USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Andover > Necrology, 1890-1900 (Andover Theological Seminary) > Part 50
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George Leon Walker, D. D. (Resident licentiate.)
Son of Rev. Charles Walker, D. D. (Class of 1821), and Lucretia Ambrose ; born in Rutland, Vt., April 30, 1830; studied in the public schools at Brattle- boro and privately at Pittsford, Vt., where his father's pastorates succeeded that in Rutland; prevented by ill health from entering college, he read and studied widely in philosophy and literature; occupied a clerkship in the office of his uncle, Hon. Amasa Walker, Secretary of State, Boston, 1850-53, prose- cuting, at the same time, the study of law. Deciding to enter the ministry, he studied theology in his father's library at Pittsford, Vt., and after being licensed to preach by the Rutland Association, at Castleton, Vt., August 31, 1857, attended lectures in this Seminary, 1857-58. He was ordained pastor of the State Street Church, Portland, Me., October 13, 1858, and continued in office until October, 1867 ; was pastor of First Church, New Haven, Ct., suc- ceeding Dr. Leonard Bacon (Class of 1823), 1868-73; traveled in Europe, 1873-74; resided in Brattleboro, Vt. (part of the time acting pastor of Centre Church there), 1874-79; was pastor of First Church, Hartford, Ct., 1879-92, and pastor emeritus afterward until his death.
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He received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Middlebury Col- lege in 1858, and that of Doctor of Divinity from Yale College in 1870, and was made a Fellow of the University in 1887. He published History of the First Church in Hartford, 1884; Thomas Hooker : Preacher, Founder, Demo- crat, 1891 ; Some Aspects of the Religious Life of New England, a course of lectures before Hartford Seminary in 1896. Beside these there are preserved in print fifty sermons and addresses (thirty of them delivered in Hartford), nearly all of permanent historical value; a few titles only are quoted : The Offered National Regeneration, Portland, 1861; On the Death of President Gar- field, 1881; Commemorative of Rev. Dr. Leonard Bacon, 1882 ; At 250th Anni- versary of First Church, Hartford, 1883; Men and Women of the Church, Centennial Observance, Pittsford, Vt., 1885; The Witness to the Founders' Faith, 75th Anniversary of American Board, 1885; At 117th Anniversary, Governor's Foot Guard, Hartford, 1888; The Earth Teaches, 1890; From Scrooby to Plymouth, 1891; Ali them that sail with thee, 1891; Our Humble Associates, 1891; Diary of Rev. Daniel Wadsworth, Seventh Pastor of First Church, Hartford, with Notes by Fourteenth Pastor, 1894; Capture of Louis- bourg, 1895; The Old Hartford Burying- Ground, 1895. He was a member of the Creed Commission of 1883, and chairman of the Committee of Nine, appointed by the American Board in 1889. He was one of the Visitors of Andover Seminary, 1888-97, succeeding Dr. Julius H. Seelye as President of the Board in 1890.
Rev. George N. Boardman, D. D., LL. D., of New York (Class of 1852), whose early home, like Dr. Walker's, was in Pittsford, Vt., and intimately connected with him in later life, sends this tribute : " Dr. Walker was a person of marked individuality from his youth. His tall, slender form, his flushed cheeks and otherwise pallid face indicated physical frailty not needing interpre- tation. From the age of sixteen it seemed almost certain that pulmonary disease had fastened upon him. It was really chronic pleurisy, from which he was never wholly free. It was at this time that he turned his attention to the subject of religion, and in 1848 united with his father's church at Pittsford. His religious experience was of a somewhat melancholic hue, fostered by the Imitatio Christi and such like books. Later, a typhoid fever left him with a lameness that was never entirely overcome. In after times, on occasions of depressed health, he was forced to resort to ,his crutches, and sometimes in preaching, notably at New Haven, to occupy a seat prepared for him in the pulpit. The four years succeeding his stay in Boston were spent mostly at his father's home. This was the period of his special intellectual culture. Contin- ually threatened with lung disease, often moving about with crutch and cane, he delved year after year, reading the poets and acquiring that mastery of the English language which enabled him to marshal words in such a way as to make them servants of his thought and will.
