USA > Maine > York County > Parsonsfield > A history of the first century of the town of Parsonsfield, Maine > Part 27
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It appears that, at that time, Mr. Parsons was an officer in the United States Navy, attached to one of the gun-boats that were employed off the coast of Louisiana to enforce the embargo and suppress piracy. They had occasion to send out a boat on an expedition, under sailing- master Brown, with eight persons, one of whom was Parsons, and one midshipman Jones. In crossing the bar, the boat was struck by the breakers and sunk in some twelve feet of water, a mile from shore. Another breaker capsized and emptied it of its contents, and it rose to the surface. Parsons and Brown were the only members of the party who could swim. They assisted their drowning companions to regain and cling to the boat, and then each taking an oar they started for the shore. The tide was strong against them and before reaching the shore Brown gave out. Parsons now gave up his oar to Brown and made for the shore without assistance. Divesting himself hastily of
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his clothing, he swam back to Brown, reaching him just in time to save him from sinking, and brought him to land in so exhausted a condi- tion that he was unable to stand for several hours.
For a time, the capsized boat, with the others clinging to it, was drifted with the tide out to sea, and seemingly inevitable destruction awaited them; but upon the return of flood tide, the boat was drifted toward the land to a point far distant. Parsons again, at the hazard of his own life, renewed his exertions to save his companions. He swam to the wreck and brought off Jones, then back again and brought to shore another, and then a third time and brought to shore the boat with the remaining sailors clinging to it. In this effort he received an injury from which he never recovered, and for which, in 1835, he was pensioned.
When the matter of pension came up in the House, Mr. Reed, of Massachusetts, regarded it as a story without any foundation of truth, but as Mr. Jones (then commodore) was referred to, he inquired of him and found it true in every particular. In 1848, an arrear of pen- sion was granted him.
In 1814, he was sailing master of the famous privateer brig General Armstrong, of New York, and assisted in defending her and heading off the boats of a British squadron in two attacks in the harbor of Fayal, which for bravery and hand-to-hand fighting on shipboard were not equaled during the war of 1812.
In this attack, the British were obliged to retire with the loss of two hundred men killed and ninety wounded. Captain Parsons on this occasion was severely wounded. It is said that the loss to the British in these engagements was the means of saving New Orleans, the squadron being so disabled that they could not join, as intended, in the attack on that city, which gave General Jackson time to prepare, and thus the attack was postponed and the city saved. After the war, Captain Par- sons served in the merchant service until 1826, when he became a teacher of navigation in Portland, in which he continued until 1866. At that time his dwelling on Deer Street was burned in the great fire which then prevailed, and thereafter Captain Parsons lived in retire- ment, dying in 1872 at the age of eighty-three years, respected and beloved. He was twice married, first on January 25, 1823, to Elizabeth
GEO . H. WALKER & CO. BOSTON
CAPT. LUTHER EMERSON .
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Hedskins, and second, on January 26, 1846, to Anna Chase. He left no issue.
CAPTAIN LUTHER EMERSON,
Was born in Alfred, Maine, November 11, 1782, the son of Joseph and Lydia (Durrell) Emerson, and grandson of Rev. John Emerson of Topsfield, Massachusetts, whose father was Edward, of Chelmsford, Massachusetts.
His ancestors were among the earliest settlers of the Massachusetts colony, coming from Durham, England, and settling at Ipswich about 1635, and were of the staunch old Puritan stock, descending from Sir Ralph Emerson, of York, England, who was knighted by King Henry Eighth, in 1535. The heraldic arms have been inherited by the family of the late Ralph Waldo Emerson, a branch of the same family. In 1807, he married Miss Elizabeth Usher Parsons, daughter of Thomas Parsons, of Parsonsfield.
He then settled on a farm in Lyman, adjoining Alfred, where he resided until after the death of his father-in-law, when he purchased the Parsons homestead and removed to Parsonsfield, where the re- mainder of his life was passed. Mrs. Emerson died in 1857, and in 1868 he married a second time. He died July 4, 1875, at the age of ninety-two years and eight months. In politics a whig, and later, a republican, and in religious views and profession, a Congregationalist. He reared a family of five sons and two daughters. He was ambitious, energetic, a man of sound judgment, passionately fond of poetry and a great lover of music, hospitable and kind, a good friend and a worthy citizen, neighbor, father and husband.
