USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newbury > The first century of Dummer Academy. A historical discourse, delivered at Newbury, Byfield Parish, August 12, 1863. With an appendix > Part 6
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D. HALE. PRESCOTT. N. NOYES. MORSS.
MOSELEY.
tered the pulpit, but wanted health to continue in the ministry. So he settled among his own people, who knew his ability and faithfulness, and always sent him to the Le- gislature, when they wished either to carry or to prevent any measure bearing on the interests of the old town which he loved. He was a man of much wisdom and of few words.
A very different person was my near neighbor, Mr. DANIEL HALE, a deacon, also, but more commonly known as 'Squire Hale.' To not a few of our alumni his name and remembered image must be still familiar. For some thirty years, Mr. Hale took boys to board, and many and sore were the trials which they brought him. I hope they long since repented of the pranks which tried the good man's temper, as he, I am sure, soon forgave and quite forgot them. This worthy and pious man died about twenty years ago.
I have pleasant recollections of Dr. OLIVER PRESCOTT, a respectable physician of Newburyport, and a nephew of him who, on Bunker Hill, first immortalized the name. Nor can I forget Dr. NATHAN NOYES, a man learned in and beyond his profession ;- nor the Rev. Dr. JAMES MORSS of the Episcopal Church, whom the boys, not with- out awe, regarded as the most critical of all their super- vising visitors.
Col. EBENEZER MOSELEY, a Connecticut man, and a graduate of Yale, was descended on one side from worthy clergymen, and allied on the other to the family of Gov. Caleb Strong. He made his way by industry and talent, until he became the leading lawyer of Newburyport, and a prominent man in this part of the State. At the time I speak of, he was an active and influential Trustee. No name, perhaps, appears more frequently than his in the Academy record for those years. In 1834, Colonel Mose- ley, being then in the State Senate, revived the project of an agricultural school in connection with Dummer Acade- my. At his suggestion, an application was made to the
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WILDE. NELSON. RAND. G. PARSONS. SHILLABER.
Legislature, by the Board of Trust. Though presented under circumstances that seemed favorable, and though ad- vocated, doubtless, with zeal and ability, the petition failed of success. Mr. Moseley resigned in 1839, having been President of the Board for some time, and a Trustee twenty four years.
Conspicuous in that Board, as in all situations, was SAMUEL SUMNER WILDE - the great Judge - the noble- spirited man. Previously, when we both lived in Maine, I had made his acquaintance, and had learned to respect and admire him. For several years he was President of the Trustees, and one whom it was always pleasant to see at the Academy. That excellent, unassuming, prac- tical merchant and statesman, JEREMIAH NELSON, who so long and so well represented this district in Congress, was, for thirteen years, a conscientious and useful Trus- tee. And, not unlike him, in modesty and worth, was another member-Mr. EDWARD SPRAGUE RAND-whom I rejoice to see among us to-day-and whose unvarying cour- tesy and kindness shown to a young man nearly forty years ago, can never be forgotten .*
Mr. GORHAM PARSONS, Eben's only son and heir, was of the Trustees from 1826 to 1833. His interest in the Academy was not merely hereditary-for he had himself attended the school, while Moody was yet in his strength. After the farm became his, he was much and often in Byfield. For an unbroken series of kind attentions-bc- gun when I first came, and continued until I left-I still recall gratefully the name of Gorham Parsons.
EBENEZER SHILLABER, an able lawyer and, for some time, Clerk of the Courts -- who had been one of my col- lege friends, and whom I shall ever remember with min- gled pleasure and pain-was a Trustee from 1826 to 1831.
To be the settled minister of Byfield Parish is to
* Mr. Rand, who had been, for some time, in feeble health, survived the Centen- nial Celebration, only a few weeks.
