USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Andover > Necrology, 1890-1900 (Andover Theological Seminary) > Part 46
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treasurer of the J. C. Hoadley steam engine manufacturing company, 1875-78. He afterward resided in Brooklyn, N. Y .; until his death.
The Alumni Association, at its last annual meeting, June 7, 1899, sent Mr. Partridge a message of congratulations, that being his ninety-fifth birthday. He retained his scholarly tastes, reading, until he was past eighty-five years old, his Virgil every summer, and a chapter in his Greek Testament every Sunday. To his last year he kept the use of his faculties unimpaired, and an active interest in the progress of public events. The long life and strong char- acter of this man, the oldest of Andover's alumni, is doubtless due, in some measure, to his descent from successive generations of the best Puritan stock of Massachusetts and Connecticut - the Lyman, Huntington, Dwight, Strong, and Parsons families being among his ancestors, and one line on his father's side extending back to Rev. John Cotton of Boston, and Governor Simon Bradstreet of Andover. His mother was the daughter of Rev. Joseph Lyman, D. D., fifty-six years pastor at Hatfield, and the second president of the Amer- ican Board. A younger brother was Rev. George Cotton Partridge, of the Class of 1838, who died in 1893.
Rev. Richard S. Storrs, D. D., of Brooklyn, N. Y. (Class of 1845), pastor of the Church of the Pilgrims, with which Mr. Partridge had long been con- nected as member and deacon, sends the following tribute: "Gentleness and strength were remarkably combined in the mind and spirit of the beloved ' Deacon Partridge.' Descended from a long line of honorable and God- fearing ancestors, trained in a typical New England home and church of the early part of the century, educated in the best institutions of the time, and himself for many years occupying high educational positions, he was in his maturity, and indeed to the end of his long life, as fine an example as can be found of a cultivated, conscientious, faithful and honored Christian layman. The strong religious convictions, which one might almost say were his by in- heritance, certainly which had been wrought in him by assiduous training in childhood and youth, were steadfast and vital with him to the end -never before more sustaining and animating than in his last years; yet he was always most kindly in feeling and manner, most genial in intercourse with all who met him, to a noticeable degree sympathetic with states of mind widely different from his own, and always eager to put his conceptions of truth frankly and freely at the service of any who might inquire concerning them. The mission- ary spirit was central and urgent in him. He never forgot that his grandfather had been one of the early presidents of the American Board, but his love for that institution, and for its work, came not from this fact; it had descended upon him from the Saviour of the world, and was constantly renewed by all that he saw or learned of mankind. He therefore contributed effectively, systematically, to maintain and invigorate this spirit in the church - by regular and generous efforts of his own, by earnest appeals and prayers in the Chris- tian assemblies, and by earnest representations to individuals whom he could properly approach. As an officer of the church under my pastorate for many years, he was constantly near to my heart: patient and faithful in affectionate service to those in need; wise in counsel; diligent in the prompt performance of every duty ; as fully trusted and beloved by his associates in office, and by the church at large, as any officer whom I have ever known. The life of the Master had gone into his life. His profound and fervent convictions were the
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abounding source of his very unusual beauty of spirit. His name carried everywhere a savor of grace, whenever it was spoken; and he will not be for- gotten by those who here knew him till they meet him again, in his restored and perfected youth, in the realms celestial."
Mr. Partridge was married, August 9, 1837, to Zibiah Nelson Willson, daughter of Rev. Luther Willson, of Petersham, Mass., and Sally Bigelow. She survives him, with two sons, Col. John N. Partridge (a captain of the 24th Massa- chusetts Regiment in the Civil War), Superintendent of Public Works, State of New York, and Prof. Edward L. Partridge, M. D., of New York City. A son died at the age of four years.
Mr. Partridge died of old age, at Brooklyn, N. Y., February 4, 1900, aged ninety-five years, seven months, and twenty-eight days.
CLASS OF 1835.
