USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > History of Newton, Massachusetts : town and city, from its earliest settlement to the present time, 1630-1880 > Part 54
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84
Besides the above, the Newton Theological Institution has con- tinued to send forth men of kindred ability, character and spirit, every year pouring its streams of refreshing influence into the darkness of this world. Like a perennial fountain, it proves to be a source of incalculable blessing, ever widening and deepening in its healthful flow. The cause of morality and religion is made glad by it, and men of divers tongues and manners, all round the world, hear the name of Newton, and rise up and call it blessed.
Frah Chase
CHAPTER XLIII.
NEWTON THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION .- BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES .- IRAH CHASE, D. D .- HENRY J. RIPLEY, D. D .- PROF. J. D. KNOWLES .- PROF. HORATIO B. HACKETT .- PROF. ARTHUR S. TRAIN .- REV. R. E. PATTISON .- STUDENTS AND ALUMNI WHO TOOK PART IN THE WAR.
REV. IRAH CHASE was born in Stratton, Vt., October 5, 1793. His parents originated in that part of Sutton, Mass., since called Millbury. His father, full of patriotic impulses, and stirred by the rumor of the shedding of blood at Lexington, at the com- mencement of the Revolutionary war, enlisted, at the age of six- teen, in the American army. He was severely wounded in a battle near New York, confined as a prisoner for nearly a year, released at the restoration of peace, and then removed to Vermont, where he devoted the rest of his life to agriculture. The son, being in delicate health from his infancy and unable to enter into the hardy toils of his father, was devoted to study, and entered Mid- dlebury College in 1811, a year in advance. He was an intense student, and graduated with high honor. During the second year of his college course, he connected himself with the Baptist church in Middlebury.
It was his original purpose to study law ; but the work of the ministry gradually became the choicest desire of his heart. He entered the Andover Theological Seminary, where he completed his course in September, 1817, and was ordained the 17th of the same month, at the session of the Boston Baptist Association at Danvers. Shortly afterwards, he was invited by the Rev. Dr. Staughton, of Philadelphia, to visit that city, and become asso- ciated with him in the work of theological instruction. After a brief visit in New England, he entered on the service of a theo-
555
556
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
logical instructor in Philadelphia, in the twenty-fifth year of his age.
The Institution, presided over by Dr. Staughton, was afterwards removed to Washington, and united with the Columbian College, and committed almost entirely to the charge of Professor Chase. In this field of labor he remained seven years, during which, by medical advice, he retired temporarily from his exhausting labors, and spent a year in Europe, mainly in Germany, devoting himself to studies pertaining to his profession. But he found the union of the literary and theological departments in the same Institution a serious embarrassment, and in 1825 he resigned his office ..
This opened the way for him to engage in the founding of the Newton Theological Institution ; and, on the 28th of November, 1825, instruction was commenced. The plan of the Institution, as drawn up by Professor Chase, was substantially the same as that which had been adopted for the Institution at Philadelphia. The Newton Institution may be regarded as a renewal, under more favorable circumstances, of the enterprise commenced at Philadelphia,- an enterprise, which, though necessarily aban- doned, was fraught with good, more than twenty young men having been under instruction, and eleven having been dismissed in the regular course. .
The labors of Professor Chase at Newton continued for twenty years, by their formative influence tending to shape its entire future. In 1845, he retired from the active work of instruction ; but he never ceased to cherish the deepest interest in the Institu- tion. He was placed on its Board of Trustees, and continued a member, by successive elections, till his death. His last public act was the laying of the corner-stone of the Library building of the Institution, June 29, 1864.
The great object of Dr. Chase's life was ministerial education, and whatever was related to it. Hence he was an early and ear- nest advocate of the publication of a religious quarterly, which should be the repository of higher Biblical criticism, and present the best thoughts of the best writers. A prospectus of such a work, issued under his name, at an early period of the existence of the Newton Institution, was doubtless among the influences which, a few years later, led to the inception of the Christian Review, edited first by Professor Knowles. The founding of Acadia College, in Nova Scotia, is largely due to his instrumentality.
557
PROFESSOR CHASE.
Professor Chase was sought for other places of influence and honor. Before going to Philadelphia, he received an invitation to a professorship of Languages in Waterville College. He was also solicited to accept the Presidency of Georgetown College, Ken- tucky, at the opening of that Institution.
