History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 132

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1818

USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 132

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David Daggett was son of Thomas Daggett and Elizabeth Blake. He was born in Attleborongh, Dec. 31, 1764. He was a direct descendant of that John Daggett who emigrated in Winthrop's company in 1630, and of the John Daggett who came to Attleborough from the Vineyard in 1707. He fitted for college, and entered Yale at the age of sixteen, in the junior class, two years in advance, and gradu- ated in 1783 with high honors.

He commenced his legal studies with Charles Chauncey, Esq., of New Haven. In January, 1786, he was admitted to the bar, and settled in that city, where he ever afterwards made his home. He was elected tutor in the college, but declined the appoint- ment in order to devote himself to his profession.

He rose rapidly to distinction, and his fellow-citizens claimed him for civil service.

In 1791 he was elected a representative from New Haven to the General Assembly, and was the youngest member, and was re-elected successively for six years. In 1794, three years after his first election, he was chosen Speaker, at the age of twenty-nine. In 1797 he was transferred to the Senate, and retained his seat there for seven years in succession.

In 1813 he was elected United States senator, and filled the office with distinguished ability. At the end of his term he returned to his practice in New Haven. In 1824 he was connected with Judge Hitch- cock in the law school there, and in 1826 he was appointed Kent Professor of Law in Yale College. These positions he held till his advanced years in- duced him to resign.

In 1826, Yale College bestowed on him the hon- orary degree of LL.D. In May, 1826, at the age of sixty-two, he was chosen judge of the Superior Court of that State, and in May, 1832, he was appointed its chief justice.

He died April 12, 1851, at the age of eighty-six years, three months, and twelve days, honored and beloved for his great abilities, his public services, and his social qualities.

Rev. Jonathan Maxcy, S. T. D., president of Rhode Island, Union, and Columbia Colleges, was one of the most eminent pulpit orators of this country. He was born in this town, Sept. 2, 1768. He prepared for college in the school of the Rev. William Wil- liams, of Wrentham, which was'then the most cele- brated institution in the vicinity, and the resort of a great many young men for the pursuit of classical studies. He graduated at Brown University in 1787, and was immediately appointed a tutor. He was or- dained pastor of the First Baptist Church in Provi- dence Sept. 8, 1791, and at the same time was ap- pointed the first Professor of Divinity in that college.1 After the death of President Manning he was unani- mously elected president, A.D., at the early age of twenty-four! He presided over this university for eleven years, with distinguished success and with a splendid reputation for eloquence and learning. His administration was marked by mildness, urbanity, and dignity. Under his guardianship the university acquired a distinguished name for oratory. Guided by his fostering genius it sent forth a constellation of eloquent and accomplished speakers, who have shone in various departments of public life, and whose elo- quence has been felt in the pulpit, at the bar, and in the halls of legislation, many of whom have acquired a national renown. He was peculiarly fitted to stamp impressions of his own character on the minds of those around him, and to infuse his own spirit into theirs. He acquired a salutary influence over the

I Hle was the first and only professor of divinity ever appointed in Brown University.

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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

youth committed to his charge. He imbued their hearts with a taste for literature and with a love of truth and moral beauty, and excited in their bosoms the most ardent aspirations after excellence. He knew well how to kindle and fan the flame of genius. His memory is cherished by all his pupils with pecu- liar affection and gratitude. In speaking of the uni- versity it has been truly said that he was one "whose name and fame are identified with its reputation, and whose mingled mildness, dignity, and goodness equaled only by his genius, learning, and eloquence, subdued all envy, made all admirers friends, and gave him an irresistible sway over the minds of those placed under his care." 1

Though accomplished in every department of learn- ing, he was distinguished more particularly as a belles-lettres scholar. His oratory was in some re- spects peculiar. There was nothing in it like rant or affectation, no appearance of that popular declama- tion which is so often employed to captivate the innl- titude. There was apparently no attempt in it to produce effect, no labored display, but everything appeared easy, natural, and unstudied. It was deep, impassioned, but not declamatory. His voice was not naturally powerful, but he had it perfectly under his control through all its intonations. He usually commenced in a calm and moderate tone, but grew warmer and more animated as he advanced in his dis- course, and gradually and imperceptibly gained upon the attention and feelings of his hearers, until every one present was wholly engrossed upon the subject of the speaker. Indeed, he himself seemed com- pletely absorbed in his own subject, and by the in- fluence of sympathy carried his audience with him.

