USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > History of Newton, Massachusetts : town and city, from its earliest settlement to the present time, 1630-1880 > Part 77
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Besides his work as teacher and executor, Dr. Sears found time for the kindred occupations of editor and author. He became editor of the Christian Review in 1838, and conducted that periodical for several years. He contri- buted numerous articles to the " Bibliotheca Sacra," and was a valued writer for the " American Cyclopedia." Besides numerous pamphlets, addresses, reports, etc., the following volumes are among those published by him : " The Ciceronian," a treatise on the Prussian mode of instruction in Latin, 1844; "Select Treatises of Luther," in German, with notes, 1846; "Life of Martin Luther," 1850. Most students are familiar with his revised edition of that handy compend, " Roget's Thesaurus." In recognition of his scholarship and work, Harvard conferred on him the degree of D. D. in 1841, to which Yale added an LL. D. in 1862. Dr. Sears died at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., July 6, 1880, aged seventy-eight. He was a man of exemplary life, and a sincere Christian. His work has been a long and useful one, and of him it may be said with especial fitness, " His works do follow him."
COLONEL EPHRAIM WILLIAMS Was the eldest son of Colonel Ephraim and Elizabeth (Jackson) Williams, grandson of Captain Isaac and Judith (Cooper) Williams, of Newton, great-grandson of Robert and Elizabeth (Stratton) Williams, early settlers of Roxbury. His father removed from Newton in 1739, and became one of the first settlers of Stockbridge, Mass. He was Selectman seven years, and a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in
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the county of Hampshire. Colonel Ephraim Williams, jr., was born in Newton, February 24, 1715, and was the first of nine children. His own mother died when Ephraim was three years old. After her death, her two children, Ephraim and Thomas, were received into the family of their grand- father, Abraham Jackson, who brought them up and gave them a good educa- tion, instilling into their minds principles which prepared them to be men of influence, and conspicuous in the world. Thomas received the degree of Master of Arts from Yale College, was a physician and surgeon, settled at Deerfield, and had fifteen children. Ephraim, the subject of this sketch, in early life went several voyages to sea; but was persuaded by his father to relinquish that employment. "In his several voyages to Europe," says a writer in the Massachusetts Historical Collections, Vol. 8, first series, " he visited England, Spain and Holland, and acquired graceful manners and a con- siderable stock of useful knowledge. He possessed uncommon military tal- ents; and in the war between England and France, from the year 1740 to 1748, he found opportunity to exert them. He was appointed captain of a company in the army, raised in New England, in what was called the Canada service. Afterwards, he commanded the line of Massachusetts forts on the west side of the Connecticut River. During this command, his principal place of residence was Hoosac Fort. This stood on the bank of the Hoosac River in Adams, about three and a half miles east of Williamstown. He had also under liis command a small fort in Williamstown, which stood on an eminence, a few rods northwest of the meeting-house. Under the protection of these forts, the first settlers in this part of the country began their improvements. Colonel Williams was much conversant with them, and wit- nessed with humane and painful sensations the danger, difficulties and hard- ships which they were obliged to encounter. To encourage them, he inti- mated his intention of doing something liberal and handsome for them.
" After the peace concluded at Aix-la-chapelle in 1748, he resided chiefly at Hatfield, in the county of Hampshire. When war again broke out be- tween England and France, in 1755, he had the command of a regiment in the army, raised in this then Province, for the general defence. While at Albany, and on his way to join the army, he, on the twenty-second of July, 1755, made his last will. Early in September following, he fell,- being shot. with a musket-ball through the head, in the memorable battle fought with the French and Indians near Lake George .* He was then a little more than forty years of age, and had always lived a single life. In his person, he was large and fleshy. He had a taste for books, and often lamented his want of a liberal education. His address was easy, and his manners, pleasing and
* Among the bushes on a hill side, not far from the spot where Williams fell, is a plain marble shaft, perhaps eight feet high, white, clouded with blue, and standing on a huge boulder. This is Williams' monument. It was erected in 1854 by the graduates.of Williams College. On it are inscriptions in Latin and English. The English inscription is as follows :
" Erected to the memory of Col. Ephraim Williams, a native of Newton, Mass., who, after gallantly defending the frontiers of his native State, served under General .Jolinson against the French and Indians, and nobly fell near this spot, in the bloody conflict of September 8, 1755, in the 42nd year of his age."
