Part 12

George Williamson, above named, married, at Harwich, the daughter of a Mr. Crisp; and they had two sons, George and Caleb, and five daughters. The elder son was murdered by a highwayman, and left no child; the younger, born at that place, 1716, married Sarah Ransom, and settled at Middleborough in the county of Plymouth; whose children were six sons and three daughters. Though five of the sons were married, only two of them, Caleb and George, left issue. The latter, being the fifth son, born in 1754, who was the father of the subject of this sketch, removed with his father's family at the commencement of the Revolutionary war, to Canterbury, Ct., and married Mary Foster of that place, a niece of Rev. Jacob Foster, formerly a minister of Berwick, Me. Their children were four sons and four daughters. The sons are William D., the subject of this sketch; George, a farmer at Pittston; and Joseph, a lawyer at Belfast, a graduate at Vermont University, and President of the Senate, in the Legislature of Maine. Their father was a soldier in the Revolution, and a captain of artillery, some years after the peace. In 1793, he removed from Canterbury, where his sons were born, to Amherst, Ms., and finally died at Bangor, in 1822, aged 68 years.

William D., his eldest son, entered Williams College, in 1800; but finished his studies at Brown University, R. I., where he was graduated in 1804. As his father was a farmer in moderate circumstances, and himself the eldest of eight children, he was under the necessity of teaching a school several winters, to defray his college expenses. He read law with Hon. S. F. Dickinson of Amherst, till the spring of 1807, when he took up his residence in Bangor, Me., where he completed his professional studies with J. McGaw, Esq., being admitted to the bar in November of that year. Jan. 14, 1808, he was commissioned by Gov. Sullivan Attorney for the county of Hancock, an office held by him about eight years, when the county was divided. In 1816, he was elected to the Senate of Massachusetts, Maine being then a part of the Commonwealth; and received successive elections, till the separation in 1820. Though as a political man, his sentiments were of a democratic character, adverse to the majority in each of the legislative branches, he was Chairman of the Committee of Eastern Lands, three years. He was President of the first Senate in the new state of Maine; and the appointment of Gov. King as a Commissioner on the Spanish Claims, brought him into the Executive Chair, about six months of the political year. In the meantime, he was elected a Member of Congress. After he left the field of legislation he was appointed a Judge of Probate for his county, a Justice of Peace through the state, and President of Bangor Bank.

Judge Williamson was thrice married. He was first connected in marriage with J. M. Rice, an orphan, the niece of Gen. Montague of Amherst, whose home was hers. Five children were the fruits of this marriage, one of whom, an only son, a promising youth, died in 1832, at the close of his Junior year in Bowdoin College. His second wife was the eldest daughter of Judge Phinehas White of Putney, Vt., and his third was the only surviving daughter of the late E. Emerson, Esq., York, Me.

Judge Williamson was fond of literary pursuits generally, but particularly of historical research. He wrote and published a number of articles on various subjects, in different periodicals. His great work, however, which cost him many years of labor, was his History of Maine, in two large octavo volumes. He died May 27, 1846.

FOOTNOTES:

[31] His parents' residence at that time was in Boston.

[32] Judge Benjamin Lynde was on the bench about the same length of time, from 1712 to 1744.

[33] See Prince's Annals, 101.--Purchas' Pilgrims, B. X. chap. 4.--Vol VIII. Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., 229.

THE FATHERS OF NEW ENGLAND.

"They [the Fathers of N. E.] were mostly men of good estates and families, of liberal education, and of large experience; but they chiefly excelled in piety to God, in zeal for the purity of his worship, reverence for his glorious name, and strict observance of his holy Sabbaths; in their respect and maintenance of an unblemished ministry; the spread of knowledge, learning, good order, and quiet through the land, a reign of righteousness, and the welfare of this people; and the making and executing wholesome laws for all these blessed ends."--_Rev. Thomas Prince's Election Sermon_, 1730.

GOVERNOR HINCKLEY'S VERSES ON THE DEATH OF HIS SECOND CONSORT.

[Thomas Hinckley was the last Governor of the Plymouth Colony, which office he held, except during the interruption by Andros, from 1680 to 1692, when that colony was joined to the Massachusetts colony. He was a man of worth and piety. The following lines, composed by him on the death of his second wife, are copied from one of three volumes of the manuscripts of Rev. Thomas Prince, which are now in the possession of the Rev. Chandler Robbins of this city.

