USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Princeton > History of the town of Princeton in the county of Worcester and commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1759-1915, Volume I > Part 22
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Gill, Mass. Apl. 23, 1887.
Mr. Blake:
In reply to your late note of inquiry, I say:
That this town was incorporated in 1793 and named in honor of Gov. Moses Gill of Princeton, who, being childless offered to give the town the nails, paint, and glass, also a bell, and the church furniture for the meeting house then being erected in consideration of the assumption of his name by the town. This was done, with the exception of the bell, which the town bought in 1816. I have the large folio Bible which Mr. Gill gave the town now in my possession, printed by Isaiah Thomas of Worces- ter. It is in good preservation.
Concerning Gov. Gill we know very little about him, save by tradition; all going to show that he was a fine looking, and very aristocratic man, and given to display.
The town has no portrait of the Gov. but a very good one you will find in Kimball's Museum in Boston. I saw it there not many years since. It is a good picture, and I had some talk with Mr. Kimball about procuring it for our town. A relative of Gov. Gill called on me many years ago, think he was from Springfield, at any rate there are Gills there.
Josiah D. Canning, Town Clerk, Gill, Mass.
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Ward Nicholas Boylston, Esq., original name Ward Hallowell, was born in Boston, Nov. 22nd, 1747. He was one of a family of fourteen children. His father, Benjamin Hallowell, Esq., was the commissioner of customs in the early history of Boston, and lived at the corner of Boylston and Centre Streets, Jamaica Plain. He was a man of wealth and refinement, but as he was an officer of the Crown, he was, of course, a Loyalist. In March, 1776, he and his family with other Loyalists embarked for Halifax, and the following July sailed for England. His estate was confiscated in 1779, but was recovered by the heirs-at-law in 1801 by a suit in the United States District Court, a full account of which may be found in the New England Genea- logical Register, Vol. XII, page 72, also in Drake's Rox- bury, page 407, and Drake's Boston, page 686.
His mother, Mrs. Mary (Boylston) Hallowell, was the daughter of Thomas Boylston and Sarah (Morecock), and sister to Nicholas Boylston, Esq. She was also sister to Madam Rebecca (Boylston) Gill, the second wife of the Hon. Moses Gill. Mrs. Hallowell received £3000 from her brother Nicholas Boylston's estate. See Suffolk Probate, 1.70, f445.
Ward Nicholas received his early education in the free public schools of Boston. In March, 1770, at the request of his uncle Nicholas Boylston, Esq. (who died the follow- ing year), he dropped the name of Hallowell, through a royal license bearing the signature of King George III, and added to his christian name that of his uncle, who had promised to leave him at his death certain large estates.
Mr. Boylston was twice married, the full name of his first wife, Mary - is not obtainable. His second marriage was to Alicia Darrow of Yarmouth, England, later known as Madam Boylston.
On Oct. 12th, 1773, Mr. Boylston commenced an ex- tended journey through Europe and Asia, sailing on board the "King of Naples" from Boston bound for Newfound- land; continuing, he sailed to Italy, and proceeding to Turkey, Syria, the Archipeligo, Palestine, Egypt, and the
LIBRAR
WARD NICHOLAS BOYLSTON 1749-1828
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Barbary Coast. He also passed through Geneva, Savoy, France and Flanders.
He arrived in London in 1775, where he remained for twenty-five years, engaged in various lines of trade. In 1800 he sailed for America, arriving in Boston on the 15th of May. In September, 1804, he succeeded to the estate of Hon. Moses Gill, and from that time until his death in 1828, he made Princeton his place of residence during the greater part of the time, but spending the winter months at his winter residence at Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, Mass.
Soon after his arrival in Boston, Mr. Boylston confirmed to Harvard University a bequest of his uncle, Nicholas Boylston, Esq., amounting to $23,200 as a foundation of the professorship of Rhetoric and Oratory, with the con- dition that John Quincy Adams should be appointed professor. Several smaller sums were subsequently do- nated to Harvard and large bequests were made to the same institution in his will .*
Without attempting to reconcile the stories that were current years ago regarding the acquisition of the property of Moses Gill, we simply quote from the Suffolk Records:
" Ward Nicholas Boylston of London, now resident at Boston, Esqr., administrator with the will annexed of
* To the inhabitants of the town of Princeton he gave $1000, one half to be paid to the deacons of the church and congregation over which Rev'd Samuel Clarke was pastor, the net income to be applied towards the salary of the minister. The remaining five hundred dollars to be loaned to industrious young men in the town until it doubled when the income should be expended for the support of indigent and deserving widows and female orphan children.