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conciliating. Affable and facetious, he could make himself agreeable in all companies, and was very generally esteemed, respected and beloved. His kind and obliging deportment, his generosity and condescension greatly en- deared him to his soldiers. By them he was uncommonly beloved while he lived, and lamented when dead. When Captain at Fort Massachusetts, he- frequently entered into the pastimes of his soldiers upon an equal footing with them, and permitted every decent freedom; and again, when the diver- sions were over, with ease and dignity he resumed the captain. His polite- ness and address procured him a greater influence at the General Court than any other person at that day possessed. He was attentive and polite to all descriptions and classes of men, and sought the company and conversation. of men of letters.
" His property, at the time of his death, was not very considerable. It consisted principally in notes, bonds and obligations, and in new lands in the western counties of the Commonwealth. Yet, as far as his circumstances. enabled him, he generously made provision in his will to answer the expec- tations which he had raised in the minds of the first settlers of Williamstown. After several small bequests to his relatives and friends, he willed ' that the. remainder of his lands should be sold, at the direction of his Executors, within five years after an established peace; and that the interest of the- moneys arising from the sale, and also the interest of his notes and bonds, should be applied to the support of a Free School in a township west of Fort Massachusetts,- provided the said township fall within Massachusetts, upon running the line between Massachusetts and New York, and provided the said township, when incorporated, be called Williamstown.' Both of these. conditions took place.
" John Worthington, Esq., of Springfield, and Israel Williams, Esq., of Hatfield, the Executors of the will, sold the lands, agreeable to the direction of the testator. The moneys arising from the sale were loaned to responsi- ble men, and mortgages taken to secure the payment of principal and inter- est. The yearly interest was again loaned, and thus, by the provident and faithful management of the Executors, the fund was annually increased. In the year 1785, they applied to the General Court for an Act to enable them to carry into effect the benevolent intention of the testator. An Act was accordingly passed, incorporating 'William Williams, Theodore Sedgwick, Woodbridge Little, John Bacon, Thompson J. Skinner, Israel Jones, David Noble, Esq., Rev. Seth Swift and the Rev. Daniel Collins trustees of the donation of Ephraim Williams, Esq., for maintaining a Free School in Wil- liamstown.'
"In the year 1788, the Trustees voted to erect a building for the accom- modation of the Free School. A lottery was granted them by the General Court, to raise the sum of four thousand dollars,- a questionable mode of rais- ing funds, but at that time deemed permissible,-and the inhabitants of Wil- liamstown raised by subscription two thousand dollars more, towards the. expense of the building. In 1790, a brick building, eighty-two feet long, forty- two feet wide, and four stories high, was erected, containing twenty-eight rooms for the accommodation of students, and a chapel, which occupies the:
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space of four rooms. The expense of the building, when finished, was esti- mated at about $11,700. The funds then remaining at interest amounted to about the same sum.
"In October, 1791, this Free School was opened under the direction of a preceptor and an English schoolmaster. An usher was soon afterwards appointed. The school consisted of two departments, a Grammar School, or Academy, and an English Free School. The latter was almost wholly composed of boys from the higher classes in the common schools in Wil- liamstown. They were taught reading, writing and arithmetic. In the for- mer, all the arts and sciences, which compose the usual course of education in the New England colleges, were taught. This department rapidly increased in numbers. Youth resorted to it, not only from the country and vicinity, but from New York, Canada, and other distant parts of the country. Its usefulness in several respects, and especially in one, was soon experienced. Many young men came to this academy to qualify themselves to become use- ful and reputable instructors of common schools. Not a few of them had before taught school, though very imperfectly qualified for the business. The happy consequence was that many of the common schools in this part of the country were soon furnished with much more competent instructors than had before been employed.
" In this situation as to officers and instruction, and in a state of increasing: reputation and usefulness, the Free School and academy continued until September, 1793. In June of that year, the General Court incorporated the. Institution into a college; and, in honor to Colonel Williams, whose liberal donation laid the foundation of the funds, they called it WILLIAMS COLLEGE. All the gentlemen who were Trustees of the Free School were made Trus- tees of the College; and to them were added the Rev. Stephen West, D. D. (elected Vice-President at the first session of the Board), Henry Van Schaack and Elijah Williams, Esqs., and the President of the College for the time being. The charter, or Act of Incorporation, allowed the Board of Trustees to consist of seventeen members, including the President; empow- ered them to fill all vacancies which might take place by death or resigna- tion ; to confer the usual academic degrees and doctorates, after the first of January, 1800; and to hold property to the clear annual amount of six thou- sand pounds. The General Court accompanied this charter with a liberal grant of four thousand dollars, payable out of the treasury of the Common- wealth, in four annual instalments.
