Founders of the Massachusetts Bible Society - 1809

Deacon John Simpkins

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:31:00 +0000

One of the pall bearers at Samuel Salisbury’s funeral was a deacon from the New North Church, John Simpkins. Mr. Simpkins was born in Boston on Nov. 12, 1740, graduated from Harvard in 1786 and became an upholsterer. Deacon Simpkins was a Captain in the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Society, recruited in 1769, and served in the Revolution in the company of Cadets under the command of John Hancock.

For many years Deacon Simpkins was the senior and presiding deacon of the Congregational Churches of Boston as well as serving as the treasurer of the Massachusetts Missionary Society and the Mass. Charitable Society.

The Boston Mite Society was founded in Deacon Simpkins’ home when at a social gathering Grandmother Wollcott (the Mite Society’s founder) asked, "Why a society could not be formed to do good among the poor, by each member contributing one cent per week?" Deacon Simpkins replied, “I can now forbear drinking this glass of wine, and devote my cent to this purpose,” at which point the other guests followed the example of their host and the society was born.

Deacon Simpkins died on December 11, 1831 at 91 years of age, leaving a handsome estate and a mansion near the Brattle Street Church.

Mr. Samuel Salisbury, Esq.

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:29:00 +0000

Samuel Salisbury was born on November 29, 1739, possibly making him the oldest man in the room, depending on the exact birthdate of Thomas Bumstead. The eighth of eleven children he attended Boston’s Latin School but not college.

He became a hardware merchant and, along with his brother, Stephen (who opened a store branch in Worcester), was among the largest wholesale importers in Boston. His mother came to live with him, an arrangement he found most difficult, writing to his brother, “I have been made uneasy by our honoured Mother interfering and talking to me about the affairs of my family that my life has been thereby rendered very unhappy. You know very well that I could never bear it about the business of the shop, but by keeping things hid from her I could then make it out pretty well. But now my house is so nigh and she is so often finding fault with my conduct . . . which determines me to change my situation.”

As with most merchants of the time, he had conflicted loyalties during the Siege of Boston in 1774 and the economic disaster it created. In a letter to his brother in Worcester, Samuel Salisbury described John Hancock as a “Son of Liberty, Son of Hell” after purchasing some English writing paper from Mr. Hancock. Mr. Salisbury joined the covenant of those pledging not to buy or sell English goods only after many refusals to do so had earned him considerable displeasure among his fellows. Suffice it to say that he was not with founder Moses Grant dumping the tea overboard.

During the siege, Samuel initially stayed behind to watch over his store, but his family was allowed by the British to receive safe passage with their goods to Worcester where Samuel’s brother Stephen had gone. As things grew worse, Samuel also removed to Worcester.

Back in Boston, he continued to prosper after the Revolution, eventually owning a fine mansion on Summer Street in Boston. In 1791 he was elected a selectman. The portrait shown here was painted by Gilbert Stuart. Samuel Salisbury died on May 2, 1818 with an estate valued at $400,000.

Mr. Josiah Salisbury

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:27:00 +0000

One of several father-son teams amongst our founders, Josiah Salisbury was the son of founder Samuel Salisbury. Josiah was born in Worcester on Feb. 15, 1781, graduated from Harvard in 1798 and studied theology at the University of Edinburgh. He was also the brother-in-law of founder Jedidiah Morse.

After returning from Scotland, he was invited to settle in Providence, “but experience had convinced him that ‘his bodily strength was not equal to the effort required in continual preaching,’ to which being added ‘a natural reluctance to be the object of public attention, and extreme diffidence of his qualifications for usefulness as a minister,’ he decided, about a year after his return from Europe, to relinquish the profession. His pulpit performances, however, are said to have been excellent and highly acceptable.” Mr. Salisbury instead took the path of a merchant.

Josiah Salisbury spent some time in Dr. Channing’s church but found himself more in line with the Orthodox and became, like his father, a Deacon at Old South Church. A participant in many charitable endeavors, Josiah Salisbury was the person responsible for the profits from The Panoplist being given to charity. Josiah Salisbury died in Boston on Feb. 10, 1826.

The History of Old South Church records part of his funeral sermon, which said, “His was a consistent character — always the Christian, at home and abroad, in the social circle and in the busy throng. As a deacon in a Christian church . . . his retiring disposition prevented his being as publicly active as some who sustain that important office. He never, however, shrunk from any obvious duty. In the various business transactions of the church, important services were frequently required of him, and always judiciously and promptly performed. To the poor of the church he was kind, attentive and liberal.”

