honors. He
studied law one year at the Law School at Cambridge, one year
with Hon. Rufus Choate (D.C. 1819), and one year with Hon.
Leverett Saltonstall (H.C. 1802)'in Salem. He practised his
profession several years in Lynn, Mass.; but, about twelve
years before his death, he removed to Boston, where he continued
in practice, principally as a conveyancer, until his decease. In
1837, he was elected a representative to the legislature; and
in 1838, during his absence from the state, he was nominated by
the whlig party of Essex county as a candidate for the state
senate.
On his return, he declined the nomination, for the reason that he was
unwilling to become the candidate of any party
for political office. From that time he carefully avoided political
prominence (although he took a warm and constant interest in the
course of public affairs), devoting himself with extreme assiduity
to the business of his profession. He took an especially serviceable
part in almost every effort for criminal reform, and for the
improvement of prison discipline, during his long period of active
professional service; and was also earnestly, though quietly,
devoted to the promotion of the antislavery movement.
His daily life was an exhibition of a noble, highly cultivated intellect,
of the purest morality, and the gentlest kindly feelings for the
welfare of the whole human race.
He married, in 1842, Martha Ann Gibbs, daughter of Capt.
Barnabas Lincoln, of Hingham, Mass. They had but one
child, - a daughter (Laura Lincoln Browne), - who, with her
mother, survived him.
1830. - Dr. HENRY LINCOLN died in Lancaster, Mass.,
29 February, 1860, aged 55. He was son of William and Tabitha
(Kendall) Lincoln, and was born in Leominster, Mass.,
11 August, 1804. His father was a farmer, and died in
Leominster, 27 December, 1846. His mother was daughter of
Edward Kendall, of Fitzwilliam, N.H., originally from Leominster.
He was fitted for college, in part, by Hon. Joseph
Gowing Kendall (H. C. 1810), of Worcester, Mass., then
practising law at Leominster; and in part at Lawrence
Academy in Groton. After leaving college, he went to
Philadelphia, where he studied medicine under the instruction of Dr.
Samuel Jackson, of that city; and received his degree of M.D.
at the University of Pennsylvania in 1834. Returning to
Massachusetts, he established himself in Lancaster, where he acquired
an extensive practice, and was highly respected. He married,
14 February, 1838, Martha Bond; and had children,William Henry
(who died before him), Mary Catharine, Ellen
Sears, Martha Bond, Francis Newhall, and Edward Hartwell.
His widow survived him.
1838.- ABEL FOX died of consumption, in Quincy, Ill.,
14 November, 1859, aged 41 years. He was son of Oliver and
Mary (Dorr) Fox, and was born in Fitchburg, Mass., 21 August,
1818. His mother was sister of the late Samuel Dorr, of
Boston, for many years president of the New-England Bank.
The subject of this notice was fitted for college partly
at Leicester Academy, and completed his studies at Exeter (N.H.)
Academy. He did not study a profession; but, soon after he
graduated, removed to Quincy, Ill., and devoted himself to
agriculture. He there married the widow of his brother, Henry
Fox. Her maiden name was Abby Whittemore, formerly of
Boston. He left no children.
1843. - ELISIA WINSLOW TRACY died in Hampshire,
Kane county, Ill., 5 February, 1860, aged 36. He was son
of Elisha and Lucy C. (Huntington) Tracy, and was born
in Norwich, Conn., 8 April, 1823. His name originally was
Winslow Decatur Tracy, which was changed soon after he
graduated. He was fitted for college at the academy in
Cheshire, Conn. He pursued his professional studies at the
Law School in Cambridge. Having come into possession of a
considerable fortune soon after leaving college, by the death of
his father, he went to Chicago, Ill. He was admitted to the
bar in the fall of 1844, and at once took a high rank in his
profession.
The "Chicago Times " thus speaks of his abilities:
"His powers of intellect were indeed remarkable. His mind
possessed that comprehensive quality which beholds a subject at
once in all its various aspects, and perceives their relations and
bearings without the labor of study. Its habit was eminently
philosophical, its tone strong and vigorous. He was no follower
of other men's thoughts. His utterance, whether in a set speech
or unpremeditated debate, betrayed an originality of thought, a
clearness of comprehension, which are seldom found'even in our
most eminent men. His imagination, too, was extremely fine;
and his speeches very frequently embraced figures and tropes of
surprising beauty. Indeed, an elevated poetical quality, united
with originality of ideas and philosophical treatment of subjects,
were the distinguishing characteristics of his oratory."
Mr. Tracy never held any political office. He married, in
November, 1858, Lizzie Thayer, a young and amiable lady
of Chicago; and with his bride went immediately to Europe,
where he spent about a year in travelling in England and on
the Continent. On his return, he purchased a farm in the town
of Hampshire, Kane county, with the design of abandoning the
law, and engaging, in agriculture. There he died, leaving a
widow only twenty years of age, but no children.
1848. - JAMES ATHERTON DUGAN died in Brewster, Mass.,
5 June, 1860, aged 33. He was son of James and Sophia
(Atherton) Dug,an, and was born in Boston, 4 February, 1827.
He received his education wholly at the public schools in Bo
and was prepared for college at the Latin School. He was a
remarkably studious, bright, and exemplary scholar when a boy;
so much so, that three Franklin medals were awarded to him at
three several schools which he attended; namely, at the Wells
School in 1838, at the English High School in 1842, and at the
Latin School in 1844. While in college, he attained a high
rank in scholarship, and was a great favorite among his classmates.
But in his junior year his health ffiled, so that he was
unable to continue his studies; and he was obliged to leave. He
went a voyage to Rio Janeiro, and returned with his health in a
great measure restored; and his degree was conferred upon him
in 1851.
After his return, he taught a private school in Bedford,
Mass., for some time; after which he was engag,ed as an
assistant in the school of Mr. Epes Sargent Dixwell (H.C.
1827) in Boston. He next removed to Brewster, Mass., where
he opened a private school, which he continued as long as his
health would permit. He was a popular teacher, of unblemished
moral character; and his early death was a sad affliction to his
family and friends. His father died suddenly at Brewster, while
on a visit to that place, 10 August, 1858, aged 66
.
He married, 5 August, 1852, Helen, daughter of Elijah
Cobb, Esq., of Brewster. They had three children,- two sons
and one daughter,- who, with their mother, survived him.
1848.- SAMUEL PARSONS died in Philadelphia, 28 October,
1859, aged 30. He was son of Samuel and Mary Brown
(Allen) Parsons, and was born in Boston, 2 May, 1829. He
was fitted for college at the public Latin School in Boston,
where a Franklin medal was awarded to him for superior scholarship.
He held a highly respectable rank in his class, and graduated
with distinction. After leaving collete, he pursued the
study of law, partly in the offitce of Charles Bishop Goodrich
(D.C. 1822), and partly in that of William Brigham (H.C.
1829), of Boston. Htaving been admitted to the bar, he opened
an office in Boston; but, his health failing, he left the city, and
resided for a time on his father's farnm in Newton, where he in a
great measure recovered, and then concluded to change his residence
to Philadelphia, but did not long survive after his removal
to that city. He was unmarried.
1848. - Dr. ADAMS WILEY, of Roxbury, Mass., died in
Clifton, Mich., to which place he had gone for the benefit of his
health, 2 April, 1860, aged 33. He was son of Thomas and
Margaret (Wright) Wiley, and was born in Boston, 16 November, 1826.
He was a twin, -the two graduating in the same
class. As they were born the same year that the two presidents,
Adhms and Jefferson, died, their parents named them Adams
and Jefferson respectively. The father of the subject of this
notice was born in Reading, now South Reading, Mass., 7
August, 1784; and died in Roxbury, 25 May, 1860; having
survived his son only seven weeks and four days. His mother
was born in Boston, 23 March, 1791; and his parents were
married by Rev. John Murray, 2 December, 1810. He was
fitted for college at Lunenburg Academy, of which John Rodman
Rollins (D.C. 1837) was principal. While in college, he
was a diligent student, attained a very respectable standing in
scholarship, and his deportment and moral character were without
a blemish. After leaving college, he pursued his professional
studies at the Tremont Medical School in Boston; and, having
received his degree of M.D. in 1852, he established himself in
Roxbury, where, by his judicious practice, he became quite popular,
and the prospect opened to him a wide field for success and
eminence in his profession. During his residence in Roxbury, he
was appointed one of the physicians of the dispensary; and
was also secretary of the athenaeum, in which institution he
took a lively interest.
Amiable in his disposition and manners,
cultivated in mind and tastes, genial and generous in his
feelings, pure and exemplary in his whole conduct and character,
he was esteemed and loved by a large circle of kindred and
fiends. His death came upon him somewhat unexpectedly, but
it was singularly calm and beautiful; and, to quote an expression
from a pencilled note written by him but the day before his
decease, he was " full of faith in a God who had showed his love
for sinners." He was never married.
1852. - CHARLES WENTWORTH UPHAM died in Buffalo,
N.Y., 2 April, 1860, aged 29. He was the eldest son of Hon.
Charles Wentworth (H.C. 1821) and Mary Ann (Holmes)
Upham, and was born in Salem, Mass., 19 August, 1830.
His father, who was son of Judge Joshua Upham (H.C. 1763),
of Brookfield, Mass., a refugee, was born in St. John, N.B.,
4 May, 1802. His mother was daughter of Rev. Abiel (Y.C.
1783) and,Sarah (Wendell) Holmes, of Cambridge, Mass.
In the summer of 1839, young Upham was sent to St. John,
N.B. (where his aunt, Fanny Wendell, resided), to improve his
health; where he spent nearly seven months. On his return the
following year, he went to the Ropes farm in Danvers, where
he passed the summer, and where he repeatedly went; his parents,
on account of his health, always sending him away from
school during the summer season. In the interim he attended the
Salem schools, and finally there completed his preparation fobr
college at the Latin School, under Mr. Oliver Carleton (D.C.
1824). In the summer of 1847, with Darwin Erastus Ware,
of his class, and Henry Stone, who entered Harvard, but
graduated at Bowdoin College, he went to Portland by steamboat.
There he and his companions, dressed in pedestrian style, went
on foot round the White Mountains to Andover, Me., back to
Winnipiseogee, thence through Concord, N.H., home, all the
way on foot, having, been absent twenty-one days. In the summers
of 1849 and 1851, he also made excursions to the White
Mountains; and, in the vacation in his senior year, he journeyed
to Brandon, Vt., to Washington, D.C., and to Providence,
R.I. He was college marshal at the inauguration of President
Sparks in the spring of 1849; chief-marshal at the celebration
of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill,
17 June, 1850; chief-marshal at the railroad jubilee celebration
in Boston, in September, 1851; chief-marshal at the classday; and
vice-president at the class-supper. He suggested the
idea of class-daguerrotypes, first carried out in the class to which
he belonged, and which has since been succeeded by photographs
in later classes.
Immediately after graduating, he entered the Law School at
Cambrid,ge; and, after remaining the usual period, he received
the degree of bachelor of laws; was admitted to the bar,
and opened an office in Salem. In 1855, he went to Europe,
where he remained about two years, enriching his mind by visiting,
the most interesting portions of England and the Continent,
and increasing his stock of useful information; but, as he was
about to leave England on his return, the first symptoms of that
fell disease, consumption, appeared, which terminated his life.
In the summer of 1857, he removed to Buffalo, where he established
himself in the practice of his profession; having been
admitted a partner with Hon. S. G. Haven and William Dorsheimer,
under the firm of Haven, Dorsheimer, and Upham.
The firm was originally Fillmore, Hall, and Haven.
With a handsome person, fine colloquial powers, and a mind enriched
by the observations and experiences of foreign trayel, he was a
favorite with all who knew him, and every thing seemed to promise for
him a brilliant and successful career. It was, however,
otherwise ordered; -and he was cut down in the morning
of life: but he submitted to his inevitable doom with a cheerful,
Christian resignation, and with a full confidence of a blessed
immortality beyond the grave.
He married, 22 June, 1859, Mary, daughter of Hon.
Solomon G. Haven, of Buffalo; who survived the partner of
her affections.
The members of the bar in Buffalo held a meeting on the
evening of the 4th of April, at which appropriate and respectful
tributes were paid to the memory of their youthful associate;
and subsequently attended the funeral in a body, pursuant to a
vote to that effect.
1854. JAMES BROWN KENDALL died at the residence of
his father, in Saxonville (Framingham, Mass.), 9 October,
1859, aged 25 years, lacking two days. He was the only son
of Rev. James Augustus (H.C. 1823) and Maria Boyle (Brown) Kendall,
and was born in Medfield, Mass., 11 October, 1834. When about two
and a half years old, he removed with his parents to Saxonville;
about two years later, to Stow, Mass.; and in July, 1842, to Cambridge;
which place was his residence until the summer previous to his death.
He was fitted for college at the Hopkins Classical School in Cambridge,
under Edmund Burke Whitman (H.C. 1838), now of Kansas. He
graduated with high honors. In the winter of his junior year,
he taught school in Scussett (Sandwich, Mass.). After graduating,
he taught with great success a private classical school in
Portsmouth, N.H., for two years; in the mean time pursuing
the study of law, which he subsequently continued and completed
at the Law School in Cambridge. Having been admitted
to the bar, he, in partnership with his classmate, Payson Elliot
Tucker, opened an office in Worcester, Mass., in the summer of
1859. About two months afterwards, he was seized with
typhoid-fever, of which he died after a brief illness. He was
brilliant, witty, learned, of stern integrity and high moral character.
1855.- ANDREW LAMMEY YONGUE was killed on the Charlotte
and South-Carolina Railroad, at Columbia, S.C., 17
November, 1859, aged 31. He was the youngest of three
children (the others, a brother named Robert A., and a sister
named Sarah) of William and Elizabeth (Lammey) Yongue,
and was born in Buckhead, Fairfield District, S.C., 12 April,
1828. Both his parents died several years since. His father
died 13 November, 1842, aged 77 years; and his mother died
19 January, 1844. He was prepared for South-Carolina College
at the Mount-Zion Collegiate Institute, J. W. Hudson,
principal, Winnsborough, S.C. He entered the sophomore
class of the South-Carolina College, December, 1851; and left,
December, 1852, with one hundred and ten others, who were
compelled to leave on account of what is known as the " Biscuit
Rebellion." He entered the sophomore class of Harvard College,
March, 1853.
It was his intention, after graduation, to
prepare for the ministry: but his health became delicate from
exposure during his residence at college, and passing to and fro,
so that, in a measure, he had to give up study, and he settled
on a farm inherited from his father; but becoming embarrassed by
the deaths of his negroes, and other misfortunes, he was forced
to change his business. He then taught school for eighteen
months, with a view still for the ministry, if his health would
permit. To raise further funds to enable him to carry out his
purpose, he obtained the situation of conductor on the Charlotte
and South-Carolina Railroad. About three months after entering,
upon his new duties, he met with thie unfortunate accident
which terminated his life. He attempted to step on the train
while in motion: his foot slipped, and he fell under the cars; the
wheels passed over both his legs. One was taken off above
the knee, and the other broken above the ankle. This was on
the 16th of November; and he died the next day. He bore
his suffering with great patience, and not a murmur escaped his
lips; believing it was the will of his heavenly Father that he
should die thus, and for some good end. He died with a prayer
upon his lips, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." He was buried
at the Salem church, Fairfield District, of which he was a meumber.
He was never married.
One calamity follows another in quick succession. Robert
A. Yongue, the only brother of Andrew L., died on the 4th of
February, 1860; having been left by the ears seven miles from
Charleston, while warming himself at a fire by the road; and in
attempting to walk over a high trestle (thirty feet), stepping on
a rotten plank which.gave way, he fell through the distance mentioned,
on stumps, and into water four feet deep. His remains
were not found until the next day. The expression of Andrew
L. Yongue, that his death was for some good end, was verified:
for his brother, who had been thoughtless of his latter end, was
almost inconsolable at his death; from that period became a
changed man; and there was good reason to believe that he was
prepared for the sudden and unexpected death that awaited him.
He was a graduate at the South-Carolina College sonice years
ago. He left a widow and two children to mourn their irreparable loss.
Their sister Sarah, the only surviving member of the family,
became the wife of David Milling, Esq., of Mill View, Fairfield
District, S.C.; where he at one time held the office of postmaster.
She was in feeble and delicate health after the melancholy
deaths of her brothers, following each other in so quick
succession.
1857. - EDWARD THIOMAS DAMON, of WVayland, Mass.,
died in Cambridge, Mass., of small-pox, 30 November, 1859,
aged 25. He was son of Thomas Jefferson and Rachel
(Thomas) Damon, and was born in Wayland, 19 April, 1834.
He began his preparatory studies for college at Lawrence
Academy in Groton, Mass.; and completed them under the
instruction of Mrs. Samuel Ripley, of Concord, Mass. He
graduated with distinguished honors. After leaving college, he
began the study of medicine, at the Medical School in Boston,
under the instruction of Drs. John Ware (H.C. 1813) and
Morrill and Jeffries Wyman (H.C. 1833); and, while attending
the course of medical lectures, he was attacked with that
loathsome disease which terminated his life. He was a great favorite
wherever he was known; and his premature removal, just as a
brilliant prospect for the future was opening before him, was
a sad affliction to his parents and other relatives, as well as to
his classmates and many friends.
1857. - GEORGE HOLLINGSWORTH died in Groton, Mass.,
8 August, 1859, aged 23. He was son of John Mark and
Emmeline (Cornell) Hollingsworth, and was born in Braintree,
Mass., 29 July, 1836. He entered the Boston Latin School at
the age of ten; and, after remaining there somewhat over two
years, left, upon the removal of his parents to West Cambridge;
and there he completed his preparatory studies for admission into
college, under the instruction of a private tutor. He taught school
during the winter of 1857-8, and subsequently was engaged in
the paper-manufacturing business with his father in Groton.
1858. - AMORY POLLARD SAWYER died in Bolton, Mass.,
20 May, 1860, aged 26. He was son of Nathan and Lucinda
(Pollard) Sawyer, and was born in Bolton, 30 October, 1833.
He was fitted for college at the high-school in Bolton. The
disease by which he was so prematurely taken away was consumption,
the incipient symptoms of which appeared during
his junior year at college; and nearly the whole of his senior
year he was absent from Cambridge, returning only to join in
the festivities of Class-day. While his health permitted, he
was a diligent and faithful student; of modest, unassuming
deportment; winning the love of his classmates and the regard of
his instructors.
1859. - HENRY HUSTON ABBOTT died in Charlestown,
Mass., of typhoid-fever, after an illness of eight days, 22 July,
1859, aged 23. He was the eldest son of John Gilman and
Sophia (Huston) Abbott, and was born in Charlestown, 18
July, 1836. His father was a native of Concord, N.H., and
was born 27 March, 1812. His mother was born in Farmington,
Me., 23 December, 1814. Young Abbott pursued his
preparatory studies at the high-school in Charlestown. While
in college, he was a diligent student, constant in his attendance
at all recitations, modest in his demeanor, and exemplary in his
conduct. He made extraordinary exertions to secure the advantages
of a college education, intending afterwards to devote himself
to the business of a teacher. But he was cut off in the
dawning of his hopes: death marked him as the first victim in
his class. His degree was conferred upon him: he was permitted,
while on his death-bed, to look at his diploma; but, within
forty-eight hours from his graduation, he ceased to live.
1795. - Rev. CALEB BRADLEY died in Westbrook, Me.,
2 June, 1861, aged 89 years. He was son of Deacon Amos
and Elizabeth (Page) Bradley, and was born in that part of
Dracut which is now within the limits of Lowell, Mass, 12
March, 1772. His parents were natives of Haverhill, Mass.
He labored on his father's farm until he was seventeen years of
age; when he began the study of the'Latin language, under the
instruction of Rev. Solomon Aiken, of Dracut (D.C. 1784).
He afterwards studied for three months with Rev. Simon Finley
Williams, in Methuen (D.C. 1785).
The next year, he entered Atkinson (N.H.) Academy, where
he completed his preparatory studies; and in August, 1791,
he entered Dartmouth College, where he remained two years; when
he left, and entered the junior class in Harvard College; where
he graduated, in due course, with a respectable standing.
In an autobiography, he stated, that, while in college, he "was
never absent from prayers, nor from any of the college exercises; was never
admonished or fined." Immediately after graduating, he began
the study of divinity with Rev. Henry Cumings, of Billerica,
Mass. (H.C. 1760). Within a year afterwards, he was approbated
by the Andover Association, and preached his first sermon
in Billerica. He was ordained pastor of the church in Falmouth
(now Westbrook), Me., 9 October, 1799. He continued his pastoral
labors in this place, with great diligence and
fidelity, until 28 April, 1828, when he resigned his charge;
and, on the following day, the Rev. Henry Cushing Jewett
(B.U. 1824) was ordained as his successor. The society were
desirous that Mr. Bradley should remain as senior pastor, and
that Mr. Jewett should be settled as his colleague; but he
preferred to be relieved from the burdens and responsibilities of the
pastoral charge. He did not, however, give up preaching, but
continued his ministerial labors. For more than six years, he
officiated as chaplain at the city poor-house in Portland, and was
twice delegated by the Maine Missionary Society to act as
missionary in the county of Cumberland; and he continued to
preach occasionally in various places.
He married, 16 November, 1801, Sally Crocker, of Taunton, Mass.
She died 27 April, 1821, leaving six children.
He married for his second wife, in 1827, Mrs. Susan Partridge
(widow of Nathaniel Partridge), whose maiden name was
Susan Smith, originally from Wrentham, Mass. She died 3
November, 1843; and he married for his third wife, 26 December,
1844, Mrs. Abigail Codman, widow of James Codman,
Esq., of Gorham, Me. She died 17 August, 1854. She was
a native of Halifax, Mass.
1797. - Hon. DANIEL APPLETON WHITE died in Salem,
Mass., 30 March, 1861, aged 84 years. He was son of Capt.
John and Elizabeth (Haynes) White, and was born in that part
of Methuen which is now the city of Lawrence, 7 June, 1776.
In June, 1792, he entered the academy in Atkinson, N.H.,
where he was fitted for college. He graduated with the
highest honors of his class. With a love of sound learning and
classic literature, his mind was richly imbued with the
elementary course of college-life, and formed a sure foundation
for
future progress in intellectual culture. In 1799, he was
appointed a tutor in the Latin department of the college;
which post he occupied until 1803. During that time, he had entered
his name as a student-of-law in the office of Francis Dana
Channing, of Cambridge (H.C. 1794). He was always deeply
interested in the success of the college; and as a general
supervisor of all its concerns, as a temporary member of the
faculty, and member of the board of overseers, he never lost
sight of its interests. In September, 1803, he went to Salem
for a year, and entered the law-office of Hon. Samuel Putnam
(HI.C. 1787), afterwards judge of the Supreme Court.
In Judge Putnam's office, the late Hon. John Pickering (H.C.
1796) was a fellow-student; and, jointly with that distinguished
scholar, young White prepared, for the use of the college, an
editon of "Sallust," which was published by Cushing and
Appleton; but the whole edition, as soon as it was ready for
delivery, was destroyed by fire. In 1804, Judge White was
admitted to the Essex bar, and established himself in the
practice of law, in Newburyport, in the days when there were
legal giants in Essex, and when his discipline and well-stored
mind insured for him a successful practice. At this interesting
period of our political history, his talents and discretion drew
him into the arena of political life; and, from 1810 to 1814, he
was a conspicuous member of the senate of Massachusetts, under
the administration of Gov. Strong; and was a firm supporter of
his patriotic and practical policy. In November, 1814, he was
elected a member of Congress from Essex North District, and
commissioned; but, before the meeting of Congress, he resigned,
to accept the office of judge of probate, to which he
was appointed by Gov. Strong, upon the resignation of Judge
Holten, in May, 1815.
In 1817, he moved to Salem, where
hlie passed the remainder of his life; continuing to fill the office
of probate-judge, with uncommon ability, until he resigned it in
the summer of 1853; blessed with an old age, serene and
bright to the latest moment; and enjoyingo, by universal consent,
the distinction of being regarded as, beyond dispute, the first
citizen in the community where he resided.
Judge White's vast literary resources were always at the
command of his friends and the public; and he was the dispenser
of a liberal hospitality, and the patron of every good
enterprise- moral, esthetic, and educational —which tended to
foster the highest interests of the community. He was one of
the founders and directors of the Divinity School at Cambridge;
was an overseer of Harvard College from 1842 to
1853; delivered the address at the second meeting of the
Association of the Alumni in 1844. He was the founder of
the lyceum in Salem; was the president of the athenaum,
and presided over the Essex Institute from its first
establishment; was a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society;
of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and received
from Harvard College, in 1837, the degree of doctor of laws.
He delivered eulogies on the decease of Dr. Nathaniel Bowditch
and Hon. John Pickering.
He was the author of several other
addresses and memoirs of great literary merit. Early in his
judicial career, he wrote a valuable book on probate jurisdiction.
As an author, he was master of a singularly clear and nervous
style, which was exhibited through a period of more than sixty
years. But it was in the intimate relations of family and friendship
that his graces and excellences as a man and a Christian
were most remarkable; and these were continued literally to the
the very last minute of his most consistent life, in loving
recognitions, sentences of faith, and prayer, and hymns of praise.
Judge White married, first, 24 May, 1807, Mrs. Mary van
Schalkwyck, daughter of the late Dr. Josiah Wilder (Y.C.
1767), of Lancaster, Mass. She died 29 June, 1811; and he
married, second, in Salem, 1 August, 1819, Mrs. Eliza Wetmore,
daughter of William Orne, Esq., late of Salem, merchant.
She died 27 March, 1821; and he married, third, in Charlestown,
22 January, 1824, Mrs. Ruth Rogers, daughter of
Joseph Hurd, Esq., late of Charlestown, merchant. He had,
by his first wife, three daughters; by his second wife, one son,
William Orne White,- graduated at Harvard College in 1840,
and became a Unitarian minister in Keene, N.H.; by his third
wife, one son,- Henry Orne White,- who graduated at Harvard
College in 1843, and became a physician in Salem; also
two other sons, who died in infancy.
1798. - ISAAC FISKE died in Cambridge, Mass., 11 March,
1861, aged 82 years. He was the youngest son of Jonathan
and Abigail (Fiske) Fiske, and was born in Weston, Mass., 4
December, 1778. His father was son of Nathan and Mary
(Fiske) Fiske, and was born in Weston, 15 December, 1739.
His mother was daughter of Thomas and Mary (Pierce) Fiske,
and was born in Weston, 16 August, 1739. The ancestors and
brothers of Mr. Fiske were remarkable for their longevity.
Three of his brothers died at the ages respectively of 75
years, 92 years and 4 months, and 93 years and 6 months; a
sister died at upwards of 86 years; and a brother, now living,
has arrived at the age of 87 years. Mr. Fiske was fitted for
college by his brother, Rev. Thaddeus Fiske (H.C. 1785).
After leaving college, he studied law with Hon. Artemas Ward,
then of Weston (H.C. 1783); was admitted to the bar in 1801,
and succeeded to the lucrative business of Mr. Ward after the
removal of the latter to Charlestown. He approved himself
to be an example of constancy, skill, and fidelity, in his official
duties; verifying the proverb of Solomon, that "the hand of the
diligent maketh rich."
He was for more than thirty years
register of probate for the county of Middlesex, having been
appointed by Gov. Brooks in 1817. In transacting the business of
this office, -an office of great responsibility, -he was
remarkable alike for accuracy and despatch, and no less for his
readiness to give advice and directions, when called for, to those
who were intrusted, as executors or administrators, with the
settlement of the estates of the deceased. In the midst of his
useful labors in this office, he was superseded in the year 1851,
in consequence of a political change in the administration of the
government of Massachusetts, in compliance with a usage not
uncommon, by which the public good is often sacrificed to party
preferences. It is believed that at the time of his death he was
the oldest member of the Middlesex bar, counting from the date
of admission; and, in point of age, he was the oldest, with
one or two exceptions.
He was elected representative to the
state legislature in 1808, 1812, 1813, and 1814. In 1820, he
was a member of the convention which revised the constitution
of Massachusetts. He was a justice of the Court of Sessions,
until that court was superseded by the appointment of county
commissioners.
He married, 7 November, 1802, Susan Hobbs, daughter of
Ebenezer and Eunice (Spring) Hobbs, of Weston; and the
issue of this marriage was six sons and one daughter, of whom
two sons only survived him. The oldest son, Augustus
Henry Fiske, graduated at Harvard College in 1825, and is a
distinguished lawyer in Boston. Mr. Fiske's wife died 8 January,
1831, aged 48; and he married, in 1832, Sophronia Hobbs,
sister of his former wife, who survived him.
1800. - Rev. CHARLES LOWELL died in Cambridge, Mass.,
20 January, 1861, aged 78 years. He was son of Hon. John
(H.C. 1760) and Rebecca (Russell) Lowell, and was born in
Boston, 15 August, 1782. His father was son of Rev. John
Lowell (H.C. 1721) of Newbury, Mass., in which town he was
born 17 June, 1743. He was a lawyer in Boston; was a
member of the convention which framed the constitution of
Massachusetts; and was one of the founders of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1789, he was appointed,
by Washington, judge of the District Court of Massachusetts.
He died in Roxbury, Mass., 6 May, 1802, aged 58 years.
The subject of this notice was a student at Andover Academy
three or four years, under Abiel Abbot (H.C. 1787) and Mark
Newman (D.C. 1793); and was afterwards placed under the
instruction of Rev. Zedekiah Sawyer (H.C. 1771), in South
Bridgewater, where he completed his preparatory studies, and
entered the sophomore class in 1797. After leaving college, he
studied law one year with his elder brother, John Lowell, jun.
(H.C. 1786), when he relinquished it for the study of theology.
In the autumn of 1802, he went to Scotland, and entered the
divinity-school of the Edinburghli University, where, among his
fellow-students, was the renowned Sir David Brewster. He took
a letter of introduction from Dr. James Currie, of Liverpool,
to Dugald Stewart, whose lectures he attended, and whom he
considered, from the gracefulness and eloquence of his delivery,
the copiousness and beauty of his illustrations
(often extemporaneous), as the finest lecturer he had ever heard.
He also attended the lectures of Hope and Murray in chemistry,
of Brown in rhetoric, and of others. In Edinburgh,
he formed an intimate acquaintance and established
a correspondence with Dr. Thomas Brown, the distinguished
successor, as he had been the pupil, of Dugald Stewart.
He was well acquainted with Francis Jeffrey, the editor of the
"Edinburgh Review." In the summer of 1803, he made a pedestrian
tour through the Highlands of Scotland; and, after spending another
winter in Edinburgh, he left that city for London
in the spring of 1804. HIe took a letter of introduction from
Earl Buchan to Earl Stanhope, father of Lady Hester Stanhope.
He visited Porteus (bishop of London), Mr. Wilberforce, and
other distinguished persons; from all of whom he
received great attentions. Wilberforce introduced him into a
favorable place in the House of Commons, where he heard Pitt,
Fox, Sheridan, and other distinguished men. Pitt, he said,
had a sharp face and a very large nose. In his manner he
was very vehement, and by no means graceful; constantly
moving his body forward, and beating the air in the same
direction with his right arm. Fox was more calm, and somewhat
colloquial; Sheridan, graceful in his manner, and speaking as
if reciting from a book. He also witnessed the performances
of John P. Kemble, and his sister, Mrs. Siddons. He attended
on the preaching, among others, of John Newton, and the
eccentric but eloquent Rowland Hill.
From London, Dr. Lowell went to Paris at an eventful
period, and had frequent opportunities of seeing Napoldon
Bonaparte, who had just become emperor, and whose assumption
of the imperial purple rendered him extremely unpopular.
He was present at the first appearance of Napoleon after he
was proclaimed emperor. He saw Talleyrand the day before
he died. After a tour through Holland and Switzerland, he
returned to Scotland, and spent another winter in Edinburgh.
In the spring of 1805, he left Edinburgh; passed a little time
with a maternal uncle at Clifton, near Bristol, Eng.; preached
at Bristol and Hackney; and returned to his native country.
On his return home, he studied divinity with Rev. Zedekiah
Sanger, of South Bridgewater, and Rev. David Tappan (H.C.
1771), professor of divinity at Cambridge. He was ordained
over the West Church in Boston, 1 January, 1806. As a
preacher, he was eminently popular; and he was almost adored
by his parishioners. Graceful as an orator, with a voice of
uncommon sweetness, he preached with such an ardor and
sincerity, that he seemed to his hearers to be almost divinely
inspired.
He continued sole pastor of the church for more
than thirty-seven years. His health having become feeble, the
Rev. Cyrus Alg,ustus Bartol (Bowd. C. 1832) was ordained
as his colleague, 1 March, 1837, where he still remains: but
Dr. Lowell continued his pastoral connection with his church
until his death; although he was unable to officiate, except
occasionally, for several years before his decease. Soon after his
colleague was ordained, he revisited Europe. In Edinburgh,
he met Dr. Brewster and others of his former fellow-students.
He spent a day very agreeably with Dr. Chalmers at Burnt
Island, two miles beyond the Frith of Forth. He was in London
the first winter of his tour, and attended the lectures of
Dr. Faraday, as he had those of his predecessor, Sir Humphry
Davy, many years before; attended the meetings of the
Royal Society, and many other societies. He was a few months
in Paris, where he saw M. Coquerel and other distinguished
persons. -He went to Belgium, Holland, Hamburg, Copenhagen,
where he met Prof. Rafn; visited the falls of Trolhatta,
which are among the most remarkable in Europe.
He continued his tour to Pomerania, Berlin, Dresden, Prague,
Bavaria, the Rhone, Baden Baden, Switzerland, Mont Blanc; crossed
Mont Cenis to Milan and Florence, and wintered at Rome. He
was presented to the pope in the winter of 1839; was present
at the fooleries of the carnival, and saw the magnificent
spectacle of the illumination of St. Peter's. From Rome he went
to Genoa, Naples, Sicily, Switzerland, Mount Etna, Malta,
and Athens, where he was admitted a member of the Archeological
Society of Athens at the Parthenon. Thence he went to
Smyrna and Constantinople, and was at the latter at the time of
the death of Sultan Mahmoud, - which was occasioned by
delirium tremens,- whose funeral procession on the water was
verv imposing; and was also there when his successor, Abdul
Medjid, was proclaimed, whose installation was most splendid
with barbaric pearl and gold, like some of the scenes in the
Arabian Nights." He visited Rhodes, Cyprus, Joppa, Jerusalein,
Bethlehem, Beirut, Damascus (where there is a street
called " Strait," as in the New Testament), Alexandria, Cairo,
the pyramids, the ruins of Baalbec, Thebes, and the tombs of
Sesostris and the Pharaohs, the Red Sea, Trieste, Corfu, Vienna,
Nimes, and Paris, after two years' absence. He saw the Em
The honorary degree of doctor of divinity was conferred
upon him by Harvard College in 1823. He was also a member
of the Massachusetts Historical Society. He published
seventeen occasional sermons, and two or three small volumes.
He married, in October, 1806, Harriet B. Spence, of
Portsmouth, N.H.; left five children,- three sons and two
daughters, - of whom three are well known to the literary public;
viz., Prof. James Russell Lowell, Rev. Robert Traill Spence
Lowell (an Episcopal clergymnan in New Jersey), and Mrs. S.
R. Putnam. His wife died 30 March, 1850.
In a sermon which he preached about forty years after his
ordination, he says, " Is it amiss for me, in this connection, to
say, that I am not conscious of having ever heard of sickness
or trouble in any of your families, that I have not gone to do
what became me as your minister to do; or that I have ever
known any considerable accession to the sources of your happiness,
that I have not rejoiceT with you in your joy, and endeavored to
lead you to a grateful improvement of the goodness of
God to you? One thing more I may claim to say,- that my
pastoral visits have never been spent in idle gossiping. I have
aimed to make them useful, however much I have failed to do
so.
A minister of religion, I have felt that it became me to
teach religion, not only'publicly,' but'from house to house,'
to'watch for souls.' God forgive me that I have not been more
faithful, as one who must give an account!"
1800. - Hon. LEMUEL SHAW died in Boston, 30 March,
1861, aged 80 years. He was son of Rev. Oakes (H.C.
1758) and Susannah (Hayward) Shaw, and was born in
Barnstable, Mass., 9 January, 1781. His father was born
in Bridgewater, Mass., 10 June, 1736; was ordained over the
First Church in Barnstable, 1 October, 1760; and died 11
February, 1807, aged 70. His mother was a native of Braintree,
Mass. He was fitted for college principally by his father; but
studied a few months with Rev. WTilliam Salisbury (H.C.
1795), of Braintree. On leaving college, in order to disen
cumber his beloved father of the expenses of his education,
he became usher at the Franklin (now the Brimmer) School, in
Boston, of which the late Dr. Asa Bullard (D.C. 1793) was
the principal, where he remained one year; and was also during
that time assistant-editor of the "Boston Gazette." He then
studied law with David Everett (D.C. 1795), part of the time
in Boston, and partly in Amherst, N.H. He was admitted to
the bar in Hiopkinton, N.H., in September, 1804; and afterwards
in Plymouth, Mass., in November of the same year.
He began the practice of law in Boston, in December, 1804, where
he resided during the remainder of his life. In 1811, he delivered
a discourse before the Boston Humane Society; and on the
4th of July, 1815, an oration before the town-authorities of
Boston. In this oration we find an explanation of the opposition
of a powerful party among us to the last war with Great Britain,
and a magnanimous and prompt concession that the contest has
strengthened the bonds of our political union. He says, "We
rejoice in the belief that the danger which we once feared from
the ascendency of French principles is for ever removed. The
secret spell which seemed to bind us in willing chains to the
conqueror's car is for ever broken. No sophistry can again
deceive us into a belief that the cause of Bonaparte is the cause
of social rights, or create a momentary sympathy between the
champion of despotism and the friends of civil liberty. One of
the most alarming points of view in which the sincere opponents
of the late war with England regarded the measure was, that it
tended to cement and perpetuate that dangerous and disgraceful
connection."
In politics, Judge Shaw was a decided federalist, and was
secretary of the Washington Benevolent Society. In 1811 he
was elected a representative to the state legislature, was
continued in that office for four succeeding years, and was.again
elected in 1819. In 1820 he was a member of the convention
for revising the constitution of the state. In 1821 and 1822,
he was a member of the senate; and again in 1828 and 1829.
Before Boston became a city, he held various town offices; was
a member of the board of firewards, a selectman, and one of the
school-committee.
In 1822, while in the senate, he was chairman of the joint-committee
of the legislature on a city charter
for Boston; embodied the same in the form of a report to the
town, which was accepted; drafted the city charter; and wrote
the act of incorporation establishing the city of Boston, granted
by the state legislature, 23 February, 1822; with the exception
of the fourteenth section, relative to public theatres and
exhibitions, and the act establishing a police-court; which were drafted
by Hon. William Sullivan, and went into operation at the same
time. In 1830, his friends wished to nominate him as a candidate
for representative to Congress; but he would not accept the
nomination.
He was an active member of the Boston-Library
Society, the Humane Society, the Massachusetts Historical
Society, the Massachusetts Congregational Charitable Society,
the Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians
in North America, and the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences. He was an overseer of Harvard College twelve years,
and one of the corporation twenty-seven years. On the 23d of
August, 1830, he was appointed chief-justice of the Supreme
Court, in place of Isaac Parker (H.C. 1786) deceased.
He held this office until the 31st of August, 1860, when he resigned
it. During the whole period of his devotion to the state judiciary,
he made records of the legal transactions under his
superintendence, comprising upwards of fifty volumes of several
hundred pages each. He was blessed with an extraordinarily
large, powerful, and vigorous frame, which alone could have
sustained the pressure of the unremitted and vast exertions of
his powerful intellect for eighty years. His ample and warmly
feeling heart was quite as remarkable as his intellect. A more
generous and social man never lived. His fund of mirthful
and racy anecdote was inexhaustible. His honor, integrity, and
Christian faith were never questioned. The honorary degree of
doctor of laws was conferred upon him by Harvard College
in 1831, and by Brown University in 1850.
He ever felt a devoted veneration for his parents. His mother
was a lady of more than ordinary powers of intellect; and of
his father he thus warmly expressed himself in a speech at
the centennial celebration at Barnstable, 3 September, 1839:
" Almost within sight of the place where we now are, still
stands a modest spire, marking the spot where a beloved father
stood to minister the holy word of truth and hope and salvation
to a numerous, beloved, and attached people, for almost
half a century. Pious, pure, simple-hearted, devoted to and
beloved by his people, never shall I cease to venerate his
memory, or to love those who knew and loved him. I speak in the
presence of some who knew him, and of many more, who, I
doubt not, were taught to love and honor his memory as one
of the earliest lessons of their childhood."
Judge Shaw married, 6 January, 1818, Elizabeth, a daughter
of Josiah Knapp, a merchant of Boston; and had by her two
children,- John Oakes and Elizabeth Knapp. His wife died
13 January, 1822, aged 36 years. He married for his second
wife, in August, 1827, Hope, a daughter of Dr. Samuel Savage
(H.C. 1766), of Barnstable; by whom he had two children,-
Lemuel and Samuel Savage. The former graduated at
Harvard College in 1849, and is a lawyer in Boston.
His wife and all his children survive him.
1800.- BENJAMIN WELLES died in Boston, 21 July, 1860,
aged 78 years. He was son of Samuel and Isabella (Pratt)
Welles, and was born in Boston, 13 August, 1781. He studied
for college in part at the Boston Latin School, under Master
Samuel Hunt (H.C. 1765), and during one year with Rev.
Thomas Prentiss, of Medfield, Mass. (H.C. 1766). On leaving
college, he studied law for some time with Hon. Levi Lincoln,
of Worcester, Mass. (H.C. 1772), and afterwards with
Hon. Harrison Gray Otis, of Boston (H.C. 1783). In 1803,
he went to England, and pursued his professional studies there.
In 1804, he joined his classmate, Washington Allston, in Paris.
A few months afterwards, they went together to Switzerland,
and passed St. Gothard in their carriage, being the first persons
who had traversed it. They went to Lombardy, and by Lake
Como to Rome, passing through Bologna, where Allston examined
the great paintings of the Caracci and other great masters.
They next went to Florence. The plague, prevailing in Leg
horn, detained them at Rome two months, during which time
Allston employed himself in painting. At Rome Mr. Welles
staid about two months, and Mr. Allston a year. Mr. Welles
returned to Boston in 1804. In 1807, he, in company with
Stephen Higginson, William Parsons, Thomas H. Perkins, and
others, engaged in an iron-mining company in Vergennes, Vt.
In 1812, Mr. Welles was appointed sole agent of the establishment,
and took up his residence in Vergennes. He met Lieut.
M'Donough at Burlington, in a small gunboat, strapping a
block, and made an engagement to supply the iron and
cannonballs for the ships, which were all built at Vergennes for the
lake-service; the iron-work amounting to $47,000. In 1816,
he became a partner with Hon. John Welles (H.C. 1782), who
was his cousin, in the auxiliary house in Boston to the
bankinghouse of Welles and Co., of Paris. This connection continued
twenty-eight years, until the death of Samuel Welles (H.C.
1796), which took place in Paris, 31 August, 1841.
He married, 1 August, 1815, Mehitable Stoddard Sumner,
eldest daughter of Gov. Increase Sumner (H.C. 1767); by
whom he had two daughters, Elizabeth and Georgiana, and
one son, Benjamin Samuel. His wife died 31 January, 1826;
and he married, for his second wife, Susan Codmnan, daughter of
William Codman, Esq., of New York, by whom he had one
daughter, Susan; who married, 14 January, 1856, Russell
Sturgis, jun., of Boston.
Mr. Welles was highly respected in the community
as a gentleman of the old school. He left a very large estate.
1801. - Hon. STEPHEN MINOT died in Haverhill, Mass.,
6 April, 1861, aged 84 years. He was son of Capt. Jonas
and Mary (Hall) Minot, and was born in Concord, Mass., 28
September, 1776. His father was son of Dea. Samuel and
Sarah (Prescott) Minot; was born in Concord, 25 April, 1735;
and died in his native town, 20 March, 1813, aged 78 years.
His mother was daughter of Rev. Willard Hall (H.C. 1722),
of Westford, Mass. She was born 30 July, 1738, and died
3 November, 1792, aged 54 years. The subject of this notice
was fitted for college at Westford Academy. He held a very
respectable rank in his class at college. Having selected
law as a profession, he pursued his legal studies under the
instruction of Ion. Samuel Dana, of Groton, Mass. On his
admission to the bar, he settled in New Gloucester, Me., in which
town and the town of Minot he practised about one year.
He then removed to Haverhill, where he remained until his death,
with the exception of a residence of three years in Methuen,
where he owned a cotton-factory. He was a learned and accurate lawyer.
His mind was clear in its perception, and logical
in its conclusions. He was appointed, in 1811, judge of the
Circuit Court of Common Pleas, and held the office until 1820,
when the law which created that court was repealed. In 1824,
he was appointed county-attorney for Essex; which office he
resigned in 1830.
He was elected a representative to the state
legislature in 1825, and would have been re-elected, but refused
to be a candidate again. He was firm in purpose, exact and
punctual in method and habit, of strict integrity, fearless in spirit,
ever prompt to say or do whatever his judgment approved;
of great regularity and temperance in his manner of life; in
his private relations a true, affectionate, generous friend. His
house was the abode of kindness and a generous hospitality. In
conversation, he was genial, and rich in anecdote. For several
years, having withdrawn from professional labors, he spent
much of his time in mathematical studies, and in reading the
Latin classics. He also possessed a strong mechanical talent,
of which many instances remain; among them an organ of fine
musical powers, wholly the work of his own hands. He was a
liberal supporter of the institution of religion, the ministrations
of which he attended with great regularity. To him the Unitarian
faith was dear. His religious principles were firm, and sustained
him in the trials of life and in the hour of death. " He
set his house in order," and awaited with perfect composure the
coming of the angel of death.
"Calmly he gave his being up, and went
To share the joys that wait a life well spent."
Mr. Minot married, 9 N(yvember, 1809, Rebecca Trask,
daughter of Samuel Trask, of Bradford, Mass. She died 27
November, 1832; and he married, for his second wife, Ellen P.
Gardner, daughter of Hon. Stephen Partridge Gardner, of
Bolton, Mass., who survived him. He left two children,
Mrs. Pitman, of Reading, Mass.; and Charles Minot, Esq.,
superintendent of the Erie Railroad, New York. The late George
Minot, Esq., who died 16 April, 1858, - a sound and able
lawyer of Boston, author of "Minot's Digest," a work well
known to the profession generally,- was his youngest son.
1806.- Dr. NATHANIEL JACOB died in Canandaigua, N.Y.,
3 February, 1861, aged 78 years. He was the eldest son of
Nathaniel and Lucy (Jacob) Jacob, and was born in Hanover,
Mass., 16 July, 1782. His father, who was son of Dr. Joseph
Jacob, was born in Hanover, 6 April, 1750; was an industrious
farmer, of good natural abilities; died 22 September, 1822, aged
72 years. His mother, who was daughter of Joshua Jacob,
was born in Hanover, 3 November, 1748; and died 20 March,
1812, aged 63 years. The subject of this notice was fitted for
college at Bridgewater Academy, under the tuition of Rev.
Zedekiah Sanger, D.D. (HI. C. 1771). After leaving college,
he studied medicine, under the instruction of Dr. Nathan Smith,
of Hanover, N.H.; and settled in Canandaigua in 1810, where
he was one of the early principals of the academy in the village,
and practised as a physician. He was for some time professor
of anatomy in the Fairfield Medical Institute in the state of
New York.
He was one of the principal founders of St. John's Episcopal
Church in Canandaigua. He was a citizen of much
public spirit, and served as military surgeon on the frontier in
the year 1812. At one time, he filled the office of trial-justice.
He was a zealous and active member of the medical profession,
but retired from practice many years before his death.
He married, 8 March, 1812, Hannah Sanborn, of Canandaigua.
She was the first white inhabitant born (in 1789) in
that village; her parents being one of four families who
emigrated from Lyme, Conn. It took them four weeks to make
the passage; going in boats up the Hudson, the Mohawk, and
on from one lake to another by creeks. By his wife he had ten
children, of whom only four are now living; one in Buffalo, and
the others in Canandaigua. His wife survived him.
1808. - LLOYD NICHOLAS ROGERS died in Baltimore, 13
November, 1860, aged 72 years. He was born in Baltimore,
20 September, 1788. He held a very high rank of scholarship
in his class, and graduated with distinguished honors. He
studied law, and settled in Baltimore. He had the ability to
attain distinction in his profession; but, as he inherited a
very large fortune, he had no necessity to labor for a subsistence,
and he virtually hid his talent in a napkin. He was not known
beyond his immediate acquaintance.
1809. - HENRY BARNEY SMITH died in Boston, 1 April,
1861, aged 71 years. He was son of Barney and Ann (Otis)
Smith, and was born in Boston, 26 October, 1789. He was
fitted for college by Rev. Nathaniel Thayer, of Lancaster, Mass.
(H.C. 1789). After leaving college, he began the study of
law in Litchfield under Judge Reeve, and afterwards studied
with Hlion. William Sullivan, of Boston (H.C. 1792).
He was admitted to the Suffolk bar; but, having inherited an ample
fortune, he did not pursue his profession. He was an inveterate
democrat in politics; and possessing strong mental powers,
with great facility of address, he was one of the most eloquent
speakers of his party at democratic caucuses in Faneuil Hall.
He was for some time president of the Boston Debating Society.
In 1822, he delivered an oration at a democratic celebration of
the 4th of July, in Dorchester; and another, at a similar celebration
at the Marlborough Hotel in Boston, in 1824. On the
4th of July, 1830, he delivered an oration before the Washington
Society in Boston. It was said of him then, that "he is an
uncompromising democrat, who has sketched the protean visage
of aristocracy in thoughts that breathe, and words that burn."
He retired from political life many years before his death,
and devoted himself to the care of his large possessions. He
was never married.
1812.- GEORGE EDWARD HEAD died in Boston, 5 July,
1861, aged 68 years. He was son of Joseph and Elizabeth
(Frazier) Head, and was born in Boston, 25 February, 1793.
His father (who was son of Joseph Head, who came from England
in the neighborhood of Norwich) was born in Boston,
1 January, 1761; was for many years a highly respectable merchant;
and was a member of the first board of aldermen, on
the organization of the city-government, in 1822. He was a
director in the Massachusetts Bank from the year 1810 until
his death.
He died 30 December, 1836, aged 76 years. His
mother, who was daughter of Nathan and Elizabeth (WVhite)
Frazier, was born in Andover, Mass., 25 February, 1764; and
died 2 October, 1798, aged 34 years. The subject of this'notice
began to fit for college at Phillips Academy in Exeter, N.H.