JOSEPH PRATT EMERSON,
Was born in Lyman, Maine, November 10, 1810. His father was Captain Luther Emerson, who moved to Parsonsfield in 1814, and settled on the homestead farm of Thomas Parsons, whose daughter he married. Joseph P. followed agriculture as a business, yet music with him was not only a passion but a part of his being. And to it he devoted much time and service. He taught over two hundred classes and schools in vocal music, and devoted months of time and
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traveled thousands of miles to render service to others in times of need, in this capacity, without charge or remuneration. In 1829, he went to New Brunswick and tarried there seven years, and during this time was married to Miss Sarah Dunfield. The union was blessed with eight children, three sons and five daughters-all yet living. In 1836, he returned to Parsonsfield to the old homestead, where he remained till his death, which was instantaneous-being thrown from a mowing- machine on the seventeenth of July, 1884. He was one of the charter members of Charter Oak Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Effingham, New Hampshire, and gave it its name. His remains were taken charge of by that Order, the largest and most impressive funeral service which ever occurred in town.
His genuine hospitality, unselfish generosity and his cheering wit and good humor were marked traits of his character, and his friend- ships were wide, numerous, firm and abiding. In politics he was a republican, in religion a Baptist. He was one of the few, whose removal from earth creates a vacuum that remains, and a sadness that is lasting.
PROFESSOR LUTHER ORLANDO EMERSON.
Luther Orlando Emerson, youngest son of Captain Luther and Eliza- beth Usher (Parsons) Emerson, and grandson of Thomas Parsons, the original proprietor of the town, was born in Parsonsfield, August 3, 1820. He early manifested a taste and talent for music, inherited, in a greater or less degree, by the other members of the family, which was cultivated as circumstances would best allow during his boyhood and the earlier years of his manhood. At the age of twenty-one he left home and went to Boston.
His education had been obtained at the district school, Parsonsfield Seminary and Effingham Academy. He was full of energy, quick and versatile, an apt scholar and, with a view to entering the profession of medicine, he entered Dracut Academy, Massachusetts. But the great love and passion for music swerved him from that course, and now, having far better opportunities of cultivating and enjoying this taste and ability, he soon determined upon music as the profession of his choice. He accordingly commenced a course of musical instruction, under the late I. B. Woodbury.
g. Dr Emerson
TET
EMERSON HOMESTEAD
1701
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After several years of study on the voice, piano, organ and harmony, he went to Salem, Massachusetts, and began teaching, and there took charge of his first choir at a salary of $100 a year. Here, naturally, he began to compose for his choir, hymns and anthems, which were so suc- cessful with the congregation that he felt encouraged to collect them in book-form, as in a few years they had largely accumulated. This resulted in the " Romberg Collection," published in 1853, while he was still in Salem. This book was not a great success, although it con- tained some of Mr. Emerson's best efforts, as was proven when some years later he incorporated nearly one-half of this venture in a new collection. He was a young, unknown author, and it was not easy to find a firm willing to undertake the publication of his work. He remained in Salem six years, then returned to Boston and accepted the position of director of music and organist at Bulfinch Street Church, which position he held for four years. Meanwhile, he continued teach- ing, studying and writing music.
In 1857 was publisned by Oliver Ditson & Co., the "Golden Wreath," by Emerson, a song-book for schools, which at once became very pop- ular and met with a ready sale. The first year there were sold forty thousand copies, and the sale now amounts to over three hundred thou- sand. In 1858, he put forth the "Golden Harp," a Sunday-school book, which was also a great success.
These efforts gave him not only encouragement but reputation, since which he has never been obliged to seek for a publisher. Leaving Bos- ton, he accepted the position of organist and musical director in the Second Congregational Church, at Greenfield, Massachusetts, and was at the same time elected to take charge of the musical department of Powers' Institute, at Bernardston, Massachusetts, both of which posi- tions he held for eight years.
In 1860, he published a second book of church music, the "Sabbath Harmony," which took high rank and has had an extensive sale. Much of the better portion of this collection was taken from the " Romberg," which proves beyond a question that its failure was not due to lack of merit. The tune of "Sessions " alone, which it contained, would, had he never composed another, have immortalized his name.
