History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 180

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1538

USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 180

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Edward P. Kimball

Eng ª by AH Futchie

Daniel Filho

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IPSWICH.

REV. DANIEL FITZ, D.D.1

The Fitz family ranks among the very early Puri- tan families of New England. Its first Anglo-Ameri- can ancestor was Robert Fitz. He was born in 1617, and came to this country from Fitz Ford or its vicin- ity, near Tavistock, in the county of Devonshire, England, as early, certainly, as 1640. Mrs. Bray has directed attention to this locality by making it the scene of her novel entitled "Fitz of Fitz-Ford." She says of it, in the introduction to her book :

" To the west of the town, by the side of the new road to Plymouth, stand the ruins of the gate- way of Fitz-ford, which, except an old barn, is all that now remains of the mansion and offices of the family of Fitz. This gate-way is spacious, and the label ornaments of its architecture proclaim it to be a structure of the time of Henry the Seventh. Such portions of the carving as appear through the ivy, with which it is am- ply hung, are well sculptured ; and the whole might form an interesting subject for the pencil of a Harding or a Prout. The aucient mansion of Fitz-ford, that once stood in an open court heyond this gate-house, was many years since pulled down, and the materials used to erect the pres- ent market-house iu the town."

There is a tradition that Robert Fitz was at Ips- wich in 1635. The most prominent member of his family at the time of his emigration was Sir John Fitz, a London barrister of position and wealth, whose country seat was upon the bank of the river Tavy on the west side of Tavistock as above stated by Mrs. Bray.

Robert Fitz is said to have been induced to leave his native land hy the discomforts to which he was subjected on account of his Puritan principles. Whether he was at Ipswich, in 1635, or not, it is cer- tain that he and his wife Grace D. were among the original settlers of Salisbury, in 1640. From that time the genealogy of his descendants has been care- fully preserved.

Rev. Daniel Fitz belonged to the seventh genera- tion of his family in this country, and his ancestry may be traced back in unbroken line through Samuel Currier, of Derry, of the sixth generation ; Daniel, of Sandown, N. H., of the fifth; Richard, of South Hampton. N. H., of the fourth; Richard, of Salisbury, of the third; Abraham, of Ipswich, of the second; and Robert, of Salisbury, the Anglo-Ameri- can head.

He was the second child and oldest son of Samuel Currier Fitz, above named, and of Sarah George Fitz. He was born at Sandown, N. H., May 28, 1795, and in early childhood accompanied his parents upon their removal to Derry, where they ever afterwards lived. He graduated in 1818 at Dartmouth College, then under the presidency of Dr. Francis Brown, and just emerging from its great controversy, finally set- tled by the Supreme Court of the United States, and since famous as the Dartmouth College case. His class numbered twenty-eight, some of whom subse- quently attained positions of eminence. Among these were Prof. George Bush, D.D., of New York Univer-

sity, and Prof. Thomas C. Upham, of Bowdoin Col- lege. Not one of this class now survives.

Upon leaving college, Mr. Fitz devoted himself to teaching for a while, as thousands of other New Eng- land students before and since have done. By this means he strengthened his resources, both mental and financial, the first by a review of former studies, and the latter by the moderate compensation then al- lowed for such work. For a single term he was assistant teacher of Pinkerton Academy, established but a few years before in his town of Derry. Soon afterwards, Salisbury, N. H., Academy, then in its palmy days, offered him its principalship, which he accepted and continued to hold for some two years, until he was called to assume that of the Academy at Marblehead in which he continued for ahout a year and a half.

The objects sought by teaching having beeu at- tained, he entered Andover Theological Seminary in 1822, there to prosecute the studies which were to pre- pare him for the work of his chosen profession, under a corps of stalwart theologians, prominent among whom were Dr. Leonard Woods and Dr. Moses Stuart. It was near the close of the period of the great warfare waged by the theological Titans of New England ; a fierce warfare in which no quarter was asked or given by either party, but which, like most religious contro- versies, was most effective in confirming the com- batants in their own cherished views. As was most natural, Mr. Fitz accepted the doctrines of his teachers. These, with slight modifications, he held throughout his whole subsequent life.

