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BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
SEPTEMBER 17, 1880.
Look upon . . . the city of our solemnities. - ISAIAH XXXiii. 20. And there was great joy in that city. - AcTs viii. 8. Now the city was large and great. - NEHEMIAH vii. 4. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. - MATTHEW V. 14.
1
VIEW FROM COTTON OR PEMBERTON HILL, 1816.
THE
MEMORIAL
HISTORY OF BOSTON,
INCLUDING
SUFFOLK COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
1630-1880.
EDITED
BY JUSTIN WINSOR,
LIBRARIAN OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY.
R.I 994.46
WY32
IN FOUR VOLUMES.
VOL. IV.
THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS. PART II.
SPECIAL TOPICS.
SocSci F13.3 ·wny 1881 7/7/
Issued under the business superintendence of the projector,
CLARENCE F. JEWETT.
A. C. C. H. LIBRARY SOUTH BOSTON, MASS.
C. C. C. H. LIBRARY 50 West Broadway South Boston, Mass.
BOSTON: JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY. 1881.
07857
Copyright, 1881, BY JAMES R. OSGOOD & Co. All Rights Reserved.
-
CAMBRIDGE, MASS.+
CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
FRONTISPIECE. View from Pemberton Hill in 1816 (described on p. 69) Facing titlepage
The Last Hundred Years. PART II.
CHAPTER I.
SOCIAL LIFE IN BOSTON. Josiah P. Quincy I ILLUSTRATIONS : Sir Isaac Coffin, 3; John Hancock, 5; Samuel Eliot, 7; State Street (in 1801), 12; West End of Old State House (in 1793), 12; Peace Extra, Feb. 15, 1815, 21.
AUTOGRAPHS: Isaac Coffin, 3; John Hancock, 5.
CHAPTER II.
TOPOGRAPHY AND LANDMARKS OF THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS. Edward Stanwood 25
ILLUSTRATIONS : Carleton's Map of Boston (1797), heliotype, 25; Dearborn's plan of Back Bay and Milldam, heliotype, 33; View from Fort Hill (in 1806), 47 ; Scollay's Building, 56; Down Court Street, 57; Exchange Coffee House, 58; Tremont Street Mall, 60; Frog Pond, 61; Intersection of Washington, Winter, and Summer streets, 62.
SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. The Editor 64
ILLUSTRATIONS : State House and the Monument (in 1811), 64; the Monument from the corner of Temple and Derne streets, 65; the Monument and the Thurston House, 65; Beacon Street and the Common (in 1804-1811), helio- type, 65; Boston from Breed's Hill (in 1791), 66; the Faneuil-Phillips House, 67; Lamb Tavern, 68.
viii
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
CHAPTER III.
THE INDUSTRIES OF THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS. Carroll D. Wright and Horace G. Wadlin
69
AUTOGRAPH : William Frobisher, 72.
CHAPTER IV.
BOSTON AS A CENTRE OF MANUFACTURING CAPITAL. Edward Atkinson . . 95 ILLUSTRATION : Nathan Appleton, 105.
CHAPTER V.
THE CANAL AND RAILROAD ENTERPRISE OF BOSTON. Charles Francis Adams, Fr.
ILLUSTRATIONS : Gridley Bryant, 117; Thomas Handasyd Perkins, 118; the Granite Railway, 120; Nathan Hale, 124; Railroad Advertisement, fac-simile, 128; Thomas B. Wales, 136; Josiah Quincy, Jr., 137; J. W. Brooks, 145.
CHAPTER VI.
FINANCE IN BOSTON. Henry P. Kidder and Francis H. Peabody . 151 ILLUSTRATIONS : Jonathan Jackson, 154; William Gray, 158 ; John Eliot Thayer, 176.
CHAPTER VII.
RISE AND PROGRESS OF INSURANCE IN BOSTON. Osborne Howes, Fr. I 79
CHAPTER VIII.
THE TRADE, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION OF BOSTON, 1780-1880. Hamilton ' Andrews Hill
195
Special Topics.
CHAPTER I.
EDUCATION, PAST AND PRESENT. Charles K. Dillaway 235 ILLUSTRATION : The Old Latin School, 241.
