History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 205

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

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About this time (November, 1836) Mr. Wheelwright at the invitation of the President, accompanied him and his Cabinet to Yaruqui, to visit some monuments erected therejust one century previous, by three French academicians,-Louis Godin, Pierre Bougin and Carlos Maria de la Coudamine. They had been sent out by Louis XV. to mark the line of the Equator and to meas- ure a degree thereon, in order to arrive at the exact cir- cumference of the earth. Their observations, which exiled them for seven years, at length resulted in find- ing that the line must pass somewhere between the two monuments, which at a later period were destroyed by Charles IV. of Spain, who was jealous of that scien- tifie invasion of his kingdom by representatives of a rival power. The more enlightened President of Ecuador, his country having happily escaped from the tyranny of Spain, and he himself recognizing no national boundaries in the domain of science, had ordered the restoration of the monuments, which, on the occasion above referred to, were dedicated and marked with a suitable inscription.

Shortly after his return to Quito, Mr. Wheelwright was obliged to leave the town on account of the breaking out of a revolution which made residence there unsafe. He had, in fact, remained there all these years at the peril of his life, having received many

threatening letters from his enemies and having been constantly warned by his friends that he was a marked man. At this juncture he received a letter from his brother at Valparaiso urging him to undertake a mission in his behalf to Bogotá, with the object of securing from the Colombian government an exclusive privilege for opening a canal through the Isthmus of Panama, which would complete his plan for steam communication between the west coast of South America and Europe. The journey to Bogotá was a difficult and in many respects a dangerous one, but preparations were finally made to join a party who were crossing the Andes by the Pass of Chimborazo. In light chairs strapped to the backs of sturdy moun- taineers, Mr. Wheelwright with his companions made the ascent of the mountains, and, arrived at the other side, he pursued his way northward accompanied by guides. Penetrating the thick forests of the interior, sleeping sometimes under trees, the thick foliage of which protected him from the rain, and sometimes in some deserted hut, which on one occasion proved a dangerous asylum, for, on waking in the morning, he was horrified to find a huge snake coiled about a beam just above his head, he finally reached Bogotá and presented his brother's petition, which was favorably received and the bearer himself treated with great consideration by the President and his ministers. But he waited in vain for a reply, which was put off from day to day and month to month, till, at length, he was privately advised that on account of unsettled questions pending between that government and the United States, the proposal to build a canal could not be entertained. He accordingly left Bogotá, and after another difficult and perilous journey through tropical forests, arrived at Carthagena, on the Atlantic coast, whence he sailed for New York.

His long residence in hot elimates, and the hard- ships encountered in his travels, had undermined his health to such a degree that rest and change of climate were essential before he could undertake any other work. He remained at home for two years, save for a few months spent in England and France, and then, with re-established health, he sailed once more for South America, his destination being Valparaiso, where he had for a long time hoped to organize a school for the higher education of young women. ITis project having been received with marked favor by the best families of the city, he made all the pre- liminary arrangements, and then returned to the United States for a short visit. On the 27th of Octo- ber of that year (18/2) he married Sarah Dana, the youngest daughter of the Rev. Daniel Dana, D.D., ex-president of Dartmouth College, and at that time pastor of the Old South Church, at Newburyport. They sailed at once for Valparaiso, where Mr. Wheel- wright founded and for nearly ten years carried on the school which still flourishes there. Señor Alberdi, in his "Life of William Wheelwright," makes the following reference to the school and its teacher:

Josefin OB. Mars

1829

NEWBURYPORT.

"About this time (1843) a brother of Mr. Wheel- wright, a man of liberal education, pleasing manners and refined taste, established a college for young ladies in Valparaiso, and among those who were edu- cated there may be mentioned many who afterwards held a high social position in Chili, and to this day remember with gratitude and hold in veneration the name of their much-beloved principal."