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BARBOUR. WITHINGTON. FOX. JOHNSON.
be a quasi ex officio Trustee of the Academy. Thus held office for seven years ( 1828-1835 ) the Rev. ISAAC R. BARBOUR. During the last quarter-century, this gentleman has been in business-speculating in mines, stocks, &c .- and not, I fear, always successful. His present home is on Staten Island, N. Y.
The Rev. LEONARD WITHINGTON came into the Board in 1831. This distinguished clergyman, whose genius and scholarship have so long been the admiration of all who know him, was, for seven years, an active and valuable member. He evinced his confidence by placing his sons in the school. His presence imparted life and spirit to our annual examinations. On him, with a discrimination that did his colleagues credit, was usually devolved the closing address. Many a man now in middle life must still remember those racy, off-hand talks, so full of wisdom and good sense-so entirely free from stereotyped cant and tiresome commonplaces. I will not believe that those seeds of truth and goodness all fell upon stony ground.
The Rev. THOMAS B. Fox was minister of the Uni- tarian Society in Newburyport, and became a Trustee in 1833. Though comparatively young, his zeal and activity soon made him a leading man in the Board, over which he presided for several years. To him, as I have always supposed, the Academy and the public are mainly indebt- ed for the experimental project and double-headed arrange- ment of 1837. If so, he is justly entitled to a liberal share of whatever praise is due to that unfortunate en- terprise. Since he left Newburyport Mr. Fox has lived in the vicinity of Boston, where he has been, I believe, a minister at large.
To the same period in the trusteeship belongs our genial friend Dr. JONATHAN G. JOHNSON. The Doctor had good right to be a Trustee, for he was one of Precep- tor Smith's pupils, as long ago as 1803, 4, and, no doubt, witnessed some of the tricks which were played on that
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MARCH. DURANT. E. HALE. HOLBROOK. KINSMAN.
good man. Of course, he took no part in them, but I am afraid he laughed a little.
JOHN C. MARCH and HENRY DURANT : - these are names long associated in my mind, and which still come back together. Dissimilar in many respects-they were both gentlemen-both scholars-both kind-hearted. With them as Trustees, my relations and intercourse were uni- formly cordial. Of Durant I have spoken already. Mr. March was cut off almost at the beginning of his career, and in the midst of usefulness.
After the sudden death of Mr. Nelson, who had just before assumed the duties of Secretary and Treasurer, the care of the books and funds was committed to Mr. EBEN- EZER HALE of Newbury. Mr. Hale held this office as long as he lived, and the Academy, favored as it has been in this respect, can point among its Treasurers to no better man.
The Rev. WILLARD HOLBROOK, a good man, then min- ister in Rowley, and Mr. N. W. KINSMAN, a lawyer of Newburyport, had seats in the Board during the last two years of my connection with the School.
The fact that this school has always depended in part for its support, on the rents and profits of a large farm, has made it necessary to provide for the management of that farm. Hence there have been always in the Board, a few farmers and men of business habits. To them it has belonged to see that the farm was properly leased, and judiciously cultivated, and to guard against abuse, ne- glect, and waste, by constant oversight and care of the land and the buildings. Among these, - the appointed Ediles of the Institution -have been some of the most valuable members of the Trust. I have already mentioned RICH- ARD DUMMER, JOHN ADAMS, SILAS LITTLE, and the HALES, both father and son. Mr. THOMAS GAGE, the historian of Rowley, and his brother-in-law, Mr. MOSES DOLE of Newbury, were men of excellent judgment and sterling sense. Colonel DANIEL ADAMS and Colonel JEREMIAH
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GAGE. DOLE. D . ADAMS. J. COLMAN. D. NOYES.
