0^aleDtctorp aiilirrss 
 
 OF 
 
 ABNER CHENEY GOODELL, Jr. 
 
 TO THE 
 
 NEW- ENGLAND 
 
 Historic Genealogical Society 
 
 22 June, 1892 
 
i 
 
VALEDICTORY ADDRESS 
 
 OF 
 
 ABNER CHENEY GOODELL, Jr. 
 
4^ 
 
 ^aleliictorj ^Dtiress 
 
 OF 
 
 ABNER CHENEY GOODELL, Jr. 
 
 TO THE 
 
 new- england 
 Historic Genealogical Society 
 
 22 June, 1892 
 
 1, ) J 
 
 1 1-^ -i )-»• o -) 
 
 
 
 BOSTON 
 PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY 
 
 M.DCCC.XCII 
 
TTM T-T'"'''' 
 
 Sintbrrsitg i^rrss : 
 John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 
 
 » • t • 
 
 
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY 
 
 For the Year 1892. 
 
 Prtsttimt. 
 
 ABNER CHENEY GOODELL, Jr., A.M., of Salem, Massachusetts. 
 
 BENJAMIN APTHORP GOULD, LL.D., of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
 
 JOSEPH WILLIAMSON, A.M., of Belfast, Maine. 
 
 JOSEPH BURBEEN WALKER, A.M., of Concord, New Hampshire. 
 
 JAMES BARRETT, LL.D., of Rutland, Vermont. 
 
 ELISHA BENJAMIN ANDREWS, D.D., LL.D., of Providence, Rhode Island. 
 
 EDWARD ELBRIDGE SALISBURY, LL.D., of New Haven, Connecticut. 
 
 lEvccorlJintj S^ccretarg. 
 
 GUSTAVUS ARTHUR HILTON, LL.B., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
 
 Cotregponlimu Sectctarg. 
 
 HENRY HERBERT EDES, of Boston, Massachusetts. 
 
 SEreasurer. 
 
 * 
 
 BENJAMIN BARSTOW TORREY, of Boston, Massachusetts. 
 
 ILibrarian. 
 
 HENRY WINCHESTER CUNNINGHAM, A.B., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
 
 %])t Council. 
 
 Ex Officiis. 
 
 ABNER C. GOODELL, Jr., A.M. BENJAMIN A. GOULD, LL.D. 
 
 G. ARTHUR HILTON, LL.B. HENRY H. EDES. 
 
 BENJAMIN B. TORREY. HENRY W. CUNNINGHAM, A.B. 
 
 Term Expires 1893. 
 
 GRENVILLE HOWLAND NORCROSS, LL.B., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
 HENRY PICKERING WALCOTT, M.D., of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
 EZRA HOYT BYINGTON, D.D., of Worcester, Massachusetts. 
 
 Term Expires 1894. 
 
 WILLIAM CLAFLIN, LL.D., of Newton, Massachusetts. 
 JOHN TYLER HASSAM, A.M., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
 HENRY WILLIAMS, A.B., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
 
 Term Expires, 1895. 
 
 ANDREW PRESTON PEABODY, DD., LL.D., of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
 HAMILTON ANDREWS HILL, A.M., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
 BENJAMIN GREENE SMITH, of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
 
OFFICERS 
 
 APPOINTED BY THE COUNCIL FOR THE YEAR 1892. 
 
 HAMILTON ANDREWS HILL, A.M Boston, Massachusetts. 
 
 lEtiitor of IJxibltcations. 
 
 JOHN WARD DEAN, A.M Medford, Massachusetts. 
 
 LIST OF THE GENTLEMEN WHO RETIRED FROM OFFICE 
 
 22 JUNE, 1892. 
 
 Abner C. Goodell, Jr., A.M President. 
 
 Benjamin Apthorp Gould, LL.D Vice-Presidettt. 
 
 G. Arthur Hilton, LL.B Recording Secretary. 
 
 Henry H. Edes CorresJ^cmdifig Secretary. 
 
 Henry W. Cunningham, A.B Librarian. 
 
 Andrew P. Peabody, D.D., LL.D. \ 
 Hamilton Andrews Hill, A.M. 
 
 Benjamin G. Smith 
 
 N Cojtncillors. 
 
 Henry Williams, A.B. '' 
 
 Grenville H. Norcross, LL.B. 
 Henry Pickering Walcott, M.D. V 
 
 Mr. Hamilton Andrews Hill retired also from the office of Historiog- 
 rapher on the first of July, following. 
 
