History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 181

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 181

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It was his invariable custom when driving upon the road to invite any chance footman he might over- take to a seat in his carriage. One of his daughters has remarked that, when riding with her father, and up almost to the time when she considered herself a young lady, she had repeatedly been asked to sit in his lap to make room for some wayfarer whom he had never seen before and was most likely to never see again.

The soiled tramp who called at his door, ragged and redolent perhaps of whiskey, was always treated with kindness. He bore God's image upon his face, and that must be respected.

The ministry of Dr. Fitz was a successful one. His active pastorate lasted forty-one years. He and his predecessor, Dr. Joseph Dana, were the sole pastors of the church for a continnous period of one hundred

and two years, a fact not easily paralleled. The re- cords show that at the time of his settlement, its members numbered fifty-four and that three hundred and thirteen joined it while he held the sacred office. But the most important acts of his pastorate were not recorded upon the register of the church, but the hearts of his people, to be read only by the eye of Omniscience.

It was impossible that such a life, identified with all that was best in Ipswich, and flowing on for nearly half a century in a channel ever widening and ever deepening, should fail to be a power for good. It was impossible that its beneficent fame and in- fluence should be restricted to the scene of its own labors. As the decades came in and went out, one after another, Dr. Fitz became more and more widely known. Neighboring parishes in their per- plexities sought his counsel. To pulpits more im- portant than his own, he was invited for exchanges of ministrations. In 1862 his Alma Mater, in recog- nition of his merit, conferred upon him a degree of Doctor of Divinity. He rose into high esteem among his brethren in the ministry, and became at length an honored father in their midst.

But his heart of hearts remained where it had ever been, and clung closest to the people he was ordained to serve. His settlement had been for life. With the union then formed both parties were satisfied, and never wished it sundered. So it continued on until his strong arm began to weaken, and physical infirmity compelled a surrender of his sacred trust. In 1867 he resigned the active duties of his ministry. For two years longer, in declining health, he went about among those he had loved so long, until, on the second day of September, 1869, "he was not; for God took him." His manly form was laid before the altar at which he had ministered, and his friend, Dr. Pike, of Rowley, comforted as well as he could the sad hearts which had gathered around. From the church it was borne to the cemetery near by, and laid to sleep in the company of dear ones gone on before,-there to rest until "this mortal shall have put on immortality, and Death is swallowed up in victory."

GENERAL JAMES APPLETON.

Among those who have done good and signal ser- vice in the cause of temperance, the name of the late James Appleton, of Massachusetts, should be held most gratefully and most tenaciously in remem- brance by all who have faith in the expediency and the necessity of a prohibitory liquor law. It was he who first publicly maintained-as most, if not all, who believe in total abstinence now maintain is the logical outcome of the temperance movement-that legislation has nothing whatever to do with moral evil except to aim at its complete suppression. If this is to be the legislative policy of the future as to

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the traffic in intoxicating drinks, as it already is that of several of the States, it is interesting to trace that policy to its source, and to learn something of the man who first promulgated it.

James Appleton was born in 1786 on the farm in Ipswich, Mass., granted to his ancestor, Samuel Ap- pleton, in 1636; to this home he returned in his old age, when the work of his life was finished, and there he died in 1862. For many years his home was in the neighboring town of Marblehead, and for twenty years, from 1833 to 1853, he resided in Portland, Me. But wherever he lived he was known and esteemed for his interest and energy in public affairs, and was looked up to as a born leader of men. Though a Federalist in politics, he gave his services, as a col- onel of a regiment, to his country when it became in- volved in a second war with England in 1812. Those old enough to remember the earlier days of the anti- slavery movement, if they know anything about it or those engaged in it, will recall the name of General Appleton as conspicuous in that little band of men and women, who, like their great leader, would not equivocate, who would not retreat a single inch, who wonld be heard and who were not afraid. Nor was he less earnest in upholding the saving grace of total abstinence from all intoxicating drinks; but that doctrine, even half a century ago, had so grown into popular favor that the most zealous on its behalf were not easily distinguished in the multitude of its apostles, nor has the memory of them been so care- fully preserved.