Mr. Timothy Rogers

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:24:00 +0000

Just a few weeks after our founding, Mr. Timothy Rogers became Rev. Timothy Rogers and was settled in the church in Bernardston, Mass. He married Mary Pierce the following year. After preaching Calvinism for twelve years, his theology shifted and it was under the leadership of Rev. Rogers that the church in Bernardston moved from the Orthodox to the Unitarian side of the aisle.

Of course such a shift took its toll and, with a number of members leaving for the Baptists or Methodists, Rev. Rogers was reduced to half time employment, becoming also employed by the Massachusetts Evangelical Society and the Society for Propagating the Gospel Among the Indians. While his biography would indicate that Timothy Rogers was one of our younger founders, his birth and death dates are unknown.

Mr. Daniel D. Rogers, Esq.

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:22:00 +0000

The son of a revivalist preacher, Daniel Denison Rogers was born in Exeter, NH on May 11, 1751 and became a successful merchant in the dry goods business. Shortly after his 1781 marriage in Boston to Abigail Bromfield, the couple moved to London where they became very close to John and Abigail Adams.

When Mr. and Mrs. Rogers returned to the US, Abigail Adams wrote to her friend Mary Cranch, “There is not an other family who could have left London that I should have so much mist.” Shortly before returning to America, Abigail Rogers sat for a portrait by John Singleton Copley (pictured here), who also painted portraits of both John Adams and founder John Quincy Adams.

Later in life, Mr. Rogers moved into the business of stock and notes and invested in real estate. He was a member of First Church in Boston and died on March 25, 1825.

Mr. Ebenezer Rockwood, Esq.

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:20:00 +0000

Born on June 2, 1781, Mr. Rockwood was the son of a Revolutionary War surgeon. He graduated from Harvard in 1802, and entered law. Mr. Rockwood had the reputation of a brilliant lawyer and evidenced great gifts as an orator. We can only imagine what such a gifted man might have attained in his career, for he died suddenly on May 8, 1815 at only thirty-four years of age.

The Honorable Edward H. Robins

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:18:00 +0000

The son of the minister in Milton, Edward Hutchinson Robbins (as it is more frequently spelled) was born in Milton on Feb. 19, 1758, graduated from Harvard in 1775, and turned his mind toward Law. He was admitted to the bar in 1779. At only 21 years of age he was elected as a delegate to the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, the youngest member of that body.

Mr. Robbins was Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1793-1802, judge of the probate court for Norfolk County, and was Lieutenant Governor from 1802-1806. Judge Robbins participated in the US Constitutional Convention, and was a member of Trinity Church in Boston.

Having owned some land in the District of Maine in 1786, the town of Robbinston, in Washington, ME was named for him at its 1811 incorporation. Mr. Robbins died in Boston on Dec. 29, 1829 and was the great-great grandfather of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Dr. Isaac Rand

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:05:00 +0000

Born in Charlestown on April 27, 1743, Dr. Rand was one of our oldest founders and, like his father before him, was a medical doctor. In fact, after his 1761 graduation from Harvard, he studied medicine with his father (also Isaac Rand) in Charlestown, before removing to Boston to finish his studies with Dr. Lloyd in 1764.

He was doubtful that the Revolution could succeed and thus sided with the Royalists, although he took no active part to support their cause. He remained in Boston during the time of the siege, and a book of medical biography by James Thacher in 1828 records: “His duties at this time were both excessive and arduous, and he acquired among the inhabitants a high character for charity as a man, as well as for skill as a physician.”

Dr. Rand petitioned for the incorporation of the Massachusetts Medical Society, becoming its President in 1898, and his opposition to quackery and insistence on accuracy in medical terms and language did much to advance his profession. This was true especially in the area of obstetrics, to which he turned a large portion of his energies.

Unfortunately, the passion that drove such a specialty was steeped in the culture of the day. Dr. Rand’s mentor, Dr. Lloyd had championed the cause “to rescue from the hands of unqualified females, the important branch of obstetrics, and to raise it to an honorable rank in the profession.” What Dr. Lloyd left unfinished, Dr. Rand completed, leaving the mixed blessing of obstetrics becoming valued and more greatly studied but leaving gifted women with one less avenue of practice.

Known for his learning and breadth of reading the Greek and Latin classics, Dr. Rand turned to the study of theology in his later years. He was also known for his charity to the poor, both generally through gifts to benevolent societies and specifically in helping individual families of his acquaintance. Practicing his craft well into his later years, the New England Magazine in 1897 records: “The chaise in which he practiced in his latter days was a notable object. The width of it, though not equal to that of Solomon's temple, was several cubits.”