His delivery was remarkably expressive. Every sentiment he uttered came from the heart and vibrated through his whole frame. Every cord and muscle was an echo to his soul. His elocution was full of grace ; yet his power was not in this, it was in the life, the soul, which he infused into his voice, his gestures, and his countenance, all expressive and harmonious. His eloquence was at once graceful and forcible. In a word, he had in perfection what Demosthenes called action.

He did not neglect to cultivate the minor graces of elocution. He never made a prayer or delivered anything in public, extempore, even on the most ordi- nary occasions, in which every sentence and every word were not accurately arranged and in their right płace. Though his voice was naturally feeble, it was able to occupy a large compass, and every word and every syllable he uttered, in the largest andience, fell distinctly on the ear of the most distant auditor.

The following extract will show the estimation in which he was held at the South. It was written but a short time previous to his death, and contains a brief but lively description of the impressive effects of his eloquence, even when his powers were impaired by advancing age and feeble health.

From the Charleston City Gazette. Extract of a letter from a gentleman residing in Columbia to his friend in Charleston :

" COLUMBIA, 6th July, 1819.

" Last Sunday we went to hear Dr. Maxcy. It being the 4th of July, it was a discourse appropriate to that eventful period. I had always been led to believe the Doctor an eloquent and impressive preacher, but had no idea till now that he possessed such transcendent powers. I never heard such a stream of eloquence. It flowed from his lips even like the oil from Aaron's head. Every ear was delighted, every heart was elated, every bosom throbbed with gratitude. Such appropriate metaphor ! such grand, such sublime descriptions! such exalted ideas of Deity ! and delivered with all the grace, the force, the elegance of a youthful orator ! I was sometimes in pain lest this good old man should outdo himself and become exhausted, but as he advanced in his dis- course he rose in animation, till at length he reached heights the most sublime, and again descended with the same facility with which he soared. So far as I can judge (and your partiality, I know, will allow me to be no mean critic) there was not heard the slightest deviation from the most correct enunciation and grammatical arrangement; all the powers of art seemed sub-ervient to his absolute control. In short, I never heard anything to compare to Dr. Maxcy's sermon in all the course of my life, and, old as I am, I would now walk even twenty miles through the hottest sands to listen to such another discourse I am persuaded I shall never hear such another in this life."

His most celebrated performance while he presided over Brown University, regarded as a specimen of pulpit oratory, was his sermon on the existence and attributes of God, delivered at Providence in 1795, which is frequently spoken of even at this day, and produced at the time the most lively and striking effect on the audience. Those who heard it will never forget it. The impression it produced was the result in a great degree of the manner of its delivery. Such a brilliant effort of eloquence has seldom been witnessed in any house of public worship. This dis- course, though enlivened by a bold, luxuriant, and brilliant imagination, and a loftiness of conception, is yet characterized by his usual neatness and simplicity of language. Indeed, in his highest flights his style of writing was always remarkable for a pure English idiom and a classical simplicity of language. In fine, he was an eloquent orator and a learned scholar.

In 1802, Dr. Maxcy resigned the presidency of Brown University, and accepted that of Schenectady, N. Y., where he remained till the establishment of the new college in Columbia, S. C., in 1804, of which he was appointed the first president, and immedi- ately removed to that place, where he continued till the day of his death, June 4, 1820, at the age of fifty- two. He was appointed to the office of president the youngest, and presided the longest, in proportion to his years, of any person in this country. He was con- nected with some college, either as student or officer, nearly thirty-eight out of the fifty-two years of his life.

In 1801 he was honored with the degree of D.D. from Harvard University.

1 Hon. Virgil Maxcy's Discourse before the Phi Beta Kappa of Brown University, Sept. 4, 1833.

He was also a native of Attleborough, and a brother of President Maxcy. He settled in Maryland, held the office of Solicitor of the Treas- ury, and was killed by the explosion on board the United States steamer "Princeton."

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ATTLEBOROUGH.

His wife was Susan Hopkins, a daughter of Com- modore Esick Hopkins, of Providence, by whom he had several daughters and four sons, all of whom have been liberally educated.

He published a discourse on the death of President Manning, 1792; a sermon on the existence of God, demonstrated from the works of creation, 1795. His published sermons and addresses were numerous. A collection of his writings, in one volume, was published in 1844 by Rev. Dr. Romeo Elton, formerly professor in Brown University. A selection was republished in England.

This is necessarily a brief and, I fear, an imperfect sketch. It requires an abler pen than mine to por- tray the amiable aud brilliant character of Maxcy, and to do justice to his splendid talents as an orator. Those only who knew him in the meridian of life, and who have seen and felt the power of his elo- quence, can give an adequate description.