In 1863, he brought out the "Harp of Judah," the sale of which
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was unequaled by any book of its kind, reaching fifty thousand copies during the first three months. This book probably gave Mr. Emerson his pre-eminence as a composer of church music. From that time to the present, his church music books have taken the lead of all that have been published in the country.
In 1866, the "Jubilate " was published. This was equally successful with the "Harp of Judah." Then followed in 1869 the "Choral Tribute "; in 1872, the " Standard "; in 1874, the " Leader"; in 1879, the " Voice of Worship," and "Emerson's Vocal Method." In all, Mr. Emerson has published fifty-one books for churches, schools, socie- ties and the household, which together have had an aggregate sale of over a million copies.
Notwithstanding all this labor, Mr. Emerson has written over fifty songs and pieces for the piano, most of which have had large sales and are well known. His war-song "We are coming Father Abraham," words by Bryant; " Negro Boatman's Song," words by Whittier, are too well known and appreciated to call for comment.
Among those that are familiar may be mentioned "Out in the cold," " I have no mother now," " I'll paddle my own canoe," " The flower girl," " Though lost to sight to memory dear," "Sleep my baby, sleep and dream," "Star of the twilight," " Why did we meet ?" " Why did we part ?" " Parting whispers," "Alpine echo," "Little Gertie and Uncle True," "Mountain land " and "Star of descending night." Among his popular sacred songs are: "Stand up for Jesus," " Jesus loves me," "Tarry with me, oh my Saviour," " Rock of ages," "So the day of rest declineth," " When the hues of daylight fade," " O, praise the mighty God," "Daughter of Zion," "Guide me, O thou great Jehovah," etc., etc. Nearly all of his writings have been pub- lished by Oliver Ditson & Co.
Of late years, Mr. Emerson has devoted his energies to the grand purpose of elevating the general character of music in our churches- uplifting and upbuilding in its tendency, and thus largely advancing the interests of true worship. With this in view, he has taken a very active part in musical conventions and festivals, being engaged in this noble work for more than twenty-five years, during which period he has conducted over three hundred conventions throughout the country.
1. W. book
EMERSON HOMESTEAD Flmswood Farm
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These musical conventions have done more to create and foster a general interest in music than any other agency. The great Boston Jubilee owed its success in great measure to the hundreds of these con- ventions held in different parts of the country and especially in New England. As a conductor, Mr. Emerson ranks among the first.
As a lecturer upon music, Mr. Emerson has attracted considerable attention, his best known lecture being that entitled " The World of Music." In this he traces its origin and progress, and gives some excellent lessons drawn from the lives of the great composers. He shows the design of music ; how it has been prized in every age of the world, among all nations ; its power in the church and state and the need of its influence in the family.
He is now full of life and vigor, busy laboring in his chosen field, not chilled in his ardor, kindness and genuine hospitality by contact with the world's selfishness, nor wanting in that generosity of nature which has ever won him hosts of friends.
JAMES W. COOK,
Second son of Nathaniel H. and Fannie (Chamberlin) Cook, and one of a family of seven children, was born in Wakefield, New Hampshire, May 1, 1837, where he resided until February, 1845, when his father removed with his family to North Parsonsfield to avail himself of the benefits afforded by Parsonsfield Seminary. At the age of sixteen years he went to Manchester, New Hampshire, with a view to learning mercantile business, where he remained one year. Then in conse- quence of the failing health of his father, he was obliged to return to his home, where he engaged in farming for several years. In the spring of 1857, he went to New York, and found ready employment as clerk in Lovejoy's Hotel. There he tarried till November, 1858, when he again returned to his Parsonsfield home, saddened by the death of ยท his mother and two of his sisters. As the family was thus well-nigh broken up, he, at the urgent request of the surviving members, decided to open a store for general merchandise at North Parsonsfield, near the residence of his father. In connection therewith, he carried on farming and lumbering, meeting with marked success in his business enterprises for a period of thirteen years.
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On November 24, 1859, he married Miss Sarah J. Emerson, daughter of Joseph P. Emerson and great-granddaughter of Thomas Parsons, and they have three children, two sons, William H. and Charles E., and one daughter, Fannie S.