"In October, 1793, the College was duly organized, and three small classes were admitted. The English Free School was discontinued; but the Grammar School, or academy, was continued in connection with the College.
" The General Court, at their session in January, 1796, granted to the President and Trustees of Williams College the right of locating two town- ships in the District of Maine. One of these was sold in May following for about $10,000."
The importance of the bequest of Colonel Williams, which laid the foun- dation of Williams College, cannot be overestimated. The choice influences emanating from that excellent Institution have blessed the world, and carried
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civilization and salvation to the distant heathen. Behind a haystack, in a field back of the College,- since marked by a fitting monument,- the enter- prise of American Missions to the unevangelized heathen first took form and shape; and to this hallowed spot, all the missionary efforts of American Christians, of all the denominations, trace their origin. For the connection of this institution of learning with such an enterprise,- even if it had not also been a fountain of blessings to the Commonwealth and the nation, through the great and useful men who have been nurtured in its halls, the name and act of Colonel Williams deserves to be kept in everlasting remem- brance. And, through the far-reaching influence of this act of one of her sons, Newton has set one of the brightest gems in her crown.
F .T.Stuart Ro,un
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Am Salaifer
CHAPTER LVIII.
REMINISCENCES OF MEN AND THINGS.
IN preparing a work of such a character as the present, many items occur pertaining to the history of men and things, which cannot well be arranged under any specific class or period, and do not properly belong to any single chapter in this volume ; and yet they are possessed of interest, as a part of the general narrative. These items relate to persons, places and events. They are valu- able as contributions to history, and as delineators of character and growth. They constitute, as collected together, a repository of entertaining information, which the curious inquirer would not will- ingly forego, and which the diligent and interested reader will prize. Many of these items will be brought together in the present chapter, under the three heads above indicated.
We find the following additions to the recollections of Rev. Mr. Greenough, the first pastor at West Newton.
MR. GREENOUGH'S PUNCTUALITY .- Mr. Greenough was a man of social, genial companionship ; his hospitality was well known, and his friends always welcome. He conversed with great care, had a large fund of anecdote, and told a story with a gusto.
But he liked punctuality in guest and host, as two events which occurred late in his life will show. Two young gentlemen, relatives of the family, rode out of Boston in a chaise, called at Mr. Greenough's on their way to some place beyond,-and proposed, if agreeable to the family, to return there early in the evening, and spend the night. If not, they would return to Boston. Of course, their proposition was cheerfully accepted, and they went on their way. But having made sure of a lodging, they were much more tardy in coming back, than if obliged that night to return to Boston. Nine o'clock came, but the guests had not arrived. The family were called together, the evening service was performed. Bedtime came; guests came not. A few minutes more were needful for the shutting up of the house. The family retired. Mr. Greenough put out the last light; the house was dark, and the business of sleeping began. Soon, the heavy brass knocker is heard. No answer. Again the knocker strikes, and louder. Mr. Greenough arose, put his head out of the window, and inquired peremptorily, " Who's there ?" and
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then said to the belated travellers, " Young men, don't you know better than to be knocking at folks' houses after the families have gone to bed? If you. choose to be riding about this time of night, you must find your lodging at the tavern. We take breakfast to-morrow morning at six o'clock; if you are here at that hour, we shall be glad to see you, good night." The window was- closed. The young men looked at one another, went back to their chaise, drove down to the village and put up at the Hotel. But they smothered their wrath with a sense of respect or fun, for they were on hand at breakfast, and the night scene was forgotten, save that they had received a lesson on punct- uality which was likely to remain.
Another event showed him punctual as a host. On a certain occasion Doc- tors Jenks and Wisner had been into the country on some council, and on their return, early in the evening, called upon Mr. Greenough. He cordially invited them to have their horse put up, and spend the night. They excused themselves by saying they were obliged to meet certain engagements in Boston. in the morning, and if they remained here for the night, they would be too late in getting into the city. "What time," inquired Mr. Greenough, " must you be in Boston?" Nine o'clock was named. "How long will it take you to drive in, put up your horse, and get there? " The time was given. "Stay," said Mr. Greenough, "and it shall not be my fault if you are not there." The next morning the voice of Mr. Greenough called them to breakfast. Breakfast and family devotions over, Mr. Greenough, without saying a word, walked into the hall, brought out hats and coats, handed them to his guests,. and, pointing through the window, said, " There is your chaise, and if you are not in time in Boston this morning, don't blame me."