COLMAN, had they been born only fifty years later, would ere this, in all probability, have been at the head of regiments or of brigades, engaged, not in the boys' play of a militia sham fight, but in all the grand and terrible realities of actual war. Col. Adams has been long and much in public life, and seems to be good for a number of years yet. In order of election he is the oldest mem- ber of the Trust-its acknowledged and venerable Patri- arch. Col. Colman, who has been, for sixteen years, the faithful Treasurer of the Academy-seems to be one of those favored men over whom time has no power .*
Last named among those whom I knew as Trustees, but, by no means, least esteemed, is my former neighbor and my friend, Capt. DANIEL NOYES, who is still a mem- ber of the Board.t
In bringing to a close this attempt at a history of the Academy-this series of biographical profiles- I shall not farther tax your powers of endurance by presenting here any conclusions of my own derived from the past, or any vaticinations in regard to the future. Enough has been given, I think, to show that the school, during its century of existence,-however intermittent, at times, the current of its life-has yet done much good work for the country and for mankind. We may regret its present de- pression. We may look doubtfully and anxiously on its prospects. But nothing can take from us the satisfaction of knowing that the "the past, at least, is secure."
Gentlemen, Alumni of Dummer School: with whatever of interest, or I should, perhaps, rather say, of patience, you have followed me,-I cannot but feel that other
* This gentleman was born in Byfield, and his ancestral line runs back to the first settlers of Newbury. Thomas Colman, the immigrant pioneer, lived upon ground still owned by the Colonel, or by his son. Coffin, resting on English authorities, tells us that the name was originally "Coltman " - "that is one who had the care and management of horses." Mr. Savage - a very great name in such matters - dis- sents from this derivation. But, if he knew the Colmans of to-day - as some of us know them- I think he would say, "Joshua must be right."
t See No. VIII. of Appendix for the Trustees of a later date.
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CONCLUSION .
thoughts than those which I have presented have been up- permost in your minds and deepest in your hearts. Stand- ing here once more on ground which is associated in mem- ory with your boyish years and school-days, how could you think of anything else ? By many before me, proba- bly, these scenes are to-day re-visited for the first time. They to whom such experience is unknown, can, I sup- pose, but faintly imagine the rushing tide of thought and feeling, that sweeps over him, who, after many years of absence-a long life of prosperous or of checkered for- tunes-looks again upon the school-room and play-place of his boyhood. Those quickened sensibilities-those gushes of delight and tenderness -those irrepressible sighs-are not unmanly, and need not be_ unprofitable. Such wisdom as we may, let us gather from them. It is not repining or querulous age which loves to recall the scenes of youth. It is not the selfish, hard, cold, worldly man, whose dim eye brightens when he thinks or speaks of youthful friends and school-boy joys. It is a good sign, therefore, if our feelings are quick and warm on such a day and in such a scene. But even this is not a theme to dwell on. Come then great minstrel of Rydal Mount, and give utter- ance to the emotions which I seem to see glistening in all these up-turned eyes.
" The thought of our past years in me doth breed Perpetual benedictions; not indeed For that which is most worthy to be blest, Delight and liberty, the simple creed
Of childhood, whether fluttering or at rest,
With new-born hope forever in his breast :- Not for these I raise My song of thanks and praise; * *
But for those first affections, Those shadowy recollections, Which, be they what they may, Are yet the fountain light of all our day, Are yet a master light of all our seeing, Uphold us, cherish us, and make Our noisy years seem moments in the being
Of the eternal Silence; truths that wake To perish never ; Which neither listlessness, nor mad endeavor, Nor Man nor Boy,
Nor all that is at enmity with joy, Can utterly abolish or destroy."
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APPENDIX
TO THE
DISCOURSE.
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APPENDIX.
I-PAGE 6.
THE SEWALLS.
