USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Roxbury > Eliot memorial : sketches historical and biographical of the Eliot Church and Society > Part 13
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On removing from the Old South Church to the Eliot Church in 1848, he was at once recognized as a highly valuable accession. Always ready for any appro- priate share in devotional meetings and outside labors, he was never obtrusive, never given to talking about him- self or his own doings, but modest, discreet and earnest. He early took charge of a Bible Class of young men, which was conducted with great profit to them. Even- ings which brought no special engagement, and other
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spare hours, were given to a devout and careful study of God's Word. Upon the retirement of Mr. Henry Hill from being an office-bearer, 1857, there was a prompt unanimity in electing Mr. Davenport to the place. Wise in counsel, punctual in all engagements, he enjoyed the confidence and affection of all.
At length Mr. Davenport came to me for consultation in regard to preparing for the ministry. Without re- ceiving discouragement he was advised to let the decision depend upon a clear, divine intimation whether it favored or dissuaded. The main elements that constitute a call of God to the work were discussed. Two months later he became fully convinced that, although forty-two years of age and engaged with agreeable associates in an easy business that promised an accumulation of wealth, he set his face toward the sacred office. More than two . years were devoted to a course of study similar to what was pursued at our theological seminaries. The Greek grammar was mastered and portions of the New Testa- ment were read in the original language. The study of Hebrew was begun, and some acquaintance with parts of the Old Testament in that tongue was secured. System- atic Theology received special attention ; also Homiletics. Nor was Church History neglected. On these lines an hour was spent with me six days in the week for the period just named. It was a special advantage to Mr. Davenport that he had a well trained, logical mind; that for many years he had cultivated the habit of a careful
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use of the pen, contributing articles to religious papers and to the Panoplist, of which he was at one time the editor.
Not long after licensure by the Suffolk South Asso- ciation of ministers, he supplied the pulpit of one of the most prominent city churches in New England, for a single Sabbath, the pastor being absent. The people at once took action - an unusual thing - passing a com- plimentary vote and communicating the same to him. In 1861 he was ordained and installed pastor of the Con- gregational Church in Danielsonville, then the largest rural church in Connecticut. There he remained an acceptable and successful preacher as well as devoted pastor for fully seven years.
By general consent Mr. Davenport was a godly man, unswerving in loyalty to the doctrines of grace, but kindly considerate of the feelings of those who differed from him. He was highly esteemed by neighboring min- isterial brethren. He took broad views concerning the sphere of clerical duty; foreign missions had a warm place in his thoughts, and he became a corporate mem- ber of the American Board. But his chief aim was to " Feed the flock of God," to which he had been set apart as shepherd. A member of that flock spoke for more than one when he pronounced Mr. Davenport, " The most instructive preacher I ever heard." But health be- gan to fail. Pulmonary disease, to which there had been an obvious liability, was developed. Under medical advice
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he went to Pau in France, where, after a few months, he died, May 20, 1870, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. When the vine-clad hills of southern France shall give up their dead, there will be early witnesses to Christ's cross and crown, martyrs of primitive times, but no one of that age or any subsequent period more intelligently and firmly grounded in Christian faith than our friend and brother.
5. ANDREW S. MARCH.
Mr. March was born in Portland, Me., February 27, 18II, and was baptized in infancy by Dr. Edward Payson. His widowed mother placed him when twelve years of age in a dry-goods store in Portland. Not long after that he came to Boston, and was employed by one of the larger dry- goods concerns of this city. On attaining majority he en- gaged in business independently with James M. Whiton, and the firm of Whiton & March was well known for many years.
Mr. March, coming from Park Street Church, was also one of the original and highly esteemed members of the Eliot Church. His services in the diaconate were from 1845 to 1851, when he removed to West Roxbury. He was a man of even temper, of marked self-control ; a peacemaker endowed with a happy tact in reconciling differences, both in the church and in the political caucus. By knowing what not to say, and by a conciliatory and shrewd way of putting things, he would generally succeed in carrying a point with-
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out losing the respect or good will of others. In domestic life his manner was invariably equable, gentle, and yet accompanied by a decision that secured willing deference.