In connection with this period of his life should be mentioned the name of the Rev. David Trumbull, whom Mr. Wheelwright was instrumental in bring- ing to Valparaiso. Mr. Trumbull had just graduated at the New Haven Theological Seminary when he received a letter from Mr. Wheelright urging him to come out to South America, where a field was already open to him. After some further correspondence Mr. Trumbull consented to go out for three years, which he spent in Mr. Wheelwright's family, where he found a congenial home. He began his ministra- tions in a warehouse, preaching to a handful of Eng- lish and Americans, and so successful has been his work that he now numbers two hundred Chiliaus among his hearers, in addition to a large congregation of foreigners, consisting of English, Scotch and American residents in Valparaiso.

In 1849 Mrs. Wheelwright's failing health made a visit to the United States an imperative necessity. and as her husband was unable to accompany her, it was arranged that Mr. Trumbull should be her escort. The visit was prolonged on account of con- tinued il!ness till at length Mr. Wheelwright felt that he must relinquish his duties for a time in order to join his wife, still hoping to return to his work once more and to bring her back with him. These hopes were not destined to be realized, and little as he thought it, he was bidding farewell to his adopted country forever. On arriving at Newburyport he realized for the first time the great change for the worse in his wife's condition and immediately took what measures he could to make her life as comfort- able as possible. To this end he purchased the By- field parsonage, a retreat sheltered from the east winds of their native town and yet sufficiently near to admit of frequent visits to their parents. It was a house of some historic interest, having been the birth-place of Theophilas Parsons, chief justice of Massachusetts, whose mother, Susanna Davis, a direct descendant of the Rev. John Robinson, of Leyden, was a great-great-aunt of Mr. Wheelwright.

At this time Mr. Wheelwright definitely gave up his school at Valparaiso and devoted himself to the care of his wife, who was gradually fading away and at length succumbed to the disease which the milder climate of South America had only kept in abeyance. In 1858 he married Adeline, daughter of Stephen Adams, Esq., of Byfield, and has ever since resided in the old parsonage sacred to the memory of a long line of pastors, who from the early settlement of the country have made it their home. Here, surrounded

by his family and his books, respected and beloved by neighbors and friends, removed from worldly care, an observer only of the stirring events of the day, he can say with his favorite poet,-

" "Tis pleasant, through the loopholes of retreat To peep at such a world ; to see the stir Of the great Babel, and not feel the crowd ;

To hear the roar she sends through all her gates At a safe distance, where the dying sound Falls a soft murmur on the uninjured ear."

JOSEPH BROWN MORSS.1

Mr. Morss adhered to the original manner of spell- ing his name, while some other branches of the family spell it Morse. The first of the name were Anthony, William and Robert, who came to America from Marlborough, England, in the ship "James," and settled in Newbury in 1635. Anthony was the oldest, being forty-three when he came here to live, and at that time was married; but shortly his wife must have died, for he married a second time four years later ; and himself died in 1678, at sixty years, leaving a large family. He was a shoemaker, as was William, his brother, who came over with him and died in 1683, at sixty-nine, also leaving a family. Robert may have been still younger ; at least his children were born later.

From these sprang all the Morsses. All came from the same root in England and were transplanted here in three stalks. Anthony and William were among the original landed proprietors, tbe acknowledged freeholders, and entitled to their proportionate parts to all the waste lands, commons, rivers, etc. The whole number of "commoners" was one hundred and thirteen. In the second generation Jonathan Morss married Mary Clarke, in 1671. She was of the Clarke family that lived in the house at the corner of IIigh and Marlboro' Streets, then called the Clarke house, and later the Morss house, which name it bears to this day, having ever since remained in whole or part to the Morsses. It was for long years, when that was the "corner,"-that is, the central place for trade and business,-a tavern, and we find the two names, Clarke and Morss, combined in one person, Mr. Clarke Morss, who was the father of Joseph B. Morss, and lived in Middle Street near the head of Centre Street, when his house was burned in the "great fire" of 1811. He was a cabinet-maker.

