USA > South Carolina > Charleston County > Charleston > History of the New England Society of Charleston, South Carolina, for One Hundred Years, 1819-1919 > Part 2
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Respectfully submitted
ROBERT LEBBY A. H. HAYDEN F. RICHARDS
The report was unanimously adopted, and the same committee was authorized to complete the purchase and turn over the charge of the lots to the committee on charity.
On March 9, 1869, the committee reported that the purchase of the lots had been concluded, and that they would be enclosed with a wild orange hedge. The committee also submitted a plan for a monument. It was resolved that the committee on charity be authorized to mature a plan and furnish an estimate of the cost of a suitable monu- ment, and to report at the next meeting, June 2, 1870.
The committee on charity submitted a plan for a monument to be erected in Magnolia Ceme- tery; also, a letter from the Plummer Granite Company bearing on the cost.
On motion of Mr. Richardson it was
Resolved, That the subject of the monument be referred to the committee on charity, with full power to act as in their judgment seemed best.
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THE NEW ENGLAND SOCIETY
The committee on charity was composed of the following gentlemen: Dr. R. Lebby, L. T. Potter, A. H. Hayden, D. F. Fleming, E. W. Edgerton, C. R. Brewster, J. R. Read.
"The monument manufactured by the Plum- mer Granite Company cost, including all neces- sary expenses, $2,000. It is made of solid New England granite and consists of an octagonal shaft or column resting on four quadrilateral bases. On one side of the base is the inscription in raised letters, 'New England Society, 1819.' The grounds are surrounded and fenced in by a granite fence, at the entrance of which are the letters 'N.E.S.' raised from the granite.
"The ground has been opened to receive for the first interment the body of Mr. Edward J. Norris, stranger, born at Astoria, Long Island, July 4, 1839, who died in Charleston, May 17, 1870; and again to receive into its bosom the body of Dr. John T. Cole, son of Reverend Jonathan J. E. E. Cole, of Newburyport, Massa- chusetts, who died in the city of Charleston on January 3, 1871."
The duties assigned to the committee having been completed, the corner stone was laid with
ยท
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OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
impressive ceremony. The chairman, Dr. Lebby, delivered the following address:
"Mr. President and Gentlemen of the New England Society, here is your cemetery, enclosed with New England granite, emblematic of Plym- outh Rock, upon which our forefathers first landed on this western shore.
"There will stand your monument, as soon as you deposit into its foundation this jar, containing a copy of the constitution and names of the founders and members of the New England Society and other relics, with the newspapers of the day. A granite column will surmount this base. At this entrance, the 'N.E.S.' will inform the visitor that this is the final resting-place in South Caro- lina of indigent and unfortunate New Englanders and their descendants, who die here in a strange land but not among strangers.
"Here, Mr. President, you behold the fruit of the labor of that band of kind-hearted and noble spirits, sons of New England, assembled in this city of Charleston, on January 6, A.D. 1819, for the twofold purpose of keeping alive in their minds the memory of the land of their birth and the institutions handed them from their fathers.
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Another, a higher object with them, was to organ- ize an efficient system of relief for such of the sons of New England as might be arrested by the hand of disease or chill of penury in this city. Ani- mated by these pure and holy sentiments, directed to the same great end, the different elements of which our Society is composed harmonize to pro- duce one noble result. And the steady increase of our numbers, the cordial co-operation which exists among us, show that in emulating the example of our Pilgrim Fathers in all things good we follow them not when leading to narrow and sectional conclusions.
"In the first assembly, we find recorded the names of Nathaniel Russell, Joseph Winthrop, Doddridge Crocker, David W. Leland, A. S. Will- ington, B. F. Dunkin, and others of a kindred spirit.
"Of that noble band of gentlemen in the provi- dence of Almighty God, but one remains to wit- ness the triumphant progress of the institution which they first put into operation. 'Death has been busy among them; time has laid his hand on one after another of the group; and they have gradually fallen asleep and rested from their good works below.'