He once told the writer that on making public profes- sion of Christian faith he resolved never to shrink from any duty imposed upon him. His fidelity and punctuality could be depended on. Whatever uncertainty there might be regarding any other person, there was none regarding An- drew March. One characteristic incident showed the man. Leaving horse and sleigh for a moment at the door one cold evening - the evening for the stated church meeting-he stepped into the house to get a robe. Returning, he found horse and sleigh were gone. He then started a man-servant in one direction ; stopped on his way at the house of a brother-in-law, whom he started in another direction; and with quick step was just in season at the chapel. About to open the door he cast a glance toward the neighboring shed, and there saw horse and sleigh in the familiar stall. The animal had formed a sympathetic habit and knew where to go when church-meeting night came round.
Mr. March removed to West Roxbury in 1851 and con- nected himself with the church in that place. One street there bears his name, and beautiful trees of his planting witness to the public spirit and good taste of the man. He was never robust. A pulmonary attack would not at any time have seemed unnatural. It was while engaged in service for the public that he took cold. Upon medical recommendation he went South, but no alleviation followed
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and he reached home only forty-eight hours before departure to the "land that is very far off." He could utter but a few words to wife and children: " Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil; " "I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor princi- palities, nor powers shall be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Then looking up -
" Jesus, lover of my soul, Let me to thy bosom fly."
That flight he took December 22, 1854, at forty-six years of age. His son writes: "The remains rest in the Forest Hills Cemetery, his lot being beside the lot of his dear friend, Dr. A. C. Thompson, and that of Deacon Alvah Kittredge.' "
6. EDWARD B. HUNTINGTON.
In the order of seniority Mr. Huntington was the sixth entrusted with the office of deacon (1856-1871) and so far from any one regretting the choice there was universal satisfaction. He was kind, courteous, faithful, punctual in attendance upon religious services; never obtrusive, yet always ready to accept his share of responsibility. He was born in Norwich, Connecticut, June 18, 1806. After school- days were passed he went into a New York hardware store for a year or two; then with a friend went into independent business and was successful. He joined the Mercer Street Church, in the pastorship of Dr. Thomas Skinner. He was
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regarded as a man of excellent judgment and his counsel was sought in matters of difficulty.
Mr. Huntington left Boston in 1872, his health being much impaired. . One winter was spent in Aiken, South Carolina, and another in Florida; but the harassing cough which had come on was ominous. Strength failed rapidly, and his sixty-ninth anniversary of birth (June 18, 1875) was his birthday into the city of our God. His last days were days of complete calmness and serenity, sweetness of temper and resignation. The mortal resting-place is beside that of two children, Susan and Edward, in our beautiful Forest Hills Cemetery.
Mr. Huntington was not of a joyous temperament. He suffered in later life not infrequently from depression of spirits due to heredity. A tender conscientiousness became apparently morbid at times and a too severe introspection was maintained. He was gentle and sensitive, cherishing a high standard of integrity and Christian living, a devoted parishioner and interested in all church concerns. The cause of missions commanded a lively and abiding interest. This was in some measure a family characteristic. His pater- nal grandmother, Faith Trumbull, was a daughter of the first Governor Trumbull, and his father, Dea. Jabez Huntington, was a son of General Jedediah Huntington, one of the nine original corporators of the American Board. Miss Sarah L. Huntington, who became the wife of Dr. Eli Smith, the well known missionary in Syria,' was a sister.
1 Memoir of Mrs. Sarah L. Huntington Smith, late of the American Mission in Syria. By Edward W. Hooker, D. D. Third Edition.
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Mr. Huntington gave me (1860) a list of forty-six clergy- men bearing the family name. They represented five gen- erations, and were descended from the two Huntington brothers, who went in 1660 from Saybrook to Norwich as pioneers. The widow of Simon Huntington was a member of the church to which John Eliot ministered.