He was a man of remarkable perseverance and iron industry. He read the entire works of Irenaeus, in a huge, closely-printed folio, in order to settle the author's meaning of an important phrase. In like manner, it is said, he waded through the great folios of Origen. Near the close of his life, he made an elaborate investigation relative to the inscriptions found in the Roman cata- combs, to determine the dates of those to which the baptismal controversy had given an undue importance. One of his associ- ates, Dr. Hovey, says of him,-
His patient research, his accurate knowledge, his love of biblical study, his fatherly interest in the students, and his admirable spirit in controversy, are admitted by all; and besides, he had the special privilege of impressing on the Institution his own view of theological education. Its character was determined in a great measure by him. The course of study and instruction was marked out by his mind and described by his pen. A theological school might indeed have been founded in the vicinity of Boston, by the Baptists of Massachusetts, if he had not been at hand to lead in the enterprise ; but it would surely have been different in some respects from the one that was founded. And it has been justly said, that " he was the central mover in the enterprise, and around him the friendly elements crystallized and coalesced. The plan of the Institution was essentially his; and scarcely a principal feat- ure in its organization has since been changed." From my acquaintance with Dr. Chase, in his riper years, and from the testimony of those who were familiar with his earlier life, I infer, that whatever he set before him as an end to be sought, was chosen with careful deliberation, and, when chosen, was pursued with unwavering purpose. In the best sense of the expression, he was tenax propositi ; and if he did not in every instance surmount the obstacles in his way and reach the end proposed, the failure cannot be ascribed to any weakness in his character. He was a patient student, a saga- cious interpreter, an exact teacher, an instructive writer, an honest counsel- lor, a conscientious, hopeful Christian, and it is not easy to overestimate the service which he rendered to biblical learning and a pure Christianity.
He was a man of the purest catholicity. He was peculiarly unselfish, seeking the good of others rather than his own; a wise and cautious counsellor, animated by a decided faith and a simple- hearted piety. He was of a sensitive spirit, but eminently hope- ful, a lover and companion of good men, and an ardent lover of his country.
558
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
Dr. Chase was twice married. His first wife was Miss Harriet Savage, of Hartford, Conn., (died in Newton, May. 2, 1834) ; the second, Miss Martha Raymond, (died in Cambridge, October 25, 1846). . Dr. Chase died in Newton, November 1, 1864, aged seventy-one.
The publications of Dr. Chase were :
The Life of Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress. The Design of Baptism, viewed in its Relation to the Christian Life. The Work claiming to be the Apostolical Constitutions and Canons. Dr. Bushnell's Arguments reviewed,-with the Testimony of Origen. Remarks on the Book of Daniel.
Besides his larger volumes, he published numerous sermons: and other pamphlets, and various smaller articles, more or less elaborate, controversial, historical, exegetical, etc., a monument to his research and learning.
PROFESSOR HENRY JONES RIPLEY was born in Boston, January 28, 1798, in a house which stood at the corner of Hanover and Tileston Streets, then denominated "Love Lane" and " Middle- Street." He was fitted for college at the Boston Latin School, entered Harvard University at the age of fourteen, and graduated with the class of 1816. For a few months after his graduation, he devoted himself to teaching in North Hampden, Me., where he- became a disciple of Christ, and decided to give himself to the work of the ministry. He studied theology at Andover Theo- logical Seminary, graduating in 1819. While in the seminary he. became interested in the religious welfare of the colored people of the South. He received an appointment from a Missionary Soci- ety in Savannah, Georgia, to labor among them in that State, and was ordained as an evangelist preparatory to this work, in the Baldwin Place church, Boston, November 7, 1819. In a few months he resigned his connection with the Missionary Society, and became pastor of the churches in North Newport and Bryan's Neck, Ga. He spent a year afterwards at Eastport, Me., and then returned to Georgia, where he labored with much success from 1821 to 1826.
In September, 1826, he was elected Professor of Biblical Liter- ature and Pastoral Duties in the Newton Theological Institution. He served the Institution as professor for thirty-four years, and gave instruction in every department of study in its course. For
559
PROFESSOR RIPLEY.
about five years after the close of his service as a professor, he was occupied principally with his private studies and the prepara- ration of his own works for publication. At the close of the war he accepted an appointment to preach the gospel in Savannah and vicinity, and in various ways to endeavor to promote the efficiency- of the colored Baptist ministers and churches, and to instruct such young men of color as might be looking to the ministry. In this work he continued about nine months. He returned to the North in the spring of 1866, and in the autumn of the same year he became Librarian of the Institution at Newton. In this service he continued until his death.