It is hardly necessary to inform our readers, that Thomas Prince, colleague pastor of the Old South Church in Boston from Oct. 1, 1718, to Oct. 22, 1758, was a most diligent and careful collector of public and private papers, relating to the religious and civil history of New England, and that many of his valuable books and manuscripts have been deposited by the church to which he ministered, in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

The following brief sketch of the connection between Thomas Prince and Gov. Hinckley, and of some of the descendants of the latter, may be appropriate as an introduction to this poetic effusion.

In the manuscript volume above referred to, Rev. Thomas Prince has recorded a genealogical table prepared by himself, in which he states that he was "the fourth son of Samuel Prince, Esq., of Sandwich, who was the son of Elder John Prince, who came over in 1633, and settled first at Watertown and afterwards at Hull, who was the eldest son of Rev. John Prince of East Shefford, in Berkshire, Eng., who was born of honorable parents, educated in the University of Oxford, and was one of the Puritan ministers of the Church of England who _in part conformed_."

The father of Rev. Thomas Prince, Samuel Prince, Esq., married in 1686, for his second wife, Mercy Hinckley, the eldest daughter of Governor Hinckley by his second wife.[34] They had ten children; namely, Thomas, Mary, Enoch, John, Joseph, Moses, Nathan, Mercy, Alice, Benjamin.

Thomas married Deborah Denny. One of their daughters became the wife of Lieut. Governor Gill.

Mary married the Rev. Peter Thatcher.

Moses married Jane Bethune. Their daughter, Jane Prince, was consort of the Rev. Chandler Robbins, D. D., of Plymouth, Ms., grandfather of the Rev. Chandler Robbins of Boston, of whom we have obtained this relic of antiquity.]