THE 
 
 PEESIDENT'S VALEDICTORY. 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 It will doubtless meet your expectations as well as 
 accord with the wishes of the Council, if, on behalf of 
 the retiring administration, I improve this occasion to 
 briefly render an account of our stewardship. 
 
 The system of management of the affairs of our By-Laws 
 
 . . , T J. proposed by 
 
 Society which went into operation on the second aay ot the present 
 January, 1889, was so generally beheved to be an im- f^Z'S- 
 provement upon the previous system that it was adopted "^^.^'^'Jj ^P' 
 without dissent. By a provision of the old By-Laws, or 
 Constitution, as some of those rules were called, all who 
 had served seven years on the Board of Directors Permanen- 
 
 ^. ,. -.-n mi • • • cy of the 
 
 became ipso facto Directors for Ufe. This provision was ^^^ Board of 
 found by experience to be objectionable in two respects ; ^^'j^^g 
 first, in that it constantly diminished the relative influ- ^JJ.^jJlon.'^^ 
 ence of newly-elected directors; and second, in that it able, 
 kept the control of the administration in the hands of 
 persons whose active interest in the Society declined 
 with increasing years. Hence, practically, under that 
 system it was found on the one hand that the relations 
 between the main body of the Society and those who 
 administered its affairs were growing more distant, inso- 
 much that reform was almost hopeless, and on the other 
 hand, by the easy sufferance of the Board of Directors 
 the whole management had drifted into a few hands so 
 
8 
 
 The rule 
 changed by 
 tlie new 
 By-Laws. 
 
 Three-fifths 
 of the Coun- 
 cil changed 
 every year. 
 
 Annual 
 reports of 
 the Council. 
 
 President 
 lays before 
 the new ad- 
 ministration 
 a statement 
 of its finan- 
 ces, and of 
 the needs of 
 the library. 
 
 Difficulty of 
 getting at 
 tlie facts. 
 
 Further in- 
 vestigation 
 into tlie do- 
 nations re- 
 commended. 
 
 Printing 
 of the 
 President's 
 Address to 
 tlic Council 
 on 14 Janu- 
 ary, 188it, 
 postponed : 
 
 burdened with routine duties as to be unwilling or 
 unable to undertake any considerable work of improve- 
 ment. 
 
 As soon as the new By-Laws took effect, all this was 
 changed. Of the fifteen Councillors which constitute the 
 government as now organized, nine go out of office every 
 year unless re-elected, three more go out the nqxt year, 
 and the rest at the end of the third year. Thus the 
 Society has the power at any Annual Meeting by a change 
 of administration to redress any grievance or institute 
 any reform, while enough Councillors hold over each 
 year to continue the traditions of the Board, to prevent 
 the interruption or failure of unfinished business, and to 
 protect the Society from the unjust demands of out- 
 siders with whom we may have had dealings. 
 
 The doings of the Council have been reported to you 
 annually, and hence what I shall now offer in retrospec- 
 tion will be but a recapitulation of former statements. 
 
 At the outset of the new departure, I felt it my duty, 
 in an Address to the Council, to lay before them a State- 
 ment of the condition of the Society respecting its finances 
 and the condition of its library and library accommoda- 
 tions as well as its future work, with the view of eliciting 
 tlie opinion of the Board in regard to the best course to 
 pursue. The imperfect condition of the records greatly 
 increased the labor of preparing this statement, and not- 
 withstanding my search for information outside of the 
 records was pressed as far as it could be without indeli- 
 cacy, I found it impossible in the time at my command to 
 give a complete account of the Donations received by the 
 Society. I therefore recommended that the investigation 
 be still further prosecuted by a proper committee. This, 
 however, was never done, and hence the printing of 
 this statement (wliich I had requested might be deferred 
 until after its details could be verified by comparison 
 with the Committee's report) was not attempted until 
 recently. 
 
9 
 
 As a copy of this Statement, under the title of " Presi- —printed in 
 dent's Address to the Council," is in the hands of every '^•^' 
 member of the Society, I will not extract from it here 
 more than a single passage, which I may be pardoned 
 for quoting, since it explains the reason for the policy 
 we have adopted of conferring upon Committees a large 
 share of the regular work of the Society. On page 33 
 you will find the following : — 
 
 "I suggest that a discreet distribution of duties among Distribu- 
 
 several committees would be the best means of effecting this V°!^ 
 
 ° duties re- 
 
 work satisfactorily, and at the same time would afford us an commended 
 
 opportunity for enlisting the services of a larger number of 
 
 our members, particularly of the younger men, who I am 
 
 persuaded need only an invitation to become eventually most 
 
 active and valuable agents in promoting the growth and 
 
 increasing the usefulness of the Society." 
 