In 1872, he sold his entire property in Parsonsfield and removed with his family to Boston, Massachusetts, purchasing the old established business of John Devereux and others, of pianoforte moving, estab- lished in 1823. He conducted this business until January 1, 1887, when his son William H. entered into partnership with him under the firm name of "J. W. Cook & Son." Here, by strict attention to busi- ness, he has acquired a large property.
While in Parsonsfield, he enjoyed the confidence of the community, being one of the municipal officers of the town, actively interested in the moral reforms and progress of the times, a charter member of Drummond Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at North Parsonsfield, and, after removing to Boston, becoming interested in religious matters, joining the Baptists worshiping at Tremont Temple.
A few years since, he purchased " Elmwood Farm " in Parsonsfield, well known as the Emerson homestead, being the late residence of Joseph P. Emerson, deceased, and earlier the farm of Thomas Parsons, the proprietor of the town, on which stands the original house erected by him, which Mr. Cook has remodeled and enlarged for a summer residence. On this farm he has at a great expense erected large farm buildings, and is successfully engaged in farming enterprise, making many and valuable improvements.
HONORABLE JAMES W. BRADBURY,
LAWYER AND EX-UNITED STATES SENATOR, AUGUSTA, MAINE.
(See Frontispiece.)
Of the many distinguished public men to whom the State has given birth, few have attained to greater prominence or achieved a more enviable success in life than the subject of this brief sketch. That suc- cess, however, has not been due alone to a liberally educated, highly cultivated mind, united to native vigor of intellect, but largely to an indefatigable industry, which has marked his career throughout-an industry devoted to the investigation of public questions as they arose ;
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and to an understanding of the merits of the engrossing topics of the hour ; whereby he has kept himself fully abreast of the times.
And even now, at the age of more than fourscore, when most men of his years sink into the torpor of senility, he is remarkably active, both in body and mind-still taking as lively an interest as ever in foreign affairs, in the doings of Congress, in the legislation of the State, in the success of our colleges and other educational agencies, in the development of the industrial interests of the country, in the discov- eries of science and the inventions of art, as well as in the varied social, religious and political movements of the day.
The limits prescribed to this sketch admit of only a meagre outline of his life and labors.
James Ware Bradbury was born in Parsonsfield, York County, Maine, July 10, 1802. His father, James Bradbury, was a successful practicing physician in that town for upward of forty years. The common ances- tor of the family in this country was Thomas Bradbury,* a native of Essex, England, who came to Massachusetts about the year 1634, as agent of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. He was repeatedly elected a member of the General Court of Massachusetts from the town of Salisbury.
After leaving the common schools, Mr. Bradbury attended for one or more terms the academies at Saco, Limerick and Effingham, New Hampshire, and fitted for college under the tuition of Preceptor Nason, at Gorham. He entered the sophomore class at Bowdoin, in the autumn of 1822, and was graduated in 1825. Among the graduating class of that year were Longfellow, Little, Hawthorne, Cilley, Abbott and others, who afterward became celebrated. Josiah Storer Little took the first rank in scholarship, having assigned to him the first of the three English orations. Bradbury and Longfellow had the other two, their rank being in the order of their names, Gorham Dean, who held the second rank, having died before Commencement. Soon after graduating, Mr. Bradbury became preceptor of Hallowell Academy, giving universal satisfaction.
He then commenced the study of law in the office of Rufus McIntire, of Parsonsfield, finishing in that of Ether and John Shepley. Some three months intervening before he could be admitted to the bar, he
*James W. is sixth in the line of descent from Thomas Bradbury.
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opened a school in Effingham, New Hampshire, for the instruction of teachers, which he taught one term with success, drilling the pupils for the special business of teachers. This is believed to have been the first attempt at a normal school in New England.
On being admitted, in 1830, Mr. Bradbury removed to Augusta, where he commenced practice. In 1833, he formed a short professional co-partnership with Horatio Bridge. Subsequently he had for law- partners, Honorable Lot M. Morrill, J. M. Meserve and Richard D. Rice. In all of the firms he was senior member. When Mr. Bradbury began practice, the Kennebec bar was, perhaps, unsurpassed in ability by any in the State, numbering, among others, such distinguished names as those of Reuel Williams, Peleg Sprague, George Evans, Fred- erick Allen, Timothy Boutelle, Samuel Wells, William Emmons, H. W. Fuller and Hiram Belcher. To obtain a foothold in a field so occupied required not only legal ability but untiring application and effort. His success was rapid and permanent. He soon had a large and remunerative practice, being employed from morning till night in office consultations and in court cases. He was devoted to his profession. He was a sound, thoroughly-read lawyer and a skillful and able advo- cate, who never failed to do justice to the cause of his client.