CHAPTER II.
LIBRARIES IN BOSTON. Justin Winsor
279
ILLUSTRATIONS : John Lowell, 285; Charles Coffin Jewett, 289.
AUTOGRAPH : John Lowell, 285.
ix
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.
PHILOSOPHIC THOUGHT IN BOSTON. George Ripley and George P. Bradford . 295 ILLUSTRATIONS: John T. Kirkland, 297; William E. Channing, 303; George Ripley, 309.
AUTOGRAPHS : John T. Kirkland, 297; Andrews Norton, 299; William E. Chan- ning, 303; R. W. Emerson, 304.
CHAPTER IV.
THE WOMEN OF BOSTON. Ednah D. Cheney 331
ILLUSTRATION : Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis, 355.
CHAPTER V.
THE DRAMA IN BOSTON. William W. Clapp 357
ILLUSTRATIONS : Boston Theatre Bill, Sept. 28, 1796, 361 ; the First Boston The- atre, 363; Bill of the Opening Night of the Haymarket Theatre, Dec. 26, 1796, heliotype, 363; Haymarket Theatre, 364; a Letter by Edmund Kean, heliotype, 366; Charlotte Cushman, 368; John Gilbert, 370.
CHAPTER VI.
THE FINE ARTS IN BOSTON. Arthur Dexter . 383
ILLUSTRATIONS : Copley's "Boy and the Squirrel," 388; Gilbert Stuart, 390; Washington Allston, 393; Allston's "Titania's Court," 396; Hunt's "Dis- coverer," 400; and " Flight of Night," 401 ; Story's Statue of Colonel Pres- cott, 410; Ball's Statue of Washington, 412.
AUTOGRAPH : Washington Allston, 393.
CHAPTER VII.
MUSIC IN BOSTON. John S. Dwight 415
CHAPTER VIII.
ARCHITECTURE IN BOSTON. Charles A. Cummings . 465
ILLUSTRATIONS : Charles Bulfinch, 472; The Bulfinch Medal, 473; The Tontine buildings, 474; Spire of Hollis Street Meeting-House, 477 ; The Art Muse- um, heliotype, 484; The First Church, 485 ; Tower of the New Brattle-Square Church, 486; The New Old South, 487 ; New Trinity Church, heliotype, 488. AUTOGRAPHS : Charles Bulfinch, 472; Solomon Willard, 476.
CHAPTER IX.
BOSTON AND SCIENCE. Joseph Lovering 489
ILLUSTRATIONS: Professor John Winthrop, 494; Nathaniel Bowditch, 506; Edward Bromfield, 509.
AUTOGRAPHS: John Winthrop, 494; Nathaniel Bowditch, 506; Edward Brom- field, 509.
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON. X
CHAPTER X.
MEDICINE IN BOSTON. Samuel A. Green 527
ILLUSTRATIONS: Fac-simile of Earliest Medical Treatise printed in British America, 536; Dr. John Warren's receipt in fac-simile, 544; Medical college in Mason Street, 544; Doctor Waterhouse's inoculation ticket, 546; Dr. James Lloyd, 547.
AUTOGRAPHS: Thomas Bulfinch, 541; John Warren, 544; Benjamin Water- house, 546.
ADDITIONAL MEMORANDA. Oliver Wendell Holmes 547
CHAPTER XI.
THE BENCH AND BAR IN BOSTON. John T. Morse, Fr. . 571
ILLUSTRATIONS: Richard Dana, 581 ; Christopher Gore, 589; Daniel Webster, 596; Joseph Story, 650; Verses by Story, fac-simile, 601 ; Rufus Choate, 603; Lemuel Shaw, 605.
AUTOGRAPHS: Thomas Lechford, 571 ; Jeremy Gridley, 574; John Read, 574 ; Robert Auchmuty, senior and junior, 577 ; Benjamin Kent, 578; O. Thacher, 578; Jona. Sewall, 579; Edmund Trowbridge, 580; Richard Dana, 581 ; Josiah Quincy, 583 ; Samuel Quincy, 584; John Lowell, 585; Justices of the Supreme Court (Francis Dana, R. T. Paine, Increase Sumner, Thomas Dawes, Jr.), 586; Theodore Sedgwick, 586; Christopher Gore, 589; The- ophilus Parsons, 593; William Prescott, 598; Rufus Choate, 603; Lemuel Shaw, 606.
