USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Roxbury > Eliot memorial : sketches historical and biographical of the Eliot Church and Society > Part 15
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acter are achieved by being habitually conversant with what is highest and farthest reaching; other things equal, churches of our Lord may expect to gather a hundred- fold harvest on their immediate plantation only when they are sowing beside all waters.
I. RUFUS ANDERSON, D.D., LL.D.
It was in 1837 that Dr. Anderson removed his connec- tion from the Bowdoin Street Church, Boston, to the Eliot Church. He was then in the full maturity of his powers, and from that time onward for more than forty years his counsels and cooperation were of the highest value to us.
Dr. Anderson was born at North Yarmouth, Maine, August 17, 1796, his father being then pastor of a Congre- gational church in that place. An aunt of his being the wife of Dr. McKeen, the first president of Bowdoin College, furnished a natural occasion for his entering that institution. Dr. Jesse Appleton, however, was at the head of Bowdoin when the class of 1818 graduated, and his method with Butler's Analogy had a well defined influence in forming the mental habits of this young man, who ranked high in his class.
Dr. Anderson's interest in missions, and his superior executive ability became so well known during his course of study at the Andover Theological Seminary that in the midst of Senior studies he was requested by Mr. Evarts, then Secretary of the American Board, to aid for a time in
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carrying on correspondence at the official rooms in Boston. His permanent connection with the rooms began in 1822; his service as assistant secretary in 1824; and as corre- sponding secretary in 1832. His resignation took place in 1866, after which he served nine years on the prudential committee, at whose meetings, on final retirement, he had been present for more than fifty years.
Dr. Anderson performed important service by official visits to missions of the board. The first of these was in 1828-29 ; when, taking in Malta and Smyrna, he made a tour through the Peloponnesus; the second, 1844, includ- ing Athens, Syria, and Asia Minor; the third, 1854-55, requiring an absence of more than a year, was paid to the board's missions in India; while the fourth, 1863, was to the Sandwich Islands.
His contributions in the line of authorship were im- portant, as four volumes on Missions of the American Board; The Memorial Volume of the First Fifty Years of the Board; The Hawaiian Islands; the Memoir of Catherine Brown; The Peloponnesus and Greek Islands ; and Lectures on Foreign Missions. He was for several years editor of the Missionary Herald. Numerous addresses, sermons, tracts, and missionary papers, as well as portions of the board's annual reports, were the products of an able pen. Christian education had a large place in Dr. Anderson's thoughts. He was active in the founding of Mt. Holyoke Seminary, cooperating efficiently with Mary Lyon. For a number of years he was one of the trustees
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of the Andover Theological Seminary, and was president of the trustees of Bradford Academy.
Dr. Anderson had the mind and habits of a true statesman, taking broad views, and maintaining a calm and dignified attitude. He exhibited no paroxysms of anxiety and no flurry amidst a panic. A fine balance of mental powers and a masterly administrative equilibrium at critical junctures secured for him general confidence and deep respect. His convictions were too well consid- ered and too profound to be shaken by opposition or by flattery; and he was too conscientiously earnest to bestow flattery, whether upon missionaries or others. No man has served longer in the same position ; and no official has probably made his mark more distinctly and wisely in the administration of foreign missions. The Rev. Dr. Venn, Senior Secretary of the English "Church Missionary So- ciety," said to me in London (1853), "I am more indebted to Dr. Anderson for new and valuable suggestions in regard to conducting missions than to all other men to- gether."
In childhood Dr. Anderson was thoroughly instructed in the Assembly's Shorter Catechism, for which he remained thankful to the last. The doctrines of grace were the life of his spiritual life. His piety was not of the emotional type, but calm, pervasive, and equal to any emergencies. His later days seemed much like our Indian summer - mild and genial, with slight haze now and then, but all the while beautiful in mellow tints. If the thought of
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decay arose in the beholder's mind, it would give place to thoughts of a rich maturity, and of golden harvests gathered on high. One of his last utterances was, "The future is all bright;" and on the bright Sabbath morning of May 30, 1880, he entered into rest.
