History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 171

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1672

USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 171

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To the good character of all these women Dudley Bradstreet, Francis Dane, Sr., Thomas Barnard and fifty others bore witness in an elaborate statement.

The credulity and superstition and cruelty of this delusion are all manifested in these papers, and the sons of North Andover may well rejoice that the wave which swept inland from Salem had spent its force when it reached their community, and that with them the first protest against the madness was pro- claimed.

ASSOCIATIONS .- The citizens of North Andover have always been ready to associate themselves to- gether for mutual improvement. As early as 1825 a temperance society was formed under the presidency of the Rev. Bailey Loring, who was an ardent and ex- emplary advocate of the cause, and through whose influence such speakers as Lucius Manlius Sargent, E. H. Chapin, Hosea Hildreth were induced to deliver their powerful arguments.

A lyceum was established in 1829, and courses of lectures were delivered in the church by Wilber, the astronomer, and in the hall of the brick-store by Hon. Gayton P. Osgood, Rev. Bailey Loring, Ilon. Wm. Stevens, Dr. George Choate, of Salem, and others of distinction in the county. These courses of lectures were continued from time to time for many years.

A debating club was formed in 1841, of which James Stevens was president and George B. Loring secretary. This club met in Franklin Academy and discussed the prominent questions of the day.

A lodge of Free and Accepted Masons was organ-

ized some time prior to 1820, and had a large member- ship. Its records seem to have disappeared, and in the anti-Masonic excitement following 1830 the existence of the lodge was suspended. The order was revived, however, and Jnne 24, 1875, the officers of ('o- chichewiek Lodge were installed by the M. W. Percival J. Everett, Grand Master, and officers of the M. W. Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. The order of exer- cises consisted of a reception of Grand Officers, prayer by the Grand Chaplain, opening hymn, cere- monies of consecration, constitution by the M. W. Grand Master, hymn, procession to the church, in- stallation of Worshipful Master, installation of the Senior Warden, installation of the Junior Warden, installation of the other officers, proclamation, prayer, hymn and an address by Brother Geo. B. Loring.

The officers of the lodge consisted of Louis Weil, W.M. ; Joseph F. Allen, S.W. ; John Parkhurst, J.W., Horace N. Stevens, Treasurer ; Chas. F. Johnson, Sec- retary ; Robert Brookhouse, Jr., S. D. ; S. William Ing- alls, J.D .; Joseph N. Taylor, Marshal ; C. P. Merrill, Chaplain ; Isaac N. Dixon, S.S. ; Henry Newhall, J. S. ; Fred. P. Hanaford, Tyler.

Ths following are the Past Masters who have pre- sided over the lodge since the installation in 1875 : John Parkhurst, 1876-77 ; Charles P. Merrill, 1878- 79; Thomas K. Gilman, 1880-81; William W. Chickering, 1882-83; Loring B. Rea, 1884; Clinton C. Barber, 1885-'86; Calvin Rea, 1887.

The lodge has continued in a flourishing condition and its work is well performed. The officers for the year 1887-88 are Calvin Rea, W.M .; George L. Smith, S. W. ; John Barker, J.W. ; John H. Sutton, Treasurer; Charles F. Johnson, Secretary ; John S. Sanborn, i Chaplain ; Eben B. Downing, Marshal; Frank Tis- dale, S.D. ; George S. Weil, J.D. ; George H. Perkins, S.S .; Artemas V. Chalk, J.S. ; Edmund S. Colby, Organist ; Frederick P. Hanaford, Tyler.

The object of this sketch is not so much to give the details or incidents of the town in full, as to record the part taken in the important events of local and national history in that portion of the ancient town first settled, and now called North Andover. The in- fluence of the pioneers here was great ; the theatre of their actions for generations was conspicuous in the colony and State ; the political position was singularly important ; the military service most honorable. The characteristics of the town have been remarkably pre- served to this day; its prosperity and importance have been continued.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

REV. BAILEY LORING.