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"Sir, we are permitted this day to see in our midst, on this interesting occasion, the only sur- viving patriarch of that band of intelligence and purity which brought this Society into existence, Honorable Benjamin Faneuil Dunkin, standing here, as he does, on the confines of two worlds, the native representative of New England and South Carolina's representative as the learned jurist and upright judge of his adopted state.
"The state of his adoption honored him with the mantle of her chief justice, and by the purity of his legal and Christian life, he has brilliantly reflected back that honor; by preserving his integrity and the ermine of his mantle untarnished, without spot or blemish, South Carolina claims him as her son 'in whom there is no guile.'
"Mr. President, in behalf of my colleagues, I have the honor to tender for your acceptance, as the representative head of the New England Society, this cemetery and its monument. May it last as long as time, and when it shall crumble away amidst the 'crash of worlds,' may the kindred dust of those it represents be reanimated and ascend amongst the redeemed of the Eternal World."
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THE NEW ENGLAND SOCIETY
In accepting the report of the committee, Mr. James B. Campbell, the president of the Society, spoke as follows:
"Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Com- mittee: In behalf of and in the name of the New England Society, I thank you for your faithful performance of the duty that has been assigned you. We cordially approve of your arrangements, and I assure you that every heart here beats in acquiescence to what you have said of our vener- able brother, B. F. Dunkin.
"Gentlemen of the New England Society, we are assembled here, in uncovered presence, with a good and noble motive. We have assembled to the performance of a work which will enlist the sympathy and feeling of every thinking person- to dedicate and lay the foundation of a simple and tasteful monument to mark the resting-place of our friends and brethren. I have a single remark to make in this connection, and I shall make it without enlarging upon it. There is one sentiment upon which all creeds and sects, reli- gious and irreligious, are united-a sentiment which obliterates the marks between civilization and barbarism and brings upon a common level degradation and the highest grade of civilization.
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That sentiment is a reverence of the dead and the burying places of the dead. I have never heard of any tribe or class or race of men so degraded who did not have a pious reverence for their bury- ing places. We have now to unite in that senti- ment, and it is well that we have done so. I am glad that I am here. I am glad that at this period of his life my venerable friend has seen the accomplishment of this work. I am glad that you are here to participate, and with these simple remarks made simply for the purpose of recalling this sentiment, we are here to pay our respects and do homage to that sentiment."
The corner stone was then opened, and a her- metically sealed jar, containing a list of the members of this Society, its constitution and by-laws, copies of the Courier and the News, and other memoranda, were placed in the receptacle.
In closing this the president said, rapping upon the stone with his gavel:
"We have now performed the ceremony of laying the corner stone of this monument. Let us hope and believe that this solid granite will be indicative of our perpetuity and usefulness and of the stern and manly sentiment that should guide our conduct. Let us hope that it may be typical
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of our character. If we may hope thus, we can have no earthly hope of a higher degree."
The venerable ex-Chief Justice Dunkin was then introduced, and spoke with much feeling as follows:
"Mr. President and Gentlemen: After what has been said, it cannot be expected of me to say much. It is nearly a half-century since that company met in the old Carolina Coffee House, in Tradd Street, to organize the New England Society. Many of us, if not descendants, were immediately connected with the descendants of the Plymouth Fathers, and the day of their land- ing on the Rock was adopted as our anniversary. The first presiding officers of the Society were the venerable Nathaniel Russell, of Rhode Island, long cherished by those who knew him, and Joseph Winthrop, of Massachusetts, a worthy representative of a long line of ancestors who landed from the Mayflower. Many were much older than myself, and some were even younger, but I was startled when I was told that none were left but myself. They have all gone to their long homes; but their works do them honor. We organized that day an institution which promoted social relations and dispensed charity to the living
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and needy. We have met here today to tender our last mark of respect and regard to those who have died among us. I arose but to say these few words, and to tell you that I am with you now heart and soul, as I was with the Society at its birth. I loved and venerated New England, the land of my birth, where the bones of my ancestors lie; and we love the land of our adoption. Caro- lina has been kind to us all and in weal or woe is well entitled to our respect and grateful attach- ment. Here have been our early trials, our joys and sorrows, and I trust when life's feverish dream is past here too my ashes will repose."