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Pity me O my friends and for me Pray To him yᵗ can supply what's taken away. My crown is fallen from my Head, and wo, Wo unto me yᵗ I have sinned so, As to provoke yᵉ Lord to show such Ire Wʰ I deserve 'gainst me should burn like Fire. God righteous is in all yᵗ He hath done Yea good in lending Her to me so long. A Blessing rich _Forty three years_ and more: Had I been wise to have improved such store Of Gifts and Grace wherewith she was endu'd I might in Grace have also much improv'd. How prompt in heavenly Discourse was she, That to her own and others good might be! Out of her store came things both new and old Wʰ she had read, or thought, or had been told. How great my Bond to God in Thankfulness, For such a Gift, for all my worthlessness. The _only child_ her _gracious mother_ bare, Obtain'd of God as a Return of Prayer: For wʰ she with her Friends employ'd a Day, In private, and soon found it good to pray Unto yᵉ God of Nature and of Grace, Who thus approv'd their seeking of his Face, In forming this fair child to shew his Praise: Endowed with virtues in her early Days Wʰ grew and shine'd in young and riper age, And to her Maker's Praise did much engage All those wᵒ knew Her both of late and old, And prove'd as diverse godly wise foretold. She by her wisdom built yᵉ House and by Her prudent care kept all in such a way And in such order, so as nought might be } A Let to worship in the Family } Or cause Distraction on God's holy day. } Yea both at _Morn_ and _even_, as was need She did in _Household-worship_ always lead Her Family, while in her widow-state, And in my absence since she was my mate. Whose good example may rebuke all Those Who slight this Duty and Themselves expose Unto yᵗ wrath of God wʰ hangs o'er all Those Familes wʰ on Him do not call. To rise up _very early_ was her way, } Enter her closet strait, to read and pray, } And then to call and raise her Family, } And liv'd to see a Blessing great upon Her Prayers and prudent Education Of children such a number for yᵉ Lord, Under his gracious covenant and word, That now may say, I am, thro grace divine, Thy Servant, Daughter, Son, of Handmaid thine. She highly prized a _Gospel Ministry_, For its support was an example high, And while a widow chose yᵉ town shou'd say } What was her Part lest self from Right shou'd sway } And allways gave more than her Rate away, } Yea ever first wou'd pay _that pious due_, } Then other Debts, and on the Residue } Wou'd wisely live and help yᵉ Poor she knew. } Nor ever any want she found thereby, And counselled her Friends yᵉ like to try: But if they wou'd till last let _That_ alone, They wou'd find nought to pay't, all wou'd be gone: Which some have try'd, and found what she said True, And so God was not robbed of his Due. As by God's Grace she lived _piously_ So by the same she lived _righteously_: Chusing yᵗ she and hers might wrongs receiv, Than even yᵉ least to others give: Allways a Pattern of _Sobriety_, } Meek, lowly, peacefull, prone to _charity_ } And freely given to Hospitality, } Behaved wisely in a perfect way, Both in yᵉ brightest and yᵉ darkest Day. She came in nothing short with count of many Of highest Praise of Tongue or Pen of any. Great cause we have of pious Thankfullness; For that tho sharpest Pains did her distress For _six weeks_ allmost constantly, yᵗ she Could take no Rest nor in yᵉ night nor Day; Yet God preserv'd her mind and senses clear, With exercise of Grace, yᵗ we cou'd hear Not the least murmuring nor impatient word, But meek submission to yᵉ Sovereign Lord: Full of heart-melting Prayer and savoury words Which Joy and wonderment to all affords Whose Hearts were mov'd to leav their Homes and see And help Her in her great extremity. Her last words were, come _dear Lord Jesus, come And take me quickly to thy Bosom home_: And in few minutes had her Soul's Desire With Him whom she did love with Heart intire. Death was no Terrour unto Her nor Fear, No Ghastliness did in her Face appear: But sweet composure in her Life and Death } When her dear soul she in her final Breath } Resigned to Him whom she beheld in Faith: } Whose own she was and with Him long'd to be Where she is free from sin and misery: She enter'd into perfect, endless Rest, And with yᵉ blest above is ever blest. So that we have no reason to repine } But thankfully and humbly to resign } To his most wise and righteous hand therein } Nor mourn for Her in Plenitude of Joy, But for ourselves whom evils still annoy. As a great Loss to all, yᵉ wisest deem, Then sure to me and mine a Loss extream; Now she has left the gap, is made a way For evils to bear on us every Day: Wʰ our Iniquities deserved have, Unless yᵉ Lord please, as I humbly crave, To give Repentance and Remission free Of all our sins; of mine especially, My great Defects in point of gratitude In prizing and improving such a good: Wʰ as a _second_ miracle of grace, After the first who no less Pious was And lovely _consort_. Both free gifts most rare And Both in answer unto humble Prayer. As soon as I my will resigned so To God, as to be free yᵗ he shou'd do As most for his own glory he shou'd see; Then did their several Relatives agree To say, They had oppos'd our match so long, They neither dared nor wou'd it more prolong: Wʰ was so far above all expectation As made us to admire the Dispensation. Yet that such wondrous works I cou'd forget, Does my Offences greatly aggravete: Which has so much dishonored his Name As justly may me fill with grief and shame And oh yᵗ by his grace enabling me, } I may with Hate, yea self-abhorrency } Turn from all sin and unto JESUS flee } Whose meritorious and precious blood Can clease from sin and reconcile to God. O may He be most highly priz'd by me And as most precious may embraced be. May I to Him eternally be join'd And in Him Rest and Satisfaction find: By his good Spirit's mighty energy } My Heart be purg'd from all Impurity, } And filled with all grace and sanctity: } Awakened out of all my drowzy Frames Raised up to lively, heavenly views and aims, Ever composed, humble, watchful be, } Especially upon God's holy Day, } And when I read, hear, meditate and pray. } In holy Duties never slightly be; As if to approach yᵉ glorious majesty Of God, a light and trifling thing it were; But ever look and speak to him with Fear: May bring forth much good Fruit in my last Days, Living and doing more unto his Praise: Gaining much profit by our Father's Rod, Who can make all work our eternal good. For all which mercies great I beg yᵉ Prayers Of all who see these drops of aged Tears, That I and mine may by his mighty Hand Be kept thro Faith unto Salvation, and That we may neither slack or slothful be, But follow Her and that blest company, Who thro' their faith and patience now possess The full completion of the Promises, And we may fitted be at Death to say, } _Lord Jesus come and take us quick away, } To be with Thee unto eternal aye!_ } Afflicted and distressed, but thro rich undeserved mercy not wholly forsaken, T. HINCKLEY. _ætatis_ 85.

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The following is an extract from one of the manuscript volumes of the Rev. Mr. Prince:

"She [Mrs. Hinckley] was yᵉ only child of Mʳ Quarter-master _Smith_ by his 1ˢᵗ wife, formerly of _Lancashire_ in England and afterward of _Dorchester_ in _New England_.