Mr. Fitz completed the prescribed course of study, and gradnated in 1825. At this time, the health of the venerable Dr. Joseph Dana, who had been in continuous service as pastor of the South Congrega- tional Church, of Ipswich, for sixty-one years, had become impaired by age, and he was wanting a col- league. The position was offered by the church and society to Mr. Fitz, and he accepted it. On the 26th day of June of the next year he was ordained and in- stalled as associate pastor.

The services of this occasion were held in the an- cient meeting-house of the society, which stood near the location of the present house, by which it was superseded in the year 1837. The clergymen who took part in the exercises were well known in their day and have been favorably remembered ever since. The ordination sermon was by the Rev. Daniel Dana, D.D., of Newburyport, a son of the senior pastor. His text was the 26th verse of the 20th chapter of Acts. The installing prayer was by Rev. Robert Crowell, of Essex; the prayer of consecration by Rev. Samuel Dana; the concluding prayer by the Rev. Joseph B. Felt, of Ipswich; the address to the church and society by the Rev. Edward L. Parker, of Lon- donderry, N. H., the home pastor of Mr. Fitz; the right hand of fellowship by Rev. David T. Kimhall of the First Congregational Church of Ipswich, and

1 By Joseph B. Walker.

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

the charge to his young brother, by the senior pastor. The church had not had an ordination before for two generations, and the occasion was as interesting as it was solemn.

There occur in human life periods of intense inter- est which exact approbation and move the heart. It is a glorious hour when the soldier, in unselfish defense of his country, buckles ou his harness and hies to scenes of peril. So is it when a venerable and able statesman, as regardless of the opposition of rank and numbers as of his own comfort, raises his voice in the parliament house of his nation in aid of the helpless, and spends his last strength in a desperate struggle for right, conscious the while that his tongue will be dumb in death when the pæan of victory is sounded. We follow with bated breath and admira- tion the modest figure of a Florence Nightingale as it moves noiselessly at midnight through dimly lighted hospital wards, now pausing to moisten the parched lips of the suffering, and anon to gently close the eye- lids of the recent dead.

But a nobler than any of these is the sight of a young man, of clean hands and a pure heart, coming to God's altar for solemn consecration of himself to his chosen life-work of aiding his fellows in their efforts for delivery from the curse of sin. The warrior, the statesman, the philanthropist minister to social and physical needs, which are temporal ; the priest at God's altar to spiritual wants which are eternal,

At the time of his ordination, Mr. Fitz was thirty- one years of age, in vigorous health and possessed of a sound mind in a sound body. His figure was of medium height, compact and firm. His complexion was dark, and his hair, which inclined to curl, was as black as the raven's wing. His eyes of a hue similar to that of his hair were soft and gave to his face when in repose a mild expression, which changed immedi- ately to one of great earnestness when his mind was roused. He was of graceful manners, and easily and equally accessible to persons of all conditions. His mind, which was strong and well-balanced, working actively and incisively, reached correct conclusions, partly by reason and partly by instinct. His imagina- tion, which was quick and enhanced the interest of his utterances, was kept in subjection to a calm judgment which rarely led him wrong. His quick sympathies made him appreciative of the real charac- ter of the person with whom he had to do, and pro- tected him from the impositions to which a minister is often exposed. While naturally inclined to be much guided in his opinion by an abounding charity, he intuitively tempered these by a clear insight into the motive which underlaid proffered professions.

By descent Mr. Fitz was a Puritan. As above stated, the cmigration of his Anglo-American ances- tor, Robert Fitz, was due to his Puritan principles. Spiritual constraints, rather than physical discom- forts, prompted this. In the latter respect he was no

gainer by leaving home. No part of England pos- sessed greater attractions than the one he abandoned. Devonshire, the " Emerald County," was a county of small farms, of pastures and cattle and dairies; of numerous streams and water-powers and forests. It possessed a fair soil and a good climate. It was near to the sea, and ever open to the southwest winds which floated over it continually, freighted with the mild winds and moisture of the gulf stream just before it loses itself in the Bay of Biscay-those winds which are a benediction to some of the southern counties of England; securing to them perpetual mildness of climate and a verdure unsurpassed.