Dr. Rand petitioned for the incorporation of the Massachusetts Medical Society, becoming its President in 1898, and his opposition to quackery and insistence on accuracy in medical terms and language did much to advance his profession. Dr. Rand died in Boston on December 11, 1822.

Rev. Eliphalet Porter, DD

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:17:00 +0000

The son of the parish minister in North Bridgewater, Eliphalet Porter was born there on June 11, 1758. He graduated from Harvard, studied theology with his father, and was ordained to the parish in Roxbury on October 2, 1782, where he remained until his death on December 7, 1833.

An overseer of Harvard College and a member of the Corporation, Rev. Porter was also involved in other benevolent societies of the day. At the church, Rev. Porter took on Rev. George Putnam as an associate in 1830, who said the following in Rev. Porter’s funeral sermon: “He knew no party but that whose bounds include the whole church of Christ. He never lent a hand in the work of division. He never kindled the fires of ecclesiastical discord. He never bore or followed the banner of religious warfare. He never bandied the bad words of exclusion and uncharitableness. Wherever he appeared, there was a mild and firm champion of Christian toleration, union and love. Though he, and such as he, had not power to prevent the mischief of dissension that have prevailed, yet his benignity of manner, his collected temper, his acknowledged wisdom, and his unfailing exhibition of a Christian spirit, have had on many occasions, and on many points, a soothing, directing, and most salutary influence in the affairs of the church.”

Rev. John Pierce

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:14:00 +0000

John Pierce was born in Dorchester on July 14, 1773 and followed the path of so many other founders. He graduated from Harvard in 1793 (where his total college expense was $296.06!), taught for a bit, studied theology and then took a church. He accepted the call to Brookline (pictured here) in December of 1796 and was ordained there the following March, remaining in that charge for 50 years as the sole pastor, after which he consented to have a colleague join him.

A special love of Rev. Pierce was history and on the 50^th anniversary of his ordination he preached a sermon rich with the history of church and town. That interest also drew him into many of the historical and genealogical societies of the day. At the Massachusetts Bible Society he served as secretary for 19 years and then took over as President upon the death of William Phillips, serving in that role for another 21 years.

He was also interested in the temperance movement and other social reform enterprises, aligning himself with related societies there as well. Rev. Pierce was secretary of Harvard’s board of Overseers for 33 years and used his strong singing voice to lead the singing of “St. Martin’s” at Harvard commencement dinners for 54 years.

While his published works consist mostly of sermons and addresses, he did leave eighteen volumes of memoir, principally a detailed accounting of the religious and theological turmoil of the day.

Like Francis Parkman, Rev. Pierce was grieved by the split in the Congregational Church. His eulogy says of this: “But he was only grieved, not alienated or embittered. He did not defy his former associates, or go into the opposite ranks to contend against them. He loved them just the same, — would not be driven from his familiar associations with them, — and, to the last, took as much interest in them and their institutions, their public occasions, and all their religious affairs, as he did in the affairs of those friends who were excluded with him, and who were ever ready to hail him as father, and reciprocate his confidence. And yet he was always true to his Liberal friends. When he found they were to be driven asunder from their old associations, be did not hesitate to go with them. And we know that to the end of his life he rejoiced that such had been his decision. It would have been violence to his whole nature to have joined what he always considered the illiberal side.”

John Pierce died in Brookline on August 24, 1849.

Mr. William Phillips, Esq.

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:12:00 +0000

Born in Boston on March 30, 1750, MBS President William Phillips was not healthy enough to receive a college education. Coming from both a wealthy and benevolent family (William’s two uncles founded Phillips Academy), William devoted his life to managing and distributing his father’s fortune.

For many years he was a state representative, eventually becoming Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth. He was a deacon at Old South Church from March 24, 1794 until his death on May 26, 1827, just a few months after his son Edward’s passing.

Although his early health was poor, it did not stop him from becoming involved in Society and societies. At the time of his death he not only was President of the Massachusetts Bible Society (as he had been since our founding), but was also President of The American Education Society, The Society for Propagating the Gospel, The Foreign Mission Society of Boston, The Congregational Charitable Society, the General Hospital Corporation, The Boston Dispensary and was an honorary Vice President in several other organizations both locally and in other parts of the country.

He was as liberal with his money as with his time and generally contributed between eight and eleven thousand dollars each year to a variety of charitable causes, including, of course, MBS. He bequeathed $62,000 to charitable organizations upon his death.

