Ould Newbury: historical and biographical sketches, Part 47

Author: Currier, John J. (John James), 1834-1912
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Boston, Damrell and Upham
Number of Pages: 752


USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newbury > Ould Newbury: historical and biographical sketches > Part 47


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The details of his life after this important event are well known and need not be repeated here. When persecuted and calumniated, by friends as well as foes, his love for his birthplace found expression in the following sonnet :-


Whether a persecuted child of thine Thou deign to own, my lovely native place ! In characters that time cannot efface,


Thy worth is graved upon this heart of mine. Forsake me not in anger, nor repine That with this Nation I am in disgrace :


From ruthless bondage to redeem my race,


And save my country, is my great design. How much soe'er my conduct thou dost blame (For Hate and Calumny belie my course), My labors shall not sully thy fair fame ; But they shall be to thee a fountain-source


Of joyfulness hereafter,- when my name Shall e'en from tyrants a high tribute force.


After the adoption of the thirteenth amendment to the constitution, forever abolishing slavery in the United States, the citizens of Newburyport invited Mr. Garrison to visit his birthplace and receive the congratulations of his former


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townsmen on the triumphant culmination of his life-work. He accepted the invitation ; and, at the request of the committee of arrangements, delivered an address Feb. 22, 1865, that was received with the greatest enthusiasm by an audience that filled City Hall to overflowing.


During the next ten years he frequently visited the home of his childhood, and evidently cherished fond recollections of the place despite the obloquy and calumnies to which he had been subjected.


The sixtieth anniversary of his apprenticeship to Ephraim W. Allen occurred Oct. 13, 1878. He celebrated the event by visiting Newburyport on the morning of the 12th and once more setting type in the office of the Herald. It proved to be the last time he visited the town or handled the composing-stick. For " copy" he took three of his own sonnets, "The Freedom of the Mind," " Liberty," and lines written on his thirty-fifth birthday. He put these sonnets into type with amazing rapidity and with such accuracy that, when proof was taken, they were found to be without a single error. They appeared in the columns of the Herald Monday morning, Oct. 14, 1878.


He married, Sept. 4, 1834, Helen Eliza Benson, daughter of George Benson, of Brooklyn, N. Y. His children by this marriage were : -


George Thompson Garrison, born Feb. 13, 1836. William Lloyd Garrison, born Jan. 20, 1838. Wendell Phillips Garrison, born July 4, 1840. Charles Follen Garrison, born Sept. 9, 1842. Helen Frances Garrison, born Dec. 16, 1844. Elizabeth Pease Garrison, born Dec. 11, 1846. Francis Jackson Garrison, born Oct. 29, 1848.


His wife died Jan. 25, 1876. He died at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Henry Villard, Union Square, New York City, Saturday, May 24, 1879, and was buried Wednesday, May 28, in Forest Hills Cemetery at Jamaica Plain, Mass.


JAMES PARTON.


On the northwesterly corner of High and Oakland streets in Newburyport stands the square three-story dwelling-house owned and occupied by James Parton at the time of his death.


Nov. 21, 1796, Thomas Emery bought of Moses Moody forty-two rods of land in Newbury, now Newburyport, bounded on the east by land of the grantor, on the north by land of Cutting Moody, on the west by High Street, on the south " by land I have reserved for a road two rods wide between this land and land of Dudley A. Tyng" (Essex Deeds, book 163, page 33).


Thomas Emery, son of Thomas and Ruth (March) Emery, was born Jan. 25, 1771. He married, Nov. 27, 1796, Eliza- beth, daughter of Rev. Moses and Elizabeth Hale. On the land bought of Moses Moody he built the house now stand- ing there. His wife died May 29, 1803. He married, Nov. 27, 1806, Mrs. Margaret Coffin, widow of Joseph Coffin, and daughter of Robert Sunderland, of Portland, Me. He died April 11, 1860. By the terms of his will, dated April 10, 1850, and proved the third Tuesday in May, 1860, he gave the rest and residue of his estate, after the payment of cer- tain legacies and annuities, to his grandson, Rufus Emery, son of the late Flavius Emery.