But it was James Appleton, as chairman of a legis- lative committee to which had been referred a peti- tion in regard to the license laws of Maine, made a report, herewith published, which would in time be recognized as the beginning of a new and auspicious era in the temperance reform. Its argument was that inasmuch as "it is now ascertained, not only that the traffic is attended with most appalling evils to the community, but that ardent spirit is entirely useless -that it is an unmitigated evil," the committee, there- fore, were " not only of opinion that the law giving the right to sell ardent spirits should be repealed, but that a law should be passed to prohibit the traffic in them, except so far as the arts or the practice of medicine may be concerned."

But the legislative report, though the most com- plete, was not the earliest attempt made by General Appleton for the suppression by law of all traffic in ardent spirits. It is remembered in his family that he dated his convictions upon the subject from the year 1831. It came to him-when listening to an earnest debate in the Massachusetts Legislature, of which body he had been a member-as a sudden rev- elation, as a discovery in morals, that the way to stop intemperance was to stop it. If the drinking of spirits was always wrong and dangerons, and the source of all the monstrous evils charged to it, then it was not to be tolerated, nor dallied with by license

laws, but put an end to. If there was no liqnor, there would be no drunkenness; if the sale was made ille- gal, the traffic in it and the use of it would become disgraceful as well as dangerous. It might not, in- deed, be possible to suppress it altogether and at once by act ot the Legislature; but, as an argument, this was just as true of the laws against murder, arson, forgery, theft, or any other acknowledged crime, which bad men would still commit in defiance of the law.

Though persuaded in his own mind that he had discovered the true remedy for the monstrous evil, the first application he proposed was tentative and indirect ; not that he wanted faith in the perfect efficacy of that remedy, but he doubted if the public mind was yet ready for heroic treatment. Accord- ingly, he prepared a petition to the Massachusetts Legislature-this was before he removed to Portland, and when he was residing at Marblehead-praying that the sale of liquor in any quantity less than thirty gallons be forbidden by law.

The proposition was clearly meant as the first step toward absolute prohibition ; indeed there was no pretence in the petition of concealing the hope of its anthor that a limitation of the sale of ardent spirits to a minimum of thirty gallons would take from the large majority of drunkards all chance of getting drunk. The purchase of rum in so large a quantity would be beyond their means, while the moderate drinker who could afford it would easily and almost unconsciously abandon a habit, unless very firmly fixed, which called for more forethought and larger immediate outlay than the gratification was worth.

But even this compromise aroused more opposition than probably General Appleton was prepared for. The agent of the Massachusetts Temperance Society, a Rev. Mr. Hildreth, pounced npon it at once as a mischievous measure. His notion evidently was that among the "inalienable rights " of man was the right to rum. He fairly represented the timid public opinion of that day, which in the temperance, as in the anti-slavery, movement, shrunk from any denun- ciation in " harsh language " of a popular wrong, and from any proposed remedy that would be pronounced " radical." Moral suasion " was the cant phrase of the time, and if there were a few tender souls- Mr. Hildreth may have been one of them-who nsed the term in its true sense, with the multitude it only meant that they would not tolerate any onslaught upon evil which reflected upon respectable sinners, was likely to open their eyes and bring them to re- pentance.

The letter of Mr. Hildreth and that of another writer, who signs himself "Danvers," show the spirit in which General Appleton's moderate pro- posal was met. He was quick to reply whether to argument or cavil, and in three clear and forcible letters signed " Essex," to be found in the Salem Ga- zette of February, 1832, he sets forth his reasons for

Charter Minhile

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the faith that is in him, and the real object he had in view in the petition. On one point, however, he ac- knowledged his error, and accepted, in his own way, the rebuke of his opponents. He ought not, he con- fessed, to have asked the Legislature for a limitation in the traffic in ardent spirits, whether to thirty gal- lons or any other quantity. The trade, it was plain to him now, should be not regulated, but prohibited. The opposition he had aroused was an evidence of the foolishness of any proposed compromise between right and wrong. He meant prohibition, and ought to have said so directly, rather than have conde- scended to an expedient which pleased nobody and would deceive but few. "I made a great mistake," he said to a member of his family-" a great mis- take." And this he publicly reiterates, it will be ob- served, iu a postscript to his third and final letter,- "We wish the prayer of the petition had been with- out any qualification, for its authors, we believe, in- tended the absolute prohibition of the traffic, as their argument abundantly evinces." But here was the end of the matter. Perhaps he had gained all he had hoped for in provoking some discussion of the sub- ject, and it is doubtful if the petition, which probably nobody but himself would have signed, was ever pre- sented to the Legislature.

