USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > A biographical history of the county of Litchfield, Connecticut: comprising biographical sketches of distinguished natives and residents of the county; together with complete lists of the judges of the county court, justices of the quorum, county commissioners, judges of probate, sheriffs, senators, &c. from the organization of the county to the present time > Part 21
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Senator Phelps was appointed on the Select Committee of Thirteen, to whom were referred various matters pertaining to Slavery, with instructions to report some suitable plan for the adjustment of existing difficulties. Reluctantly he con- sented to act on that Committee, and from their report, sub- sequently drawn up and presented by Mr. Clay, he very pro- perly dissented.
Senator Phelps was one of the distinguished guests on board the U. S. Frigate " Princeton," at the time of the memorable explosion of the mammoth gun, which killed several members of President Tyler's Cabinet and other prominent gentlemen .*
* The following letter from Senator Phelps to a gentleman in Boston, was published soon after the occurrence of the terrible catastrophe-
Washington, March 3d, 1844.
My Dear Sir-Your kind letter of yesterday came to hand this evening. My escape from death by the tremendous occurrence on board the Prince- ton, was narrower than you or the public are aware. I stood at the breach of the gun, and I suppose nearer to it than any man except those employed in discharging it. I had with me a young lady from Maryland, (Miss Somerville,) whom I had just introduced to Colonel Benton, and who was the only lady on board exposed. The Colonel and I were both pros. trated, and he is on his back still. My hat disappeared, and I have made no inquiry for it. The young lady's bonnet went with it. Her dress was torn. My surtout was torn open, and my pantaloons demolished. Her
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He himself narrowly escaped death -- but, through the inter vention of a merciful Providence, he still lives.
He was appointed to deliver the annual address before the American Institute in October 1850, but in consequence of the protracted session of Congress, he was unable to fulfil the appointment. On the 4th of March, 1851, after being twelve years in the Senate, he retired to private life, and was suc- ceeded in that body by the Hon. Solomon Foote.
face was scorched, and the poor girl stood like a statue, unconscious. I did not lose my consciousness for a moment. I took a glance at the scene caught her round the waste, and carried her below. I witnessed a scene there which I shall not attempt to describe-it was one of agony, frenzy. The shrieks of an hundred females-wives, daughters, sisters-the beauty, the loveliness of the land-are still ringing in my ears. The imploring appeals to know the fate of the nearest and dearest objects of their affec- tion, cannot be forgotten. "Sir," said one, " they will not tell me about my husband." I knew her not, but she was at that moment a widow, Her husband was blown to atoms. Another, in a state of frenzy, was caught in the arms of her husband, and assured, by his ardent embrace and fervent kiss, that he was safe ; but the agonized being who had, at that moment, made that trying appeal to me, augured too surely that she would feel that embrace no more. My friend, you will hardly believe me when I tell you I was calm, collected. It was no time for trepidation. I felt as if introduced into the presence of my Maker. The scene was un- earthly : every selfish feeling vanished : even my own life was of no ac- count. I was taken to the portals of eternity, and felt that I was survey- ing, not the paltry interests of time and sense, but man's eternal destiny. The first tear that started from my eye, fell upon the few lines which con- veyed to my beloved and devoted wife the assurance that she was not a widow, nor her children fatherless:
But it is past ! The friends who but a moment before the fatal accident were seated with me at the festive board, blest with health and clothed with honor-the select and distinguished few, a nation's pride and a na- tion's ornament-are now in the presence of their God, whither I must soon follow. My worthless lite has been spared-may it not have been for the purpose of a better preparation ! Adieu. S. S. PHELPS.
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JOHN PIERPONT.
THE Rev. JOHN PIERPONT is a lineal descendant of the Rev. James Pierpont, the second minister of New Haven, who is supposed to have been allied to the noble English fam- ily of his name, which held the earldom of Kingston, and bore the motto " Pie repone te." The grandson of Mr. Pierpont of New Haven was a resident of Litchfield, where his son, the subject of this sketch, was born, on the 6th of April, 1785, He entered Yale College at fifteen years of age, and was reg- ularly graduated in 1804. After assisting for a short time the Rev. Dr, Backus, in the charge of the Academy at Bethlem, he went to South Carolina in the autumn of 1805, and resided as a private tutor in the family of Col. William Alston, with whom he remained for nearly four years. Here he commen- ced the study of the law, which, after his return to Connecti- cut in 1809, he continued in the law school at Litchfield.