Sept. 11, 1886, Rufus Emery, of Newburgh, N. Y., sold to James Parton, of Newburyport, house "and part of the land devised to me by my grandfather, Thomas Emery" (Essex Deeds, book 1181, page 71).


James Parton was born in Canterbury, England, Feb. 9, 1822. His ancestors were originally French farmers who


RESIDENCE OF JAMES PARTON.


689


JAMES PARTON


emigrated to Canterbury at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. His father, James Parton, died in July, 1826, leaving a widow, Ann (Leach) Parton, and four small children. The following year Mrs. Parton came to America, with her two sons and two daughters, and settled in New York City.


Alfred Parton, the oldest son, died when he was twenty years of age. Mary Parton, the oldest daughter, married William Rogers and died in the year 1872, leaving one child. Ann Parton, the youngest member of the family, born July 27, 1823, married Rev. John Hodges, and died at Waverly, Iowa, Oct. 20, 1893, leaving several children.


The youngest son, James Parton, attended the public schools in New York City for seven or eight years, and completed his education at a private school, kept by John Swinburne, at White Plains, Westchester County, N. Y. Although prepared to enter college, the limited income and scanty resources of the family compelled him to abandon his studies in order that he might contribute something to their support. He found employment as assistant teacher in the school at White Plains, which was then exceedingly popu- lar and prosperous. John Swinburne, who established the school, was a man of good education. He was an interested and regular attendant on the services of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and for many years was a vestryman of Grace Church at White Plains. His reputation as a teacher attracted pupils from far distant towns and cities.


Mr. Parton retained his position in this school for a few years, and then removed to Philadelphia, where he was asso- ciated with Samuel Edwards in the charge of an English and classical school, established for the purpose of preparing boys for college.


In 1847, he returned to New York and was soon engaged by Mr. Nathaniel P. Willis as a regular contributor to the Home Journal. The next step in the development of his literary career was taken a few years later, when he began collecting materials for a " Life of Horace Greeley," which was published in 1855. The success of this effort led him to devote the remainder of his life to literary pursuits.


فست


James Parton


691


JAMES PARTON


Jan. 5, 1856, he married, at Hoboken, N. J., Sarah Payson (Willis) Eldredge, a widow, with two children. She was well known as a writer under the fictitious name of "Fanny Fern." For many years Mr. Parton and his wife found remunerative employment as contributors to the New York Ledger, then under the management of Mr. Robert Bonner.


In 1857, he published the " Life and Times of Aaron Burr," and during the next ten years he wrote the " Life of Andrew Jackson," " General Butler in New Orleans," and " The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin,"- in addition to his regular literary work and frequent contributions to the monthly magazines and reviews of the day.


At this time he resided at No. 303 East Eighteenth Street, New York City. His wife, after a long and painful illness, died Oct. 10, 1872. She was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery at Cambridge, Mass.


During the summer of 1873 and 1874 Mr. Parton resided temporarily in Newburyport. He was then busy preparing his " Life of Jefferson " for the press. After the publication of that work he decided to purchase a house and establish a home for himself in Newburyport.


Meanwhile his mother, Ann (Leach) Parton, widow, mar- ried for her second husband Mr. William Pillow. By this marriage she had three sons, one of whom, William Pillow, is still living near Rochester, N. Y.


Feb. 20, 1875, Mr. Parton bought of Daniel P. Pike a small lot of land on the southeasterly corner of High and Oakland streets, Newburyport, with a dwelling-house stand- ing thereon. Feb. 3, 1876, he was married to Miss Ellen Willis Eldredge by Rev. Samuel J. May, pastor of the First Religious Society of Newburyport. The marriage ceremony was repeated in New York City, Feb. 10, 1876, Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, D. D., officiating.