He subsequently pursued his studies under the instruction of
Rev. John S. J. Gardiner, D.D., of Boston; and completed
them in the Boston Latin School, where a Franklin medal was
awarded to him in 1807. After leaving college, he studied law
at the law-school in Litchfield, Conn., under the instruction of
Judges Reeve and Gould; and, on his admission to the bar,
established himself in Boston. Born to affluence, he did not
aim at eminence; but, endowed by nature with a remarkably clear
intellect and refined taste, he took pleasure in the development
of his mind by the pursuit of studies which were in accordance
with his fancy rather than the dry routine of his profession;
although, had necessity required his entire devotion to law,
his talents would have enabled him to attain an eminent
distinction as a barrister. That he enjoyed the confidence and
respect of the community was manifested by the stations to
which he was elevated. HIe was elected a representative to the
state legislature in 1836, 1837, 1847, and 1848. He was a
member of the board of aldermen of Boston in 1846, 1847, and
1848; and, in the last-named year, he was chosen a permanent
assessor; which office he held, by successive elections, until his
death, with the exception of the year 1855. He was at one
time urged by his friends to allow the use of his name as a
candidate for the mayoralty, but declined. In private life,
his ready wit and genial humor, combined with high-toned
morality, endeared him to his family and his numerous
acquaintances.
He married, 26 February, 1815, Hannah Catlin, daughter of
Grove Catlin, of Litchfield, Conn., and great-grand-daughter of
Joseph Wadsworth, who hid the charter of Connecticut in the
oak. The issue of this marriage was six children; of whom four,
-two sons and two daughters,- with their mother, survive.
One of the sons, John Frazier Head, graduated at Yale College
in 1840; and the other, George Edward Head, at Harvard
College in 1852. Both became physicians. One of the daughters
is the wife of Bishop Eastburn, of Boston.
1812. - NATHANIEL WHITWORTH WHITE died in Halifax,
N.S., September, 1860, aged 67 years. He was son of Capt.
Gideon and Deborah (Whitworth) White, and was born
in Shelburne, N.S., 25 February, 1793. His father was a
loyalist, joined the British army at the time of the Revolution,
and rose to be a captain. He left the country, and settled at
Shelburne, where he was appointed a judge. After the Revolution,
living in that little town, and not mingling with the
Americans, he retained his bitter feelings. When the war of
1812 broke out, he took his son away from college, only about
two weeks before Commencement; and the son was therefore not
present when his degree was conferred upon him. He also took
away with him another son, who was fitting to enter. He died in
Shelburne in 1833, aged 82 years. He was born in Plymouth,
and was a descendant of Peregrine White. Mr. White, after
leaving college, settled as a lawyer in Halifax, where he
practised two-thirds of his life.
He was afterwards master-inchancery.
He died of disease of the heart. He was never
married.
1813. - ORVILLE LUTHER HOLLEY died in Albany, N.Y.,
25 March, 1861, aged 69 years. He was son of Luther and
Sarah (Dakin) Holley, and was born in Salisbury, Conn.,
19 May, 1791. He was the eighth child of a family of nine, all
of whom he survived. The eloquent Rev. Horace Holley,
pastor of the Hollis-street church in Boston, was his brother.
He was fitted for college probably at Greenfield4 Htill,
in Fairfield, Conn. He held a high rank of scholarship in college,
was particularly distinguished for his graceful oratory, and grad-
uated with distinction. He studied law in New York, and
practised his profession successively in Hudson, Canandaigua,
and the city of New York. His tastes led him, at an early
period of. his career, to journalism; and he was successively editor
of the " Anti-Masonic Magazine," published in New York, the
" Troy Sentinel," the " Ontario Repository," and the " Albany
Daily Advertiser." He superintended the publication of the
New-York State Register" for several years.
In 1853, the New-York legislature authorized the purchase of the
correspondence and other papers of George Clinton, the first
governor of that state, then on deposit in the office of the
secretary of state; and appropriated the sum of five hundred dollars
for arranging, indexing, binding, and lettering the same.
The labor of indexing and arranging these manuscripts was intrusted
principally to Mr. Holley, by whom the work was very
judiciously and thoroughly performed under the direction
of the library-committee.
The collection numbered twenty-three volumes of folio size.
In January, 1838, under the first administration of Gov. Seward,
Mr. Holley was chosen surveyorgeneral of the state of New York;
and, during the last ten years of his life, he was occupied in duties
connected with the department of the secretary of state: but,
for the last twenty years, severe bodily infirmities compelled him to
forego, to a great extent, the honors of public position.
His great solace during the
years of infirmity were his literary studies, by which he was most
distinguished; and his "Life of Benjamin Franklin," written
during a period of severe suffering, is not excelled as a chaste
and comprehensive biography. His acquirements in history
were equalled by few men. He was a close student of medical
science. Few clergymen of eminence were so well versed in
theology, while his acquaintance with English polite literature
was exhaustive. His conversation, for terseness, variety, and
finish, was most eminent. The range of his thoughts was wide,
his mind catholic and genial, his manners full of courtesy
and grace. He left the impression of one, who, through excess
of sensibility or fastidiousness of taste, has never marshalled
his powers to any enterprise fully worthy of them. The wonder was,
that a man of such a stamp and presence, so evidently
made up of every creature's best, was not a great poet,
philosopher, or saint; for he looked fully capable of being
either.
Mr. Holley belonged to a family which has largely contributed
to enlighten our American superstition. Two of his
brothers, Horace and Myron, were eminent propagandists
of Liberal Christianity, but neither was superior to him in
intelligence, zeal, and devotion to the work of emancipating the people
from spiritual despotism. It was one of the chief desires of his
later years to establish a strong liberal church in the capital city
of New York. He gave himself freely to the work of organizing such
a movement.
His efforts, more than any thing,
secured the re-establishment of the drooping church in Albany.
For several years, he was clerk of the society, superintendent
of the sunday-school, often conducted public worship, and, it
is said, paid yearly one-eighth of his entire income into its
treasury.
Mr. Holley was never married; and, during his later years,
lived what would be called a lonely life; but it was the best for
the peculiar cast of mind in his condition of health.
1815. - Hon. EZRA HUNT, of Bowling Green, Mo., died
in Troy, Lincoln county, in that State, 19 September, 1860,
aged 70 years. He was in attendance upon the Circuit Court,
in session there, in his usual health. Having spoken on a case
in his charge in the afternoon, and having eaten his supper
after the adjournment of the court, he said he was not very
well, went to a fire in a retired room at his lodgings, was
conversing with a lady with apparent cheerfulness, when he
suddenly appeared to be falling from his chair. He was caught,
and physicians were called, who found that the vital spark had
fled, and he ceased to live. He was the ninth and youngest son
of Daniel and Mary (Phillips) Hunt, and was born in Milford,
Mass., 7 April, 1790. He was a descendant of the sixth
generation from William Hunt, one of the original
settlers of Concord, Mass. He was fitted for college
at Leicester Academy; of which Luther Willson (W.C. 1807),
afterwards minister of Petersham, Mass., was preceptor.
He was distinguished
for his knowledge of mathematics and the exact sciences; and
at Commencement, when he graduated, the subject assigned to
him was " The Study of the Mathematics." Immediately after
leaving college, he was appointed preceptor of Leicester
Academy; where he remained until the autumn of 1817, when he
went to Cambridge for the purpose of studying divinity. He
remained there, with the exception of four months devoted to
keeping school in Lincoln, Mass., until May, 1818; when he
went to Pulaski, West Tenn., and took charge of an academy
on a salary of seven hundred dollars per annum.
He was invited to remain another year, with a salary of twelve
hundred dollars, but declined. While in charge of the academy
in Pulaski, he pursued the study of the law, under the direction
of the late Judge William C. Char; and, at the end of one
year, obtained a license to practise in the states of Missouri
and Illinois. He practised three years in the town of Louisiana,
in Missouri. From this place, he removed to St. Charles
in the same state.
In 1831, he removed to Bowling Green, Pike county, Mo.
He was the first lawyer that ever settled in that county; and it
is stated that he attended every term of the Criminal Court in
the county, either as lawyer or judge, front the territorial
days of 1819 until his death. He was appointed, 6 January,
1836, judge of the Circuit Court for that judicial district,
with a salary of a thousand dollars per annum; and discharged
thne duties of the office with ability and impartiality, to the general
satisfaction of the people of the circuit. He decided questions
of law, but never addressed juries. When he made any communication
to the jury, it was in writing.
In the convention called to revise the constitution of the state
of Missouri, in 1845, he was a member for Pike and Ralls counties,
composing a district; and acted as chairman of the judiciary
committee in that body.
By a change in the constitution of Missouri, in 1849,
the term of offices of the judges was limited to eight
years; and, simultaneously with the limitation, new judges were
appointed all over the state. Judge Hunt, who had held the office many
years, was superseded by a man, who, if he had no other claim,
could allege most vigorous party services. Judge Hunt was a
diligent student all his life; and, having accumulated one of the
largest and best private libraries in the state of Missouri, had
with its use, aided by a discriminating, logical mind, made
himself a learned and sound lawyer, as well as a ripe scholar in
general literature; and in all the relations of his life, both public
and private, he was faithful, just, and true.
In 1830, he visited Massachusetts; and, on the 18th of May
in that year, he married, in Connecticut, Maria E. Pettibone,
then sixteen years old, daughter of the late Rufus Pettibone
(W.C. 1805), judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri. Judge
Pettibone married a New York lady, and his daughter Maria
was born in New York. The issue of this marriage was seven
children; of whom four, with their mother, survived him.
1815.- Hon. GAYTON PICKMAN OSGOOD died in North
Andover, Mass., 26 June, 1861, aged 64 years, lacking eight
days. He was son of Isaac and Sally (Pickman) Osgood, and
was born in Salem, Mass., 4 July, 1797; but removed with his
parents in his infancy to North Andover, which was ever afterwards
his place of abode. His father was for some time clerk
of the courts for the county of Essex. His mother was daughter
of Col. Benjamin Pickman (H.C. 1759), and sister of Col.
Benjamin Pickman (H.C. 1784), of Salem. He was well fitted
for college at the Franklin Academy in North Andover. He
attained a high rank of scholarship in his class while in college.
After graduating, he studied law with Benjamin Merrill, of Salem
(II.C. 1804). He began the practice of law in Salem, but in
1819 removed to North Andover, and left the profession.
Possessed of ample property, he lived a retired life. He enjoyed
his library, a very valuable one, especially in classical literature,
which continued to hold a primary place in his studies to the
close of his life. He was formerly known as a prominent politician
of the democratic school. He was the leading opponent of
Caleb Cushing in his early competition for the office of
representative to Congress, - a contest long to be remembered,
and was elected for one term, 1833-35. In 1844, he was a candi-
date for elector-at-large in Massachusetts of President of the
United States; but was not elected, having been nominated by
the democratic party. He was several times elected a representative
to the legislature: the last time, however, he refused to
take his seat, which, in consequence, remained vacant for the
entire session. He sought the pleasures of home, and it was
only at the earnest solicitation of friends that he allowed the use
of his name as a candidate for office. His range of study and
reading was very extensive; and his political and miscellaneous
lectures evince much thought and great research, and abound
with apt illustrations and eloquent appeals.
"From his cradle
He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one."
He was benevolent, sensible, and intelligent; and united modesty
with merit to a degree as unusual as it is amiable.
He married, 24 March, 1859, Mary Farnham, of North
Andover, but had no children. His wife survives him.
1822. - NATHANIEL INGERSOLL BOWDITCH died in Brookline, Mass.,
16 April, 1861, aged 56 years. He was the eldest
son of Nathaniel and Mary (Ingersoll) Bowditch, and was
born in Salem, Mass., 17 January, 1805. His father, the
eminent mathematician of world-wide fame, was born in Salem,
26 March, 1773; and died in Boston, 16 March, 1838, aged 65
years. The subject of this notice was fitted for college in Salem
by Abiel Chandler (H.C. 1806). He graduated with high
honors, although the youngest in his class. He studied law
under the instruction of Hon. William Prescott (H.C. 1783)
and Hon. Franklin Dexter (H.C. 1812), and was admitted to
the Suffolk bar in 1825. A few years afterwards, he relinquished
the practice of law, and devoted himself to business
as a conveyancer and examiner of titles of real estate; in which
he enjoyed a large and lucrative employment, and won the
esteem of all with whom he had intercourse, by the suavity
of his manners, and his noble and generous character.
He married, 23 April, 1835, Elizabeth B., eldest daughter of
Ebenezer Francis, well known as the wealthiest gentleman of
Boston. For some years Mr. Bowditch was in the enjoyment
of a very large income, which he distributed in a thousand
nameless rills of beneficence for the relief of suffering,
humanity. Mr. Francis died 21 September, 1858; and, soon after
that event, Mr. Bowditch retired from business, and took up his
residence in Brookline. Soon afterwards, he was attacked by
a terrible and incurable disease,- a cancerous affection in one
of his thigh-bones; and for eighteen months he was wasting
away under this painful disorder, unable to move, except slightly
to raise his head in the bed. But gently, patiently, nobly, was
the discipline borne. To go into his sick-chamber was like
going into a chapel; and such dews fell upon the heart there
as fall upon the lilies of heaven. You saw the sufferer upon his
couch, propped up by pillows, pale and worn; but his smile
was sweet, his greeting was cordial, his interest in life
was unabated. Books, the society of his family, intercourse with his
friends, filled up his days. Slowly and gradually the last hour
came, and now "Goodness and he fill up one monument."
His wife survives him, with four children, - one son and
three dauglhters.
1822. - Rev. NATHANIEL GAGE died in Cambridge, Mass.,
7 May, 1861, aged sixty years. He was son of Nathaniel and
Betsey (Kimball) Gage, and was born in North Andover, on
the line between North Andover and Boxford, Mass., 16 July,
1800. His father was a farmer; and Nathaniel worked on the
farm while a boy, attending public schools until he was about
sixteen years of age. his father determined that one of his
sons should go to college. The younger son, Daniel, declined,
and chance fell to Nathaniel; although his father regretted it,
as he was so apt at farming. He began to fit for college at
Bradford Academy, under Benjamin Greenleaf (D.C. 1813); and
finished his preparatory studies under the instruction of Rev.
Peter Eaton (H.C. 1787), of Boxford, whose meeting the
family attended. Before he entered college, he taught school
in Boxford, pursuing at the same time his studies with great
perseverance. He entered, at the age of seventeen, without
conditions. While in college, he taught school every winter,
successively in Newton, Goffstown, N.H., Wayland, and Bolton.
In summer vacations, he worked on the farm at home.
He ranked very high in scholarship while in college.He had
the oration on class-day, the salutatory oration at Commencement,
and the valedictory oration when he took his second degree.
After graduating, he pursued his theological studies at
the Divinity School in Cambridge; during a part of the time,
teaching school in Cambridgeport. In 1825, he was appointed
tutor in mathematics in college, and held the office one year.
I-e was ordained pastor of the Unitarian church in Nashua,
N.H., 27 June, 1827, where he remained seven years. iHe
was dismissed in 1834; and immediately went to Haverhill,
Mass., where he was installed 2 July of the same year. There
he remained seven years. Thence he went to Petersham, where
he was installed 6 October, 1841, and remained there four
years.
From Petersham he went to Lancaster, where, for
about one year, he supplied the pulpit of Rev. Edmund Hamilton
Sears (U.C. 1834), who was in ill health. Then he had a
call at Westborough, where he went in the spring of 1851, and
remained six years without being installed. In April, 1857,
he removed to Cambridge; and in the summer of that year he
began to preach in Ashby, where he continued his ministrations
as long as he lived, going there on Saturdays, spending two
Sundays and the intervening week, then returning to his home
in Cambridge. On the 18th of April, 1861, while on his way
from Cambridge for Boston on foot, he was attacked with
apoplexy. He was carried home, where he lingered until the 7th
of May, when he died.
Mr. Gage was a man of a most genial and kindly spirit, a
true and devoted friend, a conscientious and self-sacrificing
Christian. Many have wondered that he had not risen to
higher eminence in the church. It is surprising that he should
have escaped reverses, and maintained so respectable and uniform
a standing, with his guiltless nature and sensitive heart.
"Of manners gentle, and affections mild,
In wit a man, simplicity a child."
His heart was warm and sympathetic, joyous in prosperity,
but in seasons of adversity overflowing with the tenderest
sensibility. In private life, he was most interesting and genial.
Possessing no small share of wit, always cheerful and buoyant,
he was the life of the social circle; tender and loving, he was
the idol of his home.
He published a Sermon, delivered at the installation of Rev.
A. Dumont Jones over the Congregational Church in Wilton,
N.H., January 1, 1834; 8vo; Nashua, N.H., 1834; pp. 32.
An Address before the Essex Agricultural Society at Topsfield,
September 27, 1837, at the Annual Cattle Show; 8vo; Salem, 1838;
pp. 27. A Discourse delivered in Windham, N.H., 5 November, 1834,
at the Interment of Rev. Jacob Abbot and Capt. John Dinsmore, who
were drowned 2 November; Nashua, N.H., 1835; 8vo, pp. 24.
An Address on Intemperance, pronounced at Nashua Village, N.H.,
April 4, 1829; published by request; 8vo. Dunstable, N.H., pp.
21. Sons and Daughters of the Times; a Sermon delivered in
Haverhill, Mass., on Fast Day, April 5, 1838.
Haverhill; pp. 28.
He married, 1 August, 1827, Abby Richardson Gardner, dau.
of Hon. Stephen Partridge and Achsah (Moore) Gardner, of
Bolton. She was the fourth of eight daughters, four of whom
became widows within four years. Their children were,
1. Ellen Gardner Gage, born 9 July, 1828, at Nashua; married, 5
October, 1854, Rev. Charles Henry Wheeler (Bowd. C. 1847),
of South Danvers.
2. Abby Gage, born February, 1831; died 1832,
aged 17 months.
3. Louisa Charlotte Gage, born 18 October, 1833,
at Nashua; married, 20 September, 1855, Franklin, son of
Augustus and Harriet (Child) Perrin, born 9 August, 1830,
in Boston.
4. Nathaniel Gage, born 1835; died November, 1839.
5. Minot Gardner Gage, born 11 September, 1841; graduated at
Harvard College in 1861.
1822. - Hon. FRANCIS OSBORN WATTS died in Roxbury,
Mass., 28 September, 1860, aged 57 years. He was son of
Francis and Mehitable (Lord) Watts, and was born in Kennebunk,
Me., 9 August, 1803. He was great-grandson of Judge
Samuel Watts, of Chelsea, Mass., and grandson of Dr. Edward
AVatts, of Portland, Me. His father was a merchant in Kennebunk;
and, on his removal to Boston, he engaged in business,
as a wholesale grocer, on Long Wharf, which he continued
about twelve years. In 1832, he was elected president of the
Atlantic Insurance Company; which office he held until 1844,
when he resigned it on account of ill health. He died 6 April,
1846.
His mother was a devout Christian woman, who died
when he was little more than nine years old. In 1815, at the
age of twelve years, he entered Thornton Academy in Saco,
Me., where, under the instruction of Mr. Ezra Haskell (Y.C.
1811), he pursued his preparatory studies until 1818, when he
removed, with his father, to Boston, and completed his studies
at Mr. Gideon French Thayer's school, in Chauncy Place.
Immediately after leaving college, he began the study of law in
the office of Mr. Augustus Peabody, in Boston (D.C. 1803);
where, with the exception of a single intervening term at the
law school in Northampton, under Judge Samuel Howe (W.C.
1804), he completed his legal studies; and was admitted
to the Suffolk bar in October, 1825, at a little more than
twenty-two years of age. But, though so young, his abilities
and attainments and general character were such, that he was
immediately received as a law-partner by Mr. Peabody, with
whom he continued six years. A year later, he formed a
partnership with Mr. William Joseph Hubbard (Y.C. 1820); and,
many years afterwards, he records of both his partners, "I
believe I may say I have never had an unpleasant word with either
of them." Some few years before his death, he practised in
connection with Owen Glendour Peabody (D.C. 1842), the
son of his former partner. From 1826 until near the close
of 1840, he was a worshipper, and, for most of that time, a
communicant, in the Unitarian church: but in the spring of
1841, having changed his religious views, he joined the Protestant
Episcopal church; to which religious faith he ever afterwards
adhered. He was esteemed by his acquaintances as a
singularly faultless man; commanding respect and confidence
by the strength of his mind, the respectability of his attain
ments, the soundness of his judgment, the modesty of his
self estimation, the uprightness of his dealings, the sweetness
of his temper, and the amenity of his manners. As a lawyer, he
held a highly respectable rank, and was greatly esteemed by his
professional associates. In 1846, he was elected a senator from
the Suffolk district to the state legislature; where he
distinguished himself as an able debater, and a most valuable
member of the senatorial board.
He married, 1 May, 1826, Caroline Goddard, born 25
February, 1804, daughter of Thacher and Lucy Goddard, of
Boston, by whom he had seven children,- three sons and four
daughters; of whom two daughters only survive. His wife
died 25 July, 1850, aged 44 years and 5 months. He married
for his second wife, 21 January, 1854, Caroline Keith Bradbury,
daughter of Charles Bradbury, of Boston, who survives
him; but has had no children.
1823. - EDWARD VERNON CHILD died in Paris, France,
23 January, 1861, aged 56 years. He was son of David Weld
and Abigail (Dorr) Child, and was born in Boston, 13 March,
1804. His name was originally Ebenezer Dorr Child, and
was changed, by an act of the legislature, 8 February, 1823.
His father was a very respectable merchant, and died in
Boston, 3 February, 1830, aged 58 years.
The subject of this notice was fitted for college at the
Boston public Latin School.
After leaving college, he studied law in the office of Hon.
Daniel Webster (D.C. 1801). He did not, however, pursue
the profession. On the death of his father, he inherited an
ample fortune, which was subsequently very much increased by
his inheriting also the estate of a deceased brother. In 1828,
he went to Europe, where he remained about two years; when
he returned. About the year 1834, he again went to Europe;
resided several years in Italy and Germany. He then became a
permanent resident in Paris, and devoted himself to literature.
He was a regular correspondent of the " London Times" for
nearly eleven years. His first letter to the "Times" was dated
Paris, 3 November, 1845; and the last, 7 June, 1856. He
was also correspondent of the "New-York Courier and En-
quirer" from 17 October, 1846, to 4 December, 1856. Both
these series of letters he had printed in 1857, in a duodecimo
volume making 259 pages, for private circulation.
He married, in 1831, Mildred Lee, daughter of Gen. Henry
Lee, of Virginia. He left three children, one son and
two daughters: viz., Edward Lee Childe, residing in Paris;
Florence, the elder daughter, married to Count Henry Soltyk,
of Cracow, Austrian Poland; Mary, the younger, married
Robert Gilmor Hoffman, of Baltimore, Md. His wife died in
Paris, 24 June, 1856.
1823.- JOSEPH HENRY FARLEY died in Pittsfield, Mass.,
4 January, 1861, aged 55 years. He was the fourth son,of
Eben and Lydia (Coolidge) Farley, and was born in Boston,
7 September, 1805. His father was born in Ipswich, Mass., 24
March, 1775; was a merchant in Boston, of the firm of Swett
and Farley; and died 27 September, 1826, aged 51 years.
His mother was born in Watertown, Mass., 18 March, 1776;
and died 14 November, 1813, aged 37 years. The subject of
this notice was fitted for college at Phillips Academy in Exeter,
N.H. After graduating, he engaged in mercantile business,
and settled in New-York city; having become a member of the
firm of Felix M. Walton and Co., importers of dry goods.
The house became insolvent; and Mr. Farley subsequently
entered into partnership with Calvin Angier, of New York, in the
sale of boots and shoes. Here he was again unfortunate. He
left New York, and went to Lenox, Mass., where he resided
with a younger brother; but he fell into a morbid and depressed
state of mind, which the kindness of his friends could not
restore, but resulted in mental alienation, during which
he terminated his life by his own hand. He was never married.
1823.- Rev. JAMES TRASK WOODBURY died in Milford,
Mass., 16 January, 1861, aged 57 years. He was son of Hon.
Peter and Mary (Woodbury) Woodbury, and was born in
Francestown, N.H., 9 May, 1803. His father was born in
Beverly, Mass., in 1767, and removed to New Hampshire,
where he engaged in mercantile and agricultural pursuits;
was fifteen years a representative, and two years a senator,
in state legislature.
He died in 1834. His mother was daughter
of James Woodbury, who was born in Beverly, but removed
to Mount Vernon, N.H., in 1782. He was a subaltern in
Col. Robert Rogers's regiment of rangers; and was near
Wolfe when he fell at the storming of Quebec. The subject
of this notice was a brother of the late Hon. Levi Woodbury
(D.C. 1809), who was governor of New Hampshire, senator
in congress, secretary of the navy, and afterwards secretary of
the treasury under President Jackson, and associate-justice of
the Supreme Court of the United States. He began to fit
for college at the academy in Francestown, N.H., and
completed his preparatory studies at Phillips Academy, Andover,
Mass. After leaving college, he studied law with his
distinguished brother Levi, in Portsmouth, N.H.
He was admitted to the bar of his native state in 1826,
and at once opened an office for the practice of law in Bath,
N.H. Having a thorough education, possessing talents of a high
order, with an unblemished character, strong physical
and intellectual powers, he had every prospect of becoming
eminent in his profession.
But, in the midst of his bright prospects of future eminence,
his ambition was suddenly checked, and his whole course of life
changed. Under the preaching of Rev. David Sutherland, of
Bath, where he resided, he became a sincere convert to the
Christian faith, to the advocacy of which he devoted the rest of
his life. After a long struggle with himself, and contrary to
the advice of many friends, he relinquished his profession as a
lawyer, and placed himself under the instruction of Rev. Lyman
Beecher, D.D. (Y.C. 1797), of Boston, as a student of divinity.
After completing his course of study, he soon had an invitation
to settle as pastor of the church in Acton, Mass., and was
ordained 29 August, 1829, where he continued pastor for
twenty-two years.
In the spring of 1852, at his own request,
he was dismissed from the church; and, on the 15th of July the
same year, was installed pastor of the First Church in Milford,
Mass., where he continued to discharge his ministerial duties
until his death. He was elected representative to the state
legislature from Acton in 1851 and 1852.- He was first elected with
special reference to his making an appeal to the state for aid
in the erection of a monument, in the town of Acton, to the
memory of Capt. Isaac Davis, who fell at the old North Concord
Bridge, 19 April, 1775. When the order for the appropriation
came up for consideration, it found little favor: indeed,
it was said that scarce five men could be found who favored its
passage. On the 5th of February, 1852, he made a speech which
occupied two hours in delivery. It was the only time he ever
addressed a legislative assembly. Every eye was riveted upon
him, as he proceeded in his peculiar graphic description of the
opening scenes of the revolution, and held up in his hands the
trappings that were worn by the hero on that eventful day,
pierced as they were by the bullets of the invader.
The excitement was intense; the cause was gained; the
appropriation was voted by a large majority.
Mr. Woodbury possessed a genial nature, with fine social
feelings, which endeared him to a large circle of friends. His
visits to his people were frequent and interesting. As a preacher
of the gospel, he was devoted to his work; and the degree of
success which attended his ministerial labors testifies to his
faithfulness as a pastor.
He married, in 1826, Augusta Porter, a daughter of the late
Jonathan Porter, of Medford, Mass. He left three children,
Augusta, married to George G. Parker, counsellor-at-law in
Milford; George Porter, married, and resides in Milford;
Charlotte Elizabeth, 18 years of age. His wife survived him.
1829. - JAMES DUTTON RUSSELL died in Brighton
(Longwood village), 10 June, 1861, aged 51 years.
His name was originally James Russell Dutton; and was changed
by act of the legislature, 21 February, 1820. He was son of
Hon. Warren (Y.C. 1797) and Elizabeth Cabot (Lowell) Dutton,
and was born in Boston, 7 January, 1810. He was fitted for
college in the Boston Latin School. Immediately after graduating,
he entered the Law School in Cambridge, where he remained
somewhat more than a year; and then entered as a student the
office of Hon. Franklin Dexter, of Boston (H.C. 1812). In
October, 1832, he was admitted in Boston as attorney of the
Court of Comnmon Pleas, and opened an office at No. 5, Court
Street. At this time he was an ensign in the Boston Light
Infantry. In 1833, he visited Europe. Possessing an ample
competence, he did not pursue his profession as a means of
living. About ten years before his death, he made Longwood
his permanent residence.
He married, 4 November, 1835, Helen Hooper, daughter of
William Hooper, Esq., of Marblehead. The issue of this
marriage was four children, - two sons and two daughters,
all of whom are living. Their mother died 27 February, 1848,
at the age of 31 years.
1831. - MOSES HAGAR died in Philadelphia, 18 November,
1860, aged 56 years. He was the eldest son of Elijah and
Mary (Jones) Hagar, and was born in Westminster, Mass.,
9 September, 1804. His father died 27 April, 1841, aged 83
years and 6 months. He pursued his studies, preparatory to
entering college, at Stow, Mass., New Ipswich, N.H.,
Leicester and New Salem, Mass.; also with Dr. John White, in
Westminster. After graduating, he began the study of law;
but was not, probably, admitted to the bar. He was at
one time clerk of court in Philadelphia; but, for some time
previous to his death, he held an agency in one of the various
railroad-offices in that city. He was never married.
1831.- JOSEPH RICHARDSON WILLIAMS died in Constantine,
Mich., 15 June, 1861, aged 52 years. He was the oldest son
of Capt. Richard and Rebecca (Smith) Williams, and was
born in Taunton, Mass., 14 November, 1808; but removed
soon after his birth, with his parents, to New Bedford. His
father was a highly respectable shipmaster; and, after
his retirement from the sea, held for many years the office
of postmaster of New Bedford.
At the age of sixteen years, the subject of
this notice was apprenticed in a counting-room in Boston. He
remained there two years; but, disliking a mercantile life, he
relinquished his place, with the intention of obtaining a
collegiate education. He pursued his preparatory studies
at Sandwich Academy, under the instruction of Luther Barker
Lincoln (H.C. 1822). He gained a high rank of scholarship in
his class, and graduated with distinguished honors. He taught
school in his sophomore year in Concord, Mass., and in his
senior year in Northborough, Mass. After leaving college, he
studied law in the office of Hon. John Davis, of Worcester,
(Y.C. 1812), was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of
his profession in New Bedford. Soon afterwards, Hon. John
H. Clifford, of New Bedford, offered him a partnership in a
lucrative practice, which he declined on account of his health.
He was always a student; and as a writer, if he had addressed
himself persistently to any department of letters, wvould have
been distinguished. He was at one period an acceptable contributor
to the "North-American Review." An admirable and
exhaustive article upon the whale-fishery appeared in its pages,
prepared by him while he was in Mr. Clifford's office. If he
had devoted himself resolutely to his profession, he would have
obtained a high position in it. The precarious state of his
health from the time of his admission to the bar, and the
necessity which he thought it impressed upon him for a more
out-ofdoor life, and in a different climate, only prevented
him from being one of the men of mark in his native state,
and returning in a larger measure to his Alma Mater the fruits of her
planting. In 1835, he relinquished his profession, - having
accepted the agency of an extensive New-England company for
investments in Western lands,- and went to Toledo, O. The
place, then small, offered few inducements, beyond the
opportunity for speculation in city property, in which Mr.
Williams successfully engaged. He built the American Hotel in 1836,
and remained there until 1839, when he removed to Constantine, Mich.
He there engaged in the milling business, built
a fine mill, and was for several years very successful
in this vocation. Between the years 1837 and 1853, he became
identified with the political interests of the state of Michigan.
He was elected a member of the constitutional convention of Michigan.
He was twice a candidate for United-States senator against Gen.
Cass, before the organization of the republican party, and was three
times a whig candidate for Congress in the district in which he lived;
and, although his party was greatly in the minority, he came within a
small vote of an election. In 1853 he purchased the "Toledo-Blade"
establishment, and returned to that city. Under his management, the
Blade" became, from the first, the advocate of republican principles,
and did more to inaugurate the republican party in
Northern Ohio than all the other papers in the state.
Mr. Williams was in failing health when he assumed the management
of the "Blade;" and, though eminently qualified by capacity and
taste for the occupation, it was one that did not, as he
anticipated, favor his disease. After an editorial career of three
years, he sold the paper to its present proprietors, to occupy the
position, at the hands of the Michigan legislature, of president
of the Agricultural College of Michigan. This institution,
located at Lansing, was but just incorporated; and, being
unlike any institution in the country, it was, of course, an
experiment. Mr. Williams was deemed the most suitable person
to inaugurate it, by the character and ability of his writings
and addresses upon the subjects of agriculture. His failing
health was the impediment in the way of success; and, after a
year of laborious exertion, he was obliged to abandon this
position, and seek relief at Havana'and Bermuda. He returned
from the South in the spring of 1860, considerably improved,
and was elected the following fall a member of the senate of
Michigan, which body did him the honor to elect him their
president; an office for which his talents eminently qualified
him. By the resignation of the lieutenant-governor, Hon.
James Birney, Mr. Williams became acting lieutenant-governor
of the state; which office he held at the time of his death.
He married, in Buffalo, N.Y., 20 May, 1844, Sarah Rowland
Langdon, daughter of John and Charlotte Langdon, and a
grand-niece of Gov. John Langdon, of New Hampshire; who,
with three daughters, survived him.
1832. - Dr. JOSEPH JAMES LLOYD WHITTEMORE died in
Paris, France, 14 October, 1860, aged 49 years, lacking one
day. He was the only child of Capt. Isaac and Betsey (Tower)
Whittemore, and was born in Scituate, Mass., 15 October,
1811. His father was educated a merchant in the counting
room of Boardman and Pope, of Boston. On coming of age,
he was first employed as supercargo in one of their ships then
trading on the north-west coast. Afterwards he had command of
several of their ships in the same trade until he died in
1818, and was buried on Madison's Island, in the Pacific
Ocean. He had acquired a handsome property, the fruit of his
maritime industry, which his young son inherited. His mother
was daughter of Matthew Tower, of Scituate. Placed under
the guardianship of the late Dr. Cushing Otis (H.C. 1789), of
his native town, he was liberally provided for, and his education
attended to with all wisdom, discretion, and the most paternal
kindness. He was fitted for college at the Derby Academy in
Hingham, Mass. His ample resources pecuniarily, and his
large genial and social qualities, combined with an almost
absorbing genius and taste for music, were not calculated to induce
a very close and untiring application to the prescribed studies,
although his talent for acquiring readily a knowledge of the
languages, classic and modern, was remarkable.
He needed the spur of the res angusta domi to make him hold high rank as
a college student. Lacking this, and the other spur of literary
ambition, it is almost needless to add, that he did not graduate
with all the honors." Immediately after leaving college, he
began, 1 September, 1832, the study of medicine in Boston, in
the Medical School under the superintendence of Dr. James
Jackson (H.C. 1796), and remained there until April, 1833.
He embarked, 1 April, 1833, in company with his classmate Tarbell,
for Liverpool, to prosecute his studies at the medical schools
of Paris, where he remained three years. In May, 1834, he
was married at Dover, Eng., to Victoire Marie Anne Adelaide
Bellenger, of Paris; who survived him, without children.
He left Paris, 1 July, 1836, for Heidelberg, Germany, to finish
his medical studies. Having passed a nmost creditable examination
(in the French tongue as a medium of communication) before the
medical department of the Heidelberg University, and
obtained his diploma, he returned to Paris, 21 May, 1837. He
then embarked for home, where he arrived 1 July, 1836; and
1 September, 1837, began the practice of medicine in his native
town.
He succeeded, with only a short interval, to the large
practice of his late guardian, Dr. Otis, whose place he seemed
almost providentially to have been fitted to supply. His European
education and universal popularity as a fellow-townsman
combined to render the claims upon his skill very numerous and
constant, and his labors very arduous and unremitting, including
a wide range of travel by night and by day. His wife having
become dissatisfied with Scituate as a place of residence, he was
persuaded to give up his practice, and remove to New-York
city. But, having from his observations there concluded that
dentistry would prove more lucrative to him as a stranger in
that large city than the practice of his profession as a physician,
he placed himself under the instruction of the late Dr. Burdell, at
that time an eminent and successful practitioner of the dental art.
After an itinerary practice in Vermont and Massachusetts for a
few years with varying success, he was strongly urged to establish
himself at Rio Janeiro as a dentist; and he accordingly
embarked at Boston for that place in the fall of 1843.
His genial and refined manners, his unobtrusive deportment, and
undivided attention to his business, very soon won for him hosts of
friends, and an overflowing patronage, until in a few years he
was honored in his calling with the preference of the emperor
and the royal family; thereby supplanting a jealous and unprincipled
rival, and bringing to nought all the "devilish enginery" of his
malice and falsehood. For the last ten years or
more, up to the time of his leaving Rio, he retained his post of
honor as dentist to the royal family of Brazil."
On the 7th of April, 1860, he left Rio, via Southampton,
with the intention of coming home; and on his passage was
struck with paralysis, which rendered him insensible for four
days. He recovered partially, landed at Southampton,
remained there three weeks, and was then removed to Amiens,
France. Here hlie hired a pleasant house and garden, as his
home for the coming winter, in the hope of recovering his
health and bodily activity, so as to revisit the home of his youth
in the ensuing spring. But he soon afterwards left Amiens, and
went to Paris, where he concluded to pass the winter.
But alas for all human hopes! After breakfast, on the 14th of
October, while in the act of replacing his watch, he was struck
again with paralysis; and looking up to his wife with the
remark, "I can't put it back," he fell into her arms, and never
spoke or knew any thing afterwards. He died in the evening of
that day, having very nearly completed forty-nine years of his
existence. The funeral-service of the deceased was performed
by a clergyman of the Protestant church. If report speaks
true, the doctor had accumulated quite a large property during
his residence at Rio. Some, who claim to know, placed it as
high as eighty thousand dollars.
1834. - THADDEUS CLAPP died in Dorchester, Mass., 10
July, 1861, aged 50 years. He was the second son and third
child of Capt. William and Elizabeth (Humphreys) Clapp,
grandson of Capt. Lemuel and Rebecca (Dexter) Clapp, and
a descendant in the seventh generation from Nicholas and Sarah
Clapp, of Dorchester.
He was born in Dorchester, 11 May, 1811. He was fitted for
college at the academy of Hiram Manley (H.C. 1825), in Dorchester.
In college he attained a distinguished rank, and graduated with
the second honors of his class. Immediately after leaving college,
he taught, for a short time, a private school in Brookline.
He was superintendent of the sunday-school of the First Church
and Society in Dorchester for about two years from 1836.
On the 16th of February, 1837, he entered his name with
Col. Loammi Baldwin,of Charlestown, Mass., as a student
in engineering; but, on account of ill health, did not
prosecute his studies. On taking his degree of master of
arts, in 1837, the Latin valedictory oration was proffered
to him by President Quincy; which, on account of feeble health,
he could not accept.
He was secretary of the board of school-committee in Dorchester
several years, and wrote some of the annual reports; among them
those for the years 1842 and 1843, which were printed.
In the fall of 1838, he went to Franklin, La., where he was, for
some six or seven months, a tutor in the family of William T.
Palfrey, Esq., brother of Hon. John G. Palfrey, postmaster of
Boston, (H.C. 1815). He returned to Dorchester in the summer of
1839.
About the year 1840, he engaged in horticultural and
pomological pursuits, which he continued during his life. He
became quite celebrated among the fruit-growers for his
theoretical and practical knowledge, and obtained many premiums for
choice varieties of fine samples of fruit. He was a member of
tha Massachusetts Horticultural Society and the Norfolk
Agricultural Society. He was of a most amiable disposition, and
led a life of unspotted integrity. He married in Claremont,
N.H., 11 August, 1857, Mary H. Dustin, daughter of Rev.
Caleb Dustin; but had no children. His wife survived him.
1834. - RUFUS HOSMER died in Lansing, Mich., 20 April,
1861, aged 45 years. He was son of Hon. Rufus (H.C.
1800) and Amelia (Paine) Hosmer, and was born in Stow,
Mass., 16 July, 1816. His father was born in Concord, Mass.,
18 March, 1778; and was a lawyer in Stow. He was a member of
the executive-council in 1839, and died very suddenly
in Boston, 19 April, 1839, aged 61 years.
His grandfather, Hon. Joseph Hosmer, was born in Concord,
25 December, 1735; and was one of the most honored and distinguished
citizens of the town. He took a conspicuous part in the events of
the revolution. He was a representative five, and a senator
twelve, years. He was appointed sheriff of the county in
1792, and filled the office fifteen years. He died 31 January,
1821, aged 85 years. His maternal grandfather, Major Phineas
Paine, was a native of Randolph, and was a hero of the revolution.
He served in the army three years, being at Morristown,
Valley Forge, White Plains, and Monmouth. From Randolph
he removed to Milton Hill, and there married Nancy Babcock.
Many years afterwards, he removed to Concord, where he died.
The subject of this notice was fitted for college at the
academy in Stow. After leaving college, he studied law in his
father's office, and attended lectures at the Law School in
Cambridge. In 1838 he went to Michigan, and soon afterwards
was admitted to the bar. He began the practice of his profession
in Pontiac, Oakland county; at first in partnership with his
cousin, Charles Draper (H.C. 1833), and afterwards with the late
George Wisner. He was very successful, and attained a high
rank as a lawyer. But, after a few years, he relinquished the
profession, removed to Detroit, and became editor of the "Daily
Advertiser," in that city; in which position he remained about
seven years; when, having been appointed state-printer, it
became necessary for him to reside in the capital of the state;
and he removed to Lansing, where he became part owner and editor
of the "Lansing Advertiser."
Here he remained about three years; and relinquished his situation,
a few days before his death, to accept the appointment of consul
at Frankfort-on-the-Main, which had been conferred upon him.
While making preparations for his departure to his foreign post,
he was prostrated by an attack of apoplexy, which terminated his
life after a few days' illness. As an editor and an agreeable and
finished writer, he had few superiors. But it was for his high social
qualities, his keen wit, his ready repartee, and his powers of
conversation, that he was best known and most admired in the various
communities ifi which he resided.
He married, in 1840, Sarah Chamberlin, daughter of Dr.
Olmsted Chamberlin, of Pontiac. i His wife survived him;
as did also three children,- two daughters and an infant son.
A year ago, in May last, he lost his then only son, Rufus, at
the age of eighteen years. The little boy, who survives him,
was only ten days old when his father died; and, the day before
he was taken sick, he named him Rufus, making the third
generation who bore that name.
1840.- Dr. BENJAMIN HEYWOOD died in Worcester, Mass.,
21 July, 1860, aged 39 years. He was the eldest son of Dr.
Benjamin Franklin (D.C. 1812) and Nancy (Green) Heywood,
and was born in Worcester, 16 July, 1821. He was fitted for
college at the classical school in Worcester, under Charles
Thurber (B.U. 1827). Immediately after leaving college, he began the
study of medicine under the instruction of his father, attended his
first course of medical lectures in Boston, and the two succeeding
courses in Philadelphia; and, in the spring of 1843, received
the degree of M.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, in
Philadelphia. He then began the practice of his profession
in Worcester, and continued it until the spring of 1846;
when he went to Europe, for the purpose of perfecting himself
in the theory and practice of surgery in the city of Paris.
He returned in 1847, and resumed the practice of his profession
in Worcester, and continued until almost the day of his decease:
having prescribed, within three days of his death, for an old
patient; and prescribing, also, mainly for himself during his long
illness of more than a year.
He combined, with high attainments in theoretical knowledge,
rare skill in diagnosis, and discriminating judgment in the
application of his remedial agents. Few men of his years in
the profession were more successful practitioners,both in
medicine and surgery.
Descended from a line of ancestry eminently distinguished in
medicine and surgery, he seemed to have acquired the art of healing
almost by intuition. Apprehending readily the obscure as well as the
prominent indications of disease, his remedies were adapted with rare skill
and success. He was never married.
1846. - JOHN DOWNES AUSTIN, of Boston, died in White
Plains, N.Y., 28 February, 1861, aged 34 years. He arrived
at New-York city from Boston, on Thursday, 26 February,
on a visit to some relatives. On Wednesday, he expressed
apprehensions of an attack of temporary insanity, with which
he had been affected on two former occasions; and, should it
occur, he feared he might attempt to commit suicide. He
therefore wished that his friends would keep all implements of
harm out of his way. In consequence of this, a friend kept
watch of him during the night, and he rested quietly. About
daylight on the 28th, this watcher fell asleep. He slept about
twenty minutes; and, when he awoke, he found that Mr. Austin
had disappeared. Search was immediately made for him, but in
vain.
On Friday, 1 March, his hat was found in Bronx River,
not far from Williams Bridge, and his shirt on the bank of the
river near by; which led to the inference, that he had committed
suicide by drowning: and a careful search of the river was made
for his body, but with no success. Search was continued by his
friends and the police, and a reward of one hundred dollars was
offered for the discovery of his body. On Thursday, 11 April,
a man was fishing from a boat in a pond at White Plains, when
he observed a strange object in the bottom of the water.
Assistance was procured; and the object, which proved to be
the body of Mr. Austin, was drawn up. A very affecting incident
connected with the matter was the sudden death of his elder brother,
Mr. William Downes Austin, formerly of the United-States navy,
at a village in New Jersey, on the 4th of April.
He was plunged into great grief at the disappearance of his
brother John, and joined in the search of the missing man.
He repaired to New Jersey to view the body of a man who had
been found there.
He had been called to breakfast, and replied that he would be
down soon; but, not appearing, a servant went to his room
again, and found him lying dead upon his bed, his eyes suffused
with tears.
The subject of this notice was son of William and Hepzibah
(Downes) Austin, and was born in Boston, 10 February, 1827.
He resided in Boston, Roxbury, Lowell, and Dedham, Mass.;
at Ravenwood Plantation, La.; and Columbia, Tenn. He
attended school some time at the last-named place. In 1839
and 1840, he made voyages to New Orleans. He was fitted for
college at the school of Mr. Stephen Minot Weld (H.C. 1826)
at Jamaica Plain. After graduating, he pursued the study of the
law in the office of Bradford Sumner, of Boston (B.U. 1808);
completed his studies at the Law School in Cambridge,
where he received the degree of LL.B. in 1848; and was
admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1849. In 1850, he removed to
Taunton, Mass., where, for a short time, he practised law
in company with Horatio Pratt (B.U. 1825). In 1853, he
went to New York to reside; but shortly afterwards returned
to Boston. In 1854, he practised law in Boston. In 1856,
after the death of his father, having relinquished law, he
passed one or two winters at Water Proof, La., superintending
the affairs of a plantation belong,ing, to a connection.
Mr. Austin was a person of excellent abilities and
understanding, with a mind well stored with general information.
The wandering life which he led, as a boy, would seem to have
had some influence on his late career, and to have unfitted him
for the pursuit of a profession; on which, through an inherited
competency, he was not obliged to rely for a livelihood. He
was never married.
1849. - Dr. HORACE WALTER ADAMS died in Boston,
17 February, 1861, aged 33 years. He was son of Charles
Frederick and Caroline Hesselrigge (Walter) Adams, and was born
in Boston, 8 December, 1827. He was fitted for college at the
public Latin School in this city. He adopted the practice of
medicine for a profession, and pursued his studies at the Tremont
Medical School in Boston. He chose his native city as
the field of his practice, and was early appointed a dispensary
physician;. and so deeply did he interest himself in this practice,
that at one time he had charge of the invalid poor, under the
auspices of; that benevolent institution, for wards four, five, and
six. His labors in this department of practice were very various,
extensive, and arduous; yet he cheerfully and faithfully responded
to all their requirements.
He was a sincere lover of his profession, which was adopted,
not from necessity, but from a real and abiding interest in its
pursuit, which induced him to devote to its practice the best
energies of his life. His services were very frequently demanded
at the Eye-and-Ear Infirmary in Boston, where he established a
character for reliable judgment, and gentleness of treatment of
those delicate organs, which made him a skilful operator at that
institution. He was untiring in industry and zeal for those patients
whom he attracted about him: indeed, his devotion to his
profession was at times so absorbing, that he felt it due to his own
health that both his body and mind should have occasional
recreation. Accordingly, he was accustomed from time to time,
as he felt the need thereof, to engage with one or two friends in
sporting excursions, of which he was remarkably fond; and
it was on an occasion of this nature that he contracted the disease
which terminated his life.
On Tuesday, 5 February, 1861, he left Boston, in company
with Mr. Francis Lowell Gardner, a member of the junior class
St Harvard College, and two other friends, to spend a few days at
Cotuit Point, a town on the South Shore. On Sunday, the 10th
of February, Mr. Gardner, having contracted a very severe cold
which affected his throat, died of diphtheria, most unexpectedly to
his friends and associates. Dr. Adams attended Mr. Gardner
most assiduously; and he was brought so immediately in contact
with his friend and patient at the last hours of his life, that he
unconsciously imbibed some portion of the fatal disorder into his
throat and lungs, which became immediately affected ou his return
to Boston, where he died on the Sunday following, 17 February,
of the same disorder. He was never married.
Dr. Adams was not only an accomplished physician, but his
genial manners, his kindness of heart, and his own ready sympathy
with the sick and suffering, so won the confidence of his
indigent patients, that their affection for him often outlived their
convalescence, and led them, as was repeatedly the case, to consult
him and seek his judicious advice upon pecuniary matters;
to which, although foreign to his profession, he always gave the
most careful attention: and for his untimely departure there
were very many of his patients whose hearts were made really
desolate; some who wept bitter tears for the loss of their "good
physician."
1854.- WILLIAM GASTON PEARSON died in Oakland, Marion county,
Cal., 19 January, 1861, aged 26 years. He was
born in North Carolina, 24 March, 1834. He was at St.
James College, Maryland, five years,- three in the preparatory
school, and two in the college. He entered the sophomore class
in Harvard College in September, 1851; left, on account of
ill health, in November, 1853; but took his degree with his
class. He went to Europe, where he remained a year; then
back to this country for a while; then to Cuba for a winter; and
thence to San Francisco, Cal., where his disease (consumption)
seemed to be arrested. He returned to the Atlantic states in
1857 or 1858, and went to farming on his family estate at
Brentwood, near Washington, D.C. His health continued pretty
good until the spring of 1860, when a violent pleurisy again
prostrated him. He failed rapidly, and on the 1st of December
he sailed again for California, in hopes of a recovery;
but he was too far gone, and died 19 January, soon after his
arrival.
1856. - ISAAC NELSON BEALS died of consumption, in
Dexter, Me., 5 August, 1860, aged 29 years. He was son of
Isaiah and Lucy (Bradstreet) Beals, and was born in Dexter,
12 June, 1831. He was fitted for college at small academies
and high-schools in the villages of Dexter, St. Alban's, and
Corinna, Me.; being governed in his choice of a school from
term to term by circumstances and the abilities of the teacher.
In his preparation for college, as well as during his college
career, he was obliged to rely mainly upon such pecuniary
resources as he could control by his own labor, principally in
school-teaching,. In September, 1853, he entered the sophomore
class in Waterville College, Me.; having pursued the
studies of the first year by himself, while teaching school,
or while at home in the intervals of teaching. One who was a
classmate with him at Waterville remarks, that "on entering
college he at once took a high rank, which he constantly improved."
