Part 10

John Atwood, an Assistant of Plymouth Colony.

Sept. 4, Rev. Ephraim Hewett of Windsor, Ct.

Hon. George Wyllys of Hartford, Ct.

1646.

April 12, John Oliver, (H. C. 1645,) d. at Boston, a. 29.

1647.

July 7, Rev. Thomas Hooker of Hartford, Ct., d., a. 62.

(To be continued.)

GOVERNOR BRADSTREET.

Simon Bradstreet, son of a non-conforming minister, was born March, 1603, at Horblin, Lincolnshire. His father died when he was fourteen years old, and he was committed to the care of Hon. Thomas Dudley, for eight years following. He spent one year at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, pursuing his studies amidst various interruptions. Leaving Cambridge, he resided in the family of the Earl of Lincoln, as his steward, and afterwards lived in the same capacity with the Countess of Warwick. He with Mr. Winthrop, Mr. Dudley, and others, agreed to emigrate, and form a settlement in Massachusetts; and being appointed an Assistant, he with his family and others went on board the Arbella, March 29, 1630; anchored, June 12, near Naumkeak, now Salem, went on shore, but returned to the vessel at night; came, on the 14th, into the inner harbor, and went on shore. He attended the first Court, Aug. 23, at Charlestown.

In the spring of 1631, Mr. Bradstreet with other gentlemen commenced building at Newtown, now Cambridge, and his name is among those constituting the first company, which settled in that town in 1632. He resided there several years. In 1639, the Court granted him 500 acres of land in Salem, in the next convenient place to Gov. Endicott's farm. It appears that he resided a short time at Ipswich.

Mr. Bradstreet was among the first settlers of Andover, and was highly useful in promoting the settlement, in bearing the burdens incident to a new plantation, and in giving a right direction to its affairs. About the year 1644, he built the first mill on the Cochichewick. He was a selectman from the first record of town officers to 1672, soon after which, he probably spent most of his time in Boston and Salem. He was the first Secretary of the colony, and discharged the duties of the office many years. He was one of the first Commissioners of the United Colonies in 1643, and served many years with fidelity and usefulness in this office. In 1653, he with his colleague vigorously opposed making war on the Dutch in New York, and on the Indians; and it was prevented by his steady and conscientious opposition and the decision of the General Court of Massachusetts, though earnestly and strenuously urged by all the Commissioners of the other three colonies.

He was Deputy Governor from 1672 to 1679, when he was elected Governor, and continued in office till Mr. Joseph Dudley, his nephew, was appointed, in 1686, head of the administration, and the government was changed and the Charter annulled.

Gov. Bradstreet was considered at the head of the moderate party; and, when the Charter was demanded by King Charles, he thought it better that it should be surrendered, than that it should be taken away by judgment, as in that case it might be more easily resumed.

He strenuously opposed the arbitrary proceedings of Andros; and when, in 1689, the people put down his authority, they made their old Governor their President. He continued at the head of the administration till May, 1692, at the advanced age of 89 years, when Sir William Phips arrived from England with the new Charter, in which Sir William was appointed Governor, and Mr. Bradstreet first Assistant. He had been in service in the government sixty-two years, excepting the short administrations of Dudley and Andros. No man in the country has continued in so high offices so many years, and to so advanced age as he. He was a popular magistrate, and was opposed to the witch delusion in 1692, which caused great alarm and distress at the commencement of Gov. Phips' administration. "He lived to be the Nestor of New England," for all who came over from England with him, died before him.

The following inscription is on the monument erected in Salem to Gov. Bradstreet:

SIMON BRADSTREET,

Armiger, ex ordine Senatoris in Colonia Massachusettensi ab anno 1630, usque ad annum 1673. Deinde ad annum 1679, Vice-Gubernator. Denique, ad annum 1686, ejusdem coloniae, communi et constanti populi suffragio,

GUBERNATOR,

Vir, judicio Lynceario praeditus; quem nec numma, nec honos allexit. Regis auctoritatem, et populi libertatem, aequa lance libravit. Religione cordatus, vita innocuus, mundum et vicit et deseruit, 27 die Martii, A. D. 1697, annoque Guliel: 3t. IX. et Æt. 94.