2. REV. DAVID GREENE.
Very few names on the catalogue of this church are so well entitled to a memorial as that of Rev. David Greene. He was born in Stoneham, Massachusetts, No- vember 15, 1791, and was a brother of the Rev. Samuel Greene, the highly esteemed pastor of Essex Street (now Union) Church, Boston. He graduated from Yale Col- lege in the class of 1821, ranking high as a scholar ; the same being true also at the Andover Theological Sem- inary, where he completed a course of study in 1826. During the interim he devoted himself to teaching; but in 1828 received appointment as Assistant Secretary of the American Board of Missions. Soon thereafter he per- formed a journey of about six thousand miles, on a visit to mission stations, thirty in number, among the Indian tribes of New York and Ohio, as well as those to the east and west of the Mississippi River. It occupied eight months, and the knowledge thus acquired was of great value in the subsequent administration of those missions.
It was not till 1833 that Mr. Greene received ordina- tion, though he was elected a corresponding secretary of
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the forenamed board the year previous. Six years after entering upon the duties of this office the practice began of presenting at annual meetings of the board carefully prepared papers in addition to the usual reports. Twelve such came from the pen of Mr. Greene. Much of the home correspondence, as well as correspondence with the Indian missions, fell to him, besides editing the Mission- ary Herald till 1843. He was associated with Mr. Lowell Mason in compiling the Church Psalmody, a collection of hymns for social worship, of which not less than one hundred and fifty thousand copies went into use in our churches.
Mr. Greene removed to Roxbury in the year 1836, and his influence in the Eliot Church was of a marked and most happy character. His religious experience was unusually deep, and his Christian character one of unusual firmness. Noticeably modest, unpretentious and unam- bitious, he yet carried great weight in opinions expressed and remarks offered.
Owing to an injury on a railroad he felt constrained, greatly to the regret of associates, to decline reelection as secretary ; and under medical advice removed, with his family (1849), to a farm in Westborough. Seventeen years thereafter, as men were blasting a rock near his house, a descending fragment inflicted mortal injury ; and after four days of entire unconsciousness, he died, April 7, 1866. At the funeral I remarked, for substance, as follows : -
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Every acquaintance of David Greene will say that his eye was single, and hence his whole body was full of light. Rarely was he mystified ; with sophistry he had no patience. There were no stained windows to his mind, and he saw almost everything in a white light. He had rare insight into character and into the practical bearing of things. Never beguiled by forms, he would fasten at once upon the kernel of a matter, and discrimi- nate between essentials and accessories, between the cer- tain and the probable. Vigorous common sense was the staple of his mind. His mental constitution was compact, and he could concentrate his faculties with alertness. A noble simplicity and ingenuousness characterized him, so that any acquaintance would be likely to say, " Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" He was not afraid to be lively, though too earnest a man to drop into levity. If there were occasion, he would beg pardon of a day laborer as soon as of the governor, and in either case simply because of its being right and proper. Mr.
Greene was a manly man, one whom nobody would sus- pect of aiming at popularity, or struggling after greatness. His influence for good will linger long among us. Though not one to fascinate, he inspired deep confidence; and such a man remains always in office.
Severe trials awaited him in his later years. Besides the necessity of retiring from favorite labors at the mis- sionary rooms of the Board, his dwelling-house in West- borough was destroyed by fire, and Mrs. Greene, a daugh-
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ter of Jeremiah Evarts, died in 1851. She left twelve living children."
3. MISS MARY EVARTS GREENE.
Heredity tells. It often reveals itself in beautiful and blessed manifestations. Jeremiah Evarts' and the Rev. David Greene's secretaryships of the American Board were a prophecy that grandchildren of the former and children of the latter would do service in the cause of missions. Mary Greene and others of the family fulfilled that prediction. She was born in Boston, April 3, 1832, and graduated from Bradford Academy at nineteen, having been a member of the Eliot Church for three years. Not long after the death of her father she removed to Chicago (1868) and early became Recording Secretary of the Woman's Board of the Interior, and then Corresponding Secretary. Her correspondence with missionaries of that Board and with friends of the cause at home was constant and well conducted for years. She also edited Mission Studies. Miss Greene was frequently invited to confer with and to address auxiliary societies. She also gave herself, in due proportion, to local Christian activity, often remarking, " All Christian work is our work."
' In the sketch of Mr. J. Russell Bradford it will be found that, as a member of the Prudential Committee of the American Board, he has place in this series. My own service in the same connection extended from 1849- 1893.