TREATMENT OF GUESTS .- When any one came to his house whom he thought proper to ask to prolong his stay, if the guest excused himself by stating some inconvenience to which it would subject him, or some engagement which would be interfered with, his reply would be, " Well, do as you are a mind to, and then you will come again." And sometimes he would give the reason for this method of his, which was very common with him.
" When I was a boy," he would say, " I used to go to Roxbury to my uncle Hyslop's, and my aunt would always insist upon my staying to tea, and then I had to go all the way over the ' neck' in the dark; and I was very reluctant to go and see her for that reason,- and I resolved, if I ever had a house of my own, I would let folks do as they were a mind to, and make it a rule never to urge them to remain longer then convenient."
When Dr. Hosmer, late of Watertown, being then a young man, first called on Mr. Greenough, Mr. Greenough led him into the parlor, and pointing to. the rocking chair asked him to take a seat. Looking at his venerable friend, " Excuse me," said the Doctor, " I think you would better grace that seat." "Take it," said Mr. G., " this is my house." Dr. Hosmer sat down.
YOUNG AMERICA SUBDUED .- Mr. Greenough was a Boston boy of the old school, and was taught the manners of his time. His father brought him up. to feel that his hat was never off, till it was as low as his elbow. The boys and girls of his parish were expected to notice him with the appropriate courtesy
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whenever they met him. He was therefore not pleased with the change which young America was effecting among the boys, in the latter part of his life.
A grandson was visiting at his house. He was a Boston boy, of some eight or ten summers. He saw in this boy a wide departure from the habits of liis own early days. Though exceedingly fond of him, he would have liked him better had his manners been more like his own at that age. It happened that the baker drove into the yard one day, when Mr. Greenough and the boy were at the door. The boy says, "Grandpa, will you get me a piece of ginger- bread?" "Yes," said the kind-hearted old man. Mr. Greenough walked to the cart; the gingerbread was ordered and paid for. Mr. Greenough taking the gingerbread, turned round, faced the boy, and said, " Now, William, take off your hat and make a bow." The boy, though raised in the same city in which his grandfather had learned his manners, was not accustomed to such discipline, and hesitated at Mr. Greenough, as if he had spoken to him in an unknown tongue, making no motion to obey the command. Mr. Greenough, looking at him with a stern countenance, repeated in a firmer, louder tone, " Pull off your hat, I say, and make a bow." The boy stood as unmoved as before. Mr. Greenough waited for a moment, but seeing no change, dropped the gingerbread into the large side pocket of his coat, and walked into the house. Not another word was said, till the call of the baker again the next day. Grandfather and grandson again in the yard. With the same tone as before, the boy says, " Grandpa, will you get me a piece of gingerbread?" The gingerbread was bought. Mr. Greenough, holding the gingerbread, looked the boy in the face. The hat was quickly put through the exercise, the head performed the unwonted courtesy. The forthcoming gingerbread was very sweet. It is to be feared that in the present age of the world, neither would the minister be brave enough to administer such a reproof, nor the lad con- siderate enough graciously to accept it.
INTEGRITY .- He was a man of the strictest integrity. He loved an honest. man. At one time he sold some standing grass, so much for the lot. After it was cut, Mr. Greenough said to the purchaser (who by the way found no fault with the bargain), " There is not so much hay as I expected; it is not worth as much as you agreed to pay, and I shall take only so much," mentioning a. smaller sum.
He was a kind-hearted, benevolent man, giving liberally, and not sounding a trumpet, to be heard of men. One of his parishioners, a mechanic, lost his. shop and tools by fire. Father Greenough aided him to the amount of ten dollars, remarking, " I don't wish it published."
" The Devil take it," exclaimed a prominent parishioner, just as Mr. Green- ough was passing. " Why do you use such language, Mr. --? " " It. relieves my stomach," was the excuse. "Your stomach must be very foul," replied Father G. One of his parishioners, a skeptic, said, " If any one ever gets to heaven it will be Parson Greenough." A colored family lived in the parish. The same attention was shown to them as to any other, no matter what their circumstances in life might be. Mr. and Mrs. Greenough visited and took tea with them, and in turn they were invited to the parsonage, as. was customary.