Gov. Bradstreet was married in England to Miss Ann Dudley, daughter of Mr. Thomas Dudley, when she was sixteen years old. She is the most distinguished of the early matrons of our country by her literary powers, of which proof is given in a volume of poems. It was dedicated to her father in poetry, dated March 20, 1642. The title of the book is, "Several poems, compiled with great variety of wit and learning, full of delight; wherein especially is contained a complete discourse and description of the four elements, constituting ages of man, seasons of the year, together with an exact epitome of the three first monarchies, viz., the Assyrian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman commonwealth, from the beginning to the end of their last king, with divers other pleasant and serious poems. By a Gentlewoman of New England." A second edition of it was printed at Boston, 1678, by John Foster, in a respectable 12mo of 255 pp., and a third edition was published in 1758. The work does honor to her education, by her frequent allusions to ancient literature and historical facts, and to her character, as a daughter, a wife, a parent, and Christian. This volume is a real curiosity, though no reader, free from partiality of friendship, might coincide with the commendation of her in the funeral eulogy of John Norton:

"Could Maro's muse but hear her lively strain, He would condemn his works to fire again.

* * * * *

Her breast was a brave palace, a _broad street_, Where all heroic, ample thoughts did meet, Where nature had such a tenement ta'en, That other souls, to her's, dwelt in a lane."

Dr. Mather, in his Magnalia, gives a high commendation of her, "whose poems, divers times printed, have afforded a grateful entertainment unto the ingenious, and a monument for her memory beyond the stateliest marbles."

Their children were as follows:

1. Samuel, who had two daughters b. in Boston, 1663, 1665. 2. Simon, who was settled in the ministry in New London, Ct. 3. Dudley of Andover. 4. John, who was b. in Andover, July 31, 1652, and settled in Salem. 5. Ann, who m. Mr. Wiggin of Exeter. 6. Dorothy, who m. Rev. Seaborn Cotton, Hampton, June 25, 1654. 7. Hannah, who m. Mr. Andrew Wiggin, Exeter, June 14, 1659. 8. Mary, who m. Mr. Nathaniel Wade, Nov. 11, 1672.

Mrs. Bradstreet died in Andover, Sept. 16, 1672, aged 60.

Gov. Bradstreet married for his second wife, a sister of Sir George Downing, who was in the first class that graduated at Harvard College, and was ambassador of Cromwell and Charles II. to Holland. See _Abbot's History of Andover_.

SKETCHES OF ALUMNI AT THE DIFFERENT COLLEGES IN NEW ENGLAND.

HON. WILLIAM CRANCH OF WASHINGTON, D. C.

JUDGE CRANCH was born at the house of his mother's father, the Rev. William Smith, of Weymouth, Ms., July 17, 1769; and was baptized by him the Sabbath following, as appears by the church records.[31] He had no brother, but two sisters, and these were older than himself. The elder sister, Elizabeth, married the Rev. Jacob Norton, who succeeded Mr. Smith in the pastoral office. The other sister married Mr. John Greenleaf, who resides at Quincy, Ms. Mrs. Greenleaf died Feb. 18, 1846.

His father, Richard Cranch, was born in Kingsbridge, near Exeter in Devonshire, England, in November, 1726, and was the son of John, the son of Andrew, the son of Richard, all of Devonshire. He was one of six sons, and was bound as an apprentice to a maker of wool-cards; but, at the age of 20, purchased the remainder of his time, and came to this country in 1746, with General Joseph Palmer, who had married his sister. Being fond of books, he became a learned man, received an honorary degree of M. A. from Harvard University, was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, sustained several important public offices, and was for many years a member of the Legislature and a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He died in 1811, in his 85th year.