"Very soon after his settlement as a pastor he developed qualities beside those of a preacher which attracted attention. He was a citizen as well as a minister. He sent forth ringing utterances in the Civil War, and took active part in questions concerning public schools. He was often called upon to take part in important councils and in measures and movements connected with home and foreign missions. . . . On a review of his life, his character, as a whole, stands out before the minds of his friends with great distinctness. They
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are impressed with the power of his intellect, especially its quick and accurate intuitions; with the power of his imagination, imparting fervid life to historic scenes as well as natural objects; with his acute æsthetic sensibility; with his persistency in purpose and effort; and with the dominant good sense that controlled all his actions. But when all things are considered - the illnesses of early life, the interruptions, because of physical infirmities, in his profes- sional career, those last three and a half years of disablement from locomotion and speech - his friends are impressed most of all, perhaps, by his courageous and patient endurance."
Dr. Walker was married, September 16, 1858, to Maria Williston, of Brattleboro, Vt., daughter of Nathan B. Williston and Margaret Miller. She died August 31, 1865. He married, second, September 15, 1870, Amelia Read Larned, of New Haven, Ct., daughter of George Larned and Maria Read, of Thompson, Ct. She died October 30, 1898. Prof. Williston Walker, D. D., of Hartford Theological Seminary, is the only surviving son, a younger son having died at the age of seven years.
Dr. Walker died of pneumonia, at Hartford, Ct., March 14, 1900, aged sixty-nine years, ten months, and fourteen days.
CLASS OF 1859.
Robert Samuel. (Non-graduate.)
Son of James Samuel and Elizabeth Stevenson; born in Paisley, Scotland. June 18, 1818; at the age of twenty-one came to America, joining a settlement of his countrymen in Barnet, Vt., where his parents also came two years later ; fitted for college at the academies in Peacham and Danville, Vt .; graduated at Dartmouth College in 1856, having taught school while in his college course at West Barnstable, Mass .; studied in this Seminary, 1856-58, graduating at Chicago Theological Seminary, 1859. He was ordained as an evangelist in New Rutland, Ill., November 3, 1859, and was acting pastor there and at Nebraska, Ill., 1859-60; at Wataga, Ill., 1860-61 ; taught in Brewster, Mass., 1861-63; acting pastor, West Yarmouth, Mass., 1863-65; West Hawley, Mass., 1865-70; West Cummington, Mass., 1870-72; Weston, Vt., 1872-75; pastor, Cawker City, Kan., 1876-79; without charge there, 1879-82; after a visit to California, acting pastor, West Barnstable, Mass., 1883-86; a severe railroad accident in Illinois, in 1889, disenabling him from further public service, he was afterward without charge, residing at Brewster, Mass., 1886-97; Dorchester, Mass., 1897-98 ; Beachmont and Wellesley, Mass., 1898-99.
Rev. George W. Sargent, of Ann Arbor, Mich., a college and seminary classmate, and roommate at Andover, writes: "Brother Samuel was to me a much appreciated friend, as I came to know him fully. His absolute adherence to principle in some things which might be called peculiar, his sturdy force of character, strong orthodoxy, and withal very earnest investigation of stated truths, I greatly respected. He was an habitual disputant in theology, priding himself upon his 'old school' attitude, and therefore not rarely opposed to Professor Park's lectures -as were some of the rest of us, though in less degree. When we returned from our first attempts to preach in destitute places we compared impressions, and I remember his statement, that still conforming
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to his old opinions he found that he preached to people very much as Professor Park taught us. Samuel was a through and through Christian, and although nearly every classmate may have come in clash with him upon one or more points, no one failed to appreciate his strength of mind or truth of soul. I never ceased to wonder at the force of the man who, with small means, ad- vanced age (forty years old when in the Seminary), weak health, and hindrances of education, of which he often spoke, still wrought his way to the ministry. I never knew him after we left Andover."
Rev. William R. Joyslin, of Taunton, Mass. (Class of 1861), adds the fol- lowing : " As a college classmate I knew Mr. Samuel most intimately. I know that I express the sentiment of his class when I say that he was a good man. By virtue of his age, office, style, and disposition, he was a good father to us all. He exercised his authority as monitor with a cheerful gravity, out of a kind heart, and always for the good of the boys. He was a good scholar, a genial companion, a faithful and true minister. The sturdy Scotch qualities of his character served him well all through life, so that he worked his way into and through college and seminary, and was useful, respected, and beloved in his calling. Kind hands ministered to him in the infirmities of his later years, and now he rests from his labors, a good and faithful servant of the Lord."
Mr. Samuel was married, August 5, 1858, to Lucy Alley, of West Barn- stable, Mass., daughter of Capt Moses Alley and Lucy Jenkins. She died November 4, 1896. One son died in 1893, and another is a business man in Brooklyn, N. Y. A daughter, Dr. Elizabeth I. Samuel, a graduate of Mt. Holyoke Seminary, and of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, has been for twelve years a teacher in the New England Conservatory of Music, and now health officer of that institution.