Joseph Brown Morss was born in 1808, and was in the sixth generation from Anthony and William. His mother, who was left a widow in early life, before her marriage bore the name of Brown, whence it descended to him. He began life under every disad- vantage. He had no father, no fortune, no influential friends, and his health was so poor that on account of it he was almost entirely deprived of schooling till he was ten years old, and then had the benefits only of the common schools of the Lancasterian style, in which, by his studiousness, aptness to learn and good

1 By George J. L. Colby.

1830

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

behavior, he soon became a "monitor." It was cus- tomary in those days for persons who wanted appren- tices to consult the school-teachers and select them on their recommendations; so when Ephraim W. Alden inquired, the teacher pointed out to him Joseph B. Morss, said he was industrious, honest, sineere, reliable, and would do honor to himself in whatever situation placed. He took him into the Herald office to learn the art of type-setting, and he proved to be all he was recommended and more. That printing-office became his school; he labored; he studied ; he attained a full knowledge of his business and was one of the most intelligent and careful of workmen ; so that, without ever studying grammar, lie was one of the best proof-readers, and seldom failed in the spelling of a word or its proper use; and with- out studying rhetorie, often wrote, as the occasion called, in the best style of the art of composition. lIe entered the printing-office a siekly and uneducated, penniless boy ; he graduated a robust man, of remark- able powers of endurance, a thorough printer and journalist, knowing the business from bottom to top; a student equipped in knowledge of books and men, and fitted for the brilliant career upon which he was about to enter. As an apprentice and journeyman he remained in the Herald office to 1834, when he was twenty six years old, and, Mr. Allen retiring, he became editor and proprietor of the Herald, daily and semi-weekly, with William H. Brewster as a part- ner, and there remained to 1856. after which he successively and successfully edited, and managed in part, the Boston Traveller and the Boston Courier.

In his business he put his whole heart and soul. Ilis labors never ended, his studies never ceased. There was no wage-worker in his employ that labor- ed more than half his hours during the year. He was almost sleepless. When all others had left the office his one light burned dimly to the small hours, as he eulled the latest news ; and there he was found at the case putting matter in type; and so careful was he of the manner of making up the paper, that, with- out complaining of the work of others, he would often take the form apart and rearrange the whole to suit his taste. He excelled especially as a mercantile editor. He examined the trades reports far and wide, and aimed at having early and reliable news from all the markets, reduced in size to suit this meridian. For years he reported the arrival of every ship at all the ports of the United States; gave spec- ial notice of cargoes and the rates of freights paid; and so in the markets every advance and deeline that would affect Newburyport in its great products and staple manufactures were noted; and oftentimes his conclusions were quoted by Boston and New York papers as authority. In most of our industries, as he acquired property, he had investments, and often he purchased stocks that he might know more about them and thereby have the avenues of knowledge and acquaintance with men open to him. Thus, he

was a large ship-owner; and not only reported the value of their property, new and old, but he was an oracle that a large number of others, less informed, consulted for the government of their action. So in cotton and woolen manufactures, he not only owned largely in this eity and was president of three corpora- tions, but he invested in Maine and New Hampshire as well as Massachusetts, and watched the rise and fall of stocks as closely as Greely's exploring party did the thermometer when there was danger of being frozen to death. In more than three-score years we have never known a man who so carefully informed himself of what pertained to the welfare of our eiti- zens or was more ready to invest in what would ad- vance the interests of the town. If a steamboat, or a steam railroad, or a steam factory was needed, or the introduction of a horse-railroad, or water supply, he was the first to advocate the measure and the first to pay his money. There was no "boodle ;" there was no pressing for the advantage over others; there was no selling the columns of his paper. A more honest man did not live. We saw him lose two thousand dollars one day, because the sale of his stock in a corporation in which he was a director, was likely to ereate a panie among other holders to their injury. As a rule he was successful in business transactions, save in real estate, and there his sympathy with the rent- payers prevented. After a trial of some years he sold all his real estate, save what he occupied, at a loss, because he would not distress the tenants. Nor would he suffer those more favored by fortune to influence his paper in the least against the masses of the people.

