5:\NvN V \ V*^^H\vV>\.^"^^'».^ ^«\ \\ ■> V, nS% \nN\'>XX \V>^VN<'^ »N<^\5c> s ^\«\\\*^ x^x\ « », \ v^ s\ \ \- ^^\> ^-^. \«\\ \\ \^ ,. ... . THE GIFT OF J ^^^^^^^^'^'-^ ■ .A,.__Lt.A-03i« ^li.[.%Z^ Cornell University Library E 176.G45 ' .American Christian rulers 3 1924 028 765 844 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028765844 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS RELIGION AND MEN OF GOVERNMENT Comprising Sketches in American History of Men of Christian Faith and Experiejjce, who have had connection with the National and State Governments and the Judicial Depart- ment; embracing Colonial, Revolutionary and Later Periods; alphabetically arranged, with Chrono- logical Index of Early State Governors. compiled by REV. EDWARD J. GIDDINGS NEW YORK BROMFIELD & COMPANY 658 BROADWAY A. H-2.^3 G /corn El lH UN8VLR£^'TY .LIBRARY Copyright 1889, 1890 By BROMFIELD & CO GENERAL INDEX. ADAMS, SAMUEL, page Signer of Declaration of Independence, 1776 . . i ADAMS, JOHN QUINCY, President of United States, 1825-1829 ... 7 ALDEN, JOHN, Governor's Assistant, Massachusetts, 1633 . . .14 ALLEN, THOMAS, Representative in Congress, 1881 .... 16 AMES, FISHER, Representative in Congress, i 789-1 797 . . . - '9 APPLETON, JOHN, Member of Governor's Council, Massachusetts, 1698-1723 21 APPLETON, WILLIAM, Representative in Congress, 1850 .... 22 ARMSTRONG, SAMUEL TURRELL, Acting Governor of Massachusetts, 1835 . . 26 BACON, JOHN, Representative in Congress, 1801-1803 ... 29 BALDWIN, ROGER SHERMAN, Governor of Connecticut, 1844-1845 • • • 33 BANISTER, WILLIAM B. 1 Senator in Massachusetts Legislature, 1818-1819 . 35 BAREFOOT, WALTER, Deputy Governor of New Hampshire, 1683-1686 . . 36 BATES, EDWARD, Attorney-General of the United States, 1861 . . 38 BELCHER, JONATHAN, Governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, 1730-1741 40 •iii IV GENERAL INDEX. BELLINGHAM, RICHARD, page Governor of Massachusetts Bay, 1641, 1665-1672 . . 43 BENTON, THOMAS HART, - ^ Senator in Congress, 1821-1851 .... 45 BLACK, JEREMIAH SULLIVAN, Attorney-General of the United States, 1857 . . 47 BOUDINOT, ELIAS, Member of Continental Congress, 1777 ... 51 BOWDOIN, JAMES, Governor of Massachusetts, 1785-1786 . . . -53 BRADFORD, WILLIAM, Governor of Plymouth Colony, 1621 • • • 5S BRADSTREET, SIMON, Governor of Massachusetts, 1679 • • • • 5^ BRIGGS, GEORGE NIXON, Governor of Massachusetts. 1844-1851 ... 61 BROMFIELD, EDWARD, Member of the MAssACHusErrs Council, 1703-1728 . . 70 BROMFIELD, EDWARD, Representative in Massachusetts Legislature, 1739-1743 72 BROOKS, ELEAZER, Member of Legislature and Council, Massachusetts, 1774- 1801 ........ 74 BROOKS, JOHN, Governor of Massachusetts, 1816-1823 . . . -75 BROOKS, JAMES, Representative in Congress, 1849-1853, 1865-1873 . . 77 BROWN, NICHOLAS, Representative in Rhode Island Legislature . . 79 BUCHANAN, JAMES, President of the United States, 1857-1861 . . 81 BUCKINGHAM, WILLIAM ALFRED, Governor of Connecticut, 1858-1865 . . . .89 BURNET, JACOB, Senator in Congress, 1829-1831 . . . . gi BUTLER, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Attornky-General of the United States, 1833-1838 . 94 GENERAL INDEX. V CABOT, GEORGE, page Senator in Congress, 1791-1796 .... 97 CARVER, JOHN, Governor of Plymouth Colony, 1620-1621 . . .99 CHAPMAN, REUBEN ATWATER, Chief-Justice of Massachusetts Supreme Court, 1868-1873 103 CHASE, SAMUEL, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, 1776 . 105 CHASE, SALMON PORTLAND, Chief-Justice of U. S. Supreme Court, 1864-1873 . . loS CHITTENDEN, THOMAS, First Governor of Vermont, 1778-1796 . . .113 CLAPP, ROGER, Representative in Massachusetts Legislature, 1652-1665 . 116 CLARKE, JOHN, Deputy-Governor of Rhode Island Colony, 1669 . 120 CLAY, JOSEPH, U. S. District Judge for District of Georgia, 1796-1801 . 123 CLAY, HENRY, Senator in Congress, 1806, i8og, 1831-1842, 1849-1852 . 125 CLAYTON, JOHN MIDDLETON, Senator in Congress, 1829, 1845-1849, 1851 . . . 130 CLEVELAND, AARON, Representative in the Provincial Legislature of Con- necticut, 1779 ....... 132 CODDINGTON, WILLIAM, Governor of Rhode Island, 1640-1647, 1674-1675 . . 134 COLLAMER, JACOB, Senator in Congress, 1855-1865 .... 136 COOLIDGE, CARLOS, Governor of Vermont, 1849-1851 ..... 138 CRADOCK, MATTHEW, Governor of the Massachusetts Company, 1628 . . 139 CRAVEN, CHARLES, Governor of Carolina, 1712-1716 . . . .141 CUDWORTH, JAMES, Depwty-Governor of Massachusetts, 1681 . . .144 CUTLER, MANASSEH, Representative in Congress, 1800-1804 . . . .147 VI GENERAL INDEX. DAGGETT, DAVID, page Senator in Congress, 1813-1819 . . . .151 DALE, THOMAS, Deputy-Governor of Virginia, 161 i . . . • iS4 DAVENPORT, ABRAHAM, Senator in Connecticut Legislature, 1766-1784 . . 157 DAVENPORT, JOHN, Representative in Congress, 1799-1817 .... 162 DAWES, THOMAS, Representative in Massachusetts General Court, 1777 164 DAY, JEREMIAH, Representative in General Assembly of Connecticut, 1766-1767 ........ 166 DAY, THOMAS, Connecticut Secretary of State, 1810-1835 . . 168 DELAWARE, THOMAS, First Governor of Virginia, 1610 . . . .170 DODGE, WILLIAM EARLE, Representative in Congress, 1866 . . . .173 DUDLEY, THOMAS, Governor of Massachusetts, 1634, 1640, 1645, '650 . . 183 DUDLEY, JOSEPH, Governor of Massachusetts, 1702-1715 . . .185 DUMMER, WILLIAM, Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts, 1716 . . 187 DWIGHT, TIMOTHY, Representative in Massachusetts Legislature, 1781, 1782 190 EATON, THEOPHILUS, First Governor of New Haven Colony, 1639-1657 . 194 EDWARDS, TIMOTHY, Member of Massachusetts Council, 1775-1780 . . 199 ELLSWORTH, OLIVER, Chief-Justice of the United States, 1796-1801 . . 201 ENDICOTT, JOHN, First Governor of Massachusetts Bay, 1629 . . . 205 FAIRBANKS, HORACE, Governor of Vermont, 1876 . . . . .211 GENERAL INDEX. vii FLETCHER, RICHARD, pace Judge of Massachusetts Supreme Court, 1848-1853 . . 213 FOOT; SOLOMON, Senator in Congress, 1851-1866 . . . .215 FOWLER, ORIN, Representative in Congress, 1849-1852 . . . .218 FRELINGHUYSEN, THEODORE, Senator in Congress, 1829-183J . . . .221 FULLER, SAMUEL, Eighth Signer of the Compact, 1620 . . . .227 GALUSHA, JONAS, Governor of Vermont, 1809-1813, 1815-1820 . . . 229 GARDINER, ADDISON, Lieutenant-Governor of New York, 1845-1849 . . 231 GARFIELD, JAMES ABRAM, President of the United States, 1881 . . . 233 GIDDINGS, JOSHUA REED, Representative in Congress, 1838-1859 . . . .241 GOODRICH, CHARLES, Delegate to Provincial Congress, 1774 . . . 247 GOODRICH, CHAUNCEY, Senator in Congress, 1807-18:3 ..... 249 HAMILTON, ALEXANDER, First Secretary of the United States Treasury, 1789-1795 251 HARRISON, WILLIAM HENRY, President of the United States, 1841 .... 254 HAVEN, HENRY PHILEMON, Mayor of Norwich, 1852 ..... 258 HAWLEY, JOSEPH, Member of Provincial Congress, 1775 - - - • . 260 HAYNES, JOHN, Governor of Connecticut Colony, 1639 . . . 263 HAZARD, EBENEZER, Postmaster-General of United States, 1782-1789 . . 266 HILL, JOHN, Representative in Congress, 1867-1873, 1881-1883 . 269 VIU GENERAL INDEX. HILL, BENJAMIN HARVEV, page Senator in Congress, 1877-1883 . . . . • 270 HOLTEN, SAMUEL, Representative in Congress, 1778-1787 . . . 272 HOPKINS, EDWARD, Governor of Connecticut, 1640, 1642, 1644, 1646, 1648, 1650, 1652 . . . . . . . . .274 HOPKINS, DANIEL, Member of the Provincial Congress, 1775 . . 275 HUBBARD, SAMUEL, Associate Justice Supreme Court Massachusetts, 1842 . 278 HUNTINGTON, JEDEDIAH, Collector United States Revenue, New London, 1789-1815 281 HUNTINGTON, JABEZ WILLIAMS, Senator in Congress, 1840-1847 . . . .283 HUNTINGTON, SAMUEL, Governor of Connecticut, 1786-1796 . . . .285 JACKSON, ANDREW, President of the United States, 1829-1837 . . 287 JAY, JOHN, First Chief-Justice U. S. Supreme Court, 1789-1794 . 292 JENCKES, JOSEPH, Governor of Rhode Island, 1727-1732 ... 299 JESSUP, WILLIAM, Judge of Eleventh Judicial District, Pennsylvania, 1838- 1851 . . 30' JOHNSON, EDWARD, Representative in Massachusetts Legislature, 1643-1647, 1649-1671 ... ... 303 KELLOGG, NATHANIEL OLMSTEAD, Senator in Connecticut Legislature, 1849 . . . 307 KENDALL, AMOS, Postmaster-General of United States, 1835-1840 . 309 LAWRENCE, AMOS, Representative in Massachusetts Legislature, 1822 . 311 LEETE, WILLIAM, Governor of Connecticut, 1676 .... jij GENERAL INDEX. ix LINCOLN, ABRAHAM, > page President of the United States, 1861-1865 . . , 315 LOGAN, JAMES, Acting Governor of Pennsylvania, 1736 . . . 323 MANNING, JAMES, Delegate to Continental Congress, 1786 . . . 327 MARSHALL, JOHN, Chief-Justice of the United States, 1801-1835 • • 33' MAYHEW, THOMAS, Governor of Martha's Vineyard . . - . 334 McCLELLAN, GEORGE BRINTON, Governor of New Jersey. 1877-1880 .... 337 McLEAN, JOHN, Justice of U. S. Supreme Court, 1830-1861 . . . 339 MILLER, SAMUEL, Representative in Vermont Legislature, 1797 . . 341 MORGAN, EDWIN DENNISON, Governor of New York, 1858-1862 .... 343 MORTON, NATHANIEL, Secretary of Plymouth Colony, 1645-1685 . . 345 NASH, FREDERIC, Judge of Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1844-1858 . 347 NICHOLSON, FRANCIS, Governor of Virginia, 1690-1692 .... 348 ODELL, MOSES FIELD, Representative in Congress, 1861-1865 ■ • . • 350 OGLETHORPE, JAMES EDWARD, Founder ok Georgia, 1733 . .^ . . , 351 OLIVER, DANIEL, Member of His Majesty's Council, Massachusetts . . 356 PARSONS, THEOPHILUS, Chief-Justice of Massachusetts, 1806-1813 ^ . . 359 PENHALLOW, SAMUEL, Chief-Justice Superior Court of New Hampshire, 1717-1726 364 PENN, WILLIAM, Founder and Governor of Pennsylvania, 1681 . . 366 X GENERAL INDEX. PHILLIPS, SAMUEL, pace Member of Massachusetts Council .... 372 PHILLIPS, SAMUEL, LIEDTEXANT-GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS, l8oi . . 374 PHILLIPS, JOHN, Member of Xew Hampshire Councii, 1774 . . . 376 PHILLIPS, WILLIAM, Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts . . . 377 PHILLIPS, JOHN, Representative in ijASSACHusEXTS Legislature, 1814-1815 379 PHIPS, WILLIAM, Governor of Massachusetts, 1692 .... 382 PITKIX, WILLIAM, Governor of Connecticut, 1766-1769 . . . 385 PLUMER, WILLIAM, Governor of Xew Hampshire, 1812, 1816, 1817, 1818 . 387 PtUXKET, WILLIAM C, Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts, 1854 . . 391 POLK, JAMES KXOX, President of the United States, 1845-1849 . . . 393 POTTS, STACY GARDIXER, Judge of Supreme Court of Xew Jersey, 1852-1857 . 396 PREXCE, THOMAS, Governor of Plymouth Colony, 1634, 1638, 1657-1673 . 399 RAMSAY, DAYID, Representattve in Congress, 1785 . ... 401 RAXDOLPH, JOHX, Senator in Congress, 1825-1827 ..... 403 REED, WILLIAM, Representative in Congress, 1811-1815 . . . 407 REEVE, TAPPING, Judge of the Superior Court of Connecticut, 1798-1814 409 ROOT, JESSE, Chief-Justice of Connecticut, 1796-1807 . . . ^jq RUMSEY, DAYID, Justice of Supreme Court of Xew York, 1873-1881 . 411 RUSH, BENJAMIX, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, 1776 . . 413 GENERAL INDEX. xi RUSH, JACOB, PAGE Chief-Justice of Pennsylvania, . . . .417 RUSSELL, THOMAS, Member of the Massachusetts Council, 1789-1793 . . 420 SAFFORD, DANIEL, Senator in Massachuseits Legislature, 1845, '846 . 423 SALTONSTALL, RICHARD, Magistrate for Plymouth Colony, 1630 . . . 428 SALTONSTALL, GURDON, Governor of Connecticut, 1708-1724 . . . 429 SEWALL, SAMUEL, Chief-Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, 1718- 1728 432 SHARSWOOD, GEORGE, Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1868 . 436 SHEPHERD, WILLIAM, Representative in Congress, 1797-1803 .... 438 SHEPLEY, ETHER, Chief-Justice of the Supremf. Court of Maine, 1855 . 439 SHERMAN, JOHN, Magistrate of New Haven Colony . , . .441 SHERMAN, ROGER, Signer of the Declaration of iNDEPENbENCE, 1776 . 443 SLADE, WILLIAM,' Governor of Vermont, 1844 ..... 446 SMITH, JOHN COTTON, Governor of Connecticut, 1812-1816 . . . 449 SMITH, WILLIAM E., Governor of Wisconsin, 1877-1879 . . . .452 STEPHENS, ALEXANDER HAMILTON, Governor of Georgia, 18S3 ..... 454 STEVENSON, JOHN W., Governor of Kentucky, 1868 . . . -459 STOCKTON, RICHARD, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, 1776 . . 461 STODDARD, JOHN, Memder of His Majesty's Council .... 464 xii GENERAL INDEX. STORY, THOMAS, page Member of Governor's Council, Province of Pennsylvania 466 STRONG, CALEB, Governor of Massachusetts, 1800, 1807, 1812-1816 . 468 SYMONDS, SAMUEL, Deputy-Governor of Massachusetts Colony, 1673-1678 . 47° TALCOTT, JOSEPH, Governor of Connecticut, 1724-1741] . . . . 472 THOMSON, CHARLES, First Secretary of Congress, 1774-1789 . . . 473 TOWNSEND, PENN, Member of His Majesty's 'Council ,for the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, 1721 .... 476 TREADWELL, JOHN, Governor of Connecticut, 1809-1811 .... 478 TRUMBULL, JONATHAN, Governor of Connecticut, 1769-1783 . . . . 483 VANE, HENRY, Governor of Massachusetts, 1636 .... 489 VAN RENSSELAER, STEPHEN, Representative in Congress, 1822-1828 . . . 492 VAN VECHTEN, ABRAHAM, Attorney-General of New York, i8io, 1813-18x5 . . 495 VAN VECHTEN, TEUNIS, Mayor of Albany, 1837, 1841 ..... 496 VARICK, EICHARD, Mayor of New York, 1789-1800 ..... 498 WALWORTH, REUBEN HYDE, Chancellor of New York, 1828-1848^ . . . 500 WASHBURN, WILLIAM BARRETT, Governor of Massachusetts, 1872-1873 . . . 502 WASHINGTON, GEORGE, First President of the United States, 1789-1797 . 504 WEBSTER, NOAH, Representative in Massachusetts Legislature, 1814, 1813, 1819 . . . . . . . . .517 GENERAL INDEX. Xlll WEBSTER, DANIEL, page Secretary of State, 1850-18 53 . . . .521 WENTWORTH, JOHN, Lieutenant-Governor of New Hampshire, 1717-1729 . 532 WHEELER, WILLIAM ALMON, Vice-President of the United States, 1877-1881 . 534 WILLIAMS, ROGER, President of Rhode Island Colony, 1654-1657 . . 536 WILLIAMS, WILLIAM, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, 1776 . 540 WILLIAMS, THOMAS SCOTT, Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1834-1847 S4I WILLIAMS, CHARLES KILBOURNE, Governor of Vermont, 1850-1852 .... 544 WILLISTON, SAMUEL, Senator in Massachusetts Legislature, 1842-1843 . . 546 WILSON, HENRY, ' Vice-President of_,the United States, 1873-1877 . 550 WINSLOW, EDWARD, Governor of Plymouth Colony, 1633, 1636, 1644 . . 556 WINSLOW, JOSIAH, Governor of Plymouth Colony, i 673-1 680 . . . 559 WINTHROP, JOHN, Governor of Massachusetts Colony, 1637 . . . 562 WINTHROP, JOHN, Jr., Governor of River Connecticut, 1635 ; of Connecticut Colony, 1657. ...... 566 WIRT, WILLIAM, Attorney-General of the United States, 1817-1829 • . 569 WITHERSPOON, JOHN, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, 1776 . 573 WOLCOTT, ROGER, Governor of Connecticut, 1751-1754 .... 581 WYtLIS, GEORGE, Governor of Connecticut, 1642 .... 583 XIV GENERAL INDEX. YEARDLEY, GEORGE, page Governor of Virginia, 1619-1621 . . . • • 5^4 ZUBLY, JOHN JOACHIM, Delegate to Continental Congress, 1775 • • .5^7 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF EARLY STATE GOVERNORS. i6io. Delaware, Thomas... Virginia. PAGE .. 170 1639. 1611. Dale, Thomas Virginia. .. IS4 1640. 1619. Yeardley, George .. 584 1640. 1620. Virginia, Carver, John Plymouth Colony. .. 99 1641. 1621. Bradford, William.. Plymouth Colony. ■• 55 1642. 1628. Cradock, Matthew 139 The Massachusetts Company. 1654. 1629. Endicott, John Massachusetts Bay. .. 20s 1657. ^633. WiNSLow, Edward — Plymouth Colony. .. 556 1673. ' 1634. Dudley, Thomas Massachusetts. .. 183 1676. 1 1634. Prence, Thomas Plymouth Colony. •• 399 1679. 1 1636. Vane, Henry Massachusetts. .. 489 1681. 1637. Winthrop, John Massachusetts. 1 . S62 1690. 1 1639. Eaton, Theophilus. . . New Haven Colony. •• 194 1692. PACE Haynes, John 263 Connecticut. Coddington, William.. 134 Rhode Island Colony. Hopkins, Edward 274 Connecticut. Bellingham, Richard.. .' 43 Massachusetts. Wyllys, George 583 Connecticut. Williams, Roger 536 Rhode Island Colony. Winthrop, John 566 Connecticut. WiNSLOW, Josiah 559 Plymouth Colony. Leete, William 313 Connecticut. Bradstreet, Simon 58 Massachusetts. Penn, William 366 Pennsylvania. Nicholson, Francis 348 Virginia. Phips, William 382 Massachusetts. XVI CHRONOLOGICAL LIST PAGE 1702. Dudley, Joseph 185 Massachusetts. 1708. Saltonstall, Gurdon. . .429 Connecticut. 1712. Craven, Charles 141 Carolina. , 1724. Talcott, Joseph 472 Connecticut. 1727. Jenckes, Joseph 299 Rhode Island. 1730. Belcher, Jonathan 40 Massachusetts. 1733. Oglethorpe, James Ed- ward, Georgia. 351 1736. Logan, James .*. ." — 323 ' Pennsylvania. 1751. WoLCOTT, Roger 581 Connecticut. 1766. Pitkin, William. 385 Connecticut. OF EARLY GOVERNORS. PAGE 1769. Trumbull, Jonathan... 483 Connecticut. 1778. Chittenden, Thomas... 113 Vermont. 1785. Bowdoin, James S3 Massachusetts. 1786. Huntington, Samuel. . . 285 Connecticut. 1800. Strong, Caleb 468 Massachusetts. 1809. Galusha, Jonas 229 Vermont. 1809. Treadwell, John 478 Connecticut. 1812. Smith, John Cotton.... 449 Connecticut. 1816. Brooks, John 75 Massachusetts. LIST OF CIVIL OFFICERS WHO HAD SERVED IN THE GOSPEL MINISTRY. Bacon, John, . Clarke, John, . Clay, Joseph, Cleveland, Aaron, Cutler, Manasseh, . Day, Jeremiah, . DwiGHT, Timothy, . Fowler, Orin, . Garfield, James Abram, Hopkins, Daniel, Manning, James, Mayhew, Thomas, Penn, William, Root, Jesse, Saltonstall, cJurdon, Sherman, John, . Story, Thomas, Williams, Roger, WiTHERSPOON, John, ZuBLY, John Joachim, PAGB 29 120 132 166 190 218 275 327 334 366 410 429 441 466 536 57 S 587 xvu LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. First' Prayer in Congress, Author's Portrait, Adams, Samuel, Adams, John QUincy, . Ames, Fisher, Belcher, Jonathan, BouDiNOT, Elias, Briggs, George Nixon, Buchanan, James, . Buckingham, William Alfred,, Chase, Salmon Portland, Clay, Henry, Cutler, Manasseh, Davenport, Abraham, Dodge, William Earle, . DwiGHT, Timothy, Ellsworth, Oliver, Frelinghuysen, Theodore, Garfield, James Abram, . Giddings, Joshua Reed, Huntington, Samuel, Lincoln, Abraham, Oglethorpe, James Edward, Penn, William, Phips, William, Saltonstall, Gurdon, Frontispiece. Face Preface FACE PAGE I 7 • 19 40 • SI 61 . 81 89 . 108 125 • 147 ' IS7 • 173 190 . 201 233 241 28s 31S 351 366 382 429 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Sherman, Roger, Smith, John Cotton, Stephens, Alexander Hamilton, Strong, Caleb, . Treadwell, John, . Trumbull, Jonathan, Vane, Henry, Varick, Richard, Washington, George, Webster, Noah, Webster, Daniel, . Wilson, Henry, * WiNSLow, Edward, WiNTHROP, John, WiNTHROP, Jr., John, Wirt, William, WiTHERSPOON, John, XIX FACE PAGE 443 449 454 468 478 483 489 504 517 521 SS° 556 562 566 569 575 C^JUs^ecnJ^i PREFACE. It has been the design in each sketch to present, so far as material was at hand, family genealogy, the civil offices sustained, selections from the writings and sayings of the subject, Christian character. Other names are deserving of mention in these biographies. The text between quotation marks has at times been condensed. Antique spelling has been changed. Notice is given with each biography of the authorities and material making up the sketch. Edward J. Giddings. HousATONic, Mass., February, 1890. j^ Oy^-jo^ ^•^oCO'''^'^-'^ AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. SAMUEL ADAMS. SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 1776.* "Henry Adams [early ancestor of Samuel] emigrated from England to Massachusetts about 1640, with a family of eight sons, and became one of the early settlers in Braintree, where he had a grant of forty acres of land." Samuel Adams, father of Samuel, and second son of Captain John Adams, of Braintree, was born in Boston, May 6, 1687 ; was baptized May 12, 1687 ; married at the age of twenty-four, Mary, only daughter of Richard Fifield, of Boston ; at different times served the town as Representative in the General Assembly ; was deacon in the Old South Church ; and was denominated by the son now sketched, "A wise and good man." His wife Mary, " early imbued her children with reverence for the Christian vir- tues which she practiced." Samuel Adams was born in Boston, September 27, 1722 ; was presented in baptism on Sunday, the day of his birth ; died in Boston, October 2, 1803. An elder sister whose influence was strong in guiding the youth of Mr. Adams, is thus described : " She was of a winning and amiable disposition, and a strict observer of the requirements of religion. A memorandum-book kept partly in 1735-36, and filled with texts of sermons in her neat handwriting, is still preserved. In the journal occur the names of some twenty clergymen whose * " Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams," by William V. Wells ; " New England Historical Register " ; Force's " American Archives." 2 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. discourses she had attended: among them Doctors Lowell, Cooper, Checkley, Byles, Edwards, Prince and Mather." Samuel Adams was educated at the Boston Latin School, kept for forty years by John Lovell ; and at Harvard College, gradu- ating in 1740. On taking his Master's degree, in 1743, he made bold to offer the theme : " Whether it be lawful to resist the Supreme Magis- trate, if the Commonwealth cannot be otherwise preserved ; " tak- ing his position in the affirmative. With what energy he pushed the principles involved in this inquiry, may be shown by the fol- lowing from the pen of John Adams : " Samuel Adams, to my certain knowledge, from 1758 to 1775, made it his constant rule to watch the rise of every brilliant genius, to seek his acquaintance, to court his friendship, to cultivate his natural feelings in favor of his native country, to warn him against the hostile designs of Great Britain." Mr. Adams was nine years a Representative in Massachusetts Legislature, beginning 1766; was member of Continental Con- gress from 1774 to 1782 ; signed the Declaration of Independence, 1776; was Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts from 1789 to 1794; and Governor from 1794 to 1797. Of the friendly interest manifested for Mr. Adams, on the occa- sion of his first setting out for Congress, the following is told : " About a week before he took his departure, while seated at his evening meal, a knock was heard at the door. It proved to be a well-known tailor, who politely asked that Mr. Adams should allow him to take his measure. The request excited some curi- osity in the family, and the ladies were particularly desirous to know .who had sent him, but he refused to give any explanation, and finally the measure was taken, when the tailor bowed and took his leave. The farnily seated themselves again, and were speculating upon what this could mean, when they were attracted by another knock at the door. This time the most approved hatter in Boston introduced himself, and desired to get the size of Mr. Adams' head. He had hardly disappeared before a shoemaker came, and was followed by one or two others on similar errands, each observing a strict silence as to the persons whose orders they were obeying. A few days afterward, a large SAMUEL ADAMS. 3 trunk was brought to the house and placed in the front entrance, directed to Mr. Samuel Adams. It contained a complete suit of clothes, two pairs of shoes of the best style, a set of silver shoe- buckles, a set of gold knee-buckles, a set of gold sleeve-buttons, an elegant cocked hat, a gold-headed cane, a red cloak, and a number of minor articles of wearing apparel." Mr. Adams favored the acknowledgment of the Supreme Being in the Government 's deliberations and councils. In a letter to Joseph Warren, dated Boston, September 9, 1774, he says : " After settling the mode of voting, which is by giving each Colony an equal voice, it was agreed to open the business with prayer. As many of our warmest friends are members of the Church of England, I thought it prudent, as well on that as some other accounts, to move that the service should be performed by a clergyman of that denomination. Accordingly the lessons of the day were read by the Rev. Dr. Duch^, who afterwards made a most excellent extemporary prayer, by which he discov- ered himself to be a gentleman of sense and piety, and a warm advocate for the religious and civil rights of America." (See Frontispiece.) Slaves were bought and sold in Massachusetts, in the time of Samuel Adams. Under the caption : " Just imported from Africa," Captain Gwin advertises in the Boston Gazette for July 13, 1761, "A number of prime young slaves from the Windward coast, to be sold on board his ship lying at New Boston." Mr. Adams opposed the system. Previous to the controversies with the mother country, he consulted and corresponded with Rev. Dr. Samuel Hopkins, of Newport, R. I., and the two had resolved upon a vigorous warfare, through the press, against the African Slave trade, but other matters came to hand, which engrossed the atten- tion of Mr. Adams. A female slave, named Surry, was about the year 1764, given to Mrs. Adams. On mentioning the gift to her husband, he at once remarked : " A slave cannot live in my house. If she comes, she must be free." She received her freedom on going into his family, where she lived many years, and where she died in the midst of kind ministrations both to her body and soul. The following are selections and ■quotations from the writings and speeches of Samuel Adams : 4 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. " Is it not high time for the people of this country explicitly to declare whether they will be freemen or slaves ? . . . The salva- tion of our souls is interested in the event ; for wherever tyranny is established, immorality of every kind comes in like a tor- rent. . . . Let it be the topic of conversation in every social club. Let every town assemble. Let associations and combina- tions be everywhere set up to consult and recover our first rights." A convention of Quakers, representing New Jersey and Pennsylvania, assembled at Philadelphia, January 20, 1776, and issued a paper directed "To the People in General." Mr. Adams gave a reply directing as did the Quakers, " To the People in General," and signing himself, " A Religious Politician." In his reply he says : " He who sets up and pulls down, confines or extends empires at his pleasure, generally, if not always, carries on his great work with instruments apparently unfit for the great purpose, but which in his hands are always effectual. . . . God does the work, but not without instruments, and they who are employed are denominated his servants ; no king, nor kingdom was ever destroyed by a miracle which effectually excluded the agency of second causes. . . . We may affect humility in refus- ing to be made the instruments of Divine vengeance, but the good servant will execute the will of his master. Samuel will slay Agag; Moses, Aaron, and Hur, will pray in the mountain, and Joshua will defeat the Canaanites." To the British Commissioners, Mr. Adams writes : " We again make our solemn appeal to the God of Heaven to decide between you and us. And we pray that in the doubtful scale of battle, we may be successful, as we have justice on our side, and that the merciful Saviour of the world may forgive our oppressors." To Elbridge Gerry, he writes November 27, 1780: " If men of wisdom, moderation, and temperance, of zeal for the honor of the Supreme Being, and the welfare of the Commonwealth, are chosen to fill the seats of government, we may expect that our affairs will rest on a firm foundation." On receiving intelligence of the round of halls and entertain- ments given in Boston, on the inauguration of the new govern- ment, to John Scollay, December 30, 1780, he writes: "Why SAMUEL ADAMS. 5 should this new era be introduced with entertainments expensive, and tending to dissipate the minds of the people ? Will vanity and levity ever be the stability of government, either in states, or in cities, or, what let me hint to you is of the last importance, in families ? How fruitless is it to recommend ' the adapting the laws in the most perfect manner possible to the suppression of idleness, dissipation and extravagance,' if such recommendations are counteracted by the example of men of religious influence and public station ? I wish Mr. would recollect his former ideas. When his friend Whitefield thundered in the pulpit, he disclaimed diversions, in some instances, which to me, have always appeared innocent. Do certain amusements tend to quench the spirit of religion at one time, and are they harmless at another ? " To Thomas Paine, he writes : " Do you think that your pen, or the pen of any other man, can unchristianize the mass of our citizens, or have you hopes of converting a few of them to assist you in so bad a cause ? " To R. H. Lee, he writes : " I thank God that I have lived to see my country independent and free. She may long enjoy her independence and freedom if she will. It depends on her virtue." In an oration delivered at the State House, Philadelphia, he says : " If it was ever granted to mortals to trace the designs of Providence, and interpret its manifestations in favor of their cause, we may, with humility of soul cry out, ' Not unto us, not unto us, but to Thy name be the praise.' " "Among the most intimate of his father's acquaintances, was the Rev. Samuel Checkley, whose position at the New South Church had been procured by the influence of the elder Adams, and by whom the son had been baptized. In his visits to his reverend friend, he formed an attachment for his daughter, Elizabeth, and they were married at her father's house October 17, 1749. She was then twenty-four years of age, and as her daughter testifies, was a rare example of piety, blended with a retir- ing demeanor. Her death occurred July 25, 1757, and Mr. Adams on that day wrote in the family Bible : ' To her liusband, she was as sincere a friend as she was a faithful wife. She ran her Christian race with remarkable steadiness, and finished in triumph. She left two small children ; God grant they may 6 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. inherit her graces.' " For his second wife he married, December 6, 1764, Elizabeth Wells, daughter of an English merchant, who came from London in 1723, and settled in Boston. This lady possessed a cultivated intellect and an amiable disposition. She knew how to work with her own hands. Her husband's patriotic efforts she nobly seconded. Grace was always said by Mr. Adams, and the little circle each night listened to the Divine Word, as read by some . member of the family. The Adams family Bible became the property of the editor of the "New Eng- land Historical Register." Says Grahame, the historian : " Samuel Adams was one of the most perfect models of disinterested patriotism that any age or country has ever produced. A devout Puritan in religion ; pure in his morals ; simple and unambitious in his tastes ; endowed with a strong understanding ; a capacity of patient application ; a calm and determined courage ; — he rendered his virtues more efficacious by the instrumentality of great powers of eloquence." Says Edward Everett : " His family at times suflEered almost for the comforts of life, when he might have sold his influence over the councils of America for uncounted gold, when he might have emptied the royal treasury, if he would have betrayed his coun- try." A picture of Mr. Adams by Copley, painted for Governor Han- cock, is now in Faneuil Hall, Boston. 