7. MOSES HENRY DAY.
Mr. Day was one of the few natives of Roxbury - where he was born July 9, 1832 - who became prominent in the Eliot Church. His immigrant ancestor was supposed to be Robert Day, of Ipswich, who came from England in the " Hopewell," 1638. Mr. Day prepared for college at the Roxbury Latin School, and graduated from Harvard 1853. He then immediately devoted himself to business and before long was manager of the manufacturing department of Sewell, Day & Company's cordage establishment, and later president of the same. In that position he continued through remaining life. Unquestioned integrity and honor marked his entire business career, as was true of each mem- ber of the firm, which included his father - a man of invent- ive genius, and one of its founders- and a younger brother, Mr. William F. Day. No business concern of Boston, and probably no other in the country, has shown a more uniform and wise regard for the welfare of employees, by encouraging all good habits and by kindness to them as well as to their families. The men were instructed to be cautious in lan- guage and action. No profaneness was allowed on the
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premises. Only the best quality of goods, honestly made and honestly labelled, were accepted by the firm or delivered to purchasers. As a natural consequence, their products were in wide demand and gave unvarying satisfaction. As might be expected, the several members of the corporation were loved and honored by the workmen, and the wheels of business were never stopped by strikes. The company had in their employ at one time forty persons who had worked for them ten years, of whom ten had been in their service for twenty years; five for thirty years; three for forty years ; and two between fifty and sixty years. Honesty and kind- ness pay well.
Mr. Day held various trusts, as Bank Director, Presi- dent of the Institution for Savings, Trustee of the Roxbury Latin School, examiner in Latin at Harvard College, and a Councillor and Alderman in the City Government. For ten years (1857-1867) he was a Deacon of the Eliot Church and for twelve years (1869-1881) held the same office in the Highland Church, and in the latter was, for an equal period, Superintendent of the Sunday School.
He was a man of simple tastes who found his chief happiness at home with his family, where as a father he showed peculiar kindness and devotion to the children, yet requiring and securing implicit obedience. In all positions and relations, while conservative and firm, he exhibited a charitable disposition, and without being imperious was a man of decision. Failure of health occasioned a voyage to Europe. The tour, however, brought little relief, and returning to Boston he entered into rest January 17, 1882.
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8. LUCIUS HAMILTON BRIGGS.
Mr. Briggs was anything but a fighting man, though a descendant from military men. Jeremiah Stiles, his maternal great-grandfather, was a captain in Col. Paul Dudley Sargent's regiment at the Battle of Bunker Hill. He made the official report to Congress, then sitting in New York, on the death of General Warren. Captain Stiles was afterwards a portrait painter and civil engineer, holding various offices in the town of Keene, N. H. He was a delegate to the convention at Concord (1778) for forming a State Constitution, and was elected a member of the Committee of Safety (1776). With two hundred others he then signed the following declaration : -
"We, the subscribers, do hereby solemnly engage and promise that we will, to the utmost of our power, at the risque of our lives and fortunes, with arms oppose the hostile proceedings of the British fleets and armies against the American Colonies." On the father's side Mr. Briggs was at an equal remove from Eliphalet Briggs, an officer in the Indian wars. No less loyal in spirit and no less ready for self-sacrificing service than they, he was, however, eminently a man of peace. Mr. Briggs was born at Keene, N. H., November 4, 1811, and received his education in the public schools of that town, after which he entered into business there. Subsequently he became a business man in Boston (1847). Still later (January, 1873), Mr. Briggs was chosen General Agent of
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the Roxbury Charitable Society, a position for which his warm sympathy with the poor peculiarly fitted him, and which he held till 1886, when ill-health obliged him to resign.
That Society, instituted in 1794, and incorporated February, 1799, is one of the older benevolencies of our country. The Hon. John Lowell was its first president. For many years the income and the demands for aid were comparatively small; and at length by the failure of the Rockland Bank, an accumulated fund was almost entirely lost. Since then, however, handsome bequests and gifts have furnished a permanent fund of more than one hun- dred and sixty thousand dollars; while charities disbursed from the first to the present time do not fall short of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The require- ments for 1894, for instance, were very heavy, owing to the fire in May of that year, which rendered nearly four hundred families homeless. In 1896 seven hundred and thirty-one families, representing twenty-seven hundred and forty-seven individuals, received aid in the usual forms of clothing, furniture, fuel, provisions, etc. Work is supplied at the wood-yard, and an efficient dispensary department is maintained.