At the end of the junior year, he left Waterville;
and in September, 1855, he entered Harvard at the beginning
of the senior year. Here he exhibited the same studious traits
which appear to have characterized his course at Waterville.
In the winter after he entered Harvard, he taught Westbrook
Seminary, in Westbrook, Me.; and in April, 1856, having received
the appointment of principal of the high-school,
Quincy, Mass., the faculty of the college gave him permission
to beg,in his school before taking his degree; and he immediately
entered upon his duties there. His labors in this school
were highly satisfactory to the committee; who state, in their
report, that "at each visitation they witnessed proofs of thorough
and faithful training, and heard recitations, which, in some
respects, were wonderful."
In September, 1858, he became principal of the high-school
in Somerville, Mass., which appeared to have been unpopular
in the town, and in a chaotic state; but in the face of much
opposition, and with constant ill health, he gave to the school,
in less than a year, a high intellectual character and a
faultless discipline. In discipline, indeed, he appeared ever
to have excelled. In the summer of 1859, he accepted an invitation
to take charge of a new high school to be opened in Newton, and
located in the village of Newtonville; and entered upon his duties
in September.
Here he remained until ill health compelled him to resign, in
April, 1860. His physical powers were by nature capable of great
endurance; but excessive mental labor from his boyhood, to
which he was urged by his ambition to excel, backed by his
almost unconquerable will, together with constant mental
anxiety while bearing the responsibilities of prominent public
schools, wore him out; and when at length he was induced to
give up work, which was several months after his physician
began persuading him to do so, he was ill and exhausted beyond
the chance of recovery. Immediately after his resignation, by
the advice of his physician, he went to Philadelphia to seek the
benefit of a milder climate.
He returned in May, without any permanent improvement.
He then went to his native place in Maine, hoping that the
climate there might be beneficial; but all to no purpose.
He rapidly declined until death closed
the scene. A communication from an intimate friend of the
deceased to Mr. William Wirt Burrage, the secretary of the
class, who kindly furnished the above sketch, says, "During
the last few weeks of his illness, his character presented a very
pleasant phase of mildness and tenderness, strongly contrasting
with his habitual temperament. He was a great sufferer, but
bore his pain patiently, and never murmured a word at his lot.
In the last few days, he realized, more fully than did his friends,
how near death was, talked composedly of it, and was prepared
to meet it bravely and manfully. He was an ardent lover of
nature, and spent hours out of doors for no other purpose than
to admire its beauties, seeking varied landscape views from
every hill-top and mountain. He ignored religious forms, but
was no stranger to religion itself."
He married, 9 August, 1859, Caroline Rowena Burgess,
who had been his assistant at the high-school at Quincy. She
was the daughter of Josiah and Nancy W. (Fuller) Burgess of
Waltham, Mass. His younger and only brother Charles, who,
like Isaac, inherited from his parents a decided character and
great strength of will, died in 1857, about 25 years of age, from
illness brought on a few years before by physical over-exertion,
into which he had been led by his ambition. The family survivors of
the deceased are his widow, who lives in Cambridge; and his father
and mother, who live in Dexter, Me.
1856.- THOMAS THAXTER died in Methuen, Mass., 15 August, 1860,
aged 26 years. He was son of Thomas and Ruby (Bradstreet) Thaxter,
and was born in Methuen, 24 December, 1833. He was a twin.
His brother Robert died when two years of age.
His father, whose first known ancestor, Deacon
Thomas Thaxter, was born in Machias, Me., 2 November,
1792, settled in Hingham, Mass., in 1635. He was connected
with the Methuen Manufacturing Company, and died 27 January, 1842.
His mother, whose first known ancestor was Gov.
Simon Bradstreet, was born in Billerica, Mass., 4 July, 1800;
and died in Methuen, 21 June, 1845. His parents were married
2 September, 1827. On the death of his mother, Mr. John
Davis, of Methuen, was appointed guardian of the surviving
children, Ruby and Thomas. Thomas lived for a short time
upon a farm with Deacon Edward Carleton; and about October,
1846, began to attend a private school kept by Moses Burbank
and wife, and boarded with his uncle, Mr. William Thaxter.
Here he remained a year, and then entered a family boarding
school in Fairhaven, Mass., kept by Rev. William Gould, where
he remained about thirteen months. In 1849, he went to
Phillips Academy, Andover, to prepare for college, where he
remained a year and a half. While in Andover in 1851, he
joined the Congregational (Orthodox) church in Methuen. In
September, 1852, he entered the freshman class in Yale College,
where he remained until May, 1854, when he took up his
connexions. In September, 1854, he entered the junior class
at Harvard.
Towards the end of the term, a weakness of his eyes obliged
him to remit his studies; and in April of the following, term
he was compelled, from a general failure of health, to
leave college. Hle did not return until January, 1856; from
which time he remained until graduation. During the time he
was able to study, he gained a very high rank in his class,
and a reputation for persevering industry and ambitious scholar
ship.
On leaving college, he intended to pursue a business
career, and entered the counting-room of E. and T. Fairbanks
and Co., dealers in scales, No. 24, Kilby Street, Boston, but
soon left on account of his health; and, with the hope of
improving it, he went, in April, 1857, to Fairbault, Minn.,
on a visit to his uncle, Mr. William Thaxter, where, and in
the vicinity, he remained working on a farm until November
of that year.
His health having apparently improved, he, in December,
began to teach a public school in Stillwater, Minn., and, 1
September, 1858, became principal of the high-school; but it was
soon apparent that his health was not sufficient to sustain the
labor. Before the end of his first term, he entered the school
room one morning, feeling very weak; had proceeded with but
few recitations, when he fainted; was obliged to dismiss his
school, never to resume it. Symptoms of incipient consumption
were developed, followed by hemorrhage at the lungs. But by
his ambition and perseverance he rallied in a degree, and took
a class of private pupils, who recited to him a few hours daily.
The secretary of his class, to whom we are indebted for the
foregoing particulars, concludes his record by quoting an account
of the last portion of his life from one who had the best opportunity
of learning the incidents: "As long as he was able to work,
so long did he persist in doing so, even to within a short time of
his decease. But, as daily and weekly he became sensible of a
gradual decline, he began to feel a desire to be among his early
friends; and in September, 1859, he returned to the East, to
the house of Mr. Davis, his former guardian, where he remained
until his death. For a short time after his return home, he
seemed stronger. He could not rest unemployed; and, against
the wishes of his friends, he began book-keeping for a firm in
Lawrence, Mass., with whom he remained three months. Here
it was painfully evident to his friends that his life was fast
ebbing away.
He would frequently say,'Am I lazy? or am I growing weaker?'
He was confined to his bed only four days, and to the last of his
life manifested the same desire to wait upon himself, which had been
one of the prevailing traits of his character during his long sickness.
Through the many months of his last sickness, he often spoke of dying
with the calmness that characterizes the Christian. When dying, his mind
was calm and clear; and almost his last words were,
"I want to go to heaven: I want to begin to work there."
He left, as the only survivor of his immediate family, a sister,
-Mrs. Ruby T. Tenny, of Methuen.
1796. - HENRY ABBOT died in Andover, Mass., 13 January, 1862,
aged 84 years. He was the fourth child and second
son of Capt. Henry and Phebe (Abbot) Abbot, and was born
in Andover, 8 April, 1777. His father was son of Henry; was
born in Andover, 10 January, 1725; and died 21 February,
1805, aged 80 years. His mother was daughter of Deacon
Isaac Abbot, of Andover; was born 26 November, 1746; and
died 29 June, 1833, aged 86 years. He was fitted for college
at Phillips Academy, Andover. After leaving college, he engaged
in mercantile business in Bedford, Mass. He did not,
however, remain there long; but went to sea, in the capacity of
captain's-clerk, with Capt. David Woodward, of Charlestown,
in the ship "Catharine," of Boston, owned by Samuel Torrey,
Esq. it was a voyage around the world.
Sailing from Boston, they touched at Rio Janeiro, and, doubling
Cape Horn, proceeded up the west coast of South America, stopping at
various places along the coast, until they reached California,
whose golden treasures were then undreamed of; yet, as far as
their voyage was concerned, the gains of their traffic along that
coast exceeded those of many of the present day who meet
with more than average success in the land of gold. Their
next destination was Canton; where they arrived, after
stopping on their way at the Sandwich Islands, which were then
in their primitive condition of barbarism. Taking in a cargo of
Canton goods, the ship returned to Boston by way of the Cape
of Good Hope. At the Isle of France, on his return voyage,
Mr. Abbot was greatly and agreeably surprised to meet his
brother, whom he supposed to be at home; and learned from
him the death of their father, who, at the age of eighty years,
was in good health when he parted from him. ie made
one more similar voyage with the same captain, in the ship
"Dromo;" which was also owned by Samuel Torrey. His
attachment to Capt. WVoodward was very strong. He spoke of
his treatment of him as being like that of a father, and also
of his kind and considerate treatment of his crew; while,
at the same time, his authority over them was unimpaired.
After his return from his last voyage, he engaged in trade at
Andover; but soon afterwards, in partnership with his brother,
went into the wholesale grocery-business in Boston. Owing to
the embarrassments brought upon the trade by the embargo at
that time, their business was unsuccessful;
and Mr. Abbot returned to Andover.
About 1814, he visited the Western country; crossing the
Alleghany Mountains on foot, and, from Pittsburg, navigating the
Ohio River, with a single companion, in a small boat, to the falls
of the Ohio River at Louisville, Ky. There were but few inhabitants
along the Ohio at that early day; and the principal places where he
stopped to transact business (which are now large and flourishing cities)
were at that time small settlements, composed of a few logc abins.
At Lexington, Ky., he met with Mr. Newman (afterwards Prof. Samuel P.
Newman, of Bowdoin College), and returned home in company with him,
performing the whole journey on horseback. He afterwards went a journey
South as far as Georgia, to visit his brother. On his return home, he
settled down in Andover with his mother, on the home-farm, and remained
there until her death.
He was a member of the Old South Church in Andover for
thirty-eight years. He was unswerving and decided in his religious
convictions and principles, earnest and consistent in his
Christian life. In his family he was social, warm-hearted, and
cheerful; and, in his intercourse with society, genial and friendly;
generally lively, and often jocose, in the company of his
friends. In politics, early in life, he was fully convinced of the
correctness and true policy of the principles of the federalists,
and honestly contended for the interests of that party. He
naturally fell in with the sentiments of the whigs when that
party came into existence, advocated their principles, and
heartily co-operated with them. In his last years, he uniformly
acted and voted with the republicans; and cast his last vote for
the candidates of that party, at the last November election.
He was abroad until a few weeks before his death, retained his
faculties to the last, and died, not of disease, but of old age.
He married, May, 1807, Judith Follansbee, - a niece and
adopted child of Dr. Abiel Pierson, of Andover. He had six
children,- four daughters and two sons. Three of the daughters
and one son survived him. His wife also survives him;
being now eighty years of age.
1798. - Hon. RICHARD SULLIVAN died in Cambridge, 11
December, 1861, aged 82 years. He was the third son of
Hon. James and Mehitable (Odiorne) Sullivan, and was born
in Groton, Mass., 17 July, 1779. His father was born in
Berwick, Me., 22 April, 1744. He was a lawyer by profession,
and began practice in Georgetown, Me.; but soon afterwards
removed to Biddeford, Me. In February, 1778, he
removed to Groton, Mass.; and, in 1782, he removed from
Groton to Boston. He was a judge of the Supreme Court,
and attorney-general of Massachusetts. In 1807, he was
chosen governor of the state; was re-elected in 1808, and died
while in office, 10 December, 1808. Mr. Sullivan's mother
was the daughter of William Odiorne, a ship-builder, of Durham,
N.H., where she was born 26 June, 1748; and died in
Boston, 26 January, 1786. Young Sullivan was fitted for
college at the Boston Latin School. He was well prepared for
pursuing the prescribed studies in the college course, but did
not presume so far upon his acquirements as to pass superficially
over the assigned tasks. As a scholar, he was among the most
distinguished of his class. His character was spotless, his
disposition kind and benevolent, his manners polished, without
affectation or parade. After leaving college, he studied law in
the office of his father, and was admitted to the Suffolk bar in
1801, but did not long pursue his profession, as he had an
ample competence of worldly goods. In his early manhood, he
took much interest in political affairs. He was elected a
senator in the state legislature from Suffolk in 1815 and the
two following, years; was a member, from Brookline, of the
convention for revising the constitution of the state in 1820; was a
member of the governor's council in 1820 and 1821.
In 1823, he was the candidate of the federal party for lieutenant-
governor of the state, the Hon. Harrison Gray Otis being the candidate
for governor; but the ticket was defeated. In 1821, he was elected a member
of the board of overseers of Harvard College, and held that office until
the board was newly constituted by an act of the legislature of Massachusetts
in 1852, which was accepted by the corporation and overseers of the college.
He was public-spirited and philanthropic; and the records of
several of our most valuable public institutions, founded during
the first thirty years of the present century, bear ample testimony
to his services in their behalf. It was at a meeting of
gentlemen at his house that the project of the Massachusetts
General Hospital was first seriously started; and, among those
who aided in rearing that beneficent establishment, the labors
of few were more earnest or efficient than those of Mr. Sullivan.
Removing into the country, and residing for many years
in the neighboring, town of Brookline, he was among the first
of those, who, nearly half a century ago, gave an impulse to
rural tastes and pursuits, to the advancement of agriculture,
and to that culture of fruits and flowers, which, now widespread,
does so much to embellish and refine life among us.
Here, at his beautiful estate in the country, surrounded by his
wife and daughters, he had a home, which, in the dignity and
grace that presided over it, in the intellectual and moral
refinement that pervaded it, in the holy love and faith that sanctified
it, was the model of a Christian home; and comes up to the
thoughts of all who remember it, as being as near an approach
to a picture and miniature of heaven as they may ever hope
to see on earth.
He married, 22 May, 1804, Sarah Russell, a daughter of
the eminent and wealthy merchant, Thomas Russell, of Boston;
and shortly after, in company with her, made an extensive tour
in Europe. The issue of this marriage was four soilns and four
daughters, of whom only two sons survived him. His wife
died 8 June, 1831.
1799. - Gen. WILLIAM HYSLOP SUMNER died in West
Roxbury (Jamaica Plain), 9Mass., 24 October, 1861, aged
81 years. Ile had been helpless from paralysis for four years;
and, for the last two years of his life, was hardly able to utter a
sentence intelligibly. He was the only son of Hon. Increase
(H.C. 1767) and Elizabeth (Hyslop) Sumner, and was born
in Roxbury, 4 July, 1780. His father was born in Roxbury,
27 November, 1746; was associate-judge of the Supreme Court
from 1782 to 1797; was governor of Massachusetts from 1797
until his death, 7 June, 1799. His mother was the daughter
of William and Mehitable Hyslop; was born in Boston,
5 August, 1757; and died 28 December, 1810, aged 53 years.
William Hyslop was an eminent and prosperous merchant in
Boston, but about 1781 removed to Brookline, Mass., where
he died 11 August, 1796, aged 84 years. The house in which
the subject of this notice was born was formerly owned by
Judge Robert Auchmuty, a royalist, and was confiscated.
He was first sent to school under the charge of Master Abiel
Heywood (H.C. 1781), principal of the grammar-school in
Roxbury; next under Rev. William Emerson (H.C. 1789),
afterwards minister of the First Church in Boston, who was
succeeded by Rev. Calvin Whiting, (H.C. 1791), he being
followed by Rev. John Pipon (H.C. 1792), afterwards
minister in Taunton, Mass. About this time, Gen. Lincoln
marched his troops against Shays during the rebellion. Young
Sumner, then about six years old, saw the troops, under Major
Spooner, march from Meeting-Hlouse Hill in Roxbury, where
the church now stands in which the Rev. Eliphalet Porter then
preached. From the Roxbury school he was taken away in
1789; was placed in the filmily of his uncle, Charles Cushing
(H.C. 1755), and sent to the writing-school of Master Oliver
Wellington Lane (H.C. 1772), in the westerly part of Boston.
WNhen Gen. Washington visited Boston in that year, the boys
of all the schools formed the front lines of the streets through
which he passed; and Sumner well remembered the dignified
manner in which Washington received the plaudits of the people
in the streets and houses; and that he, with the rest of the
boys in the school, about seventy in number, carried long
quills with the feathers on; and, when Washington passed, they
paid him a salute by rolling those quills in their hands. In
1793, he was sent to Phillips Academy in Andover, where he
was fitted for college.
He remained there two years. Duringthe first part of that time,
he was under Ebenezer Pemberton (N.J. 1765), then under Abiel Abbot
(H.C. 1787), and finally under Mark Newman (D.C. 1793). When he entered
college, in 1795, the rooms in the college buildings were so full,
that for three years he lived in the house of the late Prof.
Wig glesworth. IHe held a respectable rank of scholarship in
his class. In his senior year, he delivered an English oration
at exhibition. The subject was, "The Spirit of Innovation."
It was a creditable performance. At commencement, the part
assigned to him was a colloquy with John Harris on "The
Importance of a National Character to the United States;" but,
on account of the death of his father a few weeks before, his
performance was omitted. Immediately after graduating, he
entered the office of Hon. John Davis (H.C. 1781), under
whose instruction he pursued his legfal studies; was admitted to
the bar in 1802, and opened an office at No. 4, Tremont Street,
Boston; and subsequently removed to Scollay's Building,
where he occupied an office with Judge Davis, when the latter
was appointed judge of the District Court as successor of Judge
Lowell. He early distinguished himself by his successful
defence of John Whiting, of Franklin, who was indicted for
robbing himself, when he was carrying money to be exchanged
in Maine for money of the Franklin Bank, of which he was an
officer. He said he was assailed by robbers, and showed the
holes, in the top of the chaise, made by the bullets which
the pretended robbers fired at him.
Gen. Sumner was aide-de-camp to Governors Strong and
Brooks,- to the former in 1806 and from 1813 to 1816, and to
the latter from 1816 to 1818, when he was appointed adjutant
general by Gov. Brooks, and then relinquished the practice
of the law. He held the offices of adjutanlt-general and
quartermaster-general under Governors Brooks, Eustis, Lincoln,
and Davis, until 1834; when, upon his resignation, General
Dearborn was appointed his successor. In 1808, and the eleven
following years, he was one of the representatives of Boston to
the legislature. On the 10th of September, 1814, he was appointed
by Governor Strong executive-agent to repair "to the
district of Maine (which was then invaded by the enemy), and
promptly to provide any practicable means for the defence of
that part of the state." On the same day, the commissioners
for the sea-coast defence (Hon. David Cobb, Timothy Pickering,
and John Brooks) also confided to him their full power.
In December, 1814, he was appointed by the board of war to
borrow money of the banks to pay off the troops which had
been called out in Maine; and when it was afterwards proposed
to send three commissioners, two from Massachusetts and one
from Maine, to the general government, to confer with it
upon the measures of defence of the state in future, the
members of the legislature from Maine agreed upon him as their
commissioner to represent the interest of that part of the state.
In 1816, he was sent, with Hon. James Lloyd, to present the
Massachusetts claim to the general government for militia
services. In November, 1826, he was appointed by the secretary
of war a member of the board of army and militia officers,
of which Gen. Scott was president, to report a plan for the
organization of the militia, and a system of cavalry tactics.
In December, 1831, he contracted for the purchase of Greenough's
half of Noddle's Island (his sister and uncle owning the other
half), and projected the settlement of it as a part of the city of
Boston; and, with other gentlemen, founded and put in operation the
East-Boston Company, which thus came into possession
of the whole island, and under auspices of which the
improvemnents which have given East Boston its present measure
of prosperity have been carried on. Since that time, he has done
much for the welfare and adornment of the place. A few years
since, he gave land to'the value of six thousand dollars, the
income to be applied to setting out shade-trees on the island.
He also gave land to the value of eighteen or twenty thousand
dollars for the erection of a library-building by the library-
association which bears his name, and to which he gave his own
private library. He wrote a very elaborate history of East
Boston, comprising eight hundred pages, with numerous engravings.
He was a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
He married, first, 4 October, 1826, Mrs. Mary Ann Perry,
daughter of Hon. James DeWolf, of Bristol, R.I., and widow
of Raymond H. J. Perry, brother of Commodore O. 1. Perry:
she died 14 July, 1835. He married, second, 13 December,
1836, Mrs. Maria Foster Greenough, daughter of Elisha Doane,
of Cohasset, and widow of David Stoddard Greenough, of
Jamaica Plain: she died 14 November, 1843. He married, third,
18 April, 1848, Mary Dickinson Kemble, of New York,
daughter of Peter Kemble, grand-daughter of Gen. Cadwallader,
and niece of Gov. Thomas Gage. She survived him. He had
no children by any of his wives.
1800. - Rev. DANIEL KIMBALL died in Needham, Mass.,
17 January, 1862, aged 83 years. He was son of Lieut.
Daniel and Elizabeth (Tenney) Kimball, and was born in
Bradford, Mass., 3 July, 1778. Until he was sixteen years
old, he worked on his father's farm in summer, and attended the
district school in winter. He was fitted for college at Atkinson
Academy, N.H., under the instruction of John Vose (D.C.
1795). He held a respectable rank in his class, and graduated
with honors. After leaving college, he was assistant-teacher in
Sandwich Academy one year. For the next six months, he had
charge of a school in his native town. lHe then returned to
Cambridge as a theological student, under the direction of Rev.
David Tappan, D.D. (H.C. 1771), Hollis Professor of Divinity;
was approbated, and began preaching in the spring or
summer of 1803: and, on taking his degree of master of arts
that year, he pronounced the Latin valedictory oration. At the
same time, he was appointed tutor for the Latin department.
This office he held two years; and, on resigning it, he returned
to Bradford, where he resided more than two years, supplying
vacant parishes, and giving what were termed "labors of love,"
pursuing theological and miscellaneous reading and study. In
August, 1808, he was appointed preceptor of Derby Academy,
in Hingham, Mass., where he remained until the spring of
1826. In addition to the duties of preceptor, he often preached,
sometimes in neighboring pulpits in supply, or giving "labors
of love." Hie was ordained at HIingham, as an evangelist,
17 December, 1817. In the spring of 1826, he removed to
Needham, where he purchased a farm, and opened a boarding
and day school for children of both sexes, which he continued
until 1848, devoting himself at the same time to agricultural
pursuits. His published works were, A Lecture in Poetry on
Temperance; also another Address on Temperance, on the 4th of
July; An Address before the Peace Society at HIingham, of
which he was president; a Sermon on Unitarianism, preached at
Milton, Mass., where he supplied the pulpit at intervals for a
few years; a Discourse before the American Institute of Instruction,
at the State Hiouse, on the Employment of Female
Teachers.
He was president of the Needham Lyceum for twenty-five
years, and was for nearly as many years chairman of the school
committee. He was a representative to the state legislature in
1846. In his religious principles he was a firm Unitarian. He
was highly respected as a man of unblemished character, a kind
friend, a hospitable neighbor, and a devoted husband and
parent.
He married, 23 March, 1808, Betsey Gage, of Bradford,
daughter of Peter and Mary (Webster) Gage, descended, on
her father's side, from Major Benjamin Gage, an officer in
the American army in the struggle for our national independence.
The children of this marriage were as follows (all
born in Hingham): 1. Elizabeth Tenny, born 23 March, 1810;
died 2 April, 1833. 2. Harriet Webster, born 1 December,
1812 (afterwards widow of John M. Washburn). 3. Daniel,
born 1 October, 1814; died 17 December, 1827 (was fitted for
college at the time of his death). 4. Benjamin Gage, born
5 May, 1816 (H.C. 1837). 5. Mary Jane, born 19 October,
1817 (now wife of Hon. James Ritchie, of Roxbury) (H.C.
1835). 6. Henry Colman, born 25 February, 1820 (H.C.
1840). 7. Charles David Tenny, born 6 September, 1821;
died at Hingham, 24 July, 1822. 8. Charlotte Sophia (Mrs.
Hoadley), born 31 July, 1823; died at Lancaster, 12 June,
1848. 9. Clara Anna, born 7 January, 1825; died at Needham,
25 December, 1847. Mr. Kimball's wife survived him.
1801. - HENRY NEWMAN died in Boston, 28 July, 1861,
aged 78 years. He was son of Henry and Deborah (Cushing)
Newman, and was born in Boston, 16 May, 1783. His father
was a distinguished merchant. His mother was daughter of
Hon. Thomas Cushing (H.C. 1744), representative of Boston,
and speaker of the house, in 1763; when he so warmly espoused
the cause of his country in the disputes with Great Britain, that
Dr. Johnson in his Taxation No Tyranny," speaking of the
Americans, said, "If their rights are inherent and underived,
they may, by their own suffrages, encircle with a diadem the
brows of Mr. Cushing." He was also lieutenant-governor of
the state. The subject of this notice was fitted for college at the
Boston Latin School. While in college, his father became involved
in consequence of speculations in Georgia lands, and
President Willard generously paid a part of young Newman's
colleg,e dues. Immediately after graduating, he entered as an
apprentice in a merchant's store, but soon relinquished the
situation; began the study of law with Hon. Thomas Dawes
(H.C. 1777), and completed his legal studies with Hon.
William Prescott (H.C. 1783).
Soon after his admission to the bar, he went to the South,
and spent most of the time for twenty years in Washington and
other southern cities; being engaged in securing the family property
in the Georgia lands, and obtaining remuneration through the government
at Washington.
He was also agent for Joseph Blake, and several others, who had
claims for lands in Virginia and other southern states. This
led him to great intimacy with many eminent gentlemen at
Washington, - among others, Gen. Jackson, who treated him
with great kindness. He thus obtained an exhaustless fund of
information concerning those gentlemen, which rendered him a
very interesting companion.
A few years ago, when a committee of the Alumni of Harvard
College was appointed to raise funds for the college library,
the chairman of the committee, the late Thomas G. Cary, called
on Mr. Newman to ask him to take charge of the subscription
in his class. He readily accepted the office; and, without any
special solicitation, handed Mr. Cary his check for five hundred
dollars as his own subscription, saying that he was not so well
able to give as he had once been, having lost some of his property;
and that he wished to contribute while he was yet able,
as further losses might put it out of his power to do so: thus
giving, as a reason for subscribing, what many would have
considered an ample excuse for refusing to give at all. He was
remarkable for his constant and unostentatious charities. He
was a member of the Cincinnati Society, through his uncle,
Capt. Samuel Newman, who was an officer of distinction in
the revolutionary war, and was killed, under Gen. Sinclair, in
a battle with the Indians. His manners wcre highly finished
and gentle, of the old school. Never was a more kind-hearted
man, a more devoted son, or affectionate brother. He was
never married.
1802. - Deacon SAMUEL GREELE, of Boston, died in
Swampscott, Mass., where he went to pass the summer,
16 August, 1861, aged 78 years. He was son of Samuel and
Olive (Read) Greele, and was born in Wilton, N.H., 3 July,
1783. He was fitted for college at the academy in New Ipswich,
N.H. After graduating, he studied divinity with Rev.
Jonathan French, of Andover, Mass. (H.C. 1771). He preached
for several years, but was never ordained as a minister
over any society; and he resigned the sacred profession, much
against his will, on account of temporary ill health. He then
became a devoted and useful teacher. Ile was for some time
preceptor of an academy in Marblehead. He then removed to
Boston, where he taught a private school from 1816 to 1822.
In 1825, he entered into partnership with John Baker, under the
firm of Baker and Greele, in the business of manufacturing
printing-types. This firm was dissolved in 1827; and, the
next year, Mr. Greele took into partnership Mr. Henry Willis;
and they continued the business, under the firm of Greele and
Willis, until 1832, when Mr. Greele retired from active business.
He was a devoted member of various charitable and benevolent
institutions.
He was an officiating deacon in the Federal Street
church for nearly fifty years, first under the ministry of Rev.
Dr. Channing, and subsequently under Rev. Dr. Gannett. His
steady and sincere adherence to the liberal faith, through all the
fluctuations of time and opinion, was remarkable. Hie was a
faithful worker in the American Unitarian Association. He
was elected a representative from Boston in the state legislature
in 1838, 1840, 1841, 1842, and 1843. He was a member of
the- board of aldermen in Boston in 1834, 1835, and 1836.
He was the friend and associate of the young, his heart being
always youthful; and nothing pleased him better than the society
of little children. His fund of anecdote, geniality of
temper, and unfailing flow of spirits, made him the most
agreeable of visitors and companions. His perfectly regular
habits, yearly journeyings, and equanimity of temper, no doubt
contributed to his long life. lHe was always surrounded by the
most untiring and devoted love; and he passed away in sweet
patience, without a murmur.
He married, 3 May, 1812, Lydia Maria Sewall, daughter
of Chief-Justice Samuel Sewall, of Marblehead (H.C. 1776).
She died in Boston, 11 August, 1822, in the 32d year of her
age, leaving no children. He married for his second wife, 19
October, 1823, Louisa May, daughter of Col. Joseph May, of
Boston. She died 14 November, 1828, at the age of 36 years,
having had two children, -a son and a daughter. The son
graduated at Harvard College in 1844. He married for his
third wife, 18 October, 1831, Maria Antoinette Paine, daughter
of Hon. Robert Treat Paine, of Boston (H.C. 1749). She
died 26 March, 1842, aged 58 years, leaving no children. He
married for his fourth wife, 8 October, 1844, Sarah Follansbee
Emerson, of Newburyport, who survived him.
1802. - Rev. CHARLES WELLINGTON died in Templeton,
Mass., 3 August, 1861, aged 81 years. tie was the sixth
child and fifth son of William and Mary (Whitney) Wellington,
and was born in Waltham, Mass., 20 February, 1780.
His parents had eight sons and five daughters. One of these
sons, Isaac, was drowned while a member of the senior class in
Harvard College, 12 November, 1796. No other death took
place among these children till more than fifty years afterwards.
The subject of this notice was fitted for college partly at
New Salem Academy, and partly by Rev. Charles Stearns, D.D., of
Lincoln, Mass. (H.C. 1773). About the time of graduation,
he, with others, consulted Rev. David Tappan (H.C. 1771),
Hollis Professor of Divinity, about their theological studies,
and obtained from him a recommendation of a list of books for
perusal for that purpose. But Dr. Tappan died 27 August,
1803; and Dr. Henry Ware (H.C. 1785) was not appointed to
succeed him until May, 1805. These young men, therefore,
pursued their studies alone, as resident graduates; meeting
together occasionally for reading of essays, and comparison of
views.
He was ordained pastor of the Unitarian church in Templeton,
25 February, 1807, as successor of Rev. Ebenezer Sparhawk
(H.C. 1756), who was born in what is now Brighton,
15 June, 1738; was ordained 18 November, 1761; and died 25
November, 1805, aged 67 years. Dr. Wellington continued his
ministerial relation to his society until his death, a period of
more than fifty-four years. About 1839, his health began to
fail, so much as to interrupt the constancy of his public services;
and temporary provision was made for his aid: but he supplied
the pulpit most of the time until 1843, when arrangements were
made for the settlement of a colleague, and, 24 February, 1844,
Rev. Norwood Damon was ordained as his assistant. Mr. Damon
resigned his ministry, 1 November, 1845; and the supply of
the pulpit was resumed by the senior partner. He preached
most of the time until August, 1846. On the 13th of January,
1847, Rev. Edwin Goodhue Adams was ordained as his colleague;
where he still continues. On the 25th June, 1857, Dr.
Wellington preached a half-century sermon from his ordination.
It was printed as prepared for the anniversary-day, four months
before; from which time it was postponed on account of the
author's ill health. A very large concourse of parishioners
and of other friends assembled on the occasion, and made most
gratifying testimonials of esteem and affection in which they had
held their aged pastor. In his sermon he gives a brief and very
modest account of his labors. His influence as a minister was
second to that of no one in the western section of Worcester
county. That influence was always exerted in favor of religious
and civil freedom, of Christian order, and scriptural piety. In
1854, the honorary degree of doctor of divinity was conferred
upon him by Harvard College.
Dr. Wellington married, 29 June, 1807, Anna Smith,
of Boston. The issue of this marriage was three sons and six
daughters, of whom two sons and all the daughters survived
their father. The two surviving sons graduated at Harvard
College in 1838 and 1846 respectively. His wife died
24 April, 1830; and he married for his second wife, 27
July, 1831, Adelaide Russell, of Templeton, who survived
him. By his second wife he had. one child, a daughter, who died
young.
1804. - Dr. JONATHIAN WILD died in Braintree, Mass.,
6 December, 1862, aged 77 years. He was the oldest child of
Jonathan and Deborah (Wild) Wild, and was born in South
Weymouth, Mass., 3 April, 1784; but, when he was about a
year old, his parents removed to Braintree, where they lived
and died. His father was the son of Capt. Silas Wild, and
his mother was the daughter of Micah Wild, all of Braintree.
Young Wild was fitted for college under the instruction of Rev.
Dr. Jonathan Strong, of Randolph (D.C. 1786). After graduating,
he studied medicine with Dr. Ebenezer Alden, of West
Randolph, father of the present Dr. Ebenezer Alden (H.C.
1808), of Randolph. After completing his studies, he settled
in Braintree, where he continued in active and successful
practice until 1844, when he retired from the profession.
His personal interests were seriously affected by his too
indulgent leniency towards his patients; for, had he been more
rigid in exacting his dues for his professional services, he would
have become a wealthy man; but he suffered his accounts to remain
uncollected, much to his pecuniary detriment.
He married, first, 12 December, 1811, Nancy Lynfield, of
Randolph, by whom he had three children,- all daughters,
of whom one only survived him., His wife died 23 August, 1827.
He married for his second wife, 11 February, 1830, Livia D.
Thayer, of Braintree, sister of Col. Sylvanus Thayer (D.C.
1807), the distinguished engineer, an officer in the Military
Academy at West Point. By his second wife he had three
children, two daughters and one son,- of whom one daughter
deceased before him. The other two children, with their
mother, survived him.
1806.- Rev. WILLIAM TURNER TORREY died in Madison,
Lake county, O., 29 October, 1861, aged 75 years. He was the
second son of James and Eunice (Turner) Torrey, and was born
in Kingston, Mass., 5 February, 1786. His mother was the
eldest daughter of Rev. Charles Turner (H.C. 1752), who
was born in Scituate, Mass., 3 September, 1732; was ordained
at Duxbury, Mass., 23 July, 1755; dismissed 10 April, 1775;
was afterwards chaplain of Castle William, and senator in the
state legislature: died in the town of Turner, Me., August,
1818, aged 86 years. A classmate of the subject of this notice
has furnished some particulars of his life, from which we extract
the following: "Torrey entered college in 1802.
During all the term of his collegiate course his moral character
was unblamable, his diligence in study exemplary, his standing in the
class highly respectable. He graduated with collegiate honors.
After he received his degree, he studied theology under Rev.
Dr. John Reed, of West Bridgewater (Y.C. 1772). Dr.
Reed was a decided Unitarian; and Torrey, at that time, was
of the same sentiments. Soon after he was licensed to preach,
he took charge of the only Congregational church in New Bedford,
but was not ordained. It was when the Unitarian controversy,
early in this century, was at its height; when the odium
theologicum pervaded many of the religious societies of
this order in Massachusetts. It may not be too strong an
expression to say, that it raged at that time in New Bedford.
The church and society were split between the two factions.
The majority of the church technically so called- separated
from the society, and held distinct worship at another place;
while the society, as a body, continued in the old place of worship,
and adhered to Unitarianism.
"Torrey, a young man, undrilled and unskilled in ecclesiastic
tactics, found himself, in this logomaehy, in a moral, or rather
immoral, atmosphere, not congenial with his natural disposition,
which was full of benevolence to all. His situation became
unpleasant; and he finally removed to Canandaigua, in New
York, and was settled over a Unitarian society there. He was
ordained at Marlborough, Mass., in January or February, 1812,
as minister of the Congregational church in Canandaigua, and
resigned in the latter part of the year 1817.] He could
not have been settled there long, when he experienced a
change of religious feeling and of religious views, and became
as orthodox in sentiment (using the term in its claimed and
generally accepted sense) as before he was liberal. As was to
be expected, he did not continue over the church in Canandaigua
long after this. He was installed 1 January, 1818, in Plymouth,
Mass., near his native town; and resigned 12 March,
1823. His heart was naturally a loving one; and his new
views, if possible, increased the intensity of this love to all.
Free from dogmatism, yet was he earnest and sincere. This
charity, in its true sense, and his full belief in what he viewed
all-important in religion, prompted him to revisit his former
associates of the liberal order, and to kind efforts to convince
them of their doctrinal errors; which met with but little success."
From Plymouth, Mr. Torrey went to Newport, R.I., where
he ministered to the church, once under the charge of Dr. Samuel
Hopkins, about three years; ending in the course of the year
1829. In 1830, he removed to Murray, Orleans county, N.Y.,
and settled on a farm. He was afterwards formally installed
there as a pastor of a church. In November, 1853, he ministered
to a parish in West Greece, N.Y., until March, 1856.
Afterward, when past the age of 70 years, he removed to Ohio,
and preached for two years from January, 1858, to a church
in Edinburgh, Portage county, Ohio.
He married, 2 June, 1814, Betsey James, daughter of
William James, of Scituate. They had four sons, Charles
W., Josiah J., Francis, and Samuel, of whom only the first
named is living; he being a minister, settled in Madison, Ohio,
when his father died at his house. His wife died 30 April,
1852, at East Cleveland, O., also at the residence of their
only surviving son.
1808.- EDWARD FENWICK CAMPBELL died in Augusta,
Ga., 27 September, 1861, aged 75 years. He was son of
Macarton Campbell, a planter; and was born in Augusta, Ga.,
25 January, 1786. He was fitted for college by Rev. Jonathan
Homer (H.C. 1777), of Newton, Mass. He had the
tastes of a gentleman of fortune from Georgia. His habits were
good; he made no efforts, apparently, to obtain college honors.
After graduating, he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in
Georgia, but never practised. He inherited a plantation and
much wealth fromn his father; also inherited many slaves, but
never bought or sold any. His residence was in Georgia, where
he occupied himself in cultivating his plantation. His character
was one of singular honor, delicacy, and generosity: he was a
very indulgent master.
He married, in 1814, Maria Hull, daughter of Gen. William
(Y.C. 1772) and Sarah Hull, of Newton, Mass. She died in
Atgusta, Ga., in 1846. He never married again. His wife
prepared for publication a work entitled " Revolutionary Services
and Civil Life of Gen. William Hull; prepared from his Manuscripts,
by his daughter, Mrs. Maria Campbell." In an address
to the reader, she says, "Gen. Hull left behind him memoirs of
his revolutionary services, in manuscript, which he had written
for the gratification of his children and grandchildren. These
memoirs are the basis of the present work. His spirit pervades
the whole; and my endeavor has been, that it should not
be obscured. The facts are in substance precisely as he has
related them. But, as his manuscript was not prepared for the
press, it was necessary, to a certain extent, that the arrangement
of the work, and sometimes the style, should be changed."
To this work was added, by Rev. James Freeman Clarke, of
Boston (H.C. 1829), grandson of Gen. Hull, "History of the
Campaign of 1812, and Surrender of the Post of Detroit."
Mr. Clarke, in his preface, alluding to the before-mentioned
work, says, "This, which was written by himself (Gen. Hull),
was prepared for the press by his daughter, Mrs. Maria Campbell,
wife of Edward F. Campbell, Esq., of Augusta, Ga.
It was a favorite and cherished object of this lady to erect this
monument to the memory of her father, and her life was spared
by a kind Providence just long, enough to enable her to complete
it. Amid painful sickness and the languor of disease, she
labored diligently until it was finished. This labor of love
seemed to sustain her failing strength; and when she reached its
termination she could say,'Lord, let me now depart;' and the
daughter passed into the spirit-land to meet the parent whom
she had so tenderly loved. But another labor yet remains to be
performed. Mrs. Campbell did not attempt the history of the
campaign of 1812, and surrender of Detroit; and though
deeply convinced that her father deserved praise, not blame, for
his share in this transaction, yet she shrank from a work which
she feared might involve her in angry controversy, and prevent
the simple narrative of her father's revolutionary labors from
being appreciated. She left to another hand, and another
time, this part of the work. This task has been committed to
the present writer; who, with no qualifications except a strong
conviction of the justice of the cause he advocates, founded on
careful study and examination, joined with an earnest wish to be
candid and conscientious, has undertaken the work. He is indeed
about to defend a grandfather, and one whom he remembers with
mingled feelings of affection and respect."
1815. - SAMUEL R. PUTNAM died in Boston, 24 December,
1861, aged 64 years. He was the eldest son of Hon. Samuel
(H.C. 1787) and Sarah (Gool) Putnam, and was born in
Salem, Mass., 2 April, 1797. His father was son of Gideon
Putnam, of Danvers, Mass., where he was born 13 April,
1768; was a lawyer in Salem, but afterwards removed to Boston;
was judge of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, a station
which he held with dignity and honor. He died 3 July, 1853,
aged 85 years. His mother was daughter of John Gool and
Lois (Pickering) Gool, a sister of Hon. Timothy Pickering
(H.C. 1 7 63), of Salem. His studies, preparatory for admission
to college, were conducted by Jacob Newman Knapp (H.C.
1802). His collegiate life was without reproach. On leaving
college, he concluded to adopt a mercantile life; and he entered
the counting-room of Pickering Dodge, Esq., of Salem, where he
served his apprenticeship. He ever afterwards spoke of Mr.
Dodge with great esteem and respect.
He made several voyages, as supercargo, to the East Indies.
For many years he was engaged in business in Europe, particularly
in the city of Antwerp. Here he established a house, and had as a
partner an Englishman by the name of Alfred Barrow, a most
estimable gentleman, for whom Mr. Putnam named his eldest
son. This son died early in life, of Asiatic cholera, while
travelling in Italy. He conducted his business with skilful
enterprise and success. In the course of time he returned to his
native country, and still maintained his character as a merchant
in Boston. His interest in the education of his children
prompted him, in 1851, to return to Europe with his family;
and he spent with them three years in Paris, and nearly two
years in Italy and Germany. He then returned, and again
made Boston his home.
He was not what is considered a public man. His own position in
society he was careful to adorn by integrity and honor; and
whatever influence he exerted was mainly through the power of his
example. A friend, who knew him intimately, in speaking of him, says,
" Goodness deserves commemoration, especially in the modest merit that
makes no claim. Its immediate and irresistible impression was
of unpretending kindness, and an utter honesty and constitutional
transparency that knew not how to deceive. That a nature so
unassuming should be so noble and generous, was a perpetual
charm. Our friend's humility had another delightful combination
with the directness and energy of his mind. His action or
speech was always forthright. Never had a soul cleaner and
fuller expression of all its meaning in the manners, every look and
word.
Such was his unvarnished and confiding sincerity, that,
after he had spoken, nothing remained for him to add or explain.
He did not reflect on himself as a subject, but with unconscious
beauty appeared himself for every object his reason and conscience
owned as just; never involved, but in all his dealings
open as the day. In his business he showed great practical ability,
and a judgment in all affairs on which others associated with him
could lean. What seemed unsentimental promptness or remarkaable
ability in the concerns of this world was united with a wonderful
and womanly tenderness of heart, making the eyes often
moist and tearful above the ever-firm and manly lips. His
faculties were not confined to any special vocation; but he was
deeply interested in his country and all mankind. He was
earnest in his decisions, but never narrow. Always in a large
charity was his appreciation of others. He was as broad in his
intellectual culture as in his moral aims. He had a great taste
for art, and enjoyment of its masterpieces abroad; and, in the
latter part of his life, acquired a command of the German
tongue, which few seek save in youth. But finely foremost in
him were the qualities of his heart, as they who loved him and
lived with him so well know. Performing his duties constantly,
and bearing his trials patiently, he has followed the distinguished
jurist, his father, and all his own sons."
He married, 25 April, 1832, Mary, daughter of Rev. Charles
Lowell, D.D. (H. C. 1800), of Boston, by whom he had
three sons and one daughter. His first and third sons died
some time before him. His second, and then only surviving son,
Lieut. William Lowell Putnam, fell a martyr to his country;
having died in Maryland, 22 October, 1861, of a wound received
the day previous in the battle of Edwards Ferry. His
death will be identified with the military glory of America, as it
shall be reflected from deeds of valor in the cause of freedom,
earnest resolves and decisive acts in support and establishment
of equal laws and righteous government. Mr. Putnam's widow
and one daughter remain to cherish his memory, and illustrate
his sympathies and affections.
1817. - Hon. SAMUEL ATKINS ELIOT died in Cambridge,
29 January, 1862, aged 63 years. He was son of Hon. Samuel
and Catharine (Atkins) Eliot, and was born in Boston, 5 March,
1798. His father was an eminent and wealthy merchant. He
was fitted for college at the Boston Latin School. He attained
a high rank of scholarship in his class, and graduated with
honors. After leaving college, he entered the Divinity School at
Cambridge, and went through a course of theological study, but
did not enter upon the clerical profession. He was a gentleman
of great personal worth, and was repeatedly honored by elevation
to offices of distinction. In 1834, he was elected a representative
to the state legislature; and, in 1843, he was chosen a
senator from Suffolk district. He was a member of the board of
aldermen in 1834 and 1835; and was mayor of the cityin 1837,
1838, and 1839. In 1850, he was elected a representative to the
thirty-first Congress from Suffolk district, where he remained two
years; but, at the close of his term, he declined to be a candidate
for re-election.
In 1853, he became a partner in the extensive
commission house of Charles II. Mills and Co., of Boston,
where he remained six years, when the copartnership was
dissolved; and he soon afterwards removed to Cambridge,
where he passed the remainder of his life. In 1859, he was
elected president of the Boston Gas-light Company. He was
treasurer of Harvard College from 1842 to 1853. He was for
many years a warden of King's Chapel, in Boston. He was a gentleman of
unblemished moral character, of accomplished deportment, social
and affable in his intercourse with his fellow-citizens; and, in the
many and important positions in which he was placed, he discharged
his duties with great fidelity, with an honest conviction
of what he thought to be right, and to the entire satisfaction of
his constituents.
He married, 13 June, 1836, Mary Lyman, the beautiful and
accomplished daughter of Hon. Theodore Lyman, of Boston.
Their children were one son and four daughters, as follows:
Mary L., Charles William, Elizabeth E., Catharine A., and
Fannie A.; all of whom, with their mother, survived him, all
but the last two being married.
1817. - DANIEL GILMAN HATCH , of Covington, Ky., died
in Exeter, N.H., 13 March, 1862, aged 63 years. He was the
oldest son of Samuel and Mary (Gilman) Hatch, and was
born in Exeter, 3 August, 1798. He was fitted for college at
Phillips Academy, Exeter. He left college in the last term of
his senior year, before commencement; and first taught an academy
in King-George county, Va., on the Upper Neck, so called,
between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. In consequence of
the unhealthiness of the location, he went, a year
afterwards, to Dinwiddie county, Va., where he remained almost
twenty years, devoting himself to teaching. He carried into his
profession an enthusiasm for education, and a personal regard
for the welfare of his scholars, which alike insured success, and
won for him the regard of the many young men who were benefited
by his instruction. He was a member of the celebrated
Virginia convention in 1829. About 1837, he removed to Kentucky,
settling at Georgetown, where he embarked in commercial pursuits.
Here his fine business capacity and stern integrity
soon gave him much influence; and, though no longer a professional
teacher, his knowledge of every branch of educational
science rendered good fruits. He was, until the day of his
death, a trustee of the college in that village; was for a time its
treasurer, and held other offices in connection with it, by which
he was enabled to promote its financial soundness, and add to
its educational efficiency. His zeal in behalf of instruction did
not confine itself to this institution. As he had done in Virginia,
so, during his residence in Kentucky, he was constantly
finding positions as teachers for young men and women from the
East; thus giving deserving employment, and providing the
means of a better education for the children of his neighbors and
friends. It is stated that during his life he obtained at the West
situations for over fifty persons, male and female; and such was
his discrimination, that in only one or two cases did they
disappoint his expectations. About ten years before his death, he was
called to Harrodsburg to take the cashiership of the Commercial
Bank in that place. His management was admirable. In 1856,
foreseeing the approaching financial crisis, he induced the directors
to call in a large proportion of its wide circulation, thus enabling
the institution to ride out the gale without detriment.
Soon afterwards he removed to Covington, and became a member
of the firm of Buckner and Hall, of Cincinnati; but for a year or
two he had withdrawn from active business.
The almost simrultaneous death of his venerable parents, just a year
before his decease, called him temporarily to the home of his childhood.
He proposed only a few months' stay, and had taken his family
with him. His health had long been somewhat impaired; but
there was nothing to forbid the hope for him of many years
more of usefulness, until attacked with a sudden acute disease.
He breathed his last beneath the roof under which he was born.
He was a kind father, a sincere and devoted friend, a sterling
patriot, and an earnest member of the Baptist church, and was
officially connected with most of the benevolent enterprises of
that denomination in the state of his residence.
He married, 30 May, 1822, in Dinwiddie county, Va., Ann
Eliza Thompson; by whom he had one son and two daughters,
of whom the son and one daughter survive him. The other
daughter, named Mary E. Prudentia, married, 15 April, 1852,
Col. B. R. Johnson, professor in the Nashville military university.
She died in Nashville, 22 May, 1858, aged 32 years.
His wife died 13 April, 1837. He married for his second wife,
in Georgetown, Ky., 12 February, 1840, Mary R., daughter of
Kinsley and Mary Hall, of Exeter, N.H.; by whom he had two
sons and six daughters, of whom two daughters died before their
father. The other children, with their mother, survived him.
1818. - JOHN PRENTISS died in Baltimore, Md., 31 August,
1861, aged 62 years. He rode into the city in a carriage with
one of his students, from his residence at Medfield, about three
miles distant; and, while crossing the Northern Central Railway
near the junction of Cathedral and Biddle streets, his vehicle
was run against by a train of cars: he was thrown out, and
instantly killed.
Mr. Prentiss was the third son and seventh child of Rev.
Thomas (H.C. 1766) and Mary (Scollay) Prentiss, and was
born in Medfield, Mass., 10 August, 1799. His father was
son of Rev. Joshua (H.C. 1738) and Mary (Angier) Prentiss,
and was born in Holliston, Mass., 27 October, 1747; was
ordained pastor of the church in Medfield, 31 October, 1770;
and died 28 February, 1814, aged 66 years. His mother was
daughter of Dr. John Scollay, of Boston, where he held the
office of town-clerk over forty years. She died 23 September,
1841, aged 82 years. The subject of this notice pursued his
preparatory studies for admission to college under the instruction
of his father, until the death of the latter; and, in April of the
same year, he was at placed Phillips Academy in Andover, where
he completed his studies. In his sophomore year, he taught
school in Wayland, then called East Sudbury; and, in his
junior and senior years, in Medfield. He graduated with a fair
reputation for scholarship, and with a character untainted by
any of the vices of college-life, to the influences of which he
had been exposed, without experience, or any knowledge of the
world, and wvith no guide or protection but the principles of a
pure religion and the precepts of a stern morality breathed from
the lips and illustrated by the life of one of the best and tenderest
of mothers.
