USA > Vermont > Windham County > Brattleboro > Brattleboro, Windham County, Vermont; early history, with biographical sketches of some of its citizens > Part 23
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Born at New Ipswich, N. H., March 11, 1799, the last year of the eighteenth cen- tury, his education, life and spirit were emphatically of, and kept pace with, the nineteenth. His collegiate and theological education were furnished by Harvard Col- lege and the Cambridge Theological school. A graduate of the class of 1826, and of the class of 1831 from the Theological school, he became minister of the newly estab- lished Unitarian church of this village in 1832. As its first minister, he continued in its pastorate nearly 14 years, and on dissolving his official connection remained, with brief interruptions, until his death, one of its most devoted members. His successors in its pastorate will bear warm testimony to the friendliness of his rela- tions to them, and the steadfastness of his endeavors to forward their labors for its prosperity.
His connection with the Brattleboro Unitarian church terminated Dec. 1, 1845. Though continuing to preach as occasion offered during the greater part of the re- mainder of his life, Mr. Brown formed no
new pastoral connection. With the deep- est interest in the advancement of thé general good, which he always held to be the great aim of the church and the minis- try, he turned his attention to other methods of promoting it. The cause of education especially interested him. To it he gave increasingly his thought and energies. The condition of the public schools in this region excited his deepest concern. He saw they were far behind what the public need and the possibilities of the case required; he sought to remodel the schools on a higher and more effective plan, and he aimed to bring a more direct relation between the parents of the pupils and the teachers and schools entrusted with their education. In 1841, he had the gratification of seeing a response to his efforts, in the introduction into the schools of the graded system. But aware that not even the best system can dispense with that "eternal vigilance " which is the price of all worthy attainment, he labored to the end of lis public life to deepen the sense of responsibility in the public mind for the efficiency of the schools, and he rendered an inestimable service. He held office as superintendent of the schools in Windham county from 1846 until that office was abolished, after which, for several years, he acted as superintendent of the schools of the town of Brattleboro. To his care and faithfulness, which never relaxed until his physical powers failed, the schools of our village were greatly indebted for the efficiency which they have attained. Well do Brattleboro's teachers know what a wealth of sympathy and efficient help in all their efforts to improve the schools un- der their charge was given them by Mr. Brown, by his personal interest and care, and by his efforts through the public press.
With the press he became connected in 1862, when Dr. Charles Cummings, sum- moned from the editorial chair to the battlefield, relinquished the charge of the Vermont Phonix. Mr. Brown became editor and one of the proprictors, which post he held until March, 1871, when failing health compelled his retirement. Loyally, in the bitter days of civil war, he stood by the flag of our Union; ceaselessly he iden- tified and toiled to induce others to identify the fortunes and significance of that starry
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flag with the broadest and most generous ideas of liberty and the rights of man, his works attest, and not only they, but a son and son-in-law cheerfully surrendered to his country's service, and who being dead yet speak of his loyal and tender sympathy with them in their brave young consecra- tion. He realized the importance of his post as editor of a newspaper, and sought, in every way that opened before him, to make the journal in his control powerful for good. He labored to identify his paper with all that was true and good. He made it a journal whose columns could bring a blush of shame to no pure mind. One of the best among the prints of the Green Mountain State it was his pride to have it. With a special interest he advo- cated the cause of woman's elevation. He set no bounds to his claim of rights for her. To her largest aspirations he lent a faithful, helping voice. Not alone her pleading for a higher education, not alone her assertion of right and opportunity to labor in other spheres than those hereto- fore at her command; not alone her right to the possession and use of her own earn- ings, but, besides and beyond, her right to enter on every sphere to which she felt a divine call, a native fitness, and to the en- joyment of full political rights, found in him a devoted, and, so far as was possible to a mind so finely balanced and so judicial as his, an enthusiastic advocate. Indeed, wherever oppression was, there was he to be found exposing and withstanding it. In the days when slavery's night brooded over the land, he stood one of the lights of liberty that prophesied the com- ing of the dawn. At the side of the slave he placed himself to recognize in him a man and a brother, and demand for him the full possession of his rights And the slavery of strong drink found no more steadfast enemy than he. In his own per- son, in his home, in all his public teaching and writing, he was the advocate and ex- emplar of temperance. To devoted advo- cacy, to a constancy that could not by pelf or argument be turned aside from its noble purpose, he joined a quietness, a candor of temper, a disposition to do justice to all sides, which nobly illustrated the practi- cableness and the beauty of a true tem- perance.