3' Si,. cx4ci.cxy>0'\^. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 1825-1829.* John Adams, grandfather of John Quincy, was a deacon of the church, and selectman, a farmer of limited means, to which he added the business of shoemaking. His brother Joseph was educated at Harvard College, and for upwards of sixty years was minister of a Congregational Church at Newington, N. H. John Adams, son of John, and father of John Quincy, was born at Braintree, Mass. ; graduated at Harvard University ; established himself in law at Quincy ; became President of the United States on the retirement of Washington, 1797 ; and having served his term, retired to his farm and to agricultural pursuits at Quincy. The following is an anecdote which he loved to tell : " When I was a boy, the study of Latin was dull and irksome. Going to my father one day, I told him I did not like study, and asked for some other employment. 'Well, John,' said he, 'if Latin grammar does not suit, you may try ditching. My meadow yonder needs a ditch.' To the meadow I went, but soon found ditching harder than Latin. The first forenoon was the longest I ever experienced, and I was glad when night came. I worked the next forenoon, and \iyanted to return to Latin at dinner. At night, toil conquered pride, and I told my father, if he chose, I would go back to Latin grammar. He was glad of it ; and if I have gained any distinction, it has been owing to the two days' labor in that abominable ditch." On assuming the duties of the Presidency, he was supported by the prayers of his companion and wife. She writes to him : " You have this day to declare * " Life of John Quincy Adams," by W. H. Seward ; John Q. Adatns in " American Statesmen Series," by John T. Morse ; Boston Recorder, 1848. 7 8 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. yourself head of a nation. ... My feelings are not those of pride and ostentation upon the occasion. They are solemnized by a sense of the obligations, the important trusts, the numerous duties connected with it. That you may be enabled to discharge them with honor to yourself, with justice and impartiality to your coun- try and with satisfaction to this great people, shall be the daily prayer of your A. A." His wife was a prudent manager, and he saved from his profession and salaries, investing in the farming lands about him. John Quincy Adams was born in Braintree, now Quincy, Mass., July II, 1767; died in the Speaker's room at Washington, while serving the term as Representative, February 23, 1848. His last words were : " This is the last of earth. I am content." In his boyhood, he saw Charlestown in flames at the Battle of Bunker Hill ; he witnessed the inmates in his father's kitchen melting their dishes and plates into bullets ; he heard the Decla- ration of Independence, as first read by Sheriff Henderson from the balustrade of the Old State House, Boston. In after years, when complimented on a, certain occasion for the patriotic ardor, which through life he had evinced, he narrated the above, and exclaimed : " Who that witnessed such scenes could be other than a Patriot 1 " Mr. Adams was graduated at Harvard University in 1787 ; studied law with Theophilus Parsons in Newburyport, and settled in Boston. In May, 1794, he was appointed by Washington Minister to Holland ; under his father's administration he was appointed Min- ister to Berlin, arriving in that city in the autumn of 1797 ; in March, 1809, was appointed Minister to Russia, and the summer following sailed for St. Petersburg ; in September, 18 17, he took up his residence at Washington, and entered upon the duties of Secretary of State under Mr. Monroe. On the 4th of March, 1825, he was inaugurated President of the United States, twenty-eight years having elapsed since his father took upon himself a like responsibility. He wore a suit of plain black, " made entirely of American manufactures." In a firm tone of voice, he read his inaugural address, which closed with these words : " Knowing that ' except the Lord keep the city. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 9 the watchman waketh but in vain,' with fervent supplications for His favor, to His overruling providence I commit, with humble, but fearless confidence, my own fate, and the future destinies of my country." Having served his terra in the Presidency, in September, 1830, his name was brought forward as candidate for Representative in Congress. To a gentleman who conversed with him upon the subject of taking this position after the Presidency, he replied : " Not in my opinion would an ex-President of the United States be degraded by serving as selectman of his town, if elevated thereto by the people." Chosen to Congress from the Plymouth district by a large vote, he entered upon his duties as Representative in December, 183 1. It was the first time an ex-President had ever entered that hall as a member, and he was received with the highest marks of respect. During his season of service as Representative, petitions were sent to Congress from the North and East, praying for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. It seemed to devolve upon Mr. Adams to present these petitions, and he there- by became unpopular with Southern men. On one occasion he presented a petition against the annexation of Texas as a theatre for slavery, signed by several women. Mr. Howard, of Maryland, rebuked those women, for turning from their domestic duties to the conflicts of political life. " Are women," exclaimed Mr. Adams, " to have no opinions or actions on subjects relating to the general welfare ? Where did the gentleman get this princi- ple ? Did he find it in sacred history, — in the language of Miriam the prophetess, in one of the noblest and most sublime songs of triumph that ever met the human eye or ear? Did the gentleman never hear of Deborah, to whom the children of Israel came up for judgment .' Has he forgotten the deed of Jael, who slew the dreaded enemy of her country ? Has he forgotten Esther, who by her petition saved her people and her country ? " Of the religious character and habits of Mr. Adams, Rev. Mat- thew Hale Smith has written : " In the winter of 1845 and '46, I was invited to supply the pul- pit of the Second Presbyterian Church in Washington City, for a few months. Mr. Adams had been a member of this congregation lO AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. for nearly a quarter of a century. He was an all day hearer. The great snow-storm of February, 1846, which closed nearly all the churches in the country, did not keep Mr. Adams from the house of God. He was one of thirteen persons present, return- ing home through the deep snow on foot, at the close of service. " That he was a Calvinist, I do not believe. That his religious opinion coincided more fully with the system called Calvinism than any other, I have the best reasons for believing. Had the ancient church in Quincy taken the other side in the controversy that, some years ago, agitated New England, Mr. Adams, I doubt not, would have been without any change of theological opinion, an open member of the Orthodox Church. His connection with the church at Quincy, Unitarian, resulted from the fact that it was the ancient church of his fathers." When it was feared that infidelity was increasing in New Eng- land, he prepared a lecture on Truth, which he delivered in many plages. The ground assumed was this : " A man to be a Christian must believe in God, in the Bible, in the Divinity of the Saviour's mission, and in a future state of rewards and punishments." Mr. Adams wrote a series of letters to his son on " The Bible and its Teachings," communicated to the New York Tribune, afterwards published in book form, the first of which was dated St. Petersburg, September, 181 1. In this first letter he writes : " I have myself for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year. I have always endeavored to read it with the same spirit and tem- per of mind which I now recommend to you ; that is, with the in- tention and desire that it may contribute to my advancement in wisdom and virtue. My desire is indeed very imperfectly suc- cessful ; for like you, and like the Apostle Paul, I find a law in my members. Warring against the law of my mind. But as I know that it is my nature to be imperfect, so I know that it is my duty to aim at perfection ; and feeling and deploring my own frailties, I can only pray Almighty God for the aid of his Spirit to strengthen my good desires, and to subdue my propensities to evil ; for it is from Him that every good and perfect gift descends. My custom is, to read four or five chapters every morning, immediately after JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 1 1 rising from my bed. It employs about an hour of my time, and seems to me the most suitable manner of beginning the day." In the ninth and last letter he says : " I recommend to you to set apart a small portion of every day to read one or more chapters in the Bible, and always read it with reference to some particular train of observation or reflection. . . . And may the merciful Creator, who gave the Scriptures for our instruction, bless your study of them, and make them to you fruitful of good works." In the year 1841, the Amistad Africans, 'thirty in number, em- barked at New York, for Sierra Leone, on board the barque Gentleman, Captain Morris, accompanied by Rev. Mr. Steele, Rev. Mr. Raymond, and Mrs. Raymond, missionaries ; and Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, teachers. At the farewell meeting of the missionaries and Africans, on the evening before departure, in the city of New York, the following correspondence was read : To the Honorable John Quincy Adams. " Most Respected Sir : — The Mendi people give you thanks for all your kind- ness to them. They will never forget your defence of their rights before the great court at Washington. They feel that they owe to you in a large meas- ure, their deliverance from the Spaniard, and from slavery or death. They will pray for you as long as they live, Mr. Adams. May God bless and re- ward you. " We are about to go home to Africa. We go to Sierra Leone first, and then we reach Mendi very quick. When we get to Mendi we will tell the people of your great kindness. Good missionary go with us. We shall take the Bible with us. It has been a precious book in prison, and we love to read it now we are free ! Mr. Adams, we want to make you a present of a beautiful Bible I Will you please accept it, and when you look at it, or read it, remember your poor and grateful clients ? We read in this Holy Book, ' If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they had swal- lowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us.' Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us up a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out o£ the snare of the fowler; the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made Heaven and Earth.' " For the Mendi people," " Cinque, " KiNNA, " Ka-le." Boston, November 6, 1841. 1 2 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. "To the Mendian Africans, Cinque, Kinna, Ka-le, and thirty-two others about to return to their native land. " Boston, November i8, 1841. ■■ My Friends: — I have received the elegant Bible, which you have presented to me through your true and faithful friend, Mr. Lewis Tappan. I accept it, and shall keep it as a kind remembrance from you to the end of my life. . . May the Almighty Power who has preserved and sustained you hitherto, still go with you, and turn to your good and to that of your country all that you have suffered, and all that may hereafter befall you. " From your friend, "JohnQuincy Adams." When Mr. Adams was Minister to the Court of Holland, he joined a society of learned men who met once a week for mutual improvement. On one occasion the meeting was adjourned to Sunday evening. Mr. Adams was not there. It was appointed on the next Sunday evening, and still another Sunday evening, and Mr. Adams' chair continued vacant. Many were surprised that he, who was formerly so prpmpt and punctual, should thus suddenly break off. At last the meetings were returned to a week-day evening, and Mr. Adaras was in his place. . . . "You met on the Lord's day/' said he ; " that is a day devoted to religious purposes by me." At the National Sabbath Convention which assembled at Balti- more, November 27, 1844, Mr. Adams was chosen President, and the appreciation of the meeting found expression in the following : " Resolved ; That the assistance which the venerable John Quincy Adams has rendered to the object of this convention in the able and kind manner in which he has presided over our deliberations ; in the testimony he has borne to the importance of the Sabbath ; to the social, civil, and religious interests of our country, deserves and receives our grateful acknowledgments." Mr. Adams was regular in his habits and retained bodily and mental vigor to an advanced age. In the warm season he arose early and bathed in the waters of the Potomac ; in winter, long before day, he kindled his own fire and began his work. At the age of seventy-four he fulfilled on one occasion the following line of appointments. Leaving Boston for Washington on Monday morning, he lectured in the evening before the Young Men's Institute, Hartford ; the next evening before a similar institute in JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 1 3 New Haven ; on Wednesday evening before the New York Lyceum, in the Broadway Tabernacle ; on Thursday evening he delivered an address before an association in Brooklyn ; and 6n Friday evening he delivered a second lecture before the New York Lyceum. He did depart from regular hours and the best influences to health when he gave a ball in honor of General Jackson on the anniversary of tjie victory of New Orleans, January 8, 1824. " Eight large rooms were open and literally filled to overflowing. There must have been at least a thousand people there ; and so far as Mr. Adams was concerned it certainly evinced a great deal of taste, elegance, and good sense. Many stayed till twelve and one. It is the universal opinion that nothing has ever equalled this party here either in brilliancy of preparation or elegance of the company.'' He was styled "the old man eloquent." Yet he had neither grace of manner, nor a fine presence, nor even pleasing tones. He owed his influence to the fact that what he said was worth hearing. Listeners were sure to get a bold and an honest utter- ance, and he never spoke to an inattentive audience. Mr. Adams was married at London, June 26, 1797, to Louisa Catherine, daughter of Joshua Johnson, of Maryland, who went from America to London, where he became •eminent as a mer- chant. Charles Francis Adams was the only child that survived him. He edited his father's Memoirs, comprising portions of his diary from 1795 to 1848. JOHN ALDEN. governor's assistant, MASSACHUSETTS, 1633.* John Alden was born in England in 1597, died at Duxbury, Mass., 1687. Belonging to the Leyden company, he came to America in the Mayflower, and was the seventh signer of the compact on board his vessel in the harbor of Cape Cod. He resided in Plymouth for the first seven years after his arrival ; removed to Duxbury and took up 169 acres of land. Elected an Assistant early as 1633, he continued in that office with but little interruption, for a period of forty years. He also served as Treasurer of the Colony. " He possessed much native talent, was ardent, resolute and persevering, indifferent to danger, stern and unyielding, of exem- plary piety, an iron'-nerved Puritan, who could hew down forests and live on crumbs." He married Priscilla, daughter of William MuUins, and the following is told of his early acquaintance with the lady. Miles Standish, after the decease of his wife, thought it good to seek the acquaintance of Miss Mullins, and John Alden was sent as messenger to confer with the father. " The old gentleman did not object, said it was agreeable to hira, but the young lady must also be consulted. She was called into the room and Mr. Alden delivered his errand. Miss Mullins listened, and after a pause said, ' Prithee, John, why do you not speak for yourself ? ' He blushed and took his leave. The visit was renewed, and in due time the marriage was celebrated." * Thacher's "History of Plymouth " ; Bradford's " New England Biography " ; Allen's " Biographical Dictionary." 14 JOHN ALDEN. 15 They had four sons, John, David, Joseph and Jonathan, all of them long-lived men. A great-grandson named John Alden, died at Middleborough, Mass., in 182 1, aged 102. THOMAS ALLEN. REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS, 1880.* Samuel Allen, early ancestor of Thomas, came to Northamp- ton, Mass., in 1557. A public meeting of the settlers assigned him a home lot on King Street. The house soon reared upon it, having received additions and improvements, stands on the left hand corner of Edwards Street. He married the daughter of his next neighbor Hannah Woodford, by whom he had ten children. Samuel, son of the preceding, settled on the homestead; at the age of fifty was appointed deacon of the church of which Jonathan Edwards was pastor. Joseph Allen, son of the preceding and great-grandfather of Thomas, next occupied the homestead, married in 1733 Elizabeth Parsons, by whom he had. fourteen children. The husband and wife were both eminent for piety and were the steady friends of Mr. Edwards during the popular commotion which caused his removal from Northampton. Thomas Allen, grandfather of Thomas, was born in 1743, grad- uated at Harvard College in 1762, taking high rank as a classical scholar, studied Theology with Rev. John Hooker, of Northamp- ton, and was ordained April 18, 1764, the first minister (Congre- gational) of Pittsfield, continuing his pastorate forty-six years. During the War of the Revolution, a company was raised in his parish, in anticipation of the conflict at Bennington, and left for the place of action. Being delayed on their way, Mr. Allen started out, quickened their march, and soon presented them to * Clark's "Northampton Antiquities," "Allen's Biographical Dictionary," " Berkshire County Eagle!'' " Berkshire Jubilee." 16 THOMAS ALLEN. 1 7 General Stark. Going near to the enemy, he exhorted them to submit, and was answered by musketry which lodged their con- tents in the log on which he stood. " Give me a gun," said he, and he continued to bear his part till the battle was decided in favor of the American arms. Jonathan, son of Rev. Thomas Allen, was a Senator in the Massachusetts Legislature, and promoted the interests of agricul- ture, by introducing into Berkshire a flock of Spanish Merino sheep, which he crossed the ocean to obtain. He was twice married, and had eight children. Thomas Allen, son of the preceding, was born in Pittsfield, August 29, 1813, died at Washington, April 8, 1882. He graduated at Union College under Dr. Nott in 1832, began legal studies at Albany, and continued them with a lawyer in New York, after a time receiving a clerkship yielding $300 salary, and was admitted to the bar in 1835. He edited for awhile the "Family Magazine," and subsequently started in Washington a paper called The Madisonian. In 1842 he removed to St. Louis, Mo. Here he became largely interested in the projecting and building of new lines of railroad. He was a member of the Missouri Senate from 1850 to 1854, and in 1880 was elected to the Forty-seventh Congress. At the time of his election to Congress, he was president of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway ; but soon after sold his railway interests and devotdd his leisure to farming. In the appendix of " Berkshire Jubilee " is given " A Recol- lection of the' Stockbridge Indians," by " Thomas Allen, Esq., of St. Louis." He writes : " Mr. Sergeant translated the whole .of the New Testament, except the book of Revelation, into the Indian language. He baptized one hundred and twenty-nine Indians, and contributed to the conversion of fifty or sixty to Christianity; and forty-two were communicants with the church when he closed his labors by death in 1749. Jonathan Edwards became the teacher of the Indians in 1751, was followed by Dr. Stephen West, in 1759, who was at that time chaplain at Fort Massachusetts, in Adams. Dr. West and President Edwards addressed the Indians through an interpreter. Dr. West relin- quished the labor of instruction in 1775, to Mr. John Sergeant, 1 8 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN- RULERS. son of the first missionary, who, as did his father, taught the Indians in their native tongue. " Many of the Indian youth received a good common school ed- ucation from the missionary teachers, and one of them was gradu- ated at Dartmouth College in 1780. As a tribe they were peace- able and intelligent, capable of transacting ordinary business, and of discharging the duties of town officers. They were friendly to the white race, and an act of hostility committed by them against the white population cannot be found. They took part with the English in the two French wars of 1744 and 1754. Some of them served as Massachusetts soldiers, and in 1775, one of the chiefs formally tendered his services in the Revolutionary War, in a speech made to the Massachusetts Congress." Mr. Allen endowed a chair in Washington University, St. Louis, at an expense of about $40,000, and in 1847 presented the town of Pittsfield with a free library. In 1858, he built a dwelling in Pittsfield of the Great Barring- ton blue stone, for his summer residence. Union College conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. in 1874. Said Mr. Allen to his pastor, " I know not how it is with other men, but I have been a man of prayer all my life ; I have always, before an important decision, asked the guidance of God." The opinion of the Trustees of the Atheneum, Pittsfield, concerning Mr. Allen was this : " He proved himself in all respects a worthy descendant of the first minister of Pittsfield." He married Annie C, daughter of William C. Russell, of St. Louis. C4 ^""^ State Senator from 1855 to 1857. He received the degree of LL. D. from Middlebury Col- lege in 1849. His father was a prominent member and Deacon of the Congre- gational Church in Windsor. The son became a communicant in the same church, and also sustained the office of Deacon. * Lanman ; Boston Recorder. *38 MATTHEW CRADOCK. GOVERNOR OF THE MASSACHUSETTS COMPANY, 1628.* Of the London Company which in 1628 purchased the patent of the territory of Massachusetts, Matthew Cradoclc was chosen Governor ; Thomas Goff, Deputy-Governor, and George Harwood, Treasurer. A General Court made up of these officials, and a board of assistants, convened from time to time to transact busi- ness referring to the company. At last the Governor became con- vinced that a change should be made, as the following records testify. At a General Court holden for the Company of the Massachusetts Bay, at Mr. Deputy's house, on Tuesday, July 28, 1629 Mr. Governor introduced a proposition conceived by himself to this effect. That, for the advancement of the Plantation, .... the Government thereof be transferred to New England. [Advice was given to carry this business secretly, that the same be not di- vulged.] At a General Court holden at Mr. Deputy's house, August 28, 1629, . . . Mr. Deputy acquainted this Court, that the special cause of their meeting was to give answer, . . . whether or no the chief government of the Plantation, together with the patent, should be settled in New England or here. [Committees were appointed representing both sides of the debate.] A General Court at Mr. Deputy's house, August 29, 1629. . . . After a long debate, Mr. Deputy put the question : As many of you as desire to have the Patent and the Government of fhe Plantation to be transferred to New England, so as it may be done legally, hold up your hands. So many as will not, hold up your hands. ... It appeared by the general consent of the Company, that the Government and Patent should be settled in New England. [" The power of the corporation to make the transfer has been seriously doubted and even denied. It is evident from the Charter, that the original design of it, was to constitute a corporation in England like that of the East India and other com- *" Chronicles of the First Planters of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay," from 1623-1636, by Alexander Young. 139 I40 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. panics, with powers to settle plantations within the limits of the territory, under such forms of government and magistracy as should be fit and necessary. But the boldness of the step is not more striking than the silent acquiescence of the King in permitting it to take place."] Mr. Cradock was a London merchant, and owned two of the ships in Winthrop's fleet, the Ambrose and ^e^ Jewel. He did not come to America, but usually led in all subscriptions for the good of the colony. He had an agent and servants here, owned a house at Marblehead and another at Ipswich, and employed capi- tal in fishing and trading. ' To Mr. Endicott, who had been sent forth to lead in the planta- tion. Governor Cradock wrote a letter of instruction and advice, in which the following passages occur. " Let us not be wanting in our parts, now we are called to this work of the Lord's ; neither having put our hands to the plough, let us look back ; but go on cheerfully, and depend upon God for a blessing upon our labors ; who, by weak instruments is able (if he see good,) to bring glori- ous things to pass. Be of good courage, go on, and do worthily. ... I may not omit to put you in mind, however you seem to fear no enemies there, that you have a watchful eye for your own safety, and the" safety of those of our nation with you, and not be too confident of the fidelity of the savages. Our coun- trymen have suffered by their too much confidence in Virginia. As we are commanded to be innocent as doves, so withal we are enjoined to be wise as serpents. The God of heaven and earth preserve and keep you from all foreign and inland enemies, and bless and prosper this Plantation to the enlarging of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. , . . " Matthew Cradock. " From my house in Swithen's Lane, near London Stone." CHARLES CRAVEN. GOVERNOR OF CAROLINA, 1712-1716.*' " Charles Craven was Secretary to the Proprietors of Carolina, and from 1712 to 1716 was Governor of the Colony." His first address before the Assembly of Carolina, April 2, 1712, contains the following : "As my own persuasions will ever dispose me to do everything that may contribute to the prosperity and firm establishment of the Church of England, so will my temper always incline me, as a fellow Christian, to show the greatest tenderness to those who are under the misfortune of dissenting from her, and to do nothing that may seem to endanger them that liberty. It were to be wished, indeed, that we could be all of one opinion ; but that is morally impossible ; but in this we may all agree, to live amicably together, consult the common good, the tranquillity of our Prov- ince, and the increase of its trade." Governor Craven acted a notable part in the year 1715 in defending the province. South Carolina was visited with an Indian war, the tribes called Yamassees being the leading aggres- sors. Six thousand savages, as computed, arrayed themselves. The planters fled to the capital, and even Charleston was in trouble for her safety. In the muster roll there were only twelve hundred men fit to bear arms. Governor Craven proclaimed mar- tial law, laid an embargo on ships, and obtained an act of Assem- bly which empowered him to impress men, arms, ammunition and stores, and to arm trusty negroes. Robert Daniel was appointed * Ramsay's " History o£ South Carolina," Charleston, 1809 ; " Historical Account of Protestant Episcopal Church, South Carolina, from first settlement of the Province to War of the Revolution " ; by Frederick Dalcho, Charleston, 1820. 