History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 194

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 194

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The ceremonies of the reception were in accordance with the following programme :

Grand Fantaisie. Bosquet.

Haverhill Cornet Band.

Introductory Prayer Rev. Samuel J. Spalding, D. D.

" Angel of Peace". ... .... To the music of Keller's American Hyma. Sung by a chorus of sixteen voices.

Address of Rev. Stephen II. Tyng, D.D., to the sous of Newburyport in New York City, with accompanying resolutions presented by Rev. Geo. I. Wildes, D D.

Original Hymn By a Son of Newburyport. " Washington "-an original sonnet. .By llon. George Lunt. Read by Rev. George D. Wildles, D.D.

Selections from " Martha " Arranged by Hartman.

Haverhill Cornet Band.

Address. Right Rev. Thomas M. Clark, D D. " Freedom, God and Right," J. Barnby

Sung by a chorus of sixteen voices.

Presentation of Statue. By Edward F. Coffin, Esq.

Acceptance of Statue. By John J. Currier, Mayor.

Musical Selections. Haverhill Coruet Band.

At the close of the exercises in City Hall a pro- cession was formed under the direction of Lieutenant- Colonel Charles L. Ayers, chief marshal, escorted by Company M of Lawrence (Sherman Cadet-), Capt. Lawrence Duchesney ; Company A (Cushing Guard), of Newburyport, Capt. David L. Withington ; Com- pany F (Haverhill City Guards), of Haverhill, Capt. Marshall Alden ; and Company B (City Cadets), of Newburyport, Capt. Samuel W. Tuck,-four compan- ies of the Eighth Regiment, forming a battalion under the command of Major Edward F. Bartlett,-and marched from Brown Square to the Mall, where the statue was unveiled without further ceremony. Mr. Tenney died at the Metropolitan Hotel,in New York, where he had lived for many years, on Wednesday, November 23, 1881, and was buried on Friday, the 25th, in Greenwood Cemetery.

1782

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELEAZER JOHNSON was born in Newburyport on the 12th of November, 1790. Ile was educated first at Dummer Academy, and afterwards entered IIarvard College, but did not remain. His brother, Jonathan Greenleaf Johnson, named after his grand- father, who died in September, 1868, entered college at the same time, and graduated in 1810. After leav- ing Cambridge, Mr. Johnson made Newburyport bis permanent place of residence, and few men within its limits have been more conspicuous in town affairs and more generally popular. As early as 1811 he was chosen selectman and served in that capacity two years. In 1831 he was moderator of the annual town-meeting, and in the same year was chosen town clerk, continuing in office until the incorporation of the city, in 1851. On the organization of the city government he was chosen city clerk, and remained in office until his death, February 25, 1869. Upon the announcement of his death, the church bells were tolled and the flag on City Hall was displayed at half-mast.

Funeral services were held at the house of Mr. Johnson at half-past one on Wednesday, March 2d, followed by public services in the Pleasant Street Church, attended by the Masonic societies of the city, the city government and the living ex-mayors. A large concourse attended the exercises and follow- ed the remains to the grave.

JOHN J. SPRAGUE was born in Newburyport in 1810, and in early manhood was private secretary of Lewis Cass. In 1834 he received an appointment as second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He served through the Florida War under General Worth, and in 1844 married the general's oldest daughter. When the war broke out in 1861 he was in Texas, in com- mand of a part of the troops surrendered by General Twiggs. He was released on his parole and appointed adjutant-general of the State of New York by Gover- nor Seymour. In 1865, he was appointed colonel of the Seventh Regular Infantry, and was made military governor of Florida. When the army was reduced he was placed ou the retired list and settled in St. Augustine. He died in New York Hospital, in New York, on Friday, September 6, 1878, at the age of sixty-eight.

WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON was born in a little frame house, believed to be still standing on School Street in Newburyport, December 10, 1805. Ilis father was Abijah Garrison, a master of a vessel who had settled in Newburyport in the spring of that year. Abijah Garrison was born on the Jemseg, a tributary of St. John's River in 1773, and was the son of Joseph Garrison, who was a farmer and is believed to have been an Englishman, found there by grantees of lands, who emigrated there from Essex County in 1763. Joseph Garrison married, August 14, 1764, Mary, daughter of Daniel Palmer, one of the Essex emi- grants, who was great-grandson of Sergeant John Pal- mer, who settled in Rowley in 1639. The wife of