 It was my good fortune to have all my suggestions to Harmony 
 
 the Council cordially approved, and the work I proposed president 
 
 promptly begun. In accordance with my recommenda- ^"^^'^^1 
 
 tion to the last Board of Directors, some progress had President's 
 
 recommen- 
 
 already been made in clearing out the cellar of the dations ap- 
 
 Society's House, which had long been the receptacle of a regard to 
 
 vast accumulation of books, pamphlets, and newspapers. ^elkJ^o^f the 
 
 The greater portion of these was in boxes, piled from Society's 
 
 <=> ^ ' >■ House : 
 
 floor to ceiling. No account of the contents of these 
 packages had been preserved, but presumably they em- 
 braced much that was valuable. The stacks being 
 separated by narrow passages and standing on waste 
 paper and other inflammable rubbish, which littered the 
 whole floor nearly to the furnace, consent to have this 
 accumulation removed and examined was finally obtained, 
 in view of the imminent danger from fire which could 
 only be avoided by such a change. 
 
 The new administration were not unwilling to listen —to provide 
 
 room for the 
 
 to a proposal to find within the Society's House the library with- 
 accommodation for the library which their predecessors House. 
 
10 
 
 Preliminary 
 question as 
 to need of 
 furtherroom 
 settled by 
 taking a 
 complete in- 
 ventory of 
 the Society's 
 books, etc. 
 
 All books, 
 pamplilets, 
 and papers 
 thorouglilj^ 
 catalogued. 
 
 Useless 
 
 literature 
 
 eliminated. 
 
 Impractica- 
 bility of 
 keeping 
 files of 
 newspapers. 
 
 had been looking for in a contemplated extension in the 
 rear or by the purchase of an adjoining estate. Before 
 deciding on any plan, however, it was thought best to 
 know approximately what further accommodation was 
 needed. This could only be done by making an invent- 
 ory of all our literary collections, from which to cull 
 what were undoubtedly worth preserving, and thus to 
 ascertain what proportion, if any, should be eliminated 
 as not germane to the purposes of the Society. This 
 work was most faithfully and thoroughly accomplished, 
 and I have heard of no adverse criticism on it, save 
 the suggestion that as every piece of paper not a more 
 waste fragment was duly catalogued, more expense 
 had been incurred than was necessary. But since the 
 total outlay for this work, continued through more than 
 twenty months, was comparatively small, and since the 
 catalogues will forever conclusively remove all doubt 
 as to the wisdom of parting with the literature dis- 
 posed of, I am sure the expense will never be grudged, 
 especially as there was no further payment on account 
 of managing the library, — the Library Committee, which 
 serves gratuitously, having had charge of the library 
 during the whole time. 
 
 In deciding where to draw the line of exclusion of 
 useless literature, most of the material was so obviously 
 unsuitable for the Society's use that there were but two 
 questions particularly embarrassing ; one concerning the 
 newspapers and the other the periodicals. Of the 
 former, our collection embraced 1414 different titles, 
 comprising 186 lx)und and 683 unbound series, more or 
 less com|)lete. The project of perfecting these files 
 could not be entertained for a moment. The cost of 
 collecting and binding would exceed our whole income, 
 and if completed, the 1414 sets could not be stored in 
 our Iniilding without excluding everything else. It was, 
 therefore, deemed best to retain past and present files 
 of but two current daily ncwspai)crs besides the files of 
 
11 
 
 papers the publication of which began before the year 
 1800. At the same time a plan was adopted of preserv- 
 ing for ready reference, by cutting out, pasting in 
 scrap-books and indexing, all biographies and obituary 
 notices, historical articles and publications of mar- 
 riages and deaths, in one at least of the current 
 newspapers. 
 
 Of the periodical pamphlets, there were but two con- North Am- 
 cerning the exclusion of which there was any hesitation. v[ew"and 
 These were the "North American Review" and the "Chris- Christian 
 
 Lxaminer, 
 
 tian Examiner." Both sets were incomplete and had tiie only 
 
 serials ex- 
 been rarely referred to. Indeed, the latter, which was eluded. The 
 
 Soci6tv's 
 
 the gift of our honored associate, Mr. William B. Trask, gets incom- 
 had never been unpacked. The committee charged with ^orks bulky 
 the sale and exchange of books, therefore, seeing that the ^^^, can be 
 
 ' ' o replaced at 
 
 "Review" comprised over four hundred numbers, and the any time, if 
 
 rGQuircd. 
 