The benediction was pronounced by the Reverend W. H. Adams, a member of the Society.
The Reverend C. S. Vedder, D.D., eighth president of the New England Society, notwith- standing the fact that four burying places were offered him, two of which were in his native state, New York, requested that he be buried in the cemetery of the New England Society at beauti- ful Magnolia. The request was granted by the Society, and the venerable "man of God" now rests there by the side of his saintly wife.
In 1854 the president of the New England Society, Mr. A. S. Willington, was introduced at a
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banquet given by the St. Andrews Society, in the following words:
"Mr. President, I beg leave to welcome again to our festal board the respected president of the New England Society, the head of an institution not quite so gray in years as ours, but whose bounty to the widow and the orphan and whose efforts in the cause of true charity have been so extensive and liberal; such good deeds are worthy of being engraven on tablets of steel in letters of gold."
This glowing tribute to the benevolent work of the New England Society, which during a period of one hundred years never turned a deaf ear to a needy cause, forms a fitting peroration to this chapter.
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THE PRESIDENTS
In a formative period of approximately one hundred years, the New England Society of Charleston has had only eight presidents.
The eight, individually and collectively, repre- sented the best thought and action of their day. They were practical idealists. They stood for the New England type of manhood.
All of them were elected to the office of presi- dent unanimously. All continued in office until removed by death.
All of them lived to be more than threescore and ten years. It is quite extraordinary that the average age of the eight presidents was within a fraction of seventy-eight years.
The sketches which follow are designed to give an estimate of their services and of the esteem in which they were held.
NATHANIEL RUSSELL
Nathaniel Russell, the first president of the New England Society of Charleston, was born at Bristol, Rhode Island, November 16, 1738. His
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ancestors had been leaders of thought and action in New England for more than one hundred and fifty years. His father, Joseph Russell, was for a time chief justice of Rhode Island.
It was the Reverend John Russell, a forbear of Nathaniel Russell, who in 1675 concealed in his home at Hadley, Massachusetts, Edward Whalley, one of Cromwell's major generals, and William Goffe, an English parliamentary commander, who had been conspicuous in the Revolution of Eng- land and who had been instrumental in bringing a guilty king, Charles I, to the block.
These two heroes of democracy were of course persona non grata to all who believed in the divine right of kings, consequently after the restoration of Charles II they were pursued and persecuted by the minions of royalty. They naturally fled to America for protection and safety, which they found in the castle of "the parson of Hadley," who at the peril of his life gave them a place of refuge.
One hundred years ago some of the great mer- chants of the world lived in Charleston, South Carolina. They came from England, France, and New England. Thomas, in his Reminiscences and Sketches of His Life and Times, gives the
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names of about forty of the leading merchants of Charleston in 1795. The name of Nathaniel Russell appears at the head of the list. There was only one native of South Carolina in the group mentioned, and he was a junior partner of one of the large firms; his name was Stoney.
Mr. Thomas continued his observation by stating that "the door of the St. Cecilia Society was shut to the plebeian and the man of business, with two exceptions: Adam Tunno, king of the Scotch, and William Crafts, vice-king of the Yankees under their legitimate head, Nathaniel Russell, than whom there was no better man."
Nathaniel Russell came to Charleston from New England a beardless youth, and by reason of rare ability, indomitable will power, and sterling integrity, became a merchant prince. .
Not many years after his arrival in Charleston he married Miss Sarah Hopton. Two daughters were born from this union-Sarah, who married the Right Reverend Theodore Dehon, D.D., bishop of South Carolina, and Alicia, who married Arthur Middleton.
In 1811 Mr. Russell completed his mansion on Meeting Street, which was one of the most palatial residences at that time in the South. It was the
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first house built in Charleston in which marble keystones were used. Not many years ago, Dr. Thomas Nelson Page, the famous author and diplomat, in passing the Nathaniel Russell house, said to his friend, "There are my windows." When Dr. Page built his handsome residence in Washington, D.C., he sent an architect to Charles- ton to copy the beautiful windows Mr. Russell had designed for his Charleston home more than one hundred years before.