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While on a visit in Wisconsin for the purpose of meeting ladies with reference to the interests of the Board, she met with a severe injury, a compound fracture, which had to do with shortening life. Her fortitude and patience under suffering were remarkable. Her able physician's remarks were sometimes as truly a relief as was his more strictly medical treatment. At one time she begged ear- nestly to be allowed to look over certain important letters relating to her department - foreign demands being very urgent. The doctor, who was familiar with the Bible, replied emphatically, "No; let the heathen rage;" and she could not resist being amused. Pain was mitigated.
She was able at length to resume work to some extent. Her enthusiasm in the good cause and her prayers were most noteworthy and elevating; but after a short illness there came, of a Sabbath morning, entrance into rest final and complete. The following is from a tribute adopted by the W. B. M. I. at their annual meeting in Minneapolis, 1894 :- "To work with her has been to enter an atmos- phere of earnest and entire consecration to our Master - to feel the inspiration of a warm and living zeal in his service-a consecration which dated from her earliest childhood - a zeal which knew no wavering, but compassed her entire life. But while we speak of loss and bereave- ment we are conscious of possessing in her memory an example which we may well cherish for our following. Her unselfish devotion, her quick and full response to every call of duty, whether to do or to suffer her Father's
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will, her enthusiasm for the Redeemer's kingdom, which led her to labors even beyond her strength for its upbuild- ing, and, more than all, the rich legacy of her earnest and constant prayer may be ours." 1
4. MRS. MARY P. H. LEAKE.
One son for early service on high, another son for service in the ministry, and an only daughter for service connected with missions, came from the family of Mr. Henry Hill. A reminiscence of my boyhood comes to mind, a visit to my native place, of Miss Porter, the daughter of Dr. David Porter of Catskill, who was an early and well known friend of the American Board. Miss Porter was engaged in an undertaking - unique for a young woman, and in those days quite unprecedented - the raising of a thousand dollars for foreign missions. She succeeded. A manuscript card, afterwards printed, as follows, was sent to individuals : -
" Expect great things, and attempt great things." Little causes produce great effects. The poor heathen are perishing. We may be the means of saving them. What we do we must do quickly. Love thy neighbor as thyself is a divine command. The Lord loveth a cheerful giver. The liberal soul shall be made fat. Who would be 'Creation's blot, creation's blank, whom none can love, whom none can thank'? Rather, let the heathen rise up and call you blessed."
Annual Report, 1894. p. 30.
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Miss Laura Porter became the wife of Henry Hill, Esq., who was for more than thirty years treasurer of the American Board.' Miss Mary Porter Hill was a native of Boston; and her later educational course was at Wheaton Seminary and Bradford Academy. After marriage to General Leake she removed to the West, and at length to Chicago. From 1872 she was a Cor- responding Secretary of the Woman's Board of Missions of the Interior for six years, and then became and still continues to be the Treasurer. Her pen is a graceful one; her services are prized ; and it is a most gratifying sight to see such a woman following in the steps of honored parents and of our adored Saviour. In 1899 Mrs. Leake was elected a corporate member of the American Board.
5. REV. JOSEPH SYLVESTER CLARK, D.D.
Rev. Joseph S. Clark hailed from the Old Colony, and was a Pilgrim of the Pilgrims. According to tradition, Thomas Clark, who piloted the Mayflower into Plymouth Harbor, and from whom Clark's Island received its name, was an ancestor. Dr. Clark was born December 19, 1800, in South Plymouth, on the same spot where his earliest American ancestor, known certainly to be such, lived six generations previously.
' A sketch of Mr. Hill will be found among the Office-bearers of the Eliot Church. It might with no less propriety be introduced among " Mis- sionary Officials."
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His classical education began with a Latin grammar in his pocket while at farm work. At Amherst College, from which he was graduated in 1827, he led his class and became a tutor in that institution. After studying theology at Andover he was ordained and installed as pastor at Stur- bridge, Mass., 1831, and during the first year of that pas- torate there were one hundred and thirty additions to the church. A seven years' ministry, characterized by much fidelity and success, resulted in impaired health, which led to his resignation. Not long after that he was elected Sec- retary of the Massachusetts Missionary Society (1839), and removing to Roxbury, he joined the Eliot Church. Later he found it desirable to take a house in Boston, greatly to the regret of friends here. During his eighteen years' ser- vice as Secretary of the aforenamed society he became well acquainted with the condition of feeble churches through- out the Commonwealth, in behalf of which his labors and wise counsels were unwearied. Dr. Clark afterwards (1858) became secretary and financial agent of the Congregational Association, which was greatly indebted to him for efforts in raising funds toward the building of the denominational house - in which efforts his health broke down. A short sickness brought his life to a close in 1861. At the funeral, among many relatives and friends who were present, was his mother, then approaching one hundred years of age. The interment took place at West Newton, where he had resided for some time.