Notwithstanding the practice of the strictest
economy throughout his college course, he found himself, at its
close, not only without resources, but encumbered with debts
which had been unavoidably contracted. To acquit himself of
his obligations, and to furnish him with the means of prosecuting
the study of theology, which he had chosen as a profession, he
was induced to accept an appointment to the charge of the
Female High School in Charlestown, Mass., then just instituted.
Here, with one female assistant, he had intrusted to his
instruction and management three hundred pupils. That he
discharged the duties of this arduous office acceptably, may be
inferred from the fact, that, at the close of the academic year,
the engagement was renewed, and was continued, until, having
accomplished the object for which he had assumed it, in the
winter of 1819-20 he relinquished it to enter the Divinity
School at Cambridge. His connection with the school continued
until the autumn of 1822. During this time, his studies were
occasionally interrupted by ill health; and for several months
were partially suspended by his having the charge of the private
female school of Rev. Henry Colman (D.C. 1805), in
Boston, who, from severe sickness, was compelled to relinquish
it for that period. During this engagement, he was a member
of Mr. Colman's family; and the acquaintance thus begun
ripened into an intimate friendship, which ended only with the
death of this distinguished clergyman and accomplished gentleman
and scholar at Islington, near London, 17 August, 1849,
whilst engaged in agricultural inquiries in Europe, under the
auspices of the government of Massachusetts. At the close of
his theological course of study, Mr. Prentiss was compelled,
from bodily indisposition, to abandon for a time, as he then
supposed, the profession which he had chosen, and the preparatory
studies for which he had just completed. The greater part of
the year 1823 he passed at his native village, under his mother's
roof, in the vain hope of recovering his health.
Early in the winter of this year, he was induced, by the advice of
his physician, to try the effect of a milder climate; and accepted the
appointment of a tutorship in Baltimore College, Md. His
health being measurably restored by his residence in a southern
climate, in the spring of 1824 he took charge, as principal, of
one of the state academies of Maryland at Garrison Forest,
about ten miles from the city of Baltimore, in Baltimore county;
where he remained until the autumn of 1825. With health
re-established, and with the reputation of being a faithful and
successful teacher, at the solicitation of many parents whose
children had been under his instruction, he removed to Baltimore
at the above date, and opened a private school for boys;
in which he was eminently successful. The hazard he would
run in exposing himself to the rigors of a northern climate
forbade his return to New England to reside; whilst the social
relations he had formed, and the reputation he had established
as a teacher, induced him to make Baltimore his place of residence,
and school-teaching his occupation for life. In the
summer of 1833, he was elected president of the collegiate, and
principal of the academic, department of Baltimore College;
which situation he retained for eight years. During this period,
he was most laboriously and successfully employed in the direction
of this institution, having under his charge a large number
of pupils, and associated with him many assistant instructors.
Convinced by much reflection, and long experience and observation,
that the business of instruction could and ought to be
conducted without resort to corporal punishment, in entering on
the duties of his office, in a public statement of the principles
on which the institution would be conducted, he rejected entirely
the use of the rod and all physical infliction as a means of discipline.
This plan was a novel one,- one which it was believed
had never been attempted in any similar institution in this
country. It was regarded by most persons, at the outset, as
visionary and impracticable, and the public avowal of it as, of
course, impolitic. Its practicability was, however, abundantly
demonstrated, and the expediency of its adoption completely
vindicated, by an experiment of eight years' continuance, - the
period of Mr. Prentiss's administration of the affairs of this
department of the university of Maryland. In 1841, in consequence
of his health being sensibly impaired by the great
amount of labor inseparable from the proper discharge of
the duties of the office which he held, he resigned his situation,
and retired to a country-seat which he had purchased,
three and a half miles from the city of Baltimore; where he
continued to reside during the remainder of his life.
As the occupation to which he-had devoted so much of his life had
become an essential part of his being, he here opened a private
boarding-school for boys. By uniting several occupations and
amusements with the more serious and sedentary duties of instruction,
his health was completely restored. This place he
named Medfield, for his native town. Here, in a family that
afforded the attractions of home to his pupils, he labored
modestly and diligently, for twenty years, in the formation of
mental and moral character. Himself of that broad church which
never separates itself, for any creed, from any soul, but finds in
every soul an opportunity for Christian charity and work, without
professions he silently led his scholars towards Christian
faith and practice, by their expression of his own beautiful and
gentle life. He had the rare faculty of being both teacher and
friend; and the strong ties that bound him to his pupils throngh
the years were seldom broken. A conversation so even and so
gentle made his discipline strong; and even reproof from him lost
its smart and provocation, it was uttered from so gentle lips.
That he had no sympathy with the unnatural and infamous
rebellion which has been brought upon our country by ambitious,
political, and unprincipled demagogues, will be plainly seen by
the following extract from a letter, which he wrote a few days
before his death, to a near relative in Massachusetts: "I can
hardly believe that I have sunk so low in your estimation as to
be suspected, for an instant, of having any participation or
sympathy with this execrable Southern rebellion. There are,
as you suppose, some good Union people here. I am proud to
be classed as a humble member of that honorable fraternity.
Moreover, I am happy to add, on most satisfactory evidence,
that the Unionists constitute a decided majority in the state of
Maryland, and at least a very large and most respectable minority
in the monumental city, or mob-town, as you may choose to
call Baltimore! God save our commonwealth, if she should
ever be so forgetful of her interest or her honor as to make a
league with those states which are in arms against their government!
As to our city, no power, human or divine, could save it from utter
desolation and ruin in that event."
Mr. Prentiss married, 22 December, 1825, Amelia F. Kennedy,
of Baltimore.
The issue of this marriage was nine
children,- five sons and four daughters,- of whom four sons
only survived him. The oldest son is a physician, and resides on
his father's estate. His wife died February, 1857; and he married
for his second wife, July, 1858, Sarah Watson, of Nantucket, Mass.,
who survives him. By his second wife he had
one child, which died when a few months old.
1818. - Rev. CHARLES ROBINSON died in Groton, Mass.,
9 April, 1862, aged 68 years. He was the eldest son of Caleb
and Judith (Robinson) Robinson, and was born in Exeter, N.H.,
25 July, 1793. His father was a native of Exeter; as were also
his grandfather and great-grandfather on the paternal side, both
of whom bore the Christian name of Caleb. His grandfather was
a major or a lieutenant-colonel of the New Hampshire militia,
in the battle of Bunker Hill. He afterwards served as an officer
in the continental army during the revolution, and died soon
after his return from the war.
His mother was born in Gloucester, Mass. Her father's name was
John Robinson. He was an Englishman, and followed the sea as a
profession. He settled in Gloucester, and married Hannah Lane.
They had four children,- all daughters; and his wife died in
giving birth to Robinson's mother. Her husband was then at sea;
and, when he returned, the news of the death of his wife made
such an impression upon him, that he sickened, and died a few
days afterwards, leaving four fatherless and motherless children,
who were taken and cared for by their grandmother Lane, until the
oldest was married, and removed to Exeter. Robinson's mother, at
that time but a child, went with her. His father died at the
age of about 32 years, leaving his wife, with four young children,
without property: but she was a woman of very extraordinary
physical and mental powers, of great endurance, industry, and
ingenuity, which enabled her to bring up her family through
great hardships, until they were able to help themselves; and
then Robinson and two sisters devoted themselves to the attainment
of an education somewhat above the humble condition of
their lives. His mother lived to the age of 87 years, almost
always enjoying good health.
He was fitted for college at Exeter Academy. He held a
high rank of scholarship in his class, and graduated with honors.
After leaving college, he went to Maryland, where he was president
of Washington College for one year. He then returned,
and studied theology at the Divinity Slc.hool in Cambridge.
He was ordained over the Unitarian church in Eastport, Me.,
30 October, 1822; resigned his charge, 1 April, 1825. He was
installed at Groton, 1 November, 1826; and resigned in October,
1838; installed at Medfield, 16 October, 1839; resigned
1 September, 1850; installed at Peterborough, N.H., 4 December,
1851; resigned 24 June, 1860. He then returned
to Groton, where he resided until his death.
He married, for his first wife, 3 July, 1827, Jane Park, only
daughter of Stewart J. Park, of Groton; and had one child,
Jane,-born 17 March, 1828, who lived only five days. His
wife died 23 March, 1828.
He married, for his second wife, 1 January, 1830, Diantha
Prentiss, daughter of Hon. John Prentiss, of Keene, N.H.
She died at Medfield, 18 May, 1843, - no children.
He married, for his third wife, 11 September, 1844, Sally
May Cotton, daughter of Rev. Ward Cotton (H.C. 1793), of
Boylston, Mass., and had by her two children; viz., Sarah
Jane, born 29 July, 1845,-died 8 October, 1847; and Charles
Cotton, born 22 May, 1849, - who survived-him. His wife
died 6 June, 1849.
He married, for his fourth wife, 1 September, 1850,
Elizabeth Jane Burton, daughter of Jonathan Burton, of Wilton,
N.H., and had one child; viz., William Burton, born 3 April,
1854; who, with his mother, survived him.
1818. - Dr. SIMON WHITNEY died in Framingham, Mass.,
2 September, 1861, aged 62 years. He was the youngest
but one of nine children of Nathaniel Ruggles and Abigail
(Frothingham) Whitney, and was born in Watertown, Mass.,
30 October, 1798. His father was son of Simon and Mary
(Ruggles) Whitney; was born in Watertown, 19 March,
1759; was a teacher in early life, afterwards a trader and
farmer: died 17 December, 1833. His mother was daughter
of James Frothingham, for many years deacon-of Dr. Jedediah
Morse's church in Charlestown, Mass. The subject of this
notice began his preparatory studies for college under the
instruction of Abiel Jaques (H.C. 1807), at Newton Corner, Mass.,
where he remained about one year; and completed his studies
under Samuel Hunt, of Watertown (H.C. 1765). Mr. Hunt
was born in Watertown, 25 October, 1745; was appointed
master of the Boston Latin School, 8 November, 1776, where
he remained until January, 1805; when he resigned, and returned
to his native place. He afterwards went to the West;
and died in Lexington, Ky., 8 October, 1816, aged 71 years.
After leaving college, Mr. Whitney taught school six months in
Brighton; then went to Charlestown, where he taught six
months; and there hlie began the study of medicine, under the
instruction of Dr. William Johnson Walker (H.C. 1810),
where he remained until 1822, when he received his degree of
M.D.; and established himself in Framingham, where he passed
the remainder of his life.
He soon acquired an extensive practice, and gained the confidence
of the community in which he resided. His practice was in accordance
with the plain principles of the science of medicine. He dealt in no
occult sciences, nor patent medicines, which none but the initiated could
understand.
His fine powers of observation, perception, and discrimination,
enabled him to gather up, in the range of his extensive practice,
a large amount of experience and practical knowledge; and
made him always welcome to the chamber of sickness and
suffering, which his genial spirit and manners brought
confidence to, and brightened with the light of faith and
hope. As a citizen, he was honored and trusted; for he was
always ready, with heart and hand and purse, to do any good
word or work.
In the Christian church, he was a strong pillar and a beautiful
example, in ever treading in the footsteps of "Him who went
about doing good." He was repeatedly honored by offices of
honor and trust. He was surgeon of the regiment in that
vicinity five years; captain of an infantry company; leader of
the choir thirty years; was frequently elected selectman, and
chairman of the board; was a justice of the peace for fifteen
years; and was representative to the state legislature from
Framingham in 1853.
He married, 6 May, 1824, Mary Walker, daughter of
Timothy Walker, Esq., of Charlestown, and sister of Dr.
William J. Walker, with whom he studied medicine. The issue
of this marriage was eight children: viz.,
1. Elizabeth Walker, born 8 April, 1825; married, 30 August, 1845,
John W. Osgood, M.D., a practising physician in Saxonville, Mass., who
have had three children, two sons and one daughter.
2. Mary, born 16 August, 1826, and died the next day.
3. Allston Waldo, a graduate at the Harvard Medical School in 1852, and
a practising physician in South Framingham.
4. Abby Walker, born 23 July, 1829. 5. Hlenry Augustus, born 11 January,
183-1; was drowned while bathing, 22 July, 1840.
6. Harriet Lincoln, born 3 October, 1833. 7. Clarence, born 1 January,
1838. 8. James Bradish, born 22 August, 1843. His wife survived him.
1818. - Hon. JOHN HUBBARD WILKINS died in Boston,
5 December, 1861, aged 67 years, lacking five days. He was
the youngest son of Deacon Samuel and Dorcas (Towne) Wilkins,
and was born in Amherst, N.H., 10 December, 1794.
He was also grandson of Rev. Daniel Wilkins (H.C. 1736),
the first settled minister of his native town. It was the
intention of Deacon Wilkins that his youngest son should become a
merchant. He accordingly left home early in life, and was employed
in the store of a Mr. Randall, in the neighboring town of
Mount Vernon. After remaining there about a year, he went
to Boston, and was employed in the store of Mr. David S.
Eaton, on Long Wharf, where he continued until the war with
England began, in 1812. He then conceived the idea of obtaining
a more thorough education, and, having purchased some
books, returned to his native town with the view of preparing
for college. His father told him that a college education would
be very expensive; that he was unable to assist him; and that,
if he entered college, he would not succeed in going through the
course. He replied, that he thought he would try. He was
fitted for college by Rev. Humphrey Moore (H.C. 1799), of
Milford, N.H. He attained a distinguished rank of scholarship
in his class, and graduated with high honors. Immediately
after leaving college, he was appointed preceptor of Taunton
Academy, where he remained one year. He then entered the
Divinity School in Cambridge, where he studied theology two
years. In 1821, he came to Boston, and entered the bookstore
of Hilliard, Gray, and Co., as a salesman; and, in 1826,
he was admitted as a partner in that well-known publishing
house, where he remained until 1832, when he withdrew. The
next year he formed a copartnership with Mr. Charles Bolles,
under the style of John H. Wilkins and Co., as paper-dealers,
in Water Street. In 1835,
Mr. Bolles withdrew. Mr. Wilkins
then took in as a partner Mr. Richard B. Carter, and they
continued business under the firm of Wilkins and Carter; and,
in 1844, Hon. Alexander H. Rice (U.C. 1844), for two years
mayor of Boston, and afterwards a representative in Congress,
was admitted as a partner, under the style of Wilkins, Carter,
and Co. In his business, Mr. Wilkins displayed great talent and
stern integrity. He was a skilful financier, was very successful,
and acquired an ample competence. In 1853, the National Bank was
established in Boston. Mr. Wilkins, having been elected its president,
withdrew from mercantile business, and devoted himself to the interests
of that institution; which he did with rare ability.
He held the office of president until October,
1861, when, at the annual meeting, he, on account of ill health,
declined to be a candidate for re-election.
Mr. Wilkins was a most useful and valued citizen, and the
estimation in which he was held was often manifested. He was
elected a member of the Boston common-council in 1840,
1841, 1842, and 1843; was an alderman in 1844, 1848, and
1849; was elected to the senate in the state legislature in 1850
and 1851; and was a member of the state convention in 1853.
He was for five years president of the Cochituate Water Board.
He was once a candidate for mayor, but failed of an election by
a few votes.
In 1822, he published a work entitled "Elements of Astronomy,"
for the use of schools and academies. This treatise met
with a rapid sale. The encouragement he received induced him
to correct and somewhat enlarge his work; and, in 1823, he
issued a second edition. Subsequently, the book was stereotyped.
In 1822, the celebrated mathematician, Warren Colburn (H.C. 1820),
wrote thus to Mr. Wilkins: "I have examined your treatise on astronomy,
and I think that subject is better explained, and that more matter is
contained in this, than in any other book of the kind with which I am
acquainted."
During the discussion of the subject of introducing water into
the city of Boston, Mr. Wilkins took a prominent part. He
wrote several pamphlets on the question, which were printed,
and contributed many valuable articles in the newspapers. At
the consecration, 24 June, 1852, of Mount-Hope Cemetery, in
Dorchester and West Roxbury, he acted as president of the
corporation, and made some introductory remarks, which were
published in the pamphlet containing the order of services. He
was one of the most active and efficient members in establishing
the New-Jerusalem (Swedenborgian) Church in Boston, of which
his classmate, Rev. Thomas Worcester, D.D., is the pastor.
The total amount of his donations to the society, it is said, were
not less than fifty thousand dollars.
He married, 17 November, 1826, Mrs. Thomasine E. Minot;
she being a sister of the late Professor William Cranch Bond,
of Harvard College. He had no children. His wife survives
him.
1819. - Rev. WILLIAM FARMER died in Lunenburg, Mass.,
24 June, 1862, aged 69 years. He was son of Jonas and
Mary (Whitney) Farmer, and was born in Townsend, Mass.,
24 February, 1793. He was fitted for college at the academies
at New Ipswich, N.H., and Groton, Mass. After leaving college,
he studied divinity with Rev. Thomas Beede, of Wilton,
N.H. (H.C. 1798), and Rev. Eli Smith, of Hollis, N.H.
(B.C. 1792); but'completed his theological studies at the
Divinity School at Cambridge. He was ordained over the Unitarian
church in Belgrade, Me., 18 May, 1831. Here he
remained about six years, when he resigned his pastoral charge.
He preached afterwards, about two years, in Dresden, Me.;
and, for a year or more, in various places,- in West Boylston
and Lunenburg, Mass., in Fitzwilliam, N.H., and Pomfret, Vt.
He had been an invalid for many years, and suffered often from
pulmonary hemorrhage and other serious symptoms before he
relinquished preaching. His decline was very gradual; and his
bodily sufferings, which towards the last were particularly
irritating, were borne with great patience. He was a true Christian,
and was warmly interested in every thing that concerned his
Alma Mater.
He married, 15 October, 1851, Mrs. Lovina Jackson.
They had no children. His wife survived him.
1819. - JOSEPH HARDY PRINCE died in Boston, 18 Novem-
ber, 1861, aged 60 years. He was son of Capt. Henry and
Sarah (Millet) Prince, and was born in Salem, Mass., 7 June,
1801. He was fitted for college partly by Abiel Chandler
(H.C. 1806), and partly by Samuel Adams (H.C. 1806).
After leaving college, he studied law in the office of Hon.
John Pickering, of Salem (H.C. 1796); and began the practice
of his profession in Salem. He was a representative to the
state legislature from Salem, in 1825. In 1834, he was appointed
an inspector in the Boston custom-house. He was
private-secretary for Com. Eliot, of the frigate " Constitution,"
in 1835, on the voyage to France to bring home the Hon. Edward
Livingston, the American minister, on account of the differences
with that nation. On his return, he pursued the practice
of law in Boston. In 1848, he was appointed to the surveyor's
department of customs. After leaving that office, he resumed
his profession, which he continued to the end of his life. He
was ever tenaciously devoted to the democratic party, and was
an early advocate of Andrew Jackson. He delivered an oration
on the 4th of July, 1828, before the Washington Society.
Afterwards, when Andrew Dunlap moved that a copy be requested
for the press, Mr. Prince said, "If I have done any
thing towards rekindling the fire of the old democracy, if I have
contributed a pebble to the pile in the cause of principle against
corruption, I shall be satisfied."
Mr. Prince married, late in life, Mary Hunt, of Salem; but
had no children.
1821. - Dr. JONAS HENRY LANE died in Boston, 5 September, 1861,
aged 61 years. He was son of Jonas and Eunice (Kendall) Lane,
and was born in Lancaster, Mass., 28 January, 1800. His name was
originally Henry Lane; but, by act of the legislature, he was allowed
to prefix the name of Jonas, which he did from respect to his father.
He began his preparatory studies for entering college at Groton Academy,
where he remained one term; then he went to Leicester Academy; and he
completed his preparatory studies at the scientificschool in Lancaster,
under the instruction of Jared Sparks (H. C. 1815), afterwards president
of Harvard College. He attained adistinguished rank of scholarship in his
class, and graduated with high honors.
He studied medicine with Dr. Silas Pearson, of
Westminster, Mass. He was, while studying his profession, for
some time house-physician at the Massachusetts General Hospital
in Boston, and subsequently an assistant at the McLean
Asyluin for the Insane, at Somerville. On receiving his degree
of M.D., in 1826, he began the practice of his profession in
Boston, where he passed the remainder of his life; having
attained a highly respectable rank in his profession, gained an
extensive practice, and reaped a rich reward for his skill, fidelity
to his profession, and his amiable and exemplary life. Modest
in his deportment, he never entered public life, or sought any
office. He held the even tenor of his way; was as faithful and
diligent in his attendance on the poor to whom he was called,
and who were unable to compensate him for his services, as he
was to those who had abundant wealth to reward him. He was
a cheerful, happy Christian; and was emphatically "the beloved
physician."
He married, 6 October, 1830, Frances Ann Brown, of Norwich, Conn.
The issue of this marriage was three daughters
and one son; of whom the son and
two of the daughters, with
their mother, survived him.
1824. - JOHN MARK GOURGAS, of Quincy, died in Roxbury, Mass.,
28 June, 1862, aged 58 years. He was son of
John Mark and Margaret (Sampson) Gourgas, and was born
at Milton Upper Mills, Mass., 25 March, 1804. He was fitted
for college at Exeter (N.H.) Academy. He studied law in the
office of Hon. Lemuel Shaw (IH. C. 1800), and settled in
Quincy. He was never married.
1825. - ISAIAH THOMAS was lost at sea, probably the last
week in February, 1862. He was the son of Isaiah and Mary
(Weld) Thomas, and was born in Worcester, Mass., 29 November, 1805.
His father was the oldest son of Isaiah Thomas,
the eminent printer, and author of the " History of Printing;"
and was born in Boston, 5 September, 1773. His mother was
daughter of Edward Weld, of Boston. The subject of this
notice was fitted for college at Leicester Academy. After grad-
uating, he went to Cincinnati, O., where he was, for a time,
editor of the "American" newspaper, and afterwards was a
merchant in that city; thence he removed to New York. In
January, 1862, he was appointed consul to Algiers, and took
passage in the ship " Milwaukie," Capt. Rhodes, from New York
for Havre, with his only daughter and two of his sons; thence
to proceed to Algiers. The ship sailed on the 21st of February,
and was never afterwards heard from. It is supposed she foundered,
on the 28th of the same month, in a gale which occurred
at that time.
He married, 30 May, 1831, in Cincinnati, Mary Ann
Ruder, of that city; by whom he had four sons and five daughters,
of whom four of his daughters had deceased. Two sons
only survived him, - one in a mercantile house in Boston,
and the other in the army. His wife died about nine years
since.
1827. - CORNELIUS CONWAY FELTON, of Cambridge,
Mass., died in Chester, Penn., 26 February, 1862, aged
54 years. He left Cambridge about three weeks previously
for Washington, D.C., and stopped at the residence of
his brother, Samuel Morse Felton (H. C. 1834), where he
was suddenly taken ill with a disease of the heart, of which he
had several times before had attacks. He was son of Cornelius
Conway and Anna (Morse) Felton, and was born in West
Newbury, Mass., 6 November, 1807. His father was born in
Marblehead. His mother was born in Newbury, died in 1825;
and his father married for his second wife Mrs. Boynton,
whose first husband was a farmer in Saugus, Mass. She was
a Torrey, of Scituate, Mass. She died many years ago at the
McLean Asylum in Somerville, Mass. In 1815, he moved
with his father to the corner of Chelsea, which belonged to a
parish in Saugus. His father lived in great poverty during the
war of 1812, although he had a good business as a chaisemaker,
to which he served his apprenticeship with Mr. Abner
Greenleaf, of West Newbury. But the whole establishment was
broken up by the war; and, to earn a livelihood, he became a
toll-keeper at Chelsea, on the Newburyport turnpike. When he
married his second wife, he took her farm, with its encumbrances,
in Saugus, and carried it on several years; then he sold it, and
went to Charlestown, where he was employed in the construction of
the Warren bridge, of which he had the charge, and was
one of the toll-keepers of it. When the Fitchburg railroad was
put in operation, he was contractor for all the wood burned
on the road, and at the same time bought a farm in Littleton,
Mass., where he died.
From his early youth, young Felton was very fond of study;
which propensity was encouraged by his mother. His father,
seeing his passion for learning, thought he might afford to send
him to school one quarter; and he was placed in the academy
at Bradford, Mass., under Benjamin Greenleaf, and under the
tutelage of the venerable Joshua Coffin. From Bradford, he
returned to the town-school in Saugus. Early in the summer
of 1822, his father sent him to the private school of Mr. Simeon
Putnam, in North Andover. When he went there, he intended to
study one quarter. Mr. Putnam was an enthusiastic
scholar; a great lover of the classics; a man very austere in
his manners, but gentle and kind to all who wanted to study,
and awakened an extravagant enthusiasm in all his pupils. After
some time, knowing Felton's father's circumstances, he called
him up to him one day, and told him he wanted him to go to
college, and would trust him for his tutorage until he could repay
it. He therefore remained at the school one year and three
months. In that period, he read Sallust four times, Cicero's
Orations four times, Virgil six times, Greca Minora five or
six times, and the poetry of it, until he could repeat nearly the
whole by memory; the Annals and History of Tacitus, Justin,
Cornelius Nepos; the Anabasis of Xenophon; four books of Robinson's
Selections from the Iliad; the Greek Testament four
times: besides writing a translation of one of the Gospels, and a
translation of the whole of Grotius de Veritate, which he carried
in manuscript to college. He also wrote a volume of about
three hundred pages of Latin exercises, and one of about two
hundred pages of Greek exercises. He also studied carefully all
the mathematics and geography requisite to enter college.
These severe studies greatly affected his health. Still, while in
college, he studied a great deal of extra Greek; also modern languages
French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese - and some
Hebrew. In the winter vacation of his freshman year, he was
employed in the college library. In the sophomore year, he
taught school in Concord; in the junior year, in Bolton; during
the rest of the junior year, or six months, he taught mathematics
in Round-Hill School, kept by Cogswell and Bancroft, in Northampton.
He was also one of the editors of the " Harvard Register."
After graduating, he was engaged fbr two years with his
classmates, Cleveland and Sweetser, in the charge of
the Livingston-county high-school at Genleseo, N.Y.
He was then appointed Latin tutor in Harvard College;
and the next year was appointed tutor in Greek, which office
he held two years; and, in 1834, he was appointed Eliot Professor
of Greek Literature. This professorship he held until the 16th
of February, 1860, when he was chosen president of the college.
In 1833, he published an edition of Homer, with English notes and
Flaxman's illustrations, which has since passed through several editions,
with revisions and emendations. In 1840, a translation by him
of Menzell's work on " German Literature," in three volumes,
was published among Ripley's " Specimens of Foreign Literature."
In the same year, he gave to the public a " Greek Reader," containing
selections in prose and verse from Greek authors, with
English notes, and a vocabulary: this has since been frequently
reprinted. In 1841, he published an edition of the "Clouds"
of Aristophanes, with an introduction and notes; since revised,
and republished in England. In 1843, he aided Prof. Sears and
Prof. Edwards in the preparation of a work on classical studies,
containing essays on classical subjects, mostly translated from
the German. He assisted Prof. Longfellow in the preparation
of the "Poets and Poetry of Europe," which appeared in 1845.
In 1847, editions of the "Panegyricus" of Isocrates, and of the
"Agamemnon" of 2Eschylus, with introductions and English
notes, were published by him. A second edition of the former
appeared in 1854, and of the latter in 1859. In 1849, he translated,
from the French, the work of Prof. Guyot on physical
geography, called The Earth and Man;" and, in the same
year, he published an edition of the "Birds" of Aristophanes,
with an introduction and English notes, which was republished
in England. In 1852, he edited a selection from the writings of
Prof. Popkin, his predecessor in the Eliot professorship, with
an introductory biographical notice. In the same year, he
published a volume of selections from the Greek historians,
arranged in the order of events.
The period from April, 1853, to May,
1854, was spent by him in a European tour; in the course of
which he visited Great Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland,
Italy, and Greece; giving about five months to the last-named
country, visiting its most interesting localities, and carefully
studying its architectural remains. In 1855, he revised, for
publication in the United States, Smith's "History of Greece," adding
a preface, notes, and a continuation from the Roman conquest to
the present time. In the same year, an edition of Lord Carlisle's
" Diary in Turkish and Greek Waters" was prepared by him for
the American press, with notes, illustrations, and a preface. In
1856, a selection by him from modern Greek writers, in prose
and verse, was published.
Besides the above, he compiled an elementary work on Greek
and Roman metres; was the author of a life of Gen. Eaton,
in Sparks's "American Biography;" of various occasional
addresses; and of numerous contributions to the " North-American
Review," " Christian Examinler," andother periodical publications.
A series of vigorous articles on
spiritualism, which appeared in the "Boston Courier" in 1857-8,
were understood to have proceeded from his pen. He delivered
three courses of lectures before the Lowell Institute in Boston,
on subjects connected with the history and literature of Greece.
In the summer of 1858, he made a second visit to Europe, partly
on account of his impaired health, and partly to complete some
investigations into the language, topography, and education of
Greece. He was a member of the Massachusetts Board of Education,
and one of the regents of the Smithsonian Institution; a
member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of
the Massachusetts Historical Society; and a corresponding
member of the Archeological Society of Athens. The degree
of doctor of laws was conferred upon him by Amherst College
in 1848. He was a gentleman of genial and social habits, and
was warmly loved by a large circle of friends.
He married, in the summer of 1838, Mary Whitney, daughter of
Asa Whitney, a merchant of Boston. She died 12 April,
1845, leaving two daughters. He married, for his second wife,
28 September, 1846, Mary Louisa Cary, daughter of Hon.
Thomas Greaves and Mary (Perkins) Cary, of Boston. By
his second wife he had two sons and one daughter, who, with
their mother, survived him.
1829. JOSIAH QUINCY LORING died in Weston, Mass.,
6 April, 1862, aged 51 years, lacking four days. He was the
youngest son of Elijah and Abigail (Rand) Loring, and was
born in Boston, 10 April, 1811. He was a pupil of the somewhat
celebrated Lawson Lyon, of Boston (H.C. 1805); but
subsequently entered the Boston Latin School. At this school
he was fitted for college. He entered in 1825. He left college
at the end of his sophomore year; but rejoined his class at the
beginning of his senior year, and graduated with them. In
November, 1829, he entered the Law School at Cambridge.
Here he remained one year; when he relinquished the study of
the law, and passed the winter of 1830-31 in Boston, pursuing
some favorite mathematical studies with Rev. Tilly Brown Hayward,
of Boston (H.C. 1820). In the summer of 1831, he
taught a school at Jamaica Plain, Roxbury; and in the autumn
following went into his father's counting-room, having at length
reached the occupation he had most desired. He did not, however,
long pursue mercantile business. He finally removed
to Weston, where he had purchased a farm; and was engaged in
agriculture the remainder of his life. He was possessed of
excellent natural gifts, of a fine literary taste, and of many
scholarly acquirements. He was a man of the most unbending integrity,
of a high sense of honor, and of most benevolent feelings, manifesting
themselves in many a generous deed. If he had faults,
others were not made the sufferers, except as they sympathized
with his suffering and pain. Intimately known to but few,
those few will never forget his many kind and generous qualities.
He married, 27 December, 1849, Miss Christian W. Renton,
daughter of Dr. Peter Renton, of Boston. They had four children;
of whom three, with their mother, survived him.
1831. - ALEXANDER RAMSAY BRADLEY died in Fryeburg,
Me., 16 February, 1862, aged 52 years. He was the third
son of Robert and Abigail (Bailey) Bradley, and was born in
Fryeburg, 5 November, 1809. His father was born in Concord,
N.H., 17 June, 1772; removed to Fryeburg in 1801,
where he resided until his death. His great-great-grandfather,
Samuel Bradley, was killed by the Indians, near Concord, N.H.,
11 August, 1746.
His maternal grandfather was Col. Ward
Bailey, of Lemington, Vt.; and his maternal grandmother was
Mary Sargeant, sister of Hon. Nathaniel Peaslee Sargeant
(H.C. 1750), formerly chief-justice of the Supreme Court of
Massachusetts. The early studies of young Bradley were pursued
under the instruction of Rev. Benjamin Glazier Willey
(Bowd. C. 1822), of Conway, N.H.; in whose house he passed
several years, preparatory to entering Phillips Academy in
Exeter, N.H., where he was fitted for college. While in college,
he was remarkable for his social amenity, and for his athletic
characteristics. After graduating, he pursued his professional
studies in the office of his uncle, Col. Samuel Ayer Bradley
(D.C. 1799), who was, at that time, in partnership with John
S. Barrows, Esq., of Fryeburg. He there acquired a good
knowledge of law as a science, although having a distaste
for the practice, as he had also for the details of business; the
characteristics of his mind being rather for general literary
pursuits. In 1835, on motion of Hon. Charles Stewart Daveis,
he was admitted to the bar; but, for some years, was engaged
in the speculations in timber-lands, in which, at that time, the
fortunes of so many were embarked. More fortunate, if not
wiser, than numbers who make similar ventures, he returned to
the practice of law with some small capital yet remaining; and
thenceforth attended to his professional duties, without much
interruption, until the time of his death. His practice, though
somewhat extensive, both in his own state and in New Hampshire,
was never a source of much profit to himself; the chief
reason of which was his neglect of keeping proper accounts,
and collecting his dues. In his social and domestic relations,
he was fortunately and happily situated.
He married, November, 1835, Mary O. Barrows, daughter of William
Barrows, Esq., of Yarmouth, Me.; by whom he had thirteen children,
- ten sons and three daughters. Two sons and two daughters
died at an early age. His wife died 27 December, 1861.
There are eight sons and one daughter living. The first and
second sons graduated in the same class at Bowdoin College in
1858; the elder of whom, Samuel Ayer Bradley, is now professor
of mathematics in Western Union College, Fulton, Ill.:
the second, Alexander Stuart Bradley, who has been engaged
in surveying western governmnent-lands for the last two or three
years, came home in the fall of 1861 to see his sick parents; and,
in consequence of their decease, remained to take care of the
younger members of the family, and pursued the study of law.
The attachment of Mr. Bradley for his wife was one that
years, and the care and trouble attendant upon providing for a
large family, never diminished, but strengthened; and her death,
which occurred after a lingering illness of consumption, entirely
prostrated him. He seldom left his room after that event; and
there is no doubt that the final attack of the disorder which
proved fatal to him was brought on by excessive grief at her
loss. A week before his death, it was evident that the faculties
of his mind'were giving way; and he did not regain possession of
them during life; passing into total unconsciousness a
few hours before he expired. All who were intimate with him
bore testimony to the unusual amount of general knowledge
which he possessed, which rendered him exceedingly entertaining
and instructive in his social intercourse with them; and to his
high character as an honorable and upright man.
1832. - Rev. CHARLES MASON died in Boston, 23 March,
1862, aged 49 years. He was son of Hon. Jeremiah (Y.C.
1788) and Mary (Means) Mason, and was born in Portsmouth,
N.H., 25 July, 1812. His father, who was an eminent jurist,
and one of the most brilliant members of the bar, was born in
Lebanon, Conn., 27 April, 1768; and died in Boston, 14 Octo
ber, 1848. The subject of this notice was fitted for college by
Rev. Andrew Preston Peabody (H.C. 1826). He held a high
rank of scholarship in his class, and graduated with honors.
After leaving college, he began the study of theology at the
seminary at Andover, and completed his course of studies at
the New-York Episcopal Seminary. He was ordained as deacon, in
Boston, 31 July, 1836. He was inducted rector of the
Episcopal church in Salem, Mass., 31 May, 1837, where he
continued a faithful and beloved teacher of the gospel until
30 May, 1847, when he resigned his pastoral charge, and
removed to Boston. He was inducted rector of Grace Church,
in Temple Street, Boston, in September, 1847.
Being possessed of a competence, his generous nature was evinced
by the fact, that he gave his entire salary back to the church.
No clergyman in the city probably labored more earnestly than he to
advance the cause of religion. He was of an amiable and
social disposition, a kind husband and parent. The honorary
degree of doctor of divinity was conferred upon him by Harvard
College in 1858; and he received the like honor from Trinity
College in Hartford, Conn., the same year. He was elected a
member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 10 November,
1859.
He married, 11 June, 1838, Susan Lawrence, daughter of
Amnos Lawrence, of Boston, by whom he had three daughters
and one son. His wife died 2 December, 1844. He married
for his second wife, 9 August, 1849, Anna Huntington Lyman,
of Northampton, Mass.; by whom he had two daughters and
one son. All his children and his second wife survived him.
1833. - THOMAS BUTLER POPE died at his residence in
Appleton Place, Roxbury, near Longwood, 15 January, 1862,
aged 48 years, lacking seven days. He was son of Lemuel and
Sally Belknap (Russell) Pope, and was born in Boston, 22
January, 1814. His father was a very respectable citizen, and, for
many years, president of the Boston Insurance Company. He
died in Roxbury in 1851. His mother was sister of the late
Nathaniel Pope Russell, Esq., and second cousin of Rev. Dr.
Jeremy Belknap. He was fitted for college at the Boston Latin
School, and entered at the beginning of the sophomore year.
His course in college was acceptable. After graduating, he
entered the Law School of the University, and subsequently studied
in the office of Hon. Charles Greely Loring, of Boston (H.C.
1812). In the summer of 1836, he was admitted to the Suffolk
bar, and began to practise. In 1840, he formed a partnership
with Charles Henry Parker (It.C. 1835), which continued until
1853, and then terminated on that gentleman becoming treasurer
of the Suffolk Savings Bank.
Though beginning the practice of law under good auspices,
and, in some respects, manifesting proficiency, he was tempted
to enter into speculations quite foreign to his profession. In
this he simply followed the example of many other lawyers:
but, with him, his ventures met with disasters; and, being
continued, resulted in bankruptcy of fortmune, though his probity
was unscathed. His affairs were so much embarrassed in 1858,
the year when his class celebrated their "silver wedding," that
he was with difficulty induced to attend the meeting. In 1859,
he went into insolvency. His pecuniary misfortunes preyed
upon him, and, it was thought, somewhat affected his mind for
several of the last years of his life. The disease of which he
finally died was softening of the brain, which began to come on,
it was thought, about two years before his death. On the 1st
of April, 1861, whilst riding from Boston, he was seized with
an attack of paralysis, affecting his lower limbs. He was
conveyed to his home, and never left it again. After lingering
more than nine months, he died.
He married, 3 June, 1846, Gertrude, daughter of the late
John Binney, Esq., of Boston, who survived him. He left also
three daughters,- Gertrude Binney, born 1847; Louisa Binney,
born 1855; and Mary Binney, born 1858.
1837. - Dr. JOHN FOSTER WILLIAMS LANE died in Boston,
25 August, 1861, aged 44 years. He was son of Frederick
and Eliza (Bonner) Lane, and was born in Boston, 14 June,
1817. He was fitted for college at the Boston Latin School,
where a Franklin medal was awarded to him in 1831. He left
the school at that time; and, being only thirteen years of age,
his parents, thinking he was too young to enter college, sent
him to Europe; and he spent two years in Italy and France,
studying the modern languages.
He returned in 1833, and entered the freshman class.
He attained a high rank of scholarship in his class,
and graduated with distinction. After leaving
college, he studied medicine under the instruction
of Dr. Winslow Lewis (H.C. 1819). On receiving his degree of M.D.,
he established himself in Boston, where he soon acquired an
extensive practice. His prospects were flattering for attaining
an eminent rank in his profession; but he was very suddenly cut
off in the prime of life. He married, 3 June, 1849, Phebe A.
Stewart, of Boston, who survives him. He had no children.
1837. - DAVID HENRY THOREAU died in Concord, Mass.,
6 May, 1862, aged 44 years. He was son of John and Cynthia
(Dunbar) Thoreau, and was born in Concord, 12 July,
1817. His father, who was a pencil-maker, son of John and
Jeannie (Burns) Thoreau, was born in Boston. His grandfather
came from St. Helier, on the Island of Jersey, and was
of French origin. A Burns left property in Sterling,
Scotland, to his wife, the said Jeannie Burns, and said it was worth
attending to; but the papers to obtain it, though three attempts
were made, never reached Scotland. This was about fifty years
ago.
His grandfather had a brother Philip in the Island of
Jersey. He was a cooper; but business was dull; and he
shipped as a sailor on board a vessel in which John Adams
went to France, in the American revolution. He came to this
country about 1773. After the termination of the war, he
went into business at No. 45, Long Wharf, Boston, in a very
small way, in company with a Mr. Phillips, under the firm of
Thoreau and Phillips. He accumulated a large property, and
removed to Concord, where he died of consumption about one
year afterwards, in consequence of a cold caught in patrolling
the streets in Boston, in a heavy rain in the night, when a
Catholic riot was expected, about 1801. His first wife died
Dot long before he did; and he married a Miss Kettle, of Concord,
sometimes spelled Kettell, by whom he had no children.
Mr. Thoreau's mother was daughter of Asa and Mary (Jones)
Dunbar, and was born in Keene, N.H. Her mother belonged
to the Jones family of Weston. Her father, Rev. Asa Dunbar
(H.C. 1767), was a minister in Salem, and afterwards a
lawyer in Keene, an eminent freemason; died 22 June, 1787,
aged 42 years, and was buried with masonic honors. Young
Thoreau was fitted for college at Concord Academy by Phineas
Allen (H.C. 1825).
While in college, he kept school six
weeks in Canton, and boarded with Orestes A. Brownson.
They studied the German reader together very industriously,
and talked philosophy till eleven o'clock, nights. Thoreau
became sick, and was obliged to leave his school. This was in
his junior year. After graduating, he taught the public school
a few weeks; then a private school in Concord two or three
years. Not long afterwards, he spent six months as a private
tutor in the family of William Emerson (H.C. 1818), on
Staten Island, N.Y. For two years at one time, and one year at
another, he was a member of the family of Ralph Waldo
Emerson (H.C. 1821) in Concord. With the exception of the
six months at Staten Island, he resided constantly in Concord,
leading chiefly an agricultural and literary life; supporting
himself by his own hands, being a pencil-maker; often employed as
a painter, surveyor, and carpenter. Nearly every year, he made
an excursion on foot to the woods and mountains in Maine, New
Hampshire, New York, and other places. For two years and
two months continuously, he lived by himself in a small house
or hut of his own building, about a mile and a half from Concord
village.
He was well known to the public as the author
of two remarkable books, "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack
Rivers," published in 1849; and "Walden, or Life in the
Woods,"' published in 1854. These books have never had a
wide circulation, but are well known to the best readers, and
have exerted a powerful influence on an important class of
earnest and contemplative persons. He led the life of a
philosopher, subordinating all other pursuits and so-called
duties to his pursuit of knowledge, and to his own estimate of duty.
He was a man of firm mind and direct dealing; never disconcerted,
and not to be turned, by any inducement, from his own course.
He had a penetrating insight into men with whom he conversed,
and was not to be deceived or used by any party, and did not
conceal his disgust at any duplicity. As he was incapable of
the least dishonesty or untruth, he had nothing to hide; and
kept his haughty independence to the end. He was never
married.
1841. - CHARLES FREDERICK SIMMONS was lost at sea, in
February or March, 1862, at the age of 41 years. He was the
youngest son of Hon. William (H.C. 1804) and Lucia (Hammatt)
Simmons, and was born in Boston, 27 January, 1821.
His father was born in Hanover, Mass., 9 July, 1782; was a
lawyer in Boston, and for many years one of the judges of the
Police Court; and died 17 June, 1843, aged 61 years. His
mother was a native of Plymouth. He was a school-boy at
the Latin School in Boston, and nearly ready to enter college,
when ill health compelled an absence for several months of
country life: his preparatory studies were finished under the
direction of his brother, the Rev. George Frederick Simmons
(H.C. 1832); and he entered Harvard College in 1837. After
the usual college course, he studied law in the office of David A.
Simmons; and except as interrupted by ill health, at one time,
in his early professional life,- being from this cause absent for
three years from his office,- he was in general practice as a
lawyer in Boston, devoting himself during the last three years
chiefly to conveyancing, and to the law of real estate. At an
early period of the war, he received a commission as adjutant
of the Fourteenth Massachusetts Volunteers, when he gave all
his energy to the formation of that regiment. The exposures
and hardships of military life were cheerfully borne by him;
but a long march with his regiment, in severely cold and
stormy weather, proved too much for his physical strength
from the ill effects of this march he never recovered. After a
long furlough, during which he hoped, in vain, quickly to regain
his customary health, he resigned his commission, and, for the
benefit of a sea voyage, left Boston, in the English brig
"Gypsy," on the 25th of February, 1862, for St. Jago, Cuba.
Violent gales swept along the Atlantic coast during the early
part of March, and in these the brig must have foundered:
after her departure from Boston, no tidings of the brig, her
passengers, her crew, ever came; no floating spar, no fragment,
was ever seen.
Mr. Simmons was a man of artistic tastes, of reserved
manners, of great penetration, and much power of sarcasm.
The influence of his residence at Concord, during the last year
of his life, led him to embrace the soldier's life early and
earnestly, and to associate the welfare of the negro race closely
with the objects of the war.
1842. - GEORGE EDWARD RICE, of Boston, died in Roxbury,
Mass., 10 August, 1861, aged 39 years. Hie was son of
Henry and Maria (Burroughs) Rice, and was born in Boston,
10 July, 1822. He was fitted for college partly at the'Latin
School in Boston, and partly at the school of Mr. E. L. Cushing
(H.C. 1827). After leaving college, he studied law with
Charles G. Loring (HI.C. 1812) and William Dehon (H.C.
1833), of Boston, and practised his profession in his native city.
He was a gentleman of fine literary taste; and contributed valuable
articles to the best periodicals in the country, including the
" North-American Review." He also possessed much poetical
talent, with keen wit. He was author of several humorous
plays, which were performed at theatres, and received with great
applause. He published several matters of a humorous character, and
subsequently two small volumes of poems, under the
titles of "Ephemera" and "Nugamenta." He was widely
known as a writer of genuine sarcastic wit. He was possessed
of a sensitive mind and nervous temperament, easily excited by
any unusual event of joy or sorrow.
He married, 28 December, 1857, Tirzah Maria Crockett,
daughter of George W. Crockett, Esq., of Boston. She died
10 January, 1859, at the age of 27 years, without issue.
1845.- GEORGE DWIGHT GUILD died in Brookline (Longwood Village),
5 May, 1862, aged 37 years. He was son of Moses and Juliette (Ellis)
Guild, and was both in Dedham, Mass., 17 March, 1825. He was fitted
for college at Wrentham Academy. After graduating, he began the study
of law at the Law School at Cambridge; and completed his studies in
the office of Charles Mayo Ellis (H.C. 1839), of Boston. On
his admission to the bar, he established himself in the practice
of his profession in Boston, where he remained until his death.
He devoted himself to his profession with great assiduity, and
soon acquired an extensive practice. He was a safe counsellor;
and his legal acquirements, had his life been spared, would
probably have obtained for him judicial honors. Single-hearted
integrity was the basis of his whole intellectual life.
His gentleness and uncompromising uprightness commanded the esteem
and insured the confidence and respect of all with whom he came
in contact.
He married, 13 September, 1860, Mary M. Thomas, daughter of William Thomas,
Esq., president of the Webster Bank in Boston. His wife and an infant child
survive him.
1849. - HENRY MIDDLETON RUTLEDGE FOGG, of Nashville,
Tenn., was killed in the battle of Somerset, Ky., 19 January,
1862, aged 31 years. He was the second son of Francis
Brinley and Mary (Rutledge) Fogg, and was born in Nashville,
16 September, 1830. His father was a son of Rev. Daniel Fogg
(H.C. 1764), an Episcopal clergyman of Brooklyn, Conn.;
was born in Kensington, Conn., 18 August, 1743; married
Deborah Brinley, daughter of Francis Brinley, of Newport, R.I.,
and Alef, his wife, a daughter of Hon. Godfrey Malbone, of that
city; and died in Brooklyn in 1815, aged 72 years. His mother
was daughter of Hon. Edward Rutledge, of Charleston, S.C.
He was a fine scholar, and graduated with high honor. After
leaving college, he visited Europe; and, on his return, studied
law with his father, one of the ablest lawyers and ripest scholars
in the valley of the Mississippi. It may be added that the
latter studied law with his relative, the Hon. William Hunter,
of Newport, R.I., who received his legal education in London.
On being admitted to the bar, Francis Brinley Fogg removed
to Nashville, Tenn., and became the partner of the late Felix
Grundy; and in their office the late President Polk acquired his
legal education. Young Fogg became a promising lawyer; was
talented and spirited. A little South-Carolina blood, probably,
led him into the rebel army. He left his business to become an
aide to Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer; and they were both killed
in the battle at Somerset.
Fogg's brother, Francis Brinley Fogg,, jun., was educated at
the university in Nashville, Tenn.; but studied his profession
at the Law School in Cambridge, graduating, in 1846.
He returned to Nashville, where he began to practise with
marked success. He died, after a brief illness in
that city, in February, 1848. Fogg's parents are now left
childless, having lost their only daughter a few years ago.
1849. - Dr. JOHN SMITH NICHOLS died in Nevada, Cal.,
January, 1862, aged 35 years. He was the ninth child and
third son of Ezra and Waity Gray (Smith) Nichols, and was
born in Middleton, Mass., 20 June, 1826. His father was born
in October, 1789; was married in Seabrook, N.H.; and died in
September, 1848. The son was fitted for college at Andover.
After leaving college, he studied medicine with Dr. Ezra
Addison Searle Nichols, of Cambridge. He received his degree of
M.D. in 1851, and established himself in the practice of his
profession in Cambridge. He afterwards removed to Woonsocket,
R.I.; and finally went to California.
1849. - Col. EVERETT PEABODY died in Pittsburg, Tenn.,
6 April, 1862, aged 31 years. He was killed in battle. He
was the second son of Rev. William Bourne Oliver (H.C.
1816) and Eliza Amelia (White) Peabody, and was born in
Springfield, Mass., 13 June, 1830. His father was son of
Hon. Oliver Peabody (H.C. 1773), of Exeter, N.H., where
he was born, 9 July, 1799; was ordained at Springfield,
October, 1820; and died 29 May, 1847. His mother was the
second daughter and eighth child of Major Moses and Elizabeth
Amelia (Atlee) White, of Rutland, Mass.; and was born 24
May, 1799. The subject of this notice was fitted for college
by his father, and entered the University of Vermont, at
Burlington, as freshman, in 1845, where he remained one year;
then left, and entered as sophomore at Harvard College in 1846.