As an editor, he illustrated in his own modest way some of the highest qualities of a true journalist. He would not for any consideration stoop to anything de- basing. No chance of making a striking point would move him to be unjust. He would speak the truth, the broad, careful, just truth. He would speak it kindly and calmly, and "with malice toward none." If he missed the brilliance which many affect, he gained the reality which they miss. So he could be utterly trusted, and was a safe and helpful guide. His mind was clear, his principle high, his purpose honest, his spirit pure. To be good and do good were his life's great aims. When he quitted his editorial post he went forth to his retirement without reproach.
Of him is it emphatically true that he was good. His religious creed was broad and simple. It could be all summed up in love to God and love to man. His life was devoted chiefly to others' good. He believed in personal righteousness rather than in profession of piety. To do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God, formed his great aim. It is safe to say that he left the world without an enemy, but not without many a friend by whom his memory will long and tenderly be cherished .- From the Vermont Phoenix.
WILLIAM H. ROCKWELL, M. D.
William Haydon Rockwell was born in East Windsor, Conn., Feb. 15, 1800. He was the fourth child and only son in a family of eight children, of Charles and Sarah Haydon Rockwell. His father was a farmer, as were several generations of only sons before him, a fact that rendered him especially desirous that his only son should succeed himself in the cultivation of an estate that had been long in the family. But though not inclined to adopt this for his permanent pursuit, the knowl- edge of farming here acquired was after- wards of great service in aiding him to advance the interests of those whose welfare became the chief concern of his life.
A rather precocious fondness for the study of mathematics enabled young Rockwell to early master the science of surveying. This proficiency gained him, at the age of 17, the position of leading surveyor in the neighboring towns, and
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by the time he had attained his majority, he was appointed surveyor-in-chief of Hartford county. During the intervals that occurred between this and other en- gagements, he found time to aid his father when his work pressed more heavily, and also to prepare himself to pass the first three examinations, and to enter the junior class of Yale College. From this institu- tion he was graduated with distinction in 1824. He received soon after the appoint- ment of principal of the Nichols Academy at Dudley, Mass., and remaining there two years, he then entered on the study of medicine in the office of Dr. Thomas Hub- bard, a professor in the Yale College Medical School. While yet an under- graduate, he was appointed assistant physician in the Retreat for the Insane at Hartford, then under the charge of the noted alienist, Dr. Eli Todd, where he re- mained until his return to the Yale Medical School, from which he was graduated in 1831. Though earnestly invited to resume his position in the Retreat, and having now a strong predilection for the specialty, to which he hoped sometime to return, he wisely judged it better to first gain more experience in the general practice of his profession, and a favorable opportunity offering, he at once entered on the practice in Durham, Conn. He was there not quite two years when, in response to a most urgent request from his old friend and preceptor, Dr. Todd, then in failing health, he returned to the Retreat. Here he con- tinued as assistant physician until called to Brattleboro, though acting superinten- dent during Dr. Todd's disabling illness, and for some time after his death.
Dr. Rockwell was married June 25, 1835, to Mrs. Maria F. Chapin, a native of Salisbury, Conn.