Ever ready to consecrate all his powers to the work before him, he undertook this unobtrusive sphere of usefulness with the same energy and zeal, and the same cheerfulness which had character- ized him as a professor in the various departments of instruction in the Institution. His habits of accuracy and exactness eminently fitted him for this work. The Library became to him as a child. He often said, "The Library is my idol now. If I can only see it increase in scope and authority, the crowning wish of my life will be secured." Speaking of a certain costly set of books, which he wished to secure, he said, " If we can place that set on our shelves, I shall be ready to depart." Steadily did he pursue his purpose. Earnestly did he solicit aid, from sources beyond the designated funds. Never did he solicit in vain. His wish in regard to the. work referred to was gratified ; and the completed catalogues of the Library, that of authors, and that of subjects, the completed sets of books, the winnowing out of duplicates, and the purchase of what was permanently valuable, the minute accuracy of his daily toil, and the large additions made by his suggestion,- all bear witness to his scrupulous fidelity and determined purpose to fill up the measure of his days with usefulness.
He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the Alabama. University in 1844, and from Harvard University, his alma mater, in 1845. One of his associates in the Institution, Dr. Hovey, says of him,-
As a teacher and writer, he was accurate in knowledge, perspicuous in language, and earnest in spirit. He was loved and revered by his pupils, trusted by his brethren in the ministry, and respected by Christians of every name. He was firm without harshness, gentle without weakness. In con- troversy he united the utmost candor with a strict adhesion to truth. In my
560
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
intercourse with him during a period of thirty years, I never discovered a trace of unfairness in his judgment, of self-will in his temper, or of obliquity in his conduct; and of him, more emphatically than of any other man whom I have known so well, can I say, " Mark the perfect man and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace."
Another bears the following testimony :
He was the teacher of multitudes who knew him through his clear and com- prehensive Commentaries. Through these he taught not only the preachers, but also the Sabbath School teachers, whose wants he met with peculiar feli- city. He was also a leader in the denomination with which he was identified, a defender of the faith, clear, pointed, kindly, but firm, full of charity, but yielding no tittle of the truth. His moral worth surpassed every other excel- lence. His crowning glory was his goodness. For purity of heart and life, for gentleness and amiability of spirit, for practical wisdom, for unselfish devotion to his work, whether as a missionary, a teacher, an author, a preacher, a brother in the church, or a guide and counsellor of youth, he had no superiors and few equals. Says one who knew him intimately, " His fifty years of toil were years of marvellous achievement. They are certainly suggestive of variety of form and of solidity in substance. Whatever he undertook, he did well. Whatever he achieved, he wrought out by slow, painstaking, concentrated method. He toiled steadily on, undeterred by con- siderations of personal ease, unchecked by the desire for personal relief, his mind fixed on one thing, ever repeating to himself the maxim of the apostle, ' This one thing I do.'"
Dr. Ripley was married to a lady in Georgia, who survives him. He had five children,- an only son, who died while a mem- ber of Brown University, and four daughters. He died May 21, 1875, aged seventy-seven, and was buried in the Newton Ceme- tery. The following are his publications :
Sermon at the Ordination of Rev. James Shannon.
Sermon at the Ordination of Rev. Calvin Newton, on "The Characteris- tics of the Minister's Work."
Hints on the Promotion of Piety in Ministers of the Gospel.
Memoir of Rev. Thomas S. Winn.
Christian Baptism. An Examination of Prof. Stuart's Essay on the Mode of Baptism.
Notes on the Four Gospels. 2 vols.
Notes on the Acts of the Apostles.
Notes on the Epistle to the Romans.
Notes on the Epistle to the Hebrews.
With new Translation.
Sacred Rhetoric. Composition and Delivery of Sermons.
Exclusiveness of Baptists. Review of Rev. A. Barnes' Pamphlet on Exclusivism.
Church Polity. A Treatise on Christian Churches and the Christian Ministry.
561
PROFESSOR KNOWLES.