Ahijalı Garrison was Frances Maria, danghter of An- drew Lloyd, of Deer Island, in Passamaquoddy Bay, whom he met while in port on one of his coasting voyages. In 1804 Abijah removed to St. John, and subsequently to Granville, Nova Scotia, from which place the migration to Newburyport was made. His children were Mary Ann, born on the Jemseg, who died in infancy ; James Holley, born in St. John, July 10, 1801; Caroline Eliza, 1803; William Lloyd, Dec. 1, 1805 ; Maria Elizabeth, July, 1808. Not long after this last date Abijah Garrison left his family and never returned. He went to New Brunswick, where he is known to have been living in 1814, and is be- lieved to have died in Canada. Mrs. Garrison, left poor, managed, by the aid of friends and by her ser- vices as nurse, to support her family, and when Wil- liam Lloyd was old enough, he would be sent ont on election and other public days to earn a few pennies to add to the family store.

During the War of 1812, Mrs. Garrison removed to Lynn, taking James with her to learn the shoemaker's trade, and William went to live with Deacon Ezekiel Bartlett, who lived at the corner of Water and Sum- mer Streets. His earliest instruction was obtained at a primary school in School Street, and his later educa- tion at the grammar school on the Mall for three months, at the end of which he was taken from school to do chores for Mr. Bartlett. Being fond of music, he joined, while yet a boy, the choir of the Baptist Church and sometimes acted as chorister.

At the age of nine years he was apprenticed to Gamaliel W. Oliver, of Lynn, to learn shoemaking, but the work proved too hard for his delicate frame and constitution. In October, 1815, he went with his mother and brother to Baltimore, in company with Paul Newhall, a shoe manufacturer, who was removing his business to that city. The experiment, however, proved a failure, and Mr. Newhall returned to Lynn, followed soon after by William, whom, at his own earnest solicitation, his mother sent to Newburyport. Soon after he was apprenticed to Moses Short, of IIaverhill, cabinet-maker, but, becoming home-sick, was permitted to return to his old friend, Mr. Bart- lett, in Newburyport, where, in the autumn of 1818, he was apprenticed to Ephram W. Allen, editor and proprietor of the Newburyport Herald, to learn the printer's trade. On the 18th of October he entered on an apprenticeship of seven years, during which his mind rapidly strengthened and improved in the liter- ary atmosphere about him. Ile wrote not only for the Herald, on which he was employed, but for the Salem Gazette and other papers. In 1825, at the close of his apprenticeship, he established the Free Press in Newburyport, which proved a failure, and in 1827 he became editor of a total abstinence paper in Bos- ton, called the National Philanthropist. The next year he went to Bennington, Vermont, as editor of the Journal of' the Times, and from thence to Balti- more, in 1829, to edit the Genius of Universal Eman-

Hm Lloyd Garrison

14: :

1783

NEWBURYPORT.

cipation. His mother had previously died in Balti- more on the 3d of September, 1823. In 1830, in Bal- timore, he was convicted of libel for denouncing Francis Todd, of Newburyport, for domestic piracy, and for non-payment of a fine of fifty dollars and costs was confined in jail forty-nine days.

On the 1st of January, 1831, he established the Liberator in Boston, and on Wednesday, the 21st of October, he was the victim of a mob, from whose violence he was with difficulty rescued. In 1865 the Liberator was discontinued, the purpose for which it was established, the freedom of the slave, having been accomplished.

The anniversary of the completion of his appren- ticeship, October 18, 1875, he spent in the office of the Newburyport Herald in setting up a poem by Whittier, and again in 1878 he visited the office and set up some sonnets of his own, which are copied be- low from the impression made by the types set by his hand.

Mr. Garrison married, September 4, 1834, Helen Eliza, daughter of George Benson, of Brooklyn, who was born in Providence, February 23, 1811, and re- moved with her father to Brooklyn iu 1824. He died in New York, at the house of his daughter, Mrs. Willard, at a quarter before eleven o'clock on the evening of Saturday, May 24, 1879, and the memory of the man whom Boston mobbed, Boston has honored by the erection of a bronze statue in the park of Com- monwealth Avenue.

SONNETS. BY WM. LLOYD GARRISON. I. Iligh walle and huge the BODY may confine, And iron grates obstruct the prisoners' gaze, And massive bolte may baffle his design, And watchful keepers mark his devione ways ; Yet scurns th' immortal MIND this base control ! No chains can hind it, and no cell enclose. Swifter than light, it flies from pole to pole, And in a flesh from earth to heaven it goes !