In 1835, Mr. Bradbury was appointed by Governor Dunlap, County Attorney for Kennebec, an office he held for four years, discharging its duties with ability and fidelity.
In politics, Mr. Bradbury was a " born democrat," and has ever remained true to the party. On coming to Augusta he became, for one year, editor of the Maine Patriot, a democratic paper then pub- lished in the town; and, wielding as he did a vigorous pen, he made the journal very acceptable to its patrons. He was a delegate to the Baltimore Convention of 1844, and, during the election of that year being chosen a presidential elector, was president of the electoral col- lege of the state, which cast its vote for James K. Polk. In the can- vass, Mr. Bradbury took the stump for Mr. Polk, speaking often and in different parts of the State, the leading issue being the admission of Texas into the Union.
In 1846, Mr. Bradbury was elected United States Senator for six years, commencing March 4, 1847. He took his seat in the Senate,
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December 10, 1847, at the beginning of the first session of the Forty- Third Congress. Thirteen days after, his colleague Honorable John Fairfield fell a victim to a hazardous surgical operation, and on the twenty-third of December, Mr. Bradbury announced his death to the Senate, and pronounced a fitting eulogy upon his life and character.
Mr. Bradbury's entrance into the Senate occurred at a period of unusual interest in the legislation of the country, when the Mexican war and the slavery question absorbed its deliberations; and when such statesmen as Webster, Calhoun, Clay, Benton, Cass, Douglas, Seward and Chase occupied seats in that body. Mr. Bradbury gave an efficient support to the war measures of Mr. Polk's administration ; and when hostilities with Mexico ceased, he and his colleague W. B. S. Moore labored for the ratification of the treaty of peace, which secured us so much and was in danger of being rejected.
In the assignment of the Senate committees, Mr. Bradbury was made chairman of the Committee on Printing, a member of the Committee on Claims and of the Judiciary Committee, upon the latter of which he continued to serve until the close of his term. The labors of the com- mittee were heavier than now, as the members had to draft their own bills and were unprovided with a clerk, but Mr. Bradbury never shrank from doing his full share of the work.
July 24, 1850, Mr. Clay, from the Committee of thirteen, reported what is known as the " Compromise Bill," establishing territorial gov- ernments for New Mexico and Utah, and providing for the adjustment of the boundaries of Texas and for the payment of a stipulated amount for territory relinquished to the United States. The bill gave rise to a long debate, in which a large number of the members of the Senate (Mr. Bradbury among them) participated. It was a time of intense excitement, and, as subsequent events have proved, of great danger to the Union. Mr. Bradbury gave an earnest support to the bill as fair in its terms, and the only measure that could command a majority in Congress and quiet a controversy which threatened the peace of the country. It was designed to relieve Congress from the agitation of the subject of slavery in the territories, by placing its determination in the hands of the people of the respective territories themselves, where it could be safely lodged. Had Congress afterward
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adhered to the principle of the bill, we might have escaped the civil war, which followed the excitement that resulted from the repeal of the Missouri line restriction in the bill for the organization of Kansas in 1854.
The conspicuous advocacy and harmonious co-operation of Mr. Clay and Mr. Webster, in aid of these plans of adjustment, led Mr. Brad- bury to entertain a profound admiration for their broad statesmanship and lofty patriotism ; and he has always regarded Mr. Webster's seventh of March speech as the most patriotic utterance of his life.
In Senate, April, 1852, Mr. Bradbury made the leading argument in favor of the French Spoliation Bill; and in reply to Senator Felch, of Michigan, who made an elaborate speech against it. The facts, figures. and reasoning then presented by Mr. Bradbury possess the same inter- est today that they then did. The bill passed the Senate by a large majority.
Mr. Bradbury was the originator of the movement which led to the establishment of the Court of Claims. In 1849, he offered a resolution for the establishment of such a board, and at the next session he pre- sented a carefully prepared bill, which was substantially the same as that passed by Congress the next year.
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