Mr. Parton occupied the house on the southeasterly corner of High and Oakland streets until 1886, when he purchased of Rev. Rufus Emery the house previously described, on the opposite or northwesterly corner of the same streets, to which he removed with his wife and family.


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OULD NEWBURY


During his residence in Newburyport he published " Cari- cature and other Comic Art" in 1877, and "The French Parnassus," a book of French poetry, in 1878. In 1881, he completed his " Life of Voltaire," an elaborate work of twelve hundred octavo pages; and in 1883 he sent to the press a book entitled, "Noted Women of Europe and America." In 1884, he collected and published in one volume a number of biographical sketches under the name, " Captains of Industry." In 1885, he edited and contributed to a work entitled, " Princes, Authors, and Statesmen of our Time," and in 1891 he prepared for publication the second volume of the " Captains of Industry."


He was methodical, patient, and persistent in his literary work, and social and agreeable in society. On the platform or in the parlor, the substance of his speech was always inter- esting and entertaining. He saw clearly and distinctly the vital things of life either in his heroes or in the persons of his own time, and his talk was seasoned with brilliant and suggestive thoughts.


He died Oct. 17, 1891, and was buried in Oak Hill Ceme- tery. A widow and two children, born as follows, survive him.


Mabel Parton, born Feb. 13, 1877. Hugo Parton, born Dec. 12, 1878.


EBEN F. STONE.


The brick dwelling-house on the northwesterly corner of State and Greenleaf streets, Newburyport, was built by William Woart on land purchased May 21, 1804, of John Greenleaf and others, " heirs of the late Benjamin Greenleaf, deceased " (Essex Deeds, book 176, page 237).


This house and land were taken on execution, and sold at sheriff's sale July 8, 1817, to Ebenezer Moseley (book 218, page 39).


July 28, 1817, Ebenezer Moseley gave a deed of the prop- erty to John Balch (book 218, page 40).


Sept. 8, 1818, John Balch sold the house and land to Nicholas Johnson, Jr. (book 218, page 41).


April 17, 1837, "the children of the late Nicholas John- son, deceased," conveyed the above described estate to Enoch Moody (book 299, page 112).


May 21, 1844, the children of Enoch Moody gave a deed of the property to Ebenezer Stone (book 344, page 271).


June 10, 1875, Frances A. Adams et ali. (heirs of Ebenezer Stone) sold and conveyed their interest in the estate to Eben F. Stone (book 930, page 93).


From and after this last date the house, conveyed by the above-mentioned deeds, was occupied by Hon. Eben F. Stone until his decease in 1895.


Elias1 Stone, who married Abigail Long in Charlestown May 10, 1686, was the paternal ancestor of Eben Francis Stone. Elias1 and Abigail (Long) Stone had fourteen chil- dren. The oldest son, Elias2, born June 19, 1687, married, March 20, 1711-12, Abigail Waters.


Elias2 and Abigail (Waters) Stone had fifteen children. A son, John3, born June 10, 1728, was married, Oct. 24,


RESIDENCE OF HON. EBEN F. STONE.


695


EBEN F. STONE


1751, by Rev. Hall Abbott, to Sarah Miller. John Stone3 was a cooper by trade. He removed from Charlestown to Newburyport previous to 1766.


John3 and Sarah (Miller) Stone had twelve children. A son, Ebenezer+, born Jan. 27, 1759, married Sarah Moody Nov. 19, 1784.


Ebenezer+ and Sarah (Moody) Stone had six children,- four sons and two daughters. Their oldest son, Ebenezer5, born Sept. 4, 1785, married Fanny Coolidge.


Ebenezer5 and Fanny (Coolidge) Stone, during the early portion of their married life, lived in a house that is still standing on Merrimac Street, between Green and Titcomb streets, in Newburyport, and there the following-named chil- dren were born :-


Frances Ann Coolidge6, born May 29, 1821. Eben Frances6, born Aug. 3, 1822. Sarah Moodys, born April 12, 1824. Jonathan Coolidge6, born Oct. 22, 1826.


