USA > Connecticut > The history of Connecticut, from the first settlement of the colony to the adoption of the present constitution, vol. II > Part 54
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There have been few reformers, whether of the religious, moral, or civil condi- tion of mankind, who have been popular in their day. They have to encounter old prejudices, which have taken deep root and long drawn from the earth the nourishment that should have been absorbed by the smaller fibres of the grains that nourish, or the flowers that adorn our fallen humanity. They have to contend against vanity, jealousy, envy, and ignorance. The world does not love to be told of its faults, and for this reason has almost always regarded its reformers and teachers as its enemies. Besides there is some thing connected with the educa- tion of the young, which the flippant materialist, the frigid fashionist and the callous man of the world, looks upon with a kind of contempt as unworthy of his notice. Hence many a fop who spends hours before his looking-glass in adjusting his hair and beard, many a wily politician whose life has been spent in the practice of low cunning and intrigue, turns his eye askance and curls his lip in scorn at the . sight of a Howard or a Gallaudet, as worthy only to be a nurse or a schoolmaster. They cannot associate the idea of great powers with occupations that seem to be so humble. It will be noticed that such men almost always speak lightly of the intellectual powers of woman, too, and skeptically of Him, who, in His divine com- passion and infinite wisdom, beholding the ripe fruit in the opening bud, stretched forth his arms exclaiming " suffer little children to come unto me." To such men the wanderings of Hooker through the wilderness, the patient labors of Muirson, the episcopal missionary on the western border of Connecticut, are in- vested witli no poetry, and look forward to no glorious results of empire or tri- umphant faith. To sport with the bubbles so constantly bursting and forming a new on the changing surface of life is a pastime, business, hope, and eternity to them.
With Henry Barnard, whose name is so intimately associated with one of the great reforms of the world, life is valuable only that it may be spent in improv- ing the condition of mankind not only in the present generation, but in all ages. To this noble work he has consecrated talents and acquirements of the highest
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order. Descending from one of the emigrants who settled the colony, with strong local attachments to Hartford, his native city, and to the old mansion where he was born,-with academical acquirements among the best that Yale College can bestow upon her sons,-with intellectual endowments and a gift of eloquence which might have done honor to the senate,-with a mind trained by the best models of Greek and Latin letters and enriched by the poetry, the philosophy and science of England's best minds, a thorough lawyer with a lucrative and honorable practice opening before him, at the age of 27 years he abandoned all the attrac- tions of political and professional life and the pleasures of literary and social relations; and went forth like a crusader of the middle ages, to wage war with the bigotry, the parsimony and the old habits of thinking which encrusted the minds of a large proportion of the parents of Connecticut, in relation to that most vital subject, the education of their children. They frowned upon him as an inter- meddler ; and intimated, if they did not tell him in so many words that he had better mind his own affairs, and they would take care of theirs. He expostulated with them. They told him that their school-books and school-houses had been good enough for themselves, and that their children were no better than they. He reasoned with them, stated facts to show them that the common school system had degenerated from its old estate, and begged them to remember that the times were changing, and that especially in such a government as this, every gene- ration ought to improve upon its predecessors. They told him that he de- manded of them to open their purses and contribute to him; he replied, that he only wished them to make an investment for themselves which should add to their wealth and happiness an hundred fold. Gradually their views began to relax, and after years of obstinate resistance, they have yielded and com- menced in earnest the reformation so ardently desired and advocated by him.
We cannot here review his labors. After encountering the honest prejudices of many, and the active opposition of not a few, who seem to have misunderstood his motives and his aims-he has succeeded in collecting and disseminating a vast amount of information as to the actual condition of the schools ; in making provision through a state normal school, county teachers' institutes, a state teachers' association, and a monthly educational periodical, for the professional training and improvement of teachers; in establishing a gradation of schools in the large villages and cities ; in working not a change, but a revolution in the construction and furniture of school-houses; in restoring the old Connecti- cut principle of property taxation for the support, in part at least, of the com- mon school; in securing the more permanent employment and better compen- sation of well qualified teachers ; in drawing back again to the improved common schools the children of the educated and the wealthy; in subjecting the district schools to some general society regulations as to attendance, studies, books, and vacations ; and as the source and pledge of still greater improvements, in interest- ing the public mind in the discussion of questions touching the organization, ad- ministration, instruction, and discipline of common schools.