141 142 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. Deputy-Governor, and Governor Craven marched to the country against the savages. He knew what advantages the enemy pos- sessed among their native thickets; he knew their wiles; he advanced cautiously. The straggling parties fled before him, until he reached Salt Catchers, where they had pitched their camp. A. sharp and bloody battle ensued. They gave way, but returned again and again to the charge. The Governor kept his troops close at their heels and drove them over the Savannah River. He entered Charleston in the midst of cheers and con- gratulations. [The missionaries in this time of trial suffered in common with their flocks. They fled before the tomahawk, and left their possessions. Society for Propagating the Gospel in For- eign Parts, directed their agent, Colonel Rhett, to present as a gratuity to each clergyman of the province who had suffered in the calamity, though not in the service of the Society, a sum not exceeding thirty pounds.] The Church of England with which Governor Craven was con- nected, recognized the system of bondage which prevailed in the colonies, and sent a pastoral letter through its bishop, Dr. Gibson, "To the Masters and Mistresses of Families." Ten thousand copies of this letter were published and dispersed, and gave intelligence as follows : " The care of the plantations abroad, as to religious affairs, being committed to the Bishop of London, I have thought it my duty to learn, among other things, what numbers of slaves are employed within the several governments, and what means are used for their instruction in the Christian faith .... Christian- ity and the embracing of the Gospel does not make the least alter- ation in civil property, or in any of the duties which belong to civil relations The freedom which Christianity gives, is a freedom from the bondage of sin and Satan, and from the dominion of men's lusts and passions, and inordinate desires, but as to their outward condition, whatever that was before, whether bond or free, their being baptized and becoming Christians makes no manner of change in it ... . Humanity forbids all cruel treat- ment of our fellow-creatures, and will not suffer us to consider a being that is endowed with reason upon a level with brutes ; and CHARLES CRAVEN, 143 Christianity takes not out of the hands of superiors any degrees of strictness and severity, that fairly appear necessary for preserv- ing subjection and government .... Let me beseech you to consider yourselves not only as masters, but as Christian masters. Let me beseech you to consider them, not barely as slaves, and upon the same level with laboring beasts, but as men-slaves and women-slaves who have the same frame and faculties with your- selves, and have souls capable of being made eternally happy, and reason and understanding to receive instruction in order to it. , . . Let them see, in you and your families, examples of sobriety, temperance and chastity, and of all the other virtues of the Chris- tian life." Mr. Craven embarked for England in the month of April, 17 16. Rev. Gideon Johnson, with thirty other gentlemen, went over the bar to take leave of him. On their return from the ship, a sudden squall overset their vessel, and Mr. Johnson was unfortunately drowned. Some of the passengers and crew were saved by swim- ming, and others by assistance from the shore. JAMES CUDWORTH. DEPUTY-GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS, 1 68 1,* James Cudworth died in London, while agent of Massachu- setts Colony to England, in 1682, aged about 70. He was the son of Rev. Ralph, and brother of Ralph Cudworth, D.D., author of " True Intellectual System of the Universe," pub- lished in London, 1678, 1743, 1820, 1845. He came to Plymouth in 1634, removed to Scituate, and occu- pied property near the bridge at the Harbor. This estate he sold, and removed to Barnstable. Returning to Scituate, he became one of the Conihasset Partners, and resided for a time on the southeast of Colman's Hills. This property he sold to Thomas Robinson, then resided during life near the Musquashcut Pond, which property in the course of years passed into the hands of Ward Litchfield. Mr. Cudworth was Captain of the militia of Scituate, 1652; Deputy to the Colony Court, 1649, ^"'^ several succeeding years; Governor's Assistant, 1656, 1657, 1658 ; Commissioner of the United Colonies, 1657. In 1658, he incurred the displeasure of his brother commis- sioners, because he would not set his hand to the severe laws which that board proposed against the Quakers. As a conse- quence, he was left out of the magistracy and the board of com- missioners, deprived of his military command, and disfranchised. In 1659, the town of Scituate returned him a Deputy to the Court, and the Court rejected him. During this season of rest from public labor, he quietly attended to his agricultural pursuits. • Drake's " Dictionary American Biography " ; Appleton ; Deane's " History of Scituate," Boston, 1831 ; "New England Historical Register,* v. 14. 144 JAMES CUDWORTH. I4S And in reference to the differences in question, in a letter dated Scituate, 1658, he writes : "The anti-christian, persecuting spirit is very active. He that will not lash, persecute and punish men that differ in matters of religion, must nt)t sit on the bench, nor sustain any office in the commonwealth. Mr. Hatherly and myself were left off the bench, and myself discharged of my captainship, because I had entertained some of the Quakers at my house, that I might thereby be the better acquainted with their principles. I thought it better to do so, than with the blind world to censure and con- demn. . . But the Quakers and myself cannot close in divers things, and so I signified to the Court ; but told them withal, that as I was no Quaker, so I would be no persecutor. . . All these carnal and anti-christian ways, being not of God's appoint- ment, effect nothing to the hindering them in their course. They have many meetings and many adherents. . . And give me leave to acquaint you a little with their sufferings, which saddens the hearts of most of the precious saints of God. . . They were in the first place scrupulous of an oath. They must all take the oath of fidelity ; this being tendered, they will not take it. Then they must pay five pounds, 01 depart the Colony in such a time. . . A poor weaver, that had seven or eight small children, had but two cows, and both were taken from him. The Marshal asked him what he would do, and the man said, that God who gave him them, he doubted not, would still provide for him." • In 1673, when an expedition against the Dutch at New York was projected, Mr. Cudworth was urged to take the office of Com- mander-in-chief. He declined, using the following language : " I do unfeignedly receive the Court's valuation and estimation of me, in preferring me to such a place. . . Being persuaded to myself of my own insufficiency, it appears clearly and undoubtedly unto me, that I have no call of God thereunto ; for vox populi is not always vox Dei. Beside, . . the estate and condition of my family is such as will not admit of such a thing. I can truly say, that I do not in the least waive the business out of any discontent in my spirit arising from any former difference, for the thought of all which is, and shall be, forever buried, so as not to come in remembrance." 146 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. In the Colony records, July, 1673, it is stated : " Captain Cud- worth, by a full and clear vote is accepted and re-established in the association and body of this Commonwealth." He was again chosen an Assistant and served from 1674 to 1680. In 1681, he was appointed an agent for the Colony to England. He was also Deputy-Governor the same year. The following are extracts from a letter by Mr. Cudworth to Dr. Stoughton of England. " SciTUATE, the — of December, 1634. " Dear and Worthy Sir : ..." These are to let you understand that I have received your godly and pious letter, full of grace and wholesome exhortations, which argues your unfeigned desires and continual endeavors for the good of my soul. . . I desire that you may be as frequent in your letters as you may, for I find a great deal of sweetness in them. . . Laboring to make some benefit to our souls of all the IjOrd's dealings with us ; whether they be mercies that they may allure us, or chastisements that they may correct and amend us, or judgments that they may terrify us, or affliction that they may refine us, so that at length we may be more thar\ conquerors. If it should please Gcxl to bring you into this land amongst us, I would entreat you for your own good, not to come engaged to any people, till you come here yourself and see the nature of the place where you are to sit down. " Now as concerning my own particular, I thank the Lord I have wanted nothing since I came into the Land. I have, I bless God, as yet, the best hduse in the plantation ; though but a mean one, it contents us well. I planted corn, contrary to Mr. Hatherly's mind. . . I bless the Lord, I have, I thiiik, at least fifty bushels of corn. So that I think I shall not need, but shall have enough till next harvest. My house is the meeting-house, because it is the big- gest, but we are but few as yet in number, not passing sixty persons. * " As concerning my uncles, blessed be God, they are both in good health; and my uncle Thomas is to be married shortly„to a widow that has good means and has five children. Thus much I made bold to trouble you withal, being all for the present, only desiring to be remembered to all my brothers and sis- ters, and all my friends, and my wife likewise desires her duty to you. . . So for the present, I commend you to the protection of the Almighty, and ever rest your dutiful son till death. James Cudworth. "To 'his very loving and kind father, Dr. Stoughton, at his house in AUder- manburg." Mr. Cudworth's will, dated at Scituate in the spring of 1682, ordered his estate " to be divided into six equal parts — James two- sixths, Israel one-sixth, Jonathan one-sixth, daughter Mary's four children (Israel, Robert, James and Mary Whitcomb), one-sixth, daughter Hannah Jones one-sixth." c^^W^^^^^^^^^^ MANASSEH CUTLER. REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS, 1800-1804.* John Cutler, grandfather of Manasseh, was a communicant in the church at Lexington, Mass., and here eight of his children were baptized. About the year 1713, he removed to Killingly, Conn. Hezekiah, son of the preceding, was received to the communion of the church in Killingly in 1733; married in 1734 Susannah Clark. " He was regarded as a truly Christian man, a peacemaker among his neighbors, and a friend to the poor." Manasseh Cutler, son of Hezekiah, was born in Killingly in 1744, died at Hamilton, Mass., July 28, 1823. " The labors of the farm in which he participated in his youth, gave him a fine physical development, and valuable habits of industry." He prepared for college under Rev. Aaron Brown, and graduated at Yale in 1765. Entering upon business, he kept a store at Edgarton, Martha's Vineyard, and was concerned in com- merce and whaling. In the mean time he carried on the study of law, and was admitted to the Bar in 1767. His inclination; however, was toward the gospel ministry. His diary for November, 1768, says : " Prosecuted my study, began to make sermons. May God grant me his blessing in so important an undertaking, and make me serviceable in the cause of religion. . ." He settled up his business, removed to Dedham, studied theol- ogy under Rev. Mr. Balch, and was ordained pastor of the church at Hamilton, then a part of Ipswich, September 11, 1771. The *"Life, Journal and Correspondence of Manasseh Cutler"; Sprague's " Annals of American Pulpit "; " History of Ipswich," by Joseph B. Felt, 1834. 147 148 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. War of the Revolution came on, and he served in the army as chaplain for six months. Soon after the close of tlie war, the Ohio Company was formed, and Mr. Cutler, with Winthrop Sargent, was made agent to deal with the Government for land. On October 7, 1787, a contract was made for one million acres at one dollar an acre. Mr. Cutler built a large wagon covered with canvas, and on its sides was written : " Ohio, for Marietta on the Muskingum." He engaged forty-five men to accompany this wagon, and to remain and occupy the country for three years. On starting forth from Mr. Cutler's house, a volley was fired. On July 21, 1788, Mr. Cutler himself set out in a sulky, accompanied by a few others, and reached Marietta, by a route of 751 miles, August 19. The following Sabbath he preached, and continued to hold wor- ship every Sabbath during his stay in the West. Leaving Mari- etta September 9, he reached his home and family October 15. In connection with his ministry, he kept a boarding-school in Hamilton, fitting young men for college, and giving instruction in navigation. He was skilled in botanical science, and contributed to the volumes of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a paper describing the plants of New England. In the spring of 1800, he was elected Representative to the General Court, in the autumn of the same year was elected Repre- sentative to Congress ; re-elected in 1802. It was agreed between him and his parish that his salary should be continued during his service for the Government, and that he should supply the pulpit by substitute. As member of Congress, he was esteemed by the good men of all parties. His ministry in Hamilton continued about fifty-two years, inter- vals of political service excepted. He made his preparations for the pulpit with care, and on Saturday evening delivered his two sermons aloud to himself in his study. The following are selections from his journal : [1787. While on a journey which he was obliged to press with expedition.] " Sunday, July 15. — Set out early this morning for Trenton, where I proposed to attend public worship. Crossed the Dela- ware at the upper ferry, not far above the Rolling and Slitting MANASSEH CUTLER. I49 Mills. I let the horse stand about ten minutes, and viewed these curious works, but as it was Sunday did not take any minutes of their construction. . . Breakfasted at the Sign of the Sun, Francis Wilt, Trenton. As it was now but half-past eight, found I could go as far as Perrytowii before public worship would begin, and concluded to go on. Bill, 2s. dd. Arrived at ten ; put up at Thos. Bullman's, a tolerable tavern, opposite the Meeting-House. Many of the people came a considerable distance to meeting, and almost all ride in wagons with two horses. They were the com- mon wagons which they use in their farming business. They fill them with chairs two abreast, and set in them men, women and children. The parson, whose name is Rue, gave us two rueful discourses on the process of the last judgment. . . He appeared to be a high-flying, extempore preacher, and reminded me of Butler's lines in Hudibras : ' With pulpit drum, ecclesiastic, Beat with his fist instead of a stick.' Meeting was done in the afternoon a little past two, and I ordered my horse up, and went on to the Bingo Tavern. Bill 3J. dd., Jersey money. Here I drank tea, seventeen mil^s from Perry- town. Bill, IS. 4(/. The evening cool and pleasant, concluded to go on to the next stage, the White House Tavern, seventeen ;niles further, where I arrived about nine o'clock. The people were gone to bed, but I soon routed them. The landlady and her daughter, and a black servant, got up, and soon provided me a fine supper of veal cutlet and fried oysters. I have rode to-day fifty-five miles, and have attended public worship both aforenoon and afternoon, a pretty good day's work for Sunday." On a Tuesday, after hearing Rev. Mr. Whitefield at Wrentham. " Large assembly. His prayer half an hour. Text, ' If ye being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him.' His text was handsomely opened; his sub- ject turned principally on the necessity of the assistance of the Divine Spirit in performing all our duties. Had not so much as the heads of his sermon written — very flighty and rambling — his audience not overmuch affected. He had many good expressions, and many very odd, and improper for the pulpit. His gestures 1 50 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. very extravagant, though natural and easy. His sermon an hour and a half, and all the substance, I imagine, might have been delivered handsomely in ten minutes." While a pastor at Hamilton, Mass., he writes, August — . " Lecture at Esquire Giddings' at sunset. Remarkably full, supposed to be two hundred people, and would have been more if the weather had been fine." On a Sunday while a member of Congress. . " Attended at the Hall. A Mr. Hargrove, of Baltimore, a Swe- denborgian, preached. Gave his creed in part ; not very excep- tionable. President attended, although a rainy day. In the afternoon attended at the Treasury. Heard a newly imported Scotchman; pretty good speaker." In September, 1806, he made a journey to Union, Maine, to attend the ordination of Rev. Mr. True. He was Moderator of the council, and gave the charge to the candidate as follows : " Reverend and Dear Sir : " In the name of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, and in presence of these witnesses, we do solemnly charge you to take heed to the Ministry which you have received and .fulfil it. Preach the Word. Be instant in season, and out of season ; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and' doctrine. Illus- trate the Gospel of the Grace of God, and, with all possible clearness and fidelity, point out to fallen men the way of salvation. That you may she* yourself a Scribe well instructed unto the Kingdom of Heaven, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, converse much with the Holy Scriptures, and imbibe the spirit of the inspired authors. Endeavor to be well acquainted with the doctrines, duties, and motives of religion, that you may clearly explain, fully confirm, and successfully recommend them to your hearers. . . Be ready to instruct, direct and encourage inquiring minds. . . Visit the houses of sorrow. . . Admit to baptism those who have a right to this ordinance. Suffer little children to come to Christ and forbid them not. Invite to the table of the Lord those who give evidence of gospel qualifications. . . Exercise the authority you have now received in separating others to the work of the ministry. . ." In addition to his contributions in behalf of science, he published " National Fast Sermon," 1799 ; " Century Discourse," 1814. He married Mary, daughter of Rev. Thomas Balch, of Ded- ham, by whom he had eight children, five sons and three daughters. His son, Jervis, at the age of nineteen, accompanied the Ohio expedition. DAVID DAGGETT. SENATOR IN CONGRESS, 1813-1819.* John Daggett, early ancestor of David, came from England in 1630, and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. His son Thomas, resided in Edgarton, Martha's Vineyard, married Hannah, oldest daughter of Governor Mayhew, and was a magistrate of the island. Deacon John Daggett, son of Thomas, removed with four sons, from Martha's Vineyard,, to Attleborough, Mass. Thomas Daggett, son of the above, and father of David, was a man of vigorous intellect, strong common sense, and decided religious character. David Daggett was born in Attleborough, Mass., Decemr ber 31, 1764, died at New Haven, Conn., April 10, 1851. He entered the Junior class of Yale College at the age of sixteen, and graduated in 1783. He studied law with Charles Chauncey, supporting himself by service as butler in college, and preceptor in the Hopkins' Grammar School, and was admitted to the Bar in New Haven, where he entered upon practice in 1786, at the age of twenty-one. He served in the State Legislature ; was Mayor of New Haven ; was Senator in Congress from 1813 to 1819; was Judgie of the State Supreme Court from 1826 to 1832 ; and was Chief-Justice from 1832 to 1834, when being seventy years of age, he was obliged by the rules of the State Constitution to retire. In 1826, he was appointed Kent Professor of Law in Yale College. The Rev. Mr. Dutton speaks as follows of Mr. Daggett's relig- ous experience and character. * " Life and Character of David Daggett," by Rev. Mr. Dutton ; Lanman's " Biographical Annals " ; Sprague's " Annals of American Pulpit." 151 152 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. " The memories and records of his pious ancestry, had a strong influence upon him. He commenced his active, life with great respect for religion and its ordinances . . . Soon after the death of his daughter in 1815, he commenced family worship, which he continued from that time through life. His wife was a woman of piety. She was in the habit of making appointments with those of her children who were Christians, at specified hours in the day, to plead in concert at the throne of grace for the con- version of the husband and father. It was not until 1832, that in his own view, and that of his friends, he began a really relig- ious life. In April of that year, during one of those ' times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord,' of which the Holy Scriptures speak, there were in New Haven continuous religious services for a few days. Mr. Daggett and. other men of distinc- tion, were seriously moved. One evening, after an earnest presentation of the Gospel, those who were disposed to take a posi- tion expressive of their desire to become servants of Christ, were invited to remain in their seats, while the other portion of the audience should retire. Mr. Daggett remained. After a few words from a minister of Christ, those who were resolved, by the divine help, to serve and love, and trust the Saviour of sinners, were invited to rise. Mr. Daggett rose. The decision which he then expressed, he adhered to, and cherished through life. Four months after this event, at the age of sixty-eight, he publicly expressed his repentance towards God, and his faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ ... In social religious services, he did not, as many desired, and as indeed was very desirable, take an active or leading part . . . On one occasion, speaking with one in whom he confided, he remarked, that he daily committed his soul in love and confidence to the Saviour of sinners, and believed that he was accepted now and should be accepted hereafter, of him ; though he was not able to sympathize as fully as he desired with the strong expressions of assurance, in which it seemed the privilege of some to indulge." The following letter from Mr. Daggett was communicated to Rev. Dr. Sprague, of Albany, and incorporated in " Annals of the American Pulpit : " DA VID DA GGETT. 1 5 3 " New Haven, May 4, 1850. " Dear Sir: " The Rev. Habijah Weld, concerning whom you enquire, was the first clergyman of whom I had any knowledge. My parents were mem- bers of his congregation at the time of my birth, so tliat I was baptized by him and spent my childhood and early years under his ministry. Mr. Weld was distinguished for eminent piety and exemplary devotion to his work. Dur- ing a ministry of fifty-five years, he was never kept from the pulpit for a sin- gle Sabbath by ill health. He generally wrote his sermons, and read from the manuscript. He adhered to the doctrines of the Assembly's Catechism, and preached them with boldness and earnestness. He was remarkable for his observance of the Sabbath. If he had laborers on Saturday, they were dis- missed so early as to be able to reach home before sunset. The cows had been milked, the cattle fed, the vegetables for the next day prepared. And when the Sabbath came, not a room was swept, nor a bed made, nor any secular service that could be dispensed with, performed, till after the hour of sunset, which he considered as closing the day. He possessed for that period, wealth. His salary, which consisted of only jf220, in money, was devoted to the poor. In his visits he was as ready to accept the hospitalities of the poor as-of the rich ; and after dining or taking tea with such a family, he would send them a basket of comforts, and Bristol, the man-servant who carried them, used to say, ' Master always sends the best chicken to thank folks for a dry crust.' It was his rule to visit all the members of his church within the two months that intervened between the communion seasons . 1 . He was early enlisted in the cause of Negro emancipation. Bristol was the only slave he ever owned, and when he offered him his freedom, he refused to accept it. Such are my recollections and impressions of this venerable friend of my early years. " I am, dear sir, truly yours, " David Daggett." Mr. Daggett possessed good judgment, a good knowledge of the law, 'and the ability to draw forth wisdom from the words of Holy Writ. He had a commanding form and voice of compass and power. He published — "Oration at New Haven, July 4, 1789," the same, second edition ; " Argument before the General Assemblyof Connecticut, 1804;" " Eulogium on Roger Griswold, before the General Assembly of Connecticut, October 29, 1812." He was twice married. At the age of twenty-one to Wealthy Ann, daughter of Dr. Munson, by whom he had nineteen children. In May, 1840, to Mary, daughter of Major Lines. THOMAS DALE. DEPUTY-GOVERNOR' OF VIRGINIA, 1611.* Thomas Dale, educated to military service, was sent forth from England to Virginia as Deputy-Governor of that Colony, arriving May 10, 161 1, with three ships and three hundred people. For the government of the Colony, he brought with him a code of laws, divine, moral, and martial, compiled by Sir Thomas Smith. The following letters, one by himself, the other by Rev. Mr. Whitakera, bear upon the early history of Virginia ; also unfold t,o the reader the character of Mr. Dale. Letter from Sir Thomas Dale, Marshal and Governor of Vir- ginia, unto a minister of London. " Right Reverend Sir : " By Sir Thomas Gates, I wrote unto you, of such occasions as then presented themselves ; and now again by this worthy gentleman, Captain Argall, I salute you ; for such is the reverend regard I have of you, as I cannot omit any occasion to express the sincere affection I bare you. You have ever given me encouragements to persevere in this religious warfare, until your last letters ; not for that you are now less well affected thereunto j but because you see the action to be in danger, by many of their non-performances, who undertook the business. I have undertaken, and have as faithfully, and with all my might, endeavored the prosecution with all alacrity ; as God that knoweth the heart, can bear me record. What recompense, or what rewards, by whom, or when, I know not where to expect, but from Him in whose vineyard I labor, whose church with greedy appetite I desire to erect. " You shall briefly understand, what hath betide since my last, and how we now stand . . . " Opachankano desired I would call him friend, and that he might call me so ; saying he was a great captain, and did always fight, that I was also a great * Campbell's " History of Virginia," Richmond, 1845 ; Hamor's " True Dis- course of Virginia," two hundred copies privately printed from London edition of 1 61 5. "54 THOMAS DALE. 1 55 captain, and therefore he loved me, and that my friends should be his friends. So the bargain was made, and every eight or ten days, I had messages and presents from him, with many appearances that he much desireth to continue friendship. " Now may you judge, sir, if the God of battles have not a helping hand in this ; that having our swords drawn . . . yet they tendered us peace, and strive with all alacrity to keep us in good opinion of them, by which many benefits arise unto us. First, part of our arms, disgracefully lost long ago (kept by the savages as monuments and trophies of our shames) redelivered, some repair to our honor. Our cattle to increase, without danger of destroy- ing, our men at liberty, to hunt freely for venison, to fish, to do anything else, or go any whither, without danger ; to follow the husbanding of their corn securely, whereof we have above five hundred acres set . . . roots and herbs we have in abundance ; all doubt of want is by God's blessing quite vanished, and much plenty expected. And which is not the least material, we may by this peace, come to discover the country better, both by our own travels, and by the relation of the savages, as we grow in familiarity with them. " Powhatan's daughter I caused to be carefully instructed in Christian Relig- ion, who, after she had made some good progress therein, renounced publicly her country idolatry, openly confessed her Christian faith, was, as she desired, baptized, and is since married to an English gentleman of good understanding, another knot to bind this peace the stronger, fler father and friends gave approbation to it, and her uncle gave her to him in the church ; she lives civilly and lovingly with him, and I trust will increase in goodness, as the knowledge of God increaseth in her. She will go into England with me ; and were it but the gaining of this one soul, I will think my time, toil, and present stay, well spent . . . " I can assure you, no country of the world affords more assured hopes of infinite riches, which, both by mine own people's discovery, and the relation of such savages whose fidelity we have often found, assureth me . . . Here is enough to content them, let their ends be either for God or Mammon. " These things have animated me to stay for a little season ; to leave those, I am tied in Conscience to return unto, to leave the assured benefits of my other fortunes, the sweet society of my friends and acquaintance, with all mundall delights; and reside here with inuch turmoil which I will constantly do, rather than see God's glory diminished, my King and country dishonored ; and these poor people 1 have the charge of, ruined. And so I beseech you to answer for me, if you hear me taxed for my staying, as some may justly do ; and that these are my chief motives, God I take to witness. " Remember me, and the cause I have in hand, in your daily meditations; and reckon me in the number of those that do sincerely love you and yours, and will ever rest in all otiSces of a friend, to do you service. " From Jamestown, in Virginia, the i8th of June, 1614. "Thomas Dale." 1 56 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. The Rev. Alexander Whitakers pens from Virginia this letter. "To my dear and loving Cozen M. G., Minister of the B. F., in London. "Sir: " The colony here is much better. Sir Thomas Dale, our religious and valiant Governor, hath now brought that to pass which never before could be effected. For by war upon our enemies, and kind usage of our friends, he hath brought them to seek for peace of us ; which is made, and they dare not lireak. But that which is best, one Pocahontas, the daughter of Powhatan, is married to an honest and discreet English gentleman, Mr. Rolfe, and that after she had openly renounced her country idolatry, confessed the faith of Jesus Christ, and was baptized; which thing Sir Thomas Dale had labored a long time to ground in her. "Yet notwithstanding, are the virtuous deeds of this . worthy knight much debased, by the letters which some wicked men have written from hence, and especially by one C. L. If you hear any condemn this noble knight, or do fear to come hither, for these slanderous letters, you may upon my word boldly reprove them. You know that no malefactors can abide the face of the Judge ; but themselves scorning to be reproved, do prosecute with all hatred, all those that labor their amendment. I marvel much that any men of honest life, should fear the sword of the magistrate, which is unsheathed only in their defence. " Sir Thomas Dale (with whom I am) is a man of great knowledge in divin- ity, and of a good conscience in all his doings : both which be rare in a mar- tial man. Every Sabbath day we preach in the forenoon, and catechise in the afternoon. Every Saturday at night, I exercise in Sir Thomas Dale's house. Our church affairs be consulted on by the minister, and four of the most religious men. Once every month we have a communion, and once a year a solemn fast. For me, though my promise of three years' service to my country be expired, yet I will abide in my vocation here, until I be lawfully called from hence. And so betaking us all unto the mercies of God in Christ Jesus, I rest forever. " Your most dear and loving cosen, " Alex. Whitakers. " Virginia, June 18, 1614." Sir Thomas Dale was twice married. ABRAHAM DAVENPORT. SENATOR IN CONNECTICUT LEGISLATURE, 1766-1784.