His mother was Mary, the eldest daughter of the Rev. William Smith of Weymouth, and granddaughter of Col. John Quincy of Mount Wollaston, in that part of Braintree since incorporated by the name of Quincy, in honor of his memory. There is now no lineal descendant from him of the name of Quincy. The next daughter of Mr. Smith was Abigail, who became the wife of the late President John Adams; and the other daughter was Elizabeth, who married the Rev. John Shaw of Haverhill, Ms., and after his death, the Rev. Stephen Peabody of Atkinson, N. H. She died April 9, 1815, aged 65. She had three children by her first husband, William Smith, Elizabeth Quincy, and Abigail Adams. The son was the principal founder of the Boston Athenæum. He was born Aug. 12, 1778, graduated H. C. 1798, and died 1826. The first daughter was born May 26, 1780, and died Sept. 4, 1798, aged 18. The last daughter is the wife of Rev. Joseph B. Felt of this city.

The great-grandmother of the subject of this sketch, the wife of Col. John Quincy, who died July 13, 1767, was Mary Norton, the daughter of the Rev. John Norton of Hingham, whose genealogy is distinctly traced back to the time of William the Conqueror.

We cannot trace the ancestors of Judge Cranch's father back further than his grandfather's grandfather. They all appear to have been Dissenters, firm republicans, and honest men, but in humble life. His grandfather, John Cranch, was a farmer and a freeholder; the others seem to have been manufacturers of woollens. John Cranch, the naturalist, who was, at the recommendation of Sir Joseph Banks, sent out in the expedition to Egypt, where he died, was his second cousin. His father's mother was Elizabeth Pearse, daughter of Christopher Pearse and Margery Triste.

In April, 1775, his father removed from Boston to that part of Braintree now called Quincy, where he resided until his death. He died on the 16th, and his wife on the 17th, of October, 1811, and both were buried on the same day, the 19th. A sermon was delivered on the occasion by the Rev. Peter Whitney, which was printed.

Judge Cranch prepared for college under the instruction of his uncle, the Rev. John Shaw of Haverhill, and entered the Freshman class, six months in advance, in February, 1784. Having graduated at Harvard College, he, July, 1787, entered the office of Judge Dawes of Boston, who was then a practitioner in the courts of Massachusetts, where he read law three years, and in July, 1790, was admitted to practice in the Court of Common Pleas. He opened an office in Braintree, now Quincy, but at the close of the first year, upon the death of his relative, John Thaxter, Esq., who had been in the practice of the law at Haverhill, Ms., he was induced by his friends to remove to that place, and take his office, and complete his unfinished business; which, with the confidence reposed in him by the Hon. Nathaniel Peaslee Sergeant, then one of the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, who appointed him sole executor of his will, introduced him into practice, and enabled him to support himself and pay all demands held against him. For three years, he attended the courts in Essex county in Massachusetts and Rockingham county in New Hampshire, and was admitted to practice in the Supreme Judicial Court in July, 1793.

In September, 1794, he was employed to superintend the affairs of Morris, Nicholson, and Greenleaf, under their great contracts in the City of Washington, to which place he removed in October of that year, and has continued to reside in that place until the present time.

In April, 1795, he was connected in marriage with Nancy Greenleaf, daughter of the late William Greenleaf of Boston, and moved his wife to Washington, in May.

They have been the parents of 13 children, 3 of whom died in infancy. The names of the other ten were 1. William Greenleaf; 2. Richard; 3. Ann Allen; 4. Mary; 5. Elizabeth Eliot; 6. John; 7. Edward Pope; 8. Christopher Pearse; 9. Abby Adams; 10. Margaret Dawes. Richard was drowned in Lake Erie, while in the discharge of his duty as an assistant-engineer, surveying the harbor, in his 29th year, unmarried. Ann Allen died in April, 1821, of consumption, aged 22, also unmarried. Mary married Richard Cranch Norton, and died when her first child was one week old, in July, 1821, aged 20. Her husband died in October of the same year.