The history of our system of schools would be manifestly incomplete, without a special reference to the invaluable services of the Hon. Seth P. Beers, of Litch- field. His successful management of the School Fund through a period of a
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quarter of a century, has been referred to elsewhere. In his hands we have seen the principal of that fund gradually increasing in extent and importance, until the interest annually distributed among the different school societies of the state, is of itself munificent. To his office of commissioner of the fund, was for some time added that of superintendent of common schools, in which capacity he exerted an important influence in perfecting the system of general education which now forms so interesting a feature in the history of our little commonwealth.
TRINITY COLLEGE.
A CONVOCATION of the diocese, held at East Haddam, in February, 1792, under Seabury, first bishop of Connecticut, took the primary steps toward establishing the Episcopal Academy at Cheshire. This, though incorporated in 1801, with limited privileges, was intended as the foundation of a higher institution so soon as a charter containing full collegiate powers could be obtained from the state. It was often styled familiarly "The Seabury College."
Efforts were made to enlarge the powers of the Academy in 1804, and again in 1810 and 1811, which in one instance only were so far successful, that an act granting a college charter was passed by a full vote in the House of Representa- tives, but rejected in the Council.
Vacancy in the episcopate, and afterward the establishment of the General Theological Seminary, among other causes, occasioned the episcopalians of the state to defer their projected college to happier times, which seemed to have dawned in 1818, when the state constitution was adopted. Bishop Brownell, who was consecrated in 1819, was enabled shortly to carry the design into execution. A petition to the legislature numerously signed, was presented on the 13th of May, 1823. The bill in form passed the lower House by a large majority on the sixteenth, and received the governor's signature. The news of the final passage of the bill was received with great joy by the citizens of Hartford. Cannon were fired, and bonfires lighted. Measures were immediately taken to raise the requisite funds, the charter having provided that the trustees should not proceed to organize the institution, until funds to the amount of $30,000, should be secured. Over $50,000 were immediately realized, about three-fourths of which sum, was sub- scribed in Hartford, and its immediate vicinity. A most eligible site was procured, comprising about fifteen acres. The buildings were begun in June, 1824, and the college commenced operations in September of the same year.
It was considered one of the peculiar advantages of Washington College, that, in addition to the regular system of collegiate education, a particular course of instruction, designed for those destined to pursuits for which a knowledge of the ancient languages constitutes no essential preparation, was provided for ; a need, if we mistake not, then unsupplied in nearly all the other colleges, but which is now filled by the various scientific schools of our country.
The Rev. Dr. Wheaton, being desirous of visiting England for the benefit of
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his health, was in 1824, requested by the corporation to act as their agent to re- ceive donations for the supply of a library and philosophical apparatus.
The first commencement was held in the Centre Church, in August, 1827, when ten young gentlemen received the degree of B.A.
Bishop Brownell, finding the cares of the diocese pressing heavily upon him, re- signed the presidency in 1831, and was succeeded by the Rev. N. S. Wheaton, D.D. During his incumbency, which was terminated in 1837, and chiefly by his exertions, the Hobart Professorship was endowed with the sum of $20,000. The Seabury Professorship of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, with $14,000, and large additions made to the general fund. The Rev. Silas Totten, D.D., was chosen president in 1837, and resigned in 1848. During his presidency Brownell Hall was erected in 1845, and the same year, by permission of the legislature, the name of the college was changed from Washington to Trinity,"to attest forever the faith of its founders and their zeal for the perpetual glory and honor of one Holy and undivided Trinity."
The Trustees also at this time enacted certain statutes, committing the course of study and discipline to a Board of Fellows, and empowering the Alumni of the college to assemble together in accordance with their own rules, under the name of the House of Convocation, and to consult and advise for the interests of their Alma Mater. This House of Convocation took the place of the old " Association of the Alumni," which was dissolved in 1846. The good effects of this change are just beginning to appear, but time enough has not yet elapsed to reap their full advantage.