An intense excitement was raised in town by parties for and against the division of the "surplus revenue " nearly a half-century ago. It ran so high, virtually between the rich and the poor, that the former sent a committee to demand that one of the latter, favoring distribution, should no longer be em- ployed in the Herald office. "Gentlemen," said he, "who runs this office? If I own it, I will never suffer any man to say who shall be employed in it." They went baek, reported and returned to say that if the person named was not discharged, they would withdraw their patronage. "Go back," said he, " and say I will endure no dictation in the transaction of my own business." The next day one-third of all the patronage of the office was withdrawn ; and near nightfall a very influential and wealthy gentleman called to say : "I am sorry you foree us to ruin you." " I hope you will waste no sympathy," was his reply. He handed the gentleman his bill, and with it said, "Mr. -- , you see that coat hanging on the wall ?" "I do," was the answer. "I have worn that gar- ment," continued Mr. Morss, " seven years. I can wear it seven years more. You can stop your paper ; you have a right to; to control my office you have no right, and you never shall do it." Time ran on, and one by one they returned, thinking, in their calmer moments, more of the man who dared to do right.

1831

NEWBURYPORT.

When his rights were invaded or any principle was at issue he was as brave as a lion, as immovable as a mountain, as unyielding as any sollier that ever stood on a battle-field, and as faithful as any martyr that ever died for his religion. At the same time he was one most charitable for the weak or erring; most liberal in opinions, always respecting the rights of others; most tender, sympathetic and self-sacri- ficing for the poor and the distressed. He would forgive a wrong done to himself, but not a wrong done to his friend or neighbor; and being square and honorable in his own action, if he hated anybody in human form, it was a deceiver and a hypocrite, the man who was selfishly false or the coward who dared not tell and defend the truth. He was very econom- ical; he wasted nothing; but it was not a saving to hoard for himself, for he was generous to a fault. Sitting by his side for years, we never knew him to refuse aid to a charitable cause or repel the needy ; and when affliction was upon those near to him there was an exceeding tenderness which we might look for in a woman, but seldom find in a man. No care was too great for him, no watching too long, no ex- pense too lavish. The hard side of his nature turned towards himself; the tender and loving was for others, especially the young, the weak, the defenseless. But here we may not enlarge. We give an extract, not designed for the public eye, addressed to Rev. Dr. Daniel Dana, a better picture of the internal of the man than we could draw :

AN OLD LETTER.

The following letter was addressed to the late Rev. Daniel Dana, D D., on occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of his settlement as pastor of the Old South Church. A celebration was held at the house of Dr. Dana on High Street, which Mr. Morss was unable to attend. The letter is char- acteristic of the writer, whose kindness and lasting gratitude for kind- ness received from others, is conspicuous throughout, and it is expressed iu his plain and limpid style, which was the charm of onr friend's writ- ings. The occasion itself will be remembered by many and the letter read with interest :

" TUESDAY MORNING, Nov. 19. 184-1.

" REV. DR. DANA, Dear Sir :

" The unceasing round of duties which the care of a daily newspaper imposes will prevent me from uniting with your friends this evening in person, but I cannot forbear saying that in spirit I shall assuredly he with them and you. In the multiplicity of kind offices which you have heeu husy during a long life in hestowing upon others, you, perhaps, may have forgotten under how much obligation you bave laid a humble individnal. But, sir, I have never forgotten that from the age of seven to that of twelve years, when poverty and sickness hore heavily upon me, and promised to be my only inheritance in this life, I was indebted to you for much of sympathy and generous aid. The first books which I ever read were in those moments of sorrow and de olation, received from your library, and I never recollect this now without that peculiar thrill which comes over us all, when we recur to moments in the past too ecstatic and too enrapturing to be looked for more than once in a life- time. They opened to me vast and inexhaustible worlds of mental power and wealth, of which my young imagination had never dreamed. It was then that I acquired that taste for reading and reflection, which a great man bas timely said are the greatest gifts that can be bestowed upon a mortal. They came upon mo like opnlence and liberty upon the tenant of a gloomy dungeon-like all the glories and the wonders of creation upon the newly-opened eyes of the blind. That I have not often acknowledged to yon the kindness then shown to a child of sor- Tow and pain, is not because I had forgotten or was ungrateful for it, but because I know that such generous devotion was but the ordinary even teuor of your whole life, that your reward would come from that source