In 1812, Mr Pierpont was admitted to the bar in Essex County, Massachusetts, and practiced his profession for a time in Newburyport. Here he first became known to the public in a poetical character, by delivering before the " Washington Benevolent Society" of Newburyport, a patriotic poem entitled " The Portrait," which was afterwards published. His health demanding more active employment, he relinquished his pro- fession, and engaged in mercantile transactions, first in Boston and subsequently in Baltimore. In 1816, he abandoned these pursuits, and about the same time published the " Airs of Pal- estine," three editions of which were published in the course two years. He now devoted himself to the study of theology,
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first at Baltimore, and afterwards at the Theological School connected with Harvard College. In October, 1818, he left that institution, and in April of the following year, was ordain- ed pastor of the Hollis Street Church, in Boston, as successor to the Rev. Dr. Holley, who had been elected President of Transylvania University, in Kentucky.
In 1835, Mr. Pierpont left his native country, and passed a year among the most interesting scenes of foreign travel. He visited England, France and Italy, and from thence extended his tour through Greece into Asia Minor, and to Constanti- nople. On his return, he resumed his pastoral charge in Bos- ton, which he retained until 1846-a period of more than twen- ty-seven years from his settlement. After leaving that city, he was for a short time a resident of Troy, New York, but was subsequently settled over a church in Medford, Massachusetts, where he still resides. In addition to his more legitimate du- ties as a pastor, he has been often and zealously engaged in various moral and political reforms. He was at one election, the regular candidate of the Liberty Party for the office of Governor of Massachusetts ; and in the autumn of 1850, he was the Free Soil candidate for Representative to Congress from the district in which he resides-but there being no choice, he withdrew from the contest before another election.
The " Airs of Palestine" is a poem of about eight hundred lines, in the heroic measure, designed to illustrate the influence of music upon the passions of mankind, by examples chiefly drawn from sacred history. It was written in the cause of charity, its recitation having formed part of the exercises of an evening concert of sacred music for the benefit of the poor. It is the largest work of our author, and its graceful verse and glowing imagery have justly rendered it one of the most pop- ular of American poemas. The minor and occasional poems of Mr. Pierpont have been numerous, and of a highly varied character. They are composed in almost every variety of
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measure, and are generally marked with more of boldness and less of delicacy that the " Airs of Palestine." They were collected and published with the latter poem, at Boston, in a duodecimo volume, Mr. Fierpont is elected as the Poet of the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Yale College for the year 1851.
In addition to his poetical works, Mr. Pierpont has publish- ed several school books, which have been very popular.
The following extracts from his poems will give the reader some idea of his style and talent :
THE PILGRIM FATHERS.
The pilgrim fathers-where are they ? The waves that brought them o'er, Still roll in the bay, and throw their spray, As they break along the shore ; Still roll in the bay, as they rolled that day, When the May-Flower moored below,
When the sea around was black with storms, And white the shore with snow.
The mist that wraped the pilgrim's sleep, Still broods upon the tide :
And his rocks yet keep their watch by the deep, To stay its waves of pride.
But the snow-white sail, that he gave to the gale, When the heavens looked dark, is gone, As an angel's wing, through an opening cloud, Is seen, and then withdrawn,
The pilgrim exile-sainted name! The hill, whose icy brow Rejoiced, when he came, in the morning's flame, In the morning's flame burns now.
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And the moon's cold light as it lay that night On the hill-side and the sea, Still lies where he laid his houseless head, But the pilgrim-where is he ?
The pilgrim fathers are at rest ; When Summer's throned on high,
And the world's warm breast is in verdure dresse d Go, stand on the hill where they lic. The earliest ray of the golden day On that hallowed spot is cast ; And the evening sun, as he leaves the world, Looks kindly on that spot last.
The pilgrim spirit has not fled, It walks in noon's broad light ; And it watches the bed of the glorious dead, With the holy stars, by night. It watches the bed of the brave who have bled, And shall guard this ice-bound shore, Till the waves of the bay where the May-flower lay Shall foam and freeze no more.
DEDICATION HYMN.
O Thou, to whom, in ancient time, The lyre of Hebrew bard was strung, Whom kings adored in songs sublime, And prophets praised with glowing tongue,-
Not now, on Z'on's height alone, Thy favored worshipper may dwell, Nor where, at sultry noon, thy Son Sat, weary, by the patriarch's well.