It leaps from mount to mount-from vale to vale It wanders, plucking honeyed fruits and flowers ; It visits home to hear the fireside tale,

Or in sweet converse pass the joyons honrs. 'Tis up before the eun, roaming afar, And iu ite watches wearjes every star !

II.

They tell me, LIBERTY, that in thy name

I may not plead for all the human race ; That some are born to bondage and disgrace, Some to a heritage of woe and shame, And come to power supreme and world-wide fame ; With my whole heart I scorn the doctrine base, And ao an equal brotherhood embrace

All peoples, and for all fair freedom clain. Know this, O man ! whate'er thy rank or etate, God never made a tyrant or a slave ! Woe then to those who dare to desecrate His glorions image ! tor to all he gave Eternal rights, which none may violate, And by a mighty hand th' oppress'd he yet chall save.

III.

(Written at the half-way stage.) If to the age of three-score years and ten, God of all life, thon shalt my term prolong,

Still be it mine to reprobate all wrong, And save from woe my suffering fellow-me0.

Whether in freedom's cause my voice or pen

Be used by Thee, who art my joy and song, To vindicate the weak against the streng, Upon my labors rest Thy benison !

O ! not for Afric's race alone I plea 1 Or her descendants ; hut for all who sigh

In servile chains, whate'er their caste or creed.

They not in vain to Heaven send up their cry ;

For all mankind from bondage shall be freed,

And from the earth be chased all forms of tyranny.

MICHAEL HODGE SIMPSON was born in Newbury- port, November 15, 1809. He was the son of Paul Simpson, a prosperous ship-master and ship-owner in the most prosperous days of Newburyport. ITis father married the widow of John IIodge, son of Michael Hodge, and thus the son acquired his name. Mr. Simpson attended the Newburyport Academy, and at the age of fourteen was placed in the commis- sion house of Adams & Emery, of Boston. Soon after, however, he was employed by Jonathan Emery & Son. This firm was engaged in mercantile business, and young Simpson was permitted to send ventures to foreign parts, and so was enabled to lay the founda- tions of a business on his own account. His partner in these ventures was Charles II. Coffin, of Newbury- port, who afterwards became his partner also in busi- ness on India Street, in Boston, in company with George Otis, a son of Harrison Gray Otis. It is said that before the young men were of age they sent a ship and cargo to Calcutta, of which they, with the captain, were the sole owners.

By the connection of the firm with the wool trade of South America the attention of Mr. Simpson was drawn to the necessity of freeing Buenos Ayres wool from burs, and thus enhancing its value in the mar- ket. After long study his native ingenuity perfected machinery for the purpose, which he sold to Whit- well & Bond, who were the proprietors of the Saxon- ville Woolen Mills. The failure of this firm in 1837, of whose creditors Mr. Simpson was one, forced the sale of the mills, and he became the agent of the purchasers. Mr. Simpson, however, soon became their chief owner, and so continued up to his death, and the chief owner as well of the Roxbury Carpet Co., an outgrowth of the Saxonville Mills.

During his whole active career he never forgot his native town, for which, by various beuefactions, he manifested his love. For the enlargement of the Pub- lic Library building he contributed $18,000 ; for the improvement of the Mall he gave $2500 ; at Plum Island he laid a plank-drive from the hotel to the beach, a quarter of a mile in length, and at his death bequeathed the sum of $20,000 to the city, the income of which was to be devoted to sprinkling the streets. Mr. Simpson married, early in life, Eliza- beth, daughter of Jeremiah Kilham, of Boston, by whom he had several children, and later in life Evan- geline Marrs, of Saxonville, whom he left a widow. He died at his residence in Boston, on Sunday, December 22, 1884, aged seventy-five years.

1784

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

REV. DANIEL P. PIKE died at Newburyport, Dec- cember -1, 1887. He was born at Hampton Falls, N. H., March 1, 1815. His father, Sewall Pike, was a United States detective during the War of 1812, and dying in 1816, the son was taken to Kensington, N. H., where he lived with his grandfather, Robert Prescott. His early life was spent in farm labor. He studied three and one-half years at Hampton Academy, and about the same length of time at Phillips ( Exeter) Academy, and on completing his academical course he taught school for several years in New Hamp-hire and Massachusetts.