Here for the first time prohibitory legislation was pro- posed, though with no other immediate result, appar- ently, than to convince its author that the opposition to it would be formidable, if not insurmountable. He may have been for a time discouraged, but he was not defeated. He knew he was right, and he had learned, moreover, a lesson of practical value. If ever again he could make an opportunity to urge his principles upon any legislative body, there should be no mistake of a waot of directness in his method.

Meanwhile he had removed to Portland, and in 1836 he was elected a member to the Maine Legisla- ture. The opportunity he had waited for came when a petition on the license laws was referred to a Com- mittee of which he was chairman. He could speak now with a certain authority, and did not need, even were he so minded, to appeal to public attention by the suggestion of an indirect and experimental measure. The whole subject was, no doubt, much clearer in his mind than when he put forth his thirty gallons petition, and he was ready to meet the unbe- lieving or the timid at all possible points of difficulty or objection. He covers the ground so completely, presents his argument so frankly, confidently and forcibly, that the report might go before any State Legislature to-day as an exhaustive presentation of the whole question of prohibition.

The report, of course, was laid upon the table, and it is not remembered whether it gave rise to any debate. Very likely not; for doubtless to most, if not all, of the honorable members, it seemed as pre- posterous as it was novel, and not even worth talking about. Nevertheless, "The Maine Law " was born

then and there, though it was not till nine years later that the first tentative act was passed as the begin- ning of prohibitory legislation. The years of agita- tion and discussion which preceded and prepared the way for legislation also had a beginning, and there is neither record, nor tradition, nor memory of the old- est inhabitant that can trace it beyond the Appleton Report to the Maine Legislature of 1836-37, unless it be to the Appleton petition to the Massachusetts Legislature of 1832. But both came from the same man, and together they leave nothing more to be said as to the question of the origin of this special temperance policy. James Appleton, as a private citizen of Massachusetts, publicly suggested in 1832 the wisdom of a prohibitory liquor law, and in 1837 the same James Appleton, as a member of the Maine Legislature, urged upon that body the enactment of such a law. When at last, in 1851, the "Maine Law," as it now stands upon the statute-books of the State, was passed, it was a fitting recognition of his early devotion to the principle of prohibition that he, among others, should have been called upon to aid in the preparation of the act.

He lived to see ten years of the enforcement of the perfected law in Maine and in other States. It was, in spirit and purpose, of his own devising, and he would sometimes speak at his own fireside with nat- ural pride and profound thankfulness of the result of his work. But he left it to others to show at some future time how much was due to his foresight, his keen moral sense and his conrage.

The following is the inscription on the stone over General Appleton's grave in Ipswich :

"A Philanthropist, a Patriot and a Christian."

He served his fellow-men, his conutry and his God by laboring for the emancipation of the American slave.

HON. CHARLES KIMBALL.

Charles Kimball was born in Ipswich, Mass., on December 24, 1798. His parents were Jeremiah and Lois Kimball. Twelve children were born to them, of whom he was the youngest. His mother was of the Choate family, of Essex, made famous by the "great Rufus." His father was a lineal descendant of Richard Kimball, who came from Ipswich, Eng- land, in 1634, the same year in which its namesake on this side of the water began its existence as a body corporate. This ancestor located in Watertown, Mass., but three years later, 1637, removed to Ips- wich, and there made a permanent settlement ; and from that date to the present the male line in Ips- wich has been unbroken. The father of Charles, like his progenitors, was of sturdy mould, and "hon- est, manly and efficient." Of the twelve children, five of them attained the age of more than eighty years, two of them the age of seventy-five or more, one the age of ninety-one and another the age of