The Rey. Bailey Loring was born in Duxbury, Mass., December 10, 1786. lle was the youngest child of William and Alithea (Alden) Loring, and

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was descended from Caleb Loring, the founder of the family in the town of Hnll. His father was a farmer and inn-keeper on the road from Plymouth to Bos- ton, near the line of the town of Pembroke, and was an industrious, prudent citizen, well known to the numerous enterprising young men who traveled on foot from Cape Cod and the Old Colony to Boston in search of that fortune and distinction which many of them secured. The mother of Mr Loring was a de- scendant in direct line from John Alden, who came over in the " Mayflower," and who was a prominent magistrate of the Plymouth Colony. Chosen by Miles Standish to solicit for him the hand of P'ris- cilla Mullins, he was met with the well-known in- quiry : " Prithive, John, why do you not speak for yourself?" And the romantic matrimonial adven- ture which followed has become a subject of song and story, and forms a bright and radiant spot in the hard and gloomy annals of the colony. Mrs. Loring inherited the beauty of her paternal ancestor and the quiet wit of her maternal. Of their large family, five sons and two daughters, Bailey seems to have been the favorite. Ile was a handsome lad of an amiable disposition, which endeared him to the domestic cir- cle, and his apt scholarship led to his selection as the son to be educated for the ministry-a calling to which every Puritan father felt he must dedicate at least one son at whatever cost and degree of self- sacrifice. Bailey Loring was graduated at Brown University in 1807, and entered at once on the study of divinity. He was the first scholar in his class, and had for his competitor and room-mate the Rev. Adoniram Judson, whose career as a missionary among the heathen was so distinguished and impor- tant. Mr. Loring commenced his theological studies with the Rev. John Allyn, of Duxbury, a graduate of Harvard in 1785, a rare scholar, a powerful thinker, an impressive preacher and a leader in the Arminian movement of that day, which advanced rapidly to Unitarianism and modified largely the theological thought of New England. The advan- tages offered by the Theological School at Andover, which was opened September 28, 1808, attracted the attention of all young men preparing for the minis- try, and Mr. Loring presented himself at the dedica- tion of that institution for the purpose of entering its clases. To an active and studious and devoted young man, with his mind bent on the sacred calling opening before him, and anxiously searching for the truth, the. ofgations which would be imposed on a graduate of the school were of deep importance. To professor and stoplent alike, the Andover Creed was laid down as a rido of faith, and belief in it was natu- rally made the Rest of fitness for connection with the institution. In an delerview with the Rev. Eliphalet Pearson, Mr. Loring was imbrmed that he could not enter upon the ministry with the sanction and license of the hool as then founded if he entertained theo- logie d vewa different from those laid down in the

creed and taught by those who believed in it. He therefore returned to Dr. Allyn, and completed his studies under his guidance.

On May 3, 1807, the Rev. William Symmes, who had been pastor of the First Church in Andover for nearly half a century, died, and the parish made dil- igent search for a successor during the three follow- ing years. The Rev. Samuel Gay, on the verge of ordination, proved to be too Calvinistic; the Rev. Samuel Osgood preferred Springfield ; the Rev. Tim- othy Alden and others, who preached as candidates, either did not suit or were not suited, and the choice fell at last on the Rev. Bailey Loring, a young man of twenty-three, who had been recommended as "an Arminian in theology and a Republican in polities" by the Rev. Joseph Richardson, the strong and inde- pendent leader, political and theological, in that day in Hingham, whose long service as a pastor covered many generations, and whose civil service extended to the halls of Congress.

He was ordained September 19, 1810. There seems to be no record of the council under which he was ordained or of the clergymen who took part in the services. But he took up the work where the Rev. Dr. Symmes had laid it down, and placed himself in intimate relations with the liberal clergy of that time, between whom and their Calvinistie brethren the lines were soon distinctly drawn. The Rev. Abiel Abbot, whose ministry in Coventry, Conn., was brought to a close by the Consociation of Tol- land County "on the ground of his holding heretical doctrines," was his friend and adviser. The Rev. Abiel Abbot, D.D., of Beverly, wbo until 1810 was in the habit of exchanging with ministers denomi- nated "Orthodox," but who, as the Unitarian con- troversy advanced, confined himself to an association with those whose "opinions were supposed to be in substantial accordance with his own," was a frequent occupant of Mr. Loring's pulpit. The Rev. Charles Lowell, D.D., sympathized with him and preached often for him. John Bartlett, David Damon, Hosea Hildreth, Cyrus Peirce, Nathaniel Whitman, Samuel Barrett, Ezra Stiles Gannett, Alexander Young, Charles W. I'pham, James Flint, John Brazer, Peter Eaton, all frequented his house and his pulpit, and the Essex County Unitarian Association gathered annually around his fireside for friendly intercourse and an encouraging interchange of views. His rela- tions with his Christian brethren of all denomina- tions were friendly and liberal, and he was extremely reluctant to recognize that dividing line between the two branches of the Congregational Church, even while avowing and defending his liberal theological views. The divisions which arose were not created by himself; and when, in response to an invitation, he took part in an ecclesiastical council for the ordi- nation of an Orthodox brother, his questions and sug- gestions were not considered quite pertinent. he quietly remarked : " It is evident I am but a carnal