According to Dr. Nathan Allen, "Mr. Boylston, while in Princeton, lived in princely style and was remarkable for his politeness to all with whom he came in contact. He possessed an unusual amount of intelligence and lib- erality in his benefactions. While residing in London he became familiarly acquainted with the celebrated Dr. John Hunter, and having had two uncles in this country distinguished members of the medical profession, he became greatly interested in all matters pertaining to medicine. For this purpose he made some handsome donations to Harvard University, so that the name Boylston is honored, being attached to a medical library, an anatomical museum, a medical society and prize medals for essays to improve medical science."
Thus it was said: "He has done more towards raising the standard of the medical profession in this commonwealth than all others of the profession."
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Thomas Boylston, late of London, Kingdom of Great Britain, Esqr., deceased, by judgment obtained by the Supreme Judicial Court held at Boston for the counties of Suffolk and Nantucket on the third Tuesday of August last recovered judgment against the estate of Moses Gill, late of Boston, Esq., dec'd, in the hands and possession of Moses Gill of Boston, Esqr., otherwise called Moses Gill of Princeton, Esq., executor of the will of the said Moses deceased, for $106,104.42 damages and $72.24 costs the said Moses Gill is ordered to pay the said Boylston the above sums, II Sept. 1804, by Francis Dana, Esq., of Boston & Charles Cushing, clerk. (Suffolk Deeds, 187: 184.)"
The original Gill Mansion House in Princeton was occupied as a summer residence by the Boylstons until 1819-20, when the present Boylston villa was built after the prevailing style of the English country villa with the living rooms on the first floor and the servants' quarters above. It was erected about 600 feet N.W. of the old mansion house and nearer the center of the town. Some indications of the cellar of the old house are still visible.
David Everett. The subject of this sketch, a native of Princeton, Mass., has been chiefly known to many for several generations, as the author of a poem for juvenile declamation, beginning "You'd scarce expect one of my age," while his greater work in a literary point of view, has escaped their notice.
This sketch is prepared with the design of setting forth briefly his character and work, in order that due honor may be rendered to his name. He was the son of David Everett and Susanah Rolph who were married in Princeton Oct. 29, 1767. They had five children, David being the second child and the eldest son. He was born Mar. 29, 1770.
The father came from Dedham and within a year of his marriage purchased a hundred acres or more, adjoin- ing land already owned by his wife's father. It was in Lot No. eleven (II) on the west side of Wachusett Moun- tain, on the old county road to Barre. On this land he
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erected two or three dwelling-houses and a blacksmith shop, all of which he sold not long afterward, the larger part to some of his old neighbors from Dedham. Later, catching the spirit of the times, which was manifest even in remote localities, he joined the Continental Army with others of his town. His military service was, however, brief, for he died in the army June 26, 1775. The widow kept the family together, though doubtless with difficulty, as her husband left no real estate, and but little personal property, while all the money, as far as is known, that the widow received as pay for his military service was sixteen pounds.
The locality of the house is known, and is nearly opposite the school-house now designated as No. 8. It was isolated, although on the county road, the travelling being infre- quent, and the boy's earliest associations were with the neighboring school-house. He must have imbibed the patriotic spirit of the times, which shows itself in the pro- ductions of his mature years.
When he was about ten years of age he went to live with his grandmother, Mary (Everett) Gerould, in Wren- tham. The journey must have been a great event in the boy's life. It may well be supposed that the educational advantages in Wrentham were superior to those in Prince- ton where his father's library, according to the inventory, consisted of "two old Bibles, and a few other old books," valued at six shillings. These new conditions more ade- quately met the wants of a "bright, ambitious boy," as he is said to have been. By his perseverance and "in- domitable ambition" he made his way to New Ipswich, N. H., being attracted by the opportunities offered by the Academy recently established there. The only evidence we have of this progress there is found in a manuscript preserved in the Academy, of an original drama entitled "The Honest Lawyer," composed in 1791.