"HENRY married his JANE in 1646; took her to England the same year; was there a settled clergyman for some twelve years; returned to Newbury in 1659, and two years afterward sent for wife and children. He lived in what is now Parker Street, Newburyport :- Their son, SAMUEL, was born during the sojourn at Bishopstoke, -was fitted for college in Mr. Parker's famous school, -graduated, 1671 -preached awhile - visited his English kinsfolk in the year of the great Revolution, -on his return was appointed Councillor under the new Charter, and one of the Judges. From 1718 to 1728, he was Chief Justice. He was learned, exemplary, benevolent, and devotedly pious. It is true that in the witchcraft cases, which came up the first year he was on the Bench, he yielded to the terrible infatuation, and gave his voice against the accused. But, to his endless honor be it remem- bered, he lived to see his error-made public confession of it-and continued a true penitent to his dying day .- His wife, Hannah Hull, brought him, we are told, thirty thousand pounds in silver. - STEPHEN, another Chief Justice, was a grandson of Henry and Jane, whose father Major Stephen lived in Sa- lem. He was born 1702, graduated 1721, taught several years in Marblehead, preached awhile, was Tutor at Cambridge eleven years, in 1739 appointed to the Supreme Court, and in 1752 became Chief Justice. In learning, ability and goodness, Stephen Sewall was not inferior to his uncle Samuel He died a bachelor and poor, at the age of 57 .- DAVID, great grandson of Henry, grandson of John ( as I suppose) was born ( 1735 ) in York, was fitted by Master Moody, graduated at Harvard with John Adams, 1755, in 1777 became Judge of Supreme Court, and in 1789 was appointed Judge of the U. S. District Court. He was only a little short of ninety when I saw him on that Bench, trying a capital case, - the most venerable im- personation of justice my eyes ever looked on. This honest lawyer, this upright judge, this excellent man died in 1825. - SAMUEL, great grandson of Judge Samuel, was born ( 1757 ) in Boston, fitted at Dummer School, graduated at Harvard 1776, settled in Marblehead, in Congress, 1797, Judge of Supreme Court 1800, succeeded Parsons as Chief Justice, 1813, and died suddenly the following year. It is enough to say that the legal and judi- cial brightness of the Sewall name, suffered no abatement while he was of the Bar and on the Bench.
IV.
APPENDIX.
SEWALLS. LONGFELLOWS.
Nor may we omit the name of JONATHAN SEWALL in this enumera- tion of Jane Dummer's illustrious descendants. This gentleman was a nephew of Chief Justice Stephen, and a Harvard scholar of 1748. He taught for eight years in Salem-then gave himself to the law, and while still a young man, was made Attorney General of Massachusetts, and Ad- miralty Judge for Nova Scotia. He was a lawyer of great ability and of the most persuasive eloquence-the friend and compeer of John Adams, - his equal with the pen and more than equal with the tongue-and had he been compatriot also with that great man, might have sat where Jay and Ellsworth presided, or might have been the successor of Washing- ton in the Presidency of the Republic. At the beginning of the Revolu- tionary contest, he went over to England. In 1788 he settled at St. Johns, New Brunswick, as Judge of Vice Admiralty, and there died in 1796. As if to keep up the hereditary fame, his son Stephen became Solicitor General at Montreal, and Jonathan, his other son, who lived in Quebec, was Chief Justice of the Province.
The Sewall roll of honor is not exhausted, but we must deny our- selves the pleasure of tracing the posterity of Jane Dummer any farther in this direction.
THE LONGFELLOWS.