Dr. Ripley also edited " Campbell's Lectures on Systematic The- ology," and "The Karen Apostle," by Rev. Francis Mason, and contributed from time to time to the religious periodicals and the higher Reviews.
JAMES DAVIS KNOWLES, the third Professor of the Institution, was born in Providence, R. I., in July, 1798,- the second son of Edward and Amey (Peck) Knowles. At about twelve years of age, he was placed as an apprentice in a printing-office in Provi- dence, where he learned the mechanical part of the business, and acquired uncommon facility in the use of the pen, contributing many articles in prose and poetry to the newspapers of the day. One of his poetical efforts was an addition of three stanzas to Gray's "Elegy in a country church yard,"-in the manner of Gray, - giving to that immortal poem, as he conceived, an evangelical turn. In July, 1819, he became co-editor of the Rhode Island Ameri- can, a popular and widely circulated journal. In March, 1820, he became a member of the First Baptist church in Providence, then under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Dr. Gano, and the fol- lowing autumn, he decided to devote himself to the work of the ministry. Shortly afterwards, he went to Philadelphia to study with the Rev. Dr. Staughton and Rev. Irah Chase, afterwards the first Professor in the Newton Theological Institution. In January, 1822, the Institution established in Philadelphia by Drs. Staugh- ton and Chase, was removed to Washington, and united with the Columbian College. Mr. Knowles entered the Sophomore class in the college, and graduated in December, 1824, with the highest honors of his class. While he was an undergraduate, besides maintaining his high standing as a scholar, he also edited the Columbian Star, a weekly journal, with much ability. Imme- diately after his graduation, he was appointed Tutor, and dis- charged the duties of his office with marked ability till the suc- ceeding autumn, when he accepted a call to the pastorate of the Baldwin Place Baptist church (then the Second Baptist church) in Boston. He was ordained December 28, 1825. Professor Chase preached the sermon on the occasion. Here he was a faith- ful pastor for seven years, and during his ministry three hundred and three members were admitted to the church, being an average of more than forty-three per year. His health becoming broken, he resigned his pastorate in Boston, September 20, 1832, and was elected Professor of Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral Duties in the
36
562
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
Newton Theological Institution, and continued to hold this office till his decease, May 9, 1838. His sudden and lamented death was the result of confluent small-pox, of the worst type, taken, probably, in New York city, where he had just before spent a few days, attending the annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention. He was buried at midnight in a lonely grave on the grounds of the Institution, without funeral ceremonies, by the light of " lan- terns dimly burning." On the monument which marks his resting-place are these words :
As a scholar and an author, he consecrated his rare powers to the service of God and of man; as a Minister of the gospel, he preached, earnestly and faithfully, its everlasting truths ; as a theological teacher, he commended to his pupils the accomplishments of learning and the beauty of holiness ; as a man, faith in Christ exalted his affections and his aims, regulated his discharge of every duty, and animated his desires for the purity and the rest of heaven.
One of his successors in the pastorate says of him,- " His nat- ural temper was peculiarly amiable ; his feelings were uniformly kind and tender ; he was ever gentle, mild and forbearing. He loved peace, and for its maintenance would sacrifice almost any thing but truth and conscience. In equanimity amidst disturbing influences, I never saw him surpassed." Another says,- "Mr. Knowles excelled as a writer. As a public speaker, he was more than fair ; but his pen was more the instrument of power than his voice. He was accurate, without being precise ; elegant, without being ornate, combining a chaste simplicity with sufficiency of strength. His style was Ionic in its properties, rather than Doric or Corinthian."
Mr. Knowles was married January 11, 1826, to Susan Elizabeth, daughter of Joshua Langley, Esq., of Providence. They had four children,- two daughters and two sons.
The following is a list of Mr. Knowles' publications :
Perils and Safeguards of American Liberty. Address pronounced on the 4th of July, at the Second Baptist Meeting-house in Boston, at the Religious Celebration of the Anniversary of American Independence, by the Baptist Churches and Societies in Boston, 1828.
Memoir of Mrs. Ann H. Judson, late Missionary to Burmah, 1829.
Spirituous Liquors Pernicious and Useless. A Fast Sermon delivered in Boston, 1829.
Importance of Theological Institutions. Address before the Newton The- ological Institution, 1832.