From every place below the skies, The grateful song, the fervent prayer-
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The incense of the heart-may rise To heaven, and find acceptance there.
In this thy house, whose doors we now For social worship first unfold, To Thee the suppliant throng shall bow, While circling years on years are rolled.
To Thee shall age, with snowy hair, And strength and beauty, bend the knee,
And childhood lisp, with reverend air, Its praises and its prayers to thee.
O Thou, to whom in ancient time, The lyre of prophet bards wes strung, To thee, at last, in very clime, Shall temples rise, and praise be sung !
INVOCATION. From the "Airs of Palistine." O, Thou Dread Spirit ! Being's End and Source ! Check thy bright chariot in its fervid course .; Bend from thy throne of darkness and of fire, And with one smile immortalize our lyre. Amid the cloudy lustre of thy throne, Tho' wreathy tubes, unheard on earth, are blown, In sweet accord with the undving hymn Of angel choirs and harping Seraphim, Still hast thou stooped to hear a shepherd play, To prompt his measures and approve his lay. Hast thou grown old, Thou, who forever livest ! Hast thou forgotten, 'Thou, who memory givest ! How on the day thize ark, with loud acclaim, From Zion's hill to Mount Moriah came,
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Beneath the wings of cherubim to rest, In a rich veil of Tyrian purple dressed ; When harps and cymbols joined in echoing clang, When psalters tinkled, and when trumpets rang, 'Thou didst descend, and, rolling thro' the crowd, Inshrine thine ark and altar in thy shroud, And fill the temple with thy mantling cloud ! And now, Almighty Father, well we know, When humble strains from grateful bosoms flow, Those humble strains grow richer as they rise, And shed a balmier freshness on the skies !
What though no Cherubim are here displayed, No gilded walls, no cedar colonnade, No crimson curtains hang around our choir, Wrought by the cunning artizan of Tyre ; No doors of fir on golden hinges turn ; No spicy gums in golden censers burn ; No frankincense, in rising volumes, shrouds The fretted roof in aromatic clouds ; No royal minstrel, from his ivory throne, Gives thee his father's numbers or his own ; If humble love, if gratitude inspire, Our strain shall silence even the temple's choir, And rival Michael's trump, nor yield to Gabriel's lyre.
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JEREMIAH DAY.
JEREMIAH DAY, D. D., LL. D., late President of Yale College, was born in New Preston, a parish in the town of Wash- ington, Connecticut, 1773. His father, the Rev. Jeremiah Day, who was graduated at Yale College in 1756, was pastor of the church in New Preston, and lived to an advanced age, much respected. President Day was entered a freshman in Yale Col- lege, 1789, but on account of infirm health, did not complete his collegiate course with the class to which he at first belonged. After an absence of several years, he rejoined the College, and received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1795.
This was the year of Dr. Dwight's accession to the presidency. By the removal of Dr. Dwight from Greenfield, the school which he had established in that village, and which had flourished very greatly under his instruction, was destitute of a preceptor. Mr. Day was invited to take charge of this school, and continued in it a year; when he was elected a tutor in Williams College, Massa- chusetts. Here he remained two years. In Yale College, he commenced his tutorship in 1798. He had early chosen Theology as a profession, and while officiating as tutor, began to preach as a candidate for the ministry. On the resignation of Professor Meigs, who had been called to the presidency of the University of Georgia, Mr. Day was elected, in 1801, to succeed him as Profes- sor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. At this time Mr. Day was in feeble health, and was obliged to suspend the business
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of instruction. By the advice of his physician, he passed one winter in the island of Bermuda. In 1803, his health was so far restored that he entered upon his professorship; the duties of which he continued to discharge, till the death of Dr. Dwight, in 1817, when he was elected to the office of President. He was inaugurated in July of the same year. On the same day in which he was introduced into the presidency, he was ordained, by the clerical part of the Fellows, a minister of the gospel.
While President Day was Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, he published several mathematical treatises for the use of students in that department; which are used in Yale College, and some, or all of them, extensively in other institutions. While he was President of the College, he published several occasional sermons, and "An Inquiry respecting the Self-determining Power of the Will, or Contingent Volition."
In 1817, the College in Middlebury, Vermont, conferred on President Day the degree of Doctor of Laws, and in 1818, Union College, in Schenectady, the degree of Doctor of Divinity. The degree of Doctor of Divinity, likewise, was conferred on him in 1831, by Harvard University.