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ninety-seven, a remarkable record of longevity for one single family. In 1815, when Charles was sixteen years old, he entered the office of Nathaniel Lord, Jr. (who married his sister Eunice, and who was the father of the late Judge Otis P. Lord), in Ipswich, then register of probate, and at the same time became a member of his family. He began ac- tive life with few educational privileges, but the head of the family in which he made his home was a graduate of Harvard College, a man of letters, of ex- act knowledge and accurate business methods, and of the advantages these afforded he fully availed him- self. In 1827 he was elected colonel of one of the militia regiments from the office of adjutant, the lat- ter being equal, only in rank, to the modern lieuten- ant, a very marked promotion, and the cause of many heart-burnings at the time, but soon forgotten, as his special fitness for the position became apparent. His precision and promptness in the discharge of his du- ties was readily acknowledged, and his dignified and soldierly bearing and easy and graceful horsemanship won many commendations. In 1830 he voluntarily resigned this office, but the title followed him through life. In 1829 he married Mary Ann Outein. Her father was of French origin ; her mother of New Eng- land birth. Three children were the fruit of this union, two sons and one daughter. The elder son, Charles A., was a lawyer, and died at the age of thirty-eight; and the daughter died at the age of thirty-five. Both were unmarried. The surviving son, Edward P., is a lawyer, and at present postmas- ter, and resides at the homestead. The wife and mother was a woman of great intelligence, of remark- able simplicity of character, of earnest, sincere piety, faithful in her conjugal relations and her filial duties, and self-sacrificing to the last degree in her devotion to her family. In 1836 he was elected to the State Senate, and served therein till 1840, the Hon. Ed- ward Everett being then Governor. This was also a marked honor, as he had had no previous legislative experience. From 184I to 1847 he was county com- missioner, and perhaps the highest compliment ever paid him was that of one of his associates on this board who remarked that he " never saw a man so anxious to know and do the right." In politics he was a Whig, but upon the dissolution of that party, he, like many other conservatives, associated himself with the Democracy. In 1851 he was candidate for State Treasurer. In politics, as in everything else, he acted from conviction and principle. He held, at different times, various town offices; was selectman one year, School Committee man and clerk and treas- urer of two boards of trustees of educational funds for many years, and for thirty or more consecutive years moderator of town meetings. In 1851, on the retirement of Mr. Lord from the office of register of probate, he established an office in Salem. He had been all this time acquiring a knowledge of probate law, and had become well known throughout the

county as a practitioner in the Probate Courts of rare skill and experience. In 1858, at the age of fifty- nine, on the petition of Judge Perkins, Wm. C. En- dicott, Wm. D. Northend and others of mark in the profession, he was admitted to the bar, a very high compliment to his ability, learning and personal worth, and unique in itself. Hitherto in all his cases before the courts, except the Probate Court, he had been obliged to call to his aid some member of the bar; but now a wider field of practice was open to him, and from that date to the close of his business career, he devoted himself assiduonsly to his profes- sion. On the 10th day of December, 1877, at the age of seventy-nine, he suddenly lost, while in his office, all capacity for business. In a moment the power of con- nected thought was gone. Everything became one confused mass in his mind, and in this condition he remained to the day of his death, November 30, 1880. It was not alone in business that he was active. In 1830 he united with the South Congregational Church, in Ipswich, and to its spiritual welfare gave much of his time and thought. He served on church and parish committees, was superintendent of the Sabbath- school for over forty-five years, and in 1868 was chosen deacon. He understood the creed of his church, and could and did stontly maintain it against all antagon- ism. He was versed in ecclesiastical law, and was prominent in Ecclesiastical Councils, notably, the famous one at Manchester, in the deliberations of which he took an active and leading part. He pre- pared a paper on ecclesiastical law, which he read before the Essex Congregational Club, and which was regarded as a valuable contribution to this difficult and occult branch of legal lore. On the occasion of his funeral, which was largely attended by the people of the town and many others, including members of the bar, his pastor, the Rev. T. F. Waters, preached a discourse which was a discriminating analysis of his life and character, and a glowing tribute to his sterling worth.