The devoted piety of his mother led him early to make a public profession of religion, and he united with the Christian Church at Kensington, N. II .. in April, 1831, retaining his membership to his death. He began his ministerial labors five years later, preaching his first sermon in March, 1836, and was ordained July 5, 1837. His first pastorate at Hamp- ton Falls was short, but successful, and he left there to accept the pastorate of the Christian Church at Salisbury Point, Mass. Many families from the north end of Newburyport attended services at the neighbor- ing town, and May 7, 1840, a Christian Church was or- ganized in Newburyport, and Elder Pike accepted unanimous invitation to become its pastor, entering Nov. Ist on duties which continued for nearly half a century. His sermons averaged more than two each week, making nearly 5000 preached ; married more than 1000 couples ; attended fully 1000 funerals, and baptized by immersion nearly 1100 persons. April 4, 1858, the elder baptized 97 candidates on the banks of the Merrimac, in the presence of 10000 persons, many of whom came many miles to witness the cere- mony. After the baptism he gave the right hand of fellowship to 107 new members in the Unitarian Church (the largest in the city), which was crowded to its utmost capacity, and many hundreds were turned away, so great was the interest. In 1844-45, his society built a church on Court Street, and for a series of years one of the largest societies worshipped therein. Outs.de of his parish his work has not been limited. lle became an active participant in the anti-slavery cause in 1833, and continued until Lin- colu's emancipation. He has been engaged in tem- perance work from boyhood, has given hundreds of temperance addresses, and has secured thousands of signatures to his total abstinence pledge.

The deceased was an active citizen, as well as min- ister, and was several times honored by his fellow- citizen-, nine years on the School Board, two years as overseer of the poor, one year an alderman, several times a candidate for mayor, and in 1856 a member of the Governor's Council. In May, 1861, he was ap- pointed by President Lincoln deputy collector of customs at Newburyport, holding the position through the different administrations till August, 1886. During his life he published many tracts and sermons, and for many years was associate editor of

the Herald of Gospel Liberty, the oldest religious paper in the country. This paper for twenty yeary was published at Newburyport (prior to 1867), when he was sole proprietor and editor. 11e also edited and published, from 1867 to 1872, the Weekly Christian Herald, and his labor of sixteen hours per day was too much, even for his iron constitution, and in 1873 he was confined to his bed for about four months. He slowly rallied, and during the past few years had regained much of his old-time vigor.

IIe was twice married, his first wife being Sophia P. Morrill, of Salisbury Point, who died in 1879. His second wife, who survives him, is a daughter of Rev. Israel Chesley, of Rochester, N. H. Three children survive-Mrs. B. F. Greely and Mrs. F. P. Craig, of Marlboro', in this State, and Benjamin S. Pike, of Washington, D. C.

DANIEL N. HASKELL was born in Newburyport January 1, 1818. IIe went to Boston early in life, and entered as clerk the fancy goods store of Elisha V. Ashton, on Washington Street a little north of School Street, where he remained seventeen years. Mr. Ashton having accumulated a fortune, spent much of his time in Europe, leaving Mr. Haskell the sole manager of his business. The further accumulation of his wealth was due to the care and business sagacity of his clerk. At an early period in his Boston life Mr. Haskell took an active interest in politics, and in the last years of the old Whig party, in 1849 and 1850, he was chosen a member of the City Council. He was an active member also of the Mercantile Library Association, and in 1848 delivered an address on the occasion of the dedication of its new hall in Summer Street, Boston. He became also a correspondent of the Newburyport Herald, a contributor to the Boston Transcript and the Saturday Evening Gazette, and thus laid the foundation for the editorial career which he afterwards pursued. In 1853 he took editorial charge of the Boston Transcript, and for twenty-one years administered his editorial duties with ability and success. He died in Boston Friday, February 10, 1871.

EBENEZER STONE was the son of Capt. Ebenezer and Sarah (Moody) Stone. He was born September 4, 1785, and was brought up in the counting-room of his uncle, Major David Coffin, a large and enterprising merchant and ship-owner of Newburyport. Ile was for a considerable part of his life engaged in shipping, but for some years before his death was the treasurer of the Bartlett Mills. He was a man of stern integ- rity and correct business habits, to whom projectors of new enterprises looked when they sought an officer who would command the confidence of capitalists and the community. When it was proposed to build the second mill of the Bartlett corporation, William Bartlett, when asked to subscribe, said that he would put in $100,000 if Mr. Stone was appointed treasurer. Mr. Stone was appointed and the mill was built. lle

1785

NEWBURYPORT.

was the father of Hon. Eben F. Stone, and died Janu- ary 2, 1855.