Upon the resignation of Dr. Totten in 1848, it was a source of congratulation among the Alumni that the choice of a successor fell upon one of their own num- ber, the Rev. John Williams, D.D. Under his presidency the Library was con- siderably augmented, and the number of students steadily increased ; a new pro- fessorship was established, that of Public Economy, and the Rev. Calvin Colton, LL. D., appointed to it ; a Theological department was also organized. In 1849, the fourth section of the original charter was altered by the legislature, and it was provided that the Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Connecticut, should always be ex-officio, a member and president of the Board of Trustees. In 1851, Dr. Williams was elected Assistant Bishop of this Diocese, and finding that its duties demanded his whole time, he resigned the presidency in 1853, when the present incumbent, the Rev. Daniel R. Goodwin, D.D., late of Bowdoin College, was elected.
The grounds comprise about sixteen acres, laid out with walks and adorned with trees and shrubbery ; the site is elevated, and overlooks on one side the city of Hartford, and on the other a fine expanse of country. The Little River forms their western boundary. The proposed new Park is to be connected with the college ground, and the whole will comprise an area of about forty-six aeres. There are three buildings, of Portland stone, in the Ionic order. Jarvis Hall, erected in 1824, and Brownell Hall, erected in 1845, are each 150 feet long by 45 in breadth, and four stories high-and a wing of each is the residence of a professor and his family, Seabury Hall, erected in 1824, 90 by 55 feet, contains the chapel, 50 by 35 feet, which is furnished with a fine organ, the library and cabinet, each
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of the same dimensions, the laboratory, philosophical chamber, and other public rooms.
There are, including that of the professor of ecclesiastical history, about 12,000 volumes in the library. The college library is rich in the Latin classics, the works of the fathers of the church, and works on the controversy between the Protestant and Romish churches. It is somewhat deficient in English literature and in scientific works. There are also two libraries, belonging to societies of undergraduates, to- gether numbering upwards of six thousand volumes, principally English literature.
The cabinet contains an extensive collection of minerals and geological speci- mens to which has recently been added one of the finest collections of shells in New England. The philosophical and chemical apparatus is extensive. There are two endowed professorships, the Hobart, endowed with $20,000, and the Sea- bury with $14,000, and between thirty and forty endowed exhibitions which yield their incumbents from $30 to $100, per annum. A few years since the college received $11,800 from the state. Its endowment with this exception, being entirely from private liberality.
In addition to the exhibitions mentioned above, the " Church Scholarship So- ciety," established in 1827, gives assistance to such necessitous students as design to enter the ministry, and to such also the tuition is remitted.
The present course of instruction is arranged as follows : Ist term, &c.
Examinations are held at the close of each term, in the presence of examiners appointed by the Board of Fellows, from their own number or otherwise. Com- mencement day is the last Thursday in July. The necessary expenses are,
Tuition, $11 per term,. $33,00
Room rent, from $3 to $4,50 per term,. 12,00
Use of library, attendance, printing, &c., per term,9,00
Assessments for public damages, &c., .4,50
Board from #2 to $3 per week,. . 75,00 to $95,00
$133,50 to $153,50 per ann.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
ADAMS, ANDREW, LL. D., was born in Stratford in 1736, graduated at Yale in 1760, and settled in Litchfield in 1774, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was successively king's attorney, judge of probate, representative at ten sessions, speaker of the House in 1779 and 1780, member of the Continen- tal Congress, judge and chief judge of the superior court. He received the degree of doctor of laws from Yale College in 1796, and died November 26, 1797, aged 61.
ALLEN, ETHAN, General, was born in Litchfield, January 10, 1737-and died
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on his estate in Colchester, Vermont, February 13, 1789, aged 52. His history has been so fully detailed in the course of these volumes, that no farther sketch of him is necessary.