WILLIAM, born 1651, in Hampshire, England, was the progenitor of our LONGFELLOWS. It is not improbable that some tie of kindred, or ac- quaintance, connected him with the Dummers of Hants, and drew him, on his arrival in New England, to the settlement in Newbury. There he found and married ( 1678 ) ANNE SEWALL, a damsel of sixteen years, and daughter of Henry Sewall and Jane Dummer. Their home was near " The Falls," so called, at the head of tide-water on the Parker, and on ground still owned and occupied by one of his descendants. There they became the parents of William, Anne, Stephen, Elizabeth, and Nathan. It appears that William, the patriarch, was a trader -the first probably who kept shop in Byfield -that he had patrimonial property in England, and went over to secure it, -and that, not long after, he lost his life by ship-wreck, when engaged in the military service of his country, as a sub- altern officer in Phips' unsuccessful expedition against Quebec. His grandson, STEPHEN, son of Stephen, was born ( 1723) in Byfield, gradu- ated ( 1742 ) at Harvard, and three years later, settled at Falmouth, then a comparatively new place, as its Grammar School master. There for many years, he was Parish, Town, and Proprietors' Clerk -and finally Register of Probate and Clerk of the Judicial Courts-an admirable scribe, a sprightly companion, a good citizen, and a good man. In 1775 the British burned Falmouth, and Mr. Longfellow having no longer a house to live in, removed to Gorham, where he died in 1790. His son, STEPHEN, by his only wife, Tabitha Bragdon, was born 1750, was one of Moody's earliest pupils in Dummer School, became a Judge in the Court of Common Pleas, and died at Gorham in a good old age. The fourth STEPHEN in this line of descent, whose mother was Patience Young, be- came one of the most distinguished men of his day-eminent for learn-
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v.
APPENDIX.
LONGFELLOWS. MOODYS.
ing and ability - more eminent for his virtues. Most pleasant among my recollections of the past, is the remembrance of his friendship. His wife, Zilpha, was a daughter of Gen. Peleg Wadsworth, of Revolutionary fame, and the mother of several children, among whom is HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, -a name known and honored all round the world.
In this connection, I would remind my friends of the STEPHENSON name, that Byfield is one, at least, of their cunabula gentis. The second Stephen Longfellow and his Tabitha had one daughter, who bore her mother's name, and who in 1771 married Capt. John Stephenson. The destruction of Falmouth drove Capt. Stevenson to Gorham, and there, in the next generation, the alliance of the families was strengthened by the union of Col. Samuel Stephenson with his cousin Abigail Longfellow, a daughter of the Judge.
After the first William's untimely death, his comparatively young wid- ow married Henry Short and had issue. As the Longs and the Shorts grew up together in that household, there must have been many a scene of amusing banter, unless they differed greatly from the boys and girls of our day.
EDWARD LONGFELLOW of Byfield was a pupil of Moody, graduated at Dartmouth, in 1780, became a teacher of youth, and at the time of Shays' insurrection, commanded a company in the army which was raised for its suppression. He died in 1794.
THE MOODYS.
Of WILLIAM, the cis-atlantic founder of the Moody Family, mention has been made, as also of his noble son Joshua, of Portsmouth and Boston, and his odd grandson Samuel, known as 'Faithful Moody,' whose father was Caleb. SAMUEL, the oldest of the Patriarch's three sons, set- tled in that part of Newbury, which was afterwards Byfield, and died 1675. By his wife, Mary Cutting, he had three sons and five daughters. WILLIAM, the eldest, who became one of the first deacons of the new Parish, married, 1686, MEHITABEL SEWALL, whose parents were Henry and Jane Dummer Sewall, and by this connection, William Moody be- came the brother-in-law of his near neighbor, William Longfellow. It was through the same agreeable agency that the water power and old Dum- mer Mill came into his possession, thus giving direction to the industry of many who descended from him, and in some instances, perhaps, even shaping their genius. Deacon William died about 1730, having buried his Mehitabel nearly thirty years before, in what is now the old Byfield grave-yard, of which she was the first tenant. - Deacon SAMUEL MOODY was their son, and his partner was Judith Hale. Of fifteen children, on- ly two daughters and one son grew up. In the church and parochial records no name occurs more frequently, or to better advantage, than that of Deacon Samuel Moody, and to the entry of his death in 1767, his good pastor added a few words of affectionate praise. PAUL, the son just referred to, never attained to the diaconate. His ambition took, it may be presumed, a different turn. His name appears often in the Records, and always, I think, as Captain Paul Moody. This father of a large and distinguished family, was born in
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VI.
APPENDIX.
MOODYS.