Dr. Clark was very methodical in his habits; a modest
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and unambitious man ; a man of rare amiability, who made and retained friends wherever he went. Before entering upon official life he was assiduous in Christian labor among the neglected; and then, as well as later, showed more than usual tact in being faithful without offending. He entertained great reverence for the Puritan character, and was well versed in Puritan history. A Historical Sketch of the Congregational Churches of Massachusetts from 1820 to 1858, is a valuable work from his pen; and at his decease he had in hand material for other volumes of a historical character.
6. REV. HENRY BROWN HOOKER, D.D.
He was a native of Rutland, Vermont, a son of Thomas Hooker, M.D., and was born August 31, 1802. One of his ancestors was the Rev. Thomas Hooker, a man hounded by pursuivants of the Church of England, who fled to Holland; arrived in Boston 1633, and three years later headed a colony of one hundred men, women, and children on their way amidst swamps, over streams and hills, to the valley of the Connecticut, a journey of fourteen days, which is now accomplished in less than four hours. Even fifty years ago forty-two ministers and forty women who married ministers were known to have descended from him, and those numbers must have since increased con- siderably. Dr. H. B. Hooker's mother, a saintly woman, was the daughter of Col. John Brown, a lawyer, and an
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officer in our Revolutionary War. He shared in the cap- ture of Ticonderoga (1775); was at Quebec when Wolfe fell; but marching up the Mohawk valley (1780) to relieve General Schuyler, was traitorously led into an ambush of Tories and . Indians, and with forty-five others was slain on his birthday, at the age of thirty-six. The crimson sash which he wore when carried from the field, is still in the possession of his great-grandchildren.
Having graduated from Middlebury College, 1821, and from the Andover Theological Seminary three years later, Dr. Hooker soon received ordination, and labored for a time as Home Missionary in South Carolina. His success- ful pastorate at Lanesboro, Massachusetts, continued ten years (1826-1836), and that at Falmouth twice as long (1837-1857). In the pulpit Dr. Hooker was dignified, direct, definite; never suppressing severe truths, and never scolding ; perfectly free from the affectation of smartness ; always making the impression that he was a man of God, too intent upon his high mission to waste one moment in any device of vanity. In prayer a joyous, reverent freedom characterized him. As pastor he was a model man, active, impartial, discreet; always serious, never morose, and combining fidelity with kindliness most happily.
Upon the resignation of the beloved Dr. Joseph S. Clark, Dr. Hooker was called from Falmouth to become Secretary of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society (1858). At the meetings of the Executive Committee,
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business requiring action was submitted in a well arranged manner, his own opinion being given with clearness and decision, but without obstinate adherence. His presenta- tion of the cause to our churches was earnest and fresh. I never heard a criticism upon his administration of fifteen years. On resigning the position (1873) his labors were still unabated so far as strength would allow. Even the last year of life, at the age of seventy-eight, he preached forty-seven Sabbaths.
During the periods of service as pastor and secretary he furnished many contributions to the periodical press - uniformly pithy, graphic, and with a vein of sanctified humor running through them. They always had a definite, practical aim. One of his several tracts, Are You Ready ? has had a circulation of about two million of copies. It was not home work alone that occupied his pen or his thoughts. Foreign missions engaged heart, prayers, and contributions. He was a corporate member of the Ameri- can Board, and uniformly attended its annual meetings whatever the distance or expense; and the elder of two daughters was given up for work beyond sea no less cheerfully than if her field had been only trans-Missis- sippi.
Religious hopefulness was Dr. Hooker's chief char- acteristic. He never deemed despondency to be any part of his duty. He had an enviable faculty of looking at the bright side of things, for he looked through and above the clouds to where light and peace always reign.
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There was a fine reserve about him that forbade all profuseness of feeling, all excess of sensibility, and all promptings of egotism. His persistent gladness of heart, deriving strength from trust in God, was associated with strong, religious good sense, which is always worth much more than mere genius.