Mr. Samuel died of grip, at Wellesley, Mass., October 17, 1899, aged eighty-one years, three months, and twenty-nine days.
CLASS OF 1861.
Walter Scott Alexander, D. D.
Son of Col. William Alexander and Susan Day ; born in Killingly, Ct., August 29, 1835; fitted for college at Worcester (Mass.) Academy and Pierce Academy, Middleboro, Mass .; graduated at Yale College, 1858; took the full course in this Seminary, 1858-61, his Commencement address, August 1, 1861, being upon "The Exorbitant Demands made by Opposers of the Truth." He was licensed to preach by the Woburn Association, at Wilmington, Mass., January 15, 1861, and was ordained pastor at Pomfret, Ct., November 22, 1861, Professor Park preaching the sermon, and remained there until 1866. He was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Racine, Wis., 1866-72; mis- sionary of the American Board in Italy, caring for several churches of " The Free Church of Italy " in Florence and vicinity. Returning to the United States, he served as acting pastor of the Pomfret Church, 1874-76, and for eight years, 1876-84, labored among the colored people of New Orleans, be- ing pastor of the Central Church, professor of Theology in Straight University, and for seven years its president. From 1884-1886, he supplied, succes- sively, the church at Hyde Park, the North Avenue Church at Cambridge, the Rollstone Church at Fitchburg, and the Winthrop Church at Charlestown, during the absences of their pastors. He was pastor of the North Avenue
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Church, Cambridge, 1886-90, and of the Clinton Street Immanuel Church (Presbyterian), Philadelphia, 1891-97, residing afterward in Cambridge.
He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Beloit College in 1880. He was secretary of the New Orleans Academy of Sciences, and was honorary member of the historical societies of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, and at the time of his death had just been elected member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, on nomination of the late Rev. E. G. Porter, president of the Society. He published a Commemorative Address on the 150th Anniversary of the First Church, Pomfret, Ct., and several me- morial sermons. In 1864 he was for several months in the service of the Christian Commission in the Army of the Potomac.
Rev. A. S. Twombly, D. D., of Newton, Mass. (Class of 1858), an intimate friend of Dr. Alexander, writes of him: "The statistics of his faithful and valuable career give but a faint idea of a lifetime devoted to the interests of Christ's kingdom and the good of humanity. With a wide scope for the em- ployment of his rare intellectual gifts, and a nature fitted for genial companion- ship; with dignity, courtesy, and ability to serve in many and varied pursuits, Dr. Alexander had the faculty of making warm friends, of commending the divine truths of the gospel, and of living as well as teaching the surpassing value of things which are eternal. As noble in self-restraint and conciliation as in aggressive Christian work, he won the hearts of young and old Above all, his firm, sweet faith in the Redeemer of men has crowned his life with blessings to himself and his immediate friends, while diffusing over the wide circles of his parishioners and acquaintances the glow of a personality attractive, elevat- ing, and pure. Calm and serene, when he realized that the end was approach- ing, he said to his daughter, 'Two things are eternal - the Saviour's love, and my love for you.' His memory, fragrant and bringing forth the fruits of holi- ness, will long survive in the hearts of all who have known him, and his name will be a synonym of 'whatsoever things are honest, lovely, and of good report.' "
Rev. Alexander McKenzie, D. D., of Cambridge, a Seminary classmate, writes : "Dr. Alexander was one of the best men, and best friends, I have known. His service has been long and varied. In all positions he has used an admirable fidelity. Whether as preacher or teacher, he has done, day by day, the best work which he could do. He has adorned his profession by his learning and ability, and by a blameless life, full of generous kindness, and rich in faith and truth. He has had his full share of disappointments, but he has never failed in bravery and constancy, or in a rare quietness of heart. In the highest sense of the term, he was by nature and by choice the gentleman. He was a good minister, a large-minded Christian, a loyal and loving friend. In all the class, I think, there was no spirit more beautiful than his."
Dr. Alexander was married, May 15, 1866, to Constance Eldredge, of Pomfret, Ct., daughter of Hon. Edward Eldredge and Hannah Grosvenor. She died September 14, 1898. He leaves one daughter, Constance Grosvenor Alexander, a teacher in the Latin School, Cambridge. A son, Walter Eldredge Alexander, died at the age of seven in Florence, Italy, and was buried in the old cemetery where are the graves of Mrs. Browning and Theodore Parker.