RICHARD S. SPOFFORD, M.D .- The name of Spof- ford is of Saxon origin, and appears in "Domesday Book " as the name of a domain parceled out under William the Norman to William, Earl Percy, at the time of the Conquest in 1061. The town of Spofforth still occupies the locality, and its castle, one of the most ancient in England, whose ruins cover nearly an acre of ground, still bears the name.

The chief representatives of the name were con- nected with the ecclesiastical hierarchy in the earlier epoch of English history. From John Spofford, Vicar of Silkiston, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, whose church is known, on account of its beautiful structure, as the Minster of the Moors, and who was ejected for non-conformity in 1663, all branches of the name in the United States are directly descended.

John Spofford, the first settler of the name in Amer- ca, a son of the no n-conforming vicar, came over with a group of families, about twenty in number, who accompanied the Rev. Ezekiel Rogers, their pas- tor, and who settled between Newbury and Ipswich, in Massachusetts. His name appears in the record of the first division of land or household lots in 1643, in the town of Rowley, where he lived for about thirty years, until he removed to what was then a frontier of the wilderness, known since that time as Spofford Hill, a farm of broad proportions still owned and oc- cupied largely by his descendants.

Richard S. Spofford, of Newburyport, the subject of this sketch, was born at Rowley, in the county of Essex, in the sixth generation from the pioneer emi- grant, John Spofford. He was the son of Dr. Amos Spofford, an eminent physician and one of the origi- nal members of the Massachusetts Medical Society, who was likewise an extensive farmer and respected citizen, His grandfather was Colonel Daniel Spof- ford, of Rowley, who was present at the Lexington fight and commanded a regiment in the Revolutionary War; having previously acted as chairman of Com- mittee of Correspondence of the town of Rowley, a tried and trusted citizen, a representative in the Leg- islature, and a member of the convention which formed the Constitution of Massachusetts. The mother of Dr. Spofford was Irene, daughter of Cap- tain Moses Dole and Ruth, daughter of Deacon Nathan Peabody, of Boxford; by another tie of re- lationship he was a cousin of the philanthropist, George Peabody, whose grandmother was Judith Spotford, a daughter of Colonel Daniel Spofford.

While quite a youth, his father being engaged in a wide practice, as was also an older brother, he had familiarized himself with many secrets of the healing art, read many medical works, and gained no incon- siderable skill in the compounding of medicines. Through all the generations the family have been distinguished by eminent practitioners in the medi- cal profession, and in adopting that profession Dr.

Spofford, of Newburyport, followed in an hereditary track. He was fitted for college at Phillips Academy, Andover, and entered Harvard College in the class which graduated in 1812. While in college he was pre-eminent as a mathematical scholar, carrying off the "Great Slate," which in those days was accorded to the best mathematician of the class, passing trom hand to hand as a college heir-Joom. The contest in this case was between himself and the late learned Judge Peleg Sprague, as the latter once informed the writer of this sketch.

Dr. Spofford pursued the studies of his profession with his father and with his brother, finishing his course at the Philadelphia College. On receiving his diploma he joined his brother in practice at Rowley, but in 1816 he removed to Newburyport, where he re- mained in active practice for a period of more than fifty years, having withdrawn therefrom only a few years before his death, which occurred at his home in New- buryport, January 19, 1872.

To speak of Dr. Spofford's skill and attainments in his profession is simply to rehearse a universally ad- mitted fact while he was living, one which will long have a traditional verification in all the country-side where his arduous practice lay, including Newbury- port and the adjacent towns. Called often in consul- tation with other leading physicians of the metropolis and of other States, and having had the care of many illustrious patients, there was that just appreciation of his wisdom and learning, of his zeal and fidelity, his quick perceptions and intuitive resolutions, which made his name known and respected far beyond the local limits of his professional arena. Always a student and lover of scientific inquiry, he brought to the aug- mentation of his efficiency as a physician great knowl- edge in all the departments of natural science, a mind balanced with that equipoise derived from mathematical studies and the tender feelings of a sympathetic nature.

The following are the words of a notice published in the Newburyport Herald at the time of his death : " He was generous and unselfish, and where he was called by distress he went to its relief without asking whence the fee was to come. Indeed, his benevolence leaned to the side of a fault in his character. He was a kind friend, witty and entertaining in conversation, his memory stored with extensive reading of ancient and modern literature and science. He was equally ready with a quotation from Homer, a discussion of Huxley and Tyndall and Darwin, or a problem of the higher mathematics. Dr. Spofford had a wonderful quickness of insight. Those great eyes of his saw everything within the range of their vision and saw through it at once. Accordingly, he was great in the diagnosis of disease."

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 194

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