1743 and died in 1822. Of his sons, SAMUEL and NATHAN were gradu- ates of Dartmouth, and settled in the new town of Hallowell, Maine. Sam- uel taught the Academy - Nathan traded - both were men of excellent standing. ENOCH, a respectable farmer, lived in several places, and died in Newburyport. SEWALL and WILLIAM were also farmers who remained in Byfield - the latter a man of much native talent. DAVID, the youngest, and the only one who did not marry, was, for many years, the Superin- tendent [of the Iron Works upon the Boston Mill Dam -an unusually capable and ingenious man. - PAUL was the eighth child in order of birth, and of the boys, his name alone is missing from the Academy roll. But he was one of the few who know how to educate themselves. At the age of twelve he had made up his mind that farming was no em- ployment for him. Gaining admission to the cloth-mill near by he made himself a weaver. Not long after, the celebrated JACOB PERKINS of New- buryport took the mill and set that old water power to making the first nails ever cut by machinery - an invention, whose value the men of this day may faintly imagine, but can never fully know. Perkins soon discovered the merits of the young weaver, and set him to work upon iron. After a few years, the nail machines were removed to Amesbury, and Moody went with them. There, in 1798, he and Worthen erected and ran a cotton mill. After fourteen years of training in this new line of industry, he was summoned by Francis Lowell and Patrick Jackson to the superintendence of their great undertaking at Waltham. Ten years later, in cooperation with those dis- tinguished pioneers of the cotton manufacture in Massachusetts, he convert- ed to industrious use the idle water-power of the Merrimack, and, in build- ing up the city of Lowell, laid, prospectively, the foundations of Manches- ter and of Lawrence. Although in inventive ability and vast results, Mr. Moody may not rank with Arkwright and Hargreaves, Watt and Fulton, he can claim very high praise for the numerous mechanical improvements and appliances, which he brought to the aid of our infant manufactures. In alluding elsewhere to the noble benefactions conferred upon her country by Jane Dummer, I might well have added the name of PAUL MOODY, one of her most distinguished and useful descendants.
There were two daughters in this remarkable family, each of whom married a DUMMER. DEBORAH, the wife of Shubael, lived always in By- field. MEHITABEL married Jeremiah and settled with him in Hallowell. CHARLES DUMMER Esq., long of Washington and New York, and now again of Hallowell -my college companion and constant friend -is her son. It is an illustration of the fact that a family likeness is often preserved and trans- mitted even through collateral lines and for several generations, that I could never look at the portrait of Gov. Dummer, without thinking of my friend. Could he, at the age of twenty, have sat for his picture, arrayed in a wig and court costume, I believe the result would have been almost a fac- simile.
The mechanical vein in this family is not yet worked out. That large establishment, the Machine Shop in Lowell, which was created and directed by Paul Moody, is now ably superintended by his nephew, ANDREW MOODY, whom I am happy to number among my pupils and friends.
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VII.
APPENDIX.
DUMMER AND VAUDREUIL.
MR. DUMMER'S WILL.
II-PAGE 12. SEBASTIAN RALE.
The following account of a correspondence between the Canadian Gov- ernor Vaudreuil, and the Governor of Massachusetts, is taken from the Life of Rale in Sparks' American Biography. Mr. Dummer's answer is certainly conclusive.
"I find, after his death, a correspondence referring to him, between the Governor of Canada and the Lieut. Governor of Massachusetts. Dum- mer wrote Vaudreuil, Sept. 15, 1724, complaining of the 'commission ' the latter had given to Sebastian Rale. Vaudreuil replied Oct. 29, 1824, that he was surprised the Lieut. Gov. had not been sooner aware of the safe- guard and the commission he had sent to the missionary, as he had never concealed and was ready to justify the act. He proceeds to speak of what he calls the late murder of the priest, and of the price previously set upon his head, which could be owing to nothing but his dutiful fidelity 'in teaching those Indians, to whom the King of France could not refuse missionaries, because they had always been true to him and served him on all occasions.'"
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