During the frequent visits which it was my privilege to make in the room of Dr. Hooker's last sickness, two things were deeply impressive; one, the same serene cheer- fulness that had characterized his years of health. For more than half a century he had not been confined to the bed for a single day. Summer and winter he rose at four o'clock, and began the day with singing. The other impressive circumstance was his unflagging zeal for the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom. Lo Looking in upon him the day of a farewell meeting at Pilgrim Hall, I mentioned the destination of those who were about to embark, among whom were Mr. and Mrs. Walter, designated to the new mission at Bihé, in Southwestern Africa. "I lay awake most of last night," said he, "praying for that mission; I never prayed more for any mission in my life."
7. MR. BENJAMIN PERKINS.
Among the brethren of the church there was perhaps no one more unobtrusive and at the same time more ex- emplary in public religious duties than Mr. Perkins. Born in Salem, Massachusetts, he removed to Boston, and for
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many years the house of Perkins and Marvin was well known in the publishing and book-trade business. His relation was transferred from the Pine Street Church to the Eliot Church in its earlier days (1841), and his quiet, persistent fidelity year in and year out became, as it always will, a power for good. Hasty and ill-timed utter- ances were not heard from his lips. Kindness and a calm judgment forbade severe criticism upon men or measures. Such a man will never have many if any enemies ; gen- eral respect and confidence will be reposed in him.
Mr. Perkins had excellent musical taste; and his well- trained voice served good purpose in his superintendency of a Mission Sunday School, which was afterwards merged in that of Parker Street, where also he presided several years. From 1831 to 1845 Mr. Perkins was Assistant Treasurer of the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society. From the latter date to the end of life he was Treas- urer. During the early portion of these thirty-nine years his services were gratuitous.'
After three-score and ten years of unusually good health, death came in 1870. I have often thought what an appropriate subject for the painter Mr. Perkins' atti- tude in his last sickness would be - falling asleep, a finger within the New Testament, which he held much of the time, and which was the one supreme book for him.
' The salary was raised successively - in 1849 to $300; in 1854 to $500 ; in 1864 to $1,000.
CHAPTER XVIII.
MISSIONARIES.
IT might be expected that a church, in which promi- nent members held positions such as the foregoing, would furnish candidates for a work so preeminently Christian as carrying the gospel to the unevangelized. In every household, in every Sunday School, and in the ministra- tions of every pulpit, there should be an aim and influence looking to that end. While a good deal was done in that direction from time to time, the result did not wholly fulfill desire or expectation. Still a goodly representation here follows.
I. MR. GEORGE CHRISTOPHER HURTER.
It is not often that one has acquaintance with a man more conscientious or more kind than Mr. Hurter. The island of Malta was his birthplace (1813), his father being Swiss and his mother an English woman. His first voy- age was in a transport employed to convey Egyptian troops to Alexandria from Navarino, and not long after the famous naval action in that bay (1827). The masts of sunken Turkish ships were still to be seen above water. Mr. Hurter, relinquishing sea life, became an ex- pert printer, and in that capacity served the London
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Missionary Society (1828-1835), being associated with the Rev. Mr. Lowndes at Malta. That press having been given up, he came to this country with a brother-in-law, Mr. Fitzwilliams, who was afterwards a secretary to the Governor General of India. He joined the Eliot Church in 1838, and the next year married Miss Elizabeth Grozer, a sister of Mrs. Deacon Kittredge.
In 1840, owing partly to the acquaintance and in- fluence of the Rev. George B. Whiting of the Syria Mis- sion, Mr. Hurter received appointment by the American Board, and went to Beirut, to have charge more especially of printing the Arabic Bible. There he remained for twenty years. In 1863 Mr. Hurter visited the Sinaitic peninsula, and made a discovery which, so far as known, is not mentioned in the published work of any previous traveler. On the west side of the Wady Shu'eib he found a spring of pure water issuing from what he re- garded as the "Rock Horeb," which consists of solid red granite. In the smooth, perpendicular face thereof is a fissure about six feet long and four inches wide. The little stream pours into a reservoir twelve feet by five, and four feet deep. He gave an account of this in a printed letter to Dr. Park, professor in the Andover Theo- logical Seminary. Returning to this country Mr. Hurter engaged in printing works in the ancient classic languages and in living foreign languages.
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