President Day occupied his station until 1846-longer than any other head of the College. Yale College has been peculiarly for- tunate in its Presidents; and it may be said with truth, that it at no time flourished more, than under the administration of President Day. His learning and talent united to great kindness of heart, and urbanity of manner, secured alike the respect and love of the thousands of pupils committed to his charge.
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REV. EBENEZER PORTER, D. D.
EBENEZER PORTER was born October 5, 1772, at Cornwall. His father, Hon. Thomas Porter, was a farmer, but for many years, especially in the latter part of his life, was somewhat prominent as a political man. In 1779, he removed with his family to Tinmouth, a small town in the Southern part of the county of Rutland, Ver- mont. Dr. Porter began to fit for college at an early age, under the instruction of his brother-in-law, the Rev. Mr. Osborn, then minister of Tinmouth. He completed his preparatory studies under the superintendence of the Rev. Job Swift, D. D., pastor of the Congregational church in Bennington, Vt. He entered the freshman class in Dartmouth College in 1788, and in 1792 received the degree of A. B. At the commencement exercises, he had the first appointment. During the whole college course, he had sus- tained a high rank as a scholar.
The remark has not unfrequently been made, that the standing of a student in college furnishes little or no data on which to esti- mate his subsequent usefulness or reputation. Cases, indeed, occur of premature growth. The mind which shoots suddenly to manhood, may speedily decay. Boys who have excited extraordi- nary hopes in college, have afterwards sunk into utter obscurity. The mind is also sometimes under the stimulus of vicious excite- ments. A young man toils for the highest honors of his class. Day and night his powers are stretched to the utmost intensity. A stranger to the hallowed motives to literary effort furnished by the Christian religion, he nourishes his feverish hopes. The goal
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is reached ; the valedictory oration is secured; the stirring scenes of commencement-day vanish; the plaudits of too partial friends have lost their relish. The unhappy youth is thrown out upon the world without an object or a motive. His mental energies suffer a fearful collapse. We hear no more of him. He is a disgrace to one of the learned professions, or betakes himself to a life of idle- ness, or lingers out a miserable existence in dissipation. Perhaps his health was ruined by his unnatural application while in the col- lege. The valedictory has been in more than one instance a pre- cursor to the grave. The constitution was shattered by the enor- mous draughts which the four years made upon it. Still we are inclined to think that the character in college is a pretty good index of the whole subsequent life. The early developments, as a general thing, correspond to the subsequent history. Mind is not so changeable in its aspects as to falsify every prediction. Some of the most powerful motives which stimulate the youthful scholar are of a permanent, as well as a laudable character. Years of idleness in college are occasionally recovered at a single bound, or atoned for by subsequent indefatigable application. But this is not the ordinary law. "Seest thou a man diligent in his business ; he shall stand before kings." This is as applicable to a scholar's life, as to that of any other person.
Dr. Porter's career is an illustration of this conclusion. He studied industriously and methodically in college; in the whole of his subsequent life, so far as his health permitted, he was a hard student. In college he acquired for himself respect and an honor- able rank; in his professional career he maintained the same ascendancy.
Dr. Porter became pious during his junior year in college. The circumstances connected with this interesting event in his history are not known to the writer of this article. The year after he left college, he connected himself with the Congregational church in Washington, Litchfield county, Conn. Of this church he was afterwards pastor. It was then under the pastoral care of the
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Rev. Noah Merwin, with whose daughter Dr. Porter subsequently became connected in marriage.
After leaving college, Dr. Porter spent several months in teach- ing a school. He then commenced the study of divinity in the celebrated private theological school of the Rev. Dr. Joseph Bel- lamy, in Bethlem, Conn. Of this distinguished divine and theolog- ical instructor, his pupil frequently spoke in terms of the highest veneration and respect. For vigor and clearness of intellect; for his power in presenting doctrinal truth to the understanding and the conscience ; for the hold which he gained in the judgement and affection of the students in divinity who resorted to his house ; and for the great and happy effects produced by his preaching, his lectures and his published discourses, Dr. Bellamy ranks very high among the theologians of this and of other lands. The American church has great reason to rejoice that she has been favored with such luminaries as Drs. Bellamy, Strong, Hart, Beecher, Backus, Stephen West, Hopkins, Dwight, Hyde, and oth- ers. Perhaps no county in New England has been more highly favored in this particular than our own beloved Litchfield. Not a little of the spiritual good which Dr. Porter was enabled to effect, is, no doubt, to be attributed to the counsels and example of Dr. Bellamy. The length of time employed by Dr. Porter in the study of divinity, is not certainly known. It was probably about sixteen or eighteen months. On the 6th of September, 1796, he was ordained pastor of the Congregational church at Washington, vacant by the death of Mr. Merwin.