During his stay in the town he taught one of the schools of the village, or town, probably with the view of obtaining means for a college education. It was during this period
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that he wrote for a public school exhibition the declama- tion so well known, beginning
"You'd scarce expect one of my age To speak in public on the stage."
This will be spoken of more in detail later in these pages. Other writings of his, including school-boy declamations, and also some more mature articles were probably pro- duced during his stay in New Ipswich, and during his college course. Some of these were published in the first edition of the "Columbian Orator," issued in 1797, and show extensive reading, and a marked versatility of talent as a writer.
He entered Dartmouth College and graduated in 1795. On that occasion he had the honor of the valedictory poem in which he predicted the future of our country as follows:
"The Muse prophetic views the coming day, When federal laws beyond the line shall sway; Where Spanish indolence inactive lies, And every art and every virtue dies,- Where pride and avarice their empire hold, Ignobly great, and poor amid their gold,- Columbia's genius shall the mind inspire, And fill each breast with patriotic fire. Nor east nor western oceans shall confine The generous flame that dignifies the mind; O'er all the earth shall Freedom's banner wave, The tyrant blast, and liberate the slave; Plenty and peace shall spread from pole to pole, Till earth's grand family possess one soul."
After his graduation he went to Boston to study law, and was subsequently admitted to the bar. He taught for a time in one of the Boston schools. During this time he was a contributor to "The Nightingale" a "Mèlange de Litterature" published in Boston. Lemuel Shaw, after- ward Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Massachu- setts, studied law under Mr. Everett, and when the latter
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removed to Amherst, N. H., where in addition to the law he did some literary work, Mr. Shaw went with him.
Judge Shaw always maintained a high opinion of Mr. Everett's character and ability, and felt "under great - obligation to him." Yet Mr. Shaw did not rise rapidly to distinction, and Judge Thomas in the American Law Review of Oct. 1867 remarks, "during these years of small beginnings perhaps the future chief justice found encour- agement in the lines of Mr. Everett, "Large streams from little fountains flow."
The marriage of Mr. Everett to Dorothy, daughter of Isaac Appleton of New Ipswich, took place Dec. 29, 1799. She survived him, dying Jan. 16, 1859 at New Ipswich, to which place she had returned soon after his death. They had no children.
From Amherst Mr. Everett returned to Boston and to the practice of law there. In 1809 he established the " Boston Patriot" devoted to the interests of the Democratic party. It was in this paper that Ex-President John Adams, who had become disaffected toward the Federal party, wrote historical reminiscences and political essays. In 1812 he conducted "The Yankee" and engaged also in "The Pilot" which had only a brief existence.
He was appointed in 1811 Registrar of Probate for Suffolk Co. by Gov. Gerry, who on taking office had re- moved a number of officials throughout the State. On the accession of Gov. Strong, however, the former officials were reinstated, and, consequently, Mr. Everett held the office but eight months. This change in his prospects necessitated new plans for the future, and the condition of his health requiring a change of residence, he went to Marietta, Ohio, probably by the way of Wheeling, Va. At Marietta he, with others, doubtless by previous ar- rangement, established a newspaper called the "American Friend." But after eight months of connection with it he died, Dec. 21, 1813, at the age of forty-three years and nine months.
A month after his arrival at Marietta the first issue of
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the "American Friend" had appeared bearing the date April 26, 1813. In his address to the public, he says the editor "feels himself impelled by every principle that actuates his heart to give his utmost aid to the great cause in which we are engaged, in the vindication of the dear bought and invaluable rights of America against a haughty, powerful, persevering, and unprincipled foe. Believing in the sincerity of his soul that heaven is in our side, and will ultimately crown our struggles with success, he can- not forbear, on this and all occasions, to protest against that treachery to our own country, and that blasphemy against heaven, which extol her as the protectress of our rights, and the bulwark of our religion. While he pays particular attention to subjects of great national concern, it will be his aim to present his readers that variety of miscellaneous matter and current news which are expected in a public journal." The first issue of the paper after his death contained the following obituary notice:
Obituary.
Died in this town on the morning of Dec. 2Ist. 1813, of a lingering consumption, which he bore with the fortitude of a philosophical mind, David Everett, Esq., the editor of the American Friend, aged 44 years. The interment of his remains was performed with masonic honors, on the 22nd. inst., and his funeral attended by a large con- course of friends, acquaintances and citizens, collected on the melancholy occasion, to pay the last sad duties to him whose virtues commanded the highest respect and esteem, and whose remembrance will ever be dwelt upon with melancholy sensations.