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spoke in your spiritual wheel," and withdrew. With the pastor of a church erected by subscriptions of the evangelical churches of Essex County, for the accommodation of a few worshippers in his own par- ish inelined to orthodoxy, he maintained most friendly intercourse. At the same time he placed the First Church of Andover in the front rank of the Unitarian Congregational Churches of the country and for forty years discharged the duties of a faithful and affectionate pastor and a sound and effective preacher. In the business affairs of his people and his parish, his advice was constantly sought and followed.

In hours of trial and sorrow his consolation came from the heart of a patient, devoted, trusting, pious Christian, and reached with solemn effect and sup- port the wounded spirit. Ilis sympathy with his parishioners was intense,-as intense as that of a father with his children.

His manner in the pul- pit was most impressive. Ilis sermons were filled with sound advice, broad Christian doctrine, confi- dence in the Creator and love of his Son Jesus Christ. Ilis prayers, for the fervor and power of which he was distinguished, were uttered in most devotional tones and expressed in language of great Scriptural beauty and devout effect. He was watchful for the general welfare of the community in which he lived ; established a lyceum and contributed to its course of lectures ; was a warm and early friend of temper- ance, and organized a fotal-abstinence society ; en- couraged the public schools, and visited them often ; patronized the Franklin Academy, and always stood by the teachers ; joined the young men in a debating club; and encouraged improvements in agrienlture, of which he was extravagantly fond. He planted trees along the highway before village improvement societies were known. Ile represented his town in the Legislature.

Mr. Loring had no love of public display. He did his duty faithfully and conscientiously. In ex- temporaneous speech he was eminently successful, but he never made a point for the sake of applause, and he never allowed his zeal to outrun his judgment. In settling private disputes and public controver- sies, he gave each side the weight to which it was en- titled, and impressed both with his desire for equal and exact justice. Ile published but little either in news- paper or magazine, two sermons preached in 1829, -one on "Gratitude " and one on " Profanity," and hound together-constituting all the work of this description he laid before the public. His power with his hearers consisted of his manifest suavity, his clear- | ness of statement, his honest conviction and the sweetness of his voice and the serenity of his man-

ner. He was a favorite and acceptable preacher in . Andover, November 8, 1817. He is the oklest son of the pulpits of his denomination.

Mr. Loring resigned his pastorate February 17, 1850; and he died May 5, 1860. On his death the following resolutions were adopted in honor of his memory :

" Resolved, 1st. That the members of this Religious Society are deeply sensible of the loss they have sus- tained by the death of the Rev. Bailey Loring, who for nearly forty years was their Spiritual Instructor and Guide, and for nearly half a century an esteemed and respected citizen of the town.

"2d. That during the long period in which be officiated as our minister he displayed, in an eminent degree, all the virtues and graces that belong to and adorn the character of a Christian Divine. That as a preacher he was always found faithful to the cause of his Master in expounding the doctrine and enforcing the precepts of his holy word, reproving and rebuking sin wherever it was to be found, and inciting his hearers by the most alluring and weighty considerations to the love and practice of the Chris- tian virtues. That as a pastor, he was instant in season and out of season in visiting the sick and re- lieving the distressed, so that every member of his society was sure of finding, at all times and under all circumstances of life, a friend, adviser and comforter in his minister; and that by his death the cause of education, morals and religion in this society and community has lost one of its strongest advocates and most sincere supporters.

" 3d. That the interest he manifested in the welfare of his church and society, after his official connec- tion with it was dissolved, and especially his regard for the intellectual improvement of his successors in the ministerial office, by the donation of his theolog- ical library for their use and benefit, will always be remembered by us with the most lively emotions of gratitude."