* A WORK entitled " History and Genealogy of the Davenport Family in England and America, from 1086 to 1850," by A. Benedict Davenport, was published in 1851 ; and a " Supplement" to that work, by the same man, was issued in 1876'. In these works the genealogy of the family is traced through twenty-four generations, beginning with Ormus de Dauneporte, born in 1086. The author assures his reader, edition of 185 1, that "he is enabled to present a line of ancestry for nearly 800 years, authen- ticated by the clearest proofs and evidences." John Davenport, of the seventeenth generation from Ormus de Dauneporte, great-grandfather of Abraham, was born in the city of Coventry, Warwickshire, England, in 1597. "His mother was a woman of piety, but was early removed by death, leaving this son in his childhood, after having devoted him to the care and special service of God, with great fervor and faith." He studied at the grammar school of Coventry and at the University of Oxford, and chose the ministry for his calling. He became vicar of St. Stephen's Church, Coleman Street, London, and one of the members of his church was Theophilus Eaton, afterwards of New Haven Colony. He became a Nonconforrhist, resigned his charge, and retired into Holland. A letter from Mr. Cotton induced him to embark for Boston, where he arrived June 26, 1637, in company with Mr. Eaton and Mr. Hopkins. He assisted in, founding New Haven Colony, and for nearly thirty years served in the ministry at New Haven. In the library of the * " The Davenport Family," by A. B. Davenport ; Force's " American Archives;" Dwight's "Travels;" Whittier's "Tent on the Beach." 157 1 58 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. American Antiquarian Society at Worcester, Mass., is a bound volume, consisting of miscellaneous tracts, pamphlets, etc., which belonged t? the private library of Mr. Davenport. His only son, named John, was a member of the church, New Haven, and on removing with his family in 1668 to Boston, took a letter of recommendation to the church there. John Davenport, son of the above, was baptized by his grand- father, graduated at Harvard College, entered the ministry and served the church at Stamford, Conn., thirty-one years. Like " Elijah, he was a man mighty in prayer." Abraham Davenport, the eighth child of John, was born in 1715, died at'Danbury, Conn., November 20, 1789. He graduated at Yale College in 1732, and took up his resi- dence in Stamford. " History of Stamford," by Rev. E. B. Huntington, 1868, thus speaks of Mr. Davenport : " No man has ever served the town as one of its selectmen, as long as he. He also represented the town in the State Legislature for twenty-five sessions, and at several of them was clerk of the House. He was State Senator from 1766 to 1784; was Judge of Probate for sev- eral years, and at his death was Judge of the County Court. In 1777 he was one of the Committee of Safety for the State, and was always consulted by Governor Trumbull and General Wash- ington, as one of the wisest counsellors in our most trying days. He was, also, very active in religion, and held the office of deacon in the Congregational Church from 1759 to 1789." Mr. Davenport's name appears in the Revolutionary Corre- spondence, as furnished in Force's " American Archives," fourth series, v. 4, p. 219. Abraham Davenport to Governor Trumbull : " Stamford, December 8, 1775. " Respected Sir : " Mr. Selleck and Mr. Bates, two of my neighbours, own a vessel of about fifty tons, with which they are desirous to make voyage to the West Indies, to carry cattle and provisions, and bring back military stores, if a permit can be obtained of your Honour for that purpose. I suppose that it is expected that Mr. Bates will go master, if the vessel is permitted to go. I beHeve he may be depended upon ; and I do not know a man better calculated for the business. The vessel is said to be a prime sailer. We have but a few pounds of powder in our town stock, and I believe it will be universally agree- ABRAHAM DA VENPOR T. 1 59 able to the inhabitants of our town that a permit should be granted them. At the desire of Mr. Bates, I write this. He informs me that Mr. Selleck will apply to your Honour for the permit, and will give bond (if required) for the faithful conduct of the master. Mr. Selleck is a man of considerable interest, and his bond will be quite sufficient. I am, with the greatest esteem and respect, your Honour's most obedient and humble servant. "Abraham Davenport." Timothy Dwight writes as follows : " Colonel Davenport was possessed of a vigorous understand- ing, . . of integrity unquestioned even by his enemies. He was early a professor of the Christian religion, and adorned its doc- trines by an exemplary conformity to its precepts. He was often styled a rough diamond, and the appellation was, perhaps, never given with more propriety. . . It would be happy for this or any other country, if the magistracy should execute its laws with the exactness for which he was distinguished. He acquired property with diligence, and preserved it with frugality; and hence was by many persons supposed to regard it with an improper attachment. This, however, was a very erroneous opinion. Of what was merely ornamental, he was, I think, too regardless ; but the poor found nowhere a more liberal benefactor, nor the stranger a more hos- pitable host. I say this from personal knowledge, acquired by a long continued and intimate acquaintance with him and his family. While the war had its seat in the State of New York, he took the entire superintendence of the sick soldiers who were returning home, filled his own house with them, and devoted to their relief his owr( time and that of his family : while he pro- vided elsewhere the best accommodations for such as he could not receive. In a season, when an expectation of approaching scarc- ity had raised the price of bread corn, ... he not only sold the produce of his own farms to the poor at the former customary price, but bought corn extensively, and sold this as he had sold his own. His alms were at the same time rarely rivalled in their extent. "An instance of Colonel Davenport's firmness deserves to be mentioned. The 19th of May, rySo, was a remarkably dark day. Candles were lighted in many houses, the birds were silent and disappeared, and the fowls retired to roost. The Legislature l6o AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. > of Connecticut was then in session at Hartford. A very general opinion prevailed, that the day of judgment was at hand. The House of Representatives, being unable to transact their business, adjourned. A proposal to adjourn the council was under con- sideration. When the opinion of Colonel Davenport was asked, he answered, ' I am against an adjournment. The day of judg- ment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for an adjournment : if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish, therefore, that candles may be brought.' " John G. Whittier makes allusion to " the dark day " and Mr. Davenport. " 'Twas on a May-day of the far old year seventeen hundred eighty, that there fell over the bloom and sweet life of the spring, over the fresh earth and the heaven of nopn, a horror of great darkness. . . . Birds ceased to sing, and all the barn yard fowls roosted. . . . The sounds of labor died ; men prayed and women wept. . . . Meanwhile in the old State House, sat the lawgivers of Connecticut. ... ' It is the Lord's Great Day ! Let us adjourn,' some said ; and then, as if with one accord, all eyes were turned to Abraham Davenport. He rose, slow cleav- ing with his steady voice the intolerable hush. 'This well may be the Day of Judgment. ... Be it so or not, I only know my present duty, and my Lord's command to occupy till he come. So at the post where he hath set me in his providence, I choose, for one, to meet him face to face, — no faithless servant frightened from my task, but ready when the Lord of the harvest calls. And therefore, with all reverence, I would say : Let God do his work, we will see to ours. Bring in the candles.' And they brought them in." Mr. Davenport married, first Elizabeth Huntington, whose mother was a sister of Jonathan Edwards ; second, Mrs. Martha Fitch. He had five children, all by the first wife. Two of the sons, John and James, became representatives in Congress. Abigail, half sister of Abraham, married Rev. Stephen Wil- liams, by whom she had eight children, three of whom became ministers, the aggregate period of whose ministry was over a hundred and fifty years. James, younger brother of Abraham, graduated at Yale College, entered the ministry, and accepted a ABRAHAM DAVENPORT. l6l charge at Southold, Long Island. In the days of Whitefield, 1740, he left his charge, gave way to an enthusiasm altogether immoderate, and " was the means of doing both good and evil." According to Rev. Dr. Beecher, " the first general revival wit- nessed in East Hampton, Long Island, commenced apparently, by the instrumentality of Mr. Davenport." In the summer of 1741, he visited Stonington, Conn. " Here it was said, near one hundred persons were struck under conviction by his first sermon: and about that number converted in eight days, including about twenty Indians." [He made a public confession of his errors signed July 28, 1744, one paragraph of which reads as- follows : " I would also penitently confess my great stiffness in retaining these aforesaid errors notwithstanding the friendly counsels of real friends, especially in the ministry."] JOHN DAVENPORT. REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS, 1799-1817.* John Davenport, eldest son of Abraham, was born in Stam- ford, Conn., January 16, 1752, died there November 28, 1830. He graduated at Yale College in 1770, and was tutor in the institution in 1773 and 1774. Entering the legal profession, he was soon called to take an important place among the Revolution- ary patriots of that day. In 1799 he was chosen Representative to Congress, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of his younger brother, James Davenport. This position he held for eighteen years, and during the administrations of the elder Adams, Jefferson and Monroe. He was punctual at his post from the opening to the adjournment of each session ; served on important committees ; was more prominent as a worker than a debater. He declined a re-election in 1817, and spent the remainder of his days in the retirement of his country home. " He was a member of the Congregational Church in Stamford, of which he was chosen Deacon in 1795. In this office his emi- nent worth was ever shown in the character of a benevolent, active, and exemplary Christian." He was married to Mary S., daughter of Rev. Noah Wells, D. D., by his father, Abraham Davenport, Esq., May 7, 1780. They had seven children. The second son, John Alfred, was educated at Yale College, and for fifty years was a well known and prosperous * " The Davenport Family,'' by A. B. DavenROrt ; " Discourse," by Rev. E. L. Cleaveland. 162 JOHN DA VENPOR T. 1 6 J merchant in the city of ,New York. The following reveals the story of his conversion while in college : " The year 1802, will ever be remembered in the history of the college for the extraor- dinary outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the institution. . . . Among those who shared in this blessed work of salvation, was John A. Davenport." THOMAS DAWES. REPRESENTATIVE IN MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL COURT, 1777.* Thomas Dawes was born in Boston in 1731 ; died there January 2, 1809. He received a common school education, and became an archi- tect. By a full vote of the inhabitants of Boston,_he was elected a member of the House of Representatives in the General Court in the year 1777; was advanced to a seat in the Senate; finally was elected a member of the Council, and held this position a long term of years. By the death of Lieutenant-Governor Gill, then the Chief Magistrate of the State, he became President of the Council, and for a time was the first acting Magistrate in the Commonwealth. He was an Elector at the three first elections of President of the United States. " At the age of threescore years and ten, he saw fit to decline being a candidate for office, and gave public notice of the inten- tion. He gradually withdrew from many other public engage- ments, observing among other reasons, that at such an advanced age, it was fit that the business of the present world should give way to the more interesting concerns of the future." By the Records of the Old South Church, Boston, " Mr. Dawes was baptized by the Rev. Dr. Sewall in that church in August, 1731. He was admitted as a member in full communion in 1749, being in his nineteenth year. In 1787, he was chosen a Deacon, in which he continued upwards of twenty-one years." * Address by Rev. Dr. Eckley; " Panoplist,'' 1809 ; Drake ; Allen. 164 THOMAS DAWES. 1 65 The interior of the Old South Church being destroyed by British troops during the Revolutionary war, Mr. Dawes drew the plan for repairs. His son, Thomas, graduated at Harvard College, entered the law, and in 1802, received the appointment of Judge of the Munic- ipal Court of Boston, which he held twenty years. JEREMIAH DAY. REPRESENTATIVE IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF CONNECTICUT, 1766 AND 1767.* Robert Day, early ancestor of Jeremiah, emigrated from Eng-. land in 1634 ; settled first in Cambridge, Mass., and removed to Hartford, Conn. His wife was Editha, sister of Deacon Edward Stebbins. Both were exemplary members of the church in Hart- ford under the pastoral care of Rev. Thomas Hooker, and Rev. Samuel Stone. Thomas Day, father of Jeremiah, married Mary Wells, of Col- chester, Conn., removed to Sharon in or about the year 1755, engaged in farming, and lived to the age of eighty-two. Jeremiah Day was born at Colchester, January 25, 1737, died September 12, 1806. When a boy he worked on his father's farm, and attended school during the winter months. He graduated at Yale College in 1756, taught school in Sharon for a year, and then commenced the study of Divinity v/ith Rev. Joseph Bellamy. After studying a year and a half, he again taught school. In 1763 he inherited a valuable farm on Sharon Mountain, where he settled and divided his time between study and agricul- tural labor. He became Selectman of the town of Sharon, and in October, 1766, again in May, 1767, he represented the town in the General Assembly of the Colony. Afflictions came, and he renewed his attention to theological studies under the direction of Rev. Cotton Mather Smith, of Sharon, and was ordained pastor of the church at New Preston, *" Sprague's Annals," v. i ; Appleton. 166 ^ JEREMIAH DA Y. 167 January 31, 1770. In the fall of 1788 he made a missionary tour to Vermont. Here he found the home of Thomas Chittenden, now Governor of the State, with whom he had twenty years before been associated in legislative duties. He kept a journal, which is still preserved, and may hereafter be considered a valua- ble document in the history of missions. In the fall of 1794 he made a tour to New York and Pennsylvania ; was absent nine weeks, and preached fifty times. "Though not an animated orator, he was a solemn and impressive preacher. Always humble and exemplary, he appeared to be filled with love to the souls of men." He was a fair man in his deal. He was three times married. First to Sarah Mills, of Kent, sister to the clergymen, Samuel, John and Edward, and sister to the wife of his college classmate, Rev. Joel Bordwell, of Kent;, second, to Lucy Wood, of Danbury ; third, to Abigail, daughter of Stephen Noble, of New Milford, and widow of Rev. Sylvanus Osborn. By her he had five children, four sons and a daughter. Jeremiah graduated at Yale College ; was President of that insti- tution from 1817 to 1846 ; was the author of important mathemat- ical works which found place as text-books in schools and colleges. Thomas, another son, is brought forward in the following sketch. Mr. Day published several sermons, among them, " The Wisdom of God in the Permission of Sin," 1774. THOMAS DAY. CONNECTICUT SECRETARY OF STATE, 181O-1835.* Thomas Day, son of Jeremiah, was born in New Preston, Conn., July 6, 1777, died at Hartford, March i, 1885. He graduated at Yale College in 1797, attended the law lectures of Judge Reeve, at Litchfield, for one year, was one year tutor in Williams College, completed his legal studies with Theodore Dwight, in 1799, was admitted to the Bar and commenced practice in Hartford. In October, 1809, he was appointed by the General Assembly Assistant Secretary of State, George Wyllys being Secretary ; in 1810 he was elected Secretary of State by the people, and was continued in that ofEce for twenty-five successive years by annual re-elections. From 1802 to 1853, he reported the Decisions of the Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut, and during this period seven different Chief-Justices presided in that court, hold- ing offiqe until disqualified by age. Mr. Day was an exemplary Christian and was President of the Hartford County Missionary Society, auxiliary to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. " He had a slight shock some weeks previous to his death, and remarked in legal phrase : ' I am now only a tenant at will, subject to eviction at the pleasure of the landlord. I have been served with due warn- ing.' " Judge Welles remarked of Mr. Day : " Spared the exhaust- ive contests which attend the active duties of his profession, he stood by, a calm, intelligent spectator of the conflict, recording the results. Possessing an easy fortune, blessed with all that is • 'RaxMoxA' Religious Herald ; " Memorial Biographies," New England Gen- ealogical Society, v. 2. 168 THOMAS DAY. 1 69 valuable in possession for earth, and all that is cheering in pros- pect for heaven . . ," He was six feet tall, vi'ith carriage erect, and manner impressive. He was severe toward himself, considerate toward others. His general tone was gentle, but he was capable of great sternness. There is a good portrait of him, full length, painted when over seventy, in the rooms of the Connecticut Historical Society, of which he was one of the founders. He married, 1813, Sarah, daughter of Wheeler Coit, of Preston, by whom he had eight children, two sons and six daughters. THOMAS DELAWARE. FIRST GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA, 161O.* Thomas Delaware, of England, in the year 1602, succeeded his father as third Lord Delaware ; married Cecily, daughter of Sir Thomas Shirley ; was appointed Governor and Captain-Gen- eral of Virginia in America in 1609; visited England in.i6ii, and died June 7, 1618, on return voyage to Virginia. In the year 1584, Queen Elizabeth delivered to Walter Raleigh a patent, authorizing him to discover, search, find out, and view, such remote heathen and barbarous lands as were not possessed by any Christian Prince, nor inhabited by Christian people. The said Walter Raleigh, his heirs and assigns, to hold, occupy and enjoy the same." On January 7, 1587, Raleigh made an assignment to divers merchants of London, and with this act gave ;^ioo for propagat- ing Christianity among the natives. One hundred and seventeen persons, on this year of assignment (1587) "safely arrived in Virginia, and remained to inhabit there." But little success attended these early adventurers by way of organizing a govern- ment. The first Charter of Virginia, was granted April 10, 1606, and ships were again fitted out. The paper which contained instruc- tions to be observed, " when it shall please God to send you on the coast of Virginia," closed with these words : " Lastly and chiefly ; the way to prosper and achieve good success, is to make, yourselves all of one mind for the good of your country and your *" Virginia Vetusta," and " Virginia Company of London," by Neill; Haz- ard's " Historical Collections " ; Broadhead's " History of New York '' ; Belk- nap's " American Biography." 170 THOMAS DELA WARE. 1 7 1 own, and to serve and fear God, the Giver of all Goodness ; for every plantation which our Heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted out." A new Charter was granted May 23, 1609, " transferring several important powers before reserved to the Crown." " Under this second Charter of King James, Thomas Delaware was appointed Governor, Thomas Gates, Lieutenant-Governor, George Somers, Admiral, and Christopher Newport, Vice-Admiral. A few days before the charter was sealed, an expedition consist- ing of nine vessels, was equipped and dispatched for Virginia, with five hundred emigrants. Delaware did not leave England with the expedition, but delegated the command for the time being to Gates, Somers and Newport." On February 21, 1610, William Crashaw, preacher at the Tem- ple, London, delivered a sermon in presence of Delaware, in view of his departure from England to America. At the conclusion, the preacher addressed him : "And thou most noble lord, whom God hath stirred up to neglect the pleasures of England, and with Abraham to go from thy country, and forsake thy kindred and thy father's house, to go to a land which God will show thee, give me leave to speak the truth. Thy ancestor many hundred years ago gained great honor to thy house, but by this action, thou hast augmented it. . . . Remember thou art a General of English men, nay, a General of Christian men ; therefore principally look to religion. You go to commend it to the heathen, then practise it yourself ; make the name of Christ honorable, not hateful unto them." The preacher on this occasion added : " And thou Virginia, whom, though mine eyes see not, my heart shall love, how hath God honored thee ! Thou hast thy name from the worthiest Queen that ever the world had, .... and thou shalt have thy fame under the conduct of a General of as great and ancient^nobility as any ever engaged in action of this nature." On April r, 1610, Delaware embarked at Cowes for Virginia, with three vessels laden with supplies ; and on the Lord's day, June 10, they came to anchor before Jamestown. " As soon as Delaware came on shore, he fell down on his knees and continued some time in silent devotion. He then went to church, and after 172 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. service, his commission was read, which constituted him ' Gov- ernor and Captain-General during his life, of the Colony and Plantation of Virginia.' " In a letter to the London Company, dated Jamestown, July 7, 1610, he writes : " The loth of June being Sunday, •! brought my ship, and in the afternoon went ashore ; where after a sermon by Mr. Buck, I caused my commission to be read : upon which, Sir Thomas Gates delivered up unto me his own commission, both pa- tents, and the Council Seal, and then I delivered a few words unto the company ; laying some blame on them for many vanities, and their idleness ; earnestly wishing that I might no more find it so. The 1 2th of June, I did constitute, and gave places of office and charge, to divers Captains and Gentlemen, and elected unto me a Council, unto whom I administered an oath of faith, assistance and secrecy." Before the expiration of a year, his health failed, and accom- panied by Dr. Behune and Captain Argall, he went to the Western Isles to recruit, and thence to his native land. Thomas Dale was made Deputy-Governor, and Delaware still held the position of Governor-General. Delaware's three brothers were identified with Virginia — Francis was Governor, John was Muster Master-General, and Nathaniel was a member of the Council. Two forts, called Henry and Charles, after the King's sons, were erected by Delaware, on a level tract bordering Southamp- ton River. WILLIAM EARLE DODGE. REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS, 1866.* William Dodge, of Dorsetshire, England, early ancestor of William E., was among the passengers of The Lyons Whelpe, which arrived at Salem, July 10, 1629. He took part in founding Beverly Church, in 1667. David Low Dodge, father of William E., " learned his letters and received some of his first religious impressions from a venera- ble Irish schoolmistress, whose pious memory he always cher- ished." He grew up fond of reading and study, taught school in his early manhood, and obtained reputation as a teacher of youth. In 1805, he entered upon mercantile business in the city of New York ; withdrawing from this, he became head of the Bozrah Manufacturing Company, in connection with which he erected the first cotton mill in the State of Connecticut. His religious zeal kept pace with his business energy. On one occasion he spent a week at Simsbury, assisting at revival meetings in the church then under the care of Rev. Jeremiah Hallock. " The associates who established the cotton mill at Bozrahville, sought at their first meeting, the Divine guidance, and then signed a covenant pledging themselves to maintain as a primary object, a moral and religious establishment." Sarah Cleveland, wife of Mr. Dodge, and mother of William E., was a woman of sound judgment and earnest piety, and was one of the seven mothers who originated the New York City Maternal Association. She prayed with and for her children. William Earle Dodge, of the seventh generation from William * " Memorials of William E. Dodge ; '' compiled and edited by D. Stuart Dodge ; Randolph & Company, 1887. 173 1/4 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. Dodge, was born in Hartford, Conn., September 4, 1805, died in New York, February 9, 1883. He received a good, common school education. His father's experience as a teacher was of service to him in the selection of books, and the carrying on of courses of study. As a young man, he mastered many solid works, including several standard his- tories. In an address delivered in New York, at the Young Men's Christian Association Hall, April 27, 1880, Mr. Dodge says: "The year 1818 found me a boy in a wholesale dry-goods store. No. 304 Pearl Street, near Peck Slip. It was a different thing to be a boy in a store in those days from what it is now .... I used to be up soon after light, walk to Vandewater Street [for' the keys], and then to the store very early. It was to be sprinkled with water, which I brought the evening before from the ofd pump at the corner of Peck Slip and Pearl Street, then carefully swept and dusted. Afterwards came sprinkling the sidewalk and street, and sweeping to the centre a heap for the dirt-cart to remove. This done, one of the older clerks would come, and I was permitted to go home for breakfast. In winter the wood was to be carried and piled in the cellar, fires were to be made, and lamps trimmed. Junior clerks in those days did the work of porters now. ... It was quite an event for the country merchants to visit the city. They generally came twice a year, — those from North and East, by the Sound or North River, in sloops or schooners ; those from the West and South, by stage, or by lines of vessels along the coast. . . . The fashionable residences were chiefly around the Battery, and up Broadway and Green- wich to Cortlandt Street. Not more than twenty-five families kept a two-horse carriage. The Post Office was in the parlors of a private house, altered for the purpose, at the corner of Wil- liam Street and Exchange Place. I well remember the fun we boys had while waiting for the office to open, crowding each other up the line. Postage was so high that letters were sent by private hands as frequently as possible. Wood was almost the only fuel ; stoves and furnaces had not yet come into use. How my feet and fingers have ached, as I have stood at the desk of a bitter morning ! " WILLIAM EARLE DODGE. 1 75 In 1819, his father removed with the family to Connecticut, to engage, as before mentioned, in manufacturing at Bozrahville. William E. took a position as clerk in the store connected with the factory. By way of encouragement to earn something for himself, his father gave him the use of a separate show-case, where he deposited small articles from pedlers and others, and sold them at a moderate advance. He became so busy that he neglected his regular meals, ate crackers and cheese as he went about the store, and thus brought on nervous prostration. When he began to recover, the season for huckleberries had come, of which he ate freely, and took long drives in a wagon without springs. In 1825 the mill was sold, the family returned to New York, a dry-goods store was opened, and William assisted. In 1827 he left his father, and began the wholesale dry-goods business on his own account at 213 Pearl Street. He makes allusion in his lecture on Old New York. " A retired Connecticut merchant with whom I had done busi- ness, having heard that I was intending to commence for myself, proposed a copartnership with his son just graduated from Yale. He offered to furnish an amount of capital, which, with the small sum I had, (mostly savings from my salary), would make for those days a respectable beginning. ... As niy partner had no ex- perience, I felt the more responsibility. A few weeks after we started, and when our stock of goods was small, three young men, Connecticut pedlers, stepped into the store, each having two large tin trunks which they carried in their hands, aided by a large strap over the shoulders. . . . While they set down their loads to rest and talk, I said to them: 'I see you are, like myself, just starting in business; let me make you a proposition. There is plenty of room in our store ; each of you take one of these pigeon- holes under the shelves, put your trunks there in place of carrying them around while you are picking up your goods, and order all you buy to be sent here. We will take charge of your purchases, pack and ship them, and you can come here and examine your bills, write letters, and do as you like, whether you buy a dollar of us or not. It will be an advantage to us, as well as a convenience to you.' They were pleased with the offer, accepted it at • once, 176 AMERICAN CHRIS77AN RULERS. and for the six years during which I remained in the dry-goods business for myself, were among my most attached customers," In the year 1833 ^ partnership was formed, which took the firm name of Phelps, Dodge & Co. Mr. Dodge devoted time and money for the support of the Gov- ernment during the Rebellion. In 1872 he was chosen delegate from the Sixth District of New Yofk City to the. National Republican Convention at Philadelphia. From that city he writes, June 5th : " No convention ever had fewer office-holders. There are a number of colored delegates from the South. . . . Three of them were called out, and made remarkable speeches on the spur of the moment. To-morrow we shall nominate Grant by acclamation." He served his district as Representative to the Thirty-ninth Congress. The matter, was first opened to him while attending the meeting of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, held at Worcester, Mass., in a letter dated New York, October 6, 1864. " Your fellow-citizens of the Eighth Congressional District believe that you are the only man in it who can carry the district in the interests of good government and union. On this account we have made bold, against your knowledge and wishes, to use your name. It has been received in every quarter with the highest commendation. At a public meeting of the Eighteenth Ward Union Association it was, 'Resolved, that in times like these .... we ought to send to the capital of the United States such men as sat in the Continental Congress in the era of 1776. The people of the Eighth District have found a man of this type in the incorruptible merchant, the honorable, able, and accomplished citizen, William E. Dodge." The Eighth District included that part of the city east of Fifth Avenue, and between Fourteenth and Forty-second Streets. Among his speeches in Congress was one in behalf of tjie bill to secure a site for the General Post Office in the city of New York. He said : "Within the last ten years in the city oE New York the daily mail has increased from thirty to a hundred tons. The property now offered by the Corporation of New York to the United States Government for a post office, and for the United States courts, at the nominal sum of $■; 00,000, would sell at public WILLIAM EARLE DODGE. 