Bela Fancher.
Son of David Fancher and Polly Sedgwick; born in Verona, Oneida County, N. Y., June 11, 1807; spent his early years at Bergen, N. Y .; fitted for college at Middlebury (N. Y.) Academy, and, under the private instruction of Rev. William Page (Class of 1823), at Fredonia, N. Y., and Rev. Herman Halsey (Class of 1815), at Bergen ; studied in Hamilton College one year, and completed his course at Middlebury College, 1831; studied in this Seminary, 1831-33, and 1834-35, being principal of Sheldon Academy, Southampton, Mass., for the intervening year. His Commencement address, September 2, 1835, was upon " Illustrations Indispensable to Plainness in Preaching." He was licensed to preach by the Andover Association, meeting with Rev. Samuel C. Jackson, at Andover, April 16, 1835. " I left Andover at the direction of the Home Missionary Society, and went West to Cincinnati, where were Dr. Beecher, Prof. Stowe, Rev. Henry Little, and others, who informed me of a destitute place at Troy, Ohio." He was ordained there by the Miami Presby- tery in October, 1836, and remained until 1842 ; pastor at North Bergen, N. Y., 1842-48; at Oakfield, N. Y., 1848-52, being also principal of Cary Collegiate Seminary at that place for two years; at Barre Centre, N. Y., 1852-55. He then removed to Homer, Mich., and resided there continuously until his death. He was the stated supply there, 1855-64, and principal of Homer Academy, 1855-58; was stated supply at Concord, 1866-69; county superintendent of schools, 1869-72; stated supply, Eckford, Mich., 1873-86.
He was three times chosen a Commissioner to the General Assembly. Rev. C. P. Quick, his successor at Concord, Mich., says: " In 1890, feeling that he was no longer able to do the work of a minister, he was, at his own request, honorably retired by the Presbytery of Lansing, of which he had been an honored member for a long term of years, and since that time has lived in retirement at Homer, respected and beloved by all his brethren in the Presby- tery and by all who know him in the Synod of Michigan for .these many years." From an obituary notice in the Homer Index, the following is taken : "Mr. Fancher had outlived all his near relatives, but in his last days he was tenderly cared for by those who were sincerely devoted to him. In living to such a goodly old age, Mr. Fancher was an example of what careful observance of the laws of health may accomplish. In early life his health was delicate, and
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it was thought that his life on earth must be brief. But with resolute determi- nation he went to work to build up his bodily strength, and then by taking the best care of his health he was permitted to enter his ninety-third year. Mr. Fancher was a man of marked ability, scholarly, cultured; his mind was clear, logical, and thoroughly trained. As a preacher, he was sound in his faith, able and forcible." A layman in Michigan, who knew him well, writes : " He was a strong man, physically and mentally. He stood to the people of Homer as an exemplar of rectitude, probity, godliness, temperance, and of all that goes to make up in full measure a Christian citizen." In one of his recent letters Mr. Fancher himself wrote: " I have never been without charge nor lost a Sabbath unemployed, except when, in 1862, I left a few weeks and went down to Missis- sippi to obtain the body of my son, who died in the army. . .. You see the infirmities of age are upon me -a few more days of work. a few more oppor- tunities of meeting in the church below. The inheritance before me, which I have accepted and which I have offered in Christ's name to others, is almost in sight."
Mr. Fancher was married, September 6, 1835, to Lovina Allen, of Fayston, Vt., daughter of Erastus Allen and Paulina Wilder. She died April 30, 1851. He married, second, in November, 1851, Mrs. Charlotte Fowler, daughter of Ezra Coan and Fanny M. Hull, and widow of Dr. Isaac D. Fowler, of Byron, N. Y. (She was a niece of Dr. Titus Coan, of the Sandwich Islands Mission, and sister of Rev. Dr. George W. Coan, of the Nestorian Mission.) She died August 29, 1894. Three daughters died in childhood, and one while a teacher in Woodstock College, Canada, in 1874. His only son, David Brainerd, of the 2d Michigan_Cavalry, died in army hospital, at Pittsburgh Landing, Tenn., in 1862.