ALLEN, IRA, a younger brother of the preceding, was born in Cornwall in 1752, and in early life emigrated to Vermont, where he became distinguished as a civil and military leader. He was a member of the convention which formed the State Constitution, in 1778; and was one of the commissioners to negotiate for the admission of the state into the Federal Union. He was the first secretary of state, and was subsequently a member of the council, state treasurer, and surveyor gen- eral. Having risen to the rank of senior major-general of militia, he proceeded to Europe to purchase arms for the use of the state. In France, he purchased twenty thousand muskets, and twenty-four brass cannon, with a part of which he was captured, November 9, 1796, and carried into England. He was charged with attempting to furnish the Irish rebels with arms, and a litigation of eight years in the court of admiralty followed, which was finally decided in his favor. He returned to this country in 1801, and spent the residue of his life mainly at his home in Colchester, Vermont. He published a work entitled "The Natural and Civil History of Vermont." He died in Philadelphia, January 7, 1814, aged 62 years.
ALLYN, JOHN, is mentioned for the first time on the colonial records of Connec- ticut, in 1657, in connection with the first " troop of horse" formed in the colony, of which he was chosen cornet. In 1661, he was a lieutenant, and a deputy to the General Court. From 1662 to 1696-a period of thirty-four years he was one of the magistrates of the colony ; in 1664, he was chosen secretary of the colony, an office which he held for twenty-eight years. He was also a commissioner of the united colonies, a member of the committee to negotiate the union between the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven, and a member of the committee on the New York boundary line. He died in 1696. He may have been a son of Mr. Mathew Allyn, of Hartford and Windsor, who was for many years a magis- trate, and was chosen moderator of the General Court in 1660.
ALSOP, RICHARD, was born in Middletown in January, 1761, and was for some time a student in Yale College, but left without graduating. He became a pro- ficient in the ancient and modern languages, and devoted his life mainly to literary pursuits. He was associated with Theodore Dwight, Mason F. Cogswell, Elihu IIubbard Smith, and Lemuel Hopkins, in the authorship of " The Political Green House," and " The Echo." IIe published " The Fairy of the Enchanted Lake," and a " Poem on the Death of General Washington," which contained about five hundred lines. He was highly esteemed in his day for his learning, talents, and gentlemanly manners, and the literary public, as if by common consent, have awarded him an honorable place among the poets of America. He died suddenly, of a disease of the heart, at Flatbush, Long Island, in August, 1815.
AUSTIN, SAMUEL, D.D., was born in New Haven, Oct. 7, 1760, and graduated at Yale in 1783. IIe was for many years pastor of congregational churches in Fair Haven, Conn., and Worcester, Mass., and was a very eloquent and popular preacher. For a few years, he was president of the University of Vermont. He published several sermons and dissertations, and other religious works. Dr.
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Austin, became partially deranged a few years previous to his death, which took place December 4, 1830.
BACON, EPAPHRODITUS C., (son of Asa Bacon, Esq., an eminent lawyer of Litchfield,) was born in Litchfield in 1810, graduated at Yale in 1833, and settled in his native town in the practice of the law. In 1836, he was a dele- gate to, and secretary of, the whig national convention; and in 1840 and 1841, he was elected a representative from Litchfield, to the state legislature. He was distinguished for his historical and antiquarian investigations, and was highly esteemed for his learning and courtesy. While traveling on the continent of Europe, he died at Seville, in Spain, January 11, 1845, aged 34.
BACKUS, AZEL, D.D., was born in Norwich, and graduated at Yale in 1787. He became the successor of the Rev. Dr. Bellamy, as pastor of the church in Bethlem, in 1791 ; and was inaugurated as the first president of Hamilton Col- lege, New York, in 1815. He received the degree of doctor of divinity at Princeton, in 1810. Dr. Backus died December 28, 1816, aged 51 years. He was a man of original cast of thought, and was distinguished for his earnest piety.
BALDWIN, ABRAHAM, a native of Connecticut, and a graduate of Yale in 1772. From 1775 to 1779, he was a tutor in that institution. Having studied law, he settled in Savannah, Georgia, and in about three months after his arrival there he was chosen a member of the legislature. He originated the plan of the University of Georgia, drew up the charter by which it was endowed with 40,000 acres of land, and finally persuaded the Assembly to adopt the project. He was a member of the Continental Congress from 1785 to 1788 ; and was a member of the con- vention which formed the Constitution of the United States. From 1789 to 1799, he was a representative in Congress ; and from the last date until his death, he was a member of the United States Senate. He died on the 4th of March, 1807, aged 53 years. He was for some time President of the University of Georgia.