On leaving college, he concluded to adopt engineering as a
profession; and he was employed on the Cochituate water-works
one or two months, under Mr. Chesborough. He then went
on to the Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati Railroad, as a
leveller. He rose rapidly in his profession. Went on to the
Pacific Railroad, in Missouri, in 1851; went on to the Maysville
and Lexington Railroad, Ky., in 1852; became chief of
the Memphis and Ohio Railroad in 1853; became resident
engineer on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad in 1855;
chief-engineer of the Platte-County Railroad in 1859. When
the war broke out, he raised a battalion, received a commission
as major, and was busily employed in repairing and defending
the railway-communications of Northern Missouri.
He commanded twelve hundred men at the siege of Lexington. He
was slightly wounded in the chest, and severely in the foot,
which lamed him for life. He was confined to his bed for two
months, and went on crutches for two more. He re-organized
his regiment (the Twenty-fifth Missouri) in spite of great
opposition, and was ordered to join Gen. Grant's army. Upon his
joining the force under Gen. Grant, the command of a brigade
under Gen. Prentiss was assigned to him, on the exposed left
wing of the army nearest the enemy; and here, in the unequal
conflict which that wing maintained, he was killed. He was
six feet and one inch in stature, very broad and powerful;
hardy and rugged, hardly knowing what sickness was; gay, and
careless of the future; very chivalrous, and of dauntless courage.
1850. - Dr. EDWVARD BROOKS EVERETT died in Boston,
5 November, 1861, aged 31 years. He was son of Hon.
Edward (H.C. 1811) and Charlotte Gray (Brooks) Everett,
and was born in the house of his grandfather, Hon. Peter
Chardon Brooks, at Medford, Mass., 6 May, 1830. He went
with his parents to Europe in 1840 (his father having been
appointed minister to the Court of St. James), and was at school
successively at Paris, Florence, Paris again, and London, while
his father resided in Europe, from 1840 to 1845: at London, he
was at King's-College School, under Dr. Major. He returned
home with his parents in 1845; and was for a short time at the
Boston public Latin School, and then at the private school of
Daniel Greenleaf Ingraham, of Boston (H.C. 1809), by whom
he was offered for admission to college. After graduating, he
studied medicine at the Tremont Medical School in Boston, and
received the degree of M.D. in 1853. He had given much
attention to veterinary science, under the impression that it
ought to be held in much higher consideration than it is.
His health, however, soon began to fail; and he never engaged
in the practice of his professsion.
He married, 24 October, 1855, Helen C., daughter of Benjamin
Adams, of Boston. He left a son of six and a daughter
of four years of age, whose mother also survives him.
1851. - ARTHUR HERBERT POOR died in New York city,
11 January, 1862, aged 31 years. He was son of Benjamin
and Aroline Emily (Peabody) Poor, of Boston; and was born
in Stow, Mass. (where his parents resided for a short time),
6 December, 1830. He was fitted for college at the Boston
Latin School. In his class he held a high rank of scholarship,
and graduated with honors. On leaving college, he entered the
counting-room of Messrs. Read, Chadwick, and Dexter, commission-
merchants, of Boston; and in January, 1855, was admitted
as a partner of the firm. He exhibited great enterprise, energy,
and skill in business; and soon afterwards went to New York
to take charge of the branch-house of the firm in that city. In
the early part of the year 1861, he had occasion to visit some
of the western states, on business of the house; and while on
his journey he took a severe cold, which terminated in an affection
of his lungs, of which he died after a long illness. He
was greatly esteemed by his relatives, as well as by the house
with which he was connected in business.
He married, 10 January, 1855, Harriet Leonard, daughter
of William A. F. Sproat, of Taunton, Mass., by whom he
had two children, - one son and one daughter, - who, with
their mother, survive him.
1851. - GEORGE DOANE PORTER died in Medford, Mass.,
25 November, 1861, aged 30 years. He was son of Jonathan
(H.C. 1814)and Catharine (Gray) Porter, and was born in
Medford, 21 June, 1831. His father was born in Medford,
13 November, 1791; was a lawyer in that town; and died
11 June, 1859. His mother survived him. He was fitted for
college chiefly by his father, and entered one year in advance.
After graduating, he studied law under the instruction of William
Brigham, of Boston (H.C. 1829). On his admission to
the bar, he opened an office in Boston, and another in Medford;
but soon afterwards confined his business solely to Medford.
He was much respected in his native town for his good sense,
honesty, and faithfulness. He was for seve ral years a diligent
and useful member of the school-committee.
He married, 8 August, 1860, Lucretia A. Holland, and had
one son; who, with his mother, survived him.
1854. - HENRY BLATCHFORD HUBBARD, of Boston, died
in Chicago, Ill., 13 February, 1862, aged 29 years. He was the
third son of Hon. Samuel (Y.C. 1802) and Mary Ann (Coit)
Hubbard, and was born in Boston, 8 January, 1833. His father
was born in Boston, 2 June, 1785; was appointed associatejudge
of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts in 1842; and died
24 December, 1847, aged 62 years. The subject of this notice
entered the Boston Latin School at the age of twelve, and
there pursued his preparatory studies. While in college, he
resided with his brother, Gardiner Greene Hubbard (D.C.
1841), in Cambridge. At the end of his junior year, on
account of ill health and an affection of his eyes, he left
college, and sailed for Europe, 18 June, 1853.
He returned 19 September, 1854, too late to graduate with
his class. He received his degree, out of course, in 1857.
He began the study of law with his brother, Gardiner Greene
Hubbard; but in September, 1855, he entered the Law School
in Cambridge. He left the Law School in 1856; and was clerk,
engineer, and treasurer of the Cambridge water-works until
the fall of 1859. His health failing, he sailed for
California, 25 December following, in the ship "Andrew Jackson."
While in California, he was attached to the United-States Coast
Survey as magnetic and astronomic assistant. He returned in the
spring of 1861, without any improvement of his health.
In September following,he went to visit his brother, William
Henry Hubbard (B.U. 1845), in Chicago, where he died. His remains
were brought home, and interred at Mount Auburn 17 February, 1862.
He was never married.
1855. - LANGDON ERVING died in Baltimore, Md., 20 May,
1862, aged 27 years. He was son of John and Emily Sophia
(Elwin) Erving, and was born at Fort Henry, Md., 20 November,
1834. His father is a colonel in the United-States army,
son of John, a retired gentleman, and was born in Boston.
His mother was daughter of Thomas Elwin, of England, a
lawyer, who never practised his profession.
His (Thomas Elwin's) wife was the only child of Gov. John
Langdon, of Portsmouth, N.H. The subject of this notice,
for the first ten years of his life, did not live a year
in any one place. He was at North Carolina, Michigan, Georgia,
South Carolina, and Philadelphia: at nine or ten years of age,
he was at Fort Hamilton, in New-York harbor. He was christened,
when very young, by Rev. Charles Burroughs, D.D., of Portsmouth,
N.H.
In September, 1845, he began to attend school at Perignot's, in
New York, where he staid, with the exception of going to Cincinnati
and Kentucky, until he entered college. He attained a distinguished
standing of scholarship in college, ranking as the fifth
in a class numbering 81. After graduating, he entered the
Law School at Cambridge; and, having obtained his degree of
LL.B. in 1857, he established' himself in the practice of his
profession in Baltimore.
He married, 18 December, 1860, Sophie C. Pennington,
of Baltimore; and left one daughter, born 27 September,
1861.
1855. - GEORGE FOSTER HODGES, of Roxbury, Mass.,
died at Hall's Hill, near Washington, D.C., 30 January, 1862,
aged 25 years. He contracted a violent cold while on a visit to
Washington, which the damp exposure of camp life intensified,
till it became a fever, of which he died after an illness of ten
davs. He was son of Almon Danforth and Martha (Comstock)
Hodges, and was born in Providence, R.I., 12 January,
1837. His father was born in Norton, Mass., 25 January,
1801. He came to Boston in his youth, and served his
apprenticeship in the store of Messrs. John D. Williams
and Co.; andafterwards began business in Providence, R.I.,
under the firm of Stimpson and Hodges, as wholesale grocers,
where he con tinued more than twenty years.
In 1845, he removed to Boston, and formed a copartnership
with Mr. John L. Emmons (who was a fellow-apprentice with him
in the store of Messrs. Williams), under the style of Hodges
and Emmons. In November, 1850, he was chosen president of
the Washington Bank; which office he now holds, having retired
from commercial business. Young Hodges's mother was a native
of Providence. She died in Roxbury, 29 August, 1849. The subject
of this notice was fitted for college by Rev. Moses Burbank
(Waterv. C. 1836), at his private school in Newton, Mass., and
entered the sophomore class in 1852. He was one of the
youngest in his class, but attained a highly respectable rank,
and graduated with honors. After leaving college, he studied
law, first in the office of Peleg Whitman Chandler, of Boston
(Bowd. C. 1834), and completed his studies at the Law School
in Cambridge, where he received his degree of LL.D. in 1860.
Immediately after he graduated, he went to the Warren-street
Chapel in Boston, and asked whether he could not be of some
service in carrying out the objects of that most useful
institution, and pressed his desire to be employed in whatever
way he could be useful. He was immediately engaged in the
evening school, teaching the simplest rules of arithmetic
and writing to adults, who in their youth had not enjoyed
the privileges of instruction.
After he had begun the practice of his profession, in the first
case in which he was employed he was successful. With the
reward he had earned, and of which he had so much right to be
proud, he went to the treasurer of the chapel. "This," said he,
"is one-half of my first fee. Take it, that it may do good to
others." When the call came for the Massachusetts militia to
rally for the support of their flag, in April, 1861, he sought his
friend and classmate, Col. Lawrence, of the Fifth Massachusetts
Regiment, and told him that his heart was in the struggle, and
that he had determined to enlist with his regiment; but, there
being no vacancy for him as an officer, he enlisted as a private
in the Charlestown City-Guards, but was soon promoted by his
classmate to the office of paymaster. At the battle of Bull Run
he manifested great bravery, standing at the colonel's side, even
when urged to lie down, when shot and shell were coming
against them like an avalanche.
Col. Lawrence publicly stated,soon after his return, that he
owed his life to the chivalrous exertions of his friend.
Returning to Massachusetts with his regiment, his military
taste was again gratified by his appointment
as adjutant of the Eighteenth. The universal testimony of his
intimate friends is, that he was of a frank and generous nature,
amiable and warm-hearted, and enjoyed the esteem and respect
of all his classmates and friends. The noble object to which he
devoted, and in the end gave up, his life, is a guaranty to the
world that their confidence was not misplaced. An officer
of his regiment, at his funeral, said of him, "He had a good
word for everybody. He was kind and obliging to all. He
gained the respect and regard of both officers and men."
He was never married.
1855. - Rev. WILLIAM WARD MERIAM was murdered
3 July, 1862, on his way from Constantinople to Philippopolis.
He was born in Princeton, Mass., 15 September, 1830; and
was therefore 31 years old at the time of his death.
After the death of his father, in 1834, his mother removed with
her four children to Cambridgeport, where she resided until her
death in 1850. The subject of this notice was fitted for college
at the high school in Cambridgeport. In 1850, he became
deeply impressed with the importance of a religious life; and
the next year he united with the Orthodox Congregational
church in Cambridgeport. Immediately after leaving college,
he entered the Andover Theological Seminary, where he
graduated in 1858. Having resolved to devote his life to
missionary services, he married, 1 September, 1858, Susan
Dimond, of Cambridgeport; and was ordained at the same
place, 29 November of that year. He sailed from Boston
for his mission, with his wife and several other missionary
laborers, 17 January, 1859; arrived at Smyrna 22 February, and at
Adrianople 22 April.
After spending some months at the latter place, studying the
Turkish language, he went in October, with Mr. Clark, another
missionary, to the new station Philippopolis (Western Turkey),
which was subsequently the field of his labors.
He had greatly endeared himself to the people in the vicinity
of his residence; had just acquired a knowledge of the Turkish
language, and was prepared to prosecute his work successfully.
In May, 1862, he made a tour through sixty or seventy villages
in the neighborhood of his residence. At the time of his death,
he was on his way home from Constantinople, where he had been
to attend the annual meeting of the missionaries of Western Turkey.
His wife and child and one or two missionaries were with him;
when the party were met by a company of five mounted brigands,
by whom Mr. Meriam and one of his companions were killed.
Mrs. Meriam carried the body of her husband forty-eight long
and weary hours, in order that she might bury it in the home
of his mission-life; but the shock to her own system was too
great for her to bear, and she died of typhoid-fever on the 25th
of July, - twenty-three days after the death of her husband.
She was a graduate of the Cambridge High School, and for
many years a most successful teacher in the public schools of the
place. Three of the five brigands were afterwards arrested,
were tried, convicted, and were all executed on the 8th of
January, 1862.
The child of Mr. Meriam arrived at Boston, 12 May, in the
bark "Smyrniote" from Smyrna, in good health; and found
a new home in the family of Mr. J. N. Meriam, in Cambridge.
1858. - GEORGE BRADFORD CHADWICK, of Boston, died
in Northampton, Mass., 12 August, 1861. He was the third
of four children, and only son of Dr. George (D.C. 1825)
and Susan Brewster (Gilbert) Chadwick, and was born in
Ipswich, Mass., 3 January, 1836. His father graduated at
Dartmouth College with the second honors of his class. After
leaving college, he pursued the study of medicine; and, having
received the degree of M.D. in 1828, he began the practice of
his profession in Ipswich, where his four children were born.
Shortly after the birth of his fourth child, he relinquished the
practice of medicine, removed to Chelsea, and began business
as a merchant, in Milk Street, Boston, with his brother-in-law,
Samuel S. Gilbert, under the firm of Gilbert and Chadwick.
His mother was daughter of Hon. Benjamin Joseph Gilbert, of
Hanover, N. H. (Y. C. 1786), a lawyer by profession; and married
Sally Shepard, of Boston. His great-grandfather, Joseph
Gilbert, was a native of Brookfield, Mass. The father of the
subject of this notice took a severe cold in the autumn of 1843,
which resulted in a rapid consumption; and he died, 11 November
of that year, at the house of his father-in-law, who had
removed from Hanover to Boston.
Young Chadwick first entered the Adams School, in Mason
Street, Boston. He was afterwards transferred to the Brimmer
School, where a Franklin medal was awarded to him in 1850.
He that year entered the Boston Latin School, where he remained
a little more than a year; and then entered the private
Latin school of Epes Sargent Dixwell (H.C. 1857), in
Boylston Place, where he completed his studies for
entering college, leaving the school in January, 1854.
While in college, he held a respectable rank of scholarship.
He had a strong partiality for architecture; and, at commencement,
an essay was assigned to him: the subject was, "Architecture in the
United States." After leaving college, he studied architecture for
some time under the instruction of Mr. George Snell, of Boston;
and intended to make that business his profession.
1858. - JAMES JACKSON LOWELL was born in Cambridge,
Oct. 15, 1837. He was the second son and fourth child of
Charles Russell and Anna Cabot (Jackson) Lowell, and the
grandson of Rev. Charles Lowell, DID. (H.C. 1800), and of
Patrick T. Jackson. He was fitted for college at the private
school of Rev. Thomas Russell Sullivan, and at the Boston
Latin School, where he took the first rank. Early in the
freshman year, he was acknowledged to be the first scholar in his
class; a place which he held without dispute through his college
course. After graduation, he taught private pupils in Cambridge
for a year; and then entered the Law School, while still
continuing his private instruction and residing with his parents
in Cambridge. At the breaking-out of the rebellion, he became
an interested member of a drill-club which was formed in
Cambridge, and has since furnished many excellent officers to the
army. In July, 1861, he joined the Twentieth Massachusetts
Regiment as first lieutenant in Capt. Schmitt's company.
On 21 October, 1861, he was wounded in the thigh at
Ball's Bluff; passing several weeks at home in consequence.
He rejoined his regiment as soon as he was fit, and, in the
absence of the captain, took the command of his company, which
he retained through the Peninsula campaign, until, during the
"seven days," he was wounded mortally in the battle of Glendale,
June 30. He was left in the hands of the enemy, it being
the opinion of the surgeons that he could not live more than
a few hours. He lingered, however, until the fourth of July,
a day most fitting to be associated thus with the memory of this
patriot soldier. His whole bearing, after receiving the fatal
wound, was marked by a characteristic composure and undemon-
strative fortitude. He bade his men go forward without minding
him.
To a fellow-officer he said that his wound was similar
to that of his cousin, William Lowell Putnam, at Ball's Bluff,
whom he spoke of meeting shortly. The only message which
he sent home was to the effect that he was doing his duty when
he fell; and, after he was left in the enemy's hands, so clearly
and so dispassionately did he talk of the nature of the war,
and of the reasons which had led him to devote his life to it,
that our surgeons, who had remained to care for the wounded,
told the rebel officers to talk with him if they wished to see how
a true and brave Northern soldier thought and felt.
Some weeks elapsed before certain news concerning his death
reached his family; but at length the return of one of his
fellow prisoners put it beyond doubt. Few have fallen so widely
lamented, or have been felt to be a greater loss to the community,
as was manifested by the heartfelt tributes which were
paid to his memory in very numerous letters to his parents, in a
printed sermon by Rev. C. A. Bartol, D.D. (Bowd. C. 1832),
and in many other ways. Nor can the loss of one whose character
was so living ever cease to be freshly felt. His springing step,
his cheery voice, his eye shining with a deep interior light,
are intimately associated, to all who knew him, with the
Cambridge streets and walks.
The outward bearing marked the quality of the man.
There was a charm in his whole air and manner that attracted
even the chance beholder; the more because he was himself so
unconscious of it. A lover of nature and natural things, he
was thoroughly and entirely natural. Simple, pure, and wise,
abstemious in personal tastes and habits, reticent of his
judgment of others, he was severe in his judgment of himself,
so that he might almost have been called ascetic, but for the
fresh and hearty enjoyment which he took in all social pleasures.
He had a singular truthfulness, which sometimes put on the
appearance of bluntness; nor did he conceal the quick dis-
pleasure which moved him at any deception or ungenerosity: but he
was equally ready to more than repair any fault of impulse.
His unobtrusive kindness was continually occupied in quiet
benefits. Deliberate in decision, he was speedy in thought:
his mind worked carefully and surely, as well as quickly,
in its processes; although he weighed the practical results
of his conclusions with the utmost care, and was slow to
take an irrevocable step.
A high and delicate honor, loyalty to the principles of truth
and freedom, a fine sense of justice, which was instinctive, took
in him the place of a natural aptitude for war, which he had not
especially. At his second college exhibition, he had spoken on
"Loyalty." In a military note-book for his private use, he had
written the motto, fromn one old French army list, "The true
characteristic of a perfect warrior should be fear of God, love of
country, respect for the laws, preference of honor to pleasures,
and to life itself." It was the unconscious statement of the
principles which led him into the service of his country. He went
calmly and seriously, because he felt it to be his duty to go.
He comprehended the nature and importance of the contest; and,
realizing fully the personal danger also, was willing to give his
life to the cause. In a letter to some classmates who had
presented him with a sword, written in the spring, of 1862,
he said, almost prophetically, " When the class meets in
years to come...let the score who went to fight for their
country be remembered with honor and praise; and let not
those who never returned be forgotten, - those who died
for the cause, not of the constitution and the laws
(a superficial cause: the rebels have the same), but
of civilization and law, and the self-restrained
freedom which is their result."
Such a noble spirit can never be forgotten. Honorable by
blood and name and nature, devotedly beloved, rarely gifted in
all intellectual and moral qualities, pre-eminent among his
fellows, who rejoiced in that undisputed pre-eminence, their pride
and affection follow him with fresh sorrow, and yet with joy
that a heroic death was permitted to round and complete a life
short in years, but long in the acquisition of those gifts and
graces which are among the possessions of the soul, and can
never die.
1858.- NATHANIEL RUSSELL, of Plymouth, Mass., died at
Drummondtown, Accomac county, Va., 25 March, 1862, aged
24 years. He was son of Nathaniel (H.C. 1820) and Catharine
Elizabeth (Elliott) Russell, and was born in Plymouth,
13 June, 1837. He was fitted for college at the high-school
in Plymouth, under John William Hunt (Mid. C. 1847), and
afterwards under Franklin Crosby. He had a particular partiality
for vessels; for any kind of navigable craft. Hle intended to
be a merchant, and become interested in navigation. Soon after
leaving college, he became attached to the United-States Coast
Survey, under Capt. Harrison, of Plymouth, stationed in Eastern
Virginia. His death was sudden: on the 18th of March, he
was attacked with lung-fever, and died one week after%ards.
He was a young man of frank, cordial manners, and was
endeared to all his acquaintances. Retiring and quiet,
almost self-distrustful, as he was, his unaffected
simplicity and openheartedness could not fail to
win him friends. Kind, affectionate, devotedly
fond of his relatives and friends, an upright
man and sincere Christian, he has gone early
to receive the rewards of a life well spent.
1858. - FRANK HOWARD SHOREY died in Dedham, Mass.,
24 January, 1862, aged 24 years. He was son of John and
Cornelia (Guild) Shorey, and was born in Boston, 2 Nov.
1837. His father was a merchant in Boston: he died
about ten years since. His mother was a native of Dedham,
but, on her marriage, she removed to Boston, where she resided
five or six years; after which she returned to Dedham, and has
since resided there. He was fitted for college at the Dedham
High School. He entered Dartmouth College, where he remiained
two years; then left, and entered the junior class in
Harvard. He attained a high rank of scholarship in his class,
and graduated with distinction. He was a very good belles
lettres scholar, and possessed great love for the natural
sciences. Botany was to him a favorite pursuit.
After leaving college, he studied law, under the instruction
of Thomas Lafayette Wakefield, of Boston (D.C. 1843); and was admitted
to the Suffolk bar in December, 1849. He immediately began
the practice of his profession in Boston, with cheering prospects
of success. Soon afterwards he became a member of the Episcopal
church in Dedham, of which the Rev. Samuel Brazer
Babcock (H.C. 1830), is rector. About a year before his
death, the fatal signs of consumption appeared. He was patient
in suffering, waiting calmly the result. His whole life was
beautifully consistent, pure; and his death was serene and
cheerful. He was never known to swerve from moral rectitude;
and yet, with delicate sensitiveness, hlie discarded self-merit,
and died with the Saviour's name upon his lips, as his only but
perfect hope. He was never married.
1859 - Major HENRY JACKSON How was killed in one of
the battles fought during a retreat of the army from Fair Oaks
to Malverton, on James river, 30 June, 1862. He was son of
Phineas and Tryphena (Wheeler) How; was born in Haverhill, Mass.,
22 October, 1835; and was therefore 26 years old at the timne of
his death. He was fitted for college at Phillips
Academy, Andover, Mass., and entered in 1854, but left in the
first term, in his freshman year. He re-entered in the class of
the next year. After leaving college, he was engaged most
of the time in the manufacture of hats, until the breaking-out of
the rebellion, when he resolved to devote himself to the cause
of his country. He entered into the service with his whole
soul, and proceeded at once to raise a company, which was
attached to the 19th regiment. He was a fine soldier; six feet
in height; of splendid personal appearance, great physical
power, and indomitable courage. He received a commission as
major. The regiment left for Washington on the 28th of August
last, and was stationed on the Upper Potomac. Major How
was engaged in much active service, and exhibited the utmost
intrepidity on the battle-field, until, at last, his life was
sacrificed in the cause to which he has so nobly devoted himself.
1860. - JULIUS SEDGWICK HOOD, of Lynn, Mass., died
in Louisville, Ky., 21 December, 1861, aged 21 years. He
was son of George and Hermione (Breed) Hood, and was
born in Lynn, 7 October, 1840. His father was son of
Abner and Mary (Richardson) Hood; was born in Lynn,
10 November, 1806. While young, he removed with his
parents to Nahant, where he passed his youth, with
the exception of a few years which he spent at school
in Hanover, N.H.
Having, by his own unaided exertions,.accumulated a small
capital, he went, in 1827, to St. Louis, Mo., where, in
company with John C. Abbott, he established a boot-and-shoe
business, in which he was interested until 1841. Returning to
Lynn in 1835, he established himself in Boston as a commission
boot, shoe, and leather merchant; in which business he continued
until his death. He for some time took an active part
in public life, being for several years a member of the
Massachusetts legislature.
He was also, in 1850, the first mayor of Lynn, and was re-elected
in 1851; and a member of the Massachusetts constitutionalconvention
in 1853. He died 27 June, 1859. His mother was born in Lynn,18 March,
1812. She was daughter of Aaron Breed, born in 1761, a soldier in the
revolutionary war, and an adjutant in the war of 1812. He was also a
member of the state legislature for several years.
He died in 1817. The subject of this notice was fitted for
college at the Lynn High School, under Mr. Jacob Batchelder
and Mr. Gordon Bartlett. In college, his attainments in scholar-
ship were distinguished, and he graduated with the second
honors of his class. On account of his feeble health, he did
not enter upon the study of any profession or upon any busi-
ness. A few weeks before his death, he left his home in Lynn
for Lexington, where he had a brother residing; hoping, in a
more congenial climate, to regain his lost strength, or, at least,
to lengthen a life so dear to those who looked to him for counsel
and assistance. "His death," writes one who knew him well,
"was calm and beautiful: he felt more than willing to go and
do the work and achieve the usefulness there which he had hoped
to do here." He was a true and warm-hearted friend; a man
strong in principle, and earnest in a Christian life.
1860. - WILLIAM MATTICKS ROGERS died of typhoid fever,
in the army, near Richmond, June, 1862. He was the
only son of Rev. William Matticks (H.C. 1827) and Adelia
(Strong) Rogers, and was born in Boston, 26 October, 1838.
He was fitted for college at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass.
He held a respectable rank of scholarship, and was greatly
beloved by his classmates. He was one of the class-committee.
Immediately after graduating, he went to Europe, and began the
study of law and of the German language in Heidelberg, where
he remained one year; and, when the rebellion broke out, he at
once determined to devote himself to the cause of his country.
He immediately returned, and enlisted as a private in Company
A, of the Eighteenth Massachusetts Regiment. He was soon
afterwards made a sergeant, and, subsequently, sergeant-major.
Had his life been spared, he would probably soon have received
a commission. But it was otherwise ordered: his life was
sacrificed while contending for the preservation of the Union.
1791. - Dr. JOHN WALTON died in Pepperell, Mass., 21
December, 1862, aged 92 years. He was the son of John and
Keziah (Viles) Walton, and was born in Cambridge, Mass.,
29 October, 1770. He was fitted for college in his native
place. He held a respectable rank in his class, and graduated
with honors. He studied medicine under the instruction of Dr.
Oliver Prescott, of Groton, Mass. (H.C. 1783), and settled in
Pepperell; where he practised his profession for more than sixty
years, and was much respected by the people of the town of
which he was so long a resident. On the 4th of September,
1832, he was chosen a deacon of the Unitarian church in
Pepperell. He never held a political office.
He married, in Newton, Mary Bullard, by whom he had
seven sons and one daughter; of whom the daughter and three
sons survived him. His wife died in the spring of 1848.
1801. - Rev. JOHN OKILL STUART died in Kingston,
C.W., 5 October, 1862, aged 86 years. He was son of Rev.
John Stuart, and was born in the missionary-house at Fort
Hiunter, on the banks of the Mohawk River, N.Y., 29 June,
1776. His father was the last missionary to the Mohawk
nation. In 1787, at the age of eleven years, he was placed
at school in the academy in Schenectady, N.Y. (now Union
College), where he received instruction preparatory to his
reception into a higher seminary. In 1792, he was sent to
the academy at Windsor, N.S., where he remained two years.
In 1795, he was appointed teacher of a public grammarschool
in Kingston, and continued in that office and emp]oyment
till June, 1798; and that year he entered the sophomore
class in Harvard College; but he did not remain with the class
much more than a year, although he received his degree with
the others of the class who had gone through the whole course.
In June, 1800, he was ordained as minister of the United
Church of England and Ireland by Dr. Mountain, bishop of
Quebec; and, in 1801, was appointed missionary, by the Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, at York (now
Toronto), C.W., at that time the seat of government.
There he served his vocation and ministry from 1800 to 1812;
established a congregation, and built a church; and, on the decease
of his father (who was rector of St. George's in Kingston), by
invitation of the congregation, and upon application to the
bishop, he was appointed his successor; and, in 1812, removed
from York (now Toronto) to Kingstoni. From 1812 to 1822,
he served the congregation at Kingston as their parish minister;
and, in the latter year, he was collated by the bishop to be
archdeacon of York, in the diocese of Quebec. In 1839, when
the diocese of Quebec was divided, and Toronto taken from it,
he resigned his commission, and was collated by the bishop to
be archdeacon of Kingston, in the diocese of Toronto, and
continued in that office until 1862; when, on the subdivision of
the diocese of Toronto into that of Ontario, he surrendered his
commission of archdeacon of Kingston, and was preferred to be
dean of Ontario.
In 1830, he had an assistant-minister to St. George's,
who continued his aid and work, he, however, continuing as
rector of St. George's; and, at the time of his death,
was one of the officiating clergymen in the cathedral of the
diocese of Ontario, in the city of Kingston. Therefore, for
more than sixty years, he resided in nearly the same place;
preaching to a people to whom his whole course of life, and
all his sayings and doings, were known, and retaining and
enjoying their respect and esteem. He was not brilliant, nor
particularly gifted, nor very learned; but he had great moral
worth. In all his communications, he was perfectly sincere,
wholly free from artifice, deception, guile. With an exterior
somewhat grave and reserved, almost stern, he had ardent
and warm attachments. In communing with him, one felt
a perfect satisfaction that he was truthful in all he said.
Without making professions of attachment, he was always
inclined to do kind things whenever it was in his power.
He married, 2 October, 1803, Lucy Brooks, daughter of
Gov. John Brooks, of Medford, with whom he became acquainted
in 1798, during a residence of several months in the
town, completing his studies for admission into college.
She died in 1813, leaving one son, George Okill Stuart,
the only surviving male descendant of Gov. Brooks,-
a counsellor-at-law of high standing, who has been
mayor of Quebec. He married a second wife, Ann Ellice
Stuart, who died in Kin,gston, 28 November, 1836,
aged 70 years.
1802. - HENRY ADAMS died in Somerville, Mass., 13
November, 1862, aged 83 years. He was son of Rev. Zabdiel
(H.C. 1759) and Elizabeth (Stearns) Adams; was the ninth
of eleven children, ten of whom lived to adult age; and was
born in Lunenburg, Mass., 13 May, 1777. His father was
son of Ebenezer Adams, of Quincy, Mass., where he was born
5 November, 1739; was ordained at Lunenburg, 5 September,
1764; died 1 March, 1801, aged 61 years. His mother was
daughter of Rev. David (H.C. 1728) and Ruth (Hubbard)
Stearns: she was born in Lunenburg, 20 April, 1742; and
died August, 1800, aged 58 years. His father was successor
of her father in the church of Lunenburg. The subject'of
this notice was fitted for college, partly at Groton Academy,
and partly by Dr. John Hosmer, of Medford. He studied law with
his brother, Zabdiel Boylston Adams (H.C. 1791), in Charlestown,
Mass., where he afterwards practised his profession.
Subsequently he resided for about four years in Richmond, Va.,
where he taught a private school; then returned, and again
practised his profession in Ashburnham, Mass., where he'resided
about four years. Thence he removed to Lexington, Mass.,
having relinquished his profession; and, for the last twenty
years of his life, he resided in Somerville, where he devoted
himself to agricultural pursuits, to which he had a great
partiality.
He married, 1 January, 1806, Susan Forster, daughter of
Jacob and Rebecca Forster, of Charlestown, Mass., by whom
he had three children (all sons), of whom the only survivor is
Edwin Forster Adams, a merchant in Boston. His wife died in
Lexington, 12 January, 1834. He married for his second
wife, 8 October, 1835, Sarah K. Hawkins, daughter of Col.
Nathaniel Hawkins, of Somerville, then a part of Charlestown.
She died without issue, in Somerville, 17 December, 1851. He
married for his third wife, 4 November, 1852, Mrs. Arphia
Besent, a widow, of Cambridgeport, whose former husband was
a foreigner. She survives him.
1802. ANDREW RITCHIE died in Newport, R.I., 7 August,
1862, aged 80 years. He was son of Andrew and Isabella
(Montgomery) Ritchie, and was born in Boston, 18
July, 1782. He was fitted for college at Phillips Academy in
Andover. He held a distinguished rani of scholarship, and
graduated with the second honors of his class; but, when he
took his degree of master of arts in 1805, the valedictory
oration was assigned to him. He studied law in the office of
Rufus Greene Amory (H.C. 1778), and practised his profession
in Boston. Having inherited an ample competency, he did
not aim at distinction at the bar, although his legal attainments
were of the first order. On the 4th of July, 1808, he delivered
the annual oration before the town authorities of Boston, in
which he said, "We are not required, like young Hannibal, to
approach the altar, and vow eternal hatred to a rival nation; but
we will repair to the neighboring heights, at once the tombs and
everlasting monuments of our heroes, and swear, that, as they
did, so would we rather sacrifice our lives than our country."
On the morning of the day when he delivered this oration, the
Hon. Fisher- Ames died in Dedham.
In his address, while alluding to Bonaparte, he said, "His
conduct has declared, plainer than language can express, that
he will endure no neutrals; and that, too, under a persuasion
that we dare not become his enemy. If we are thus summoned to
take our side in this momentous contest, which will in a few
years determine the political destiny of the civilized world,
let the alternative be decided by the intelligence, the virtue,
and patriotism of the country."
He then uttered the following apostrophe on the death of Mr. Ames:
But, alas! the immortal Ames, who, like Ithuriel, was commissioned
to discover the insidious foe, and point out our danger, has
accomplished his embassy, and, on this morning of our independence,
has ascended to heaven.
"Spirit of Demosthenes! couldst thou have been a silent and
invisible auditor, how wouldst thou have been delighted to hear
from his lips those strains of eloquence which once, from thine,
enchanted the assemblies of Greece!"
Mr. Ritchie married, 27 March, 1807, Maria Cornelia
Durant, daughter of Cornelius Durant, a West-India planter.
Her father was an officer of the revolution; was afterwards for
many years an eminent merchant of Boston, where he died
5 May, 1812, aged 80 years. In consequence of this marriage,
after the death of his father-in-law, Mr. Ritchie became, by
right of his wife, owner of a plantation in the Island of St.
Croix.
By the Danish law, he, to retain possession of the estate,
was required to reside there; and for many years this was
his place of residence, although he often visited Boston,
and spent a great part of his time in the United States.
He therefore did not long practise his profession. His wife
died in Paris, France, without issue.
He married for his second wife, 9 December, 1823, Sophia
Harrison Otis, daughter of Hon. Harrison Gray Otis, of Boston
(H.C. 1783), by whom he had three children,- two sons and
one daughter, who, with their mother, survive him. The sons
graduated at Harvard Colleg,e respectively in 1845 and 1846;
and the daughter is the wife of a physician in Paris, France.
1805.- MOSES GILL died in Shrewsbury, Mass., 21 August,
1862, aged 81 years. He was son of Michael and Anna (Gill)
Gill, and was born in Westminster, Mass., 20 December, 1780;
but removed to Princeton, Mass., with his parents, when two
years of age, where he passed his youthful days. His
parents were cousins; his mother being daughter of John
Gill, of the firm of Edes and Gill, well known as printers
in Boston.
He was born in Charlestown, Mass.; served a regular
apprenticeship with Samuel Kneeland, and married one
of Kneeland's daughters. He died 25 August, 1785.
He was nephew of Hon. Moses Gill, who was lieutenant-
governor of Massachusetts, and acting-governor from 7
June, 1799, to 20 May, 1800.
It being the wish of his uncle (Gov. Gill) that he should
have a collegiate education, he left him, by his will, ample
means for his support while in college, and during his sub-
sequent life; but this provision was not carried into effect,
for his uncle's will was destroyed at his decease.
He was fitted for college partly by Rev. Joseph Russell
(Y.C. 1793), of Princeton, and partly at Leicester Academy.
On leaving college, he taught school for some time in Dorchester
and Charlestown, Mass. He then began the study of divinity at
Suffield, Conn., and finished his studies with Rev. Ebenezer
Gay (Y.C. 1787), of that place. He received his license to preach,
after having been thoroughly examined as to his views and
qualifications, at Boylston, Mass., 29 June, 1808, by the
unanimous vote of the association in that vicinity.
He was a teacher in Boston, public and private, from 1812
till 1829; preaching occasionally during the time. He then,
owing to ill health, removed into the country, which it was
thought prolonged his life.
After leaving Boston, he taught in Waltham, Chelmsford, and Acton,
during the winter seasons; attending to agriculture in the summers.
He also taught in Boylston, Northbridge, and Shrewsbury, until
within a few years of his death, when he met with a fall which
disabled him from walking, except with crutches; and
had also other infirmities, which he endured patiently. He was
one of the school-committee in Shrewsbury about five years; was
chairman and secretary most of the time. He died suddenly;
having been as comfortable as usual during the summer, until
the morning of his death, when he was taken ill, and survived
but a few hours, passing away without a struggle. He was of
a cheerful, mild temperament, enjoying the company of his
friends, kind and sympathizing, an affectionate husband and
father.
He married, 2 October, 1810 (at that time teaching in
Roxbury), Mary Baldwin, daughter of Capt. Henry Baldwin,
of Shrewsbury, in which town she was born 2 July, 1787.
The issue of this marriage was two children,- a son and a
daughter, both of whom, with their mother, survived him.
1806. - DANIEL HENSHAW died in Boston 9 July, 1863,
aged 81 years. He was son of Col. William and Phebe
(Swan) Henshaw, and was born in Leicester, Mass., 9 May,
1782. His father was born in Boston in 1735, and removed to
Leicester in 1748. He was an officer in the revolutionary
army. He died February, 1820, at the age of 85 years.
His mother was daughter of Dudley Wade and Beulah Swan, of
Leicester, where she was born 12 January, 1758; and died
5 November, 1808, aged 55 years. The subject of this notice
was fitted for college at Leicester Academy. After leaving
college, he studied law in part with Nathaniel Paine Denny
(H. C. 1797), of Leicester, and in part with Judge Nathaniel
Paine (H.C. 1778), of Worcester. He practised his profession
twenty-one years in Winchester, Mass. In 1830, he was practising
in Worcester, and afterwards for several years in Lynn, where he
had the management of a public newspaper,- the Lynn Record."
On becoming an editor, he gave up his professional business,
and continued for fourteen years in the arduous and responsible
place of leading editor of a paper; and, after that period,
often contributed valuable and interesting articles, chiefly
of a biographical or historical character, to sundry newspapers,
which were read with interest.
He had a great taste for genealogy, and a fund of wit. He read
many amusing papers before the Historic-Genealogical Society,
several of which were published in the Boston papers. After his
connection with the paper in Lynn had terminated, he removed to
Boston; where he resided with the exception of a year or two
in Wisconsin with a relative - until his death.
He married, 19 November, 1821, Deborah Starkweather,
daughter of Deacon Charles Starkweather, of Worthington,
Mass., where she was born 2 November, 1796. She died
6 July, 1851, leaving two daughters and one son.
1809. - Hon. WILLIMM ELLIOTT died in South Carolina,
February, 1863, aged 74 years. He was son of William Elliot,
and was born in Beaufort, S.C., 27 April, 1788. He entered
college at the age of 18, and took a very high rank of scholar-
ship in his class; standing as the second, Samuel Bird ranking
as the first, scholar in the class. On account of ill health,
however, he was obliged to return home before completing his
academical career; but his degree was conferred upon him by
the government in 1810, the year after his class graduated.
For many years he devoted himself to the managemnent of his
estates, and served with credit in both branches of the state
legislature. During the nullification-crisis in South Carolina in
1832, he held the office of senator in the state legislature, but
resigned upon being instructed by his constituents to vote to
nullify the tariff law. He afterwards participated less frequently
in public affairs; his letters against secession, signed" Agricola,"
and published in 1851, being among his latest expressions
of opinion on political subjects. He contributed largely to the
periodical press of the South. TIHis published works consisted
of an " Address before the St. Paul's Agricultural Society"
(Charleston, 1850), and " Carolina Sports by Land and Water"
(1856). He was also the author of "Fiesco," a tragedy
printed for the author in 1850, and of a number of occasional
poems of merit; few of which, however, have been published.
1812. SAMUEL WILLIAM DEXTER died in Dexter, Mich.,
6 February, 1863, aged 70 years. He was son of Hon. Samuel
(H.C. 1781) and Catharine (Gordon) Dexter, and was born
in Charlestwn, Mass., 18 February, 1792. He first entered
college with the class which graduated in 1811, but remained
only a few months; when he took up his connexions, and entered
the freshman class the following year. A few years after he left
college, he purchased a township of land in Michigan, which he
named Dexter, and in which he resided until his death.
1812. BENJAMIN DANIEL GREENE died in Boston, 14 October,
1862, aged 68 years. He was the eldest son of Gardiner
and Elizabeth (Hubbard) Greene, and was born in Demarara,
South America, - where his parents were then residing,
29 December, 1793. His father was well known as the
wealthiest citizen of Boston.
His mother, whose virtues and amiable character were long
remembered by her contemporaries, and who was a sister of
the late John Hubbard, of Boston, died during his early
childhood. Her maternal cares were assumed and fulfilled
by Elizabeth Copley, a sister of Lord Lyndhurst,
the present Mrs. Gardiner Greene,- between whom and her
adopted son a cordial affection subsisted through life.
The subject of this notice was fitted for college in the
Boston Latin School, where a Franklin medal was awarded to
him in 1807.
He held a respectable rank in his class, and graduated with
honors. After leaving college, he became a student-at-law in
Litchfield, Conn.; and entered upon the practice of his
profession, which he soon relinquished for that of medicine.
Passing four years abroad, he travelled extensively in Europe,
and completed his studies in the schools of Edinburgh and Paris.
Attracted by scientific pursuits, he was highly appreciated as a
botanist, and became the intimate friend and correspondent of Sir
William Hooker, and other men of distinguished attainments.
He was a liberal contributor to the Boston Society of Natural
History; was its first president; and his valuable library,
uncommonly rich in scientific works, was ever open to the
researches of his associates. He was a member of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences.
He married, 30 May, 1826, Margaret Morton Quincy,
daughter of Hon. Josiah Quincy, of Boston. She survives him.
They had no children.
1812. - GEORGE WASHINGTON HEARD died in Ipswich,
Mass., 21 April, 1863, aged 70 years. He was son of John and
Sarahl (Staniford) Heard, and was born in Ipswich, 5 February,
1793. He began to fit for college under the instruction of
Rev. Asahel Huntington (D.C. 1786), of Topsfield, Mass.; and
completed his preparatory studies at Phillips Academy in
Andover. After leaving college, he studied medicine with Dr.
John Gorham, of Boston (H.C. 1801); and received his degree of
M.D. in 1815, but did not enter upon the practice of his profession.
He engaged in business as a distiller in Ipswich, which
had been previously his father's occupation. After pursuing this
employment several years, he abandoned it, from conscientious
motives, and removed to Boston, where, in 1837, he entered into
partnership with James Haughton, under the firm of James
Haughton and Co., dealers in dry goods. This partnership
continued until 1844, when Mr. Heard withdrew. He returned
to Ipswich, and engaged in agricultural pursuits, which he
continued during the remainder of his life. He was much
respected in his native town; was noted for his courtesy, kind
feelings, and private liberality; and the families of volunteers
in the war had reason to be thankful for his unostentatious
donations for their relief.
In 1862 he was elected a representative to the state legislature
from Ipswich, but did not take his seat, having been obliged
to resign it on account of ill health.
He married, 6 November, 1823, Elizabeth Ann Farley,
daughter of Robert Farley, of Ipswich. The issue of this
marriage was four sons and one daughter. The sons and their
mother survived him.
1813.- Dr. DAVID OSGOOD died in Boston, 23 February,
1863, agcted 69 years. He was the only son of Rev. David (H.C.
1771) and Hannah (Breed) Osgood, and was born in Medford,
Mass., 23 December, 1793. His father was born in Andover,
Mass., 14 October, 1747; was ordained pastor of the first
church in Medford, 14 September, 1774; and was one of the
most eminiient divines of his day. He died 12 December, 1822,
ag,ed 75 years.
His mother died 7 January, 1818, aged 70 years. She belonged
to Charlestown, Mass., and was granddaughter to Richard Foster,
who was high sheriff under the old government.
The subject of this notice was fitted for college
by Dr. John Hosmer; of Medford. He held a respectable rank
of scholarship in college, and graduated with honors. After
graduating, he studied medicine with Dr. John Jeffries, of
Boston (H.C. 1763); and, on receiving his degree of M.D. in
1816, began practising his profession in Boston, where he continued
his duties until his death. As a member of the Massachusetts
Medical Society, he was respected in his profession for his skill,
promptitude, and kindness. He had a warm and generous nature, which
never failed in its response to calls for assistance and
advice; was always lenient and kind towards real suffering.
To his poor patients he was an unfailing friend, whose
patience no length of unpaid service could exhaust; one whose
unobtrusive and unostentatious charity made him an always
welcome visitant. With a mind open to conviction, he was not
afraid of questioning his early opinions. A signal proof of this
occurred during a visit to Europe in 1839. At Paris, a friend
introduced him to Dr. Hahnemann, the founder of the school of
homceopathy.
The German philosopher spoke with warmth
of his system, and offered his visitor the loan
of a copy of the Homeopathic Novum Organum." This book,
though not entirely satisfactory to Dr. Osgood, led him
to further researches, and he ended in becomingr a very
successful practitioner on the homeopathic system. During
a second journey to Europe, he visited his distinguished patient,
Miss Fredrika Bremer, who was under his charge when she was in Boston,
and who feels lasting gratitude for his successful treatment of her case.
Her printed commendations of his skill and friendliness are the just
sentiments of a discriminating mind and a feeling heart. As a
friend, he was not demonstrative and impetuous, but reserved
and sure. As a husband, he was all devotion to the chosen of
his life; while she most promptly repaid every service, and most
heartily returned every affection.
He married in November, 1821, Mary Ann Elder, of Portland, Me.,
who survived him. They had no children.
1813. - ROYAL TURNER died in Randolph, Mass., 31 December, 1862,
aged 70 years. He was the only son of Seth and Abigail (Wales) Turner,
and was born in Randolph, 6 December, 1792. He was fitted for college
under the tuition of Rev. Jonathan Strong (D.C. 1786). On leaving college,
he engaged in mercantile pursuits, in which he was eminently successful.
He was much occupied in public business, always to the satisfaction of
his employers. In early life, he was a practical surveyor, and assisted
in locating the first railroad built in this country; namely, that leading
from the stone-quarries in Quincy to Neponset River.
In 1815, he received a lieutenant's commission, and rapidly passed through
all the grades of promotion until he reached the colonelcy in 1823.
He was honorably discharged in 1825. In 1818, and in several subsequent
years, he was elected one of the selectmen of the town.
He was also clerk and treasurer from 1823 to 1828. He was comissioned
justice of the peace in 1826, and of the quorum in 1833; and continued
in office until his death. He was appointed bank-commissioner from
Norfolk in 1830.
On the incorporation of the Randolph Bank, in 1836, he was appointed
cashier, and held the office until 1842, when he was elected its
president, and continued in that position until his death.
During this long period, he watched over its interests with paternal
solicitude, and left it in a state of prosperity rarely attained
by similar institutions. He was a director in the Bridgewater and
Middleborough and Fall-River railroads until their union with the
Old-Colony in one corporation; and afterwards he was often consulted
with regard to important measures.
In all financial matters, his judgment was much respected; and, when
deliberately made up, seldom needed a revision. Although his intercourse
with society was necessarily restricted by a defect in his hearing, which
increased as he advanced in life, yet he was social in his temperament,
and took a deep interest in passing events. He was exemplary in all the
vocations and duties of life, and was a regular attendant upon public
worship, although for many years unable to hear a syllable uttered
during the service.
Symptoms of organic disease of the brain began to manifest themselves
some months before his death, and continued to increase in intensity,
until they terminated in partial paralysis, and ultimately
in apoplectic coma, and the extinction of life. His death was
felt to be a great loss, not only to his family, but also to the
business circle in which he moved. Such was his integrity,
energy, and promptness in executing every trust committed to
him, and such his accuracy in all pecuniary transactions, as to
command the confidence of his associates and of the public.
Although very decided in his opinions, it was observed by the
directors of the bank, after his decease, that, during the long
period of his presidency, no one could call to mind any unkind
word or act towards his associates in any of their deliberations
or transactions.
He married, 14 September, 1818, Maria White, born 27
June, 1800, daughter of Major John White, of Weymouth.
They had children; viz.,
1. Maria White, born 30 October, 1819; died 31 October, 1819.
2. Seth, born 29 July, 1821; now cashier of Randolph Bank.
3. Royal White, born 10 March, 1823.
4. Ann Maria, born 15 November, 1825; who married, in 1849,
Isaac Sweetser, a merchant in Boston.
5. Abigail Wales, born 10 February, 1830.
1815. CONVERS FRANCIS died in Cambridge, Mass., 7 April, 1863,
aged 67 years.
He was the fourth child and second son of Convers and
Susanna (Rand) Francis, and was born in West Cambridge,
9 November, 1795. He was fitted for college at the Medford
Academy, under the charge of John Hosmer. He held a distinguished
rank of scholarship in his class. After graduating, he studied theology
in the Cambridge Divinity School; was approbated by the Boston
Association; and preached his first sermon, 15 November, 1818, in
Rev. Dr. Osgood's pulpit in Medford. He was ordained pastor of the
Unitarian church in Watertown, Mass., 23 June, 1819, where he remained
twenty-three years.
In 1842, he was appointed Parkman Professor of Pulpit Eloquence and the
Pastoral Care" in Harvard College, which appointment he accepted; and 21
August, 1842, delivered his valedictory sermon in Watertown.
He immediately entered upon the duties of his professorship, which he
continued until the end of his life. He was earnest and indefatigable
in his researches after sacred truth. From a principle of self-respect,
he was prompted to regard as true the conclusions which his mind had
established; yet he was far from being unreasonably tenacious of his
opinions. His mind was enriched with the best thoughts of authors.
He read with avidity, but with attention; noting with care peculiarities
of opinions, and sentiments distinguished for beauty and power. He was,
in an eminent sense, ambitious to know the truth through whatever
medium, be that medium only authoritative. He held an important
and responsible office. He was not only a Christian learner:
he was also a Christian teacher. He knew full well the impression
that instruction makes upon open and sensible
minds; and it was commendable in him, that, in his anxiety to
teach nothing but the truth, he should seek the guidance of
other minds, hallowed by equally holy motives with his own, to
share with him the responsibilities of his sacred vocation.