The Honorable Jonathan Phillips

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:10:00 +0000

Born to founder William Phillips on April 24, 1778, Jonathan Phillips graduated from Harvard college in 1818, worked in the dry-goods and hardware business, and served as a state senator. He married the daughter of founder Samuel Salisbury.

He was known for both his intelligence and his wealth, which he shared generously in imitation of his father. He was the largest benefactor in Boston of an expedition to the arctic, gave $10,000 dollars to build a music hall and another $10,000 to the Boston Public Library.

Known for his steady demeanor, he was chosen to chair a particularly heated debate on December 8, 1837 at Faneuil Hall dealing with the murder of abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy, at which his good friend William Ellery Channing and his cousin Wendell Phillips also spoke.

He was part of a gathering of intellectuals called “The Friends,” and was a trustee of Massachusetts General Hospital and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Jonathan Phillips died on July 29, 1860.

The Honorable John Phillips

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:06:00 +0000

Although twenty years his junior, John Phillips was the cousin of MBS President William Phillips. He was born in Boston on Nov. 26, 1770 and married founder Samuel H. Walley’s sister, making the founders’ bond tighter still.

John Phillips graduated from Harvard College in 1788, studied law, became a prosecutor, and then served in the Massachusetts Senate, serving as that body’s president from 1813-1823. A noted orator, he gave the fourth of July oration before the people of Boston in 1794. Those were skills he passed to his son, the noted orator and abolitionist, Wendell Phillips.

John Phillips took part in the Constitutional Convention for the State of Massachusetts in 1820 and was part of the group that drew the first charter for the City of Boston in 1822. He was subsequently elected the city’s first mayor on April 16, 1822.

Always interested in education, he was a Trustee of Phillips Academy and also part of the Corporation of Harvard College, a seat that he maintained until his death on May 29, 1823. It was written of him that “In politics he was fixed, but not stern; wary, but not suspicious; courteous in manner, but unyielding in principle—his independence never approximated to rudeness, nor could his condescension be mistaken for fear. His political friends and opposers knew where to find him, and the former never feared that he would trim for popularity, nor the latter ever led to suspect that he might be seduced by flattery or the promise of rewards.”

Mr. Edward Phillips

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:02:00 +0000

Edward Phillips was born on June 24, 1782 and became a merchant, serving as a deacon at Old South Church starting on May 8, 1817. The son of MBS President William Phillips and brother to Jonathan Phillips, Edward’s last words were “God has given me the victory.” He died at 45 years of age on June 24, 1782.

Mr. William Perkins

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:15:00 +0000

Born in Boston in 1742, William Perkins (along with founder Moses Grant) was known best for his role in the Revolution. His military career is recorded by the Sons of the Revolution: “William Perkins was Lieut. in Callender's Co. at battle of Bunker Hill, afterwards Captain of same Company. He was Captain in Knox's Regt. of Artillery, 1st January, 1776, in Crane's Regt. Artillery, January, 1777; commissioned Major of same, September 12,1778 ; was at Valley Forge 1777-78 ; commanded the the “Castle" in Boston Harbor till ceded to United States in 1798, with rank of Lieut. Colonel; was member of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati.”

His grandson of the same name was born in 1804, was long the treasurer of the Society of the Cincinnati and was a prominent member of King’s Chapel, making it likely that the Revolutionary War hero was indeed the man on our founding list. He died in 1812.

The Lynn Western Burial Ground has a large number of Revolutionary War heroes and although the date of death is obscured on the stone, the following inscription probably belongs to our Mr. Perkins:

“Here lyes Buried the Body of Mr. William Perkins, a Gentleman of liberall Education, he was bred at Harvard College & Commenced Master of Arts there in ye Year 1761. He was justly admired for his uncommon Abilities Natural & acquired his Literature exemplary Piety Modesty Meekness and many other Humane & Christian Virtues which rendered him lovely in every Relation of Life.”

Rev. Eliphalet Pearson, DD

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:11:00 +0000

Nicknamed “elephant” by his students, Rev. Pearson was born in Newbury, Massachusetts on June 11, 1752. He graduated from Harvard in 1773, taught at Andover and studied theology, but was prevented from taking a charge due to his poor eyesight. During the Revolution he manufactured saltpeter and gunpowder for the Patriot army.

In 1778 he became the first preceptor at Phillips Andover Academy, a post which he held for eight years before becoming the Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Languages at Harvard in 1786.