When Eben Francis Stone was a young lad he attended a private school, kept by Alfred W. Pike in a building then standing on the northeasterly side of Pleasant Street, opposite Brown Square and just beyond the present City Hall. A few years later, he was a pupil for a brief period in the High School at the southerly end of Bartlet Mall. When four- teen or fifteen years of age, he was placed under the care and tuition of Mr. John Maynard, preceptor of Franklin Academy, in North Andover, Mass., and was there fitted for college. While a student at North Andover, he boarded with Rev. Bailey Loring, who was pastor of the Unitarian Church of that town, and father of the late Hon. George B. Loring. He entered Harvard College in 1839, and graduated in 1843. For the next two or three years he was a member of the Harvard Law School. In 1846, he was admitted to the bar in Essex County, and soon after opened a law office in Newburyport, and began the practice of his profession.


He married, Oct. 26, 1848, Harriet Perrin, daughter of Augustus and Harriet (Child) Perrin, of Boston.


Ohn Feltene


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EBEN F. STONE


He was interested in public affairs and took an active part in the discussion of the political questions of the day. Imme- diately after the adoption of the city charter, and the organi- zation of the first city government in Newburyport in 1851, he was elected president of the common council, and in 1867 he was mayor of the city for one year. He served with great acceptance as State senator for the years 1857, 1858, and 1861. In August, 1862, he was authorized by Governor Andrew to enlist recruits for a regiment to be sent to the Southern States to aid in suppressing the rebellion. In November of that year he was commissioned colonel of the regiment ; and, during the latter part of December, he embarked with his men on board the transport " Constella- tion" from New York for the mouth of the Mississippi River. The regiment was attached to the Nineteenth Army Corps, under General Banks, and participated in the engage- ments at Port Hudson in the months of May and June follow- ing. After the surrender of Port Hudson, Colonel Stone, whose term of service had expired, returned home with the men under his command.


He resumed the practice of his profession in Newbury- port ; and, in 1865, entered into a law partnership with Caleb Cushing, at Washington, D. C. For about a year he was engaged in the study and preparation of important cases connected with the various departments of the national government. Finding the work distasteful, he severed his connection with Mr. Cushing, and reopened his law office in Newburyport.


In 1867, 1877, 1878, and 1880, he represented Newbury- port in the State legislature, and took an active part in moulding and shaping the legislation adopted by the General Court. In 1880, he was elected representative to the forty- seventh congress, and re-elected in 1882 and 1884. As a member of the committee on rivers and harbors, he was an earnest and zealous advocate of the Sandy Bay harbor of refuge at Rockport, Mass., and through his efforts the first appropriation was made by congress for the commencement of that work. The harbor, when completed, will be one of


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the largest in the world (second only in importance to that at Cherbourg, in France), and will owe its existence to the earnest and persistent advocacy of Colonel Stone. He sup- ported the measure in an able speech delivered in the house of representatives June 9, 1884, in which the constitutional questions involved were discussed at some length, and the duty and importance of constructing and maintaining harbors of refuge for the protection of our vast and growing com- merce was strongly urged upon the attention of Congress.


In the consideration and discussion of questions of great public interest, where principles were involved, Colonel Stone displayed marked ability. He was learned in the law, and possessed a sound and discriminating judgment that gave him great influence with his friends and associates at the bar. " He had the attainments and scholarship of the jurist who deals with justice in the abstract and devotes his life not to the practice but to the development and advancement of the law as a science, with something of the liberal culture needed to protect the advocate from the narrowness and pedantry of the case lawyer."


His address at the dedication of the law library in the brick court house at Salem, Feb. 2, 1889, has been warmly commended as "a model of literary excellence," and his papers on Governor Andrew, Charles Sumner, Tristram Dalton, Theophilus Parsons, and other men prominent in political life, are valuable and interesting contributions to the literature of the day.