CHAPTER XII.
THE HORTICULTURE OF BOSTON AND VICINITY. Marshall P. Wilder . .
. 607
ILLUSTRATIONS : The Beacon Street mall, 611 ; The Brewer fountain, 614 ; The Public Garden, 616.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE CHARITIES OF BOSTON. George S. Hale 641
ILLUSTRATIONS : Extract from Amos Lawrence's diary, 642; Order by the Presi- ident and Council, 644; Order of Selectmen and Overseers of Poor (1779), 651 ; Records of the Scots' Charitable Society, 659; Records of the Quar- terly Charity Lecture, 660.
AUTOGRAPHS: Amos Lawrence, 642; Josiah Franklin, 645; Overseers of the Poor, 1707 (Thomas Palmer, William Welsteed, John Boule, John Ruck, Samuel Keeling, Ezekiel Lewis, Benj. Pemberton), 647; Committee for erecting a workhouse, 1739 (Edward Hutchinson, Jacob Wendell, James Bowdoin, Samuel Sewall, Daniel Henchman, Andrew Oliver), 648; John Scollay, 651 ; IIarl. Dorr, 651 ; Samuel Partridge, 651; Robert Porteous, 660; T. H. Perkins, 661 ; Samuel G. Howe, 661 ; Joseph Tuckerman, 662.
GENERAL INDEX
675
·
THE
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
The Last Hundred Bears.
PART II.
CHAPTER I.
SOCIAL LIFE IN BOSTON: FROM THE ADOPTION OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION TO THE GRANTING OF THE CITY CHARTER.
BY J. P. QUINCY.
TN giving some notices of manners and social life during this period, I shall speak first of usages which were characteristic of the close of the last century : most of them continued without essential modification until our city charter swept away the old landmarks, and Boston felt the im- pulses which mark a new epoch in her history. It is difficult to deal justly with ways of living which are not widely different from those that surround us. We miss the salient contrasts which lend themselves to picturesque de- scription, and are tempted to look for exceptional occurrences to brighten a narrative, rather than for facts which are truly symptomatic of taste and thought. Were it possible to go back four-score years, or even a century, and mingle with those then conducting the town, we should not feel among strangers. In many respects their ways were counterparts of our own. In certain directions, indeed, we might note a narrowness of range and a contraction of outlook, while envying the vigor of speech and de- cisiveness of action which seemed the outcome of the limitations. When Massachusetts took her place in the sisterhood of States, the gigantic up- heaval of the French Revolution had not taken place. The prophets whom her capital was to raise up to demand the redemption of human society, each with his panacea for its sad ailments, had put in no appearance. The tyranny of England had been broken by an heroic effort, and any further redemption which society might need would be provided by those who VOL. IV. - I.
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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
were its natural protectors. Humanity was now marching the right way, and was not likely to deviate therefrom when officered by gentlemen of good family, good morals, and steady nerves. So it seemed in that spring. of 1789, when the American Constitution went into operation, and the States-General assembled in France.