His memory demands a tribute of filial affection from some one of his many distinguished pupils, who are so deeply indebted to his example and instructions for the eminence which they now enjoy in public life.

Hon. Ebenezer Daggett, who died recently while a member of the Senate from Bristol district, affords the example of a life worthy of imitation by his fellow-citizens. He was the youngest son of Col. Daggett, whose life has been previously noticed, and was born April 16, 1763. Few men in this town have devoted so large a portion of their time to the public service. He held a commission of the peace for nearly thirty years, and honorably discharged its most important duties. He served the town at vari- ous times in the capacity of selectman, and town clerk upwards of twenty years. He represented the town several years in the General Court. A large part of the last thirty years of his life was occupied in some public employment. In various ways he rendered himself serviceable to his fellow-citizens. In the spring of 1831 he was elected a member of the Senate for this district. At the succeeding November elec- tion he was rechosen to the same office, and while in the discharge of the honorable and responsible duties of this station, he was called by the order of Provi- dence to close his life, at Boston, on the 4th of March, 1832, in the sixty-ninth year of his age.

The following remarks on the character of the de- ceased are extracted from a funeral discourse deliv- ered at Attleborough, 22d April, 1832, by Rev. Mr. Ferguson :

" Where is that venerated husband and father, that highly-esteemed and useful citizen, who scarce four months ago stood bending under the bereavement of l'rovidence, an unexpected yet quiet and submissive mourner1 in the house of the Lord? Alas! he has gone down to the grave unto his son, mourning. The last opportunity which I enjoyed of conversing with our departed friend was on the eve of his leaving home to attend to his official duties in the Legislature as a member of the Senate. I mention this circumstance because it was then abun- dantly evident that those official honors which are generally sought as

the rewards of successful competition may come to be regarded as a burden rather than an honorable distinction. During our conversation he lamented that ofhcial duties obliged him at such a time to leave home, and to mingle in scenes so foreign to the state of his mind. He regretted that the choice of the people had not fallen upon some other candidate, and remarked that such scenes were better adapted to gratify those who were young and aspiring than the aged and afflicted. It is known to you all that from that tour of duty he never returned. To an observer it must have been evident that to commune with his own heart, to mingle his sympathies with those of his family, and to prepare himself for his own great change would have been more congenial to his mind than the halls of legislation and the investigation of our political relations. In his case, moreover, political employments had long ceased to be a novelty. Ilo was emphatically a public man. Twenty years of his life had been occupied in superintending the inter- ests of the town. Twice he was elected to the Senate, and perhaps no man among us has been more called upon to administer upon the es- tates of the deceased, and to act as the guardian of the orphan. The general character which he sustained through life was that of uni- formity, uprightness, and moderation. In the hottest strife of parties, although a public and a decided man, he never could be regarded as a partisan. He had been an actor, and in some respects a public character from the time of the Revolution, but through all the changes of the eventfnl times in which he lived, he continued to the last to stand forth before his fellow-citizens in the character of an honest, upright, and consistent man.

"His last sickness commenced on the 23d of February. He had the day before, in apparent health, attended the centennial celebration of the birth of Washington, and walked in procession with the other mem- bers of the Senate, but all beyond was his dying sickness. Early on tho succeeding morning he was violently attacked with a fever, which ter- minated in death on the 4th of March.

" I have felt it my duty, in view of his public character, to enter into details which in other circumstances might have been inexpedient. In the relations of life, in his intercourse between man and man, in the maintenance of a character for uniformity, uprightness, and self-posses- sion, his works praise him, and he is with us for an example."

There were many other worthy and useful citizens who deserve commemoration in this place, who, thoughi dead, yet live in their works. But at this distance of time it is difficult to ascertain the pecu- liar traits of their character and the events of their lives. The retired but useful employments in which they were engaged, and the " even tenor of their lives" supply but few prominent incidents for the peu of the biographer. The sketches already given afford a respectable list of public men for a country town like this.

A LIST OF THE GRADUATES AT BROWN UNIVERSITY FROM THIS TOWN.

1776. Preston Mann, A.M., son of Dr. Bezeliel Mann, physician ; settled in Newport, R. I.

1783. Othniel Tyler, A.M., son of John Tyler, lawyer, East Sudbury, Mass., now Wayland.

1787. John Milton Mann, son of Dr. Bezeliel Mann, physician; settled in Ilndson, N. Y., and was drowned in crossing the river of that name.

1787. Jonathan Maxcy, S.T.D., son of Levi Maxcy ; born Sept. 2, 1768 ; president of Providence College, Union, Schenectady, N. Y., and Columbia College, S. C ; died at the latter place June 1, 1820, aged fifty-two.