The other 7 children are still living. Elizabeth married Rufus Dawes, a son of the late Judge Dawes of Boston. Abby Adams married the Rev. William G. Eliot of St. Louis, Missouri, where they reside and have a number of children. William has been a clerk in the Patent Office. He was two years at Harvard University; but his delicate health and feeble constitution obliged him to leave his studies in his Junior year. The other sons were educated at the Columbian College in the District of Columbia. John spent three or four years in Italy, in drawing and painting, to perfect his knowledge of these branches, and now resides in Boston, where he pursues the employment of drawing and painting. Edward Pope is settled in Cincinnati as a lawyer. Christopher Pearse has been a preacher of the Gospel, but has lately turned his attention to portrait painting, and is now in Italy. Mrs. Cranch deceased Sept. 17, 1843.

In the year 1800, Judge Cranch was appointed one of the Commissioners of the City of Washington, which office he resigned in 1801, when he was, by President Adams, appointed the junior assistant Judge of the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, under the act of Congress of Feb. 27, 1801; the late Governor Thomas Johnson of Maryland, who had been one of the Commissioners of the City of Washington, having been appointed Chief Judge; and Mr. James Marshall, brother of the late Chief Justice Marshall, having been appointed elder assistant Judge. Gov. Johnson refused to accept the office; and Mr. Jefferson appointed William Kitty, Esq., Chief Judge. Mr. Marshall resigned in 1803, and Nicholas Fitzhugh, Esq., of Virginia, was appointed in his place.

In 1805, Mr. Kitty having been appointed Chancellor of Maryland, Judge Cranch was appointed by Mr. Jefferson to the office of Chief Justice, which office he now holds; and by virtue of that office is sole Judge of the _District_ Court of the United States, for the District of Columbia, which has the same jurisdiction as the other District Courts of the United States have.

He has published nine volumes of Reports of cases in the Supreme Court of the United States, a Memoir of the life, character, and writings of President John Adams, (70 pages,) read before the Columbian Institute, March 16, 1827, and an Address upon the subject of Temperance, in 1831, a small pamphlet.

Judge Cranch is a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of the American Antiquarian Society. He has received also the degree of Doctor of Laws from Harvard College.

PROFESSOR EBENEZER ADAMS OF HANOVER, N. H.

PROFESSOR ADAMS was the son of Ephraim Adams of New Ipswich, N. H., who was a highly respectable man, having been a magistrate, an officer in the church, and a representative of the town. He was born in that place, Oct. 2, 1765. The father was a native of Ipswich, Ms., born in that part of the town which is now Hamilton. He was brought up on the farm which was first occupied by his ancestor, one of the eight sons of Henry Adams, who came to this country from Devonshire, England, and settled in that part of Braintree now called Quincy, about the year 1630. The father of Dea. Adams, whose baptismal name was Thomas, was either the grandson or great-grandson of this ancestor. The first wife of Dea. Adams was Rebecca, daughter of James Locke, who was a native of Woburn, Ms., and died in Ashby, Ms. The name of his second wife is not known. The children of Dea. Adams were fifteen in number.

The subject of this sketch fitted for college at the Academy in New Ipswich, under the care of Hon. John Hubbard, who was afterwards Professor in Dartmouth College. Having graduated at that institution in 1791, with high reputation as a scholar, especially in mathematics and philosophy, he went immediately into the Academy at Leicester, Ms., where he spent fifteen years, fourteen of which he was the Principal. In 1806, he took charge of the Academy at Portland, Me., which he left after a year and a half, having accepted the Professorship of Mathematics in Phillips Academy, Exeter. In 1809 he was appointed Professor of the Languages in Dartmouth College, and in 1810, upon the death of Professor Hubbard, he was transferred to the department of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, and continued in that office until 1833--twenty-three years--when he was induced by advancing age and infirmities to resign all active and responsible service in the College; his connection with it since being simply that of Professor Emeritus, which continued until his death.

Professor Adams possessed great constitutional energies, both physical and mental. These he carried into active life. As an instructor he was able and accurate. No one surpassed him in faithfulness, and hence it was proverbial that he made thorough scholars. In the Languages he was good, but in Mathematics and Philosophy he excelled as a teacher.