1 77 auction to-morrow for from three to five million dollars. It is an opportunity sucli as tiie Government can seldom obtain. It is the most feasible, the most eligible spot in the city for the purpose, and, although there is great objection to using a portion of our public park for a post office, yet such is the necessity and such the desire to accommodate the United States Government, that the Corporation has yielded a plot of ground at the lower end of the public park equal to twenty-six lots." The adjustment of the altered relations of the late Confederate States became important matter of discussion. The views pre- sented by Mr. Dodge were much commended for their excellence and wisdom. "I do hope, Mr. Speaker, that neither the bill of the gentleman from Pennsylvania, nor the amendment of the gen- tleman from Ohio will pass. No man on this floor is more strongly in favor than I am of protecting the best interests of the colored race. . . . But the very fact that the white population of the South by this bill are to be almost universally degraded, while the colored men are elevated above them, is not, in my opinion, calculated at all to promote the best interests of either." He was a temperance man, and favored the cause of total absti- nence. In 1882 some zealous friends requested him to allow his name to be proposed for Mayor of New York. Still later, he was urged to consent to be nominated for Governor of the State as candidate of the growing temperance party. While he believed Christian men should vote as they pray, he felt it would be wiser at that time for the advocates of temperance to side with the party which represented the best elements of the people, and had already carried some measures for the suppression of the liquor traffic, and was willing to favor still others. Under the circum- stances then existing, he considered this course more for the real interest of the cause than to make a distinct temperance issue, with every probability of so dividing the vote as to throw victory into the hands of avowed enemies. From his earliest years William had been singularly responsive to religious impressions. He listened thoughtfully and candidly to what was said from the pulpit and in private gatherings. When the family resided at Bozrah, revival meetings were held in Hart- 'ford, conducted by Rev. Dr. Nettleton. William's father took 178 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. pains to send him into the city from time to time with a load of cotton goods, hoping that the awakening influences would reach him. On one occasion he arranged to have his son stay with friends who, he knew, were interested in the meetings. For a week or more William attended the solemn services, and was deeply impressed. As he was about to return he called upon Dr. Hawes, pastor of the Centre Church, and he never forgot his part- ing remark : " What 1 going home, and taking that hard heart with you ? " The words came again and again to mind as he drove slowly back alone. Soon after, at a prayer meeting con- ducted on that occasion by Mr. Erastus Hyde, assistant agent in the mill, an invitation was given to any who felt anxious respect- ing their spiritual condition and desired the prayers of Christians, to signify their wish by rising. William was instantly upon his feet. His next younger sister, Mary, joined him, and in a few moments ten or twelve others. It was the beginning of a revival that spread, through the community and extended into the country around. From that Sabbath evening, June 8, 182 1, William's life seemed to take on new earnestness. The decision he had made was final, and without reserve. One of his first steps was to induce a few young converts in the village to establish a meeting for mutual Bible study and prayer. On the first Sabbath in May, 1822, he, in company with his sister Mary and several others, united with the Congregational Church in Bozrah, then under the pastoral care of Rev. David Austin. From this time onward, Mr. Dodge was the friend of revivals, laboring in season and out of season for the good of souls. "In the Congressional prayer meeting, where members of all sections and of every shade of religious belief met to supplicate the favor of the God of nations, Mr. Dodge was a prompt attend- ant and the animating soul." During the revival of 1858 he wrote to a friend with whom he had long been associated in various enterprises, and for whom he again and again expressed solicitude : " For many years I have been in the habit of meeting you in business circles, and have re- peatedly admired your prompt action and great executive talents. I have always felt a deep interest in your prosperity ; at the same time I have often been anxious lest you should be satisfied with WILLIAM EARLE DODGE. I/g riches, which can at best last but a few years. The providence of God has of late, in a remarkable manner, visited our city and land. First, by the panic which led all to see how vain were human calculations. But now He has come by His Spirit, touch- ing the heart, and leading hundreds of business men to understand the importance of receiving a better portion than this world can give. Never has there been such a time since we have been on the stage when, speaking after the manner of men, it was so easy to find the ' pearl of great price.' . . . Oh, my dear friend, that you could but open your eyes and see your true position, and the danger that, with all this world can give, you may go unprepared to the bar of God ! Why will you not take time to look at this matter calmly, and ask yourself, ' What shall it profit me if I gain the whole world and lose my own soul ? ' 1 venture to enclose a little paper, which I trust you will read carefully, and put to your- sdf the inquiry, ' Am I not the man ? ' I am confident you will appreciate the motive which induces me to write to you, when I say that for many days I have been thinking much about you, and have been daily praying that God would visit you with heavenly blessings." In an address delivered December, 1872, at the Lay Workers' College in Brooklyn, he says : " Christ died not only to open the prison door but to open the palace gate, and give men everlasting life. Impelled by this solemn truth, we shall say as we look and see men perishing, ' Here am I, send me. Use me in whatever way I can do most to save lost sinners.' A saved sinner myself, I can declare that God desires not the death of the wicked. He says to all, ' Turn ye : why will ye die ? ' " To a friend he wrote concerning one in whom he was inter- ested : " Urge her right up to the point of submission, and giving up all for Christ — no half way — if she would be happy." To a friend he wrote Yrom Wellsboro, Pa., March 13, 1856 : " I was urged to return at once to the city on very important business, but I could not, or did not dare to leave. God's power has been so wonderful for the past two days, and I have so many on my hands and heart apparently just on the turning-point of their des- tiny that I cannot go. Last night some four or five of the most prominent men of the place .... who the Sabbath before were l8o AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. among the anxious, and for whom we had been praying and labor- ing, arose in the meeting to tell what God had done for them, and to urge others to come to Christ." In view of the harvest so great and the laborers so few, he was willing by his benevolence to aid men by a short course into the ministry. In March, 1862, he wrote : " I wish to aid, by a short course, men from twenty-one to thirty, of more than ordinary talent and approved piety, who with a good common educa- tion have learned to take the lead in Sabbath schools and prayer meetings, and are, in fact, the right arms of the pastors. Such men often long for the ministry, but feel they are too old to com- mence studying for it. I would give them two or three years of training, and then send them out to increase their stock as they go — good, practical, common-sense men, who will be a blessing to many a young church in the more spargely-settled regions." In early manhood Mr. Dodge sought the acquaintance of Melissa, second daughter of Anson G. Phelps. The request to be permitted to address the daughter closes : " Praying that God, ■whose unseen hand directs in all the concerns of life, may lead you to that conclusion which may be for His glory and our good for time and eternity, I subscribe myself," etc. Mr. Phelps replies : " We shall ever study to promote the happiness of our be- loved daughter, and if complying with your very respectful request concides with her views, it will meet with our perfect approbation. Permit me here to remark that in addition to the esteem we have ever had for you personally, it is greatly strengthed by the long and uninterrupted friendship subsisting between your family and our own. Trusting the same Hand that has led you both to seek a better good than this world can afford, will still cause His Word to be as a cloudy pillar by day and a light of fire by night to guide you safely through this wilderness, and finally -to give you an inheritance among the just, we remain your affectionate friends." Mr. Dodge and Miss Phelps were married June 24, 1828, at 32 Cliff Street, Dr. Gardiner Spring, of the Brick Church, officiating. At the golden wedding, Mr. Dodge gave the following address : " My dear children, grandchildren, and friends : ,We have in- vited you to join with us to-day in a tribute of thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father for the special mercy which has prolonged our WILLIAM EARLE DODGE. 1 8 1 lives, and permitted us' to look back upon a life of fifty years. Our song this morning is, 'Bless the Lord, O our souls, and forget not all his benefits ;' ' Surely goodness and mercy have followed us all the days of our lives.' We feel that, under God, we owe all we are to the tender, faithful care of our godly parents, who from infancy dedicated us to God, and by constant Christian watchful- ness and prayer brought us up in His fear, and rejoiced to see us in early youth consecrate ourselves to His service, — both uniting with the church the same year .... And we say, for the sake of our children and grandchildren, that from the beginning of our married life, we have alway been frank and open between our- selves in all our Christian experience, talking freely to each other, and often praying together for special blessings upon ourselves and children. . . . We have always watched, even in little things, to do all in our power to add to each other's happiness, and never allow even an impolite word, or anything, to dampen our mutual respect and love. ... I feel it due to her to say to-day that, in all these fifty years, not an unkind word has ever been spoken to me by my dear wife, and what I am, under God, I owe very much to our sweet intercourse together." Seven sons, with their families, were present on this occasion. The summer home of Mr. Dodge was some thirty miles north of New York, on a hillside overlooking the Hudson, and half a mile south of the village of Tarrytown. His bequests were as follows : Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, , $50,000 American Board, 5°-°°°' Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, . 50,000 Education of Young 'Men for the Ministry, 50,000 American Bible Society, 10,000 American Tract Society, .... 20,000 American Sunday School Union, . . . 10,000 National'Temperance Society, . . . 10,000 City Mission and Tract Society, . , , 20,000 Presbyterian Board of Publication, . . 10,000 Lincoln University, 10,000 Children's Aid Society, 5,000 1 82 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN R ULERS. Howard University, $S>°°° Atlanta University, 5, 000 Hampton Institute, SiOoo Presbyterian Board for Aged Ministers, . . 5,000 American Seamen's Friend Society, . , 5,000 International Com. of Y. M. C. A., . . . 5,000 McAuley Mission, S,ooo Syrian Ptotestant College, .... 20,000 Metropolitan Museum of Art, . . . 5,000 American Museum of Natural History, . . 5,000 The bequests were to be paid by installments running through five years. The two houses, one on Madison Avenue, New York, and the other at Tarrytown, were given to Mrs. Dodge, with a liberal amount for her support, and the remainder of the estate was divided between the seven sons. THOMAS DUDLEY. GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS, 1634, 1640, 1645, 1650.* Thomas Dudley, only son of Captain Roger Dudley, was born in Northampton County, England, in 1576, died in Roxbury, Mass., July 31, 1652. He sailed for New England in 1630, in the ship Arbella, and while the vessel was at anchor in the harbor of Cowes, he was chosen Deputy-Governor of Massachusetts. He served as Gov- ernor in the years 1634, 1640, 1645, ^"^ 1650. He was for a time a resident of Boston, and finally fixed his home in Roxbury, " where his estate was long possessed by his descendants." In the religious concerns of the colony he was prominent. "They observed a day of fasting on the 30th of July [at Charles- town the year of their arrival], .... and at the close of the services Governor Winthrop, Deputy-Governor Dudley, Mr. Isaac Johnson and Mr. Wilson entered into a solemn covenant with God and each other; thus forming themselves into a church, afterwards known as the First Church in Boston." Mr. Dudley was one of three brethren, who in turn carried on the public services of the church from March to November, during the absence of their pastor, Rev. Mr. Wilson, on a visit to England. In a letter to the Countess of Lincoln, Mr. Dudley says : " If any godly men, out of religious ends, will come over to help us in the good work we are about, I think they cannot dispose of them- selves nor of their estates more to God's glory and the further- ance of their own reckoning ; but they must not be of the poorer sort yet for divers years. For we have found by experience that * Moore's " Governors of New Plymouth " ; Morton j Sprague ; " Collections of N. H. Historical Society "; Johnson, Drake. 183 l84 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. they have hindered, not furthered the work. ... If there be any imbued with grace, and furnished with means to feed themselves and theirs for eighteen months, and to build and plant, let them come into our Macedonia and help us." " Mr. Dudley served the people in a public capacity many years, at his own cost, and that as a nursing father to the churches of Christ. . He was exact in the practice of piety, in his person and family all his life. He should be remembered and mentioned with reverence and esteem, though there be some features of undue severity in his character. He was zealous beyond measure against all sorts of heretics. Isaac Johnson speaks of him as ' the honored, aged, stable and sincere servant of Christ, zealous for his truth.' " Mr. Dudley married his first wife in England, " a woman of considerable estate." She died in 1643, and the following year he married Catherine Hackburne, widow of Samuel Hackburne. She survived Mr. Dudley, and was married to Rev. John Allin, of Dedham, November 8, 1653, a little more than three months after the Governor's death. Children of Mr. Dudley : Samuel, setded in the ministry at Exeter, N. H., married Mary, daughter of Governor Winthrop ; Annie, at the age of sixteen, married Simon Brad- street ; Mercy became the wife of Rev. John Woodbridge ; Joseph became Governor of Massachusetts. JOSEPH DUDLEY. GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS, 1702-1715.* Joseph Dudley, son of Governor Thomas Dudley, was born at Roxbury, September 23, 1647, died there April 2, 1720. " He was the son of the Governor's old age, being born after his father had attained the age of seventy years. He graduated at Harvard College in 1665 ; was chosen a Representative in the State Legislature from Roxbury in 1673, re-elected the two follow- ing years, and in 1685 was appointed President of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He visited England as agent of the province in 1682 ; in 1693, again visited England, and was eight years Deputy-Governor of the Isle of Wight under Lord Cutts. On the death of King William, he returned with commission from Queen Anne as Governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, arriving at Boston, June 11, 1702. He continued in office until 1715, when Mr. Shute became Governor." The public career of Governor Dudley appears to have been objectionable in certain quarters, and he had occasion to write to Revs. Increase and Cotton Mather. " Roxbury, February 3, 1707. " Gentlemen : — " Yours of the 20th instant I received ; and the contents both as to the matter and manner, astonish me to the last degree. ... I trust that I am not so lost to the spirit of Christianity, but I am always ready to sustain with thankfulness all well designed reproofs, administered with a proper temper and spirit ; and am disposed to take my reprover into my bosom. But I should be stupid not to distinguish between reproaches, and Christian admonitions. I always thought that some of the laws of ^wise and Christian reproof were : That the things reproved be as to fact notorious, and not bare matters of fears, jealousy, and evil surmising : That these facts be evident breaches of some * Moore's " Governors of New I'lymouth " ; Allen's " Biographical Diction- ary " : " Massachusetts Historical Collections." I85 1 86 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. known laws of Christianity : Tiiat the admonitions be not administered with bitterness, or vilifying, ignominious language, but with a spirit of meekness : That a superior be treated with a respectful distance ; not reviled, not stigma- tized as the most profligate, but entreated as a father : That the admonition be reasonable, when the reprover as well as the reproved are in the best temper, and there is least reason to suspect him influenced by prejudice, wrath and ill will. " How far these wise laws of Christian reproof, as well as others that might be mentioned, have been observed, in your late pretended faithful and con- scientious admonitions, I do seriously recommend to your thoughts, when you retire before the searcher of hearts to prove these with your other works. . . . But I will suppose all the matters of fact were true, and that I were as a Chris- tian accountable to you for them. . . . Can you think it the most proper season to do me good by your admonitions, when you have taken care to let the world know you are out of frame, and filled with the last prejudice against my pe»son and government .'.... It is vairi to pretend Christian love and respect or zeal for the honor of God, or public good ; vain to pretend pres- sures of conscience just at this season. . . . After all, though I have reason to complain to heaven and earth of your unchristian rashness, and wrath and injustice, I would yet maintain a Christian temper towards you. I do therefore now assure you, that I shall be ready to give you all the satisfaction Christi- anity requires, .... when with a proper temper and spirit, giving me timely notice, you do see meet to make me a visit for that end. ... I am your humble servant, " J. Dudley. " To the Rev. Drs. Mather." * The following is recorded of Mr. Dudley : " He was a sincere Christian, whose virtues attracted general esteem ; though in the conflict of political parties, his character was frequently assailed. While in his family he devoutly addressed the Supreme Being ; he also prayed with his children separately for their everlasting wel- fare, and did not think it humbling to impart religious instruction to his servants." Mr. Bancroft it would seem, commits an error when he states : " The character of Dudley was that of profound selfishness. He possessed prudence and the inferior virtues, and was as good a Governor as one ' could be, who loved neither freedom nor his native land." Mr. Dudley was married in 1668, to Rebecca, daughter of Edward Tyng, of Boston, afterwards of Dunstable. They had twelve children. Three sons graduated at Harvard College. His son Paul became Chief-Justice of Massachusetts. WILLIAM DUMMER. LIEUTKNANT-GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS, 1716.* Richard Dummer, grandfather of William, was born in Eng- land in 1599, and came to America from the parish of Bishop- stoke, near Southampton, in 1632. He lived four years in Roxbury and Boston ; then established himself at Newbury. Here he was from the beginning a man of mark, and was the largest landholder in the place. He was a magistrate, and was promi- nent in church affairs. Isaac Johnson gives quaint expression as follows : " This town [Newbury] is stored with meadow and upland, which hath caused some gentlemen who brought over good estates, and, finding no better way to improve them, to set upon husbandry ; among whom that religious and sincere-hearted servant of Christ, Mr. Richard Dummer, sometime a magistrate in this little commonwealth, hath holpen on this town." Of Richard's five sons, Jeremiah became a silversmith, settled in Boston, and was the father of Jeremy and William. I William Dummer, subject of this sketch, was born in Boston in 1677, died there in 1761. I He is introduced in history as living at Plymouth, England, and sacting as Commissioner for his native colony. While thus occu- pied, he received from government in the year 17 16, through the jinfiuence of William Ashurst, the appointment of Lieutenant- Governor of Massachusetts, Mr. Shute being Governor. In 1720 ■ the Court reduced the annual grant or salary from ;^so to ^35. 'Mr. Dummer informed the Court that, " having the honor to bear the King's Commission for Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, * Elliot's " Biographical Dictionary " ; Cleveland's " Centennial Discourse " ; "History of the Ancient an4 Honorable Artillery Company," by Whitman; (^'Historical Collections of the American Colonial Church," Massachusetts. 187 1 88 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. and having been annually more than ;^5o out of pocket in that service, he did not think it for his honor to accept of their grant." In 1722 the administration devolved upon him, Governor Shute having left the province for England, and he served as Com- mander-in-Chief, until the arrival of Governor Burnet in 1728. Says Rev. Mather Byles, Mr. Dummer's pastor in Hollis Street, Boston : " The wise and successful administration of Mr. Dummer, will be remembered with honor, and considered as a pattern worthy the imitation of future governors. Firmly attached to the religion of Jesus, he received its doctrines with submission, attended its institutions with reverence, and practiced its precepts with uniformity." Referring to his religious character, another has said : " He was constant in his family devotions ; he applied himself to the perusal of pious books, and, at stated times, he re- tired to his closet for prayer." At a convention of ministers of the Gospel from different parts of the province, assembled at Boston on the 27th of May, 1725, the following Memorial was adopted : " To the Honorable William Dummer, Lieutenant-Governor and Commander- in-Chief, to the Honorable Representatives in General Court assembled and now sitting : ' " Considering the great decay of piety in the country, and the growth of many miscarriages .... it is humbly desired that the General Court would express their concern for the interests of religion by calling the several churches in the province to meet, by their pastors and messengers, in a Synod, and from thence offer their advice upon that weighty case which the circumstances of the day do loudly call to be considered. What are the miscarriages whereof we have reason to think the judgments of Heaven upon us, call us to be more generally sensible? What may be the most evangelical and effectual expedients to put a stop to those or the like miscarriages ? This proposal we humbly make in hopes that if it tie prosecuted, it may be followed with many desirable conse- quences, worthy the study of those whom God has made, and we are so happy to enjoy, as the nursing Fathers of our Churches. "Cotton Mather, " In name of ministers assembled." Dummer Academy, located in Byfield Parish, Newbury, the oldest institution of the kind in New England, was founded by Lieutenant-Governor Dummer in 1756. To Harvard College he made a bequest — another to the poor WILLIAM DUMMER. 1 89 of specified churches in his town ; " to each of the ministers o£ the Gospel, within the town of Boston, that lead in divine service on Lord's Day, he gave a gold ring worth twenty shillings " ; to his servants : " I do hereby manumit and set free my negro servants, and do give unto my negro man, Peter, twenty-six pounds, thirteen shillings and fourpence, lawful money, which sum I will and order to be paid into the hands of John Pierpont, of Newbury,_to be by him used and improved for the best advantage and profit of my said negro man." Mr. Dummer was married to Katharine, daughter of Joseph Dudley, " a lady distinguished for piety and benevolence." They had no children. TIMOTHY DWIGHT. REPRESENTATIVE IN MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE, 1781, 1782.* John Dwight, the first ancestor of the family in this country, came from Dedham, England, and settled at Dedham, Mass., in 1637- Timothy, son of John, resided at Dedham, and lived to the age of eighty-eight. He was six times married, and had fifteen children. Nathaniel, son of Timothy, by his wife, Anna Flint, married in Hatfield, a daughter of Colonel Partridge ; settled about 1695 in Northampton, " was a trader, farmer, justice of the peace, a land surveyor, a decidedly religious man." He had eleven children. Timothy (Colonel), oldest child of Nathaniel, resided at North- ampton, and lived to the age of seventy-six. He was surveyor, magistrate, and judge of probate. Timothy, son of Colonel Timothy, graduated at Yale College, and resided at Northampton. He was an extensive trader, a large landholder, and for sixteen years was Judge of the court of com- mon pleas. He was a man of fervent piety, and great purity of life. He married Mary, the third daughter of Jonathan Edwards, who became a mother at eighteen. Timothy Dwight, subject of this sketch, son of Timothy and Mary Dwight, was born at Northarnpton, Mass., May 14, 1752 ; died at New Haven, Conn., January 11, 1817. He pursued his early education at home under the care of his mother. In addition to his stated tasks, he watched the cradle of his younger brothers. He graduated at Yale College at the age of seventeen, and be- » Clark's "Northampton Antiquities"; Sprague's "Annals"; Sparks' " American Biography"; Memoirs prefixed to Dwight's Theology. 190 TIMO THY D WIGHT. 1 9 1 came a tutor in the institution at nineteen. More than half the members of his class were older than himself, and the freshman who waited upon him was thirty-two years of age. While tutor his health became impaired, and his physician advised, among other things, a daily course of vigorous bodily exercise. He took his advice, and eitiployed much time in walking and riding on horseback. In May of 1777, owing to the military disturbances of the country, college was broken Up, and Mr. Dwight retired with his class to Wethersfield. Early in June of this year he was licensed as a preacher. In October he joined the army at West Point, as Chaplain to General Parsons' brigade. He wrote patriotic songs, among them " Col- umbia." After a year's service in the army, news of his father's death obliged him to resign, and return to his home in Northamp- ton. Here he remained several years, " the staff and stay of the family." He labored, more or less, upon the farm, carried on a school, and preached in vacant parishes on the Sabbath. He served the town as Representative in the State Legislature in the years 1781 and 1782. While thus in service, a petition for a grant in behalf of Harvard College came before the Legislature, but did not meet with favor. In a speech of about an hour in length, Mr. Dwight changed the feelings of the House, and pro- cured nearly a unanimous vote in favor of the college. His friends advised him to quit the ministry and devote himself to public Hfe. Governor Phillips, though a man of distinguished piety, gave it as his opinion, that he ought to remain in civil life. While in the Legislature he preached in Boston and the neighbor- hood, and received invitations to sej:tle at Beverly and at Charles- town, which he declined. In 1783, he was ordained pastor of the church at Greenfield, Conn., with an annual compensation of $500, the use of six acres of land, and twenty cords of wood. This compensation being in- sufficient, he established an academy in the place, and during the twelve years of his residence there, instructed upwards of one thousand pupils. In 1794, he was invited to the pastorate of the Reformed Dutch Church of Albany, but declined. In 1795 Mr. Dwight accepted the Presidency of Yale College, and held the position twenty years. 