He received the appointment of super- intendent of the Vermont Asylum for the Insane, from the board of trustees, June 28, 1836, but he did not assume charge until the following October, when his ser- vices were required to supervise the com- pletion of the alterations and additions to the building, purchased by tlie trustees, was undergoing, to render it suitable for the reception of patients. This building, a wooden structure of rather imposing exterior, stood on beautiful grounds then
known as Woodland, and when remod- eled was very well adapted to the purpose in view. It occupied the site of the present Marsh building, and with the premises and 45 acres of meadow land adjacent was purchased with the legacy of $10,000, be- queathed by Mrs. Ann Marsh, who died in 1834. By the kind thoughtfulness of this most philanthropic lady, and the remark- able stewardship of Dr. Rockwell, Ver- mont was placed far in advance of most of the States of the Union in her ability to take proper care of her insane.
The asylum was opened for the recep- tion of patients December 12, 1836. At that time it was by many supposed to be of ample size to accommodate all that would be sent to it for many years; but patients came in so rapidly that scarce a year had elapsed before it became evident that a much larger building would soon be required. Not long after, a centre build- ing and one wing of a new asylum, a brick structure, designed after the best model then known, was erected on the grounds opposite the original building, which afterwards, until vacated and re- moved, was called the " old asylum."
To the construction of the institution, long since grown to be one of the largest in the country, the State has contributed various sums amounting in the aggregate to $23,000. This is the only outside aid the asylum has ever received from any source, while, under the management of the late superintendent, it has been ex- tended, rebuilt, as to the large portion destroyed by fire in 1862, remodeled in some parts before and since that catas- trophe, and has besides supported itself from the first on income derived from pri- vate patients. These patients came from all sections of the United States; also from the West Indies, the Bermuda Islands. the Canadas, and the British Provinces, and were attracted hither by the wide spread reputation of Dr. Rockwell for treating mental diseases. And to establish the institution on so firm a foundation that it might continue to be of as great benefit in the future to the insane of moderate means, and to the dependent insane of Vermont, as it was to them and others during his superintendency, with the hope that it might be ever increasing in its
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capacity for usefulness, was the great aim of Dr. Rockwell's long continued, most assiduous and untiring labors.
While at Hartford, he had longed for an opportunity of attempting an experiment, before untried, of largely engaging the male patients of an asylum in farm labor; and it is known that the favorable location of the Vermont Asylum for such purpose greatly influenced him in his decision to accept the superintendency. But, as shown in some of his earlier reports, he met with much opposition from some of his brother specialists, who deemed the project impracticable and dangerous. His was not the character, however, to be stayed by ordinary obstacles, and a few seasons of patient trial, beginning with a limited company at first-selected, of course, with due regard to their mental and physical condition-proved that a large number of insane persons, under the guidance of a few men of calm temper and possessed of ordinary tact, can be safely trusted to work together on a farm; also, that such employment is a most valuable adjunct to the means used to promote the recovery of the curable, and affords the most natural, healthful and enjoyable kind of exercise for the incurable insane. The success of the experiment is further sub- stantiated and, indeed, now indisputably established by the fact that all State insti- tutions for the insane, built in more recent years, have adopted his idea, and now possess extensive farms, on which the in- mates are more or less largely employed. But while so much interested in assuring the success of this undertaking, he neg- lected none of the other means commonly used for the occupation and diversion of the insane. Indeed, he had early and thoroughly tested almost everything in the form of diversion and the ordinary occu- pations and exercises, both within doors and without, for female as well as male patients, such as are now resorted to for their benefit.
The following extract from some re- marks, offered on a public occasion soon after Dr. Rockwell's decease, as coming from a brother superintendent and native of Vermont-Dr. Mark Ranney-and as comprising so much in a few words, would seem to find an appropriate place in this brief sketch: "I well remember his fine
presence and genial, courteous manner which quickly won the respect of all with whom he came in contact. His intellectual strength and culture also gave him great influence wherever he was known, and eminently fitted him for the position he. filled and adorned for a long series of years. Although deeply engrossed with the financial affairs of a large asylum, which he conducted with signal ability, his contributions to the advancement of psychological medicine were important and valuable. His untiring industry, great financial ability and faculty of or- ganization and ability to forecast the prospective needs of his State, and provide for them, were integral and prominent points of his mental constitution; and they were agencies which led to the gradual growth of one of our largest public institutions, and with less pecuniary aid than in any other instance in the country, and the same personal resources enabled him to rebuild the large portion of the asylum that was destroyed by fire."