He possessed a heart alive to social affections. His friendly
interest, where it found a fitting and accordant place, was sincere
and ardent; and he did not suffer it to be limited to any
point beyond which it could by any means be influential for
good. Although no elaborate work proceeding from his pen
has been given to the public, he manifested his interest
in science and literature by publishing several valuable papers in our
best accredited periodicals. Among his publications were
"Errors of Education," a discourse at the anniversary of
Derby Academy, in Hingham, 21 May, 1828; Address on
the 4th of July, 1828, at Watertown; An Historical Sketch of
Watertown, from the first settlement of the town to the close
of the second century, in 1830; A Discourse, at Plymouth,
22 December, 1832; A Dudlian Lecture, at Cambridge, 8
May, 1833; The Life of Rev. Johni Eliot, the Apostle to the
Indians, in the fifth volume of Sparks's American Biography,
1836; The Life of Sebastian Rale, Missionary to the Indians, in
the seventh volume (new series) of Sparks's American Biography,
1845; Memoir of Rev. John Allyn, D.D., of Duxbury,
1836; Memoir of Dr. Gamaliel Bradford, 1846; Memoir of
Judg,e Davis, 1849 (the last three were published in the
Collections of the Massachusetts hIistorical Society); many articles
in the' Christian Disciple," the "Christian Examiner," the
"American Monthly Review," the "Unitarian Advocate," the
Scriptural Interpreter," the "Juvenile Miscellany;" several
translations from Herder, at different times; Obituary Notice of
Miss Eliza Townsend, 1854; and a large number of occasional
discourses. He was a member of the Massachusetts Historical
Society. In 1837, the honorary degree of doctor of divinity
was conferred upon him by Harvard College.
He married, 15 May, 1822, Abby Bradford, daughter of
Rev. John Allyn, D.D., of Duxbury, by whom he had two
children,- one daughter and one son. The son graduated at
Harvard College in 1854. His wife was born in Duxbury,
15 January, 1796: she died in Cambridge, 17 December, 1860,
aged 64 years. The two children survive their parents.
1816. - SAMUEL BUCKMINSTER RICE died in Brookfield,
Mass., 28 May, 1863, aged 64 years. He was son of Dr.
Tilly (B.U. 1777) and Eunice (Reed) Rice, and was born in
Brookfield, 14 June, 1798. He was fitted for college at
Leicester Academy. Immediately after graduating, he entered the
counting-room of Messrs. Bordman and Pope, in Boston, for
the purpose of preparing himself for business as a merchant.
WVhile in their employ, he went to the East Indies in the ship
Brilliant," belonging to them. On the passage, the ship sprang
a leak; and he labored so long and so severely at the pumps,
that it seriously affected his health, which he never afterwards
fully recovered. At the expiration of his apprenticeship, he
returned to Brookfield, but did not enter into mercantile business.
He was afterwards connected with an iron-foundry and
glassworks in that town, but relinquished the business some
time before his death. He was never married.
1817. - Rev. THOMAS RUSSELL SULLIVAN died in Boston,
23 December, 1862, aged 63 years. He was son of John
Langdon and Elizabeth (Russell) Sullivan, and was born in
Brookline, Mass., 13 February, 1799. He was fitted for college
principally at Dummer Academy in Newbury. He held a
respectable rank of'scholarship in his class. After leaving
college, he studied theology in the Divinity School at Cambridge.
He was ordained pastor of the Unitarian church in
Keene, N.H., 28 December, 1825, where he faithfully and
zealously performed his duties until May, 1835, when he
resigned his charge. He soon afterwards removed to Boston,
where he opened a private school, which he continued until his
death. His beautiful Christian character is thus eloquently
delineated by Rev. William Orne White (H.C. 1840), now
pastor of the church in Keene, over which Mr. Sullivan was
settled: "He has gone,- the man who knew how, in the apostolic
sense, to magnify his office; the serious and reverend
ambassador of God; the simple-hearted and guileless Christian;
the friend whose heart was pierced with the sorrows of his
people; the writer skilled in controversy, yet rejoicing more
when he could utter affectionate and sober words of practical
counsel.
In a 'furnace of affliction' he has indeed been tried
and proved; and at last, from sharp and mysterious visitations
of chastisement, he has been permitted to rest from all earthly
toil, to lay down his heavy cross, and to be led by the hand of
the good Shepherd'in green pastures by the still waters.' The
scholarly mind of this true-hearted man enabled him to achieve
enduring success as a wise and faithful teacher for many years
after his retirement from the scenes of his ministry. From
time to time, however, he delighted in the privilege of resuming,
in various pulpits, his early and cherished duties. He was
one whom no change of occupation could secularize; one who
might have always said, in perfect sincerity,'I will dwell in the
house of the Lord for ever.' Now that, safe from every rough
blast, the tears wiped from his eyes, his faith and patience
accepted, he has'sweetly fallen asleep in Jesus,' it is precious
to remember that here, where he so patiently served the Church
of Christ for nine and a half years, in what was then an outpost
of our Zion, not a shadow rests upon his memory.
Good and faithful servant,' we bid thee a reluctant farewell;
while we rejoice that all who ever knew thee, if they value purity,
honor, truth, will find words of respect and affection springing
to their lips, whenever they hear the name of THOMAS RUSSELL
SULLIVAN."
Mr. Sullivan married, 19 January, 1826, Charlotte C. Blake,
of Worcester, by whom he had six sons and two daughters, all of
whom but one son survived him. His wife died 2 July, 1863, aged
59 years.
1818. - Rev. PETER SIDNEY EATON died in Chelsea, Mass.,
13 March, 1863, aged 64 years. He was son of Rev. Peter
(H.C. 1787) and Sarah (Stone) Eaton, and was born in Boxford,
Mass., 7 October, 1798. His father was born in Haverhill, Mass.,
15 March, 1765; ordained at Boxford, 7 October, 1789; died in
Andover, 14 April, 1848, aged 83 years. His mother was daughter
of Rev. Eliab Stone (H.C. 1758), of Reading.
Young Eaton pursued his preparatory studies under the instruction
of his father. On leaving college, he was employed some time as a
teacher in Phillips Academy, Andover.
He subsequently studied divinity at the theological seminary
in that town, and graduated there in 1822. He was ordained
at Amesbury, 20 September, 1826, where he continued his
pastorship about eleven years, where his labors were so arduous
as to seriously affect his health; and by the advice of his
friends he resigned his charge, and wholly relinquished the
duties of the ministry. He spent several years afterwards as a
teacher, principally in Andover. From Andover, he removed
to Chelsea, where he resided the remainder of his life. His
health was somewhat impaired; but he endeavored to exert an
influence, by all the means he might possess, favorable to the
interests of religion and good morals.
He married, 4 December, 1828, Elizabeth Ann Leman, of
Charlestown, Mass., by whom he had three children: Sidney
Payson, born in Amesbury, 16 September, 1829; Henry Martyn,
born in Amesbury, 28 June, 1835; Elizabeth Anne,
born in Worcester, 16 May, 1841. His wife and all his
children survived him.
1818. - CHARLES OCTAVIUS EMERSON died in York, Me.,
22 June, 1863, aged 64 years. He was son of Edward E.
and Abigail (Lyman) Emerson, and was born in York, 27
March, 1799. He was fitted for college at Phillips Exeter
Academy. After graduating, he began the study of law in the
office of Jeremiah Bradbury in York, where he remained one
year. In October, 1819, he went into the office of Luther
Lawrence (H.C. 1801) in Groton, Mass., where he continued
his studies until October, 1821, when he was admitted to the
bar in Concord, Mass. He then returned to his native town,
where he practised his profession until his death. From 1823
to 1830, he was frequently elected to fill the office of clerk and
treasurer; was representative in the legislature in 1827, 1828,
and 1829.
His life was happy and useful. He was an honorable, religious,
and unambitious gentleman.
He married, 24 June, 1829, Harriet Jane Phillips, daughter
of Deacon John Phillips, of Portland, Me. Their children
were,
1. Charles Edward, born 5 April, 1830; died 25
March, 1832.
2. Francis Philip, born 2 September, 1831.
3. Abbie Clara, born 17 March, 1833.
4. Edward Octavius, born 6 June, 1834.
5. Andrew Samuel, born 25
February, 1837.
6. Harriet Eliza, born 11 March, and
died 23 September, 1840.
1818. - JOHN FLAYEL JENKINS died in White Plains,
N.Y., 12 September, 1862, aged 66 years. He was son of
John and Abigail (Hall) Jenkins, and was born in Gloucester,
Mass., 6 February, 1796. His father, who was a celebrated
writing-master, and was author of "The Art of Writing," &c.,
was born in Dorchester, Mass., in 1755, and died in Wilmington,
Md., in 1823. His mother was daughter of Dan Hall, of
Peekskill, N.Y., who was son of Caleb Hall, of Attlebor,
Mass.; and was born in Peekskill, in 1765. The subject of this
notice, when about six weeks old, went with his parents to
New-York city; whence they soon left for Peekskill, where they
resided until he was seven years old. He then went to the
residence of his grandparents in Boston, which he made his home,
except while pursuing his studies in the country.
As he obtained his education by his own unaided exertions until he
entered college, he labored on a farm at first, and afterwards
taught, to defray his expenses. He was obliged to change his
place of study several times, according to the state of his funds;
and taught school for three winters while in college. He held
an eminent rank of scholarship in college; and in the classics,
in general literature, in natural sciences, and in mathematics,
he manifested equal ability to excel; so that, at commencement,
the salutatory oration was assigned to him. After graduating,
he taught the Roxbury Grammar School one year. In 1819, he received
the appointment of tutor of mathematics in Transylvania University,
Lexington, Ky. In 1820, he was made professor of mathematics in place
of Professor Bishop, afterwards president of Athen's College, Ohio.
In 1823, the death of his father required his presence in the East,
and he resigned his professorship. In 1824, he took charge of
Middletown Academy, Monmouth county, N.J., where he remained nearly
eleven years, except one interval, when he taught a select
school in Freehold, the adjoining town. He was there until
invited to the city of New York, and appointed principal of the
Mechanics'- Society School; where he remained until 1839,
when, in consequence of ill health, he resigned, and removed to
the country.
In January, 1840, his health being in some degree restored,
he assumed the charge of North-Salem Academy,
Westchester county, N.Y., where he remained until 1853;
when he removed to White Plains, where he passed the
remainder of his life, engaged in business as civil engineer
and surveyor.
He married in Lexington, Ky., 14 March, 1822, Mary
Ann Thayer Pike, daughter of Job H. Pike, of Providence,
R.I., who derived his descent from Sir George Pike, Bart., of
the Isle of Wight. The issue of this marriage was twelve
children: viz.,
1. John Pike, born at Middletown, N.J.,
12 April, 1827; a lawyer at White Plains.
2. Mary Abigail, born at Freehold, N.J., 28 April, 1827; married A. W.
Lobdell, of North Salem, in 1860.
3. James Mason, born in Middletown, N.J., in 1831; died in infancy.
4. Emily Maria, born in Middletown, 4 February, 1832.
5. Oliver Richardson, born in Middletown, 20 November, 1833.
6. James Henry, born in New-York city, 15 December, 1835.
7. Caroline Hall, born in New York, 12 February, 1838; died at the age of six
months.
8. Caroline Hall, born in North Salem, 27 March, 1840.
9. Horatio Gates, born in North Salem, 12 February, 1842.
10. Everett Lent, born in North Salem, 18 July, 1843; died in infancy.
11. Henry Clay, born in North Salem, 28 November, 1844.
12. George Mead, born in North Salem, 25 June, 1847. His wife survived him
In a letter to one of his classmates, he says,' As I began to
teach before I entered college, and taught every winter- and two
summer- vacations while there, and have continued teaching in
college or academy ever since, I may take rank among the oldest
teachers in the country. There are comparatively few who have
taught for thirty-six years continuously. During that period, I
have helped to form, or rather to develop, the minds of many
who were afterwards distinguished and useful. Several of my
early scholars have been members of Congress. I therefore trust
I have done some good in my day; and, though I have acquired
no great amount of wealth or fame, I have ascertained that a
good degree of happiness may exist without either."
At the time of his death, three of his sons were in the army:
one a captain, and another a sergeant, in the 25th Connecticut
Volunteers, under Banks; and the third, fife-major in the 17th
Connecticut Volunteers, under Sigel. The eldest son had been
connected with the army for the previous eighteen months, and
was about to resume the practice of the law at White Plains.
1823. - CHARLES CARROLL died in Baltimore, Md., December, 1862,
aged 61 years. He was son of Charles and Harriett (Chew) Carroll,
and was born in Baltimore, Md., 25 July, 1801.
His father was born in Annapolis, Md., and was educated in Liege,
Europe. His grandfather, Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, was born
in Annapolis, 20 September, 1737; died 14 November, 1832, aged 95
years; and was the last survivor of the signers of the Declaration
of Independence. Each of the three was named Charles, and each was
an only son.
The mother of the subject of this notice was a daughter of the
chief justice of the state of Pennsylvania. After going through his
preliminary studies at home, he was sent to Mount-St.-Mary's
College, near Emmettsburg, a Roman-Catholic institution in
Maryland. He remained there for a year or two; when his
grandfather, who superintended his studies, determined to give
him the advantages of a European education. In 1817, he
was sent to Paris; where, in company with his cousin, Charles
Carroll Harper, he entered the college of St. Stanislaus, and
remained there three years. After a short tour through Italy
and Switzerland, of which he has left a very interesting diary,
he returned home, and immediately proceeded to Harvard College;
where, in 1821, he entered the sophomore class. [It may not be
amiss to mention here, that a large portion of his
class became engaged in some disturbances at college only a few
weeks before commencement, and were summarily dismissed:
among them was Mr. Carroll; and it was not till 1855 that his
degree was forwarded to him by the faculty of the college.]
Having thus completed his course at college, he entered the
law-office of his uncle, Robert Goodloe Harper (N.J.C. 1785),
where he remained two years; and, in 1825, he married Mary
Digges Lee, a grand-daughter of Gov. Thomas Simon Lee,
of Maryland. In November, 1832, his grandfather, having
died, left him his tract of land in Maryland, called Donghoregan
Manor, consisting of about twelve thousand acres, together with
the care of some two hundred slaves. The estate had become
much impoverished; but Mr. Carroll, by devoting his life to the
improvement of his property, for his own pleasure and the benefit
of his family, succeeded in gathering around him one of the
largest and most respectable tenantries in the state, and, by
judicious management, increased many fold the productive qualities
of the manor-lands.
He always took a very lively interest in the public questions
of the day; but the sphere of duties which he had marked out
for himself did not incline him to engage in political life. A
few years since, he built up and enlarged the old Catholic chapel
at the manor, ornamenting it with a marble altar made by the
American artist Bartholomew in Rome, and erecting a handsome
monument to the memory of his grandfather, whose remains
lie there. For some years previous to his death, he had been
afflicted with at very severe catarrh, or, as it is called by some,
"hay fever." This trouble visited him every autumn, causing
great suffering, when finally a disease of the heart became
developed, which terminated in dropsy, of which he died. He left a
family of six children living, and three grandchildren,
representatives of a son who died a few months previous.
The home-quarters" of Donghoregan Manor he devised to his
eldest son of Charles Carroll; and all the residue of his property
to be divided equally among his children, share and share alike.
He survived his wife only three years; she having died at the
manor in December, 1859.
Mr. Carroll was greatly endeared to his friends by a remarkably
kind and genial nature, which derived a peculiar attraction
from the ease and refinement of his manners, and found ample
illustration in the liberality with which he ministered the
traditional and elegant hospitality of Donghoregan Manor; a virtue
which he has transmitted with the inheritance to a most worthy
successor in his eldest son, the present proprietor of the old
homestead.
He was, in its more exalted sense, a gentleman,
cordial, frank, and honorable in every relation of duty, a
beloved husband and father, a most humane and considerate
master of his servants, and a generous and trusty friend.
Possessing, by an hereditary necessity, a large number of
slaves attached to the manor, he was forced to give much
attention to the questions involved in this relation; and
no man in Maryland ever brought to it a more liberal and
intelligent study: the result was the conclusion which he
has expressed in his will, and in conformity with which his
whole conduct through life was directed, -a conviction, namely,
that this class of dependants was too helpless for freedom without
the preliminary nurture and education that alone can make it valuable
to its possessor, and that it is one of the highest and most necessary
duties of the proprietor to bestow that boon upon the slave before he
commits him to the hazards of self-defence.
In accordance with this view, Mr. Carroll has enjoined it upon his children
to give their attention to this preparation, with the further intimation
of his desire that the slaves committed to them shall not pass into bondage
to another generation.
1824. - Rev. WILLIAM HAZZARD WIGG BARNWELL died
in Germantown, Penn., March, 1863, aged 56 years. His
name was originally William Barnwell, but was altered in 1856.
He was son of Col. Robert Gibbs and Elizabeth (Wigg) Barnwell,
and was born in Beaufort, S.C., 27 July, 1806. He
was brother of Hon. Robert Woodward Barnwell (H.C. 1821),
who has been senator in Congress from South Carolina. After
leaving college, he studied law in Litchfield, Conn., and South
Carolina. He was admitted to the bar at Coosawhatchie in
1827. Some time in the month of September, 1831, he experienced
a change of heart, relinquished the bar, united himself
with the Episcopal church, and began the study of divinity. He
was ordained deacon in the Episcopal church in Beaufort, S.C.,
14 April, 1833; and, in 1834, was ordained by Bishop Bowen,
rector of the Pendleton Church in South Carolina, where he
remained six months. He was then called to Charleston, and
was instituted rector of St. Peter's Church, which was built for
him, and where he continued some twenty years. Then he left,
and came north to Philadelphia, where he resided a few years.
In 1857, he became insane, and was removed to Germantown,
where he died.
He married, 26 November, 1820, his cousin, Catharine
Osborn Barnwell, daughter of Edward Barnwell, of Beaufort,
S.C., where she was born 27 April, 1809.
1824. - REV. ROBERT BRENT DRANE (name originally
Lillbourne Brent Drane) died of yellow-fever in Wilmington,
N.C., 16 October, 1862, aged 65 years. He was born
in that part of Maryland which is now in the District of
Columbia, 9 January, 1797. He was fitted for college at
Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. For a few years after
he graduated, he kept a classical school in Salem, Mass. He
was settled as an Episcopal clergyman in Hagerstown, Md.,
where he remained several years.
In 1836, he became rector of St. James Church in Wilmington, N.C.
In 1843, much to the regret of his parishioners, he took charge of a
small college near Louisville, Ky.; but after a few years, at
the urgent solicitation of his old parishioners, he returned to
Wilmington, where he remained until his death. He was much
beloved by his people, and hardly any man could be more self
sacrificing and hard-working than he was. In 1843, he published
a brief history of the parish over which he was settled, and
which was one of the oldest in the state. In 1844, the honorary
degree of doctor of divinity was conferred upon him by
South-Carolina College.
When the troubles incident to the last presidential election
threatened to destroy the Union, he took firm ground to sustain
it; but when these efforts proved unavailing, and the capture of
Fort Sumter compelled all to decide for the South or the North,
he camne out fully and strongly for the former; and, for the last
year, hardly a man in the town advocated the doctrine of secession
with more force and energy. The most prominent members
of his church had long before been ultra secessionists, which
may have influenced him in his course. But this great and
leading congregation is now nearly broken up: of the young
men, a large part have fallen victims to the war; and subse
quently the old men and females, with their pastor, fell before
the pestilence, and havre gone to that bourn from which no
traveller returns.
* He married, May, 1828, Augusta Endicott, daughter of
Captain Moses and Anna (Towne) Endicott, of Danvers,
Mass., where she was born 25 July, 1803; by whom he had
two sons, Robert and Henry, the former of whom died about
three years since. His wife died in Wilmington, 7 July, 1847.
He married afterwards a lady of North Carolina.
1829. - Rev. REUBEN BATES died in Stowe, Mass.,
1 December, 1862, aged 54 years. He was son of Caleb and
Mary (Douglas) Bates, and was born in Concord, Mass.,
20 May, 1808. He was fitted for college, partly at the
Westford and partly at the Groton Academy. Immediately after
leaving college, he entered the Divinity School in Cambridge,
from which he graduated 18 July, 1832. He was faithful as a
student, as he was always faithful in every thing; but his success
and usefulness in active life surpassed any expectations his class
had formed of him. As he proceeded in his studies in divinity,
it became manifest how the heart was quickening the intellect.
His first sermon in the theological school was a marked success;
not, indeed, on account of any very new or brilliant
thoughts; but it was so full of devotion and piety, that it
moved all hearts. In him was fulfilled the saying of Scripture,
"His eye was single, and his whole body full of light." For a
short time after he left Cambridge, he supplied the pulpit in
Saxonville, Mass. He was ordained at New Ipswich, N.H.,
1 June, 1834; where he remained until 31 March, 1835, when
he was dismissed at his own request. He was installed at
Ashby, 13 May, 1835. In February, 1844, he went to Havana,
having suffered from an attack of bronchitis. He returned in
June, his health having improved. Two months afterwards,
his health again failed; and he resigned his pastorate, 31
August, 1845. During the winters of 1845 and 1846, he was
representative from Ashby to the state legislature. His health
having improved, he was installed in Stowe, 18 June, 1846.
In the summer of 1859, his health again compelled him to give
up his parish.
He continued, however, to reside among his people, taking an
active interest in every good work; having charge, as school
committee, of the public schools, and superintending the sunday
schools until within about three months of his decease.
Both in Ashby and in Stowe, his labors were
rewarded with much fruit of spiritual and moral good. Very
modest and unassuming, he was independent and fearless in all
his work. He did nothing to be seen of men; but he labored
with all earnestness, industry, and self-devotion, and with
careful thought and sound judgment, to see how he could do the
most good. His people felt the power of a steady and strong
influence in favor of rational, practical Christianity; wherein,
by work and examples, he was faithful to the end.
He married, 11 February, 1835, Sarah Elizabeth, daughter
of Jeremiah Prichard, of New Ipswich, by whom he had two
children, George Prichard, born 7 August, 1836, who is now
a clerk in a mercantile house in Boston; Charles Francis, born
31 October, 1840, and died 30 April, 1842. His wife died in
Ashby, 10 April, 1842, aged 33 years. He married, for his
second wife, 25 November, 1842, Helen T., widow of Clinton
Atwater, of Michigan, and daughter of Daniel Tuttle, of Boston;
who survives him, and resides in Stowe.
1829.- FREDERICK WILLIAM CROCKER died in Barnstable,
Mass., 11 June, 1863, aged 54 years. He was son of David
and Rachel (Bacon) Crocker, and was born in Barnstable,
16 April, 1809. He was fitted for college, in part, at the
Sandwich Academy, under the instruction of Rev. Warren
Goddard (H.C. 1818), and in part at Phillips Academy,
Andover. After graduating, he was for seven years in business
in Barnstable. In February, 1837, he removed to Boston, and
went into the navigation and commission business in company
with James Huckins and Zenas D. Bassett. This connection
.
continued two years, when it was dissolved; and he was in
business alone until 1842, when he formed a partnership with Dwight
Ruggles as booksellers. This continued but one year; and, in
1843, he returned to Barnstable to reside. Inheriting a good
estate, he thenceforth took a deep and earnest interest in the
improvement of his native town, and identified himself with
its social and literary progress. At the third anniversary of
the Cape-Cod Association, held in Barnstable, 2 August, 1854,
he delivered a humorous and appropriate poem, subsequently
printed in the "Yarmouth Register."
He was, we believe, a frequent contributor of political and
literary articles to the county journals. His "Song for Harvest,"
written for an agricultural meeting in 1858 (set to the tune of
"Old Hundred "), has much of poetic beauty and merit. The annual
meetings of his class have been much indebted to him for very
witty contributions, as well as for the remarkably kindly and
genial spirit which he invariably brought with him. Few of
the class possessed more striking characteristics, and very few
classes or communities of men can show a more honest and
truthful man than Frederick William Crocker.
A hearty hater of cant and shams of every description, he knew
how to appreciate every sterling and generous characteristic
in man; and, to those in whom he could confide, he proved himself
a warm and true friend. In 1855, he was appointed, by the Supreme Court
of Massachusetts, clerk of the courts for the county of Barnstable.
After the amendment of the constitution of the state,
requiring election by the people to the county offices, he was
elected to the same office with but a single dissenting vote,- a
rare instance of almost unanimity.
He married, 6 April, 1851, Louisa G. Sawyer, of Bolton,
Mass., by whom he had four children, who, with their mother,
survived him.
In this class, the following members had died prior to 1851:
viz., Nathaniel F. Derby, of Salem, who died 13 July, 1830;
Henry B. McLellan, of Boston, who died 4 September,
1833; Andrew Ritchie, of Boston, who died at Palermo,
Sicily, 10 July, 1837; Albert Locke, of Lowell, who died
26 September, 1840; William Emerson Foster, of Boston,
who died 23 January, 1843; John Rogers Thurston, who
died 23 November, 1843; John Parker Bullard, of Clinton,
La., who died 29 January, 1845; Nicholas Devereux, of
Salem, who died 2 March, 1848; Solomon Martin Jenkins,
of Easton, Md., who died 15 May, 1848; John Hubbard, of
South Berwick, Me., who died 3 October, 1848.
1829. - Dr. WILLIAM YOUNG died in Hingham, Mass.,
1 July, 1863, aged 54 years. He was son of Alexander and
Mary (Loring) Young, and was born in Boston, 12 January,
1809. He was fitted for college in the Boston Latin School,
where a Franklin medal was awarded to him in 1825 for his
good scholarship. While in college, he did not associate
much with his classmates. After graduating, he studied
medicine with Dr. George Cheyne Shattuck (D.C. 1803); and
received his degree of M.D. in 1834, when he opened an office
in Essex Street, Boston. After a few years, he relinquished
the practice of his profession, and removed to Scituate, and
subsequently to Hingham, where he remained until his death.
1833. - Col. FLETCHER WEBSTER was killed at the second
battle of Bull Run, Va., 29 August, 1862, aged 49 years.
He was son of Hon. Daniel (D.C. 1801) and Grace
(Fletcher) Webster, and was born in Portsmouth, N.H.,
23 July, 1813.
He was fitted'for college at the Boston Latin School. He held
a respectable rank of scholarship; and such was his popularity
with his associates, that he was chosen classorator at the
conclusion of their collegiate studies. After leaving college,
he studied law with his father; was admitted to the Suffolk bar,
and practised his profession in Boston.
He was private-secretary to his father during a portion of the period
when the latter held the office of secretary of state under John
Tyler's administration. In 1843, he became secretary of legation under
Hon. Caleb Cushing, who was then sent out as minister to China.
In 1847, he was representative to the state legislature. In 1850,
he was appointed surveyor of the port of Boston; an office which
he held until the spring of 1861, when he was removed. Immediately
afterwards, on the breaking-out of the war, he proceeded to raise
a regiment; which was one of the earliest for the three-years'
service. In July of that year, he proceeded to the seat of war;
and from that time he was assiduously devoted to the practical duties
of the field, sealing and crowning his career by his death in battle.
A few weeks previously, he was granted a furlough to return home,
and attend the funeral of his youngest daughter, aged thirteen
years. He. was also ill himself, and needed rest. He was
urged to address mass-meetings to aid enlistments in Massachusetts;
but his physician forbade the exertion. During the year,
he had belonged to the corps of Gen. Banks, whom he highly
respected and esteemed; but was subsequently transferred to
the corps of Gen. McDowell. He died as the great defender
of the Constitution would have been willing to see a son die,
fighting for the defence of the Union.
He married Caroline Story White, daughter of Stephen
White, of Salem. The issue of this marriage was four
children,- two sons and two daughters, - of whom both of the
sons and one daughter, with their mother, survive.
1836.- GRENVILLE TUDOR PHILLIPS, of Boston, died at
the house of his brother, George William Phillips, in Saugus,
Mass., 25 May, 1863, aged 46 years. He was the youngest
son of Hon. John (H.C. 1788) and Sally (Walley) Phillips,
and was born in Boston, 14 August, 1816. His father, who
was son of William and Margaret (Wendell) Phillips, was born
in Boston, 26 November, 1770; was an eminent lawyer; was
president of the senate of Massachusetts; and was elected, in
May, 1822, the first mayor of Boston. He died 29 May, 1823,
just at the close of the year of his mayoralty. His mother was
daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Hurd) Walley; was born
25 March, 1772; and died 4 November, 1845. He was fitted
for college at the Boston Latin School. After leaving college,
he studied law in the office of Hon. Peleg Sprague (H.C.
1812) and William Gray (H.C. 1829). He was admitted to
the bar in 1839, and began the practice of his profession in
Boston. Soon after the death of his mother, he went to Europe,
where he remained a few years, and then returned home; but
his parents being dead, and the family broken up, he returned
to Europe, spent some time in England and in Spain, but
made his permanent residence in France, and was absent fifteen
years. His death was very sudden, caused by disease of the
heart, of which he had previously had one attack. He was
never married.
1839. - SAMUEL ELIOT GUILD, of Boston, died at his summer
residence at Nahant, 16 July, 1862, aged 42 years. He
was son of Benjamin (H.C. 1804) and Eliza (Eliot) Guild,
and was born in Boston, 8 October, 1819. He was fitted for
college at the private school of Henry Russell Cleveland (H.C.
1827) in Boston. He held a high rank of scholarship in his
class, and graduated with distinction. After leaving college, he
studied law for some time in the office of William Gray (H.C.
1829), afterwards with Theophilus Parsons (H.C. 1815), of
Boston, and completed his studies at the Law School in Cambridge.
He was admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1841, and established
himself in the practice of his profession in Boston,
where he resided until his decease. He was not ambitious of
public life, and never held or sought office. In the practice
of his profession, he pursued the course which was most congenial
to his taste, a department which, though it does not bring
the practitioner conspicuously before the public, opens to him an
honorable and useful career. As a chamber-counsel, conveyancer
and manager of property, his good sense, his conscientious fidelity
to his clients, and his quiet and uniform industry, gave him all the
success which his desires coveted or anticipated.
He was a gentleman of high moral instincts. He was, in early
life, a communicant in the Rev. Dr. Gannett's church, and ever
walked worthily of his religious profession. He was ever ready
to promote the best interests of the community; kind, charitable,
endowed with all the amenities of a gentleman, having a
pleasant word for all with whom he might have intercourse.
He married, 9 February, 1847, Elizabeth H., daughter of
Henry Gardner Rice (H.C. 1802), of Boston. The issue
of this marriage was two children,- a daughter and
a son,who, with their mother, survive.
1842. - Col. WILLIAM LOGAN RODMAN was killed in the
attack on Port Hudson, Miss., 27 May, 1863, at the age of
40 years. He was the only son of Benjamin and Susan (Morgan)
Rodman, and was born in New Bedford, Mass., 7 March,
1823. He was fitted for college at the Friends' Academy in
New Bedford. After graduating, he entered into mercantile
business. He visited California during the gold fever, and
returned, by way of Calcutta and the overland route, through
Europe. He was absent about two years; and with this exception,
and his college-life, he was always a resident of New
Bedford. He was a member of the common-council of that
city in 1852; and, in 1860 and in 1862, represented wards one
and two of his native city in the legislature. He enlisted in
the service of his country from the purest motives of patriotic
duty; relinquishing the blessings of friends and home, and all
the attractions which wealth could command, to assume the
position of a volunteer captain.
He was rapidly promoted to be major and lieutenant-colonel;
and was the first officer from New Bedford who had fallen in
battle. The illness of Col. Ingraham devolved upon him the command
of the regiment during the assault of the 27th and the preceding
six-days' fighting, wherein he bore a most gallant part.
The "New-Bedford Mercury" thus spoke of this lamented officer:
"It is fresh in the memory of every one in this community, with
what earnestness and zeal Col. Rodman devoted himself to the successful
labor of raising a company of volunteers for the war, at a time
when the work of recruiting moved heavily here. His rapid
promotion from the captaincy of this company to the position,
first of major, and then of lieutenant-colonel, of the regiment,
has been justified by the testimony of his superior officers, who
have warmly commended the care taken of his men, and, most of all,
by his gallant conduct in action, where he proved himself - as his
friends knew he would, in the hour of dangerfaithful to his duty,
a brave soldier. There will be many to mourn for him; remembering
how he possessed the fine qualities which mark the gentleman, the
generous nature which made him a true friend, and that amiable
disposition which endeared him to his family and kindred."
Col. Rodman was never married.
1843. - Rev. ARTHUR BUCKMINSTER FULLER was killed
in the battle at Fredericksburg, Va., 12 December, 1862, aged
40 years. He was the third son of Hon. Timothy (H.C. 1801)
and Margaret (Crane) Fuller, and was born in Cambridge,
Mass., 10 August, 1822. At the age of twelve, he spent one
year at Leicester Academy. He was fitted for college by his
sister Margaret (who afterwards married Count Ossoli), at
Groton, and Mrs. Ripley, wife of Rev. Samuel Ripley, at Waltham.
During his college course, he united with the church connected
with the university. Immediately after graduation, he
purchased Belvidere Academy, in Belvidere, Boone county, Ill.,
in which, assisted by a competent corps of instructors, he taught
for the two succeeding years. During this time he occasionally
preached, as a missionary, in Belvidere and destitute places. He
was a member of the Illinois conference of Christian and Unitarian
ministers, and by them licensed to preach. His first sermon was
preached October, 1843, in Chicago, to the Unitarian
church then under the charge of Rev. Joseph Harrington (H.C.
1833).
In 1845, he returned to New England; entered, one
year in advance, the Cambridge Theological School, where he
graduated in 1847. After preaching three months at West
Newton, he accepted a call to the pastorate of the Unitarian
society in Manchester, N.H., over which he was ordained 29
March, 1848, and remained there a little more than five years,
when he resigned his charge, and was installed over the New
North Church in Boston, 1 June, 1853. Failing, health induced
him to resign his city pastorate, and close his labors there, 31
July, 1859. He accepted, however, a call for six months to the
charge over the Unitarian church in Watertown, Mass., which
was afterwards renewed for an indefinite time. In 1854, he was
chaplain of the house of representatives in the legislature; and,
in 1850, he was chaplain of the senate.
In 1855, he was selected to deliver a hi-centennial oration,
by the citizens of Groton, Mass., on the two-hundredth anniversary
of the settlement of that town; which he did on the 31st of October
of that year.
After the war broke out, he determined to devote himself to the
cause of his country. He was appointed chaplain in the army,
11 August, 1861; and he then resigned his charge of his society
in Watertown. He proceeded to the seat of war, where he continued
until his death. At the battle of Fredericksburg, he
reported himself to Capt. Dunn, of Company D, Nineteenth
Regiment, whose company was deployed as skirmishers in the
principal street, and said he wanted to do something for his
country. He took a musket, and in five minutes fell dead,
pierced by a rebel ball.
Mr. Fuller was a gentleman of great enthusiasm, an energetic
preacher, untiring in the pursuit of the objects at which he
arrived; and, in his patriotic zeal in behalf of his country, he
sacrificed his life.
He married, 18 September, 1850, Elizabeth G. Davenport,
daughter of Joseph G. and Mary H. Davenport, of Andover,
Mass. She died 4 March, 1856. He married, for his second
wife, 28 September, 1859, Emma Lucilla Reeves, who survives
him. He left three children.
1843. - SETH WEBB died in Scituate, Mass., 31 August,
1862, aged 39 years. He was son of Seth and Eliza (Dunbar)
Webb, and was born in Scituate, 14 February, 1823. He was
prepared for college, partly at a private school in Hingham,
Mass.; partly at the academy in Bridgewater; and from May,
1837, to August, 1839, at Phillips Academy in Exeter, N.H.
He held a distinguished rank of scholarship in his class.
After leaving college, he passed the time from November, 1843, to
June, 1844, in travelling; having gone to New Orleans,
Jamaica, and Cuba, back to New Orleans, up the river to
Cincinnati, and through the country home. He then pursued the
study of the law in the office of Hon. George Tyler Bigelow
(H.C. 1829) and Manlius Stimson Clarke (H.C. 1837), and
afterwards with Hon. Charles Greely Loring (H.C. 1812). He
was admitted to the Suffolk bar in Boston, at the July term of
the Court of Common Pleas; and 1 October, 1845, went into
practice with O. Z. Chapman, Esq., the partnerslhip continuing
until 1848. From January, 1847; to the autumn of
1848, he kept a law-office also in Brighton, Mass., where he
resided most of the time. In the fall of 1848, he gave up his
Brighton office and his connection with Mr. Chapman. He then
opened an office in Boston, which he continued until 1 May,
1851, when he went into partnership in Boston with Charles
Gideon Davis (H.C. 1840), under the firm of Davis and Webb.
In 1858, he removed to New York, where he was admitted to
the bar, and practised there during that and the following year.
He then returned, and practised a short time in his native place
(Scituate), until he gave up his profession on account of ill
health. In July, 1861, he was appointed United-States commercial
agent at Port-au-Prince, in Hayti; whither he repaired,
and remained, until, on account of serious illness, he got leave of
absence, and returned to his native place, where he died, after a
long illness, of consumption.
He married, in Boston, 18 November, 1852, Helen Gibbons,
daughter of George M. and Mary D. (Billings) Gibbons (having
been changed from Gibbens, which was the original name).
They had no children. His wife died very suddenly, 16 June,
1858.
1847. - GEORGE ANDREWS died in Salem, Mass., 26 August,
1862, aged 38 years. He was son of John Hancock and
Nancy (Page) Andrews, and was born in Salem, 13 March,
1824. His father was a merchant of Salem, and died some
years since. His mother was daughter of Samuel Page, of
Danvers, and Rebecca (Putnam) Page, of Sterling, and was a
direct descendant of' Gen. Israel Putnam. He was fitted for
college at the Salem public Latin School, under the instruction
of Oliver Carlton (D.C. 1824). After leaving college, he
studied law in the office of Hon. Asahel Huntington, of Salem
(Y.C. 1819); and was admitted to the Essex bar in due course.
Ile practised his profession in Salem during his life. He was
a representative from Salem to the legislature in 1858; was for
many years a member of the school-committee, a justice of the
peace and quorum, a special-justice of the Salem Police Court,
a member of the Essex Institute, a trustee of the Salem Athenoum,
a trustee, secretary, and treasurer of the Plummer Farm
School, and vice-president of the Salem Lyceum. In his death,
his native city lost a conscientious, faithful, upright man.
By his will, in addition to several private legacies, he bequeathed
to the city of Salem $1,500, the income of which is to be given
to the high-school scholars most distinguished, not for scholarship
only, but for faithful and correct deportment. If this disposition
of the fund is refused by the school-committee, it is then
to be appropriated to furnish fuel for poor and destitute families;
$300 to the Salem Marine Society; $500 to the Seaman's
Widow and Orphan Association; $500 to the Seaman's Orphan
and Children's Friend Society; $500 to the Essex Institute;
$100 to the Fraternity of Odd Fellows.
He was never married.
1848.- JOHIN FRANKLIN GOODRICH died of brain-fever, in
the rear of Vicksburg, Miss., 4 June, 1863, aged 36 years.
He was son of Allen and Mary (Emerson) Goodrich, and was
born in Mount Vernon, N.H., 13 August, 1826. He was
fitted for college by the wife of Rev. Samuel Ripley, of
Waltham, Mass. After graduating, he was employed as a clerk, one
year, in one of the manufacturing companies in Waltham. He
then went to California, where he remained five years; and on
his return settled in Epworth, Dubuque county, Io. When
the rebellion broke out, he felt it his duty to enlist; and went into
camp in Iowa, 15 September, as a private in the Twenty-first
Regiment, for three years. He was always in the advance in
every engagement, and was the first to enter the rifle-pits in the
charge of Black River;. and was in the thickest of the fight in
the attempt to carry Vicksburg by storm, in which his company
lost thirty-three men in killed, wounded, and missing. He was
in ill health when he went into this, his last battle; and, though
he came out unharmed, he was immediately taken with a fever,
which, together with the previous severe marching and fighting,
terminated fatally.
Among his classmates, he was always considered
as modest, unpretending, intimate with but few of them,
leading a religious life; and at a meeting of his class, several
years after he left college, he was duly remembered, with a wish
that he might become as rich as he was good.
He married, 12 September, 1857, Marion Pratt, of Iowa,
whose parents were originally from Connecticut. The issue of
this marriage was three children,- two sons and one daughter,
who, with their mother, survive him.
1848. - Col. WILLIAM OLIVER STEVENS died from injuries
received in the battle near Chancellorsville, Va., 5 May,
1863, aged 36 years. He was son of William (H.C. 1819)
and Eliza Leach (Watson) Stevens, and was born in Belfast,
Me., 3 February, 1828. His father was born in Andover,
Mass., 21 January, 1799; was a lawyer in Andover, but
removed to Lawrence, where he now resides; and is judge
of the Police Court in that city.
His paternal grandfather was a soldier in the revolutionary war,
and was in the battle of Bunker Hill.
His mother was born in Boston, 22 March, 1802; was daughter of
George and Eliza Watson, and grand-daughter of John Watson, of
Clark's Island, Plymouth, formerly president of the
Pilgrim Society.
The subject of this notice was fitted for college at Phillips
Academy, Andover. After graduating, he studied law, during a
year and a half, with his father, and, for a year and a half
afterwards, with Hon. Thomas Wright (H.C.1842), of Lawrence.
He practised his profession, with much success, at Newmansville,
Fla., for ten months, but was obliged to leave on account of the
debilitating influence of the climate.
He was summoned on one occasion, at midnight, to the prison
grates, as counsel for a man who had just been committed on
a charge of murder. A hideous countenance met his glance
through the grates; and, upon his asking the name of his client,
the answer was, William Stevens!" In 1852, he went into
the practice of his profession in Dunkirk, N.Y. In 1859, he
was elected, by a very flattering vote, district attorney
of Chatauque county, in which Dunkirk is situated; filled
the office for two years, to the great acceptance of the bench,
the bar, and the whole people; and resigned the unexpired term
of three years for the military service of his country, in the
spring of 1861.
He married, 23 May, 1855, Virginia I. Grosvenor,
daughter of Hon. Godfrey Grosvenor, of Geneva, N.Y. By
this marriage he had two sons,- George Watson, seven years
of age at the time of his father's death, and William Grosvenor,
twenty months; and one daughter, who died in infancy.
Col. Stevens joined the Excelsior Brigade, at Staten Island,
N.Y., as captain of a company raised in Dunkirk; was elected
major before leaving Staten Island; took a conspicuous part in
the battles of Williamsburg, - where he was slightly wounded,
and where his regiment lost over two hundred men,- of Fair
Oaks, of White-oak Swamp, and Malvern Hill; losing in the
last-named battle sixty-one out of three hundred men. He was
commissioned colonel of the Third Excelsior Regiment on the
10th of October, 1862; his commission dating from 6 September.
His regiment was attached to the Third Army Corps,
under Gen. Sickles. He led it at the bloody battle of
Chancellorsville, on Sunday, the 3d of May, 1863. The battle
began at daylight. His horse was shot under him at about six
o'clock; after which he headed his regiment on foot. At about
half-past seven he received a mortal wound, from a minie ball,
through his chest. A captain and two privates of his regiment
were in the act of raising him to carry him from the field, when
the officer was shot. A private received his sword, with the
injunction, " Carry it to my wife; remember me to my boy."
He was conveyed to a hospital within the rebel lines, about
a mile from the Chancellor House, where he was kindly cared
for by our own surgeons and by the enemy, bearing his
sufferings without a murmur or a groan; during most of the time
speaking with cheerfulness and hopefulness; and, during his
moments of delirium, speaking as to his command, " Forward,
men! steady!"
He died, without a struggle, at eight o'clock on Tuesday evening,
5 May. Immediately after the fall of Col. Stevens, a flag of truce
was sent into the enemy's lines to recover him; but Gen. Lee would
not receive it. The general in immediate command of the Excelsior
Brigade on that day, in writing to a friend in Boston, said,
"The Excelsior did splendidly, and lost heavily; but no one is to
be so much regretted as Col. Stevens, who was killed in my sight.
He was truly a splendid officer, and magnificently brave; in fact,
too good a man to be a soldier, and food for powder: for he was a
fine lawyer, and has left a wife and boys. It was the most terrific
fight I have ever passed through."
Dr. Butler, a surgeon in the rebel army, told the father of
Col. Stevens, who went within their lines to recover his son's
body, and who remained there ten hours, that the appearance
and bearing of Col. Stevens were so attractive and soldierly,
that he called several officers of the confederate army to his
room, to witness his manly beauty and demeanor.
Rev. George Patterson, chaplain of the Third North-Carolina
Volunteers (rebel), finding him in a room with fourteen other
wounded men, was attracted to his person, procured for him a
bed and a private room: for thirty-six hours he watched over
him as his own father, washed his body, bathed his temples,
gave him medicine and nourishment; spoke with him of his
wife, his boys, his parents, and his friends, and commended him
in prayer to God; closed his eyes in death; caused him, after
death, to be dressed in his own uniform; took from his neck the
locket of his wife; his money, bills, and change from his pocket,
with all his private papers; folded them in an envelope, and
caused them to be sent to his wife. This chaplain said to our
informant, "I was born in Boston. My father was a Greek:
my mother, if alive, resides in Raynham, Mass. Go and see
her; tell her of her son; for she does not know that I am
alive."
Soon after he was carried into the hospital, Col. Stevens was
asked by the surgeon in attendance, " What regiment do you
belong to?" The reply was, "The Excelsior."-"Does that
regiment belong to the Eleventh Corps? "-" No, sir," was the
emphatic reply: "my corps never runs from the enemy!"
Upon the death of Col. Stevens, resolutions, in the highest
degree honorable to his fame as a soldier, a lawyer, a citizen,
as a man, were adopted by the officers of the Excelsior Brigade,
by the Supreme Court of New York in Chatauque county, by
the members of the bar, and by the citizens of Dunkirk.
1849. - JOHN PEGRAM MAY was killed in the second battle
of Bull Run, Va., 29 August, 1862, aged 31 years. He
was son of David May, of Petersburg, Va., and Maria
W. Pegram, of Booneville, Va.; and was born in Petersburg,
18 November, 1829, the oldest of five boys and two girls.
He was married, 15 May, 1850, in the First Presbyterian
Church in Petersburg, by Rev. A. B. Van Zandt, to Mary
Dandridge, daughter of the late Nathaniel Hanna, M.D. lIe
was killed while in the rebel service.
1850. - HENRY EDSON HERSEY died in Hingham, Mass.,
24 February, 1863, aged 32 years. He was son of Capt.
Stephen and Maria (Lincoln) Hersey, and was born in Hingham,
28 May, 1830. His father, who was son of Jonathan
and Ruth (Nichols) Hersey, was born in Hingham, 3 September,
1797. He was a shipmaster, and was lost at sea, having
sailed on a voyage several years ago, and the vessel never being
heard of afterwards. His mother was daughter of Welcome
and Susanna (Gill) Lincoln, and was born in Hingham, 16
September, 1806, where she still resides. The subject of this
notice early manifested a scholarly taste; and, after going through
the customary course of instruction provided by the public
schools of his native town, he was fitted for college at Derby
Academy in-Hingham, under the tuition of Luther Barker Lincoln
(H.C. 1822). He entered the sophomore class in 1847,
in which he at once took a high rank, and won the esteem of
his associates, both by his attainments as a scholar, and his
demeanor as a gentleman. At commencement, the salutatory
oration was assigned to him. After leaving college, he was
employed as a private teacher in Charlestown, N.H.; studying
law, at the same time, in the office of Hon. Edmund Lambert
Cushing (H.C. 1827).
He afterwards continued his professional studies in Boston
in the office of Hon. Peleg Whitman Chandler (Bowd. C. 1834),
and then completed his preparatory course in the office of Judge
John Phelps Putnam (Y.C. 1837).
He was admitted to the Suffolk bar in September, 1854, and
entered upon the practice of his profession in Boston; opening
an office also in his native town, which he made his place of
residence. Soon after establishing himself in business, he began
to be honored with important and responsible trusts by his
townspeople. He was repeatedly chosen a member of the
school-committee, in which capacity he rendered much efficient
and valuable service. He was one of the trustees of Derby
Academy, and in that office his fine scholarship and his zeal in
promoting the work of sound and liberal culture were exerted
in a way that was creditable to himself, acceptable to his
colleagues, and satisfactory to the public. For several years he
was superintendent of the First-Parish Sunday School.
By a diligent use of his talents, and faithful attention to
business, he had put himself in a way to obtain a successful
practice. The future was looking fair and promising, when his
health began to fail, and, sadly to his disappointment, in the
fall of 1861, he was obliged to relinquish the duties of his
profession; and he made a voyage across the Atlantic, accompanied
by his wife, and passed some months in Spain and the south of France.
Soon after his return, in the summer of 1862, it became evident his
health was not materially improved; and, after remaining a short
time in Hingham, he sought the relief which he hoped the climate
of New Hampshire might afford. There he remained a few
months, when his vital energies had become so exhausted, that
he once more returned to the quiet repose and loving care of
home. Here the slow wasting of consumption terminated
in his decease at his mnother's residence.
He married, 20 March, 1856, Catharine, only daughter of
Col. H. H. Sylvester, of Charlestown, N.H.
1851. - WILLIAM NYE DAVIS, of Boston, died in Nice,
France, 24 February, 1863, aged 32 years. He was son of
John Watson (H.C. 1810) and Susan HIolden (Tallman) Davis,
and was born in Boston, 2 December, 1830. He began his
preparatory studies for college at the Boston Latin School, where he
remained nearly five years, leaving in the spring of 1847, when
he became a pupil of Shattuck Hartwell (H.C. 1844), who was
at that time a tutor in college, with whom he continued until he
entered the freshman class at the beginning of the second term,
February, 1848. After graduating, he began the study of law
in the Law School in Cambridge, and completed his studies under
the instruction of William Howard Gardiner (H.C. 1816), of
Boston. On his admission to the Suffolk bar, he established
himself in the practice of his profession in Boston.
He married, 24 March, 1856, Mary C., daughter of William
Howard Gardiner, of Boston. They had no children. In
1860, on account of pulmonary affection, he went to France,
accompanied by his wife, for the benefit of his health. While
residing in Nice, he met with a most heartrending affliction, on
the 8th or 9th of February, 1863, by the sudden death of his
wife, caused by her clothes accidentally taking fire. This sad
event completely overcame him. He was soon afterwards
attacked twice by severe hemorrhage from the lungs, and
survived his wife only about two weeks.
1851.- Major WILLIAM DWIGHT SEDGWICK died at Keedysville,
Md., 30 September, 1862, of wounds received at the
battle of Antietam, 17th of the same month, aged 31 years.
He was the only son of Charles and Elizabeth (Dwight)
Sedgwick, and was born in Lenox, Mass., 27 June, 1831. At
the age of fourteen years, his father sent him to Illinois, where
he spent a summer with a farmer, who was a relative, and who
then lived in a log-house; where he learned and performed every
kind of farm-work of which a boy of that age is capable.
His father believed, that, without some personal knowledge and
experience of labor, he could not have a proper sympathy with
laboring men. He spent one year at a French school in New
York, and one in a boys' school taught by Rev. Samuel P. Parker
(H.C. 1824) in Stockbridge, Mass.; and pursued the studies
preparatory to admission into college under the instruction of
his mother, and at the academy in Lenox. After leaving college,
he spent a winter in a law-office; then went abroad, and
studied a portion of his professsion, first in the University of
Gottingen, and then in that of Breslau. He was abroad about
seventeen months. Soon after his return, he entered the
Cambridge Law School, where he remained a year, and then
established himself as a lawyer in St. Louis, Mo. After
the breakingout of the war, he forsook his profession, and was
commissioned as a lieutenant in the Second Massachusetts
Regiment.