Mr. Everett was a native of Massachusetts, and was regularly educated to the profession of Law. For some years previous to his emigration to this State, he resided in Boston; where he conducted, as editor, several news- papers of distinguished celebrity.
From his youth he devoted his attention to literature, and to the culture of a mind naturally strong and capacious.
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His unremitted industry, and the sedentary habits of his life, gradually enfeebled his constitution. To endeavor to restore his health by the salubrious air of a milder climate, he left Boston in January, 1813, and arrived at Marietta the March following. Here he re-commenced his labors as an editor, and his assiduity to effect the object of his highest ambition, to be useful to his country by disseminating, through the medium of a weekly newspaper, correct politi- cal principles, and general literature, completed the ruin of his health, and deprived the State of one of its most estimable literary characters, and the republic of a firm patriot.
Mr. Everett was the author of many valuable works, in which he displayed splendid talents, a prolific imagination, and an exalted genius. In some of his literary productions the force and sublimity of his thoughts, the purity and elegance of his style delight the reader of correct taste. In those of a political nature, his mind proves itself acute, penetrating and capable of illustrating the most abstruse subjects, - his arguments are strong, conclusive, and like a torrent bear down every opposing barrier, and force conviction upon the mind.
As an editor, he invariably wrote the impulses of an honest heart, with the boldness of an independent mind. He despised that servility which would flatter, fawn around, and crouch to a man invested with popular favor, or clothed with "a little brief authority." He detested the sycophant, and abhorred the demagogue. He was a republican in principle, and a strenuous advocate for his country's rights; and his proud soul could never brook an infringement of those rights, by an insolent foe, without feeling and expressing the liveliest indignation.
Such was David Everett -a philanthropist - a patriot - and a man of undoubted integrity and honour.
Although he died in middle life, his literary work was quite extensive. Beside his labors as editor he made con- tributions to various papers, and delivered addresses upon national topics.
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His services for Fourth of July orations were frequently in demand and during President Madison's term of office he freely discussed national affairs in the papers he edited. He also delivered addresses on Free Masonry in which he had early become interested as a member of St. John's Lodge, Boston.
His style was keen and incisive, especially in his political writings, but he was not known to descend to low abuse. His love of poetry frequently showed itself, especially in his pamphlets, and he found a delight in dramatic composi- tion. His knowledge of the classics is plainly seen, an aptness for satire is often in evidence, and a regard for youth is apparent, especially in his early manhood, by his writings for their benefit.
The "Columbian Orator" in its first edition, 1797, con- tains several selections from the pen of Mr. Everett. Among these is the well-known juvenile declamation as follows:
You'd scarce expect one of my age,
To speak in public on the stage;
And if I chance to fall below Demosthenes or Cicero,
Don't view me with a critic's eye,
But pass my imperfections by.
Large streams from little fountains flow;
Tall oaks from little acorns grow;
And though I now am small and young,
Of judgment weak, and feeble tongue;
Yet all great learned men like me, Once learned to read their A, B, C.
But why may not Columbia's soil
Rear men as great as Britian's isle;
Exceed what Greece and Rome have done, Or any land beneath the sun? Mayn't Massachusetts boast as great As any other sister state?
Or where's the town, go far and near,
That does not find a rival here?
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Or where's the boy, but three feet high, Who's made improvements more than I?
These thoughts inspire my youthful mind To be the greatest of mankind;
Great, not like Caesar, stained with blood; But only great, as I am good.