The transition from which such a land to one upon which the Arctic current breathed even in summer, as yet in possession of savages and a wilderness, was as disheartening as it was marked. But great moral purposes afford a sustaining power which regards but little, either, hardship or danger or even death itself. So the Puritan left his old home and religious con- straint upon the Tavy for a new one and freedom, three thousand miles away upon the bank of the Merrimac.

All the way down the succeeding generations of his family, we find apparent strong religious traits of character. Sarah Thorne Fitz, the great-great-grand- mother of the subject of this sketch, displayed these in a very marked degree. She was a member of the first Ipswich Church, but lived in Salisbury, sixteen miles away. Tradition says that to enjoy its Sunday worship, she was accustomed at times, to rise very early in the morning, and, having milked her cows, to paddle across the Merrimac River to Newbury, whence she went on foot to Ipswich, arriving in sea- son for the morning service. This journey was re- versed in the afternoon and finished in season for the evening milking.

To anticipate a little, for the sake of convenience, it may be here said in regard to some of the religious opinions which he held in mature life, that Mr. Fitz received his theological training at Andover Theloogi- cal Seminary, under the distinguished professors who had raised it to an eminent power in the land. He then accepted and ever held the doctrines there tanght, which were in full accord with the orthodox branch of the Christian Church. But while he re- ceived these and held them firmly, he held them broadly. He had little sympathy with narrow inter- pretations of great truths, and was free from the un- charitableness which comes from the magnifying of minor points. While as a Calvinist he adopted Cal- vin's views, he yet took them with such modifications as more quiet times and a wider learning had sug- gested. But the deep, underlying foundation of his religious faith was the gospel of Jesus Christ. This he read and pondered all his life, and upon this rested his belief that the Son of God had made provi- sion for the salvation of all and not for that of an elect few only. Hence, he urged all men to repent,

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inasmuch, as faith and repentance made salvation possible to all.

He had little taste for polemical divinity, not very much for metaphysics, by which almost anything cau be proved, and no admiration whatever for hair-split- ting theorists. As was usual in his day, he preached doctrinal sermons from time to time for the instruc- tion of his people, but with an unfeigned respect for the views of others from whom he differed upon unes- sential points. Both the conservative bent of his mind and his wide knowledge of mankind, led him naturally to this, as well as a native courtesy which never forsook him. But this was not the courtesy which weakness or timidity engenders. Fear was an emo- tion to which he was a stranger. If attacked, he was always ready to encounter heavy blows, and return them if necessary, not, however, from any love of con- test, but from loyalty to what he deemed the right. Consequently, like most peace-loving men of like character, he was very rarely assailed.

Such was the ancestry, bent and religious training of the young minister, who, on the 26th day of June, 1826, stood upon the threshold of his career, gazing into a future which his dark eye could not penetrate, with faith and a hearty submission to the will of him to whom he had consecrated his every power.

But, he was not to go on far alone. Protestantism has never favored the celibacy of its clergy. It has rather made prominent the injunction of the great apostle that, "A hishop must be the husband of one wife." Mr. Fitz's parishioners could not consent that he should serve them unaided, and his own lov- ing nature was in accord with their wishes.

The writer of this memorial sketch would be un- worthy of his delicate trust, if he omitted a passing tribute to the gifted woman who soon after the pas- tor's installation became his wife. She was the oldest daughter of the Rev. Moses Sawyer, of Hen- niker, N. H., who, for nearly twenty-four years, had been the faithful pastor of the Congregational Church of that town, where she was born on the 8th day of May, 1804, and subsequently reared, amid the duties of a country ministerial life.

We omit all record of her earlier years, except to note that she received her higher education partly at Byfield Academy, then in charge of Rev. Joseph Emerson, and partly at Derry Female Academy, of which Miss Grant and . Mary Lyon were the in- strnctors.

After her graduation, she was herself a teacher until her marriage to Mr. Fitz, on the 5th day of September, 1826, transferred her from a New Hamp- shire School to a Massachusetts parsonage.

Mrs. Fitz brought to her new home a thorough knowledge of a New England pastor's wife. This she had acquired in the best of all schools, that of ex- perience ; and, from the lips and lives of the best of all teachers, those of her father and mother.