He went into the service with the regiment; was made ordnance-
officer of Gen. Banks's corps; and was soon promoted to the rank of
major on the staff of his kinsman, Gen. Sedgwick, with many
and weighty duties faithfully discharged.
All through the fearful battles before Richmond, he went with
little food, almost without sleep, for days, worn down with fatigue
and exhaustion, fighting at every step, and winning the praise of his
chief. In the great battle of Antietam, while attempting to rally and
re-form a regiment in some disorder, he received a fatal wound.
Seven hours and a half- from half-past eight in the morning
until half-past three in the afternoon - he lay on the hard
ploughed ground; while the shells, the cannon-balls, and the
bullets of the foe were showering over and around him.
As he was lying there, his body from his waist to his feet paralyzed,
and unable to move, he felt for his diary, and wrote in it
a few modest, manly words, "Say that he tried to do his duty;"
and making some suggestions in behalf of his family. At the
close of a long letter, in which he gave his share of the dreadful
news and sufferings of the retreat from before Richmond, he
said,
"My Country is welcome to every drop of my blood."
He was fully persuaded that the war would be fruitless,
comparatively, unless slavery were completely eradicated; and said,
"I love my wife and children as well as any man; but I would
engage never to see them again, if thereby I could secure the
eradication of slavery."
He married in 1857, at Hanover, Germany, Louisa Frederica
Tellkampf, daughter of Professor Adolf Tellkampf, of that
place. He left three little girls, the youngest of whom he never
saw. She was born in July, 1861, after he had enlisted in the
army, and bidden what proved to be his last farewell.
1851. - Rev. THEODORE TEBBETS died in New-York city,
29 January, 1863, aged 31 years. He was son of Hon. Noah
(Bowd. C. 1822) and Mary Esther (Woodman) Tebbets, and
was born in Parsonsfield, Me., 1 April, 1831. His father, the
son of James (a blacksmith) and Mary (Nutter) Tebbets, was
born in Rochester, N.H., 26 December, 1802; was a lawyer
and circuit-judge of the Court of Common Pleas of New Hampshire;
and moved from Parsonsfield to Rochester, in November,
1834 or 1835, where he died 9 September, 1844. His mother
was daughter of Jeremiah Hall (D.C. 1794), a lawyer of
Portsmouth, N.H., and Sarah (Chase) Woodman; was born
in Portsmouth, 12 January, 1808; and was grand-daughter of
Stephen Chase (H.C. 1764), a merchant of Portsmouth. In
May, 1845, the subject of this notice went to Parsonsfield to
live on a farm; and in the following August left, and entered
Phillips Academy in Exeter, N.H.
In August, 1847, he entered Bowdoin College, but returned
to Exeter to fit for admission, a year in advance, at Harvard,
as all his friends went to Cambridge. He procured a dismission
from Bowdoin, and entered the sophomore class of Harvard, in
August, 1848.
Being entirely without property, he was supported by his own
exertions, and by the funds for assisting poor students at Exeter
and Cambridge. He taught school, in the winter of 1847-8,
in Rochester, N.H. He attained a high rank of scholarship in
college. He took the first Bowdoin prize for English composition,
in the senior year, for a dissertation on "The Characteristics
of a Philosophical History;" also the prize for Latin prose
composition, for a dissertation, "De Sepulchris Etruscis;" and,
at commencement, the fifth English oration was assigned to him.
After-graduating, he entered the Divinity School at Cambridge,
where he remained till February, 1852. From March, 1852,
to July, 1853, he was teacher of the ancient languages in Exeter
Academy; and from October, 1854, to July, 1855, was proctor
in college. He was ordained as pastor of the Smith Unitarian
Church in Lowell, as successor of Rev. Henry A. Miles (B.U.
1829), 19 September, 1857. He' preached two Sundays, and
was taken with a typhoid-fever, from which he did not recover
entirely for a year. He resigned his pastorate in May, 1856,
and spent the summer at the Isle of Shoals.
In January, 1857, he received a call from the First Parish
in Medford, as successor of Rev. John Pierpont; and was
installed 15 April, 1857.
In the autumn of 1858, he was attacked with symptoms of
pulmonary disease, which resulted in a slight hemorrhage in
February, 1859: he had preached in the mean while, with the
exception of one Sunday. He left New York for the South, 14
February, 1859, and spent the winter in Savannah and Florida;
but returned in the spring, and resumed preaching. He preached
three half-days, and then was attacked with a severe hemorrhage
from the lungs; went to the Isle of Shoals, 1 August, where
he remained till 18 November, gaining health and strength.
He went to Savannah again, 14 January, 1860; and thence to
Florida, where he remained till 3 May; thence to Savannah,
and returned to Medford. Finding the life of a minister was
out of the question, he sent in a peremptory resignation; preached
for the last time, 12 July; and his resignation was accepted
1 August, 1859.
He afterwards went into business as a coal-dealer in Boston,
and opened an office at No. 3, Merchants' Exchange; but was
soon afterwards obliged to relinquish it on account of his health.
The closing years of his life tested and testified to the strength
of his religious faith. With unsurpassed patience, a patience
that veiled itself with cheerfulness, asking neither for sympathy
nor pity, he submitted to the loss of all his most cherished pursuits.
Not only the profession he so loved, but all study and
contimnuous effort, must be relinquished; and yet no one ever
heard him refer to baffled hopes, or indicate that he was
peculiarly unfortunate. His faith in the all-wise Father
was the pillar of fire through the darkness.
His printed works were several articles in the " Monthly
Religious Magazine; " also a sermon in the same magazine for
May, 1858, on "The Revival;" "A Memoir of the late Judge
Tebbets, of New Hampshire; " "A Memoir of William Gibbons."
He married, 3 June, 1857, Ellen Sever, daughter of Col.
John and Anna Dana Sever, of Kingston, Mass. They had
one son, John Sever, born 4 July, 1858.
1852. - Dr. SAMUEL FOSTER HAVEN was killed at the battle
of Fredericksburg, 13 December, 1862, aged 30 years. He
was the only son of Samuel Foster (H.C. 1826) and Lydia
Gibbon (Sears) Haven, and was born at the house of his
grandfather, Hon. Samuel Haven (H.C. 1789), in Dedham, Mass.,
20 May, 1831. In August of the same year, he went with
his parents to live in Dracut, Mass., where they resided
a little more than one year. They then removed to Lowell,
where his father practised law. After living there three
years, he spent the winter of 1835-6 in Dedham. In April,
1836, he was sent to Salem to live with a private family.
About a year afterwards, he returned to Dedham; and soon
afterwards went to a boarding-school in Needham, where he
remained three years.
In 1839, he went to live in Worcester with his father, who had
removed thither in 1837, where he now resides, and holds the
office of librarian of the Antiquarian Society. The subject of
this notice was fitted for college at the Worcester High School.
In January, 1853, he began his medical studies in the
office of Dr. Henry Sargent, of Worcester; and was next in the
Medical School at Boston. The last year of his studies, he
had the appointment of house pupil at the Massachusetts
General Hospital. HIe graduated at the Medical College, 7 March,
1855; and, the same year, he was admitted a member of the
Massachusetts Medical Society. In the summer of the same
year, he went abroad for professional improvement, with
particular reference to the department of ophthalmology. He spent a
winter in Paris, and passed the following year partly at Vienna
and partly at Berlin. On his return to Boston, he took an
office in Asylum Street; but, in the spring of 1858, he removed
to Worcester, where he proposed to attend chiefly to diseases of
the eye. At the beginning of the war, he immediately offered
to enter the service; and, when the Fifteenth Massachusetts
Regiment was organized, he joined it as assistant-surgeon.
The illness and absence of the senior-surgeon left him alone in
the medical care of the regiment for many months; and, on the
ultimate retirement of that officer, he was commissioned in his
place.
During the whole of his service, he devoted all his energies
to the discharge of his duties, and never left his post for
rest or recreation. Believing it to be his duty to be where he
could render instant aid to the wounded, he always accompanied
his regiment into battle, entirely regardless of personal exposure.
When his regiment went into the engagement at Fredericksburg,
where he lost his life, he was remonstrated with by the medical
director of the division for wanting to go with them, and ordered
to report himself at the hospital; but his desire to be with the
men was so urgent, that he was permitted to accompany them:
and he was killed by a shell, while marching by the side of the
color-bearer, 13 December, 1862.
He had neither the faculty nor disposition for slighting any
part of his duty; and, whatever he undertook to do, his nature
required him to do earnestly and thoroughly. By his presence
in the midst of the conflicts, he is said, by an officer, to have
saved lives that must otherwise have been lost for want of
immediate attention; and the consciousness of such a possibility,
in his judgment, not only justified, but demanded, the personal
exposure of the surgeon to the same risks that were encountered by
the men. He was a careful student, and fond of literary and
scientific research. Two of his essays were printed; one on
"Intestinal Obstructions," and one on "Cysterci within the
Eye."
When he entered the army, he had nearly ready for the
press a chronological catalogue of books and pamphlets printed
in this country from its settlement to the period of the revolution,
with an introductory chapter. This was'a continuation and
extension of a list which was begun by Isaiah Thomas, the author
of the "History of Printing in America," but never completed, or
arranged from the materials he had gathered. He was in the
battles of Ball's Bluff, Yorktown, Fair Oaks, Savage's Station,
the seven-days' fighting on the retreat to Harrison's Landing,
Antietam (where his regiment was very badly cut to pieces), and
the first battle of Fredericksburg.
1852. - Capt. WILLIAM DUNCAN MCKIM was killed in the
rebel service in the battle of Chancellorsville, 3 May, 1863,
aged 30 years. He was son of William and Margaret D.
(Hollins) McKim, and was born in Baltimore, Md., 27 June,
1832. His father was son of William Duncan and Susan
(Haslett, of the Eastern Shore of Maryland) McKim, and was
born 21 December, 1808; is a banker in Baltimore; one of
their most esteemed citizens and straight-out union-men. His
mother was daughter of John Smith and Rebecca (Dugan)
Hollins, and was born in Baltimore, April, 1810. The subject
of this notice always lived in Baltimore; was fitted for college
by Michael R. McNally, and entered at the beginning of the
second term of the sophomore year.
1852. - Col. PAUL JOSEPH REVERE died of wounds received
in the battle of Gettysburg, Penn., 4 July, 1863, aged
30 years. He was son of Joseph Warren and Mary (Robbins)
Revere, and was born in Boston, 10 September, 1832. His
father was son of Paul Revere of revolutionary history, who
changed his name from Revoir. Paul's father's name was Apollos;
was born in France; went to the Isle of Guernsey when
young; and his father, Simeon, was obliged to leave the country
at the revocation of the edict of Nantes. The mother of the
subject of this notice was a daughter of Judge Edward
Hutchinson Robbins (H.C. 1775), of Milton.
In 1839, young Revere went to Milton Academy, where he
remained four years under Mr. Marsh; then went about a year
and a half to the Boston Latin School; then about a year to
Rev. Samuel Ripley (H.C. 1804), of Waltham; then about a year
to Mr. William Hathorne Brooks (H.C. 1827), of Boston; then
to Dr. W. A. Davis, of Dorchester, previously of Roxbury; then,
about six months before entering the sophomore class, was with
John Brooks Felton (H.C. 1847), in Cambridge. He did not study
any profession after leaving college. When the war broke out,
he volunteered his services in behalf of his country. He was
commissioned major in the Twentieth Regiment of Volunteers;
was in the battle of Ball's Bluff, where he was taken prisoner,
carried to Richmond, and kept in close confinement for several
months; being one of the officers held by the rebels as hostages
for the rebel privateersmeni. After his exchange, he was promoted
to be colonel of the Twentieth Regiment.
He married, 17 March, 1859, Lucretia Watson, daughter of
Rev. William Parsons Lunt (H.C. 1823), of Quincy. The
issue of this marriage was two children, one son and one
daughter, - who, with their mother, survive him.
1852. - Dr. ROBERT WARE died in Washington, N.C.,
10 April, 1863, aged 29 years. He was son of Dr. John
(H.C. 1813) and Helen (Lincoln) Ware, and was born in
Boston, 2 September, 1833. He was fitted for college at the
Boston Latin School. On leaving college, he determined to
enter the medical profession. He began his studies under the
instruction of his father, with whom he continued until May,
1854; when he went to Europe, where he remained until September,
1855, spending about six months of the time in Paris,
studying in the French hospitals. On his return, he continued
his studies with his father, and graduated at the Medical School
in 1856, when he began the practice of his profession in Boston.
In July, 1857, he was appointed one of the district physicians
of the Boston Dispensary. He was remarkably successful in
his practice; which increased rapidly, as his father was
intending to relinquish the profession to his son.
On the breakingout of the war, he was one of the first
physicians to enter the service of the Sanitary Commission,
and continued in its service until the close of the Peninsula
campaign in Virginia.
He was subsequently appointed surgeon of the Forty-fourth
Massachusetts Regiment, with which he left for the seat of war.
On his arrival in North Carolina, his arduous labors and exposures
to the unhealthy climate brought on a fever, of which he died, after
a few days' illness. Such is the brief record of a life of stainless
virtue, and of modest, wise, and effective devotion to the public
service. His manly, thoughtful, earnest simplicity indicated all
the ancestral virtues that were shining in his character.
Few gave such promise of eminence in his profession. But one so
wise, so virtuous, was well prepared to sacrifice his life in the
service of his country.
He was never married.
1852.- Major SIDNEY WILLARD was killed in the battle of
Fredericksburg, Va., 14 December, 1862, aged 31 years. He
was son of Joseph (H.C. 1816) and Susannah Hicklin (Lewis)
Willard, and was born in Lancaster, Mass., 3 February, 1831.
In 1831, he, with his parents, removed to Boston, which was
his subsequent residence. He was fitted for college at the
Boston Latin School. While an undergraduate, he was a diligent
student, and held a respectable rank in his class. In his junior
year, he taught school, during the winter vacation, in Deerfield,
Mass. He was distinguished for his athletic powers and his invincible
courage. After graduating, he entered the Harvard Law School, and
remained there a little more than one term.
From April, 1853, to May, 1854, he was teaching in Charlestown,
N.H., and at the same time studying law in the office of
Judges Cushing and Gilchrist. In June, 1854, he entered the
office of Hon. Charles Greely Loring (H.C. 1812), of Boston.
He was admitted to the bar, 19 April, 1856. In July, 1856,
he went to the West, and returned to Boston, after an absence
of about three months. In October, 1856, he opened an office
in Court Street, where he remained until he left for the seat of
war. His moral character was irreproachable. From moral
conviction, he was strongly antislavery in his principles. From
1854, besides being occupied by his profession, he was more or
less engaged in giving instruction to private pupils.
He wrote an article entitled "A Night in a Wherry," which was
published in the " Atlantic Monthly" for October, strongly
indicative of his insensibility to fear. In the summer of 1862, he
determined to devote himself to the service of his country; and,
having a taste for the military art, was commissioned as a major
of the Thirty-fifth Regiment of the Massachusetts troops. He
was employed for some time before his departure in drilling
soldiers, at which he was very expert.
He married, 21 August, 1862, Sarah Ripley, daughter of
Augustus Henry Fiske (H.C. 1825), of Boston; and left the
next day, with his regiment, for the seat of war; bidding, sad to
say, a last farewell to his newly married wife.
1853.- Lieut. Col. WILDER DWIGHT died in a hospital,
near Boonesborough, Md., 19 September, 1862, of wounds
received in the battle of Antietam. He was son of William
(H.C. 1825) and Elizabeth Amelia (White) Dwight,
and was born in Springfield, Mass., 23 April, 1833. His
father was son of Hon. Jonathan Dwight (H.C. 1793); was
born in Springfield, 5 April, 1805; and was a lawyer in that
place; but subsequently removed to Boston, where he engaged
in manufactures, residing in Brookline. His mother
was a daughter of the late Hon. Daniel Appleton White
(H.C. 1797), and was born in Salem, Mass., 4 August,
1809.
He was fitted for college at Phillips Academy in Exeter,
N.H. He attained a distinguished rank of scholarship in
his class, and graduated with high honors. Immediately after
graduating, he entered the Law School at Cambridge, where he
gained the first prize in 1855. He then visited Europe, where
he spent fifteen months, travelling through Spain, in company
with Hon. Millard Fillmore. On his return, he pursued his
law-studies in the office of Hon. Caleb Cushing (H. C.
1817), the attornedy-general of the United States; and in that
of Hon. Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar (H.C. 1835), and Horace
Gray, jun., Esq. (I.C. 1845).
He was admited to the bar in 1856, and began practice in Boston
in 1858, where he soon gave promise of future eminence in his
profession; and no man of his age had a higher position at the
bar when he left the profession for the field. He had studied
law with great assiduity; and his knowledge of the sciences was
not only extensive and exact, but also systematic and practical.
He frequently, during the four years he was in practice, appeared
before the Supreme Court; and many of his arguments there
displayed learning, research, and vigorous practical logic, which
promised to make him leader of the profession.
When the war broke out, he left his profession to serve
his country; and, with Col. Gordon, organized the Second
Massachusetts Regiment; one of the first two regiments which
entered the field under the President's original call for three
years' men. In the summer of 1861, he was commissioned as
major, and served through the laborious campaign on the
Potomac. The Second Massachusetts, under Col. Gordon,
covered the disastrous retreat of Gen. Banks down the
Shenandoah. At Winchester, after a display of individual
courage and admirable presence of mind, he was taken prisoner,
but was immediately paroled. When Col. Gordon, for his
distinguished services, was promoted to the rank of brigadier
general, Major Dwight became lieutenant-colonel of the regiment.
After his exchange, he returned to active service; and
in the battle of Antietam, 16 September, 1862, received his
mortal wound. He was distinguished for singular independence of
character. His thought was clear and well defined, his
statements lucid, his convictions strong. The same rare traits
adorned his short professional career; and, seconded by other
shining qualities, enabled him to achieve a reputation, as a
military officer, beyond that of most civilians. His clearness
of insight, his promptness of execution, his decision of character,
his insensibility to fear, and his dignified familiarity, won
the confidence, the admiration, and the love of his command.
1854. - Capt. RICHARD CHAPMAN GOODWIN was killed
in the battle at Cedar Mountain, Va., 9 August, 1862, at the
age of 28 years. He was the oldest son of Ozias and Lucy N.
(Chapman) Goodwin, and was born in Boston, 11 October,
1833. He went to a private school in Boston until 1845, and
then entered the Latin school, where he was fitted for college.
After graduating, he determined to pursue the mercantile
profession; and in August, 1854, he entered the counting-roomn of
William Story Bullard, of Boston; but soon afterwards went
abroad, where he spent several years in foreign travel, and
returned in 1858. In 1861, immediately after the breaking-out
of the rebellion, he raised a company of Massachusetts volunteers,
of which he was appointed captain; and was attached, as
Company K, to the Second Regiment, under Col. George H.
Gordon.
1854.- EDMUND RHETT died in Spartansburg, S.C., 15
February, 1863, aged 29 years. He was son of Hon. Robert
Barnwell and Elizabeth (Burnet) Rhett, and was born in
Charleston, S.C., 19 November, 1833.
His time, before enterinug college, was passed between
Washington, Charleston, and his father's plantation on the
Ashcpoo River.
He returned from Washington in 1848; when his father resigned the
seat he had held in the lower house for about thirteen years. He
entered the sophomore class of the South-Carolina College in 1850;
took an honorable dismission, with one hundred and ten others,
in December, 1852, on account of certain differences which arose
between the students and the college-government; and entered,
in March, 1853, the junior class, half advanced, at Harvard. In
alluding to himself, lie said, when in college, "As my first
appearance in this world of jests was amidst the disturbances of
nullification in South Carolina, so probably will my life continue
through a series of political struggles and commotions only;
but the last act which it shall witness will be more effective,
and more finally decisive for the maintenance of the integrity of
my state, than the first."
He afterwards studied law in Charleston, and intended to
practise in California; but he afterwards became assistant-editor
of the "Charleston Mercury," of which paper his father was
proprietor.
1854. Lieut. Col. JAMES SAVAGE died in the hospital
in Charlottesville, Va., 22 September, 1862, of wounds
received in the battle at Cedar Mountain on the 9th of August,
aged 30 years. He was the only son of Hon. James (H.C.
1803) and Elizabeth Otis (Stillman) Savage, and was born in
Boston, 21 April, 1832. He was fitted for college at the
Boston Latin School, and held a respectable, but not distinguished,
rank in his class.
The love of excellence, rather than the ambition to excel,
was always a controlling motive in his life and conduct. He
secured the respect of his teachers by the correctness and purity
of his course, and was much beloved by his classmates for the
rare truth and nobleness of his character. He early showed a
great love for music; and this, with the study of horticulture,
equally an object of his regard, filled all his leisure hours. Soon
after leaving college, he went to Europe, where he remained two
years, profiting by'the instructions of Professor Liebig and
others, at Munich and Berlin, in agricultural chemistry, and
other departments; visiting, with a student's appreciation, the
galleries of art, and cultivating his taste for music. Upon his
return, he was undetermined as to the path in life he should
take, having no decided taste for either of the so-called learned
professions, and having found, by six months' reading of
law, that the confinement incident to them was incompatible
with his health. With more than common muscular strength
and activity, a person manly and vigorous, and presenting all
the external aspects of health, his constitution was such as to
make sedentary employments pernicious, and much exercise in
the open air necessary.
Fond of rural employments, of which he had acquired no small
knowledge from his studies and observations at home and abroad,
and enjoying nature with a poetical enthusiasm, he determined
to make agriculture his profession; and, with that view, purchased
a small farm in the town of Ashland, where, for two years, he spent
most of his time in the practical labors of the husbandman.
In the midst of these occupations, he became interested in the
great questions of the day, and gave his heartiest sympathy to the
cause of human freedom. The strong love of justice inherited from
his father, showing itself in indignation against wrong and oppression
in every form, was confirmed at this time by his reading
and reflection, and prepared him to take an active part in the
defence of free principles whenever they were assailed.
Following these convictions, as well as his interest in the
occasion itself, he attended the meetings in connection with the
death of John Brown, held in December, 1860, where he remained
through the day, despite the insults of a vulgar and excited mob,
and showed then, and on subsequent occasions, his determination,
at all personal risks, to protect freedom of discussion, and,
as he said, "to give fair play." With these characteristics, it
need hardly be said that he responded to the first call of his
country for defenders in the field with a deep and earnest enthusiasm.
Already, in anticipation of such a call, he had been
devoting himself to the practice and study of military tactics as
a member of a drill-club, and had shown his superior fitness for
the duties of a soldier. With his friends Dwight and Curtis,
he worked zealously in organizing the Second Regiment of
Massachusetts Volunteers, since so distinguished for its
discipline, valor, and sacrifices; and, with his friend and lieutenant,
Henry Higginson, recruited the company placed under his command.
His regiment left Boston on the 8th of July, 1861.
Its subsequent career is part of the history of the country.
In all its fortunes, whether successful or adverse, Capt. Savage
bore a distinguished part. During fourteen months of his laborious
service, he never asked a furlough; nor was he ever absent from his
post, except when suffering from a fever contracted on picket-duty
on the Potomac.
The men under his command were noted for their orderly conduct, as well
as for their endurance and unflinching courage in all the trials of camp
and march and battle-field. With. a heart as tender as it was
brave, his profession served to bring out more distinctly the gentle
and generous qualities, which, in times of peace, had made him so
dear to his kindred and friends. This union of gentleness with
the sterner traits of character is illustrated by the incident, that
in the Shenandoah campaign, while pursuing a squad of rebel
cavalry who had fired on our pickets, he snatched from the
ground the first flower of spring, a humble hepatica, as it
attracted his attention in the dry oak-leaves, not relaxing for an
instant his eager chase. Of his tender thoughtfulness, what
more touching evidence could be given than his offering of roses
to the dying German bugler of the New-York Eighth, at Winchester,
accompanied by kind words in the language that
recalled his fatherland?
The following tribute to Col. Savage's worth as a patriot and
soldier is copied from the "Boston Daily Advertiser," to which
it was contributed by Col. Samuel M. Quincy, soon after the
news of Col. Savage's death: -
"Of Col. Savage's life previous to the war, of the services of the
regiment to which he belonged, and the manner of his death, others
have written. It is my desire simply to bear witness to the estimation
in which his character was held, and the appreciation which it
received among his fellow-officers. lie was universally acknowledged
to have entered the service simply and entirely from his sense of duty,
and conviction of right. With others, although patriotism was,
beyond doubt, the underlying motive, still each man was conscious of
a variety of inducements and reasons which influenced his final decision.
Not so with Savage: the cause of freedom and right was to
be fought for; and, beyond that, he never thought of looking. For
his character, as it was developed and brought to our notice by the
varied duties and experiences of the campaign, the feeling of admiration
was universal. To an almost feminine gentleness and amiability
he joined the indomitable energy and resolution which became the
man. When, before the regiment had yet been in action, officers
around their camp- or picket- fires at night would discuss its probable
behavior, there was one universal sentiment; viz., that Jim Savage,'
at least, would fight, as it was once expressed,' like Mr. Valiant-for-Truth,
until his sword clove to his hand:' and this prediction he well
fulfilled at Newtown, Winchester, and Cedar Mountain; on which
last disastrous field he fell, struck by two bullets. As he lay on the
field, he was found by Capt. Russell, whom he earnestly requested not
to remain, but to save himself; which request, it is needless to say,
that officer disregarded, though at the expense of his own safety.
Col. Savage was taken to Charlottesville, where it is gratifying to
think that he found friends, and where, on the 22d of October, 1862,
his mortal frame had no longer strength to retain the soul of one of
the bravest Christian gentlemen that ever drew sword for the right
since the world began. He was the only man ever known to the
writer who seemed fully to observe the title given to the model of
French knighthood,- Chevalier sans peur et sans reproche."
1856. - Lieut. STEPHEN GEORGE PERKINS was killed in
the battle at Cedar Mountain, Va., 9 August, 1862, at the age
of 26 years. He was son of Stephen H. and Sarah S. (Sullivan)
Perkins, anrd was born in Boston, 18 September, 1835. He
was fitted for college partly by Thomas Gamaliel Bradford
(H.C. 1822), and partly by William Parsons Atkinson (H.C.
1838). After graduation he travelled in Europe, and returned
in October, 1857. He joined the Law School in Cambridge at
the March term in 1858; and joined the Scientific School in
September, 1859, as a student in mathematics; where he remained
until he resolved to devote his services to aid in the
preservation of the Union. He received a commission as
second-lieutenant in Company H, of the Second Regiment,
under Col. George H. Gordon; where he remained, discharging
his duty with great ardor, until his life was sacrificed in
defending the flag which was so dear to him.
1857. - Capt. HOWARD DWIGHT was killed by guerillas
7 May, 1863, at Courtableau, on the Mississippi River, while
bearing despatches from his brother, Gen. Dwight, to whose
staff he was attached, to Gen. Banks. He was son of William
(H.C. 1825) and Elizabeth Amelia (White) Dwight,
and was born in Springfield, Mass., 29 October, 1837. He
was fitted for college at Phillips Academy, Exeter, N.H. After
graduating, he went to the West, where he was engaged in
business when the war broke out. He immediately enlisted,
and devoted what proved to be the remainder of his life to the
service of his country. The manner of his death is thus de
scribed in a New-Orleans paper: " He left the headquarters of
his brother on the morning of the 4th; and, proceeding rapidly
along the road from Alexandria to Franklin, on reaching
Courtableau, he was hailed by three rebel guerillas. He stopped,
and asked them who they were; when they presented their
revolvers, and asked him to dismount.
As there were three to one, and the captain was unarmed, he
was forced to comply; remarking,'I cannot help myself, and
therefore surrender.'
But the heartless representatives of the chivalry retorted,'We
don't want a prisoner:' and they immediately fired two shots at
him, one of which took effect in his leg; but the other, which
proved mortal, passed through his head. The guerillas then
left him lying on the road; but the body was watched over by a
small boy who had witnessed the cold-blooded transaction,
and who afterwards related the circumstances to some of Gen.
Dwight's cavalry which happened to pass that way soon after,
and found the body."
His genial social qualities, his unflinching bravery, and his
sterling character, had endeared him to his fellow-officers; and
his death and the manner of it will not be quickly forgotten.
A meeting of the'members of his class in college was held on
the 20th of May, and a series of resolutions passed expressive
of their sense of his merits as a genial companion, a beloved
classmate; and that the atrocious circumstances of his death
make it peculiarly a martyrdom; and that his cherished memory
shall give a new earnestness to our loyalty to the great cause
in the defence of which he fell."
1857.- SAMUEL BRECK PARKMAN was killed in the battle of Antietam,
Md., 17 September, 1862, aged 26 years. He was born in Savannah, Ga.,
1 November, 1836. He was in the rebel army, first-lieutenant of Reed's
Battery, from Georgia; and was major upon Gen. Longstreet's staff when
he was killed. He was left an orphan at an early age, by the loss
of both parents in the steamer " Pulaski," which was destroyed
by fire, when off the coast of North Carolina, on her passage
from Charleston for Baltimore, 14 June, 1838. Among the
names of those lost were Mr. S. B. Parkman, Master Park
man, Miss A. Parkman, Miss C. Parkman, Miss T. Parkman.
In a paragraph in the account of the burning of the steamer,
it is stated that "the persons by the name of Parkman
were the family of S. B. Parkman, of Savannah, and formerly
of Westborough, Mass." They were probably descendants of
Rev. Ebenezer Parkman (H. C. 1721), who was born in
Boston, 5 September, 1703; was ordained pastor of the church
of Westborough, 28 October, 1724; and died 9 December,
1782, aged 80 years. The subject of this notice was cared
for by an aunt, who supplied the place of a mother to him.
He had two sisters. He passed some time at the military-school
in Sing-Sing, N.Y., before entering college. After graduating,
he read law in Savannah, and was admitted to practice in
due time; became a member of the Georgia Historical Society;
and finally joined the Savannah troop of cavalry.
In the suinmer of 1860, he travelled in Europe; returned in
the fall, and visited Boston.
He married, in December, 1860, Nannie Bierne, of Virginia,
a very wealthy lady.
1857. - GEORGE WHITTEMORE was killed in the battle of
Antietam, Md., 17 September, 1862, at the age of 25 years.
He was the son of George and Anna (Mansfield) Whittemore,
and was born in Boston, 19 December, 1836. He was educated
at the public schools in Boston; and was prepared for
admission to college at the public Latin School, where a Franklin
medal was awarded to him in 1853. His parents removed
from Boston to Gloucester, Mass., during his last year at the
Latin school; and this town was his home during his college
course.
Soon after entering upon his college-course, he attained
a high rank among the best scholars in his class, and
graduated with honors. During three of the winters while in
college, he taught school in Gloucester and Northampton.
After graduating, he was for a time an assistant in the
private latin-school of Mr. Epes Sargent Dixwell (H.C. 1827)
in Boston. He then studied law in the office of John Jones Clark
(H.C. 1823) and Lemuel Shaw (H.C. 1849) in Boston. He was
of an amiable disposition, modest and unassuming in his man
ners. His tastes were naturally quiet and scholarly; yet he
had a spirit of adventure and a fondness for manly sports,
which led him, after three years teaching,, and reading law, to
join a party for travel and exploration to the South-west. His
arrangements, however, were not carried out, and he returned
after a brief absence.
In August, 1861, he enlisted for three years in Capt. Saunders's
company of sharpshooters, determined to devote himself to the
service of his country. On the morning of his departure for the
seat of war, he, after an examination, was admitted to the Suffolk
bar. He was an excellent marksman; and, from his first fight in
a skirmish at Edwards's Creek to the day of his last battle,
he did his duty with his corps as a true soldier of the flag.
1858. - PAUL MITCHELL ELIOT died in the city of New
York, 26 November, 1862, aged 25 years. He was son of
Hon. Thomas Dawes and Frances Lincoln (Brock) Eliot,
and was born in New Bedford, Mass., 13 September, 1837.
His father was son of William Greenleaf Eliot, and was born
in Boston, 20 March 1808. He graduated at Columbian College,
Washington, D.C., in 1825, his parents having resided
many years in Wasliington; is a lawyer in New Bedford, and
is now a representative in Congress from the First Congressional
District of Massachusetts. The mother of young Eliot
was a native of Nantucket. He was a student at the Friends'
Academy in New Bedford, under the instruction of Mr. Abner
Jones Phipps (D.C. 1838), from 1847 to 1850, when he entered
the Bristol Academy in Taunton, Mass., under Mr. Henry
Blatchford Wheelwright (H.C. 1844), where he completed his
preparatory studies for entering college. After graduating, he
determined to engage in mercantile business In October, 1858,
he went to St. Louis, and, 1 January, 1859, entered the
counting-room of the Atlantic Mills Co. in that city, where he
remained one year, and, 1 January, 1860, entered the store of
F. B. Chamberlain and Co.; and while there, having been engaged
one very hot day in marking goods in the sun, he was
affected by a sun-stroke, from which he never recovered.
In November of that year, he left St. Louis on account of ill
health, and spent the winter in Washington, where his father
was attending Congress; and in March, 1861, returned to New
Bedford. His brain having been affected, the disease produced
mental imbecility.
His father took him to New York, and placed him in a private
hospital under the charge of a distinguished physician, but
without any benefit. He remained there more than a year,
when death ended the scene.
1858. - Dr. HENRY AUGUSTUS RICHARDSON died of consumption,
in Cambridge, 1 July, 1863, aged 26 years. He
was born in Boston, 25 November, 1836, the son of George
C. and Susan Gore (Moore) Richardson. His father, now a
merchant in Boston, was the son of a physician in Royalston,
from whom Henry probably derived a fondness for the study of
medicine, and a power of accurate observation, that led him to
the same profession. When he was very young, his fiamily
removed to their present residence in Cambridge, where he
prepared for college at the Hopkins Classical School, and at the
High School. In 1853-4, he completed his studies at Exeter
Academy, entering the freshman class in 1854.
He early developed a taste for chemistry; and, in college, he
added a keen interest in anatomy and other branches of medical
science, and, with a set of congenial minds, turned his attention
to personal investigations. For six months before graduation,
he attended lectures at the Harvard Medical School, and in
October, 1858, became a pupil of Dr. C. A. Davis, at the
Marine Hospital in Chelsea, where he remained three years.
During this period, he followed certain courses at the school; in
1860-1, attended regularly all the lectures; and received his
degree in July, 1861.
His classmates, Drs. Francis and Cobb, were associated with him
at the hospital in the latter part of his residence. In May, 1861,
he became assistant-physician in the hospital. In August, he
passed examination in Boston; was commissioned acting assistant-surgeon,
and appointed to the steamer "Cambridge," Capt. Parker, of the
North-Atlantic blockading squadron. In this duty he remained nearly
a year; the steamer being constantly employed in the blockade of Beaufort
and Wilmington, N.C. In his exposure to cold and wet, and
restraint from exercise, while upon this service, the development
of the disease commenced, which had been fatal to his mother
and older brother.
In July, 1862, he was forced by his ill health to resign his
commission; and spent the following months, till November, in
the southern part of New Hampshire. As a last expedient, to
stay the disease by residence in a dryer climate, he went to
Minnesota, and spent the winter and spring at St. Paul. But the
winter was extraordinarily open; and the melting snow filled the
air with moisture, so that he derived no benefit from the change.
In March, he was joined by his brother, and seemed to gain
strength till his return home in the last of May.
From this time he rapidly failed, but remained constantly cheerful and
social, though perfectly aware of the nature of his decline. On
class-day, being unable to witness the festivities on the college
grounds, he invited several classmates to a quiet party in his
own room. One of his last acts was to send for the photographs
of his class, that he might recall their memories, and enjoy the
pleasure of their silent society.
Dr. Richardson lacked the brilliant gifts that have made
others distinguished. He was not ready of speech, or skilful in
gathering the learning of books, but was conscious that his peculiar
talent would be discovered in studies requiring a power of
exact and complete observation. In this he remarkably excelled,
and he wisely guided himself by it in the choice of a profession.
He was sincere, courteous, and frank, though reserved, generous,
and devoted in his friendships to a remarkable degree;
signally free from vanity; devoid of envy or malice;
sympathizing, cheerful, full of animal spirit and the
zest for nature, and gifted with a quick sense of humor.
His firmness and self-reliance fitted him peculiarly for his
profession, while his personal traits made him a favorite in every
professional and social relation.
1858. - Lieut. THOMAS JEFFERSON SPURR died in Hagerstown, Md.,
27 September, 1862, of wounds received in the battle of Antietam,
on the 17th of the same month, at the age of twenty-four years.
He was son of Samuel D. and Mary A. (Lamb) Spurr, and was born in
Worcester, Mass., 2 February, 1838. He was fitted for college at
the Worcester High School, under the instruction of Mr. George Capron
(B.U. 1847). At the outset of his college career, he took rank with
the foremost; but, in the second term of his junior year, an affection
of the eyes came upon him, compelling him to withdraw from his studies
for a while. He made a voyage to Fayal, returned with improved health,
and resumed his connection with his class; but was compelled to employ
the aid of a "reader."
He was honored by his classmates with an election to the Phi-Beta
Kappa Society, as a token of the rank which he would have held
but for his affliction. After graduating, he studied law in the
office of his brother-in-law, George Frisbie Hoar (H.C. 1846);
and in September, 1859, he entered the Law School at Cambridge,
and continued his studies until the first of April, 1861,
when he sailed for Russia, in the bark "Ethan Allen," for a
pleasure-trip, to return through England in the autumn. Hearing of
the rebellion, he hastened home to offer his services to his country.
He was commissioned as first-lieutenant in Company G, in
the Fifteenth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, and held
his commission until his death. At the battle of Antietam, he
fell while forming his company in line. He was removed by a
rebel officer to the shade of a haystack, where he lay four days.
On the 21st, he was found by his friends, and removed to a
better shelter; and, on the 22d, was moved to Hagerstown, eight
miles, where his mother, his family-physician, and other friends,
met him on the 24th; and on Saturday, the 27th, he tranquilly passed a
way. He expressed no regret at his fate, saying that he knew that many
must fall, and he would claim no exemption. His character exhibited a
combination of womanly gentleness with manly strength: he was "pure
in heart," and a true Christian.
The following letter from Lieut.-Col. Kimball, of the Fifteenth
Regiment, is indicative of the estimation in which he was
held by his associates in ar
"WARRENTON, VA., NOV. 18. 1862.
" The death of Lieut. Spurr was a sad blow to the regiment. His
place cannot be filled. He came among us a stranger to us all; but
by his manly traits of character, his kind, noble, and generous nature,
he won the esteem of all,- officers and men. He was ever faithful
to his trust; and his courage and bearing were undoubted. His
memory will be most dearly cherished by his comrades; and they will
always point with pride to his private virtues and his military career,
which were such as it would be alike honorable and manly to follow.
His noble bearing on the battle-field of Antietam, where he refused to
be carried to the rear when mortally wounded, was worthy of the
man, the hero, he was; and won the praise of all his companions."
1859. - Capt. GEORGE WELLINGTON BATCHELDER was killed in the battle
of Antietam, 17 September, 1862, aged 23 years. He was son of Jacob
(D.C. 1830) and Mary W. (Wellington) Batehelder,and was born in Lynn,
Mass., 20 December, 1838. His mother was daughter of the late Rev.
Charles Wellington, D.D., of Templeton, Mass. (II.C. 1802).
He was fitted for college at the Lynn High School under the
instruction of his father. He held a respectable rank of
scholarship in his class, and graduated with honors. After leaving
college, he studied law about a year and a half in the office of
Perry and Endicott, of Salem. At his country's call in April,
1861, he was one of the first to enlist in the ranks; and, two
days after his return with the three-months' troops, he enlisted
for three years. Ite was commissioned as first lieutenant in
Company C of the Nineteenth Regiment, and was afterwards
promoted to the captaincy of the same company.
On the evening previous to the eventful 17th of September, he gave to
his lieutenant, the late lamented Newcomb, special directions to be
followed if it should be his lot to fall on the next day; and, in
the hottest of the battle of the 17th, called him again to his side,
repeated his injunctions, and informed him where he would find
a record of his wishes. Among these occurs the following
sentence, written with a pencil, though unsigned by him: "I
wish my books to go to my father and mother, and, after
their decease, to be given to Harvard College." His sisters,
who alone are interested in the final disposition of his books,
will be ready at the appointed time to execute the sacred
trust.
A letter from Lieut. Hill, of the Nineteenth Regiment, says,
While rallying his company, George received two wounds,
one from a fragment of a shell, and one from a bullet. His
health impaired by disease from which he had not recovered,
and the loss of blood, rendered the wound fatal. He died in
the afternoon of the same day, passing from sleep to death
quietly and without a struggle, - his last words,'Mother, O
my mother!'"
Lieut. Hill continues: "We all feel, that, in losing him, we
have met with an irreparable loss. How can we feel otherwise,
when, by his kind and cheerful disposition, his upright and
honorable dealings with all, his brave and unflinching courage,
he has bound himself so closely to us all?"
He well deserved the compliment I once heard paid him by a fellow
officer, who said of him, " He was the most honorable man I ever
knew." With a well-stored mind, and a communicative disposition,
it was impossible to be long in his society without
learning something. As an officer, he had no superior.
Firm, yet gentle, he secured the love and respect, as well as the
cheerful and ready obedience, of his inferiors. Sharing with his
men, without complaint, the dangers and hardships of the campaign,
he secured their confidence, and, in battle, urged them
on to deeds of valor by his own noble example. He died in a
noble and just cause, - the cause he espoused, and for which
he endured so many hardships and privations to sacrifice his life
for his country. Another fellow-officer says, with impressive
beauty of expression, "We had pictured for him a glorious
fiuture: shall it be less bright because not wrought out in our
presence?" Another, a clergyman and a classmate, after a
visit to the old college-rooms, writes, "I could not restrain a
sharp pain at his early death; but there followed a soothing
satisfaction at the thought of his generous self-sacrifice for his
country's sake, and I felt the stimulus of his brave example.
The spirit that hath such power to quicken and strengthen our
spirits cannot die."
1859. - HENRY WELD FULLER died in Roxbury, Mass.,
3 May, 1863, aged 23 years. He was son of Henry Weld
(Bowd. C. 1828) and Mary Storer (Goddard) Fuller, and was
born in Augusta, Me., 7 December, 1839. His father was son
of Henry Weld Fuller (D.C. 1801), of Augusta. His mother
was daughter of Nathaniel and Lucretia (Dana) Goddard, of
Boston. He was fitted for college at the Roxbury Latin School
under the instruction of Mr. Augustus Howe Buck. During
his collegiate course, he met with a severe accident in the streets
of Boston; having been knocked down by a runaway horse,
whereby his spine was injured, and from which he never fully
recovered.
In consequence of this, he was interrupted in his studies in college
for a considerable time, and was thus prevented from gaining such
a standing of scholarship as his talents would have enabled him to take.
Immediately after graduating, he entered the Law School at Cambridge,
where he remained until his impaired health obliged him to leave; and his
bright prospects of entering upon the active duties of life were
thus early extinguished to enter into the brighter scenes of
another existence. The great charm of his genial nature was his
kindness of heart and perfect disinterestedness. The sunny
cheerfulness of his character sustained him through the weary
days and sleepless nights of his long illness, and seemed to
triumph over the insidious malady to which he finally succumbed.
His tastes were simple and pure; and they reflected the character
of his mind, which was allied to every thing noble, generous, and
true, and were strikingly exemplified in his fondness
for whatever was most refined and elevated in
literature and art.
1859.- FRANCIS CURTIS HOPKINSON died in Stanley Hospital,
in Newbern, N.C., 13 February, 1863, aged 24 years.
He was the eldest son of Hon. Thomas (H.C. 1830) and
Corinna Aldrich (Prentiss) Hopkinson, and was born in Keene,
N.H., 11 June, 1838. He was fitted for college in the Boston
Latin-School, where he was distinguished for his acquirements
in the classics. During his college-course, he was distinguished
for his facility in English composition and Latin versification,
for which he took a Bowdoin prize. He also contributed several
humorous articles for the "Harvard Magazine." After graduating,
he was employed for some time in writing critical notices
for the "Boston Daily Advertiser," and was soon afterwards
engaged for a similar service for the "Atlantic Monthly."
He was at this time a student-at-law in the office of Horace Gray,
jun. (H.C. 1845), and the late Wilder Dwight (H.C. 1853);
and was completing his studies at the Law School in Cambridge,
when the call came for the nine-months' men. He then felt that
the war was a matter of self-defence and of honor to the North.
He enlisted, in August, 1862, from Cambridge, in Company F,
Massachusetts Forty-fourth, as a private. He was in both of
Gen. Foster's expeditions, and was warmly engaged at the battle
of Whitehall, near Goldsborough, N.C. In that battle he fought
with Company A, his own company not being engaged; and he
was highly praised by his officers. He caught a fever while on
picket on the 18th of January; and, during his entire illness,
he was delirious, with very brief intervals. From the time he
enlisted, he seemed to have a strong presentiment that he should
not return; and he remarked to a friend, that he hoped he should
not die in a hospital. It seemed, however, to Infinite Wisdom,
that his wish in this respect should not be granted. Esteemed by
his officers, his wit, vivacity, cheerfulness, and good nature were
the traits which endeared him to his companions of the barrack.
By them he was elected to preside at the dinner given by the
company upon Thanksgiving day, when his few touching remarks
showed how dearly he loved the home which he had sacrificed so
readily to what he deemed his duty.
1859. - Capt. NATHANIEL BRADSTREET SHURTLEFF fell at
the battle of Cedar Mountain, near Culpepper, in Virginia,
9 August, 1862, at the age of twenty-four years. He was born
in Boston, 16 March, 1838, and was the first-born child of his
parents, Nathaniel Bradstreet (H.C. 1831) and Sarah Eliza
(Smith) Shurtleff, both of whom are now living in Boston, their
native city. His grandparents, on his father's side, were Dr.
Benjamin (B.U. 1796) and Sally (Shaw) Shurtleff, who took
up their abode in Boston on marriage, about the commencement
of the century, leaving the county of Plymouth, where their
ancestors had dwelt since the first settlement of the Old Colony,
nearly all of the most remote of them having come to New England
in either the "May Flower," "Fortune," or "Ann," the three
earliest vessels that conveyed the Pilgrim forefathers to these
shores. On his maternal side, his grandparents were Hiram and
Sarah Remington (Beal) Smith, also of Boston.
The subject of this notice received his early school-training in
the Boston public schools, and took a Franklin medal in 1850
at the Adams School, then kept in Mason Street; and another
in 1855 at the public Latin School, where he was fitted for
college under the pupilage of that eminent scholar and teacher,
Francis Gardner (H.C. 1831), and from which he immediately
entered the university, chumming the first year with his schoolmate
and classmate, Clinton A. Cilley, and rooming alone the
remainder of the college course. On leaving college, he entered
active life with all those high hopes which naturally belong to
youth, ambition, cultivation, and brilliant talents. Even in his
college and in his schoolboy days, the determined character and
firm-set principles which marked him as a man shone forth. The
eldest son of a family possessing an unusually large share of the
Puritan blood of the first settlers of New England, and long
identified with Protestantism, he became a Rolnan Catholic while
at school, and for the remainder of his life was a devoted
adherent of that communion, humbling himself to his new faith, and
gathering around him large numbers of the young and neglected,
to whom he gave instruction, and over whom he watched with
the strictest vigilance and almost parental care. Immediately
after leaving college, he entered the novitiate of the order of
Jesuits, at Frederick City, in Maryland, and there continued until
the following February, when, fatiling in health, in consequence
of the strict personal discipline, hard study, enfeebling
deprivations, and self-sacrificing labors, he was obliged to
undergo, he set aside, for a while, his great purpose of life;
and thereupon entered the law office of WTilliam Brigham (H.C. 1829)
in Boston, where he was making good progress in his studies when
the present unnatural rebellion broke out.
Having an ardent temperament, and being an enthusiast for
the unsullied preservation of the constitution, and for the union
of the states, which he warmly advocated by his public acts and
speeches, he, on the 20th of April, 1861 (the day after the brutal
assault upon the Sixth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers by
a mob in Baltimore), determined to devote himself to the cause of
his country, and tendered his services to Fletcher Webster (H.C.
1833), to assist in enlisting the Twelfth Regiment for the three
years' service; and, on the following Monday morning, opened
papers in the Merchants' Exchange, in Boston, for that purpose.
So great was the success of this effort, that, in less than three
days from the opening of these papers on the 22d of April, the
regiment was filled and the lists closed, men enough for sixteen
full companies having offered for the service; and the organization
of the regiment was completed in the short space of sixteen
days; for, on the 7th of May following, the Webster Regiment (for
by this name it will ever be remembered) was uniformed, armed,
officered, and in camp at Fort Warren, in Boston harbor.
Mr. Shurtleff, who had served as a private in the Independent
Company of Cadets of Boston, was elected by Company D, which
he joined, as captain; and the company, in consequence of being
adopted by the Latin School, took for name "The Latin-School
Guard." Nearly -three long and dull months to the soldiers, who
were anxious for service, were spent by this regiment at Fort
Warren; and, although it was sooner mustered into the UnitedStates
service, it was not until the 23d of July, 1861, that this
magnificent regiment, whose excellence for drill and discipline
had become famous, left Fort Warren for the seat of war.
A short time before leaving the fort, the Latin-School boys
presented their adopted company with a classic standard, constructed
after the ancient form of that borne by the Roman maniple. The
following extract from Capt. Shurtleff's almost prophetic speech
of acceptance will clearly exhibit his Felings, and the truly
heroic and noble sentiments which governed every action of his
life. IHe spoke in behalf of his company, as follows:
"I hardly know in what way best to return to you,
my fellow schoolmates, on behalf of the Latin-SchoolGuard,
our sincere and heartfelt thanks.
I thank you for your sympathy for me, and more especially my command.
Our thanks for the standard which you have presented us, much as we
shall prize it as an emblem of the esteem in which we are held by the
members of the Latin School, are as nothing in comparison with the
gratitude we feel toward you for the innumerable favors you have shown
us in a way in which we are much more likely to be neglected.
Presentations of banners and swords, where a grand display is to be
made and speeches exchanged, are very pleasant things; while the more
substantial favors, such as we have received from you, are too apt to
be overlooked and neglected."