Mr. Fancher died of old age, at Homer, Mich., November 29, 1899, aged ninety-two years, five months, and eighteen days.
OLASS OF 1837.
John Wesley Merrill, D. D.
Son of Rev. Joseph Annis Merrill (for many years a presiding elder in the Methodist Church) and Hannah Jewett (daughter of Rev. Nathaniel Jewett, a Calvinist Baptist preacher); born in Chester, N. H., May 9, 1808; prepared for college at the Wesleyan Academy, Newmarket, N. H. (at that time his home), at the same academy when removed to Wilbraham, Mass., and at the Maine Wesleyan Seminary, Kent's Hill, Me .; studied medicine one year ; was in Bowdoin College two years, and graduated at Wesleyan University in 1834 ; took the full course in this Seminary, 1834-37 ; graduated September 6, 1837, the subject of his Commencement address being "The Characteristics of Rationalism (so called) as developed in the Interpretation of the Scriptures." He was licensed as a local preacher in 1830, was ordained deacon in the Methodist Episcopal Church, by Bishop Andrews, at New Haven, Conn., May 11, 1834, and as elder, by Bishop Soule, at Alton, Ill., September 10, 1838. He was president of McKendree College, Lebanon, Ill., 1837-41. He then came to Massachusetts, and was successively pastor at East Boston, 1841-42; Ashburnham, 1842-43; South Boston, 1843-44; Boston Highlands,
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1844-46; Lynn Common, 1846-48; Dorchester, 1848-50; East Cambridge, 1850-52; Saxonville, 1852-54. He was professor of Natural and Historical Theology and of Mental and Moral Philosophy in the Methodist General Biblical Institute, Concord, N. H., from 1854 to 1868, the School being then removed and reorganized as the Boston Theological Seminary, now a part of Boston University. He was then pastor at Quincy Point, Mass., 1868-69; Southampton, Mass., 1869-70; Ludlow, Mass., 1871-72. In 1873 he took up his residence at Concord, N. H., preached at Bow, N. H., 1873-74, and was afterward without charge till his death.
He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from McKendree College in 1844. While pastor at Lynn he was chairman of the School Committee, and instrumental in the establishment of the High School; while at East Cam- bridge, was chaplain of the Middlesex jail. Rev. Franklin D. Ayer, D. D. (Class of 1859), for thirty years pastor at Concord, sends this tribute : " Pro- fessor Merrill was built for service. His strong body he regarded as a gift for work, and every capacity of mind he held obedient to the call of God and his fellowmen. He felt that God's messenger should be a man of clear vision, and therefore held to an educated ministry, and devoted his efforts to uplifting the intellectual and spiritual tone of the preachers. He was also anxious that the whole people be leveled upward, and that educational privileges should be opened to all. He enjoyed the fellowship of educated men, and was specially helpful in giving counsel to young ministers and encouraging them in every earnest endeavor. His religious spirit was marked by deep humility, reverence, and faith. He had deep convictions as to the necessity of trust in Christ for salvation, and to him that trust was certain victory. Diligent and conscientious in his work, he was always loyal to the great doctrines of the cross, for which he chiefly cared and which he desired simply and earnestly to preach. He was a man of excellent judgment and practical ability. He heartily loved the church of his choice, and left a long and noble record of service to it."
Dr. Merrill was married, August 17, 1842, to Emily Huse, of Newburyport, Mass., daughter of Enoch Huse and Hannah Woodman. She died August 13, 1886. He left three sons : Charles A. Merrill (Wesleyan University, Columbian and Harvard Law Schools), lawyer in Worcester, Mass .; Edward A. Merrill (Albany Law School), Concord, N. H .; Col. Elijah H. Merrill (West Point and Harvard Law School), in business, San Francisco, Cal .; John W. Merrill, M. D. (Dartmouth Medical College), died in 1884, and a daughter, Mary Emily Merrill, in 1890; two sons died in infancy.