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One of their children, now living, loves to tell of Parson Greenough's kindness, and says, " He was the most honest man I ever knew." An infidel in the parish was now and then seen at church. Father Greenough used to visit him, and strive to show him his error, but without success. That man said " he respected Parson Greenough for doing his duty."
Hearing the word Sunday used, instead of Sabbath, his remark was, " I don't like to hear the word Sunday; because the heathen worship the sun, they call it Sunday ; let us say Sabbath."
"He possessed a rare faculty for explaining difficult passages of Scrip- ture," said one who knew him long and well. " He was social, earnest, prac- tical, and very faithful." This is the united testimony of all that remember him.
We must admit that, as a clergyman of the olden time, he said and did what now would be hardly tolerated. In the early part of his ministry, one Sabbath, a neighbor's children were seen in the road, a few rods from their father's door. The next morning Father Greenough called, and gave him a lecture on the laxity of his family government.
THE SABBATH .- On Saturday afternoon, all possible preparation for the Sabbath was made. At sunset, all labor was laid aside. They kept Satur- day night, as it was called. The Sabbath was observed with great strictness. Not even washing dishes was allowed.
CHILDREN .- He often visited the Public Schools, having an eye to their welfare, and performing many of the duties that now devolve on the com- mittee. A boy was in company with Father Greenough, as the Governor rode past with his coach and four. "I wish I could ride in that coach," said the boy. "There is something higher and better to live for than to ride in a coach ; and those that ride in them are often the most miserable of men, in body as well as mind. Wealth seldom brings happiness to its possessor, but only care and trouble," was the reply of Father G. These words were remembered by the boy, and repeated sixty years afterwards.
Preaching, on one occasion, at Watertown, some boys in the gallery were laughing and whispering; stopping short in the services, he reproved them thus, "Boys, behave in the house of God; you not only disobey your parents, but greatly offend your Maker." Those boys gave him no more trouble, it is said.
MRS. GREENOUGH'S ENCOUNTER WITH DANIEL WEBSTER .- There was an anecdote he would sometimes tell a friend, of Mrs. Greenough's encounter with Daniel Webster. In the famous Badger will case, the question before the court was that of Mrs. Badger's soundness of mind, and of undue influ- ence when she made her will. Mr. Greenoughi's first wife was the daughter of Mr. Badger's first wife. The second Mrs. Greenough was called as a wit- ness in this case of the second Mrs. Badger's will. Daniel Webster, then in his prime, was retained upon the side opposite to the one which had sum- moned Mrs. Greenough. Mrs. Greenough had, in company with her hus- band, frequently visited Mrs. Badger during her last sickness, and might well be supposed to know her state of mind. Mrs. Greenough was an
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imperial looking woman. She was a tall, straight, black-eyed lady, thoroughly self-possessed, and could not easily be turned aside from any purpose she might entertain. When she came upon the stand, Webster had the sagacity to see that she was a person whose testimony would have great weight with the jury. He therefore resolved to disconcert her and break her up, so as to spoil her evidence. The first question was put, and she began by saying, " I believe " - Webster roared out at hier, " We don't want to know what you believe; we want to hear what you know!" Mrs. Greenough replied, " That is what I was about to say, and went right on with a clear answer to the ques- tion ; and, as she continued her evidence, it was evidently producing such an effect upon the tribunal that Webster became alarmed, and tried again and again, without success, to embarrass her. At length he sprang to his feet, whirled round, drew out his snuff-box, thrust his thumb and finger deep down and took a sonorous pinch of snuff; then drew fortli a superb bandanna handkerchief, which flowed down to the floor, brought it up to his nose, and blowed it with a loud report; and upon the instant, looking sharply at the witness said,- " Mrs. Greenough, was Mrs. Badger a NEAT woman?" Mrs. Greenough replied - " I can't say as to that; she had one VERY DIRTY trick." "What was that?" asked Mr. Webster. Mrs. Greenough promptly replied - " She TOOK SNUFF." The gravity of the Court was upset, the Court-house was in a wild roar of cachinnation. Mr. Webster sat down, and did not open his mouth again until she had left the witness stand.
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