After the death of Mr. Russell, Governor Alston lived in this elegant home. It is now the residence of Mr. Francis J. Pelzer.
The New England Society of Charleston owes its existence to Nathaniel Russell. He was the moving spirit in its origin and organization, and quite naturally its first president. Next to his own family he loved this Society. He bequeathed to the Society its first legacy, the sum of five hun- dred dollars, which at the time was a large amount, and which became the nucleus of an endowment of more than twenty thousand dollars. "He builded better than he knew."
He died April 11, 1820, full of years and full of good works. A splendid tomb marks his resting-
. .
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OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
place in the cemetery of the Circular Congrega- tional Church, on Meeting Street.
The day after his death the following appre- ciation appeared in the Courier:
Died, yesterday, in his residence in Meeting Street, the venerable Nathaniel Russell, an upright, honorable man, a philanthropist, and a fervent and exemplary Christian. He was a native of New England, an honor to the land which gave him birth, and a blessing to this city which has long enjoyed the light of his virtues, the warmth of his benevolence, and the chastening purity of his character and influence.
This morning will consign his remains to the grave- and he who for nearly a century has been doing good on earth will be seen here no more. We cannot express what we feel on this afflicting bereavement.
The Right Reverend Nathaniel Bowen, D.D., writing in his register in 1820, paid the following tribute:
"The death of my venerable friend, Mr. Nathaniel Russell, was a deeply affecting event. From my earliest youth he had sustained toward me the relation of a kind, paternal counselor and friend. He had been the friend of my father when he came in search of a professional establishment in this country.
"He was the friend and protector of my mother in the destitution and sorrow of her
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widowhood, and he never failed to evince towards me the kindest and most benevolent affection. How could I entertain a faint sentiment of grati- tude or love towards him? He was not of the church of which I am; but he was a Christian of no ordinary excellence; and there was always that in him that gave him an unquestionable claim to be respected.
"He was a virtuous, wise man, and I truly believe he diligently sought to be accepted of God through Jesus Christ.
"Thine own and thy father's friend forget not. Mr. Russell's death, though at eighty-two years of age, was a public loss of considerable impor- tance."
William Crafts, Jr., speaking at the annual celebration of the New England Society, just a few months after the death of Mr. Russell, said:
"It is the record of active and persevering virtues, such as filled up and adorned and endeared the life of your late worthy president and bene- factor. I miss from among you his venerable form. He rests from his benevolent labors. The useful only have a right to live, and sweet is repose after honorable toil."
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OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA JOSEPH WINTHROP
Joseph Winthrop, second president of the New England Society, was born at New London, Connecticut, June 19, 1757. He was a lineal descendant of the first governor, John Winthrop, standing fifth in line of descent. His distin- guished nephew, Robert C. Winthrop, whose name has been linked with the cause of education from the day when, in a new colony, John Win- throp signed the first voluntary subscription for free schools in America, was selected by George Peabody as the administrator of his great bene- faction of over three million dollars for the cause of common education of the children of the South, when almost all of the schools were closed as the result of the Civil War.
The great Winthrop Normal College for women, located at Rock Hill, South Carolina, was by common consent of the people of the state named in honor of Robert C. Winthrop.
Joseph Winthrop came to Charleston in 1783. He at once entered the mercantile business and became one of the prominent merchants of the city. For more than a generation he was actively engaged in the development of the commercial,
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educational, and religious life of his adopted city.
In 1788 he married Miss Mary Fraser, daughter of Alexander Fraser.
Mr. Winthrop was one of the founders of the New England Society. His name appears second on the list of original members. He was elected vice-president when the Society was organized in 1819, and president one year later.