Mr. Loring married, February 20, 1816, Miss Sally Pickman Osgood, eldest child of Isaac and Rebecca T. (Pickman ) Osgood, born in Salem, April 12. 1796. At the time of her marriage she was residing with her father in the North Parish, Andover. She was a person of rare beauty, a strong mind, a warm heart, and of fine social and domestic accomplish- ments. Educated to a life of luxury and ease, she entered upon her duties as a minister's wife w.th de- votion and self-sacrifice, and endeared herself to the people of his charge by her constant sympathy and kindness, and by her zeal in the cause of the church which she had joined. She died July 18, 1835, and neither the pastor nor the people recovered from her loss. She left four sons,-George Bailey Loring, Isaac Osgood Loring, Gayton Piekman Loring and John Alden Loring.

GEORGE B. LORING.

Hon. Geo. B. Loring was born in the North Parish, the Rev. Bailey and Sally Pickman (Osgood) Loring, daughter of Isaac Osgood and Rebecca T. (Pickman) Osgood, born in Salem April 12, 1796.1 She was a

1 Sce life of Rev. Bailey Loring in this volume.

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niece of Samuel Osgood, colonel in the Revolutionary army, member of the Continental Congress, first com- missioner of the treasury, first Postmaster-General un- der Washington, and surveyor of the port of New York. Dr. Loring was fitted for college in Franklin Academy under the tuition of Simeon Putnam and Cyrus Pierce and John Richardson. He entered Harvard University in 1834 and was graduated iu 1838. For a year after his graduation he taught school in Boston and in Andover, an occupation which he had taken up before he entered college, in the town of North Reading. In 1839 he began the study of medicine with Dr. Joseph Kittredge, of North And- over, pursned it for a time with Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, and after attending medical lectures at Har- vard and Dartmonth, he received the degree of M.D). at ilarvard in 1842. For a short period he practiced in North Andover, and in 1843 he was appointed sur- geon of the Marine Hospital, Chelsea, by John C. Spencer, Secretary of the Treasury, and entered upon the duties of his office September Ist of that year. Ile remained in this position until September 1, 1850, during which time he had made a journey to Europe (in I>45) to witness the revolutionary proceedings of that year, in which he was a correspondent of the Boston Post, from London, Paris and Naples; and he had also made an elaborate examination of and report upon the Marine Hospital System of the I'mited States to Ilon. Robert J. Walker, Secretary of the Treasury. In 1851 Dr. Loring removed to Salem, where he married and became interested in agriculture and the political questions of the day, and commenced a series of addresses, lectures and essays, which have been delivered in great numbers in many parts of the country. He was appointed postmaster of Salem in 1853 and remained in office until 1857. Ile then entered upon the business of agriculture with great assiduity and was active in the introduction of new methods and new machinery in that business. Ile was among the first to introduce the thorough drainage of clay lands into Massachu- setts; encouraged the growing of root-crops largely, and imported and bred Ayrshire cattle as the breed best fitted to the New England farm. He became a. careful student of farming in all its relations to American society and industry and discussed care- fully, in writing and debate, its most important problems. He was for many years a member of the State Board of Agriculture in Massachusetts ; was a Tru es of the Messa Insette Society for Promoting Africa une fon 1559 to 1803 ; was for a long time a 'Juster and - now Vice-President of the Essex Arriendoral Society, and has published a large col- lation of links and reports and addresses on the subtot aen uluine 10 1564 he founded the New 1 0 i Vert almond socioy and has been its Presi- dent lươn học thước.

In Les, Dr Lorpo wa - educated a- a Democrat, in the Goel id Jacsor. ind under the unmediate

influence of his uncle, the Hon. Gayton P. Osgood, formerly member of Congress from the Essex North District. He was an earnest advocate of all those measures which were supposed to be conducive to the peace and prosperity of the country. The position of his party deprived him of all voice in the public affairs of Massachusetts, and he found himself at the beginning of the Civil War, which he had long pre- dicted, in opposition to the party in power in the country. On the outbreak of hostilities, however, he commenced at once to encourage the support of the government, discussed in public address the import- ance of an active prosecution of the war aud its inevitable results, and although differing in theory from the administration and believing for a time that the policy which induced the conservative men of Massachusetts to place Gen. Devens in the field as candidate for Governor against Gov. Andrew in 1862, was the way to success and honor, he took part in that struggle. His work as a political writer and speaker now became active and constant. He had taken a leading part in many conventions, State and national and could not well avoid that kind of service which finds expression in such assemblies, In 1864 he declined to act with the Democratic party longer, refused to attend its national convention and declared himself in favor of an earnest support of President Lincoln's administration. In a letter addressed at that time in reply to Caleb Foote, John Bertram, Stephen B. Ives, Augustus Storey and others of Salem, he said :