Mr. Briggs was a man of cheerfulness, kindly dis- posed, prompt and faithful in various relations and duties. Nothing but sickness could keep him, for instance, from church meetings. More than once he told me that, how- ever wearied he might be by a day's work, the hour of
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fellowship in the chapel always rested and refreshed him. For many years he had a Bible Class of lads and young men in the Sunday School. In the family no one could be more affectionately thoughtful than he, seldom com- ing home after business hours without bringing some little token, usually a flower.
On coming to Boston he was connected successively with the Pine Street and Park Street Churches, and then removing his connection to the Eliot Church (1858). After thirty-one years of membership with us, and twenty- eight years of service as an office-bearer, he fell asleep, April 17, 1889, having enjoyed the full confidence of all, that he was indeed a " good man."
9. JOSEPH RUSSELL BRADFORD.
In the book of Judges it is said of a certain place, " There was a strong tower in the city." In each city where Mr. Bradford lived at different times, Boston, Roxbury, and Cambridge, the same may be said. As a Christian man he was a tower of strength. It was not till just midway in life, when thirty-five years of age, that he became a new man. He had been reared in unbelief as to any special inspiration of the Bible, the Deity of Jesus Christ, the sacrificial nature of his sufferings, the need of the Holy Spirit's regenerating grace, and the desert of future punishment for unrepented sin. But in ripe manhood he was led to read the holy vol- ume candidly for himself and was brought into the light,
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comfort, and strength of evangelical Christianity. Indi- vidual characteristics, whether inherited or not, usually give tone to a man's religious life, and it is natural to suppose that the development of Mr. Bradford after conversion took a coloring from heredity. On the father's side he was a descendant from a Puritan nephew of Samuel Bradford, Dean of Westminster Abbey, afterwards Bishop of Carlisle ; and on the mother's side from Governor Winslow's brother, whose wife was the first woman to step ashore on Plymouth Rock. Quiet yet resolute firmness in the maintenance of right and in the discharge of duty marked Mr. Bradford. His convictions were deliberately formed, clearly defined, and tenaciously held. Conscience appeared to rule supreme. In matters of conscience, while never precipitate, decision was prompt, and action no less prompt. For many years he had been in the habit of smoking cigars, but not long after making a public profession of faith and the purpose of leading a Christian life he saw, one day in the distance, a young man, a member of his Bible class, whom he would soon meet. It occurred to him that the example of smoking was not one to be commended by a teacher while inculcating from Holy Writ lessons of self-denial. The cigar was at once thrown away and none was ever again put into his mouth. Why should a man - teacher, pupil, or anybody else -indulge in a practice that is expensive, offensive, and unhealthy !
Mr. Bradford was a sober-minded man of high worth, such as will add strength and dignity to a church and com- munity. Stability and comfort depend a good deal upon the
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number of things which are rationally accepted as settled, so settled that they never need come into question again. There was a goodly number of such regarding which Mr. Bradford's mind was entirely at rest. Hence his freedom from peril in panics, and his moral sinew gave steadiness to those around him. People confided in him. They found that neither friendship nor resentment warped his judg- ment or checked his fidelity. One very evident charac- teristic was an unfaltering confidence in the power of prayer. The less as well as the more important affairs of daily life were devoutly committed to the providence of God, in the name of our adorable Mediator, and he carried an habitual assurance of gracious answers.
His services as office-bearer in the Eliot Church and other churches; also as counsellor and co-worker in numer- ous benevolent organizations, were of great value. Not least was that the case during thirteen years of membership on the Prudential Committee of the American Board. His gifts of patient investigation, careful discrimination, and sound judgment were fully appreciated. His last years were years of patient suffering. When informed at length, after a consultation of physicians, that the case was a very critical one, he replied, " The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice." He died in Cambridge, March 12, 1885. Mr. Bradford's mother, who was born in Boston, June 9, 1793, and who for a long time was an inmate in this son's family, survived him till August, 1899, being then in her 107th year, and sup- posed to be at that time the oldest person in our Common- wealth.
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IO. CHARLES WILLARD HILL.