 " Examiner " between eighty and ninety volumes, decided 
 that the shelf-room occupied by them was more valuable 
 to us than the books, and so both of the sets were dis- 
 posed of. The "Examiner," after having been completed, 
 was eventually returned to the donor, and the " Review " 
 was sold at a price at which — or a little more probably — 
 it can be replaced by another set, if desired. In dis- 
 posing of all other literature, a liberal course was 
 pursued, the aim being to place it gratuitously where it 
 would be useful in completing imperfect sets in other 
 libraries, especially those most easily accessible to the 
 members of the Society, or to exchange it for books 
 useful to us. 
 
 When our collections had been thus sifted, there ap- Result of 
 peared no necessity of enlarging our Building for some books": room 
 years at least, provided the walls could be so strength- ^j"g"^^/°'' 
 ened as to bear the weight of a library upon the upper in our pre- 
 
 '=' r , sent build- 
 
 floor. Upon consulting with expert architects and en- ing. Walls 
 
 gineers it appeared that the strengthening of the north- ed?°^ 
 
 ern wall was desirable, whether the upper hall were to 
 
 be used as a library or only, as heretofore, for the meet- 
 
12 
 
 Library 
 removed to 
 third floor. 
 
 Plan for 
 fitting the 
 second floor 
 for our meet- 
 ings. Wliy 
 this plan 
 was not car- 
 ried out. 
 
 Small ex- 
 pense of the 
 changes. 
 
 The Build- 
 ing Fund : 
 Sliowaltcr 
 Investment. 
 
 ings of the Society. Accordingly that work was ordered 
 and completed. Four strong buttresses supporting iron 
 beams to take the ends of floor joists running through 
 the building were erected on independent foundations 
 and securely tied to the walls. The gallery supports 
 were also strengthened. During the progress of this 
 work, the plan of removing the library to the upper 
 hall was developed, approved by the Council, and soon 
 afterward completed. The objection of possible want of 
 light and ventilation had already been met by the build- 
 ing of the new skylight which replaced the insufficient 
 opening in the roof that had been so long a source of 
 trouble and expense from its imperfect construction and 
 leaky condition. 
 
 A plan for fitting up the old library room on the 
 second floor conveniently for the meetings of the Society 
 had long been discussed, and estimates of the cost had 
 been obtained ; but owing to the causes which eventu- 
 ally compelled the resignation of a majority of the 
 Council, that work has not been prosecuted. The shelf- 
 room of this lower hall, however, was estimated to be 
 sufficient to relieve the library proper of all books only 
 occasionally referred to, and thus to make room for such 
 accessions as the library would ordinarily receive during 
 the next ten years. 
 
 I close this brief sketch by the statement, which can- 
 not fail to interest you, that the expense of all these 
 changes, including the cataloguing of books, pamphlets, 
 and newspapers, which has been deemed properly charge- 
 able to the Building Fund (since this work is necessarily 
 incident to the particular object for which that fund was 
 raised), has reduced the principal only $3,924.01, — 
 leaving unexpended the sum of $21,006.38. 
 
 The Building Fund, as transmitted to the present 
 administration by the former Board of Directors, was 
 chiefly invested in the securities of the Showalter Invest- 
 ment Company. The unfortunate failure of that com- 
 
13 
 
 pany to make good its promises is known to you all, and Present 
 
 status or 
 
 therefore I am sure you will be pleased to learn that, of our invest- 
 the $10,000 in mortgages negotiated to us but not guar- compl"ny!'''* 
 anteed by the Company, $5,960 have already been recov- 
 ered in actual cash, and $900 more is sure to be paid to 
 us next September. We have also obtained a perfect 
 title to land mortgaged to us for $465, and have begun 
 to foreclose two other mortgages amounting to $1,825. 
 The only loss on these securities, actually ascertained 
 thus far, besides the unpaid interest, is $450, caused by 
 selling for $1,200 cash a mortgage of the nominal value 
 of $1,600, and paying $50 more as commission for the 
 transaction. This certainly is not discouraging. 
 
 All our other Funds have steadily increased under the ah other 
 management of the Council. The respective amounts fncreased.^ 
 of these Funds as they stood when I was first called to 
 this Chair, and as they footed up at the end of the last 
 fiscal year, are as follows : — 
 
 Jan. 1887. Jan. 1892. 
 