Dr. Merrill died of gastric catarrh, at Concord, N. H., February 9, 1900, aged ninety-one years and nine months.
John Pike, D. D.
Son of Richard Pike and Mary Boardman; born in Newburyport, Mass., July 3, 1813; fitted for college under Alfred W. Pike, at Newburyport Acad- emy and at Warren Academy, Woburn; graduated at Bowdoin College, 1833, delivering the " Philosophical Disquisition " on "The Mechanical Character of the Present Age; " took the full course in this Seminary, 1834-37, his Com- mencement address, September 6, 1837, being upon the "Sublimity of the Scheme of Redemption." He was licensed to preach by the Newburyport
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Presbytery, April 26, 1837, and ordained by the same, in the Second Presby- terian Church, Newburyport, April 25, 1838. He was acting pastor of the North church in Falmouth, Mass., 1837-40, but declined a settlement there. He was installed as pastor of the church in Rowley, Mass., November 18, 1840, the sermon being preached by Rev. Daniel Dana, D. D., of Newburyport, for over fifty years a trustee of this Seminary. He resigned this pastorate in 1868, but continued his residence in Rowley until his death, occasionally supplying neighboring churches - the Linebrook church in Ipswich, for several months, 1870-71 - and officiating as chaplain of the House of Correction at Ipswich from 1875 to 1893.
He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Bowdoin College in 1866, of which institution he was an overseer, 1863-87. He was also a trustee of Hartford Theological Seminary, 1865-75; of Dummer Academy, 1843-95, being president of the Board for forty-two years. He was one of the founders of the Board of Ministerial aid in 1868, and during his active life one of its executive committee. He published three Thanksgiving discourses, in 1844, 1846, and 1855, the last being Delivered before Poore's Rifle Guards, from " The sword of the Lord and of Gideon ; " also the Election Sermon in 1857, three anniversary sermons, 1848, 1862, and 1865, and a book issued by the Massa- chusetts Sabbath School Society in 1858, The Bud, Blossom, and Fruit. He was one of the associate editors of the Boston Review, started in 1861. A chronic affection of the optic nerve compelled him to depend upon the eyes of others in his Seminary course and during most of the years of his pastoral ser- vice; for thirty years he had been unable to recognize the faces of his own family, and for the last fifteen years of his life he was totally blind.
Rev. John N. Lowell, of Haverhill, Mass. (Class of 1876), who owned Dr. Pike as his spiritual father, and who made one of the addresses at his funeral, sends this tribute : "My acquaintance with Dr. Pike began at Dummer Acad- emy in 1867, and ripened into a friendship interrupted only by his death. He followed me through all the years of my school and ministerial life, blessed me with his wise counsels, was a regular visitor in my home, and preached annually in my pulpit. He was a diligent student, preparing his sermons with great care, even to the last, and was a most interesting and persuasive preacher, his manner and diction possessing a rare grace and charm. He was unusually gifted in prayer; his devotions in the home were a continual benediction, so full of power, tenderness, and trust. He had the Bible read through to him each year. He was a sympathetic, patient, loving, faithful pastor. He loved the children of his charge, gathering them at his home, addressing them at Sunday School concerts with rare felicity, by personal word, by letter, in every way seeking to have them love the Saviour. He was a thoroughly Christian gentleman, everywhere and always; a benevolent man, always giving; a man of gentleness and patience ; a gifted servant of God ; a choice spirit, filling honorably every position to which he was called in a long and eminently useful career."