whence cometh every good and every perfect gift, and that in the mul- titude of your able and willing friends I could claim a right to follow only afar off. Since those days to which I have alluded, God has be- stowed upon me health, friends and prosperity far beyond not only what I have deserved, but all that I could have expected. In what I have learned of some things, however, I have found only that of innumera- bly more I was utterly ignorant ; that the mind which would vainly seek to soar into the regions of the empyrean, in the effort only falls like an unfledged bird from its nest. In all the earthly blessings which cluster around us-in all fields of knowledge which lie in the distance around us-and in all the yet unanswered aspirations of the soul- I have been taught by the experience which both adversity aud prosperity bring, that humility and kindliness are the only attributes to which frail mortality may aspire with the hope of reaching.

" Excuse, my dear sir, this hasty and, I fear, incoherent epistle, for it is written in the midst of my daily avocations and pressing business calls, which are not only unfavorable to philosophical reflection, but prevent me from looking over what the pen has briefly and hastily traced.

" Truly yours,

" REV. DR. DANA." " JOSEPII B. MORSS.

In politics Mr. Morss was a Liberal Whig, and the Herald gave that party support, when Caleb Cusbing was our Representative in Congress and Everett and Webster stood for Massachusetts in the Senate, and Henry Clay gave voice to that party in the country. After the dissolution of that party he supported the Democratic side. He was not ambitious of political honors, but was proud of his position as a journalist, believing it the place where he could have the largest influence for good. Still, he was four times a mem- ber of the Legislature,-in 1838, '39, '40 and again in '76. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Con- vention of 1853 ; two years he was an alderman, a director of the Public Library, and a trustee of the Putnam School. In addition to his being president of three cotton corporations he was president of the Water Company and director and treasurer of the Horse Railroad Company, and of the last two cor- porations he was the largest stockholder in town.

In religion he was a Unitarian, an active member of the First Church in his young days, during the pastorate of Rev. Thomas B. Fox, who was his near friend. The main points of his faith were the exis- tence of the one God, the universal Providence that rules the world for good, and his firm belief in a fu- ture life, of which he had no doubt, and for which his constant effort was to be prepared. Life to him was an unending series of states and conditions, a progressive, onward existence, to which death was a change but not an end. He died in September, 1883, at the age of seventy-five years. Following of his offspring, four boys and one girl,-and leaving a widow and three daughters,-one of whom has since gone to her last rest.

DAVID PERKINS PAGE.1

David Perkins Page was born in Newburyport August 13, 1836, and was the son of a father of the same name, and Susan Maria (Lunt) Page. The father was one of the most distinguished teachers of his time, for several years master of the English High

1 By Nathan N. Withington,

1832

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

School in Newburyport, and at the time of his death principal of the New York State Normal School at Albany. He was the author of valuable books upon the profession of the teacher and methods of teach- ing, and a man of untiring industry and zeal in his profession, and of a thoroughness in whatever he undertook, which was an inherited trait of his son. The descent in the paternal line was from John Page, who was born in Dedham, England, in 1586, and who came to New England with Governor Winthrop in 1630, and settled in Dedham, Mass., and the family has from the first been one honored and respected in New England.

On the mother's side, the subject of this sketch came from old Newbury stock, which was noted from the settlement of the town for enterprise and patriot- ism. A Lunt had fought with John Paul Jones, they had been soldiers in the French and Indian Wars and iu the War of the Revolution, and Captain Micajah Lunt, Mrs. Page's father, was one of the merchant princes of New England, a man of ability and in tegrity, who left children worthy of such a father ' and his daughter, who became the wife of the distin guished teacher, and mother of Capt. David P. Page, was a woman of most lovely and estimable character refined manners and uncommon intelligence, a lady whom it was a privilege to meet in social converse.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 205

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