192 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. Infidelity prevailed in the institution. Numbers had assumed the names of the principal English and French infidels. Forensic disputation was an exercise of tlie senior class, and questions agreed upon were submitted to the President for choice. Among the list on one occasion was this : " Are the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament the Word of God?" This the President accepted, and told the students to write on which side they pleased, asking that they treat the subject with becoming rever- ence. Most, if not all, supported the side of infidelity. Mr. Dwfght examined the ground they had taken, convinced them that their acquaintance with the subject was superficial, then entered into a direct defence of the Divine origin of Christianity. From that moment to espouse the cause of infidelity was as unpopular as before it had been to profess a belief in Christianity. The publications of Mr. Dwight are as follows: — " Theology Explained and Defended ; " twelfth editron, Harper & Brothers, 1851. " Dwight's Psalms and Hymns," stereotyped edition, 1827. The profit to Mr. Dwight of the edition sold in Connecticut exceeded one thousand dollars, which he contributed to the Connecticut Missionary Society. " Dwight's Travels." " Contains an amount of historical, bio- raphical, topographical matter, concerning the parts of the country to which it relates, that cannot be found in any single publication." Four volumes, 1822 ; London, 1823. "Dwight's Sermons," New Haven, 1828. Among them twelve discourses given in successive years to the graduating class. The sermon from text, " The harvest is past,'' Jeremiah viii. 20, it was estimated was the foundation of at least four or five extensive revivals of religion. Having sustained a permanent injury to his eyes from too close application to study, in early life, the Corporation of Yale College enabled him to employ a succession of amanuenses through whose aid he wrote his Theology and Travels. As a preacher, his voice was heavy and musical. Applications for instructors from different parts of the land, took his time and no small expense. He habituated himself to physical exercise. While at Green- TIMO THY D WIGHT. 1 93 field he cultivated with his own hand a large fruit and vegetable garden, and at New Haven, through the season for gardening he made it a point to work at least an hour every morning before breakfast. In the cool season he took exercise in cutting his firewood. Certain of his college vacations he employed in journey- ing with horse and sulky through the New England States, and his observations and notes formed material for his volumes of travels. Of the religious character of Mr. Dwight: Referring to the mother's influence, his biographer says : " She taught him to fear God and to keep his commandments ; to be just, charitable, and forgiving; to preserve a sacred regard to truth ; and to relieve the distresses of the poor and unfortunate. She aimed, at a very early period, to enlighten his conscience, to make him afraid to sin, and to teach him to hope for pardon only through the righteousness of Christ. The impressions thus made upon his mind in infancy were never effaced. ... In the year 1774, he united with the College church. At this time it was his expecta- tion to pursue the practice of law." Rev. N. W. Taylor speaks of Mr. Dwight : " Though by nature an ambitious and proud man, loving distinction, his talents were devoted to the cause for which the Son of God lived and died. , He was what those who knew him less than I did, would perhaps not so readily admit, preeminently a conscientious, disinterested man, under the influence of a deep and earnest piety." One eminent in civil life remarked : " I have often expressed the opinion, that no man except the 'father of his country' has conferred greater benefits on our nation than Timothy Dwight." He was married in March, 1777, to Mary, daughter of Benjamin Woolsey, of Long Island, " the classmate, room-mate, and in- timate friend of his father." They had eight sons, five of whom graduated at Yale College. His grandson, Timothy Dwight, was elected President of this institution in 1887. 13 THEOPHILUS EATON. FIRST GOVERNOR OF NEW HAVEN COLONY, 1639-1657.* Theophilus Eaton " was the eldest son of the Rev. Mr. Eaton, minister of Stratford in Oxfordshire, who afterwards removed to Coventry, and there also performed the duties of a parish minister.'' Of Mr. Eaton and others who came to this country, their experi- ences, the work which under Providence they were permitted to discharge, and the circumstances attending the elevation of Mr. Eaton to the first position -in the NeW Haven Colony, history fur-, nishes account as follows : On the 26th of July, 1637, John Davenport, Samuel Eaton, Theophilus Eaton, Edward Hopkins, Thomas Greyson, and others of good characters and fortunes, arrived at Boston from England. The fame of Mr. Davenport, and the reputation and good estates of the principal gentlemen of his company, made the people of Massachusetts desirous of their settlement in that commonwealth. Inducements were extended by private parties and by the Gen- eral Court. They preferred however to take up other quarters and to plant a distinct colony. In the fall of 1637, Mr. Eaton and others made a journey to Connecticut, to explore the lands and harbors on the seacoast. They pitched upon Quinnipiac for the place of settlement, and erected a hut in which a few men subsisted through the winter. Early in the spring of 1638, the company left Boston for the new colony. On the i8th of April they kept the first Sabbath, the people holding worship under a large oak in what is now the city of New Haven. At the close of a day of fasting and prayer, they entered into * "History of Connecticut," by Rev. Benjamin Trumbull, New Haven, 1818; HoUister's History ; Mathers" Magnalia"; Bacon's " Historical Discourses." 194 THEOPHIL US EA TON. 1 95 what they termed a plantation covenant. In this they solemnly bound themselves : " That as in matters that concern the gathering and ordering of a church, so also in all public offices, which con- cern civil order, they would be ordered by the rules which the Scriptures present." On the 24th of November, 1638, these English planters entered into an agreement with Momaugin and his counselors, respecting the lands. Momaugin, Sachem of Quinnipiac, yielded up all his right, title and interest, to all the land, rivers, ponds, and trees, with all the liberties and appurtenances belonging, unto The- ophilus Eaton, John Davenport and others, their heirs and assigns forever. He covenanted that neither he nor his Indians would terrify nor disturb the English, nor injure them in any of their in- terests ; but that in every respect, they would keep their faith with them. The English covenanted to protect Momaugin and his Indians, when unreasonably assaulted by other Indians ; and guaranteed land, for planting purposes, on the east side of the harbor, between that and Saybrook fort. They also covenanted, that by way of free and thankful retribution, to give unto the said Sachem, his council and company, twelve coats of English cloth, twelve alchemy spoons, twelve hatchets, twelve hoes, two dozen of knives and scissors. This agreement was signed and legally executed by Momaugin and his council, on the one part, and Theophilus Eaton and John Davenport on the other. In Decem- ber following, they made a purchase of another tract, lying to the north ten miles by thirteen. For this last tract, the English gave thirteen coats, and allowed the Indians ground to plant, and liberty to hunt. The planters of Quinnipiac continued more than a year without any civil or religious constitution or compact, further than had been expressed in their plantation covenant. On the 4th of June, 1639, they convened in a large barn belonging to Mr. Newman, and proceeded to lay the foundations of their civil and religious gov- ernment. Mr. Davenport introduced the business by a sermon from the words : " Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars." He urged that the church should be formed of seven pillars, or principal brethren, to whom all the other members of the church should be added. After prayer for 196 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. Divine guidance, he proceeded to represent to the planters that they were met to consult respecting the settlement of civil govern- ment according to the will of God. He enlarged on the importance of the transaction, and desired that no man would give his voice, until he had thoroughly considered, and that each would act without respect to men, and give his vote in the fear of God. Among other resolutions it was voted : " That the Scriptures hold forth a perfect rule for the direction and govern- ment of all men in all duties which they are to perform to God and men. " That church members only shall be free burgesses, and that they shall choose magistrates only among themselves, to transact the civil affairs of the plantation. ^ " That twelve men be chosen, and that it be in the power of those twelve men to chose seven of their number to begin the church." The men that were finally chosen for the seven pillars of the church, were Theophilus Eaton, John Davenport, Robert New- man, Mathew Gilbert, Thomas Fugill, John Punderson, and Jeremiah Dixon. On the 2Sth of October, the court as it was termed, consisting of these seven pillars, convened. Prayer was offered, and they proceeded to form the body of freemen, and to elect civil officers. All former trust for managing the public affairs of the plantation, was declared to cease. All those who had been admitted to the church, after the gathering of it, in the choice of the seven pillars, and all members of other approved churches, who offered themselves, were admitted mem- bers of the court. ■ Mr. Davenport presented passages from Scripture which refer to civil magistrates, and made comment. The election of officers followed. Theophilus Eaton was chosen Governor ; Robert Newman, Mathew Gilbert, Nathaniel Turner, and Thomas Fugill, were chosen Magistrates. Mr. Fugill was also chosen Secretary, and Robert Seely was chosen Marshal. Mr. Davenport gave Governor Eaton a charge in open court, from Deuteronomy i. 16, 17. "And I charged your judges at that time, saying. Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment, but ye shall hear the small as well as the great ; ye shall not be afraid THEOPHIL US EA TON. 1 97 of the face of man ; for the judgment is God's ; and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it." Mr. Eaton was annually elected Governor for eighteen years, and died in office in 1657. The following items of history, referring to Governor Eaton, are from the pen of Rev. Cotton Mather. Of his early acquaintance with Mr. Davenport : " His father being removed into Coventry, he then at school fell into the inti- mate acquaintance with that worthy John Davenport, with whom in the providence of God many years after, he united in the great undertaking of settling a colony of Christian and reformed churches on the American strand." Of his attention when in youth to the sermons of the sanctuary : " So vast was his memory, that although he wrote not at the church, yet when he came home, he would, at his father's call, repeat unto those that met in his father's house, the sermons which had been publicly preached." Of his domestic alliances : " Having arrived unto a fair estate (which he was first willing to do), he married a most virtuous gentlewoman, to whom he had first espoused himself, after he had spent three years in an absence from her in the East Country. But this dearest and greatest of his temporal enjoyments, proved but a temporal one. ... At her death she expressed herself willing to be dissolved and to be with Christ, 'from whom,' she said, ' I would not be detained one hour for all the enjoyments upon earth.' He afterwards married a prudent and pious widow, the daughter of the Bishop of Chester ; unto the three former children of which widow, he became a most exemplary, and faith- ful father, as well as a most worthy husband unto herself, by whom he had five children, two sons and three daughters." Of family government : " As in his governnient of the common- wealth, so in the government of his family, he was prudent, happy to a wonder ; and albeit he sometimes had a large family consist- ing of no less than thirty persons, yet he managed them, with such an even temper, that observers have affirmed, ' They never saw an house ordered with more wisdom.' " His character as a Christian : " So exemplary was he for a Christian, that one who had been a servant unto him, could many 198 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. years after say, ' Whatever difficulty in my daily walk I now meet withal, still something that I either saw or heard in my blessed master Eaton's conversation, helps me through it all; I have reason to bless God that I ever knew him.' It was his custom when he first rose on a morning, to repair unto his study ; a study well perfumed with the meditations and supplica- tions of an holy soul. After this, calling his family together, he would then read a portion of the Scripture among them, and after some devout and useful reflections upon it, he would make a prayer, not long, but extraordinarily pertinent and reverent." Says Rev. Dr. Bacon, referring to Governor Eaton and his associates : " Never, elsewhere, I believe, has the world seen magistrates who felt more deeply that they were God's ministers, executing God's justice." Says the historian, Mr. Hubbard, as quoted by Mr. Bacon : "This man, (Governor Eaton) had in him great gifts, and as many excellencies as are usually found in any one man ; he had an excellent princely face and port, was a good scholar, a traveler, a great reader, of an excellent, steady and even spirit ; but above all, he was seasoned with religion, close in closet duties.'' Davenport and Eaton built their dwellings over against each other on the same street in New Haven ; and the intimacy begun when they were children, strengthened in their manhood. Rarely could a day pass when they did not lake counsel together. The voice of prayer, or the evening psalm in one of their dwellings, might be heard in the other. Whatever changes came upon one family, the other was sure to partake immediately in the sorrow or the joy. TIMOTHY EDWARDS. MEMBER OF MASSACHUSETTS COUNCIL, 1775-1780.* Richard Edwards, great-grandfather of Timothy, was a mer- chant in Hartford, Conn., a man of wealth and intelligence. " At an early age he became a communicant in the Congregational Church, and adorned his profession by a long life' of integrity and unusual devotedness to the cause of religion." Timothy Edwards, grandfather of Timothy, graduated at Har- vard College in 1691, became the first minister of East Windsor, Conn., and continued his pastorate in this place more than half a century. Jonathan Edwards, father of Timothy, was born at East Wind- sor Oct. 5, 1703; graduated at Yale College in 1720; became pastor of the church at Northampton, Mass. ; succeeded Rev. Mr. Sergeant as missionary at Stockbridge, to the Whites and Indians, receiving his salary from London and from the Legislature ; accepted in 1758 an appointment to the presidency of New Jersey College, where his labors were soon interrupted by death. In Stockbridge he wrote " Inquiry Concerning the Freedom of the Will," and " Treatise on Original Sin." When the council gave their decision that the cause demanded his labors at Princeton rather than continuance at Stockbridge, he covered his face with his hands and wept. His labors at Northampton were attended by a powerful religious awakening. Timothy Edwards, oldest son of Jonathan, was born at North- ampton July 25, 1738, died at Stockbridge, Oct. 27, 1813. He entered Princeton College at the age of fifteen, graduating * Allen's " Biographical Dictionary ; " " History of Stockbridge," by Miss E. F. Jones; Clark's "Northampton Antiquities;" "History of Berkshire County," edition of 1829. 199 200 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. in 1757. After his father's sudden decease, the care of the family devolved upon him. He became a merchant and settled in Elizabethtown, N. J., and at the age of thirty-two moved to Stockbridge, Mass., where the family lived at the time he entered college. Here he became " one of the strong men of the county, intellectually and morally, and was long an honored officer in the Congregational Church." From 177s until 1780, he was a member of the Council, as it existed in virtue of the English charter, a period in which the gov- ernment of the State was much entrusted to that body. Before the adoption of the present Constitution of the United States, and while Representatives to Congress in Massachusetts were appointed by the Legislature, Timothy Edwards of Stockbridge was in 1779 appointed a Representative, but declined. Mr. Edwards was* the father of fifteen children. His son William became a tanner ; failed once in business, and " honestly paid up the old debts, from which he was legally discharged, to the amount of $25,000." In his old age, in Dr. Mason's church, New York, he was a Sunday-school teacher, and a tract distrib- utor. Iamj-uJ/iuM/^^ OLIVER ELLSWORTH. CHIEF-JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES, 1796-180I.* David Ellsworth, father of Oliver, was a farmer, and lived in Windsor, Conn. He married Jemimah Leavitt, a lady of " good mind and pious principles." Oliver Ellsworth was born in Windsor, Conn., April 29, 1745 ; died November 26, 1807. He passed his early years on his father's farm, prepared for college under the instruction of Rev. Dr. Bellamy, entered Yale College at the age of seventeen, where he remained two years, removed to Princeton College, New Jersey, and graduated in 1766. The following incident has been given of his student life. " The students were prohibited to wear their hats within the col- lege yard. Ellsworth, on one occasion, was arraigned for violat- ing this law of the institutiori. He defended himself on the ground that a hat was composed of two parts, the crown and the brim, and as his hat had no brim, which by the by he had torn off, he could be guilty of no offence. This ingenious plea seems to have satisfied the scruples of his judges, and he escaped all punishment." He studied law successively with the first Governor Griswold, ^nd the Hon. Jesse Root, and was admitted to the bar in 1771. In obtaining his education he had incurred pecuniary obliga- tions, of which he determined, before beginning his career as a *" Lives o£ Chief-Justices of United States," by Henry Flanders; " Princeton College, Eighteenth Century," by S. D. Alexander ; " Dwight's Travels." 201 202 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. lawyer to relieve himself. He held in his own right a tract of woodland on the Connecticut River. This he made an eifort to sell without success. The wood however was salable. Hence instead of opening an office, and relying on the uncertain gains of his profession to discharge his indebtedness, he proceeded to the forest with ax and woodman's rig, and in the course of a few months, cut, and transported down the river to Hartford, wood enough to pay his debts. Soon after being called to the Bar, Mr. Ellsworth was married to Abigail, daughter of Mr. William Wolcott, of East Windsor. He accepted from his father the use of a small farm, situated in the northwest part of Windsor, parish of Waterbury, and here he commenced his professional career, relying almost wholly upon his agricultural labors for support. When the court was in ses- sion at Hartford, he walked back and forth, a distance of ten miles. He declared "that three pounds, Connecticut money, /^r annum, was the extent of his professional receipts for the first three years after being called to the Bar." He was finally employed in a suit of some importance, and gaiaed his case. His prospects brightened, clients gradually increased, he abandoned his little farm and moved to Hartford. He Was soon appointed Attorney-General of the State, and held the office for several years. * He was a member of the Legislature which assembled a few days after the battle of Lexington ;' in 1777 was chosen Delegate to the Continental Congress ; from 1780 to 1784 was a member of the Council of Connecticut, and then was appointed Judge of the Superior Court; in 1787 was a member of the convention which framed the Constitution of the United States ; was Senator in Congress from 1789 to .1796, when he was appointed by Washing- ton Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. During his connection with the Senate, he urged that it was not expedient to attempt to fund the public debt at interest hi^er than four per cent. He also disagreed with the Secretary's pro- posal to leave one third of the debt unfunded for ten years. He received the degree of LL. D. from Yale College in 1790, from Dartmouth in 1797. In reply to the question, " What is the secret of your intellectual OLIVER ELLSWORTH. 203 power?" Mr. Ellsworth said : " Early in my career I determined to study but one subject at a time. In the practice of my profes- sion, I have as a rule, given attention to the main points of a case, leaving the minor ones to shift for themselves." The friendship of Washington for Mr. Ellsworth is revealed in a manuscript letter, dated March 8, 1797, four days after the expiration of his term of office. " Dear Sir: • " Before I leave this city, which will be within less than twenty-four hours, permit me in acknowledging the receipt of your kind and affectionate note of the 6th, to offer you the thanks of a grateful heart for the sentiments you have expressed in my favor, and for those attentions with which you have always honored me. In return, I pray you to accept all my good wishes for the per- fect restoration of your health, and for all the happiness this life can afford you. As your official duty will necessarily call you to the southward, I will take the liberty of adding, that it will always give me pleasure to see you at Mount Vernon as you pass and repass. With unfeigned esteem and regard, in which Mrs. Washington joins me, I am always and affectionately yours, " George Washington." "Mr. Ellsworth was a model of a legislator and judge. His perceptions were rapid, his reasoning clear, and his eloquence powerful. He moved for more than thirty years in a conspicuous sphere, unassailed by slander. " In private life he was unassuming and humble. His dress, his equipage and mode of living were regulated by a principle of republican economy. " He was above all an exemplary Christian, having confessed Christ in his youth ; and in every station he was not ashamed of his Gospel. His religion was practical and vital — always at the prayer meetings, and a life-long friend of missions." Says Timothy Dwight of Mr. Ellsworth : " Universally, his eloquence strongly resembled that of Demos- thenes, grave, forcible, and inclined to severity. "In his manner of living, although possessed of an ample for- tune, he blended with a happy propriety, plainness and dignity." Another authority speaks thus of Mr. Ellsworth : " Guests occasionally present at morning and evening devo- tions were solemnized by the fervor and sublimity of his prayers. 204 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. " He inculcated on all under his roof a reverence for the Sab- bath, and was in the habit of gathering them around him, and reading them a sermon, in addition to the public worship of the day." William W., son of Oliver Ellsworth, graduated at Yale College ; was Representative in Congress from Connecticut 1829-1833, and became Governor of the State in 1838, JOHN ENDICOTT. FIRST GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY, 1629.* John Endicott was born in Dorchester, Dorsetshire, Eng., in 1588 ; died in Boston, Mass., March 15, 1665. He was a surgeon in his native county, previous to leaving Eng- land for the new world. " On the third of November, 1620, forty noblemen, knights and gentlemen of England, were incorporated by K.ing James, under the name and style of 'The Council established at Plymouth, County of Devon, for the planting, ruling and governing New England in America.' " On the 19th of March, 1628, six men, viz., John Endicott, Henry Roswell, John Young, Simon Whetcomb, John Humphrey, and Thomas Southcoat, made a purchase of this Council, for "a considerable sum of money," of a grant for the settlement of Massachusetts Bay. Among those who afterwards purchased rights in this patent, were John Winthrop, Sir Richard Salton- stall, Isaac Johnson, Matthew Cradock, and Thomas Goffe. Of this " London Company," Matthew Cradock was chosen Gov- ernor. Mr. Cradock never visited America, but John Endicott became the responsible man to go forth and establish a government. He sailed from Weymouth in ship Abigail, June 20, 1628, in company with nearly one hundred planters, and arrived at Naumkeag, or Salem as now called, September 6. Isaac Johnson thus alludes to the event. " The much honored Mr. John Indicut, came over *" Governors of New Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay," by J. B. Moore; Johnson's " Wonder Working Providence ; " " New England Historical and Genealogical Register ; " " Massachusetts Historical Collections ; " Hazard's " Historical Collections ; " Young's " Chronicles of Massachusetts.'' 205 2o6 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. with them to govern, a fit instrument to begin this wilderness work, of courage bold, undaunted yet sociable, and of a cheerful spirit, loving and austere, applying himself to either as occasion served. . .- . . " Strong valiant John, wilt thou march on, and take up station first? Christ call'd hath thee, his Shoulder be, and fail not of thy trust." His appointment to the office of Governor took place at "a General Court holden at London, April 30, 1629," and a record of the proceedings reads as follows. " Having taken into due Con- sideration the Merit, Worth, and Good Desert of Capt. John Endicott, and others lately gone over from hence with purpose to reside and continue there, we have, with full Consent and Authority of this Court, and by Erection of Hands, chosen and elected the said Capt. John Endicott to the place of present Governor in our said Plantation." A few days previous to this transaction, the Governor and Deputy of the New England Company jDenned a lengthy epistle to Mr. Endicott, beginning as follows : " Laus Deo, in Gravesend, April 17, 1629. " Loving Friends : " We heartily salute you. We have received your letter of the 13th of Sep- tember, by which we take notice of your safe arrival, blessing God for it. The following passages in this epistle refer to the religious welfare of the plantation. " And for that the propagation of the Gospel, is the thing we do profess above all to be our aim in settling this plantation, we have been careful to make plentiful provision of godly ministers, by whose faithful preaching, godly conversation, and exemplary life, we trust not only those of our nation will be built up in the knowledge of God, but also the Indians may, in God's appointed time, be reduced to the obedience of the Gospel of Christ. One of them is well known to yourself, viz., Mr. Skelton, whom we have the rather desired to liear a part in this work, for that we are informed yourself hath formerly received much good by his ministry ; he cometh in the George Bonaventun, Mr. Thomas Cox. Another is Mr. Higgerson, a grave man and of worthy commendations ; he cometh in the Talbot. The third is Mr. Bright, sometimes trained up under Mr. Davenport, who cometh in the Lion's Whelp. We pray you accommodate them all with necessaries as well as you may, and in con- JOHN ENDICOTT. 20/ venient time let there be houses built them, according to the agreement we have made with them." " To the end the Sabbath may be celebrated in a religious manner, we appoint that all that inhabit the plantation, both for the general and particular employments, may surcease their labor every Saturday throughout the year, at three of the clock in the afternoon, and that they spend the rest of that day in catechising and preparation for the Sabbath as the ministers shall direct." The epistle abounds in information and instructions referring to the temporal welfare of the colonists. For instance : " We have followed your advice and sent most of our guns, .... and we have also sent store of powder and shot, grain for seed, wheat, barley, and rye in the chaff, etc. As for fruit-stones' and kernels, the time of the year fits not to send them now, so we purpose to do it per next. Tame turkeys shall be now sent you if may be, if not, per other ships. We are disappointed of the provisions ordered to have been sent for yourself and Mrs. Endicott, but God willing, they shall come by the next." The letter advises concerning the sending forth from the mother country, skilled men. " We have entertained Mr. Thomas Groves, a man commended to us as well for his honesty as skill, in many things very useful : first, he professeth great skill in the making of salt ; second, he is well seen in mines and min- erals ; third, he is able to make any fortifications ; fourth, he is well able to survey and set forth lands (he hath been a traveller in divers foreign parts to gain his experience). We pray you take his advice touching the prem- ises. . . . Soon as you have made trial of his sufficiency, write us your opin- ion, how long you conceive it will be fit for us to continue him in our service, for that he is tied to serve us one whole year absolutely, and two years more if we should give him order to stay there so long. We hope to receive your advice time enough to give him order to stay out full three years, or to come home at the end of one year. His salary costs this company a great sum of money, besides which if he remain with us, the transi^orting of his wife, and building him a house, will be very chargeable." " We desire you to take notice of one Lawrence Leach, whom we have found a careful man, and we doubt not but he will continue his diligence ; let him have deserving respect. The like we say of Richard Waterman, whose chief employment will be to get you good venison." "We have sent six Shipwrights, of whom Robert Molton is chief; these men's entertainment is very chargeable to us, and by agreement is to be borne, two thirds at the charge of the general Company, and the other third by Mr. Cradock, our Governor, aijd his associates, interested in a private stock." " William Riall and Thomas Brude, Coopers and Cleavers of Timber, are entertained by us in halves with Mr. Cradock, our Governor." 