There were distinctions in Boston society which were the inheritance of old colonial and provincial relations. Although many of the gentry left the town during the Revolution, there remained a goodly leaven of prominent families who had taken the patriotic side. The population was chiefly of English descent. A type of manhood ruddier and more robust than we are accustomed to meet, was to be seen in the streets. The citizens managed to be as comfortable at sixty degrees Fahrenheit as we are at seventy, and knew little of dyspepsia and those disordered nerve- centres which occasion their descendants so much trouble. Many of the peculiarities of Puritanism had been softened, and so much of the old se- verity as remained supported the moral standards which the God-fearing founders of the State had raised. A few men were accepted as the leaders of the community, and lived under a wholesome conviction of responsibility for its good behavior. If the representatives of good society were in no sense cosmopolitan, their provincialism was honest, manly, and intelligent. The usages of social intercourse were not democratic, neither was the senti- . ment of the prominent families. If heresies were in the air which must at length modify doctrine, they might still be rendered harmless by a careful attention to discipline.1
Dress was an indication of superiority, and was fashioned quite as much for display as for use. As late as 1795, it is mentioned by a visitor from New York that "the broad aisle of Brattle-Street church was lined by gentlemen in wigs, with cocked hats and scarlet coats." Caps were often worn by gentlemen in the privacy of domestic life. Hancock is described as wearing " a red velvet cap, within which was one of fine linen." The blue damask dressing-gowns and embroidered waistcoats of the period are yet visible upon the canvas of Copley. As wigs were gradually laid aside, the hair was powdered and arranged with precision; and as this took more time and trouble, it served to mark even better the aristocracy of the wearer. Lace ruffles, silk stockings, polished shoes, with buckles (which, being adapted to either foot, careful persons were accustomed to alternate), were essential to the correct dress of a gentleman. The business suit was of broadcloth, generally of a light shade. But on occasions of ceremony
1 [Griswold, Republican Court, p. 8, in giving a picture of social life after the close of the Revo- lutionary War, says: "In Boston there was un- doubtedly more real respectability than in any other town of its population in the British Em- pire;" and we find not a few side-lights upon society here in the Voyages of the Marquis de Chastellux, who was here in 1782, and in the voyage of Brissot de Warville, a brisk little
Frenchman who landed in Boston July, 1788, and was disposed to see all the good, and who later, in 1798, as Chief of the Girondins, met his end on the guillotine. Talleyrand was in Boston in July and August, 1794. William Sullivan de- scribes him as of middle stature, light hair, sallow complexion, and blue eyes; his body large and protuberant in front, his lower limbs small, and his feet deformed. Public Men, p. 93. - ED.]
3
SOCIAL LIFE IN BOSTON.
This Britannia Majesty's Shop allegato Boston Harbor 5th May 1991
Frauen Coffin 1
1 [This cut follows a portrait of Sir Isaac Coffin by Stuart, belonging to Mr. William Amory, of Boston, by whose kind permission it is engraved. Coffin was the son of Nathan-
iel, a collector of customs in Boston, and a Loyalist, who left the town with Gage in 1776. Isaac was born in Boston, in 1759, in a house on the east side of Rainsford Lane (Harrison
4
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
brocades and velvets of bright colors made the costumes of the gentlemen quite as various and picturesque as those of the ladies. Official personages did not always avoid peculiarities of dress. Governor Bowdoin had ap- peared in red small-clothes, and Judge Dana wore in winter a white cordu- roy surtout, lined with fur; and he carried a large muff. Crimson cloaks, white-topped boots, and cocked hats gave that pleasing color to a walk about town which is now supplied by the shop-windows. The judges of the supreme court shone in robes of scarlet, trimmed with black velvet, and only during the oppressive heat of summer exchanged this oppressive finery for the sombre dignity of gowns of black silk. At the funeral of Governor Hancock the court appeared for the last time in full dress. It has been said that the bearing of Judge Dawes, who was less than five feet in height, so detracted from the emblematic significance of the judicial trappings, that the chief-justice decided that the unadorned majesty of the law would there- after be more imposing. But a better explanation may be found in the visits to Boston of the Federal judges Jay and Iredell, who were content to ad- minister justice in suits of solemn black. The growing popularity of Gallic principles commended simplicity of dress to conspicuous functionaries of the State. The academic gown, nevertheless, was pretty generally resumed in the pulpit. It seems to have been discarded by the successors of the earlier divines, and looked so strange upon the clergy that it was mistaken for the surplice of prelacy, and the sneer was uttered that vanity had finally accomplished what persecution was powerless to effect. This, how- ever, was most unjust to the ministers, whose gowns were commonly the gifts of parishioners, and who were well aware that it was poverty rather than will which had led to the discarding of this dignified drapery. And there were reasons for reviving any good customs fallen into abeyance, which had their weight, even if not distinctly recognized. Independence in political feeling tended to communicate itself to social relations, and it was prudent to strengthen barriers while there was yet time.