Her _Father_ had been a Quarter-master in yᵉ army of yᵉ Netherlands: her _mother_ a gentlewoman of a creditable Family and of eminent natural Powers, Piety and acquir'd accomplishments. Of them this Mʳˢ _Hinckley_ was Born in _Lancashire_ in _England_ in 1630. Her Parents living undʳ yᵉ ministry of yᵉ Rev. Mʳ _Richard Mather_ at Toxteth in that shire; they came up and brought Her wᵗʰ them to Bristol in order for _N. E._ in April 1635: young Mʳ _Nathaniel_ a son of yᵉ sd Mʳ Mather being carried on One side a Horse in a Pannier and this young Mʳˢ Mary on yᵉ other: as I have often heard her say.

May 23, 1635; She with her father and mother, yᵉ sd Rev. Mʳ _Richard Mather_ and wife, yʳ sons _Samuel_ and _Nathaniel_, Mʳ _Jonathan Mitchell_ then about 11 years of age, &c. set sail from _Bristol_. In yᵉ night between Aug. 14 and 15 coming on yᵉ _N. E._ coast yʳ arose an extream Hurricane, wʳin yʸ wʳ in yᵉ utmost Danger and wondrously delivered [see yᵉ acct in yᵉ Life of yᵉ sd Mʳ _Richard Mather_ in yᵉ Magnalia] and on Aug. 17 arrived at _Boston_.

Her Father and others settling at _Dorchester_ and a new chh gathᵈ There Aug. 23, 1636, yᵉ sd Mʳ _Richard Mather_ became yʳ Teacher: under wᵒˢ ministry she liv'd, unless wⁿ sent to school at _Boston_, wʳ she enjoy'd Mʳ _Wilson_ and _Cotton's_ ministry.

In ---- she married to Mʳ _Nathanˡ Glover_ a son of yᵉ Honᵇ _John Glover_ Esq: of sd Dorchester by wᵐ she had _Nathaniel_ and _Ann_. And then this Husband Dying, she remained a widdow till wⁿ she married yᵉ Honᵇˡ _Thomas Hinckley_ Esq. of _Barnstable_; whither she removed and had by Him _Mercy_, _Experience_, _John_, _Abigail_, _Thankfull_, _Ebenezer_ and _Reliance_: wᵒ all grew up and married; and all but _Ebenezer_ before she died.

At _Barnstable_ she to yᵉ Day of her Death appear'd and shone in yᵉ eyes of all, as yᵉ loveliest and brightest woman for beauty, knowledg, wisdom, majesty, accomplishments and graces throughout yᵉ _colony_, and there her fˢᵗ son _Nathaniel_ married to _Hannah_ a Dᵗʳ of sd Mʳ Hinckly, by his formʳ wf:

Her sd Dᵗʳ _Ann_ married to Mʳ _Wᵐ Rawson_ a son of Mʳ secretary _Rawson_, secretary of yᵉ Massachusetts colony. Her Dᵗʳ _Mercy_, to Mʳ _Samuel Prince_ of _Sandwich_: _Experience_ to Mʳ _James Whipple_ of _Barnstable_: her son _John_ to Mʳˢ ---- _Trott_ of _Dorchester_: her Daughter _Abigail_ to yᵉ Rev. Mʳ Joseph Lord 1ˢᵗ of _Dorchester_ in _South Carolina_, aftʳwd of Chatham, on _Cape Cod_: _Thankfull_ to yᵉ Rev. Mʳ _Experience Mayhew_ of _Martha's Vineyard_: _Reliance_ to yᵉ Rev. Mʳ _Nathaniel Stone_ of _Harwich_: and after the Decease of Herself and Husband yʳ son _Ebenezer_ to Mʳˢ _Stone_ of _Sudbury_."

Mrs. Hinckley died July 29, 1703, in the 73rd year of her age.

FOOTNOTES:

[34] The portraits of Samuel and Mercy Prince, belonging to the Rev. Mr. Robbins, have been temporarily deposited in the rooms of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF PHYSICIANS IN KINGSTON, N. H.