After referring to the causes of the delays which the regiment had
suffered in getting into the field for active service, he continued,
referring to the standard: "
But, sir, our eagle, upon which the sun
smiles now so auspiciously, differs in one marked respect from the old
Roman eagle. That was the signal for carnage. Wherever that
eagle was seen to float, chains and slavery were sure to follow. Ours
is our own noble American eagle, which raises its talons to strike
those only who destroy the holy Temple of Freedom. Yes, we will
' strike till the last armed foe expires.' Our eagle will strike his beak
into the brain of every man who shall be found with arms in his hands,
lifted against the Constitution of the country; but, unlike the Roman
eagle, when victory has crowned our banners, when our flag waves
proudly once more, then his thirst for blood will be satiated, his talons
will sink into their place, and he will return to you, no longer the fierce
bird of war, but the emblem of the victory of truth and freedom over
error and oppression.
Although I can never hope to meet my schoolmates
again with my ranks as full as they are to-day (for we are liable
to the chances of war; and it may be that I, who now address you,
will lay my bones beneath some Southern soil), it may be that these,
my children, for whom I would lay down my life, - not one of them
will ever return; but, should that be our fate, it will be, at least, a
glorious one. We ask only, that, if it be our lot to fall in the cause
of liberty and justice, it may be remembered by you all, that for
liberty we fought, and for liberty we fell; and that our eagle shall be
returned to you; and that upon the walls of your beautiful hall, where
many an ancient Romanelic hangs, you may place this eagle; and
when some visitor shall look upon it, all grimed with smoke and
blood, - not blood of Gaul or Allobrogian, but of our own citizens
who fought and bled for freedom, - and ask its history, some future
master of the school may say,' In the year 1861, a son of the great
expounder of the Constitution went forth to fight the battles of his
country, and under his command went a company representing the
Latin School. They fought, triumphed, and died; and that eagle was
their standard.'"
From the time Capt. Shurtleff left Massachusetts, until his
decease, he was constantly engaged in the service, except a few
weeks in the subsequent September, when he was brought home,
reduced nearly to death by the malarious fever so prevalent in
western Maryland. From 26 January to 24 February, 1862,
the last month that the Webster Regiment formed part of the
division under Major-Gen. Banks, Capt. Shurtleff was detailed
from his command to act as divisionary judge-advocate, - a duty
which he performed to the highest satisfaction of his commanding
general and those under him. The regiment was not put
under fire until August, 1862; and it was then, on the 9th of
that month, at the battle of Cedar Mountain, that Capt. Shurtleff-
his company having been placed in an advanced position
was slain, the first to fall, as he was the first to enlist in its
number. The regiment, having fallen into an ambush, had
been ordered to lie down to avoid the fire of the enemy; and his
solicitude for the safety of his men cost him his life. He raised
himself upon his elbow to see if they were protected, received a
ball in his breast, had only time to utter, "I am shot! Mary!
pardon!" and was dead before he could be carried from the
field. His dying expressions were those of a true man, who, in
the solemn moment when he felt that he had given his earthly
all for the cause he served, humbly and touchingly reposed in
spirit with the God he worshipped.
His body was conveyed by a trusty servant to Washington, where
it was embalmed, and afterwards transported to Boston; where, on
the 16th of August, in accordance with his own request, the funeral
services were performed in the Church of the Immaculate Conception,
in the imposing manner of the Jesuits, by a high-mass requiem. The
remains were attended to Mount Auburn by the Cadets and a large
concourse of citizens and official persons. And there they
repose, his last resting-place being marked by the emblem of the
cross to which in early life he had consecrated himself.
This notice cannot be better closed than with the following
appropriate tribute to his pure and noble life, from the pen of a
young friend who knew him well: -
"And so was laid to rest all that remained here of Nathaniel B.
Shurtleff, jun., in the first morn of life, well educated, brilliant,
enthusiastic, and conrageous. Early in college-life, he took a religious
stand that marked him there - of all places - as singular indeed; but he
never swerved from his position and belief to the day of his death.
He was fixed in his opinions, and never hesitated to avow them.
"Brought up a Protestant, at an early age he became a Catholic,
and unhesitatingly placed himself at the service of the church. For
whatever labor he was needed, he was ready. He worked energetically
and faithfully among the poor of his city; he, with the reputation of
being the best writer and most eloquent speaker of his class
at Harvard, devotedly toiled in the Sunday school, teaching the poor
and ignorant; he rallied men around him as he drew his sword; he
offered his life to his country, and his country has accepted and
received the sacrifice. His last words were, not of home or earthly
endearments, but of spiritual yearnings.
"He who, being a Protestant, condemns, in voice or heart,
Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, let him lead a more devoted life,
possess a more obedient spirit, live more earnestly, die more
heroically; let his last words show that his daily thoughts have
been on heaven and with heavenly persons, and then let him leave
the judgment with his Maker. For my own part, if I do not believe
his creed as he did, yet do I consider his example as truly noble,
manly, and pious. We may be happy to leave behind us as pleasant
memories, - memories that will only brighten when the radiance of
eternal sunlight shall be poured upon the acts of each man's life."
1860. - Capt. EDWARD GARDINER ABBOTT was killed in
the battle at Cedar Mountain, Va., 9 August, 1862, at the age
of 21 years. He was the oldest son of Hon. Josiah Gardiner
(H.C. 1832) and Caroline (Livermore) Abbott, and was born
in Lowell, Mass., 29 September, 1840. He was fitted for
college at the Lowell High School. After leaving college, he
began the study of law in the office of Samuel A. Brown, Esq.,
of Lowell. As soon as the rebellion broke out, he was one of
the first to offer himself for the defence of his country. He
raised the first company in the Second Regiment, under Col.
George H. Gordon, of which he was appointed captain; was
the first captain who was,sworn into the service in this state,
and devoted himself with characteristic energy to the duties of
his new profession. At the time of Gen. Banks's retreat, in the
spring of 1862, he commanded two companies with a gallantry
and coolness which elicited warm commendation from the officers
on the field. His nature was manly and brave, and his affections
were strong. In a postscript to a letter to his father,
dated 2 August, - perhaps the last letter he ever wrote, - he
says,
"I wish to tell you how deeply affected I feel by your
kindness inj this and all other matters; and I promise you, that,
with-God's help, I will never do any thing to cause you to be
sorry for it, or ashamed of me." His father, in a letter to the
mayor of Lowell, tendering his thanks to the people of that city
for their deep sympathy with him and his family in their bereavement,
and in which he speaks of his son, who fell so gallantly doing his
duty, says, "'I have no certain information of
the facts immediately connected with my son's death, except,
generally, from the fact of his position as senior captain, his
company was much exposed. His general writes me that he
saw my son fall; that his countenance in death was as'proud
and defiant, though placid,' as when he marched to the fight.
His colonel, among other things, said his voice, in giving his
command to his men, in the thickest of the fight, was as cheerful
and calm as if on parade. In a pencilled note from my
other son, in the same regiment, he says, 'Ned fell while
cheering on his men.' I think I can add that he has repaid the many
kindnesses he and his command have received from Lowell, by so
acting that his native city can point to nothing in his life to be
ashamed of."
1860.- Lieut. EDGAR MARSHALL NEWCOMB died at Falmouth, Va.,
20 December, 1862, from wounds received in the
battle of Fredericksburg on the 13th of the same month, aged
22 years. He was son of John J. and Mary S. Newcomb, and
was born in Troy, N.Y., 2 October, 1840; but his parents
removed to Boston when he was a few months old, where his life
was passed.
He was fitted for college, partly at ChauncyHall School,
and partly at the Latin School, in Boston. He held a respectable
rank of scholarship in his class; but, before his collegiate
course was completed, his health became so much
impaired, that he left in his senior year, before commencement,
and went to Europe in the summer of 1860. He spent the
autumn in travelling on foot through England and France, with
the hope of improving his physical condition. It had long been
his purpose to become a minister of the gospel; but on his
return from Europe, his health being still delicate, he entered
his father's counting-room, and engaged in active business for
a while. When the war broke out, with a generous disregard of
his pecuniary interests, and of a home surrounded by all the
attractions that make life pleasing, he came forward to volunteer
as a soldier in the ranks, to defend the government of his fathers,
and assert its rightful supremacy.
He enlisted as a private in the Nineteenth Massachusetts
Regiment when it was first formed, shared its fortunes, and
contributed to its glory. Earning his promotion, step by step,
he became sergeant-major, second, and finally first lieutenant.
That he did his duty as a faithful and brave officer, was fully
shown by those who were with him in the hour of peril. Capt.
Chadwick, in whose company he served, in alluding to his
death, wrote as follows: "He was wounded in the legs in the
fight of 13 December, before the batteries and rifle-pits on the
enemy's left. The ball strhck the brass band of his sword,
passed through the left leg, and grazed the right. He was
wounded while holding the American flag high above his head,
having just given utp the state-colors. Both color-sergeants
had been shot down,"-seven in succession. Other accounts
say,'And Edgar sprang forward, and picked up both flags, holding
One in each hand, and called upon the men to stand by their
colors. No braver officer or man ever stood upon the battlefield
than Lieut. Edgar M. Newcomb; and I am the more
proud to say so, from the fact of the association existing be-
tween us. He was loved and respected before; but that love
and respect was more than doubled by his daring bravery and
unflinching courage." His letters to his friends at home illustrated
his enthusiastic devotion to the cause of his country. He had passed
with his regiment through fourteen battles and skirmishes, unscathed.
He frequently officiated as chaplain of his
regiment; preaching to the men, and holding prayer-meetings.
Yet his modesty and reserve were such that he never mentioned
the fact in his letters, and it was only learned by his friends
after his decease. To his brother, who was with him in his
dying hours, he remarked, "You have a work to perform in this
life, and I will be with you. I feel that I shall be nearer to my
friends after death than ever." Retaining his senses perfectly
until his death, he called the men and his fellow-soldiers to his
side; and gave to each a dying message, — to meet him in heaven.
Dying there, in the sound of battle, he devised his property
equally to the societies for home and foreign missions.
1860. - Lieut. Col. CHARLES REDINGTON MUDGE was
killed in the battle of Gettysburg, 2 July, 1863, aged 23 years.
He was son of Edward Redington and Caroline A. (Patten)
Mudge, and was born in New-York city, 22 October, 1839.
He was fitted for college at the private school of Thomas
Gamaliel Bradford (H.C. 1822) in Boston.
With the exception of a few months passed in preparing to enter
business with his father, he was in the service of his country,
having joined the Second Massachusetts Infantry, the first three-years'
regiment raised for the war.
He went into the service with his whole soul.
He was commissioned as first-lieutenant; was promoted to be
captain, 8 July, 1862; and was subsequently
made lieutenant-colonel. While encamped at Brook Farm,
he slept onf the bare ground to prepare himself for the life
which he was to lead. His regiment was spoken of as a
model for its admirable drill. When they covered the rear
of Gen. Banks's retreat, Col. Mudge was with them in their
dangerous path; and in the battle of South Mountain he
received his first wound.
The officers of his regiment neverfailed to express their
opinion of his military qualities and abilities in the
highest terms. But there are other traits in his
character which will be remembered with the warmest affection
by his young contemporaries. In his college-course, his popularity
was universal; and he was a favorite in every clique, and
in the most dissimilar sets. Every one was his friend in need;
and no one would have hesitated a moment to have asked his
services, with the certainty of a kind reception.
1861. Lieut. PARDON ALMY was killed in the battle at
Bull Run, Va., 30 August, 1862, at the age of 26 years. He
was son of Pardon and Mary (Cook) Almy, and was born
in Little Compton, R.I., 4 July, 1836.. His father was son of
Sanford and Lydia (Gray) Almy, and his mother was daughter
of Samuel and Hannah (Little) Cook. All his ancestors have
been residents of Rhode Island for some generations back.
The subject of this notice was fitted for college at Pierce
Academy in Middleborough, Mass. He held a very respectable
rank of scholarship in his class. Immediately after graduating,
President Felton gave him a letter to Gov. Andrew; and the
governor authorized him to recruit a company in New Bedford,
for three years or the war: but as the military enthusiasm
had not been kindled there, the accomplishment of his purpose
appearing too uncertain, and feeling that his duties were in the
service of his country in the army, he accepted a lieutenant's
commission in the Eighteenth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers,
Col. James Barnes, where he served until his death.
Some idea of his reputation and standing in the service may be
inferred from the following extract of a letter to his brother
from Major Joseph Hayes, who was in command of the regiment
when he fell.
He says, "I can only express to you my
sincere sympathy in your great bereavement, and add my
testimnonial to the high character of Lieut. Almy as a soldier and a
man. His conduct in the engagement in which he fell is mentioned
in the highest praise by all the officers who were engaged
with him. He fell in the very front, while bravely cheering on
his men under a most galling fire, and displayed to the last a
spirit of intrepidity and gallantry surpassed by no one. He
was always prompt, faithful, zealous, and cheerful too, in the
performance of his duty as a soldier; and I do not know a
single blemish in his character as a man, but could enumerate
many, very many, virtues that he possessed. You have lost,
sir, a noble brother, and the country a gallant soldier."
A meeting of his classmates was held in Boston on the 16th
of September, when they passed a series of resolutions bearing
testimony to his virtues.
He was highly esteemed by his friends and relatives for his
many good qualities of head and heart, for his sterling principles
and uniformly correct conduct; and they confidently looked
forward to a long life to him of usefulness to his fellow-citizens,
and of honor to himself: but his career was abruptly terminated,
and the hopes of his friends were-blighted.
1861. - Capt. HENRY JONAS DOOLITTLE died in Racine,
Wis., 10 August, 1862, aged 23 years. He was the eldest
son of Hon. James R. and Mary Lovina (Cutting) Doolittle,
and was born in Rochester, N.Y., 4 March, 1839. In
1851, he removed with his parents to Racine, and soon
afterwards became a pupil in Racine College. Two years later, he
became personally interested in the truths of the gospel, and
soon after united with the First Baptist Church in Racine. In
his class, he held a respectable rank of scholarship. At the
time of his graduation, the rebellion had just begun to exhibit
its gigantic proportions. With his fellow-students in college,
he received a military drill; and was employed with them, by
order of the governor, in guarding for a time the Massachusetts
arsenal at Cambridge. After spending a few months with his
father (who was a senator in Congress) in Washington, he
returned to Racine, and was engaged in drilling Capt. Lyon's
company in that city, and a company at Darlington, and had
the promise of the post of major in one of the Wisconsin regiments;
which post, however, he failed to obtain.
Early in the following spring, he accepted a position, with the
rank of captain, upon the staff of Gen. C. S. Hamilton, with whom he
served on the Peninsula; then for a short time at Harper's Ferry;
and subsequently near Corinth. In July, he applied for a tendays'
furlough, in order to complete the family-circle gathered in
commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his parents'
marriage. Ere he received his furlough, he was attacked with
typhoid-fever, and went home to die. In the delirium of fever,
after his return, he imagined himself still on his journey, and
piteously entreated that he might be taken home; and God took
him home, a home which war shall never invade, and sorrow
shall never mar, and death shall never enter. Strong in body,
sound in mind, of rare energy, he sacredly devoted himself to
his country's cause, and for his country he fell a martyr. His
friends have this consolation, -that he was a Christian patriot,
a kind brother, and a faithful son; and it is a comfort that he
breathed his last, not amid the horrors of battle, but under the
paternal roof.
1861. - Capt. WILLIAM YATES GHOLSON was killed in the
battle of Hartsville, Tenn., 7 December, 1862, aged 20 years.
He was son of Hon. William Yates (N.J.C. 1825) and Elvira
(Wright) Gholson, and was born in Pontotoc, Miss., 11 March,
1842, but removed with his parents to Cincinnati in 1845.
His mother belonged to a Virginia family, which had removed
to Mississippi, where Mr. Gholson married her. He began to
fit for college with Mr.'Joseph Vernon, of Cincinnati, and completed his
preparatory studies in the private school of Eben Smith Brooks (H.C. 1835)
in the same city. After graduating, he began the study of the law with his
father; but, when the President made a call for three hundred thousand men,
he determined to engage in the cause of his country. In September, 1862,
he was commissioned as captain in the Onehundred-and-sixth Regiment of
Ohio Volunteers. In October following, he was appointed provost-mnarshal
of South Frankfort, Tenn. On the 8th of November, he was acting-assistant
adjutant-general of the Thirty-ninth Brigade, Fourteenth Army Corps, on
the staff of Col. Moore.
He fell while rallying his men. He was pierced with three bullets,
one near the heart, one in the forehead, and one in the temple. His
intelligent patriotism demanded a country worthy of a sacrifice;
and if, at last, he did not find it, it will hasten into
being sooner because he fell evoking it. He was by nature
ardent and aspiring; of independent thought and active
conscience, generous and affectionate. In his death, he
bequeathed a conspicuous example of courage in the midst
of general incapacity and cowardice; and left no room for
his many friends to grieve, except for their own loss.
1861. SAMUEL D. PHILLIPS, of Boston, died at St.
Helena Island, Beaufort, S.C., 5 December, 1862, aged 23
years. He was son of Thomas Walley (H.C. 1814) and Anna
Jones (Dunn) Phillips, and was born in Boston, 12 December,
1838. He began to fit for college under the instruction of
Mr. Thompson Kidder, of Boston; but, from 1852 to 1857,
he was studying in the Boston Latin School. After graduating,
he began the study of medicine, under the instruction of
Dr. Edward Reynolds, of Boston (H.C. 1811). In January,
1862, he was teaching a school in Tewksbury, Mass. In March
following, he turned his attention to the unfriended blacks at
Port Royal, S.C.; and, on presenting himself before the
Educational Commission, he was approved, and sent out among the
first. His deep' religious convictions and eminent
conscientiousness, joined with an ever-active benevolence and constant
cheerfulness, gave him a near approach to the hearts of his
people, and caused him to rank among the most useful of the
superintendents. He made a visit to his home on account of
indisposition, and returned much sooner than the precarious
state of his health warranted; and thereby his life was sacrificed
to his devotedness to his mission.
1861. - THOMAS RODMAN ROBESON died in Gettysburg,
Penn., 6 July, 1863, of a wound received in battle, 3 July,
aged 22 years. He was son of Thomas Rodman and Sibyl
(Washburn) Robeson, and.was born in New Bedford,
7 November, 1840.
His father died 13 August, 1848; and his mother
removed subsequently to Brookline, and afterwards to Cambridge,
where she now resides. He was fitted for college in Brookline,
by William P. Atkinson (H.C. 1838). He left his class in April,
1861, to drill at Fort Independence; and, on the formation of
the Second Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, he enlisted in
it, and was commissioned, 28 May, 1861, as second-lieutenant:
30 November, 1862, he was promoted to be first lieutenant, and
soon afterwards detached for duty in the signal-corps. In this
service, he was present at the battles of Roanoke Island and
Newbern, in February and March, 1862. In the following
spring, his eyes becoming inflamed, he returned to his regiment,
and took part with it in all its many battles and hardships to the
time of his death.
He was wounded, 9 August, 1862, in the right fore-arm,
at the battle of Cedar Mountain, Va. He was promoted, 10
August, 1862, to be captain; and was, at
the time of his death, the senior captain of his regiment. In
the battle of Gettysburg of the morning of Friday, 3 July, he
was making a charge with his regiment, when he was mortally
wounded by a minie-ball in the upper part of his right thigh.
He was a brave and efficient officer, cool in action, always
manly and dignified, and much esteemed by his men and his
fellow-officers.
1862. Lieut. HENRY ROPES was killed in the battle of
Gettysburg, Penn., 3 July, 1863, aged 24 years. He was son
of William and Mary Ann (Codman) Ropes, and was born
near London, Eng., where his parents were temporarily residing,
16 May, 1839.
His father is a native of Salem, and an
eminent merchant of Boston. His mother was a daughter of
Hon. John Codman, of Boston. Ile was fitted for college by
Sidney Willard (H.C. 1852), late major of the Thirty-fifth
Massachusetts Regiment, killed at Fredericksburg, 14 December,
1862.
He was commissioned as second-lieutenant of the Twentieth Massachusetts
Regiment, 25 November, 1861, and as first-lieutenant, 2 October, 1862; was
with the regiment until his death, going through the Peninsula campaign,
siege of Yorktown, Fair Oaks, seven-days' battles, Antietam; storming
of the city of Fredericksburg, 11 December, 1863; and was
never wounded until he met his death at the battle of Gettysburg.
When in college, he took great interest in boating and
other manly exercises, and was selected to be one of six men
who composed the crew of the " Harvard," and was in this
representative boat of the college during some of her proudest
triumphs. He was well fitted by his physical strength to assume
the hardships of a campaign, but was cut down in the
flower of his youth in the struggle with the enemy. His last
march, the longest ever accomplished in one day by the Army
of the Potomac, was borne with the utmost cheerfulness. He
was the life of all about him, encouraging the weary, inspiring
and enlivening the men of his command, whose testimony has
been given to the beautiful spirit and kindly temper with which
the fatigues of the day were endured by him. The last act of
his life, of which there is any record, is touchingly characteristic.
The battle of the day before had been severe, and many
wounded were left upon the field. With noble self-forgetfulness,
he went out at night with his cup of cold water to soothe and
relieve those who were fainting and dying from wounds and
thirst. Few instances of rarer patriotic impulse have been
seen. Six weeks before his death, he visited his friends after
the battle of Chancellorsville, and said, in reply to the hope they
expressed that he would not return to the army, that no position of
influence or wealth which could be offered to him, would,
for an instant, tempt him to leave his regiment until the war was
closed. War had no fascination for him; he longed for a righteous and
honorable peace: but, until that was proclaimed, he would never sheathe
his sword.
1862. - JOHN HENRY TUCKER was killed in the attack on
Port Hudson, Miss., 27 May, 1863, at the age of 28 years.
He was son of Ebenezer and Eliza Bradlee (Foster) Tucker,
and was born in Cambridge, Mass., 19 February, 1835. He
studied at the public schools in Cambridge until ApriI, 1851,
when his father thought it best that he should learn a trade.
He was accordingly apprenticed to his brother, who was a
carriage-painter.
Although the drudgery which fell to his lot as
a young apprentice was not at all to his taste, he persevered
until he acquired such a proficiency in his trade, that, when his
time expired, his master offered him high wages to remain as
journeyman. In the winter of 1855, he joined the Mechanic
Apprentices' Library Association, where the literary exercise
proved very attractive to him; and the library afforded him information
which was eagerly collected.
Such was his success in this institution, that, on the occasion of the thirty-
sixth anniversary of its foundation, he was chosen orator, and delivered an
oration on the "Position of the Mechanic in Society," at the
Meionian, 22 February, 1856. This oration has been printed.
The future of literature thus opened to him proved so attractive,
that he endeavored to advance yet further; and, as a means,
determined to enter college, if possible. In December, 1856,
he entered the Cambridge High School; and in July, 1858,
was admitted to Harvard College. During his college-course,
he won the respect of all his classmates by his unassuming
modesty and his high religious principle.
Naturally quiet and retiring, he passed to and from recitations almost
unknown by many of his class; but those who knew him well valued him perhaps
more for the very qualities which restrained him from
active participation in class-matters. Devoting himself to the
study of theology, and the ministry of the Baptist church, which
he joined in 1850, he felt that his country needed him in a service
in every way opposed to his tastes, but in one where he
might do good. He joined the Thirty-eighth Regiment. Among
the first, he fell at the attack on Port Hudson.
INDEX OF ALUMNI;
WITH THE YEAR OF GRADUATION AND DATE OF DECEASE.
These are not in strick alphabetic listing
Bent, Nathaniel T. (1831), 1856.
Bigelow, Edward I. (1848), 1854.
Bigelow, Francis W. (1843), 1853.
Bigelow, Rufus (1831), 1832.
Birchard, Eliphalet (1843), 1854.
Bliss, John (1808), 1854.
Blood, Oliver H. (1821), 1858.
Boutelle, Timothy (1800), 1855.
Bowditch, Nathaniel I. (1822), 1861.
Bowman, Charles D. (1838), 1857.
Bradford, Alden (1786), 1843.
Bradford, George (1851), 1859.
Bradford, William J. A. (1816), 1858.
Bradley, Alexander R. (1831), 1862
Bradley, Caleb (1795), 1861.
Braman, Isaac (1794), 1858.
Brewer, John M. (1804), 1859.
Brewer, Nathaniel (1814), 1853
Briggs, William A. (1838), 1859.
Brooks, Gorham (1814), 1855.
Brooks, Warren (1855), 1857.
Brown, Arniold W. (1851), 1852.
Brown, Bartholomew (1799), 1854.
Brown, George W. (1845), 1851.
Brown, John (1813), 1852.
Brown, Oliver (1804), 1853.
Browne, Charles (1812), 1856.
Browne, John W. (1830), 1860.
Bulfinch, George S. (1817). 1853.
Bulfinch, Henry (1821), 1853.
Bullard, John P. (1829), 1848.
Burnap, George W. (1824), 1859.
Burnap, Jacob (1770), 1821.
Butler, Josiah (1803), 1854.
Butterfield, Charles (1820), 1858
Byers, Peter S. (1851), 1856.
Abbot, Abiel (1787), 1859.
Abbot, Daniel (1797), 1853.
Abbot, Henry (1796), 1862.
Abbot, Jacob (1792), 1834
Abbot, John (1798), 1854.
Abbot, Samuel (1808), 1839.
Abbott, Caleb F. (1831), 1855
Abbott, Edward iG. (1860), 1862.
Abbott, Henry H. (1859)
Adams, Charles F. (1843), 1856
Adams, Daniel (1799), 1852.
Adams, Henry (1802), 1862.
Adams, Horace W. (1849), 1861.
Adams, James B. (1847), 1853.
Adams, Jo siah (1801), 1854.
Adams, Mark S. (1847), 1853.
Adams, Zabdiel (1759), 1801.
Adams. Zabdiel B. (1813), 1855.
Allen, Rufus B (1810), 1857.
Almy, Pardon (1861), 1862.
Andrews, Asa (1783), 1856.
Andrews, George (1847), 1862.
Appleton, Francis H. (1842), 1854.
Atherton, Charles G. (i822), 1853.
Atherton, Charles H. (1794), 1853.
Austin, Elbridge G. (1829), 1854.
Austin, John D. (1846), 1861.
Austin, William (1831), 1835.
Bacon, Rufu s (1810), 1854.
Baker, George (1816),
Baker, Henry F. (1815), 1857.
Batker, Walter (1811), 1852.
Barnwell, Wm. H. W. (1824), 1863.
Barbour, James (8118), 1857
Bartlet, William (1801), 1852.
Bartlett, Benjamini D. (1810), 1853.
Bartlett, Gorham (1845), 1854.
Bartlett, Josiah (1795), 1853.
Batchelder, Francis L. (1844), 1858.
Batchelder, George W. (1859)
Bates, Joshua (1800), 1854.
Bates, Reuben (1829), 1862.
Beal, Thomas P. (1806), 1852.
Beals, Isaac N. (1856), 1860.
Benjamin, James (1880), 1853.
Campbell, Edward F. (1808), 1861.
Capen, Lemuel (1810), 1858..
Carroll, Charles (1823), 1862
Carson, William A. (1818), 1856.
Cary, Thomas G. (1811), 1859
Caryl, Ben. amin (1761), 1811.
Cenas, Hilary B. (1825), 1859.
Chadwick, George B. (1858),1861.
Chandler, James (1728), 1789.
INDEX OF ALUMNI.
Dorr, Clifford (1825), 1858.
Dorr, Samuel A. (1795), 1855.
Dorr, Thomas W. (1823), 1854.
Drane, Robert B. (1824), 1862.
Draper, William (1803), 1858..
Dugan, James A. (1848), 1860.
Dumont, John T. P. (1824), 1852.
Dunbar, Asa (1767), 1787.
Dutton, Francis L. (1831), 1854.
Dwight, Howard (1857), 1863.
Dwight, John (1800), 1853...
Dwight, Wilder (1853), 1862.
Eaton, Asa (1803),1858.
Eaton, Joseph (1810), 1860.
Eaton, Peter (1787), 1848..
Eaton, Peter S. (1818), 1863.
Edson, John (1848), 1857.
Eliot, Paul M. (1858), 1862.
Eliot, Samuel A. (1817), 1862.
Elliott, Ralph E. (1818), 1853.
Elliott, William (1809), 1863...
Emerson, Charles O. (1818), 1863.
Emerson, Samuel (1785), 1851..
Erving, Langdon (1855), 1862...
Eustis, George (1815), 1858...
Eustis, Horatio S. (1830), 1858..
Everett, Edward B. (1850), 1861..
Fales, Stephen (1810), 1854...
Farley, George F. (1816), 1855..
Farley, Joseph H. (1823), 1861..
Farmer, William (1819), 1862...
Farnham, Daniel (1739), 1776...
Farnsworth, James D. (1818), 1854.
Farrar, John (1803), 1853....
Farwell, John (1808), 1852...
Farwell, Richard (1817), 1853...
Fay, Samuel P. P. (1798), 1856..
Felton, Cornelius C. (1827), 1862.
Field, William P. (1851), 1859..
Fish, Phineas (1807), 1854...
Fiske, Isaac (1798), 1861..
Fiske, Thaddeus (1785), 1855...
Fitch, Jeremiah G. (1831), 1845..
Flanders, Charles (1808), 1860.
Flint, James (1802), 1855...
Fogg, Henry M. R. (1849),1862
Foster, Alfred D. (1819), 1852
Foster, William E. (1829), 1843.
Fox, Abel (1838), 1859..
Francis, Convers (1815), 1863.
French, Jonathan (1798), 1856.
French, Ralph H. (1798), 1855..
Friese, Henry F. (1831), 1853.
Frost, Barzillai (1830), 1858.
Frost, John (1822), 1859..
Frothingham, William (1799), 1852.
Fuller, Arthur B. (1843), 1862.
Fuller, Elisha (1815), 1855....
Fuller, Eugene (1834), 1859...
Fuller, Henry H. (1811), 1852.
Fuller, Henry W. (1859),1863
Furber, Frederick (1831), 1853..
Chandler, Joshua (1807),1854
Chandler, Nathaniel (1792), 1852
Cheever, Charles A. (1813), 1852.
Chickering, Jesse (1818), 1855
Childe, Edward V. (1823), 1861
Chipman, Ward (1805), 1851...
Chisholm, James (1836), 1855.
Clap, Ebenezer (1799), 1856.
Clapp, Thaddeus (1834), 1861.
Clarke, Manlius S. (1837), 1853.
Cleaveland, Parker (1799), 1858
Cobb, Henry (1854), 1855..
Coburn, Henry P. (1812), 1854
Codman, Henry (1808), 1853.
Coffin, Charles (1793), 1853.
Coggin, Jacob (1803), 1854.
Cogswell, George W. (1849), 1854
Coker, Robert A. (1831), 1833
Cole, Joseph G. (1822), 1851.
Cole, Thomas (1798), 1852.
Cook, Daniel (1836), 1853.
Cooke, Alfred W. (1852), 1852
Coombs, George C. (1831), 1835.
Corbett, John H. (1819), 1855.
Crafts, Samuel C. (1790), 1853
Cranch, William (1787), 1855.
Crocker, Frederick W. (1829), 1863,
Crocker, Samuel M. (1801), 1852
Crosby, Oliver (1795), 1851..
Crosby, William (1794), 1852...
Cross, William G. (1842), 1854
Cross, Robert (1819), 1859.
Croswell, Andrew (1798), 1858
Crowninshield, Edw. A. (1836),1859,
Cruft, Edward (1831), 1846...
Cruft, William S. (1834), 1851
Cummings, Asa (1817), 1856...
Cummings, Enoch L. (1848), 1859.
Cunningham, Eph. M. (1814),1852.
Cutter, Charles W. (1818), 1856.
Dabney, Francis O. (1851), 1858.
Dabney, Frederic (1828), 1857
Dall, John (1815), 1852...
Damon, David (1811), 1843.
Damon, Edward T. (1857),1859
Dana, Francis (1796), 1853....
Dane, Joseph (1799), 1858....
Davenport, James (1802), 1860..
Daves, John (1853), 1855..
Davis, Thomas K. (1827),1853
Davis, William (1837), 1853...
Davis, William N. (1851),1863
Davison, Andrew C. (1815),1856
Day, James (1806), 1853....
Deane, Samuel (1760), 1814...
Deblois, John A. (1816), 1855...
Denny, Nathaniel P. (1797), 1856
Derby, Ezekiel H. (1791), 1852.
Derby, Nathaniel F. (1829), 1830
Devereux, John J. (1816), 1856
Devereux, Nicholas (1829), 1848.
Dexter, Franklin (1812),1857.
Dexter, Samuel D. (1843),1850.
Dexter, Samuel W. (1812), 1863.
Doane, Augustus S. (1825), 1852.
Doolittle, Henry J. (1861), 1862
Gage, Nathaniel (1822), 1861
Gale, Frederick W. (1836), 1864.
INDEX OF ALUMNI.
Hodges, George F. (1855), 1862.
Hollev, Orville L. (1813), 1861.
Hollingsworth, George (1857), 1859
HHolman, Henry W. (1848), 1853.
Holyoke, Edward A. (1817),1855.
Hood, Julius S. (1860), 1861..
Hopkinson, Francis C. (1859), 1863.
Hopkinson, Thomrnas (1830), 1856.
Hosmer, Rufus (1800), 1839..
Hosmer, Rufus (1834), 1861..
How, Henry J. (1859), 1862..
Howe, Isaac R. (1810), 1860...
Hubbard, Ebenezer (1777), 1800
Hubbard, Ebenezer (1805), 1858.
Hubbard, Henry B. (1854), 1862.
Hubbard, John (1829), 1848..
Hunnewell, Walter (1787), 1855.
Hunt, Benjamin F. (1810), 1854.
Hunt, Ezra (1815), 1860.
Hurd, Isaac (1806), 1856.
Hurd, Joseph (1797), 1857.
Gannett, Caleb (1763), 1818..
Gannett, John M. (1802), 1855
Gardiner, John S. (1852), 1856
Gardner, Henry (1750), 1782.
Gardner, Henry (1797), 1854
Gardner, Henry (1798), 1858.
Gardner, John (1715), 1775
Gassett, Henry (1795), 1855
Gates, Isaac (1802), 1852...
Gholson, William Y. (1861), 1862
Gibbs, William P. (1832), 1852
Gilchrist, John J. (1828), 1858
Giles, John (1831), 1838....
Gill, Moses (1805), 1862....
Gilman, Nicholas (1854), 1854.
Gilman, Samuel (1811), 1858
Glover, Lewis J. (1832), 1856
Goodrich, John F. (1848), 1863
Goodwin, Richard C. (1854), 1862
Gorham, Benjamin (1795), 1855.
Gorham, William C. (1831), 1843
Gould, Benjamin A. (1814), 1859
Gould, James F. (1812), 1854.
Gourgas, John M. (1824), 1862
Gragg, William (1820), 1852.
Gray, Francis C. (1809), 1856.
Greele, Samuel (1802), 1861
Green, Aaron (1789), 1853.
Greene, Benjamin D. (1812), 1862
Greene, Charles W. (1802), 1857.
Greenleaf, Thomas (1784), 1854
Greenough, Horatio (1825), 1852.
Greenough, John (1824), 1852.
Groce, Nahuni H. (1808), 1856
Guild, Beniamin (1769), 1792.
Guild, Benjamin (1804), 1858.
Guild, George D. (1845), 1862.
Guild, Samuel E. (1839), 1862
Inches, Henderson (1792), 1857..
Ingalls, William (1790), 1851...
Jackson, Charles (1793), 1855..
Jackson, Leonard (1812), 1857.
Jacob, Nathaniel (1806), 1861..
Jaques, Abiel (1807), 1852..
Jarvis, Leonard (1797), 1855
Jarvis, Leonard (1800), 1854..
Jenkins, John F. (1818), 1862.
Jenkins, Solomon M. (1829), 1848
Jewett, Isaac A. (1830), 1853..
Johnson, James (1808), 1856..
Johnson, Walter R. (1819), 1852.
Jones, John D. (1850), 1857..
Kendall, David (1794),1853..
Kendall, James (1796), 1859
Kendall, James B. (1854), 1859
Kendrick, William P. (1816),1854
Kent, Benjamin (1820), 1859
Kimball, Daniel (1800), 1862
Kimball, David T. (1803), 1860
King, James G. (1810), 1853.
King, John G. (1807), 1857.
Kinloch, Frederick (1810), 1856
Kittredge, Rufus (1810), 1854.
Knapp, Nathaniel P. (1826), 1854
Habersham, Robert (1831), 1832..
Hagar, Moses (1831), 1860....
Hale, Charles G. C. (1831), 1832.
Harrington, Joseph (1833), 1852..
Harris, ThaddeW W. (1815), 1856
Harris, William C. (1807), 1853..
Harris, William T. (1846), 1854
Hartshorn, Charles H. (1838), 1855.
Hastings, George H. (1834),1854..
Hastings, John A. (1846), 1851..
Hatch, Daniel G. (1817), 1862...
Haven, Joseph (1810), 1851...
Haven, Samuel F. (1852), 1862
Hayward, Charles (1806), 1855
Hayward, Joshua H. (1818), 1856
Hayward, Lemuel (1768), 1821
Head, George E. (1812),1861.
Heard, George W. (1812), 1863
Henshaw, Daniel (1806),1863...
Hersey, Henry E. (1850), 1863
Heywood, Benjamin (1840), 1860
Hildreth. Ezekiel (1814), 1856.
Hill, Ebenezer (1786), 1854....
Hill, James S. (1852), 1857....
Hinds, Ephraim (1805), 1858...
Hinkley, Edward (1813), 1854...
Hoar, Samuel (1802), 1856.
Hobbs, Frederick (1817), 1854...
Labranche, Drausin B. (1834),1853.
Ladd, John G. (1843), 1853...
Lane, John F. W. (1837), 1861.
Lane, Jonas H. (1821),1861..
Lawrence, Ebenezer (1795), 1856
Leland, Aaron L. (1835), 1858...
Lemmon Robert (1844), 1856..
Lincoln, Henry (1786), 1857
Lincoln, Henry (1830), 1860..
Lincoln, Luther B. (1822), 1855.
Lincoln, Theodore (1785), 1852.
Livermore, Jonathan (1760), 1809.
Livermore, Solomon K. (1802), 1859,
Locke, Albert (1829), 1840...
Locke, John (1792), 1855...
Long, Joseph A. E. (1818), 1860.
INDEX OF ALUMNI.
Parker, Thomas I. (1803), 1856.
Parkmani, Francis (1807), 1852.
Parkman, Samuel (1834), 1854.
Parkman, Samtuel B. (1857), 1862.
Peirsons, Samuel (1848), 1859.
Peabody, 1Everett (1849), 1862.
Peabody, William B. (). (1816), 1847
Pearsor, William G (1854), 1861.
Pleirce, Charles H. (1833), 1855.
Peirce, Cyrus (1810), 1860.
Peirson, Abel LI. (1812), 1853.
Perkins, Stephen G. (1856), 1862.
Peirre, Nathaniel G. (1846), 1855.
Peters, John (1831), 1846.
Phelps, Charles (1791), 1857.
Phelps, Henrv (1788), 1852.
Phillips, _____ (1836), 1863.
Phillips, John (1788), 1823.
Plillips, Satmnel D. (1861), 1862.
Phillips, Stephen C. (1819), 1857.
Phillips, Thotias W. (1814), 1859.
Pickman, Benjamin (1784), 1843
Pickman, C. (ayton (1811), 1860.
Pierce, Jaimes (1849), 1853.
Plumer, William (1809), 1854.
Poor, Arthur H. (1851), 1862.
Pope, Augustus R. (1839). 1858.
Pope, Thomas B. (1833), 1862.
Popkin, Johi S. (1792), 1852.
Porter, George D. (1851), 1861.
Porter, Jonathan (1814), 1859.
Preble, William P. (1806), 1857.
Prentiss, John (1818), 1861.
Prentiss, Nathaniel S. (1787)
Preitiss, Thomas (1766), 1814.
Prescott, Aaron (1814), 1851.
Prescott, Joshua (1807), 1859.
Prescott, Samuel J. (1795), 1857.
Prescott, William (1783), 1844.
Prescott, William Hickling (1814), 1859.
Preston, Alfred H. (1854), 1859.
Price, J. Hardv (1819), 1861.
Putnam, Samuel (1787), 1853.
Putnam, Samuel R (1811 1861.
Nelson, Albert H. (1832), 1858.
Newcomb, E(gar M. (1860), 1862
Newhall, Benjmin (1846), 1856..
Newtman, Jenry (18ol)
Nichol.s, aIchabod (1802), 1859...
Nichols, Jtohn S. (1849), 1862...
Nichols, Paul I,. (1845), 1852...
Norris, George W. (1852), 1857..
Norton, Andrewws (1804), 1853...
Norton, Jacob (1781), 1858...
Oliver, Fr ancis J. (1795), 1858
Orr, Hector (1792), 1855.....
Osgood, David (1771), 1 822...
Osrood, David (1813),1863....
OsPkood, Gayton P. (1815), 1861.
Osgood, Robert H. (1811), 1855
Otis, William F. (1821), 1858.
Paine, Charles (1820), 1853.
Paine, Elijah (1814), 1853....
Parker, BejatmirF (C. C. (1822), 1859
Parker, B3enjamin F. (1831), 1844
Parker, Frederick (1833), 1857
Parker, Freeman (1797), 1854.
Parker, George P. (1812), 1856
Parker, Oscar F. (1850), 1854.
Quash, Francis D. (1814), 1857
Rand, Benjamin (1808),1852...
Randall, Abraham (1798), 1852..
Rantoul, Robert, jun. (1826), 1852.
Raymond(l, Edward, (1851), 1855.
Reed, Caleb (1817), 1854...
Revere, Paul J. (1852), 1863...
Rhett, Edmund (1854), 1863...
Rice, George E. (1842), 1861.
Rice, Henrv G. (1802), 1853
Rice Samuel B. (1816), 1863.
Rice, Thomas (1791), 1854....
Richardson, Henry A. (1858), 1863.
Richardson, Jalmes (1797), 1858.
Richrelson, William (1832), 1856
Richardson, William P. (1834), 1857
Ritchie, Andrew (1802), 1862.
Ritchie. Andrew (1829), 1837...
Robeson, Thomas R. (1861), 1863
Robinson, Charles (1818), 1862.
Robinson, William O. (1832), 1855
Lord, Nathaniel (1798), 1852.
Loring, Josepth (1786), 1857
Loring, Joseph, (1829), 1862.
Low, Seth (1804), 1853
Lowell, Charles(1800). 1861.
Lowell, James, (1858), 1862.
Lowell, John (1721), 1767..
Lowell, John (1760). 1802..
Lunt, William P. (1823), 1857.
Manley, Hiram (1825).1853.
McKean, Iohii G. (1831), 1851
McKim, William I). (1852), lF63.
Marr, Nicholas L. (1845), 1854
Marsh, Joliti (1823), 1856.
Mason, Charles (1832), 1862.
Merrill, James C. (1807), 1853.
Merrill, John (1804), 1855..
Mordee, Davi(I H. (1654), 1859
Mudge, Charles R. (1860), 1863
Mulliken Edward (1846),
Murdoch, Charles T. (1828), 1853
Neal, Edward H. (1852), 1856
Nelson, Albert H. (1832), 1858
Newcomb, E(igar M. (1860), 1862
Newhall, Benjamin (1846), 1866
Newman, L. (1801), 1861
Nichols, Leonard (1802), 1859
Nichols, John S. (1849), 1862
Nichols, Paul I,. (145), 1852
Norris, George W. (1852), 1857
Norton, Andrew.-, (1804), 1853
Norton, Jacob (1786), 1858.
INDEX OF ALUMNI.
Tebbetts, Theodore (1851), 1863..
Tenney, Edward J. (1853), 1853.
Thacher, George (1812), 1857..
Thaxter, Ezekiel (1812), 1856..
Thaxter, Jonas W. (1838), 1854.
Thaxter, Robert (1798), 1652...
Thaxter, Thomas (1856), 1860..
Thomas, Gorlham (1852), 1853..
Thomas, Isaiah (1825), 1862...
Thomas, John B. (1806),1852
Thompson, John (1822), 1854..
Thoreau, David H. (1837), 1862..
Thorndike, Augustus (1816), 1858.
Thurston,.John R. (1829), 1843..
Tilton, Jose(ph (1797), 1856...
Tilton, Nathan (1796), 1851...
Torrey, William 1'. (1806), 1861..
Townsend, David S (1809),1853..
Tracy, Elisha W. (1843), 1860
Treadwell, John D. (1788), 1833.
Treadwell, John G. (1825), 1856.
Tucker, John H. (1862), 1863...
Tufts, Marshall (1827), 1855...
Turner, Charles (1752), 1818...
Turner, George F. (1826), 1854..
Turner, Royal (1813), 1862..
Sanders, George T. (1824)
Sanger, Ralph (1808), 1860...
Sanger, Zedekiath (1771), 1820
Shlvage, James (1854), 1862.
Sawyer, Amorv P. (1858), 1860.
Sawyer, Franklin (1830), 1851.
Sawyer, Micaiah (1756), 1815.
Sawyer, Samuel (1826), 1859.
Sawyer, William (1788), 1859
Sawy er, William (1800), 1860.
Sawyer, William (1828), 1852.
Sayles, Francis W. (1844), 1853
Schuyler, Stephen (1820), 1859
Sc1llay, Samuel (1808), 1857.
Seaton, J. Gales (1837), 1857.
Sedgwick, William D. (1851), 1862.
Shaw, John (1729), 1791
Shaw, Lemuel (1800), 1861.
Shaw, Oakes (1758), 1807.
Shorey, Frank H. (1858), 1862.
Shurtleff, Nathl. B., Jr. (1859), 1862
Silsbee, Francis H. (1831), 1848.
Simmons, Charles F. (1841), 1862
Simmons, George F. (1832), 1855
Simmons, William (1804), 1843.
Simmons, William H. (1831), 1841
Simond,, Henry C. (1831), 1840.
Smith, Henrv B. (1809), 1861.
Smith, Joseph B. (1844), 1859
Smith, Manasseh (1773), 1823
Smith, Samuel E. (1808), 1860.
Smith, Thomas (1720), 1795.
Sparhawk, Ebenezer (1756), 1805
Spooner, Allen C. (1835), 1853
Sprague, Joseph E (1804), 1852.
Spurr, Thomas J. (1858), 1862
Starr, John (1804), 1851
Stearns, William L. (1820), 1857
Stevens, William O. (1848), 1863
Stimson, Caleb M. (1824), 1860.
Stone, Micah (1790), 1852....
Stone, William I,. (1850), 1857
Stowers, Joseph (1793), 1851...
Stuart, George O. (1801), 1862
Stuart, Julius W. (1849), 1856
Sturges, Josiah (1795), 1852
Sullivan, John H. (1853), 1858
Sullivan, Richard (1798), 1861
Sullivan, Thomas R. (1817), 1862
Sumner, Increase (1767), 1799.
Sumner, William H. (1799), 1861
Swett, John A. (1828),1854.
Swift, Seth F. (1807), 1858.
Upham, Charles W. (1852), 1860.
Upton, Elias (1802), 1857.
Very, Washington (1848), 1853.
Wadsworth, John (1800), 1860..
Wainwright, Jona. M. (1812), 1854.
Walcott, Samuel B. (1819), 1854.
Wales, Henry W. (1838), 1856.
Wales, Thomas B. (1795), 1853.
Walker, Joseph H. (1843), 1858.
Walker, Sears C. (1825), 1853.
Walker, Timothy (1826), 1856.
Walton, John (1791), 1862.
Ware, Robert (1852), 1863.
Ware, William (1816), 1852.
Warren, John (1771), 1815.
Warren, Jo hn C. (1797), 1856.
Warren, Jos eph (1759), 1775
Warren, Silas (1795), 1856.
Waters, George E. (1847), 1851.
Watson, Be njamin M. (1800), 1851
Watts, Francis O. (1822), 1860.
Webb, Seth (1843), 1862.
Webster, Fle tche r (1833), 1862.
Weed, Jared (1807), 1857.
Weed, Samuel (1800), 1857.
Welch, Joll n H. (1835), 1852.
Welles, Benjamin (1800), 1860
Welles, John (1782), 1855
Welles, Samuel (1796), 1841.
Wellington, Charles (1802), 1861.
Wellinigton, Timotlhv (1806), 1853
Wells, William (1796), 1860
Weston, Ezra (1829), 1852.
Wetmore, Thomas (1814), 1860
Wetmore, William (1770), 1830.
Wheatland, Benjamin (1819), 1854.
Wheeler, Abner B. (1831), 1847.
Rodman, William L. (1842),1863
Rogers, Lloyd N. (1808),1860
Rogers,'William 1,1. (1827),1851
Rogers, Wllliam M. (1860),1862.
Ropes, Henrv (lE62), 1863
Rowe, William H. (1853), 1858
Russell, Francis J. (IS31), 1833
Russell, James D. (1829),1861
Russell, Natlianiel (1858), 1862
Ryder, Thomas P. (1828), 1852
Tappan, David (1771), 1803.
Willard, Samuel, (1803),1859.
Willard, Sidney (1798), 1856.
Willard, Sidney (1852), 1862.
Williams, Benlamin P. (1850), 1856.
Williams, Edward P. (1837), 1853.
Williams, Joseph B. (1830), 1853.
Williams, Joseph R. (1831), 1861.
Windship, Charles W. (1793),1852.
Wingate, George (1796),1852.
Wiswall, William 1). (1816), 1853
Woodbury, James T. (1823), 1861.
Woods, Leonard (1796), 1854.
Wright, Frederick (1831), 1846.
Wright, Hartley H. (1831), 1840.
Wright, Luther (1796), 1858.
Wright, Nathaniel (1808), 1858.
Wright, Nathaniel (1838), 1847.
Wyeth, Jacob (1792), 1857.
Wheeler, Frederick (1854), 1857.
Wheelwright, Joseph (1811), 1 85 3.
Wheelwright, Wm. C. (1851),1854.
Whipple, Augustus W. (1849),1852,
White, Daniel A. (1797), 1861.
White, John (1805), 1852.
White, Nathaniel W. (1812),1860.
White, William A. (1838), 1856.
Whiting, Henry (1842),1857.
Whitney, Alexander (1831), 1842
Whitney, Asa H. (1838),1858
Whitney, Simon (1818), 1861.
Whittemore, George (1857), 1862
Whittemore, Jos. J. L. (1832), 1860
Whittemore, Wm. H. (1853), 1857.
Whittredge, Thos. C. (1818), 1854.
Whitwell, John S. (1815), 1853.
Wigglesworth, Samuel (1831), 1847
Wigglesworth, Thomas (1793), 1855
Wild, Jonathan (1804), 1862.
Wiley, Adams (1848), 1860.
Wilkins, John H. (1818), 1861
Willard, Paul (1817), 1856.
Yongue, Andrew L. (1855), 1859.. 334
Young, Alexander (1820), 1854.. 32
Young, William (1829),1863... 476
This report, OCR scanned had been edited by Janice Farnsworth
Note: page numbers had to be eliminated due to ocr scanning diffi-
culties.
http://delta.ulib.org/ulib/data/moa/57e/53f/a02/562/022/6/data.txt