Notwithstanding political embarrassments, Boston society took its sober amusements with relish. It went through its stately minuets, and livelier contre-dances, and consumed its solid suppers in rooms which in winter were made so cheerful by the glow of great logs that the flickering light of candles was not objectionable. When Jefferson, at the end of the century, added argand lamps to the various illuminations associated with his name, he initiated a deterioration in social intercourse from which it is not likely to recover. So long as artificial light was provided by tallow candles, re- quiring constant snuffing (for it was only the wealthy who used those of
Avenue, between Essex and Beach Streets), and was educated in the Boston schools. He entered the Royal Navy in 1773, and served on the American coast during the Revolution; be- came a rear-admiral in 1804, and was made a baronet the same year, and died in 1839. His brother John, also born in Boston, in 1751, was on the British side at Bunker Hill, and fought
later in the war against us in the Carolinas. After the war he settled in New Brunswick, where he died in 1838, ranking then as lieuten- ant-general. Both the admiral and the general cherished strong feelings of respect for their old home; and in later days Sir Isaac was more than once a guest of his old townsmen. Sabine's Loyalists. - ED.]
5
SOCIAL LIFE IN BOSTON.
Jam our most aber John Hancock 1
1 [This cut follows a portrait by Copley, Mrs. Ellet's Queens of American Society, p. 119, with some account of social life at the Hancock formerly hanging in Faneuil Hall, but now in the Art Museum. See the note to the portrait of . mansion. Portions of the Hancock papers are Sam Adams, in Mr. Porter's chapter in Vol. III. in the collections of Charles P. Greenough, Esq., and of Judge Mellen Chamberlain, and these gen- tlemen have kindly allowed the Editor access to them. See note in Mr. Lodge's chapter. - ED.] Two other likenesses, owned by the family, are noted in Perkins's Copley's Life and Paintings, p. 70. A portrait of Mrs. Hancock is given in
6
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
wax), reading or studying in the evening were difficult matters, especially for aged eyes. Under these circumstances society was the resort for rational recreation and solid instruction. Its standards were established, not by the young and frivolous, but by persons of years 'and experience, who from constant practice became skilled in the art of conversation. I have little doubt that social dinners or evening gatherings during the last thirty years of the town exceeded in intellectual brilliancy those which have succeeded them. The conclusions of thoughtful men upon matters of current interest, now reserved for the magazine and newspaper leader, were given in conversation. Women of talent, although limited in what at present passes for education, cultivated their natural powers; and, being shut out from so many modes of influence now happily open, they made good use of the social opportunities which were accorded them.
There was a decided first circle in the town, to which the barriers were not easily broken; though, as time went on, fortunate individuals were lifted over them with some ceremony. Manners and personal decorations were indications of superiority. William Sullivan used to say that dignified civility, based upon self-respect, was a gentleman's weapon and defence. It was peculiarly so in Boston, where the duel, tolerated or justified in other parts of the country, has always been frowned upon. From the fact that lines of social demarcation were sharply drawn, there was an case of inter- course among different classes which came from a recognition of mutual dependence. Mr. Samuel Breck tells us of smart and intelligent trades- men who were on terms of familiarity with their superiors in station. The shop of Balch the hatter " was the principal lounge even of the first people in the town. Governor Hancock himself would happen into this popular resort, ready for a joke or a political discussion with Balch and his com- pany." After slavery came to an end,1 the families of New England farmers supplied Boston with most of its domestic service. Long periods of faith- ful ministration made these attendants a recognized portion of the house- hold. They were called to its councils upon important occasions, and exercised authority over the children, among whom they were often very popular. The women who came from the farms had little of the education derived from books, but a good deal of natural capacity. Their abundant resources in sickness, and their excellent cookery for those in health, were long remembered. They showed much shrewdness and tact, mingled with ineradicable prejudices ; some of their sayings passed into domestic prov- erbs, from their aptness or oddity. Identity of religion was a bond of union
1 [Slavery was never explicitly abolished in Massachusetts ; but in the famous Jennison case, tried at Worcester in 1781, it was declared that slavery no longer existed. Governor Washburn prepared a careful review of it, which was print- ed in the Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc., May, 1857, p. 188. See also Amory's Life of James Sullivan, i. 114. Chief-Justice Cushing's original note- book of this trial was printed in the Mass. Hist.