" I am confident that our country will come honorably ont of this contest, purified as gold that is tried by the fire. However much I may have deplored the strife, however much I may have regretted any policy which seemed to prolong and embitter it, I can see nothing before us at this ).our but a determined march in the course pointed out to us. God knows the suflerings of the war are enough to appal the stontest heart, and the sorrows which follow in its train are inmineralde and sickening. But never before has such a service been placed in the hands of armies as is now submitted to ours. Never before have the statesmen of any age been charged with a iluty so momentons as that which rests 80 801- eminly on onrs. 1 would have this people strengthen the hands of all its public servants, confident that when the day of peace does duwn it will bestow its light upon a nation united by common suffering, and engaged in one attempt to preserve unharmed a great, free government. That the prosperity and happiness, the good order and elevation of the nation absorh all the thought and efort of those who hold onr destinies in their hands 1 ramot for a moment doubt. That our soil has been watered by the blood of our bravest sons in vain I rannot for a moment believe. "

And in the same letter he made the following pre- diction, now so wonderfully fulfilled :

" But when the power of our country shall be established by the Rworl, and labor shall return to its accustomed channels, the fallous wealth of Tudm can hardly compare with that which may be drawn from our mines and our soil, and which will be created by the ceaseless ingenuity of our people on the land and on the sea."

Shortly after the re-election of Mr. Lincoln, Dr. Loring was called on to serve as a Republican in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He entered that body in JJanuary, 1866, at a time when the contest had arisen between President Johnson and the party which placed him in power. In the adjustment of matters involved in the domestic econ-

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omy of the Commonwealth, Dr. Loring took an active part ; but as chairman of the Committee on Federal Relations, he felt especially called on to secure the approval of the Legislature for the stand taken by Charles Sumner in the matter of reconstruction, for which he had been bitterly denounced by the Pres- ident. In his speech before the House on the state of the Union, he supported his resolutions with such convincing arguments that they were adopted almost unanimously by the House, and the course of Mr. Sumner, which became the policy of the country, was sustained. In 1867 he was returned again to the Legislature by a strong majority.

In 1868 Dr. Loring was selected as a State delegate to the Republican National Convention and took au active part in the nomination and election of Gen. Grant. He entered the field at this time as a lecturer and was constantly employed in this service, much of which was voluntarily contributed to the associa- tions which called on him. In 1872 he was again elected a delegate to the Republican National Con- vention held in Philadelphia, in which he joined warmly in the renomination of Gen. Grant, and, as chairman of the Massachusetts delegation, brought forward the nomination of Henry Wilson to the Vice- Presidency. Again, in 1876, he was sent from the Sixth Congressional District as a delegate to the Re- publican National Convention at Cincinnati, and he nsed every endeavor to secure the nomination of Hon. James G. Blaine as Republican candidate for the Presidency. When the choice of the Convention fell upon Gov. Hayes, he entered warmly into the cam- paign, and in his canvass for Congress in the same year, carried the Republican ticket safely through his district.

During the campaign of 1872, Dr. Loring was elected Senator from the Second Essex District, com- posed of Marblehead, Salem, Peabody, Danvers, Wenham and Lynnfield. He was chosen president of the Senate in January, 1873, with but one dissent- ing vote, and during the four terms, 1873, '74, '75 and '76 he was re-elected to this position, While ju the Senate he took active part in the debates on the important questions of the day. He advocated the grant of $50,000 to the Museum of Comparative Zo- ology, and secured the passage of the last act in this direction requested by Agassiz for the prosecution and completion of his immortal work. He opposed the union of the Hoosae Tunnel into a line of rail- road owned and managed by the Commonwealth, and laid down the policy on which the tunnel was for years conducted. IFe led off in the debate which ended in the reseinding of the resolutions of the Leg- islature of 1872, condemning Charles Sumner for his proposition with regard to regimental colors. He presented a carefully-prepared argument on the right of suffrage under a republic in connection with the application for woman suffrage, and he pronounced eulogies on Dr. S. G. Howe, Charles Sumner and

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 171

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1672

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1672