She possessed high mental endowments which had

beeu enhanced in power by thorough training. She naturally took broad views of a subject, and had a ready insight to its vital points. Having the rare power to divest herself of all personal predilections, when her opinion was asked, and to look disinter- estedly at the matter under consideration from all sides, she almost uniformly reached correct con- clusions. She had common sense-the gift of God- in large measure. Courage she also had, and was undaunted in the presence of obstacles. Possessing executive and organizing ability, she was naturally a leader in her husband's parish; not from choice, but from the demands of her position and of her as- sociates. Skillful was she in dissipating the apathies and in allaying the various frictions, not unfrequently present in society work ; mingling love with energy and intuitively comprehending the various forces operating to advance or retard its progress.

Besides these qualities, the power of which time and experience greatly enhanced, to Mrs. Fitz was given great sweetness of disposition and marked come- liness of person. Natural grace of manuer, and a charming affahility, founded upon inuate modesty and brilliancy of intellect, combined to give her presence an unusual attractiveness. Both at home and in society, these marked characteristics secured to her the popularity which usually attends upon the gifted and the good.

She was always accessible to all who would ap- proach her. To the burdened soul which, in its per- plexity confidentially sought her advice, she gave wise counsel mingled with the most delicate sym- pathy. The giddy and the wayward were rebuked so lovingly that they blessed in very gratitude the hand which chastened them. Her ministrations to the sick were abundaut, and in her presence there was healing.

At the general assemblages at the parsonage from time to time, she dispensed hospitality mingled with grace and seasoned with love. The kindly glances of her dark eyes and the graceful pose of her attractive figure increased the fascination of her conversation. It was natural for her to be agreeable, and she knew not how to be otherwise. Indeed, Madame Recamier, in her splendid salon, surrounded by the beauty and talent of the French capital, never presided with more grace and sweetness than did she on those sim- ple occasions. We must not be surprised, therefore, at the remark of one who knew her well, "She had never a peer in Ipswich."

For nearly forty years Mrs. Fitz discharged with great ability the donble duties which she had as- sumed with her marriage ring. She was faithful to her family, and faithful to her husband's people, and when, in January, 1862, her pure spirit rose to companionship with "the just made perfect," and her mortal remains were lowered tenderly to their last rest, hot tears fell upon the cold ground, and hearts ached with a sorrow as lasting as life.

658

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

In about a year after his settlement, the death of Dr. Dana left Mr. Fitz sole pastor of his church and society. He accepted willingly the increase of labor which this event devolved upon him. He was fortu- nate in his people who were reasonable, peaceful and intelligent. Part of them resided in the village, and a part upon some of the hay farms for which Ipswich is so celebrated. They were not rich, yet poverty was unknown to them. They were blessed with that golden mean of life's condition for which the Hebrew sage so wisely besought his God.

With the acres of their forefathers, they had in- herited the traditions of two hundred years or more. These were influencing and monlding their characters constantly. The generations of many of the families of Mr. Fitz's parish went back in unbroken succes- sion to the foundation of the town. They were good old English stock, with hearts of oak; stock which had been improved by transplanting, and grew better continually. They were a people who feared God, and respected every man entitled to respect. No where outside of New England can such a commun- ity be found, a happy society of villagers and farmers which had flourished for two hundred years, without deterioration, upon a fertile tract of coast land, with three thousand miles of ocean in front of them, and three thousand miles of continent behind them. The ocean was, and had ever been, a blank. Over the continent the waves of new populations had been ad- vancing continually, a hundred miles each decade, to meet ere long the great Pacific Sea, whose eastern billows wash the occident, and whose western breakers dash upon the shore of the orient. Yet the Ipswich farms were to change only to increased productiveness, and the village to wider borders and greater beauty.

Among this people Mr. Fitz went in and out, a welcome visitor at every house. He had come among them to stay. For better or worse they had taken him and he them, and the bond which united both in one was to endure as long as he lived. He soon learned their habits of life and thought, and so ad- justed his ways to theirs, that he came into their sympathies and gained their confidence and love. Indeed, one of the most beautiful characteristics of his pastorate was the mutual affection and respect which ever existed between him and the people of his charge.

In labors for their good he abonnded. He preached a carefully-written sermon the forenoon and after- noon of every Sunday, and conducted a less formal meeting for conference and prayer in the evening. Besides these, he held frequent week-day meetings in the rural parts of his parish, and for many years, as chaplain of the county almshouse, held there a Sun- day morning service. Yet his strength failed not, and he never grew weary in his work. He had scarcely a vacation in all his life. His chief recrea- tion was in the variation of his daily duties.