Dr. Alexander died of cancer, at Cambridge, Mass., May 15, 1900, aged sixty-four years, eight months, and sixteen days.
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William McLeod Barbour, D. D.
Son of Thomas Barbour and Madelina McLeod; born in Fochabers, Morayshire, Scotland, May 29, 1827; received his early education in the schools of his native town; while working in Aberdeen, met an Oberlin student and resolved to come to America for an education; while working in London, 1849-51, attended the meetings of President Finney at Whitefield's Tab- ernacle, and sailed with him on packet ship to New York in 1851; after two years more of work in New York went to Oberlin and entered the Preparatory Department there, continuing in the college course till junior year (receiving afterward his degree as of Class of 1859) ; preached in vacation seasons at Amherstburg, Can .; took the full course in this Semi- nary, 1858-61 ; graduated August 1, 1861, his Commencement address being upon " Agency of the Truth in Regeneration." He was licensed to preach by the Andover Association, meeting with Rev. L. H. Cobb (Class of 1857), at North Andover, February 12, 1861, and ordained pastor of the First Church, South Danvers (now Peabody), Mass., October 2, 1861, Professor Park preach- ing the sermon (on "The Imprecatory Psalms, viewed in the light of the Southern Rebellion," afterward published in substance in the Bibliotheca Sacra). Remaining in South Danvers until 1868, he was professor of Sacred Rhetoric in Bangor Theological Seminary, 1868-75, also of Systematic Theology, 1873-77, and one of preachers at First Church, Bangor, 1868-70, and 1874-77. He was Chittenden professor of Divinity and college pastor, Yale University, 1877-87, also acting professor of Homiletics and the Pastoral Charge in the Yale Divinity School, 1879-85; principal of the Congregational College of Canada, at Montreal, and professor of Systematic Theology and Homiletics, 1887-97; afterward residing without charge at Malden, Mass., until his death.
He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Bowdoin College in 1870. He was a corporate member of the American Board, 1880-98. Sev- eral of his discourses were published, including : Methods of Providence, before American Education Society, 1868; Christ as a Preacher, before Maine Mis- sionary Society, 1874; The Unfailing Virtue, before American Missionary Association, 1875; Thy Neighbor as Thyself, before American Board, 1883; The Open Hand, before Congregational Union, at Kingston, Can., 1890. Rev. Calvin Cutler, of Auburndale, Mass., a Seminary classmate, writes of Professor Barbour : " When he came to Andover, he made an impression upon us that he was more mature than most of us, having had a valuable experience in city missionary work. He was already qualified in good degree to expound and illustrate the Scripture, and knew how to speak a word in season to him that was weary. He was a good theologian, but above all a good preacher. His style was racy, but not flippant. When a quaint remark dropped from his lips, he was not drawn away from the serious thought he wished to impress. He seemed always to have in mind to do good by his preaching, and in this he was eminently successful."
Rev. Prof. John S. Sewall, D. D., of Bangor Theological Seminary, sends this tribute to his former associate : "Professor Barbour was a popular teacher, revered and beloved by his classes. He was still more a preacher, earnest, sincere, incisive, and interesting. His Scotch familiarity with the Bible and his love of it were always apparent, and gave a fine Scriptural flavor
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to his sermons. During the nine years of his work in Bangor Seminary, he was in constant demand to supply vacant pulpits in all the larger cities and towns of Maine, and often in Massachusetts. His sermons were enriched with telling illustration, and were delivered with unction, which was often made the more impressive by his Scotch idiom and pronunciation. In per- sonal character he was a sincere and conscientious Christian, a cordial friend, an intelligent observer of affairs, fond of wit; and carrying with him every- where the atmosphere of a man of God and a man of prayer. He was much esteemed in Bangor, and when Yale called him away, the names of a large number of our most influential citizens were affixed to a petition urging him to remain. He worked too continuously and intensely for his physical well-being, and broke down earlier than he ought; but he left his mark on many classes of students, on many communities, and on many individual lives. I will add that having, at the time of Mr. Barbour's ordination at South Danvers, just been settled in a parish close by [Wenham, Mass.], I happened to be scribe of the Council, and from that day began a friendship which has grown more intimate and more valuable through all the years since."