As would naturally be expected, he took a lively interest in all efforts made to promote the cause of literature, the sciences, and the arts, and was connected with several literary associations. He was an original Member of the Northern Academy of Arts and Sciences, and took an active part at the time of its formation, as presiding officer. He was also a Member of the New Hampshire Historical Society, the American Antiquarian Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Maryland Academy of Sciences and Literature, and the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries, Copenhagen. He was a Trustee of Kimball Union Academy in Plainfield, and sustained the office of President of the Board of Trustees twenty years, and, for about as long a time, he was President of the New Hampshire Bible Society.

Professor Adams was twice married. His first wife was Alice Frink, daughter of Dr. John Frink, a distinguished physician of Rutland, Ms., by whom he had five children, Alice A., Adeline A., John, Charles A. and Harriet R., of whom John only is now living. He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1817, and is now a practising attorney in Mobile, Ala. His second wife was Beulah Minot, daughter of Dr. Timothy Minot of Concord, Ms. By her he had two children, Eliza M. and Ebenezer. The daughter is now the wife of Prof. Ira Young. Ebenezer was graduated at Dartmouth College in 1831, and died in July, 1837. Of seven children, therefore, two only survive. The last Mrs. Adams still lives, and resides with her daughter, Mrs. Young.

Professor Adams "was one of the few remaining old school citizens and scholars of New England, and was hardly surpassed by any of that venerable class of men in intelligence, patriotism, and Christian virtue." He possessed a well balanced mind, "was judicious, magnanimous, and firm." He died calm and happy in the triumphs of religion, August 15, 1841, in the 76th year of his age, from ossification of the heart.

HON. JAMES SAVAGE OF BOSTON.

The subject of this sketch was born July 11, 1784, in Boston, where his progenitors since 1635 have always lived. His father was Habijah, and his mother, Elizabeth, daughter of John Tudor. Of eight children, five sons and three daughters, born before him, two sons died in infancy; the rest attained full age, as did also two sons younger than himself.

His mother died before he arrived at his fourth year of age; and his father, by reason of ill health, was unable to take charge of him in his early education. The Rev. Dr. Thacher preached on the occasion of his mother's death from Psalms xxvii: 10--"_When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up._"

The father of Mr. Savage was son of Thomas, by his first wife, Deborah Briggs, who was, it is believed, a granddaughter of John Cushing, one of the Judges of the Superior Court of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. John, his father's elder brother, was father of Thomas of York, Me., from whom descended the Savages in Bangor. His grandfather's second wife was Sarah Cheever, who survived him nearly fifty-one years. One of their children was the late Ezekiel Savage, Esq., of Salem, H. C. 1778, father of Rev. Thomas Savage of Bedford, N. H., H. C. 1813, and several other children, of whom one, Sarah, distinguished herself by the composition of some interesting books.

Habijah, father of Mr. Savage's grandfather Thomas, was educated at Harvard College, where he received his first degree, in 1695. He married Hannah, who had been a short time widow of ---- Anderson. She was a daughter of Samuel Phillips, distinguished among booksellers in Boston one hundred and fifty years ago, as John Dunton mentions in the entertaining account of his visit to our country, published in his "Life and Errors." Arthur, a younger brother of his great-grandfather, married another daughter of Mr. Phillips, and one of their children was Samuel Phillips Savage, father of the late Samuel Savage, H. C. 1766, of Barnstable.

Thomas, father of the last named Habijah, born 1640, was second child of Thomas, who emigrated from England. His mother was Faith, daughter of William and the celebrated Ann Hutchinson, who was a _speaking_ if not a _ruling_ elder in the First Church in Boston. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Joshua Scottow, author of two curious tracts in the latter part of the 17th century. With two of his brothers, Ephraim, H. C. 1662, and Perez, he served at various times and places in King Philip's war, in the early part of which, their father was in the chief command of the forces of the Colony of Massachusetts. Ephraim gained some reputation in command of one of the vessels of the fleet, in the daring but disastrous expedition from Boston against Quebec, by Sir William Phips, in 1690, and Thomas was at the head of one of the three regiments engaged in it, and wrote a brief and modest account of the service, published the following year at London. He died July 2, 1705.