This is written by him in New Ipswich, N. H., in 1791 to be spoken at a public school exhibition by a boy seven years of age. The boy was Ephraim H. Farrar, son of Rev. Stephen Farrar, the first minister of New Ipswich. There is no evidence that the poem led Mr. Farrar to the practice of oratory, but he became a teacher in Boston being a writing master in the school of Lawson Lyon in 1813. He had as pupils Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, Rev. Samuel J. May, Rev. Ralph Waldo Emerson and others who rose to eminence. After many years spent in Boston, he returned to New Ipswich where he died Jan. 8, 1851. Mr. Farrar related that the poem was handed to him in manuscript by Mr. Everett and he had always considered it as belonging to himself. "When therefore," he says, "I saw in a printed copy the substitution of two words for two in the original, namely, 'Massachusetts' and 'sister' for New Hampshire and Federal, I thought there was either a gross mistake in the printer or an infringe- ment upon my rights. Whether this was done by the author or not I am not able to say. I am rather inclined to think the latter was, for he afterwards became a politi- cian of the Jefferson school, and edited a paper called The Patriot and the word Federal became extremely obnoxious to many of that party. But that my native state should receive such an insult I felt very indignant." He adds that, after a residence of some years in Massachusetts, seeing that every little boy read the piece as if it were his own, he became reconciled to the change, provided that every boy who spoke the piece should have the liberty to sub- stitute the name of his own state.
It is interesting to learn that at the centennial celebra-
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tion in New Ipswich, Sept. 1850, Mr. Farrar was called to personate the youth for whom that effusion was written, and immediately rising, merely repeated the first two lines,
"You'd scarce expect one of my age To speak in public on the stage."
which moved the audience to laughter.
The lines were frequently attributed to Edward Everett, but, at a public examination of the High School in Cam- bridge, Mass., he corrected that opinion and said they were written by a distant relative.
Many imitations and parodies of these lines have been written, to which they easily lend themselves, but the following must suffice:
You'd scarce expect one of my age To speak in public on the stage - That was the tune you all well know For children, fifty years ago. We modern children don't profess To understand such silliness. We have to meet your expectations For better juvenile orations.
We know we are young and weak, To stand before a crowd to speak, But mighty oaks from acorns grow, And some of us, for aught we know, May climb the hills of Fame And make a great and lasting name.
Everett was evidently familiar with the Latin classics and when he wrote these lines he may have had in mind a passage in the poet Juvenal, Satire X, 114-117, in which Cicero and Demosthenes are held up as models of oratory for the ambitious boy. These lines of Juvenal have been thus translated:
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"The urchin whom a slave conducts to school, Has scarce acquired his first and earliest rule, Ere ardent hopes his little bosom seize, To rival Tully or Demosthenes."
It is noticeable that while Everett's urchin modestly dis- claims rivalry, Juvenal's urchin seeks it.
In addition to this juvenile poem of Everett the Colum- bian Orator contains the following from his pen:
Slaves in Barbary, a drama in two acts.
The Conjuror, a dialogue.
A general description of America-An extract from a poem spoken at Dartmouth on Commencement Day, 1795. The Last Day, an extract from a manuscript poem.
A dialogue between an inhabitant of the United States and an Indian.
A dialogue between Edward and Harry.
A forensic dispute on the question, "Are the Anglo- Americans endowed with capacity and genius equal to Europeans?"
A list of his other writings is as follows:
Common Sense in Dishabille, appearing first in a series of papers in the "Farmer's Weekly Museum," 1797, and afterwards published in book form.
Duranzel, the Persian Poet, a tragedy in five acts per- formed at the Federal St. Theatre, in Boston.
Demonstration of the truth of the Scriptures as fulfilled in the Prophecies (devoted to proving the people of the United States to be distinctly alluded to by Daniel and St. John).
Poem 1901, before Phi Beta Kappa, Cambridge.
Oration July 4, 1804 at Amherst, N. H.
Oration July 4, 1809, before Bunker Hill Association.
Play (in manuscript) entitled, "The Honest Lawyer," New Ipswich.
Essay, 1807, On the Rights and Duties of Nations. (Relative to Fugitives from Justice considered with reference to the Chesapeake case.)
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(An Appendix to this, 1808, is titled the 56th edition, and an Addition is made entitled, "Embargo on Common Sense, Taken off by U. S.") *
A satirical poem also appears beginning as follows:
"Hail Britannia, wondrous land, Whose floating bulwarks guard our strand
Or bear thy thunders o'er the wave And greatly deal thy bolts to save.
Cannon! Proclaim your sovereign might, And tell the world that power is right."
Report on Contested Elections in Belchertown 1811.
Address on "Principles of Free Masonry" Oct. 6, 1803 before St. John's Lodge, Boston.
Address, "Vindication of Free Masonry," Sept. 28, 1803 at Washington, N. H.
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