Prof. Franklin B. Dexter, of Yale University, writes: "Dr. Barbour came to us in all the fullness of his powers, and filled the difficult position of college preacher for ten years with remarkable success. A certain quaint simplicity of diction and originality of treatment marked all his pulpit services, and held in an unusual degree the attention of the students, while the older portion of his audience found his preaching rich in spiritual strength and comfort. In the pastoral relation to the families of the college church, he delighted to respond to all opportunities of service, and those who still remain of this little company cherish his memory with gratitude and affection. As we knew him, his transparent goodness, humility, gentleness, and Christian faith left an unvarying impression."
A touching tribute may be added from across the Atlantic, copied from the local newspaper of his native town in Scotland: " At the close of the fore- noon service in the Free Church, Rev. Mr. Gray announced the death of Dr. Barbour, a distinguished American divine, who throughout a very busy life in the land of his adoption, ever cherished the warmest affection for his native village and its people. When on his death-bed he asked his wife to give his love to all the people of Fochabers. Mr. Gray alluded feelingly to the death of Dr. Barbour, and made public this message of his love. He paid several visits to his native land - the last, some twelve years ago, when he conducted very impressive services in the Parish and Free Churches. His striking figure in the pulpit, and his eloquent and touching sermons, linger still in the memo- ries of many of his hearers."
He was married, January 8, 1857, to Eliza Ann Ransom, of Cleveland, O. (a classmate at Oberlin), daughter of Reuben Ransom and Elizabeth Ehle. She survives him, with four sons and one daughter, one daughter having died in infancy. The sons are all graduates of Yale University; one is a lawyer, the others in business.
He died of apoplexy, due to cerebral softening, at Malden, Mass., Decem- ber 5, 1899, aged seventy-two years, six months, and six days.
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Augustus Berry. (Resident licentiate.)
Son of Washington Berry and Maria Dale; born in Concord, N. H., October 7, 1824; prepared for college at Francestown (N. H.) Academy; grad- uated at Amherst College, 1851; was principal of Limerick (Me.) Academy, 1851-53; of Lyndon (Vt.) Academy, 1853-55; of Appleton Academy (now McCollom Institute), Mt. Vernon, N. H., 1855-60. While at Mt. Vernon (October 2, 1856) he was licensed to preach by the Hollis Association, and often supplied the pulpit in that and neighboring towns. He studied in this Seminary as resident licentiate, 1860-61, and was ordained as pastor of the church in Pelham, N. H., October 30, 1861, remaining there until his death, nearly thirty-eight years.
For a large part of this long period Mr. Berry was superintendent of the public schools in Pelham, and gave to that office much time and thought. " He felt that in this capacity he was doing a work for the young that he could accomplish in no other way. He carried the children of the schools on his mind and in his prayer. To teachers, especially those of little experience, he was kindness and help personified. The good work he accomplished for the schools of his town can never be estimated." He wrote the history of Pelham for the History of Hillsborough County, and published two sermons: The National Thanksgiving, 1864; In Commemoration of the Fathers, 1888. The tributes to the gracious character and quiet, faithful usefulness of this good man come from various sources.
Rev. Charles L. Merriam, of Lowell (Class of 1882), writes : "The mere mention of Mr. Berry's pastorate of nearly forty years speaks volumes. He was distinctively a village preacher, and as such was most happy and contented. Though somewhat remote from populous centres, he never drifted into careless- ness as to his studies or indifference to his work. He had a high standard and held himself rigidly to it. He kept in touch with the newest books and freshest thoughts. He was not a demonstrative man ; his was a gentle, retiring spirit, thoroughly unselfish and generous. He was a Christly man, without guile, thoroughly devoted to his ministry and faithful to his stewardship. . Out in the field and in God's sunshine he passed away to the fields of Eden and to the sunshine of the Eternal Day."
Rev. Samuel L. Gerould, D. D., of Hollis, N. H., the Statistical Secretary of the New Hampshire churches, sends the following : " A somewhat intimate acquaintance with Mr. Berry for over thirty years has shown me these things about him. He was one who never grew old; in his thinning hair and slower step a stranger might have thought him advancing in years, but when he came to know him, in his feelings and in his preaching, he would find him as fresh and young as years ago. He was a scholarly man, keeping abreast of the times in his reading and study, the crisp freshness of his sermons so attracting his people that they always preferred to hear him preach than to listen to a stranger. He was a loveable man - John, the beloved disciple - not needing to tell his people or his brethren that he loved them, for they could see that he did. He was a spiritually minded man, walking so closely with God that his very face shone when he came from His presence ; his prayers lifted those who joined with him very near to the throne."
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