Rev. S. Hopkins Emery, D. D., of Taunton, Mass., writes : " The class of 1837 in Andover Seminary was the largest the institution ever had. Of those who finished the course, only two are left [Dr. J. W. Merrill, of Concord, N. H., since deceased, and Dr. Emery]. A third, Dr. John Pike, has just joined the many who have gone before. A classmate's remembrance of him in
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the Seminary life is a great joy. He was a consecrated youth, who gave promise of the long and useful ministry which endeared him to the people of God. Although the outward vision failed him, the spiritual vision was clear and unclouded." Rev. D. T. Fiske, D. D., of Newburyport, Mass. (Class of 1846), writes : “ Dr. Pike was a man greatly beloved ; conservative in his relig- ious views, but charitable toward those who differed from him. His large and warm heart made him an excellent pastor. The flavor of originality made his preaching peculiarly attractive. He loved to preach, and for several years after he became blind went to Ipswich regularly on the Sabbath that he might tell the story of the cross to the inmates of the county house. During the last years of his life, in spite of his total blindness, he was serene and cheerful, and when the end came he sweetly fell asleep, to wake amid those glorious realities, of which he long had entrancing visions."
From the tribute of Rev. John D. Kingsbury, D. D., of Bradford, Mass. (Class of 1856), published in the Congregationalist, these extracts are added : " His speech was graceful and strong, mingling Saxon phrase with sturdy words of Latin origin, and his sentences flowing with natural rhythm ; his discourse was earnest, logical, clear, often enriched with rare, poetic conceptions and imagery; he spoke with the sober earnestness of his convictions, pressing his appeals with all the tenderness and pathos of his great soul. . .. He was the neighbor, loving and beloved, of Withington, Dana, Stearns, Henry B. Smith, Dimmick, Perry, Munroe, Hosford, Seeley, Spalding, Braman, Campbell, Shedd, and others, whose memory is a lasting benediction; with them he took sweet counsel on earth, and with them he now enjoys the eternal fellow- ship of heaven. . .. For many years he preached the gospel to those in prison. Surely the Master who looked down upon the churches and assemblies in old Ipswich, beheld no more beautiful worship than when this blind preacher spread out the hopes and promises of the gospel to the children of sorrow and sin."
Dr. Pike was married, August 11, 1841, to Deborah Adams, of Newbury, Mass., daughter of Col. Daniel Adams and Mary Adams. She died December 30, 1893. "They had no child, but one who came into their home and won their hearts, and in later time, in every care and ministry, was a daughter indeed."
He died of bronchial pneumonia, at Rowley, Mass., September 20, 1899, aged eighty-six years, two months, and seventeen days.
Ebenezer Greenleaf Parsons. (Non-graduate.)
Son of Capt. Jotham Parsons and Olive Greenleaf ; born in Westport (then a part of Edgecomb), Me., May 15, 1813; the family removing to Wis- casset, Me., when he was a child, he fitted for college at Wiscasset Academy, and under the tuition of Rev. Dr. Hezekiah Packard; graduated at Bowdoin College, 1833; taught in Reading, Pa., 1833-34; studied in this Seminary, 1834-35, and completed his course at Bangor Seminary, graduating in 1837. He was licensed to preach by the Penobscot Association, at Bangor, in April, 1837, and was ordained pastor of First Congregational Church at Freeport, Me., October 4, 1837, remaining there until 1851; was then pastor of the First Congregational, now Central, Church, Derry, N. H., 1851-69; principal of
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Pinkerton Academy at Derry, 1869-72 ; principal of Dummer Academy, Byfield, Mass., 1872-82 ; afterward resided, without charge, at Derry, N. H., until his death.
Mr. Parsons was one of the Overseers of Bowdoin College from 1864 to 1899, and member of the Board of Trustees of Pinkerton Academy from 1853, being president of the Board since 1882. He was a member of the New Hamp- shire Historical Society and of the American Philological Association. He served in the U. S. Christian Commission in the early summer of 1864, when the Army of the Potomac was fighting its way through the wilderness. He edited Commemorative Services at the Semi-Centennial of Pinkerton Academy, 1866.