BALDWIN, SIMEON, was born in Norwich, December 14, 1761, graduated at Yale in 1781, and was a tutor in that institution from 1783 to 1786. He read law with Charles Chauncey, Esq., and settled in New Haven. He was clerk of the United States district and circuit courts for fourteen years, a member of Congress for two years, and a judge of the supreme court for twelve years. He was also president of the Board of Canal Commissioners, and mayor of the city of New Haven. Judge Baldwin died in New Haven, May 26, 1851. His son, the Hon. Roger S. Baldwin, LL. D., has been governor and United States senator.
BARLOW, JOEL, LL. D., was born in Reading, in 1755, and graduated at Yale in 1778, on which occasion he delivered a poem " On the Prospect of Peace," which is preserved in the volume of " American Poems," edited by Elihu Hub- bard Smith, and printed at Litchfield, in 1793. He studied divinity, and was for some time a chaplain in the army. In 1781, on the occasion of receiving the degree of master of arts, Barlow pronounced a poem which he subsequently em- bodied in his " Vision of Columbus." At the close of the Revolution, he studied law and was admitted to the bar. For some years, he was associated with the late Major Babcock, in editing a weekly gazette at Hartford, called "The Ameri-
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can Mercury." In 1785, by request of the General Association of the Congrega- tional Churches in Connecticut, he prepared a revised edition of Dr. Watts' psalms ; to which he appended a collection of hymns, several of which were written by himself. The version of 137th, which is still much admired, was also from his pen. The work was published in the year last named, and was long the authorized version of psalms and hymns in use among the congregational churches. His " Vision of Columbus," was published in 1787, and was republished in Lon- don and Paris. In 1788, he visited Europe as the agent of a land company, and passed several years in England and France, during which time he was engaged in various political and literary employments.
In 1795, Mr. Barlow was appointed American Consul to Algiers, and dis- charged the duties of that post for two years. He then revisited Paris, where he engaged in commercial speculations, and amassed a fortune. In 1805, after an absence from this country of seventeen years, he returned and fixed his residence in Washington City, where he' erected a splendid mansion. In 1808, his great national poem, "The Columbiad," was published in a magnificent quarto volume, with plates. In 1811, President Madison appointed him minister plenipotentiary to the Court of France, and he immediately proceeded to Paris. While on his way to Wilna, to meet the Emperor Napoleon, he was overcome by fatigue and exposure, and died at an obscure village inn, near Cracow, in Poland, on the 22d of December, 1812.
BEEBE, BEZALEEL, was born in Litchfield, April 28, 1741. He served first as a soldier and subsequently as an officer in the French and Indian wars; and in the Revolution, he rose to the rank of colonel in the continental army. He was a brave and skillful officer, and served with distinction in several campaigns. He was often a representative in the legislature, and held other civil offices. Colonel Beebe died in Litchfield, May 29, 1824, aged 83 years.
BEECHER, LYMAN, D.D., is a native of New Haven, and was pastor of the con- gregational church in Litchfield, from 1810 to 1826. He has been for many years president of Lane Seminary, near Cincinnati, Ohio. His complete works are now being published in Boston. Six of his sons have been or are distinguished as clergymen, viz., William, of Ohio; Edward, D.D., of Boston, (formerly Presi- dent of Illinois College, and author of "The Conflict of Ages ;") George, who died at Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1843 ; Henry Ward, of Brooklyn, N. Y .; Charles, of Newark, N. J .; and Thomas K., of Williamsburgh, L. I. His daughters, Miss Catharine E. Beecher, and Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, are well known authors.
BOARDMAN, ELIJAII, was born in New Milford, March 7, 1760, and became a successful merchant in that town. He was a representative, member of the council, state senator, and senator in Congress. He was a man of enterprise, intelligence, and great activity of mind. While on a visit to his children in the town of Board- man, Ohio, he died August 18, 1823. His brother, the Hon. David S. Board- man, of New Milford, formerly a senator and chief judge of the court of common pleas, is still living. The Hon. William W. Boardman, of New Haven, is a son of the subject of this paragraph.
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