At the December Term of the Supreme Court, 1880, resolutions in memoriam were offered by the Hon. Wm. D. Northend, seconded by James Gillis, Esq., and responded to by his Honor, Judge Bacon, the presiding judge, and by him ordcred to be entered on the records of the court.

Such is the mere outline of this long and useful life. While the record speaks for itself, behind it lies the secret of his success. Slow and patient toil, close application and an absorbing interest in his work, led him, step by step, thiro' rugged paths to the standing in his profession which he attained. Unlike the majority of the profession, he entered upon his work without any knowledge derived from the text- books. He learned first in the school of experience, and then he sought the books, and they accompanied him in his labors. His keen observation, quick per- ception, logical acumen and retentive memory, en- abled him to build on a sure basis and to acquire an

John M. Bradbeen

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accurate and precise knowledge of the law. The bare routine, the mere knowing how to do a thing, did not satisfy him. He must know the theory, the underlying principle of every legal rule, and he delved deep till he found it. With the law relating to real estate, to trusts and matters in equity, with their tech- nicalities and fine distinctions, he was specially fa- miliar. In the drafting of wills and in all matters pertaining to probate law and practice, he was regard- ed as authority. His clientage included every town in the county. For sound and judicious advice and delicate and intricate business he was sought after. He became an instructor of those who desired to practice in the Probate Courts, and many are they who owe all their knowledge of probate matters to his tuition. His name was frequently mentioned in con- nection with the judgeship of the Probate Court. The late Judge White, of that court, said of him, "No man was better fitted than Col. Kimball for Judge of Probate." His qualifications for the posi- tion were generally recognized, and he probably would have been so appointed if he had urgently pressed his own claim. This his sense of propriety forbade. While his business life covered a period of sixty-three years, during which he never took a vacation, and his professional services were in constant demand he yet found time for other duties. He responded to every call of the church, the parish, the town or larger community. Whatever he did he aimed to do with care and exactness. His standard was of the highest. He allowed no opportunity for mental or moral ad- vancement to escape him. He was of an intense re- ligious nature. As the Constitution was his guide in civil life, so were the Scriptures his guide in moral action. He was true to his convictions, possessed of great moral courage, and when he had once deter- mined upon the right nothing could swerve him from his course of action. He had the confidence of his fellow-men. They felt safe with him.

He was prominent in every public gathering of the citizens of his native town. He presided over their meetings with efficiency, impartiality, ease and dig- nity. His self-possession never forsook him. He was a natural leader of men.

In temperament he was moderate and cantious. His sense of humor was keen, and in repartee he was always ready.

In disposition he was kindly and sympathetic, gen- erous and liberal in every good cause, and his deeds of charity were numerous and at the same time unos- tentatious. He loved his family, his home and the town.

In person, he was of large stature, well propor- tioned, erect figure, commanding presence and digni- fied bearing.

In the closing years of his life, when the chain of thought was broken, and the affairs of the world which once engaged his attention had become a myth to him, his religious principles had been so

firmly grounded, and his religious observances so habitual, that they remained clear and distinct in his otherwise clouded intellect, and still controlled his thought and action. He went regularly to the sanctu- ary and to the weekly meetings, and often spoke on religious subjects with intelligence and force. Dur- ing the last week of his life his constant plea was to " go home," and thither he has gone, leaving behind him a fragrant memory and a shining example of fi- delity, integrity and worth.

JOHN MERRILL BRADBURY.

John Merrill Bradbury, born in Newburyport Octo- ber 29, 1818, was son of Hon. Ebenezer and Mrs. Nancy (Merrill) Bradbury. Major Bradbury, the fa- ther, was one of the prominent men of the town for many years, noted for his intelligence, public spirit and genial temper, and for his interest in the public schools of the town. He was frequently entrusted with public office, representing Newburyport in the legislature in various years, from 1828 to 1847, at which time he was chosen speaker of the House of Representatives. In 1845 and 1846 he was a member of the executive council, and in 1849 he was chosen treasurer of the commonwealth, which office he held for two years. In 1853 he was delegate from the town of Newtou to the Constitutional Convention, and was later judge of the Municipal Court in the town of Milford, filling all the offices with which he was entrusted with ability, and winning the confidence of all who knew him.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 181

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