Rev. Theodore C. Pratt, of Candia, N. H. (Class of 1871), sends the fol- lowing tribute: "I have known Mr. Parsons since the spring of 1859. Our acquaintance began when he was in his prime, and I was just entering the ministry. He was stimulating to me from the beginning. He was by nature a peacemaker, pouring oil upon the bearings of the machinery of ministerial life. He was quick to perceive excellencies in his brethren, swift to praise, and slow to censure. He was genial in social life, adding to the pleasure of his associates by many a kind word and deed. This was the result of a deeply loving nature. Love was the mainspring of his actions, and this tender feeling seemed to increase with age. To my mind he resembled the Apostle John more than any man I have ever known."
From a sketch of Mr. Parsons in the Derry News, written by Rev. H. B. Putnam of Derry, his successor in the pastorate, a few sentences are quoted : " As a teacher he was thorough and exact in scholarship, and by his personal interest in his pupils he drew them to himself, and by his own noble character helped lift them to nobler ideals of life. He was a man of strong, logical mind, of wide reading, careful observation, and varied culture, so that his opinions were well taken, highly valued, and firmly held. As a pastor, he combined, in a rare degree, the excellent traits of the typical New England minister. The later years of his life being spent among the people of his parish, he entered heartily into all the activities of their religious and social life. His piety over- spread his entire life. He was cheerful, hopeful, and sunny ; all welcomed his approach and were glad of his society."
Rev. Cyrus Hamlin, D. D., LL. D., of Lexington, Mass., the last surviving classmate of Mr. Parsons at Bangor, sends this note : " In common language we may say of E. G. Parsons that he was a faultless man. I was somewhat intimate with him three years in college and two years in Seminary, and I can- not recall a single word or deed not consistent with the highest Christian character. In a very kind, affectionate letter, written but a few days before his death, he refers to the great change as of necessity near, and says, ' I leave it entirely at the disposal of my Heavenly Father, who doeth all things well.'"
Mr. Parsons was married, July 19, 1840, to Caroline Mellen Nye, of Free- port, Me., daughter of Nathan Nye, Esq., and Hannah Lasell. She died January 1, 1862. He married, second, July 11, 1865, Sarah Dana McMillan, of Danville, Vt., daughter of Hon. Andrew McMillan and Emily Eunice Dana. She survives him, with two daughters, one daughter having died in childhood.
Mr. Parsons died of organic heart disease, at Derry, N. H., aged eighty-six years, eleven months, and ten days.
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OLASS OF 1838.
Samuel Harris, D. D., LL. D.
Son of Josiah Harris, Esq. (Clerk of the Courts for Washington county) and Lucy Talbot; born in East Machias, Me., June 14, 1814; prepared for col- lege at Washington Academy, East Machias; graduated at Bowdoin College, 1838, his Commencement oration being on "The General Dissemination of Truth ;" principal of Limerick (Me.) Academy, 1833-34, and of Washington Academy, 1834-35; took the full course in this Seminary, 1835-38, his gradu- ating address, September 5, 1838, being upon the "Salutary Influence of the Simple Truth." He was licensed to preach by the Andover Association, meeting with Dr. Justin Edwards at Andover, April 10, 1838. He was again principal of Washington Academy, 1838-41, and was ordained as pastor at Conway, Mass., December 22, 1841, Rev. Daniel Crosby, of Charlestown, Mass. (Class of 1826), preaching the sermon. He remained in Conway until 1851 ; was pastor of the Second Church, Pittsfield, Mass., 1851-55; professor of Systematic Theology, Bangor Theological Seminary (acting also, jointly with Prof. George Shepard, Class of 1827, for eight years, as pastor of Central Church), 1855-67 ; president of Bowdoin College and professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy, 1867-71; Dwight professor of Systematic Theology, Yale Divinity School, 1871-95; professor emeritus afterward until his death.
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