2o8 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. " There is one Richard Ewstead, a Wheelwright, who was commended to us by Mr. Davenport, for a very able man, though not without his imperfections: we pray you take notice of him and regard him as he shall well deserve. The benefit of his labor is to be two thirds for the general Company and one third for Mr. Cradock." " We have entertained Lambert Wilson, Surgeon, to remain with you in the Service of the Plantation, with whom we are agreed that he shall serve this Company, and the other Planters that live in the Plantation, for three years;' and in that time apply himself to cure not only of such as came from hence but also of the Indians, as from time to time he shall be directed by yourself or your successor, and the rest of the Council. And moreover, he is to educate and instruct in his art one or more youths, such as you and the said Council shall appoint, that may be helpful to him", and if occasion serve succeed him in the Plantation." Closing passages in this letter from the New England Com- pany in London are as follows : " For the better accommodation of business, we have divided the servants belonging to the Company into several families. . . . " Our earnest desire is, that you take special care in settling these families, that the Chief in the family (at least some of them) be grounded in religion; whereby morning and evening family duties may be duly performed. . . . And we heartily pray you, that all be kept to labor, as the only means to reduce them to civil, yea, a godly life, and to keep youth from falling into many enormities, which by nature we are all too much inclined unto. " God, who alone is able and powerful, enable you to this great work, and grant that our chief aim may be his honor and glory. And, thus wishing you all happy and prosperous success, we end and rest, " Your assured loving friends, "The Governor and Deputy of the New England Company, " For a Plantation in Massachusetts Bay." Mr. Endicott was superseded in his office of Governor of the Colony, by the arrival of Winthrop with the Charter. Soon after he was chosen an Assistant, and occupied the position nine years. In 1636 he was chosen a Colonel, and commanded the first unsuc- cessful expedition in the Pequot war. In 1641, he was elected Deputy Governor, which office he held four years. He was chosen Governor in 1644, 1649, 1651-1653, and 1655-1665, six- teen years, a longer period of service than any Governor of the Colony under the old Charter. Mr. Endicott co-operated in establishing a church at Salem, which became an organization August 6, 1629 ; the first in Massa- JOHN ENDJCOTT. 209 chusetts Colony. The following letter written in May from Mr. Endicott to Governor Bradford of Plymouth Colony, makes allu- sion to the expected event. " Right WoRTHy Sir : " It is a thing not usual that servants of one Master, and of the same house- hold should be strangers. I assure you I desire it not ; nay, to speak more plainly, I cannot be so to you. God's people are all marked with one and the same mark, and have for the main one and the same heart, guided by one and the same spirit of truth ; and where this is there can be no discord, nay, here must needs be a sweet harmony ; and the same request with you, I make 'unto the Lord, that we as Christian brethren be united by an heavenly and unfeigned love, binding all our hearts and forces in furthering a work beyond our strength with reverence and fear, fastening our eyes always on Him that is only able to direct and prosper all our ways. I acknowledge myself much bound to you, for your kind love and care in sending Mr. Fuller amongst us, and rejoice much that I am by him satisfied, touching your judgment of the outward form of God's worship. . . . " Your assured loving friend, "John Endicott. "Naumkeag, May 11, 1629.'' The church covenant to which Mr. Endicott and others sub- scribed, drawn up by Rev. Mr. Higgerson, contained the follow- ing points. " We promise to walk with out brethren with all watchfulness and tender- ness, avoiding jealousies, suspicions, backbitings, censurings. . . ." " We do hereby promise to carry ourselves in all lawful obedience to those that are over us in Church or Commonwealth. . . ." " We resolve to approve ourselves to the Lord in our particular callings, shunning idleness, as the bane of any state ; nor will We deal hardly or oppressively with any wherein we are the Lord's stewards." " Promising also, to our best ability, to teach our children and servants the knowledge of God and of his will, that they serve him also ; and all this, not by any strength of our own, but by the Lord Christ, whose blood we desire may sprinkle this our covenant made in his name." Though Governor Endicott removed from Salem to Boston in 1655, neither he nor Mrs. Endicott removed their connection with the Salem church until November, 1664. To Governor Winthrop Mr. Endicott writes on matters pertain- ing to the French : 14 2 lO AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. " Dearest Sir : " I find that your troubles are many, and especially about this French busi- ness. The Lord in mercy support you. I am much grieved to hear what I hear. . . . The Lord rebuke Satan. Sir^ be of good comfort ; I doubt not but that our God that is in heaven will carry you above all the injuries of men. . . . Our prayers here, are publicly and privately for a good issue of it; and that continually. . . . The Lord our God be with you, to uphold you, and to continue you amongst us to do yet further service, to whose grace I commit you. " Yours ever truly to serve, "Jo. Endicott. " Salem, 26, sth mo. 1643.'' Mr. Endicott was twice married. The first Mrs. Endicott was Anna Gouer, cousin to Matthew Cr9,dock, married in England, and died in less than a year after her arrival in Massachusetts. The second Mrs. Endicott was Elizabeth Gibson of Cambridge, England, a lady about twenty-six years younger than Mr. Endicott, married August 18, 1630, Governor Winthrop and Rev. Mr. Wil- son performing the ceremony. She survived Mr. Endicott with two sons. The elder son left no children. The younger was a physician, and resided in Salem. He was twice married and a family of five sons and five daughters survived him. His second wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Governor Winthrop, and widow of the Rev. Antipas Newman, of Wenham. The Charter possessed by Governor Endicott is now in the Salem Athenaeum. His portrait hangs in the Senate Chamber at the State House. HORACE FAIRBANKS. GOVERNOR OF VERMONT, 1876.* Erastus Fairbanks, father of Horace, born at Brimfield, Mass,, received a common-school education, taught school in St. Johnsbury, Vt., and in 1825 there formed a partnership with his younger brother for the manufacture of platform scales. He was a member of the State Legislature in 1836, and was Governor of Vermont in 1852 and in i860. Horace Fairbanks was born in Barnet, Vt., March 21, 1820; died in New York City March 17, 1888. The family removed to St. Johnsbury when Horace was five years of age. He pursued his early education here, and subse- quently studied at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. When eighteen years of age he became a clerk in the Fairbanks' establishment for the manufacture of scales, and in 1843 became a member of the firm. Their annual sales at this date did not exceed fifty thousand dollars, and about forty men were employed. Their sales finally reached more than three million dollars, and fifteen hundred men were employed. In 1869, he was elected to the State Senate, but was unable to serve on account of severe illness. In 1876 he was elected Governor of Vermont. At the time the nomination was made, he was absent from the State. His surprise at what had taken place was complete, and " never was there a clearer case of the office seeking the man." Mr. Fairbanks gave liberally to home and foreign missions, and to the town of St. Johnsbury he gave the Athenaeum, with its building, library and gallery of paintings, at a cost of over one * Lanman's " Biographical Annals ; " Appleton ; St. Johnsbury Republican. 211 212 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. hundred thousand dollars. He was a member of the Congrega- tional Church of St. Johnsbury, and was well known for Christian character and godly life, not merely at home, but wherever his good fame had reached in the commonwealth and nation. He was a man of fine spirit, his quiet manner covering a strong will, clear judgment, and thoughtful intelligence. He was married August 9, 1849, to Mary E., daughter of James Taylor, of Derry, N. H. They had three children, all daughters. RICHARD FLETCHER. JUDGE OF MASSACHUSETTS SUPREME COURT, 1848-1853.* " Hon. Asaph Fletcher, father of Richard, possessed intense religious convictions, and did not permit his son to go forth from home till he had stamped on his heart this truth of the Gospel, ' Except a man be born again, he cannot see the "kingdom of God.' " Ricjiard Fletcher was born at Cavendish, Vt., January 8, 1788 ; died in Boston, June 21, 1869. He graduated at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, studied law at Portsmouth with Daniel Webster, entered upon practice at Salisbury, and in the year 1825 removed to Boston. He was often an antagonist of Webster, and became eminent in all branches of legal practice. He served in the Massachusetts Legislature ; was a Representa- tive in Congress from 1837 to 1839 ; and Judge of the Massachu- setts Supreme Court from 1848 to 1853. While in college he was the subject of serious impressions, but graduated, so far as it appears, without any settled hope in Christ. On removing to Boston he received benefit from the preaching of Dr. Thomas Baldwin, and that of Dr. Lyman Beecher. In the year 1830, he was baptized by Rev. Dr. Malcom, and received into the fellowship of the Federal Street Baptist Church. In alluding to this event he said : " At last I had found rest. I look back with gratitude to that moment when I was permitted to be buried with Christ in baptism, and as I have realized the glorious import of that rite, I have wondered that every Christian * Lanman's " Biographical Annals ; " " Discourse," by Rev. A. J. Gordon. 2^3 2 1 4 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. should not long to go down thus into the water and die, and rise again in the likeness of Christ." He closely perused the Bible, and works by Bishop Wilson, Samuel Rutherford and Jeremy Taylor ; and in his care for his own soul, he did not forget the souls of the unconverted. In his journal, Tuesday, October 24, 1848, he writes : " I have this day received a commission of Associate Justice of the Su- preme Judicial Court of this Commonwealth, and have taken the oath of office before Governor George N. Briggs. I feel my insufficiency for the duties of this office, and I humbly look to Heaven for strength and wisdom to sustain and guide me." He made bequests to three institutions, directed to the care of poor children ; and to Dartmouth College he bequeathed one hundred thousand dollars. SOLOMON FOOT. SENATOR IN CONGRESS,' 1851-1866.* Solomon Foot was born in Cornwall, Addison County, Vt., November 15, 1802 ; died in Washington, D. C, March 28, 1866. " God granted Mr. Foot one of the greatest earthly blessings, a loving, praying, pious mother, who early instilled into his mind principles of reverence toward God, obedience to authority, and love of truth." He was by force of circumstances thrown upon his own resources, and early in life acquired independent habits of thought and action. He graduated at Middlebury College in 1826 ; was for a time principal of Castle ton Academy, studied law and came to the Bar in 183 1, and established himself in Rutland. He was a member of the Vermont Legislature iii 1833, 1836, 1837, 1838, 1847 ; was State Attorney from 1836 to 1842 ; was Representative in Congress from 1843 to 1847 ; and was three times elected a Senator in Congress for the term of six years each, commencing 1851. Mr. Foot became the oldest Senator in continuous service. Few men's opinions were ever sought with more respect, or received with more reverence than his. Capable of most moving speech, graceful beyond most in elocution, he was seldom heard in debate. Whenever he spoke, the wonder was, that he who spoke so well should speak so rarely. As presiding officer of the Senate for a long period, he distinguished himself by his prompt- ness, urbanity and fairness. The Rev. Dr. Sunderland speaks as follows of Mr. Foot's experiences during his last sickness : * Addresses delivered at Washington, 1866 ; Lanman's " Biographical Annals." 215 2l6 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. "On Monday, March 19, 1866, I had an interview with the Senator at his own request. He commenced by saying that he desired to see me, that he had received an affectionate letter from his old friend and pastor, Rev. Dr. Ailcen, of Rutland, Vt, on the subject of his spiritual welfare, and continuing with words inter- rupted by tears, he said : ' I know it is but a poor time for a man to pay attention to the concerns of his soul when he is brought face to face with death, and I can say that, having always assented intellectually, at least, to the truth of the Christian doc- trines, I have only been too prone to postpone the practical ques- tion. At the commencement of this illness I was about preparing to assume a duty long neglected, that of family worship, morning and evening. For years I have daily read the Bible in presence of my wife, but when I have seen her seeking her God in prayer, so habitually and earnestly, I have felt that we ought to be united in it.' Continuing he said : ' My father and mother were both devoted Christians, and I was instructed in childhood in the lessons of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have never doubted from that day to this the truth of those teachings. I know and feel that I am a sinner. I believe that Christ made an atonement sufficient for all men, and that this atonement is the only ground of salvation to human beings. I am convinced that none will ever be saved by works of righteousness which they have done. I have a strong desire to accept these terms of mercy, if I only might have an assurance that God will not now reject me after my long rejection of Him.' .... Misapprehending the object of my' remarks, and supposing that I was about to lead him to rely upon his past life and character for his future prospects, he quickly interposed to say : ' All that will not answer me now. I must have a heart work. I must have the foundation of the atonement of Christ alone to stand upon.' Leaving the topic upon which I was speaking, I tried to address myself to the one point, which I discovered to be weighing upon his mind. . . . He said at length that he thought he had found the way. ' I have,' he continued, ' been thinking much of these two lines repeated the other day : 'Here, Lord, I give myself away, 'Tis all that I can do.' " I begin to understand that this comprehends all, and I am SOLOMON FOOT. 2 1 7 beginning to lean alone on Jesus Christ, as my Saviour and Friend.' .... By his desire, and with the consent of his physi- cian, in presence of his family and a few Christian friends, he sig- nified his public profession of faith in Christ, by receiving the symbols of the Lord's Supper, and joining for the first and last time on earth, in that communion which all God's children hope to renew in Heaven. On receiving the bread into his mouth he uttered in a low but solemn and reverential manner these words: 'This bread is the symbol of the broken body of Christ Jesus, through whom alone I hope for the mercy of God and the gift of eternal life.' .... The following lines were sung: ' How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in his excellent Word ! What more could he say than to you he hath said, You who unto Jesus for refuge have fled f. The soul that on Jesas has leaned for repose, I will not, I cannot desert to its foes, That soul though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never — no never — no never forsake.' " ORIN FOWLER. REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS, 1849-1852.* Orin Fowler was born in Lebanon, Conn., July 29, 1791; died in Washington, D. C, September 3, 1852. He was a descendant of the seventh generation, from William Fowler, a Magistrate of New Haven Colony, and was the oldest son and sixth child of Amos and Rebecca Fowler. His early years were spent in laboring upon his father's farm, with service at school-teaching for two winters, when sixteen and seventeen years old. , " At eleven years of age, in company with four brothers and four sisters, he was presented by his parents for Christian bap- tism. Having subsequently experienced religion, at the age of eighteen he united with the Congregational Church in Leba- non." He prepared for College under the instruction of his pastor. Rev. Mr. Ripley, entered Williams College in 18 11, at the end of the first term took his dismission ; after studying again under Mr. Ripley, and also for one term at the Academy at Colchester, he entered the Sophomore class in Yale College, and graduated at that institution in 1815. He took charge of the Academy at Fairfield for a year ; studied theology with Rev. Dr. Humphrey, minister at Fairfield, after- ward President of Amherst College ; and was ordained to the work of the Gospel in June, 1818. After a year of missionary work at the West, he returned to Connecticut, and was installed over the Church at Plainfield, * Sprague's " Annals of the American Pulpit," v. 2 ; Mss, by Mrs. Fowlerj Boston Recorder. 218 ORIN FO WLER. 2 1 9 remaining until 1831. In July following, he was settled over the First Congregational Church in Fall River, Mass. In the year 1841, Mr. Fowler delivered three discourses con- taining an historical sketch of Fall River from the year 1620. In this sketch he referred to the boundary line between Massachusetts and Rhode Island, that had been in dispute for about a century. Not long after, at a meeiing of the citizens of Fall River on the sub- ject of the boundary, Mr. Fowler, without his knowledge, was placed upon a committee to defend the interests of the town before Com- missioners appointed by the two States. This service he promptly and ably performed ; but the Commissioners came to a decision in which the people of Fall River were little disposed to acquiesce ; and they resolved upon an effort, through the Massa- chusetts Legislature, to prevent the establishment of the line fixed upon by the Commissioners. Mr. Fowler now published a series of papers in the Boston Atlas, designed to present before the pub- lic mind the historical facts sustaining the claims of Massachu- setts. When the authorship of the papers was ascertained, there was a general voice in favor of his being chosen to the Senate of the Commonwealth. He was accordingly elected in the autumn of 1847, ^"^^ the Senate, largely through his influence, rejected the Report of the Commissioners by a unanimous vote. In 1848, he was elected a Representative in Congress, and here his advocacy of the cheap postage bill was highly effective. In 1850. he was re-elected to Congress by a large vote, but his health did not allow him to pursue further duty. " In the Gospel ministry, Mr. Fowler was faithful. Besides calls on the sick and the afflicted, he visited his large flock twice a year; and the new comer in his congregation saw him immedi- ately at his house. During his first year in Plainfield, there were ninety conversions ; during the first five years in Fall River but three communion seasons passed without additions to the church. While in Congress, he preached from time to time in vacant desks and in destitute places." He was the known friend of the strict observance of the Sab- bath, of total abstinence from the use of intoxicating liquors, and of tobacco in all its forms. He enjoyed vigorous health ; rose early, took exercise about his 220 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. garden, barn and wood-house ; and was ready to sit down early in his study, which he rarely left until one o'clock; He had an open and manly countenance, and an eminently social and friendly spirit. Mr. Fowler was married October i6, 182 1, to Amaryllis, fourth daughter of John H. Payson, of Pomfret, Conn. They had no children. Besides various speeches in Congress and contributions to periodicals, Mr. Fowler published a sermon at the ordination of Israel G. Rose at Canterbury, 1825 ; a " Disquisition on the evils attending the use of Tobacco," 1833 ; " Lectures on the mode and subjects of Baptism," 1835 ; " History of Fall River," 1841. THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN. SENATOR IN CONGRESS, 1829-1835.* Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen, great-grandfather of Theodore, was ordained to the pastoral office in 17 17, emigrated from Germany in 1720; and served in the Gospel in different parishes in New Jersey. Whiteiield, in his journal of 1739, speaks of an extensive work of grace as the fruit of Frelinghuysen's min- istry in New Brunswick and vicinity. His five sons were ordained to the ministry, and his two daughters were married to ministers. A volume of his sermons, translated by William Demarest, was published by the Board of Publication of the Reformed Dutch Church. John, second son of the preceding, educated and ordained in Holland, succeeded his father in labors in New Jersey. Frederick Frelinghuysen, son of John, and father of Theodore, graduated at Princeton College, became a member of the Conti- nental Congress, and of the United States Senate. Theodore Frelinghuysen was born in Franklin, Somerset County, N. J., March 28, 1787; died at New Brunswick, April 12, 1862. He entered the Junior class at Princeton College in 1802, grad- uated in 1804, and took the valedictory in a class numbering forty- two. Pursuing his legal studies first with his brother, afterwards with Richard Stockton, he was admitted to practice when twenty- one years of age, and established himself in Newark. The Bar was already occupied by men of ability, and for two or three years he was little known. As time went on, his practice became exten- sive and lucrative. Students applied for admission to his office, * Memoir by T. W. Chambers ; Elmer's "Reminiscences o£ New Jersey." 221 222 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. and parents were glad to put their sons under his care. The elo- quence which distinguished his forensic efforts, with voice mellow and full, his knowledge of human nature, legal acquirements, and adherence to right, combined to render him the most popular advocate at the Bar of Eastern New Jersey. The question of personal religion was not neglected. His deepest impressions he traced to the influence of his pious grand- mother. Interesting himself in the founding of the Second Pres- byterian Church, Newark, he was elected member of its first Board of Trustees, and in September, 1817, was received into the communion of this church, then under the pastoral care of the Rev. Dr. Griffin. He took his seat in the United States Senate in 1829, and con- tinued for the term of six years. Here his advocacy of the cause of right, brought him prominently before the nation, and secured to him the title of " the Christian statesman." His first important topic before the Senate was the bill for the Indian tribes residing within the states and organized territories of the Union. In conformity to the suggestions of President Jack- son in his first annual message, a paper was introduced providing for an exchange of lands with the Indians residmg in any of the slates or territories, and for their removal west of the Mississippi River. When this bill came up for consideration in the Senate, Mr. Frelinghuysen moved the following amendment : " Provided always, That until the said tribes or nations shall choose to re- move as by this act is contemplated, they shall be protected in their present possessions, and in their enjoyment of all their rights of territory and government, as heretofore exercised and enjoyed, from all interruptions and encroachments." '■'■ And provided also, That before any removal shall take place of any of the said tribes or nations, and before any exchange or exchanges of land be made as aforesaid, that the rights of any such tribes or nations in the premises shall be stipulated for, secured, and guaranteed, by treaty or treaties, as heretofore made." These provisions were sustained by him in a speech before the Senate ; and he claimed that the principles they involved had been expressly recognized by the Continental Congress, and still earlier by the royal procla- mations and ordinances from Great Britain. THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN. 223 On the 9th of March, 1830, Mr. Frelinghuysen offered the fol- lowing resolution in the Senate, referring to the Sunday Mail Question. "That the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads be instructed to report a bill repealing so much of the act on the regulation of Post Offices as requires the delivery of let- ters, packets, and papers on the Sabbath ; and farther to prohibit the transportation of the mail on that day." In the course of his speech on this question he said : " Congress is not asked to legis- late into existence the precepts of piety. No, these are enacted already ; they can never be repealed, and it is a most dangerous and destructive delusion to suppose that while, as individuals and families, we are bound to respect the principles of religion, yet, when we assume the character of states and nations, these cease to exert any legitimate influence." Says Edward Everett, of Mr. Frelinghuysen's connection with the Senate : " He brought to Washington a brilliant reputation as a public speaker, with a character of unimpeachable personal integrity. He took but little part in the current daily business of the Senate, but upon a few prominent questions, he spoke with great ability and effect. There was a classical finish in his lan- guage, and a certain sedate fervor, which commanded the atten- tion of his audience. As he spoke but rarely, he was always listened to with deference." Mr. Frelinghuysen was Mayor of Newark in 1837 and 1838, and in 1839 he became Chancellor of the University of New York. At the Baltimore Convention in 1844, he received the nomination for the office of Vice-President of the United Slates, on the ticket with Henry Clay. He accepted the same, and " continued in the quiet discharge of his academic duties, taking but small part in the canvass." The success of the opposirig candidates, Polk and Dallas, gave him but little disappointment. In the summer of 1850, he resigned his position in New York University, and accepted the presidency of Rutgers College, New Brunswick, N. J. A clergyman has given this reminiscence of his student life under Frelinghuysen. " On entering college I asked to be excused from the exercises of declamation. The president tenderly called me 'my son,' but answered, 'no.' Once more I begged of him that I might be excused. Again he called me ' my 224 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. son,' ahd his ' no ' was so tender and kind, that I felt ready f ron that time to meet his ' my son ' with a responsive ' my father.' " In 1841, Mr. Frelinghuysen was appointed President of the Amer lean Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and servec sixteen years. He was an advocate of the Sunday School, anc was once urged to enter upon the service of the American Sunday School Union at a salary of JS3000. In a private letter October 1833, he speaks of teaching a Bible class of young men, number ing from ten to eighteen. He was a member of a Temperance Society organized in 1833, and which was instrumental in mould ing many of the Congressmen of that period to temperance princi pies. At the Anniversary oT the New York City Tract Society, held in Broadway Tabernacle, December, 1836, he gave this incident " An aged culprit in one of your prisons, was one Sabbath morn- ing approached by the missionary. He sat down by his side, and tenderly inquired of him concerning his religious feelings. The unhappy man burst into tears. ' Sir,' said he, ' it is the first time in forty years that I have heard the language of kindness.' " The piety of Mr. Frelinghuysen, was thoroughly nourished and well developed. The Bible was his study. " One who knew his habits remarks : ' It was no unusual thing to see him reading the Word, throughout a long winter evening, never taking up any other book, although maiiy were lying beside him on the table.' " He was faithful in closet prayer. " In the busiest period of his life, when worldly cares pressed hardest upon him, it was his cus- tom to imitate the Psalmist who said, 'evening and morning and noon will I pray.' Ih his private devotions, his custom was to pray aloud, because, as he said, he found it the best way to pre- vent wandering thoughts." He inculcated the forgiveness of injuries. " A friend once said to him, ' I have forgiven the offence, but I can't forget it' His answer was, ' that kind of forgiveness will not bear the light of heaven. You are deceiving yourself.' " He prayed for the success of Christian effort as put forth by others. " On returning home from public worship, he uniformly retired to his room to pray for a blessing upon the service." He could reprove words of flattery. " A lady in Newark, who THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN. 225 belonged to the church where he served as Elder, once said to him : ' I went to the prayer-meeting this morning to meet you and hear you pray, and you were not there.' He replied, ' Was not God there ? I thought you went to meet Him.' " In the place of professional responsibility his piety was firm. " A wealthy client, in stating his case, incautiously uttered an oath. Mr. Frelinghu3'sen immediately arose and said with deep feeling : ' Sir, if you use such language again, 1 will immediately throw up your case.' The offence was not repeated.'' He was an example of Christian benevolence. " His profes- sional labors brought him a large compensation. These gains were- neither hoarded nor squandered, but lent to the Lord in a wise and liberal charity." He was sympathetic toward the poor. "During his busy prac- tice as a lawyer, it was his habit to spend every Saturday after- noon in searching out the poor and afflicted, and in ministering both by sympathy and pecuniary aid to their necessities." The fruit of his piety was shown in his efforts to win souls. The following is a passage from one of his addresses. " Our irre- ligious friends expect us to be faithful to them. Their surprise is far more awakened, and oftener too, by our guilty silence, than by an affectionate and earnest solicitude." Says Lucius Q. C. Elmer : " But few if any of his associates at the Bar, or in public life, were left, without his having taken some opportunity of bring- ing before them, orally or in writing, the subject of personal religion." One who was in attendance during his last sickness gives the following : " One of the leading members of the New Jersey Bar, called to ask after his health, and told me, that it was to Mr. Freling- huysen's conversations with him, as they walked in the morning together while attending court at Trenton, that he attributed his first religious impressions. When this was repeated to Mr. Frelinghuysen, he replied, 'Those are precious remem- brances.' " One day, as we were leaving his room to go to dinner, some- one pleasantly said, ' Uncle, we wish you could take dinner with IS 226 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. us.' 