Possessed of abilities of no common order and in harmonious union as they were with a most generous and sympa- thetic nature, Dr. Rockwell could un- doubtedly have won distinction in almost. any position in life. To refer to one faculty only, his memory was so retentive that until late in life he could translate the classic authors with almost the same facility as when fresh from college; and as to such abstract facts as dates and names, particularly the latter, his powers of recol- lection were certainly quite remarkable. Considering his numerous family of patients and their more numerous relatives and friends, who often came to visit them, and whose names even in full, once heard, he seldom forgot, the ability to call them all by name was certainly very convenient. But it was of far greater service in en- abling him to converse with his patients about their home and household affairs, when it was judicious to do so, with the facility almost of the family physician; as with the names of their children he could recall pretty much every incident he had from time to time learned of their family histories. Yet this was perhaps the least important instance in which this one faculty, a capacious memory, was utilized to interest and divert the minds of those
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under his charge, and whatever talent or accomplishment he possessed, that could be applied to such service, he used to in some way benefit his patients-to cheer the despondent, to soothe the irritable, to calm the excited, to rouse the lethargic, and to bring all on to the road to recovery, or to render as comfortable and contented as possible those for whom no hope of recovery could be entertained.
It was ever his most earnest and cease- less endeavor to have all associated with him in care of the insane, in whatever capacity, possess, besides other essential qualifications, the inherent and indis- pensable qualities of kindness, gentleness, frankness and patience which eminently distinguished his own intercourse with them. In addition to these, he was him- self noted for a wonderfully encouraging and hope-inspiring manner, which none can fail to recall to mind of the many in the community who came to seek his counsels in their various troubles and trials.
Though few could excel Dr. Rockwell in the graces of general conversation, a conciseness or terseness of style, but of an order most pleasing, was one of his more prominent characteristics. This all will remember who had much intercourse with him. Most of his acquaintances, especially the recovered of his insane family, will also recollect his happy method of illustrating a point he wished to fix firmly in the mind of the listener, by some apt quotation, or perhaps more often by a short anecdote. Of these last he had such a stock in reserve as to have been seldom known to repeat one. When or where he learned them was ever the mystery.
The results of his rich experience, de- rived from long practice among and intercourse with the insane, he took great pleasure in freely imparting to his assist- ants and also to other physicians seeking such information. This was often and most aptly rendered in a sort of aphoristic style, in which much information was conveyed in a few words. Some of these condensed sayings, or maxims as they came to be considered, with others of like order, in which were concentrated the deductions of his experiences with the world at large, are known to have often
been efficient guides to some of his assist- ants in their after career; and especially to those, of whom there were nine, who were called to the superintendency of asylums for the insane. Among the latter were his son, who is now a member of the board of trustees, but when his father re- signed his charge in August, 1872, suc- ceeded him in the superintendency, and Dr. Joseph Draper, the present worthy incumbent of that office.
As a citizen of Brattleboro, Dr. Rock- well is most affectionately remembered for having always taken an active interest in everything that tended to advance the growth and prosperity of the town, as well as for being among the foremost in every benevolent work. During the earlier years of his residence here, he occasionally read a lecture at the village lyceum, choosing for a topic something regarding mental or physical hygeine, or other sub- ject in the treatment of which useful infor- mation could be imparted. He was also several times called on to deliver an address on some occasion of unusual public interest. Among these addresses his eulogium on the late President Harrison is remembered as having been perhaps his most distinguished rhetorical effort. Un- fortunately all his manuscripts, including some unpublished papers on psychological subjects, were consumed in the disastrous fire at the asylum before alluded to.