Memoir of Roger Williams, the Founder of the State of Rhode Island, 1834.
n. B Hackett
563
PROFESSOR HACKETT.
REV. HORATIO BALCH HACKETT was born in Salisbury, Mass., December 27, 1808. He studied at Phillips Academy, Andover, and graduated at Amherst College in 1830, with the highest hon- ors. The same year, he entered the Andover Theological Seminary, and graduated in 1834, having spent the college year of 1831-2 as Tutor in Amherst College. In September, 1834, he took charge of the department of Languages in Mount Hope College, Balti- more, Maryland, where he spent one year, and during this year was admitted to the First Baptist church in Baltimore. In Sep- tember, 1835, he became Adjunct Professor of the Latin and Greek Languages and Literature in Brown University, and con- tinued in that office till the autumn of 1839, when he was elected Professor of Biblical Literature and Interpretation in Newton The- ological Institution. He was ordained in Newton, December 13, 1839. He preached but rarely ; but his profound views of Divine truth, his clear statements, his elegance of diction, and his low, musical voice attracted universal admiration. After he had been two years in Newton, Professor Hackett made the first of his five voyages to Europe, and spent a year in Germany in Bib- lical studies. Returning to Newton, he resumed his work in the Institution, and continued his labors till the autumn of 1868, when he resigned. A minute, prepared and adopted by the Board of Trustees at the date of his resignation, says, "His previous reputation, as a scholar and an educator, inspired high hopes of his success in the particular department to which he was invited, and the Board of Trustees are happy in testifying that all those hopes have been fully realized. He applied himself at once and earnestly to such studies, over a broad range, as would best qualify him for effective service as a teacher of the languages in which the Old and New Testaments were written, and as a relia- ble interpreter of the inspired writings. His prosecution of those studies, both at home and in foreign lands, was enthusiastic, and his proficiency, eminently apparent, soon made him known and respected far beyond the limited circle within which his offi- cial duties were performed. His published works, containing matured results of his investigations, are all creditable to himself, honorable to the Institution, and serviceable to the students of the Word of God.
" In the twenty-nine years of faithful service, Dr. Hackett has attained an elevated position among Biblical scholars, and is
564
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
fortunate in having his excellence justly appreciated and cordially . acknowledged."
Dr. Hackett was now employed two years in the translation and revision of portions of the Old Testament for the Bible Union, and in other works of kindred character. In 1870, after a fourth brief tour in Europe, he commenced his latest labor as Professor of Biblical Literature and New Testament Exegesis in the Roch- ester Theological Seminary, and continued in this service till his death, November 2, 1875. Dr. Hovey says, of his connection with the Institution in Newton,-
He performed the duties of his office with rare ability. To-day, as before he resigned his professorship, we gladly do him honor as a true scholar, ever increasing his stores of knowledge by study or by travel, and as an eloquent, enthusiastic and faithful teacher, kindling in the hearts of his pupils a glow- ing desire to read the oracles of God in the very words employed by David, or his greater Son. The reputation of Dr. Hackett as a biblical scholar is equal, I suppose, to that of any man in America, and that reputation has been fairly and nobly won. For a considerable period, at least, his was the name that attracted young men to this school, and his the ability which retained them here. Not only by the accuracy of his knowledge, but also by the sin- gular beauty of his language, did he charm and inspire the classes under his charge, and wield a potent influence in favor of Christian culture.
Dr. Hackett was buried in the cemetery at Newton. On one side of the beautiful granite shaft which marks his resting-place is this inscription : "Honored and revered, as a scholar, teacher and author. As an interpreter of the Scriptures he instructed a generation of Christian ministers. Serving the Lord with all humility of mind.'"
" His personal appearance," writes an associate, "indicated his fine organization. In 1858, he was taken, in France, for a native of the country." Another says, "His head was not large, but very round, resembling somewhat, in this respect, the head of Ex- President Thiers, of the French Republic, and was covered all over with a fine growth of short, iron-gray hair. His face was always kept smooth, like that of Thiers ; his eye was small and twinkling, like that of the French historian and statesman, and both alike wore glasses." Professor Hadley, of New Haven, says of his printed works, "They are marked by a genuine erudition, and a thorough knowledge of all that has been written on their sev- eral subjects ; but still more striking is the good judgment which they show, and their conspicuous fairness. Rarely have we read
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.