He was a man of strong convictions and decided opinions, but without narrowness or bigotry. In private life, he was modest and unassuming, genial and hospitable. With a retentive memory and a high sense of honor and integrity, he also possessed great power of analysis, and displayed remarkable ability in the delineation of personal character. In conversation, he was interesting and instructive; and in the society of friends, or in the literary clubs of which he was a member, his words of criticism or commendation were always helpful and effective.


Domestic in his tastes and habits he found recreation in


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EBEN F. STONE


books, and thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the comfort and seclusion of home life. His wife, Harriet (Perrin) Stone, died Dec. 31, 1889. He died Jan. 22, 1895, leaving three daughters, Harriet Child Stone (now Mrs. Alfred Hewins, of Dedham, Mass.), Fanny Coolidge Stone, and Cornelia Perrin Stone.


1


GATEWAY TO OAK HILL CEMETERY-THE GIFT OF JOHN S. TAPPAN, ESQ.


OAK HILL CEMETERY.


In the month of January, 1842, Rev. Thomas B. Fox, pastor of the First Religious Society of Newburyport, aided by several interested members of his own parish and by other prominent citizens of the town, formed an association for the purpose of providing and maintaining a cemetery of suitable proportions, to be tastefully arranged and properly cared for.


May 13, 1842, the subscribers to the association bought an estate on the southeasterly side of the Newburyport turn- pike (now State Street), belonging to the heirs of the late Moses Brown, at the rate of $200 per acre.


On the twentieth day of June, 1842, the association was organized and incorporated under the Revised Statutes of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.


The grounds, made attractive with flowers and shrubbery, and provided with suitable avenues and walks, were conse- crated, in the presence of a large audience, Thursday after- noon, July 21, 1842. The exercises, held under the shade of stately and venerable oak trees still standing on the hillside, were simple and impressive.


Four days after the consecration, Charles Lord, a young son of Moses Lord, was buried near the spot where these exercises were held ; and a day or two later another grave was made in that immediate vicinity to receive the body of Sarah Miles Greenwood, wife of Hon. George Lunt.


Other interments soon followed. The total number of burials in the cemetery to Jan. 1, 1896, exceeds thirty-six hundred.


In 1855, a new entrance, more convenient and accessible, was made by constructing a short avenue from the old turn- pike, nearly opposite Greenleaf Street, through land pur-


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chased by the proprietors for that purpose. This new entrance was subsequently improved and ornamented by an imposing granite gateway, erected by John S. Tappan, Esq., of New York City, at his own expense.


The cemetery has been enlarged from time to time by the purchase of adjoining land and now covers an area of twenty- five acres.


Well-graded walks and driveways, sculptured monuments of artistic design and workmanship, ornamental plants and shrubbery, render the place interesting and attractive during the summer months. From the summit of the hill, looking westward, a wide and extended view of the surrounding coun-


GATEWAY TO OAK HILL CEMETERY-THE GIFT OF JOHN T. BROWN, ESQ.


try may be seen, while the eastern outlook reveals, half hidden through the trees, glimpses of the river and the sea beyond.


A new avenue, leading from Parker Street, and connecting with other driveways in the cemetery, was laid out in 1894. At the entrance to this avenue a gateway has recently been erected by John T. Brown, Esq., of Newburyport, in memory of his wife, who is buried within sight of this memorial gift of stone and bronze.


The number of graves in this silent city of the dead is con- stantly increasing. Many who have been prominent in the


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OAK HILL CEMETERY


mercantile, professional, or social life of Newburyport rest from their labors in this consecrated ground. A few names and dates, taken from the monuments standing there, read as follows : -


John Bromfield, born in Newburyport April 11, 1779: died in Boston Dec. 9, 1849.


Founder of the Bromfield fund, established for the purpose of providing shade trees and improving the sidewalks of the town of Newburyport.


William Bartlet, born in Newburyport Jan. 31, 1748; died Feb. 8, 1841.