Soc. Proc., April, 1874, with valuable notes by Judge Gray. There are diverse views of the intent of the Bill of Rights to abolish slavery. See Washburn's lecture in Massachusetts, and Her Early History, p. 224; G. H. Moore's His- tory of Slavery in Massachusetts, ch. ix., and Hist. Mag., December, 1866; Chas. Deane in Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc., April, 1874; also Vol. I. p. 488, of this History .- ED.]
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SOCIAL LIFE IN BOSTON.
between employers and employed. The same pastor directed both, and an occasional sermon to servants and apprentices was expected in the course of his ministrations.
SAMUEL ELIOT.1
The sharp line of division between youth and age can scarcely be real- ized in these days, when there is no distinct order of old people set apart for special deference. Our feelings towards others are greatly influenced by the phrases we are taught to use ; and sincere respect naturally followed
1 [This cut follows a portrait of this promi- nent Boston merchant of his day, by Stuart, now owned by his grandson, President Eliot, of Har- vard College, by whose permission it is engraved. The President also owns the companion piece, by Stuart, - the second wife of this Samuel Eliot, Catharine Atkins, who died in 1829. Samuel
Eliot, who was the son of Samuel, the book- seller, was born in 1740, and died in 1820. The earlier Samuel was one of the publishers of one of Boston's earliest magazines, - The American Magazine and Historical Chronicle, - of which mention has been made in Mr. Goddard's chap- ter in Vol. II. pp. 409, 550. The younger Sanı-
8
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
·
its conventional expressions. In the family of Judge Phillips,1 which in many respects was representative, the children were required to address their parents as " honored papa," and " honored mamma," and could never enter or leave a room where they were sitting without a salutation which recognized their presence. It was proper for a young man when writing to his father to salute him as " honored sir," and to repeat this stately title at the close of what he had to say, declaring, at the same time, the duty and respect with which he humbly appended his signature. But when postage was a quarter of a dollar a sheet, letters were confined to matters of serious concern, and formalities seemed more appropriate than at present. The use of a heavy seal, stamped upon a generous quantity of wax, was suffi- cient to excite a feeling of responsibility for matter that was so protected. Writing a letter had something of the impressiveness of making a will or executing a deed of trust. Even the town officers were mindful of the fact that the phrase, " servants of the people," correctly defined their posi- tion. A demand for over-due taxes, necessary to pay schoolmasters and mechanics the wages they had earned, does not call for much suavity of speech; but the manners of the town treasurer towards persons who were neglecting the first duty of good citizenship could not have been bettered by Chesterfield himself.2
Domestic discipline had lost little of its Puritanic sternness. The primary teacher was a long rod, with a human motor at one end of it. Prompt punishment fell upon the offender. The moral law was to be vindicated without puzzling calculations concerning the responsibility of the sufferer. The discipline administered by the hands of Judge Sewall is paralleled by that of a not less honorable justice of later date. People of intelligence have so changed in their treatment of juvenile offenders, that it is worth
uel, the merchant, lived on the northerly corner of Tremont and Beacon streets, his grounds stretching up the latter street. It was the man- sion house which, soon after the evacuation in March, 1776, had been occupied by John Lowell, Jr. Eliot's dry-goods shop was on the west cor- ner of Wilson's Lane, Dock Square. (Drake, Landmarks, 56.) He was at one time President . of the Massachusetts Bank, and he also founded the Eliot professorship of Greek literature in Harvard College. His first wife was Elizabeth Barrell, who died in 1783. His issue by his sec- ond wife connect him with prominent citizens within the recollection of the present generation. His daughters married Edmund Dwight, Benja- min Guild, Andrews Norton, and George Tick- nor. His son, William H., the projector of the Tremont House, died in 1831, and was the father of Dr. Samuel Eliot, formerly President of Trinity College, Hartford, and lately Superintendent of Schools in Boston. His youngest son, Samuel A. Eliot, who married the daughter of Theodore Lyman, was Treasurer of Harvard College, and
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