Few men have worn a more benignant countenance, or have been more uniformly welcome everywhere, or have shed a more genial and healthful influence than Mr. Hill. It was a day of blessing (October 20, 1868), when he joined us by commendation from the Church in Marl- borough, Mass. He was born in West Medway, June 5, 1834, but in his boyhood the family removed to Shrews- bury. In the parentage there was a high sense of honor and integrity, coupled with noteworthy readiness to aid the weak and defenseless. Modesty crowned the whole. The mother's Christian life began under the ministry of Rev. Dr. Ide of Medway. She was a daughter of General Cook; and her mother, Mary Mayo, whose father was killed by a British soldier, transmitted an energetic spirit, which, with other good qualities, found place in this grandson.
As a boy Mr. Hill was one to be trusted ; one who could be depended on to overcome difficulties; one to show a generous, self-sacrificing disposition, as well as loyalty to friends and to duty. At fourteen years of age the death of a sister made a deep impression of bereave- ment, which remained through life. His public profes- sion of faith was made in 1854. Upon graduating at Williston Seminary, East Hampton, being then eighteen years of age, he began his career as teacher in different towns of the Commonwealth. When the war of the re-
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bellion broke out he left a delightful home, where were a wife and one child, and enlisting in the Fifth Massa- chusetts regiment, he served at Newbern, N. C. When mustered out of service he resumed his chosen life-work, and gave full satisfaction as a teacher at Newton Falls and Roxbury. For nearly ten years he was Master of the Comins Grammar School, then of the Martin School for three years, and in 1890 was transferred to the Bowditch School, Jamaica Plain.
After two years of connection with the Eliot Church Mr. Hill was elected deacon, and held that office till the close of life. Faithful, prompt, calm and wise, he endeared himself to all. He was a peace-maker and a safe counsellor. For many years he superintended the Sunday School and with more than usual acceptance. In the community and among associates he was recognized as a leader. The strength of clear thinking, of complete self-control, and of contented quietness was an acknowl- edged characteristic. It was fitting that he should be made President of the Boston Congregational Club (1887) and of the Schoolmasters' Club. His addresses on public occasions were always to the point, unambitious, sensible
and pleasing. Pupils and fellow teachers were drawn to him in peculiar confidence and affection. They found him singularly dispassionate and devoid of harshness. He was master of the Christian art of differing from others in a pleasant way, a way that if it did not win assent was sure to win respect.
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The end came with startling suddenness, and the funeral service (November 17, 1896), in the Eliot Church, bore witness to a widespread and most sincere regard. Sunday School pupils and pupils from the Grammar School, masters and teachers of various schools, and numerous friends besides comrades in the army, were eager to pay a tearful tribute to their friend. Soon after came a memorial service at Jamaica Plain, where the warmest appreciative testimony was rendered by several competent witnesses.
II. ANDREW MARSHALL.
Mr. Marshall did not become an officer of the Eliot Church till after 1871, yet all remember him as a brother beloved, and from 1876 onward one of the goodly band of deacons. Green Hill, Nova Scotia, was his birthplace, and February 23, 1831, the date of his birth. The family emi- grated in 1774 from mountainous Dumfriesshire, Scotland, to Prince Edward's Island, and at first endured great priva- tion. Andrew Marshall, Andrew's great-grandfather, was a man of unusual ability, a leader in Christian work. He took charge of a Lord's-day religious service, which the Highlanders of that neighborhood called a " Reading," and which consisted of prayer, praise, the reading of Scripture and other religious books. Of the latter only a few had been brought from Scotland, and the mice made havoc of them. An imperfect copy of Boston's Fourfold State did good service. It was in a barn of his son Robert that the
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first Presbytery was formed at Pictou in 1795. Robert, of the next generation, the father of our Andrew Marshall, was a public-spirited man at New Glasgow, whither the family had removed. His wife, Janet Miller, Andrew's mother, appears to have been a woman of superior mental and spirit- Lal power. Though an invalid for twenty-two years and most of the time confined to the bed, her room was always a sunny spot, for the light of her countenance shone con- stantly. The peace of God within never failed. Her father, Lawrence Miller, a very decided Christian, was no common man. At sixty years of age he built a study and set himself to mastering the Latin language.
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