The Theological Seminary at Andover was opened on the 28th of September, 1808; on which occasion the Rev. President Dwight of Yale College, one of the visitors, delivered a sermon. At the same time, the Rev. Eliphalet Pearson, LL. D., professor elect of sacred literature, was ordained. Rev. Leonard Woods, D. D., was appointed Abbot professor of Christian theology. Soon after, Rev. Edward D. Griffin, D. D., was chosen Bartlet professor of sacred rhetoric. On the resignation of Dr. Pearson, Rev. Moses
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Stuart of New Haven, Conn., was chosen professor of sacred litera- ture; and on the resignation of Dr. Griffin, the Rev. Ebenezer Porter, the subject of the present sketch, was appointed professor of sacred rhetoric.
The appointment of Dr. Porter was made in 1811. On the 18th of December of that year, the South Consociation of Litch- field county held a special meeting at the house of Dr. Porter, for the purpose of considering the circumstances of the application, and, if thought advisable, to dissolve the relation between him and his people. The clergymen present on this occasion, were the Rev. Drs. Backus of Bethlem, Tyler of South Britain, Beecher of Litchfield, and the Rev. Messrs. Benedict of Woodbury, Chase of South Farms, Swift of Roxbury, Whittelsey of New Preston, Tay- lor of Bridgewater, Hart of Plymouth, and Gelston. The Conso- ciation, after considering the whole subject, came to the conclusion unanimously, that it was Dr. Porter's duty to accept the appoint- ment. His pastoral relation was accordingly dissolved.
On Wednesday, April 1, 1812, Dr. Porter was inaugurated as professor of sacred rhetoric in the theological seminary at Ando- ver.
In the mental habits and character of Dr. Porter there were very obvious and striking excellencies. His sound common sense must have been apparent to the most superficial observer. In his public performances, there were, frequently, remarks of great pith and sententiousness, which were not drawn from books, but from a close observation of human nature. During his journeys, and in his extensive acquaintance with men and institutions, he had treas- ured up numerous and striking anecdotes illustrative of the foibles and the weaknesses, or of the commendable points in human char- acter. In the thousand incidents of familiar and domestic life he exhibited a keen insight in respect to the motives by which men are governed. No one was better qualified to give advice to young men in relation to the many points where they would come in con- tact with society. Dr. Porter was also remarkable for his industry.
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It was a habit which he early acquired, and which he retained through life. He had to contend with frequent bodily indisposition, and, for many of the latter years of his life, with a shattered and broken constitution. Yet no moment, in which it was possible to labor, was lost. He seized with avidity upon every interval from pain. Even when under the pressure of severe suffering, and unable to leave his study, he had contrived some mental employ- ment, which would relieve the tedium of confinement, and at the same time, be useful to his fellow creatures. In this respect, he resembled Richard Baxter, of whose writings he was extremely fond, and who labored indefatigably, while suffering under almost all the ills to which men are incident. This industry was, however, very far removed from all bustle and excitement. There was not the least affectation of extraordinary diligence. Some men, by their glowing zeal and boisterous industry, convey the impression that they have no method in their labors, and that their work will need amendment, if not an entire revision. Dr. Porter was ever calm and collected, for he clearly apprehended the nature of his duties, the order in which they were to be performed, and the strength necessary for their accomplishment. Dr. Porter possessed a discriminating mind. In power of profound investigation on abstruse subjects he was excelled by some other men. But he mastered whatever he undertook. He clearly apprehended the relations of the different parts of a subject, and the bearing of the whole on a particular object. His study of language, his skill in the use of it, the necessity, imposed upon him by his office, of skillfully analyzing sentences, doubtless contributed to this result. Language without meaning, terms without discrimination, discourse without logic, no one was more unwilling or less liable to exhibit. This fault in others, when it fell under his observation, and when circumstances rendered it proper, he subjected to a severe yet just and kind animadversion. There is a great perfection in Dr. Porter's style of writing. So far as the nice balance of sentences, the harmonious collocation of their members, and the selection of
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