His tomb, in the cemetery of St. Michael's Church, bears the following inscription:
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF JOSEPH WINTHROP WHO WAS BORN 19TH JUNE, 1757 IN NEW LONDON, CONN. AND DIED 26TH JULY, 1828 IN THIS CITY OF WHICH HE HAD BEEN FOR 45 YEARS A WORTHY AND RESPECTABLE INHABITANT
DODDRIDGE CROCKER
Doddridge Crocker, third president of the New England Society, was born at Andover, Connecti- cut, in 1769. He came to Charleston in 1788, and entered the mercantile business in which he con-
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tinued for over fifty years. An old Charleston friend, writing of him shortly after his death, said:
"He was the oldest merchant in this city, and it can with truth be said that during this extended series of years, immersed in commerce and in continual association with our citizens, he left not an enemy behind. Mild, unassuming, benevo- lent-he breathed nothing but good will and peace to his fellow-man. Honest, industrious, energetic-he ever commanded the most perfect respect from all. Mr. Crocker had often been solicited to occupy public stations, but being retiring in disposition, he invariably declined them, and with the single exception of being presi- dent of the New England Society, he has ever considered that a private station was the post of honor."
At a meeting of the New England Society, June 2, 1847, the following preamble and resolu- tions were adopted:
"WHEREAS, It has pleased Almighty God to remove from among us our late venerable Presi- dent, Doddridge Crocker, the occasion seems appropriate for expressing our lively sense of this solemn dispensation of Divine Providence, as well as placing upon the archives of this Society some
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enduring memorial of the virtues of that excellent man. For more than half a century Mr. Crocker has been a citizen of Charleston and, while pos- sessing modest and unobtrusive manners, he has, during all that time, deservedly enjoyed the reputation of an accomplished merchant, a courteous gentleman, and a man of inflexible integrity. He was, besides, a sincere Christian, one who feared God, respected the rights of his fellow-men, and ever maintained a conscience void of offense.
"The subject of this memorial, while yet a youth, was placed by his father in a counting- house in Boston, and there became familiar with those duties of the merchant which he so success- fully and honorably performed to the close of a long and an exemplary life. He appears to have been endowed by nature not with brilliant but with substantial powers of mind. His chief intel- lectual characteristic was strong common sense; and among his moral qualities the most remark- able were a love of justice and a love of truth. To these he added the advantages of a plain, sub- stantial education and an engaging address, which made him welcome in all circles where real worth is duly appreciated. Mr. Crocker was a man of
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genuine but unostentatious benevolence, ever especially ready to seek out and relieve objects of distress and to encourage and patronize youthful merit. There are many in this community who can bear testimony to such substantial evidences of his friendship-many who can truly say that when the ear heard him it blessed him, and when the eye saw him it bore witness of him, because he delivered the fatherless who had none to help him, and caused the widow's heart to leap for joy.
"Mr. Crocker was one of the original founders of the New England Society of Charleston; was elected its third president in 1828, and has been its presiding officer nineteen years. During this long period, he has exercised the presidential func- tions with dignity and ability; has ever been watchful of the interests of the Society, mani- fested a deep solicitude for its prosperity, as well as a lively concern for the success and happiness of its individual members. We shall see his face and his venerable form among us no more forever! He has passed through this probationary state- has ended the perilous journey of life-having nobly resisted the temptations and avoided the snares which beset the path of all men. He was a pure-minded, honorable, upright gentleman of
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the old school-sincere, consistent, faithful, and hopeful to the last.
"He has descended to the grave full of years and full of honor, without a spot upon his name, a fair specimen of what a New Englander is, or should be, and leaving behind him a character which all justly thinking men may admire and emulate. Therefore
" Be it resolved, That this Society feels deeply sensible of the loss which it has sustained in the death of Doddridge Crocker, for a series of years its venerable and excellent president; and that as a testimony of respect for his many and rare virtues its members will wear the usual badge of mourning for the space of thirty days.
" Resolved, That a copy of this preamble and of these resolutions be cominunicated to the only surviving sister and to the other relatives of the deceased, with expressions of sympathy and of our sincere condolence with them in their afflic- tive bereavement."
Doddridge Crocker was for many years a promment and active member of the Circular Congregational Church. His tomb in the ceme- tery of that church bears the following inscrip- tion:
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IN MEMORY OF MR. DODDRIDGE CROCKER WHO DIED MAY 2IST, 1847 IN HIS 79TH YEAR
Gently the passing spirit fled Sustained by grace divine Oh may such grace on us be shed And make our end like thine.
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