 Towne Memorial Fund .... |3,963.28 .... |5,417.47 
 
 Barstow Fund 988.62 .... 1,200.00 
 
 Life Membership Fund .... 11,217.74 .... 12,717.74 
 
 Bond Fund 859.46 .... 1,078.47 
 
 Of the first of these Funds it is only fair to remark, 
 however, that the increase is due to accumulation of 
 income during a suspension of the publication of our 
 Memorial Biographies. This was the result of an effort 
 to restore the principal of the Fund, which had been 
 improvidently encroached upon before it came under our 
 management. Of the last, or Bond, Fund it is equally 
 fair to add that it has been virtually many times multi- 
 plied by the recovery of the pages believed to have been 
 lost. The Society is thus enabled to offer for sale the 
 entire edition completed, which at the current price 
 should bring not less than $10,000. 
 
 This increase of the Funds just enumerated will be 
 made more obvious by a statement of the total amount 
 
Total in- 
 vestment. 
 
 14 
 
 Total gain, of gain, which is 13,384.58 ; all but about $650 of which 
 has accrued since the oi-ganization of the Council. It is 
 also a cause of congratulation that at present the amount 
 of all our Funds is 877,641.37 as against $68,867.50, the 
 amount shown by the General Balance-sheet of Dccem- 
 
 Gain since ^er 31, 1888, immediately before the present administra- 
 
 ^^^^" tion came into power. This gain of $8,773.87, it should 
 
 be I'emembered, is over and above the sum expended upon 
 
 \ „„„ . the Society's House and lii^rary. From the foundation of 
 
 Average an- •' •' 
 
 nuai in- the Socicty to the decease of President Wilder, the average 
 
 crease of _ ° 
 
 our funds; annual increase of our funds was $2,586.20. It is there- 
 rate during forc a circumstaucc which should cause no regret, either 
 year'r^^ ^^^ °" ^^^^ P^^'^ ^^ ^^^^ retiring administration or of the 
 members of the Society, tliat under the new regime the 
 average has grown to $3,142.86, which is 18 per cent 
 more than the previous rate. 
 Legacies re- The legacies, which during the last three and a lialf 
 
 ceived by . 
 
 tiie Society years have either reached the treasury or become certain 
 present by the final probate of the will of the testator, amount to 
 
 administra- .c^n^QOO. This is exclusive of the legacy of $10,000 from 
 
 the late Mrs. William Sumner Appleton. 
 Rolls of There is another subiect, the presentation of wdiich 
 
 Menibersliip ■' ^ 
 
 completed; I have reserved for the close of the summary of the 
 
 work ac- doings of the retiring administration. I refer to the 
 
 wiu/'^'reat'^ actual and fitting conclusion of their labors, — the prepa- 
 
 pains. Tiie ^-atiou and publication of the Rolls of Membership. In 
 
 need of an ' ^ 
 
 accurate list the preface of this admirable work you will find a his- 
 tory of the undertaking and some account of tlie difficul- 
 ties which the Committee on the Rolls encountered in 
 their task. I feel it my duty, in justice to the Council 
 and in gratitude to those who have had the work in 
 charge, to impress upon you my own conviction that had 
 it been postponed and left to other hands, the Society 
 might never have been able to identify many of its mem- 
 bers. Ihit now, through the indefatigable industry of 
 Messrs. George Kuhn Clarke, Ilcnry Herbert Edcs, and 
 Francis Henry Hrown, we have i)rintcd Rolls of Mem- 
 
15 
 
 bers and Officers, if not perfect, as nearly so, I believe, 
 as it is practicable to make them ; and in method of 
 arrangement and of reference and style of execution they 
 present a model of excellence. 
 
 My task is accomplished. It is not for me to advise Conclusion, 
 as to the future, further than I have done in former com- 
 munications to the Society and to the Council. For my 
 associates as well as for myself, however, I cannot with- 
 hold an expression of good wishes to all the gentlemen 
 with whom we have been associated, and of an ardent 
 hope that the objects for the promotion of which our 
 Society was founded may be steadfastly pursued through 
 all changes and vicissitudes, as the guiding star of our 
 endeavor. And further, I cannot resist the impulse to 
 adopt as a reflection which may conduce to the realiza- 
 tion of this hope, and as the final sentence of this fare- 
 well address, the never inapposite words of Solomon, in 
 his eulogy of wisdom : " Her ways are ways of pleasant- 
 ness, and all her paths are peace." 
 
LIBRftRV OF CONGRESS 
 
 013 995 060 4