'Ah! my son,' he replied, ' I am going to eat of the brea and drink of the wine of everlasting life.' " A youth of about seventeen years, the son of a friend, callec at Mr. Frelinghuysen's request, to see him. ' I have sent for yoi my son,' said he ; 'I want you to see how a Christian can die. have been all my life in fear of that hour, and yet for seven weal I have seen death day by day approaching, and never was calme .... I have here a little keepsake for you ; it is the Bible, froi Genesis to Revelation. I don't want to exact from you a rigoroij promise ; but I do want you to say that, by God's grace, you wi try to do what I have done. For forty-five years, I have made a rule, at noon, or as near to it as I could — ^^perhaps there woul not be an opportunity before tea-time — to read a chapter in th Bible and spend fifteen minutes in private devotion. My soi farewell. Go now, and seek God's grace.' " Early in his professional career Mr. Frelinghuysen was unite in marriage to Charlotte, daughter of Archibald Mercer. " Proi idence having denied them children, they were companion together at home and abroad," The following quotation reveal that he was a lover of children. " In his daily walks in Nc Brunswick, he could scarcely ever meet them in the street, withoi pausing to look in their faces, and engage them in conversatioi Not unfrequently when he saw them flattening their noses again; the windows of a toy shop, in their eager desires to scan its treai ures, the childless man would find out what they most covetec and then gratify himself by gratifying them." Frederick Frelinghuysen, who became United States Senatoi and Secretary of State, was his nephew and adopted son. SAMUEL FULLER. EIGHTH SIGNER OF THE COMPACT, 1620.* Samuel Fuller, a Deacon of Rev. John Robinson's church, in Leyden, Holland, died at Plymouth, Mass., in 1633. A passenger on board the Mayflower in 1620, he was the eighth signer of the Compact, and was one of the planters of New Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay. " He was the first regularly educated physician that visited New England." He did not confine his professional offices to the inhabitants of Plymouth and to the Aborigines of the country : Salem and Charlestown were destitute of a resident physician, and at the request of Governor Endicott were visited by Dr. Fuller. He went to Salem to give relief to the sickness introduced there by the newly arrived ships, first in 1628, again in 1629. The following is a letter from Mr. Fuller, dated Charlestown, August 2, 1630. " To his loving friend Mr. William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth, these : " Sir : — There is come hither a ship (with cattle, and more passengers) on Saturday last, which brings this news out o£ England, that the plague is sore, both in the city and country, and that the University of Cambridge is shut up by reason thereof. . . . Some are here entered into a church covenant : the first was four, namely, the Governor, Mr. John Winthrop, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Dudley, and Mr. Willson ; since that, five more are joined unto them, and otliers it is like, will add themselves to them daily. The Lord increase them, both in number and holiness, for his mercy's sake.- I here but lose time and long to be at home ; I can do them no good, for I want drugs, and things fit- ting to work with. I purpose to be at home this week (if God permit) and * " American Medical Biography," by James Thacher, Boston 1828 ; " Collec- tions of Massachusetts Historical Society," first series, vols. 3 and 4 ; Young' s "Chronicles of the Pilgrims.'.' 227 228 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. Mr. Johnson and Captain Endicott will come with me. ... Be yot lovingly saluted, and my sisters, with Mr. Brewster, and Mr. Smith, and all thf rest of our friends. The Lord Jesus bless us and the whole Israel of God Amen. "Your loving brother-in-law, " Samuel Fuller." In the manuscript Records of the church in Plymouth, v. i, p, 42, it is stated : " When the church came away out of Holland, they brought with them one deacon, Mr. Samuel Fuller. . . , He was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit." John Cotton, Esq., in his account of the Church of Christ in Plymouth, written 1760, speaks of Mr. Fuller as "an eminent surgeon, and a man of great piety." Mr. Fuller's wife was named Bridget. Their son, Samuel Fuller, was a member of the church at Plymouth, served the church at Middleborough as preacher, more or less for sixteen years, and finally was there ordained to the work of the ministry. He was a sincere, godly man, and a useful preacher. JONAS GALUSHA. GOVERNOR OF VERMONT, 1809-1813, 1815-1820.* Jacob Galusha was a farmer and blacksmith, in moderate cir- cumstances, but " of unblemished character, sound jiidgment, and much native shrewdness." He married Lydia, daughter of Ma- thew Huntington, of Preston, Conn. Jonas Galusha, third son of Jacob, was born in Norwich, Conn., February ii, 1753; died at Shaftsbury, Vt., October 8, 1834. He made agriculture his calling, and pursued that employment through life, except when occupied with the duties of public office. He was able, even to advanced age, to do the full work of a man, with hoe, scythe, sickle or ax. When the Revolutionary war commenced, he took an active part in favor of the independence of the colonies. He was a member of a company, commanded by his brother David, in Col- onel Warner's regiment, and did service in Canada in the fall of 1775. Prior to the battle of Bennington, August 16, 1777, two companies of militia had been organized in Shaftsbury, one of them under his Captaincy, the other under that of Amos Hunting- ton. Captain Huntington being taken prisoner at Ticonderoga, the two companies were consolidated under Captain Galusha. When he received orders from Col. Moses Robinson to march his company to Bennington, he was sick in bed, recovering from a fever, but he promptly called out his men and led them to the scene of action. He continued in active military service until the surrender of Burgoyne. In civil offices, he was Sheriff of the county of Bennington, 1781 -1787; member of the Council, 1793-1798; member of the *" Jonas Galusha, Fifth Governor of Vermont," by Rev. P. H. White. 229 230 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. Assembly in 1800; Judge of the State Supreme Court, 1800-1806 Governor of Vermont, 1809-1813, 1815-1820. His executive addresses were short, and in style quite una domed ; on the contrary his proclamations for Fasts and Thanks givings were of unusual length. Politically, he was a Democrat ol the Jeifersonian school. " Mr. Galusha, though not a member of any church, was, in the estimation of those most competent to judge, a true Christian, He maintained family worship, was known to observe private devotions, ^as an habitual attendant upon public worship and a1 social meetings, and frequently took an active part in the latter. In his daily life he was also such as a Christian should be, modest, gentle, amiable, upright, faithful to every obligation. When nearly seventy-nine years of age, he attended a ' protracted meeting ' at Manchester, and took an active part in its exercises ; as the resuh of which, he was aroused to a sense of the duty of making a pub- lic profession of religion, and announced his intention to do so, but was prevented by a stroke of paralysis which he experienced soon after, and from which he never recovered." He gave freely to various benevolent societies, and was kind and liberal to the poor. It was no unusual thing for him, when in the discharge of his duties as Sheriff, he had been made the instrument of reducing a poor man to still deeper poverty, to fur- nish the unfortunate debtor the means of extricating himself. He never resented an injury. Such was his integrity that he was not seldom chosen as an arbitrator even by his enemies. In the cause of tempe;rance, when the total abstinence move- ment began, though all his lifetime accustomed to the moderate use of alcoholic drinks, he at once abandoned the habit. In person, he was stoutly built, about five feet and nine inches in height, with light complexion, blue eyes and light hair. His dress was plain. In conversation, he was ready, though not copi- ous, and he had a vein of humor which rendered him very agree- able socially. He was four times married. His first wife was Mary, daughtei of Governor Chittenden, by whom he had five sons and four daugh- ters. His children were well trained, and all of them who sur- vived childhood, became professors of religion, one of them a minister in the Baptist denomination. ADDISON GARDINER. LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK, 1845-1849,* Isaac Gardiner, of Brookline, Mass., grandfather of Addison, was killed at the battle of Lexington, April ig, 1775. Colonel William Gardiner, father of Addison, settled at Rindge, N. H., in 1809, removed to Boston, and from thence to Manlius, N. Y. Addison Gardiner was born at Rindge, N. H., March 19, 1797; died at Rochester, N. Y., June, 1883. He established himself in the profession of law at Rochester ; became Judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit in 1829, resigned in February, 1838, and resumed the practice of his profession. He was elected Lieutenant-Governor of New York in 1844, re-elected in r846. In 1847 the re-organization of the judicial system of the State took effect, and the Court of Appeals was constituted the court of last resort. To this court four were elected as perma- nent judges. Mr. Gardiner was a member of this Court from 1847 until the close of 1855, when he retired and removed to his farm, purchased a short time previous, just upon the borders of Rochester. "Mr. Gardiner's religious life began during a revival which took place in Rochester about 1840. Who that was present on that memorable night and heard the preaching of Dr. Finney,' which appealed to the intellectual as well as the moral nature, can forget the thrill that passed through the assembly to learn that Judge Gardiner had bowed to the yoke of Christ, and surrendered himself as a sinner to be saved ! Identifying himself at the outset with the First Presbyterian Church, he remained a faithful, hum- * Addresses by William T. Cogswell, Esq., and Rev. Charles E. Robinson, D. D. 231 232 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. ble-minded Christian. Those who worshipped at the same altai who sat at the saitie communion table, who enjoyed the same hops were very dear to him. For many years after his retirement frot public life, he was in the habit of gathering about him his Bible class, consisting mostly of young men." JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 1881.* Edward Garfield, the early ancestor of James Abram, was one of the one hundred and six proprietors of Watertown, Mass., as recorded in 1635, and lived to the age of ninety-seven. Edward, son of Edward, resided at Watertown, was a freeman in 1635, and was a church member. Benjamin, fourth child of Edward, Jr., resided at Watertown, "remained at home in the old mansion," and " was nine times elected to the Colonial Legislature."' . Thomas, eldest son, by second wife of Benjamin, was born in 1680, married in 1706, Mercy, daughter of Joshua Bigelow, by whom he had twelve children. " He also made his home at the old homestead." Abram, in the fourth generation from Thomas Garfield, and father of James Abram, was born in Worcester, N. Y., December 28, 1789 ; when fifteen years of age went to St. Lawrence County, where he remained several years, and from there removed to Ohio. Here he married February 3, 1820, Eliza Ballou, whose family moved from New Hampshire to this same Worcester, where the children, who, now become husband and wife, commenced their acquaintance. The mother of Mr. Garfield was early inured to hardship. Her father, James Ballou, died when she was eight years old, and the widow with her four children moved from their New Hampshire home to Worcester, N. Y., thence, when Eliza was fourteen years old, to the state of Ohio. She packed her goods * Biographies of Garfield by Bundy, Conwell, and Coffin. The latter visited Mentor, Ohio, to gain materials, and a portion of the proof sheets were read by Mr. Garfield. "Garfield's Words," by W. R. Balch. 233 234 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. in a wagon, beds, boxes, pots and pans, and this wagon was the home of the family during the six weeks journey. And the home of Eliza in Ohio, having become the wife of Abram, was a log cabin. , James Abram Garfield, the fourth child of Abram and Eliza Garfield, was born at Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, November 19, 1831. Affliction entered the family at an early day, and James was left fatherless when only eighteen months old. A fire broke out in the woods near the " clearing " where was their little home. Their wheat field was exposed, and by great exer- tion on the part of the father, the fife was warded off and the home saved. But the work was too much, and fatal in its results. He came in at night heated and exhausted, and got suddenly chilled. At the age of thirty-three, in the fulness of his strength, he was called away. Immediately before his death, he got up and walked across the room, looked out at his oxen and called them by name, went back and sat down on the bed, and said, " Eliza, I have brought you four young saplings into these woods. Take care of them." And she did take care of them. She kept the family together, though urged to put the children out. Thomas, the old- est, was but nine years old, with Mehitable, Mary, and James. She sold land and paid off the debts, leaving a home of thirty acres. The wheat crop spoken of was secured by fences, except about a hundred rails. There were in readiness for splitting into rails, great " chestnut cuts," and a few days after the funeral Widow Garfield took her son Thomas out to the pile of " cuts " and with his help, split the needed rails. She was a good seam- stress, and would go to the shoemaker's and make clothes for his children, while he, in return, would make shoes for her children. She had a few sheep, and wool was carded and wove into cloth. With all her care and "exertion, she was a cheerful woman. She was a good singer, and knew a great variety of hymns and ballads, and the war songs of 1812. Shortly before James was born, she with her husband, through the preaching of a Mr. Bentley, became converted to the " Disciples " faith as it was called. This Mr. Bentley carried on a mill and store not far from the Garfield homestead, and preached throughout that country. Alexander Campbell, president of Bethany College, and originally a Presby- JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. • 235 terian, was the founder of the " Disciples " sect. Mrs, Garfield was a great Bible reader, taught her children to read the Divine Word, and with them walked to her " Disciples meeting- house,'' three miles away. On a little corner of her farm, she ten- dered a building site for a school-house. A log building was erected, with seats made of split logs, hewed on the top and sup- ported with pegs on the round side. Here James commenced his education. As he grew in years, he was able to turn his hand to any honorable industry, whether at the carpenter's bench, or as a hand on the canal, or swinging a scythe in the hay field, or chop- ping his hundred cords of wood at twenty-five cents a cord, mak- ing his two cords a day. During the winter which followed his eighteenth birthday, he taught school to defray his expenses at Cuyahoga Seminary. In the little school-house a " Disciples " preacher held a series of meetings, and Mr. Garfield attended, was impressed, and yielded his heart to the Saviour. He made a* public profession of relig- ion, and was baptized in the faith of his mother. In the spring of 1851, he applied for admission to the Eclectic Institute at Hiram, Portage County. The Board of Trustees were in session at the time, and he stated his case : " My mother is a widow with very little money. I want to obtain an education, and would like the privilege of making the fires, and sweeping the floors of the building to pay part of my expenses." The privilege was granted, and he commenced study. Mr. Garfield entered Williams College in 1854. He would ■ naturally have chosen Bethany in Western Virginia, founded by Mr. Campbell, and sustained by the Disciples. Touching the matter of choosing Williams, Mr. Bundy produces the following communication from Mr. Garfield, which he finds in Whitelaw Reid's "Ohioin the War:" " There are three reasons why I have decided not to go to Bethany : First, the course of study is not so extensive as in Eastern colleges ; second, Bethany leans too heavily towards slavery ; third, I am the son of Disciple parents, am one myself, and have had but little acquaintance with people of other views, and have always lived in the West. These considerations led me 236 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. to conclude to go to some New England college. I therefore wrote to the Presidents of Brown University, Yale, and Williams, setting forth the amount of study I had done, and asking how long it would take me to finish their course. Their answers are now before me. All tell me I can graduate in two years. They are all brief business notes, but President Hopkins concludes with this sentence : ' If you come here, we shall be glad to do what we can for you.' Other things being so nearly equal, this sentence, which seems to be a kind of friendly grasp of the hand, has settled the question. I shall start for W,illiams next week." Of his career in college, different parties have made note as follows : " General Garfield was not sent to college ; he came. This often makes a distinction between college students." . " I think he was considered our best debater." " He was a man of a sweet, large and wholesome nature, and endeared himself the most to those who knew him best." " He early joined the Mills Theological Society, and success- ively filled the offices of Librarian and President." " We used to have an annual holiday called ' Mountain-day.' At the close of one, a Fourth of July evening, on the summit of 'Greylock,' seven miles from college, there was a goodly gather- ing of students about their camp-fire, when Garfield, the recog- nized leader, taking a copy of the New Testament from his pocket, said : ' Boys, I am accustomed to read a chapter with my absent mother every night ; shall I read aloud ? ' All assenting, he read to us the chapter his mother in Ohio was then reading, and called on a classmate to pray." On finishing his course at Williams, Mr. Garfield became an instructor at Hiram College, and finally President of the Institu- tion. Four hundred students and more were in attendance. One of his students. Rev. J. L. Darsie, of Danbury, Conn., writes: " No matter how old the pupils were, Garfield always called us by our first names. He played with us freely, walked with us in walking to and fro, and we treated him out of the class-room just about as we did one another. Yet he was a strict disciplinarian." He combined teaching with the work of the Gospel, occupying some pulpit on the Sabbath. JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 237 At the Republican Convention held at Ravenna 1859, he was nominated for State Senator. How this nomination was received by the Disciple churches, and of Mr. Garfield's own view of the question, Clark Braden gives particulars. "He was nominated Tuesday, and on Friday following, the Cuyahoga County annual meeting of the Disciple churches began in Solon. The writer lived in Solon, and attended the meeting. Almost the only topic of conversation was the nomination of Brother Garfield. A large majority were earnest in their opposi- tion to his abandoning the ministry for politics. Garfield was preaching for the church in Solon, and attended onie of the meet- ings. Soon as the audience was dismissed, he was surrounded by men and women, entreating him to say then and there, that he would not accept the nomination. To all, he replied pleasantly, that he had not accepted, and would not till satisfied that duty required him to do so. On walking home with the writer, he said : ' Clark, what do you advise me to do ? ' I replied, 'Brother Garfield, I advise you to follbw your own convictions of. right and duty. You have achieved success as a preacher. But if you believe you can take with you into political life, your integrity and Christian manhood, and retain them, there is a more useful career open for you there. We need Christian statesmen.' After a moment's silence, he replied : ' I believe I can enter political life, and retain my integrity. . . . Mother is at Jason Robbins's. I will go there and talk with her. If she will give her consent I will accept the nomination.' I saw him the next day. He told me his mother said, in substance : ' James, I have had a hope and a desire, ever since you joined the church, that you would preach. I have been happy in your success as a preacher. But I do not want my wishes to lead you into a life-work that you do not prefer to all others. If you can retain your manhood and religion, in political life, and believe you can do the most good there, you have my full consent, and prayers for your success.' He concluded : ' I have written and accepted the nomination.' " In 1861, Mr. Garfield entered the army as Colonel of the Forty- second Regiment of Ohio Volunteers, and subsequently was appointed a Brigadier-General, In 1862 he was elected a Rep- 238 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. resentative from Ohio to the Thirty-eighth Congress. Con cerning his nomination for Congress, . Mr. Bundy says: "I would have been a high compliment for any man, howevei long in the public service, to represent the constituency whicl had kept Joshua R. Giddings continuously in Congress for nearl) a quarter of a century, while he was in the forefront of the fighi against slavery. To Garfield, then less than thirty-one years ol age, it was an especially distinguished tribute." He was elected to the Thirty-ninth Congress, to the Fortietl Congress, and to the four succeeding Congresses. On the Tariff question, Mr. Garfield occupied medium ground He says : " As an abstract theory, the doctrine of Free Trade seems to be universally true, but as a question of practicability under a Government like ours, the protective system seems to be indis- pensable. If all the kingdoms of the world should become the Kingdoms of the Prince of Peace, then I admit that universal Free Trade ought to prevail. But that blessed era is yet toe remote to be made the basis of the practical legislation of to- day." While a hard worker in the duties of Congress, he found time for his favorite studies. " I am now up to my eyes in the work oi the Committee on Appropriations, of which I am Chairman, though I do manage to steal a little time from work and sleep, almost every day, to read over carefully a few lines from Horace." The inauguration of Mr. Garfield as President of the United States, took place at Washington on Friday, March 4, 1881. Mr. Hayes escorted his venerable mother and Mrs. Garfield to the gallery seats reserved for them. The assemblage arose as Mr. Hayes entered having General Garfield on his arm. The General wore a frock coat buttoned up, vest and pantaloons oi black cloth, black neck-tie, over which his collar was turned down. They were shown to seats in the center of the chamber, On the opening of the new session Vice-President Wheelei requested the Chaplain to offer prayer. That official invoked the blessing of Divine Providence upon the incoming administration, and asked that prosperity, health, and happiness might attend those whose connection with the Government had ceased. While this prayer was being offered, both Mr. Hayes and Mr. Garfield JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 239 rose, and remained standing. For the first time in the history of the Government, the mother of the President listened to the son's inaugural. After its delivery, the Chief-Justice administered the prescribed oath, which was reverently taken. President Garfield's first act was to kiss his mother and his wife. The early experiences at the White House, brought illness to Mrs. Garfield, and anxiety and sadness filled the heart of the President. When her recovery was assured, and happier days seemed at hand, by the bullet of the assassin, mourning came to the family, the nation, and the world. The deed was accomplished at Washington on the morning of July 3, 1881. The President's death occurred at Long Branch, New Jersey, Sep- tember 19, 1881. The funeral exercises at Washington took place on Frida}', September 20. The address was delivered by Rev. T. D. Power, of the Vermont Avenue Christian Church, of which President Garfield was a member. " We remember," said he, " with joy his faith in the Son of God, whose gospel he sometimes himself preached." South Carolina offered her tribute. Among the resolutions at a gathering of citizens in Charleston, was the following : " That as South Carolinians, living in the so-styled cradle of the Rebellion, we honor the memory of James A. Garfield, be- cause, as President, his purposes and his policy, passed beyond the lines of party and of section, and knew no other limit than the boundaries of the Republic, and tlie welfare of the whole people.'' England offered her tribute, " Not only in London but throughout the country, the bells of many parish churches wefe tolled, a tribute never before paid to a foreign ruler." Among the sayings of Garfield may be noted the following : "The greater part of our modern literature bears evident marks of the haste which characterizes all the movements of this age ; but, in reading these older authors, we are impressed with the idea that they enjoyed the most comfortable leisure." " I, for one declare that no child of mine shall ever be com- pelled to study one hour, or to learn even the English Alphabet, before he has deposited under his skin, at least seven years of -muscle and bone." 240 AMERICAN CHRISTIAN RULERS. " It is only when the people speak truth and justice, that their voice can be called 'the voice of God.' " " This public life is a weary, wearing one, that leaves one But little time for that quiet reflection, which is so' necessary to keep up a growth and vigor of- Christian character. But I hope I have lost none of my desire to be a true man, and keep ever before me the character of the great Nazarene." " I would rather be defeated than make capital out of my religion." " The worst days of darkness through which I have ever passed, have been greatly alleviated, by throwing myself with all my energy into some work relating to others." " For the noblest man that lives, there still remains a conflict." Mr. Garfield married November ii, 1858, Lucretia Rudolph, a former associate with him in study, and afterwards his pupil. Two of the sons graduated at Williams College, and entered the legal profession. ^^uiiAna^f JOSHUA REED GIDDINGS. REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS, 1838-1859.* George Giddings, early ancestor of Joshua R., was a " husband- man " in Great St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England. He sailed for New England with his wife Jane Tuttle and three servants, April 2, 1635, ^^^ established himself at Ipswich, Massachusetts. He served eleven years in the General Court ; was long a Ruling Elder in the First Church; and his estate was valued at £1021 I2J. 6d. Joshua Giddings, grandfather of Joshua R., born in 17 19, resided first in Lyme, Connecticut, afterwards in Hartland, and lived to the age of eighty-eight. He was a member of the Con- gregational Church of Hartland; married Jane Reed, by whom he had ten children, four sons and six daughters. Joshua Giddings, son of the preceding, was born in 1756 and lived to the age of seventy-seven. He emigrated from Hartland to Athens, Pa., thence to Canandaigua, N. Y., thence to Ash- tabula County, O., settling in Williamsfield in 1812, where he remained during life. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, was twice married, and had ten children. Joshua Reed Giddings, youngest child of Joshua, was born at Tioga-Point, now Athens, Bradford County, Penn., October 6, 1795 ;