The first Physician of Kingston of whom we have any definite account, was a _Dr. Green_, who died some time in the year 1750. The vacancy created by his death was filled by _Dr. Josiah Bartlett_ and _Dr. Aaron Sawyer_. Dr. Sawyer soon returned to the Upper Parish of Amesbury, Ms., whence he originated.

_Dr. Josiah Bartlett_ was born in Amesbury, Ms., Nov. 21, 1727, O. S. His father, whose name was Stephen Bartlett, had not much property, but was, however, enabled to give him a medical education under the instruction of Dr. Ordway, a respectable physician of Amesbury. Dr. Bartlett completed his medical studies at the age of twenty-one, and very soon after established himself at Kingston, N. H.

He married his cousin, Mary Bartlett, of Newtown, N. H., Jan. 15, 1754, by whom he had twelve children.

His practice became very extensive, and he was eminently successful, especially in the treatment of the _Cynanche Maligna_, or Throat Distemper, which first made its appearance in Kingston, with great fatality, in 1765.

Dr. Bartlett began his political career as Representative from Kingston, in the Legislature of New Hampshire, while an English colony.

He continued to fill various offices of trust, from this time to the year 1775, when he was elected to the Continental Congress, which met at Philadelphia in September of that year. In July, 1776, Congress declared the Colonies independent, and Dr. Bartlett was the first, after the venerable Hancock, to sign this instrument of American freedom.

In November, 1778, Dr. Bartlett returned home to attend to his domestic affairs, which had suffered greatly from his absence. About this time he was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and was transferred to the Superior Bench in November, 1782, and there officiated till he was appointed, in 1788, Chief Justice of the State. Judge Bartlett sustained, during this period, many offices not incompatible with his high judicial character, such as Counsellor, a member of the Convention to form a State Constitution, and was one of a Committee, with Judge Livermore and Gen. Sullivan, to revise the Laws of the State, and a member of the Convention to ratify the new Constitution.

In 1789, he was elected Senator to Congress, but his declining health, and the depression of spirits consequent upon the sudden death of his wife, early in that year, induced him to decline the duties of Senator, and to resign the office of Chief Justice.

The people, unwilling to lose his services, elected him President of the State, in 1790.

Dr. Bartlett took an active part in forming the New Hampshire Medical Society, and was elected, in 1791, its first President.

In 1792, he was chosen a member to revise the Constitution of New Hampshire, in which the title of President was dropped, and that of Governor substituted, and he was the first Chief Magistrate with the title of Governor. About this time, he received the honorary degrees of M. A. and M. D. from Dartmouth College.

Gov. Bartlett filled all these stations with general satisfaction, without ostentation; administering the laws in a mild yet decisive manner, and setting forth the example of true republicanism.

His appointments were just, and such as met the public approbation.

The arduous duties of a professional and political life, in those "times that tried men's souls," had impaired his health, and so shattered a constitution, never strong, that May 19, 1795, he died suddenly, of paralysis, leaving a very extensive circle of friends to mourn his departure.

Gov. Bartlett was possessed of good mental powers, of a kind and benevolent disposition, and was scrupulously just in all his dealings.

Philanthropy and benevolence were the prominent traits of his character.

His letters, still extant, show that, with a calm and childlike trust in God, he mingled that high sense of the responsibilities which man owes to his Creator and his fellow-man, which forms the foundation of a truly generous, just, and noble character.

Subjoined is the testimony of one who was his neighbor and intimate friend for many years--the Rev. Dr. Elihu Thayer. It is taken from the Address delivered at the funeral of Gov. Bartlett.

"But few persons by their own merit, without the influence of family, or party connections, have risen from one degree of honor and confidence to another, as he did. And _fewer still_ have been the instances, in which a succession of honorable and important offices even to the highest, have been held by _any man_ with _less envy_; or executed with _more general_ approbation. Despising the gaudy exhibition of vain parade, (a sure mark of a noble mind,) he set a shining example of frugality and economy, both in private and public life, at a period when such virtues were peculiarly becoming and necessary. His natural temper was open, humane, and compassionate. In his dealings, he was scrupulously just, and faithful in the performance of all his engagements; and in his public offices, he served his country with all his might."

The children of Gov. Bartlett who still survive, are Hon. Ezra Bartlett of Haverhill. N. H., and Mrs. Gale, the widow of the late Dr. Amos Gale of Kingston. She is in her 74th year, and resides at South Hampton with her daughter, Mrs. White.