In person, Dr. Rockwell was much above the ordinary height, but of erect and well proportioned figure. His head was large and of fine shape; features regular, and countenance pleasing in expression. On May 10th, 1872, as he was starting from his door he was thrown from his wagon with such force as to cause a fracture of the neck of the thigh; this, together with internal difficulties consequent to the shock to his nervous system, confined him to his bed until his death, Nov. 30, 1873. Every day until his death, during his long and painful illness, some of his patients came to see him, and it was most inter- esting to witness them leaning over the form of the prostrate physician, and in their turn speaking words of sympathy and encouragement. Encouraged and sus- tained he indeed was by their presence and their kind words, but in a way they knew not of, and cheered by the thought that he
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had been of some service to them, to humanity, and to his adopted State, he died, as since early youth he had lived, in the hope of a blessed immortality beyond the grave.
Of Dr. Rockwell's family, his wife, daughter and one son survive him. His second son, a graduate of the United States Military Academy, died in the ser- vice, in 1868.
Largely indebted for his success to the trustees of the asylum, from whom he ever received unswerving sympathy and support, and to the harmonious co-opera- tion of those immediately associated with him, he was also in many ways efficiently aided by his wife, who, though holding no official position, devoted the greater part of nearly every day of her long residence in the institution to efforts to promote the comfort and welfare of the insane.
EDWARD R. CHAPIN, M. D.
THE VERMONT ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE.
This institution was founded upon a bequest of $10,000 from Mrs. Anna Marsh, of Hinsdale, N. H., who died in the year 1834. In accordance with the provisions of her will, it was incorporated by the legislature, Nov. 3, 1834. The trustees named in the will of the founder, and also in the act of incorporation, were Samuel Clark, John Holbrook, Epaphro Seymour and John C. Holbrook, all of Brattleboro. They held their first meeting at Colonel Chase's stage tavern, pursuant to notice, signed by Samuel Clark and published in the Vermont Phenix of Sept. 11, 1835, and organized by choosing Samuel Clark chair- man, Epaphro Seymour treasurer, John C. Holbrook secretary. On the 3rd of October following, at an adjourned meet- ing, the legacy of Mrs. Marsh was paid into the hands of the trustees by Asa Keyes, one of the executors of the will of the said Mrs. Marsh. The first report of the trustees to the legislature was then made under the requirements of the char- ter. This report, (which was never printed), was in substance as follows, to wit: That they had received the sum of $10,000, bequeathed by Mrs. Marsh for the foundation of an institution for the relief of the insane, and that they had fixed the location of the same at Brattle- boro, the terms of the will restricting
them to some place in Windham county, near the Connecticut River. They further took this early opportunity to state, (what they say "must be obvious to every one,") that the sum of $10,000 was far from ade- quate to the establishment of such an institution as should be at all commensu- rate with the wants of the State. In their opinion $30,000 was requisite, and they submitted the question of supplying such additional sum as might be necessary, to the consideration of the legislature.
This appeal was supported by an inter- esting statement of the results of their inquiries and investigations as to the needs of the State, in respect to provision of this kind, supplemented by a showing of what had been done in this direction by Massa- chusetts and other States. The legislature responded by the passage of an act, Nov. 9, 1835, appropriating $2,000 annually for five years, "To enable the trustees the more effectually to promote the benevolent designs of the institution; provided, that said trustees should take no benefit from the provisions of the act, until they had so far erected the building and organized said asylum as to receive patients therein; and, provided, also, that any future legis- lature might alter, amend or repeal this act."
A purchase was concluded with Nathan Woodcock, May 25, 1836, embracing the location of the present buildings, (about six acres of land, with dwelling house thereon), and with Ebenezer Wells for 45 acres of meadow land, adjacent and addi- tional to the site above mentioned.
The work of remodeling the dwelling was then commenced, and at a meeting of the trustees, held June, 28, 1836, Dr. Wil- liam H. Rockwell, of Hartford, Conn., for several years previously assistant physician at the Connecticut Retreat, was chosen to the superintendency, to enter upon his duties as soon as the premises were ready for the reception of patients, which was Dec. 12, 1836.
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