1788. Jesse Blackinton, son of Peter Blackinton ; resided in Ashtabula, county of Ashtabula, Ohio.

1788. William May, son of Elisha May; born Jan. 26, 1764; student of law; died July 12, 1790, in the twenty-seventh year of his age.

1789. Paul Draper, A.M., son of Stephen Draper; born Sept. 19, 1767; entered on board an American man-of-war, and was never after heard of.

1790. Aaron Draper, son of Josiah Draper; born Nov. 29, 1764; never studied a learned profession ; settled in Providence, R. I., where he died.

1 For the sudden and violent death of a beloved son.

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HISTORY OF BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

1802. Gardner Daggett, A.M., son of Elijah Daggett; born Dec. 20, 1782; lawyer, Providence, R. 1., where he died,

1802. Milton Maxcy, son of Levi Maxcy; born Jan. 1, 1782; lawyer in Beaufort, S. C., where he died of the yellow fever in 1818.

1803. Jason Sprague, A.M., son of John Sprague; was for some time preceptor of the Iligh School in Newport, R. I .; died in the United States army.

1804. Virgil Maxcy, son of Levi Maxcy; lawyer in Baltimore, Md .; late solicitor of the Treasury of the United States, Washington City.

1807. Lorenzo Bishop, son of Zephaniah Bishop; born Aug. 20, 1785; student of law ; died in Attleborough, May 26, 1809, aged twenty- three.

1809. Rev. Jacob Ide, A.M., son of Jacob Ide; minister in Medway, Mass.

1809. Rev. William Tyler, A.M., son of Ebenezer Tyler ; minister at Weymouth, and at South Hadley, Mass.

1811. Benjamin Cozzens, A.M., son of Benjamin Cozzens; formerly lawyer at Pawtucket; resided at Providence, R. I.

1811. Ilartford Sweet, A.M., son of Gideon Sweet; born Oct. 30, 1790; had not finished studying his profession ; died at the South in 18 -. 1817. Everett Bolkcom, son of Jacob Bolkcom; born September, 1796 ; lawyer, Attleborongh ; died Dec. 19, 1823, aged twenty-seven.

182]. Rev. James O. Barney, son of - Barney, of Providence, R. I .; minister at Seekonk Centre, Mass.

1821. Rev. Moses Thacher, A.M., son of - Thacher; minister in North Wrentham, Mass.

1822. Rev. Preston Cummings, son of David Cummings; minister in Dighton, Mass.

1822. Rev. Ilenry H. F. Sweet, son of Henry Sweet ; born Nov. 1, 1796; minister in l'almer, Mass. ; died Feb. 20, 1827, aged thirty.

1822. Rev. John Wilder. A.M., son of John Wilder; minister in Charl- ton, in Concord, Mass .; deceased.

1823. Rev. Benoni Allen, son of - Allen ; preacher in Ohio.

1824. Ira Barrows, M.D., son of - Barrows; physician, Pawtucket, Mass.

1825. Hermon Bourne, M.D., son of Andrew Bourne; physician, Boston, Mass.

1825. William S. Stanley, M.D., son of Thomas Stanley; physician in Mamaroneck, N. Y. ; removed to Philadelphia.

1825. Samuel T. Wilder, son of John Wilder; lawyer, Rochester, N. Y. ; deceased.

1826. Jason B. Blackinton, A.M., son of William Blackinton; lawyer in Holden, Mass., and in Ohio.

1826. John Daggett, A.M., son of Ebenezer Daggett; lawyer, Attle- borough.

1832. Rev. Solomon Carpenter Perry.

1837. John Shepard Ingraham.

1838. Rev. Ezekiel Gilman Robinson, D.D., LL.D., president of the uni- versity.

1844. Rev. Richards Cushman.

1844. Isaac Draper, M.D.

1847. James Fletcher Blackinton, teacher in Boston, Mass.

1849. Thomas Drew Robinson, lawyer.

1851. Rev. Brainard Wayland Barrows, D.D., trustee of the university.

1852. George Augustus Allen, teacher in Missouri.

1855. Charles P'helps, M.D., New York.

1857. William Albert White.

1858. Rev. Comfort Edwin Barrows.

1862. Rev. Josiah Nelson Cushing, D.D., a distinguished missionary in Burmalı.

1861. Frank Herbert Carpenter.

1864. Henry Clarke Bowen.

1864. Seabury Warren Bowen, M.D.

1868. John Mayhew Daggett, lawyer.

1868. George Roswell Read, lawyer.

1870. Rev. Eugene Ellis Thomas.

1873. Alvin Grover Sanler, educated a lawyer ; not now in practice.

1876. David Emory Ilolman, M.D.

1876. Edward Otis Stanley.

1880. Richard Bartlett Esten.

1882. John Augustus Sanford.

1883. Ira Burrows.

There are fifty-eight graduates from Brown Uni- versity alone, besides many at other colleges.