A prominent and successful merchant, and one of the founders and generous benefactors of the Andover Theologi- cal Seminary.


Rev. John Andrews, born in Hingham March 3, 1764; died in Newburyport Aug. 17, 1845.


For more than forty years pastor of the First Religious Society in Newburyport.


David Perkins Page, born in Epping, N. H., July 4, IȘI0 ; died at Albany, N. Y., January 1, 1848.


Preceptor of the English High School, Newburyport, and first principal of the State Normal School at Albany, N. Y.


Rev. Daniel Dana, D. D., born in Ipswich July 24, 1771 ; died in Newburyport Aug. 26, 1859.


Pastor of the First and Second Presbyterian churches, Newburyport, and president of Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H.


Rev. Luther F. Dimmick, born in Shaftesbury, Vt., Nov. 15, 1790 ; died in Newburyport May 16, 1860.


For nearly forty-one years pastor of the North Congrega- tional Society of Newburyport.


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William Wheelwright, born in Newburyport March 16, 1798; died in London, Eng., Sept. 26, 1873.


For many years engaged in important steamship and rail- road enterprises in South America and founder of the " Wheelwright Fund," the income of which is applied to the assistance of young men of the city of Newburyport possess- ing the necessary qualifications and desiring to obtaining a scientific education.


Rev. Leonard Withington, born in Dorchester Aug. 9, 1789; died at Newbury, Mass., April 26, 1885.


Active pastor of the First Church in Newbury from Oct. 31, 1816, to Oct. 31, 1858; afterward senior pastor until the day of his death.


Rev. William S. Bartlet, A. M., born in Newburyport April 8, 1809; died in Chelsea, Mass., Dec. 12, 1883.


For fifteen years rector of St. Luke's (Episcopal) Church, Chelsea, Mass., and afterward registrar of the diocese of Massachusetts for eighteen years.


Rev. Randolph Campbell, born in Woodbridge, N. J., Dec. 31, 1809; died in Newburyport Aug. 9, 1886.


Pastor of the Temple Street Church, Newburyport, from 1837 to 1877.


Hon. George Lunt, born in Newburyport Dec. 31, 1803 ; died in Scituate, Mass., May 16, 1885.


Lawyer, poet, and journalist.


Rev. Samuel L. Caldwell, LL. D., born in Newburyport Nov. 13, 1820 ; died in Providence, R. 1., Sept. 26, 1889.


Pastor of the First Baptist Church, Bangor, Me., and of the First Baptist Church, Providence, R. I. Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Newton Theological Seminary, and president of Vassar College for seven years.


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OAK HILL CEMETERY


James Parton, born in Canterbury, Eng., Feb. 9, 1822 : died in Newburyport Oct. 17, 1891, aged 69 years, 8 months.


Biographical writer and contributor to the periodical litera- ture of the day.


Hon. Eben Francis Stone, born in Newburyport Aug. 3, 1822 ; died January 22, 1895.


A successful practitioner of the law, colonel of the forty- eighth Massachusetts regiment in the War of the Rebellion, and representative to congress from the "Old Essex" dis- trict for three successive terms.


Near the entrance to the receiving tomb, in a lot recently conveyed to the Newburyport Bethel Society by John T. Brown, Esq., the first mate and crew of the schooner " Florida" of St. John, N. B., wrecked on Salisbury Beach Feb. 9, 1896, are buried.


APPENDIX.


APPENDIX.


VESSELS BUILT ON THE MERRIMACK RIVER AND REGISTERED AT THE CUSTOM HOUSE, NEWBURYPORT, MASS., FROM AUGUST 1, 1789, TO APRIL 1, 1793.


Class.


Name.


When and Where Built.


Owners.


Tonnage.


Sloop


William


1789


Newbury


Benjamin Lunt


65


Sloop


Katy


1785


Newburyport Richard Smith Noyes and William Noyes


90


Sloop


Three Friends


1785




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