In his pulpit, his full figure clothed with scrupu-

lous neatness, his dark eye and fine face enhanced the effect of his ministrations. His manner was simple and reverential. He never assumed familiarity with the Deity, but seemed to feel that it was a sol- emn thing to minister at God's altar, and to be deeply sensible of the responsibility of standing between Him and those he sought to aid.

His sermons were logical, lucid, earnest, practical. He drew his illustrations largely from sacred history. Whatever the subject discussed, the application was close and personal to every heart. The commonest individual conld understand his message and retain in mind the truths uttered in his hearing. He was always animated, and at times eloquent. His prayers, which were filial, earnest and expectant, were prompted by his nice appreciation of the wants of those for whom he plead. He had a strong, clear, flexible voice, and so read the sacred scriptures that his simple reading became a luminous commentary to those who listened.

He could hardly be called a literary man ; yet a perusal of some of his written sermons proves that he wielded a pen of much ability, evidently writing with fluency, and always with clearness and vigor. His reading was more extensive than that of the average minister of his time. Some of his discourses on spe- cial occasions, which have been published, and are models of their kind, afford evidence of the possession by their author of broad views and a well-trained mind. But his regular clerical duties absorbed his time, and to these he gave his strength.

Dr. Fitz understood perfectly the character of all his people, and how to influence them for good. In- deed, he measured their several capacities for excel- lence, and was reasonable in his expectations and pa- tient. He attempted the possible only, but never sought the manifestly unattainable. Like all active clergymen, his course was at times through channels narrow and devious, with Scylla on one side and Charybdis on the other; yet he was never wrecked on either shore. An amusing incident, which oc- curred one Sunday morning during our late war, will illustrate his skill on such occasions. His people were divided in their sympathies for the two contend- ing parties. As he was going out of church at the close of the service, a good deacon of democratic pro- clivities whispered sternly in his ear: "You were altogether too outspoken, sir, in your prayer this morning; your plainness of speech will give just offense." Farther down the aisle he encountered a second official of the same grade, who also whispered, as he passed him, " Too lukewarm, sir, too lukewarm, you didn't come come up to the mark." These con- flicting assurances which offset one another, were answered by a silent smile, and in a few days both his friends were complaisant again.

Dr. Fitz mingled little in civil affairs, and probably never held a political office in all his life. But he took a deep interest in the general welfare, and with

James Alphton

Piln . ES: NY.

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IPSWICH.

unostentatious independence exercised his rights of citizenship. He rejoiced in the prosperity of his townsmen, and was always ready to aid, as he could, in the promotion of their interests. He did much for the improvement of the schools of Ipswich, and to the furtherance of all useful local enterprises, he never declined to lend a willing hand.

He possessed courage, and was rarely disheartened. But his was a courage based upon knowledge, guided by wisdom and sustained by activity. He believed that the realization of faith came from persistent effort, and that all hopes of success without this were vain.

But the most marked trait in his character was his abounding love for all mankind. It was the domin- ant quality of his nature. His appeals in behalf of the effete nations of the East manifested it, and this prompted his earnest calls in aid of the missionaries upon our Western frontier ; thus laboring to mould into homogeneity aud elevate to a higher manhood the discordant populations which have come to us from the nations beyond the sea. Everything which promised highest good to his fellow-men commanded at once his interest.

Particularly strong was his love for children, who, apprized of this by their unerring instincts, returned it in full measure. With their love they mingled respect, but never fear. Sober Ipswich never enjoyed a more charming sight than that of the sleigh of the good doctor, when carrying his children to their school, into which others had climbed, and piled one upon another, until it was full, and more than full. As he sped along as best he could, buried in this liv- ing load of clamorous joy, no heart beat happier than his own. Was all this a little thing and unim- portant? It was a significant one, and thoughtful observers saw more than the animated pile, and re- membered that childhood would soon grow to youth, and youth in a short time change to maturity, but, that the love then engendered would never grow cold, and the good counsels which it enfolded would never be forgotten.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 180

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1 Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1538

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1538