Rev. J. N. Cushing, D.D., son of Alpheus Cushing, a native of this town and a graduate of Brown Uni- versity in 1862, was a member, and ordained here a foreign missionary to India, and continues in the ac- tive and successful duties of his mission.

There have been graduates from this town at sev- eral of the other New England colleges. A full list of their names has not been obtained. Among them was John Barrows, who graduated 1766 at Harvard College ; was son of John Barrows. He married his wife in Cambridge, and settled as a schoolmaster in Dighton, Mass., where he died.

At Yale College, in 1748, Naphtali Daggett, of whom a sketch has been already given. In 1762, Philip Daggett, brother of the last named ; was born Sept. 11, 1739; he settled and died in New Haven. Henry Daggett, who graduated at Yale College in 1771, son of Elder Elihu Daggett, was born April 9, 1741; settled at New Haven, where he was at first a merchant, subsequently police magistrate, alderman of the city, etc. He died Aug. 11, 1830. In 1783 graduated the Hon. David Daggett, LL.D., the present distinguished and learned chief justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut. He was for- merly a senator of the United States, and has been for several years Professor of Law in Yale College, etc.

In 1761 graduated Rev. Pelatiah Tingley, A.M., son of Timothy Tingley. He was a Baptist preacher, and was settled in Sanford, Me. About 1780 he be- came a seceder from the prevailing sect of Baptists, and was the first minister who united with Elder Benjamin Randall, the founder of the new sect, usually denominated Arminian or Free-Will Bap- tists, who rejected the leading doctrines of Cal- vinism.1

Names of Several Former Physicians in Attle- borough. -- Dr. Joseph Daggett, of Rehoboth ; Dr. Joseph Hewes, Dr. Abijah Everett, Dr. Bezeliel Mann, Dr. Richard Bowen, of Rehoboth ; Dr. Joseph Bacon, Dr. Comfort Fuller, son of Noah Fuller; Dr. Comfort Capron, surgeon in the Revo- lutionary war; Dr. Thomas Stanley, Dr. Phineas Savery.

Miscellaneous, Topography, Statistics, etc .- This town was incorporated in 1694. It derived its name, without doubt, from the town of Attlebor- ough, in Norfolk County, England, whence probably some of our early inhabitants emigrated to America, and settled first at Hingham or Weymouth, thence removed to Rehoboth, and afterwards became pur- chasers and settlers of this town, and, in remem- brance of their native place, selected this name. This origin of the name is confirmed by the circum- stance that in the English town there is a river called Bungay, of about the same size as the one of the same name in this town.

1 See Benedict's Hist. Baptists, vol. ii. 410, where he is erroneously said to be a graduate of Rhode Island College.

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ATTLEBOROUGH.

At the time of the incorporation it contained up- wards of thirty families, which, if we assumed only six as the number in each family (which is probably too low for that period), would make 180 inhabitants. In 1790 the town contained 2166 inhabitants; in 1800, 2480 ; in 1810, 2716; in 1820, 3055; and at the last census, in 1830, 3215, exclusive of twelve fami- lies, containing about fifty persons, which, since 1820, have been set off' to Wrentham by the establishment of a new boundary between the towns, or rather by restoring it to the ancient line. It has already ap- peared that there was for many years a dispute be- tween Massachusetts and Plymouth respecting the dividing line of the two colonies. It was a straight line from Bound Rock, in the middle of Accord Pond, on the line between the towns of Scituate and Cohasset, to a point on the Rhode Island bound- ary, " three English miles south of the southernmost part of Charles River." The commissioners in run- ning the line on one occasion found their course quite a distance south of the true line; therefore, they marked a great white-oak-tree, called "the Angle Tree," and there changed the course farther north, and thus ran to the intended point. This was not a straight line, and it cut off a large quantity of land from the Old Colony. It is now of no practical con- sequence, but only a matter of historical curiosity. At this station a stone monument has since been erec- ted by authority of the Legislature, under the direc- tions of Attleborough and Wrentham, with the follow- ing inscription : On the north is written " Massachu- setts Colony ;" on the south, " Plymouth Colony."

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History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 132

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1818

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1818