When Harvard President Samuel Willard died in 1804, Professor Pearson became the acting President as they embarked on a search for a new President. Shortly after taking over as the interim President, the vacant chair of the Hollis Professor of Divinity was filled by the liberal minister and fellow MBS founder Henry Ware. That appointment set in motion the chain of events that would tear the fabric of the Congregational Church into “Orthodox” and “Unitarian” factions.

Pearson himself was on the Orthodox side of that fault line and, although he went back to his professorship for a brief time once fellow founder Samuel Webber was named the new President in 1806, he found he could no longer abide the religious climate at his alma mater.

In 1807 he left Harvard, returned to Andover and helped to found the nation’s first seminary there, making sure that orthodox theology was the rule. He was ordained to the Congregational Church in 1808, and his ordination sermon also served as the opening sermon for Andover Seminary. He served as a professor of sacred literature there for just one year before retiring.

Of his teaching it was said that he had “more severity in his discipline than would suit modern feelings, but he cherished genius, excited emulation, and gave tone and character to minds under his tuition, and thoroughly grounded his pupils in the true elements of letters and morals.”

He was part of many religious and benevolent societies and devoted most of his retirement years to agricultural pursuits. Rev. Pearson died in Greenland, NH on September 12, 1826.

Mr. Francis Parkman

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:09:00 +0000

One of our younger founders, Mr. Parkman was just 21 years old at the time of our founding, going on to serve MBS as the Corresponding Secretary for 31 years, with 21 years on the Executive Committee, holding the office of Vice President of the Society upon his death on Nov. 12, 1852.

He was born in Boston on June 4, 1788 and graduated from Harvard in 1807, where he was also an Overseer from 1819 to 1849, helping to establish the endowment for the Parkman Professorship of Theology. He studied theology with William Ellery Channing and in 1815 he was ordained as the pastor of the New North Church, where he served for 36 years.

The son of a prominent Boston merchant, Rev. Parkman inherited a substantial fortune and in the introduction to his memoir it is recorded: “Every association in his native State and city, devoted to the cause of humanity, if based on a broad and Catholic platform, found in him a liberal patron, and in very many cases an active officer and fellow-laborer.”

A memoir of his son, historian Francis Parkman, says of the father: “He held a prominent place among the Unitarian clergy of his day, was esteemed an eloquent preacher, and was thought to have ‘a special gift in prayer.’ His conversation was delightful, abounding in wit and humor.” It is also noted that he was “particularly kind to the unattractive.”

Mr. Nathan Parker

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:06:00 +0000

Born on June 5, 1782 in Reading, Mass., Nathan Parker was the son of a farmer. He graduated from Harvard in 1803, studied theology and taught school in Worcester and then served for a time as a tutor at Bowdoin College, also performing the President’s Chapel duties at the College when the Presidency was vacant.

Nathan Parker was ordained to the struggling South Church and Parish in Portsmouth, NH (pictured here) in 1808. Rev. Parker built the congregation back to strength, and when some questioned his theology, fellow founder Joseph Buckminster jumped to his support and thereafter took him under his wing as a son. Nathan Parker served that congregation for 28 years and died at the age of 52 on Nov. 8, 1833.

As the Orthodox/Unitarian split raged around him, and he found himself unwelcome to once devoted colleagues simply because he attended the ordination of a Unitarian in Baltimore, Rev. Parker stuck to his ideals “‘to unite with good men in doing good, whatever name they might bear, to strengthen the influence of every one who appeared honestly laboring in the cause of Christ, to do all in his power to cherish kind affections, and persuade Christians to love each other.’ The confession of faith used at the admission to his church would exclude Christians of no denomination. He would not assume the responsibility of sitting in judgment over others, but yielded to all the Christian name, who exhibited the fruit of the Gospel in their lives. But he attached a higher value to liberty of conscience—to the rights of exercising the mind given for that purpose in the examination of religious truths. He pressed it upon his people, to examine the Bible for themselves, to follow servilely the opinions of no frail mortal, but to go to Revelation itself, and with devout and prayerful hearts to use the light of their own minds, fearless of the decision which they honestly and conscientiously should make. He was not a partisan. He looked to interests higher and holier than those of any party—the interests of Christianity itself.”

The Honorable Isaac Parker

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:03:00 +0000

The son of a Boston goldsmith, Isaac Parker was born in Boston on June 17, 1768 and graduated from Harvard in 1786. After studying law, he moved to Maine where he was elected to Congress in 1796 and after serving one term became the U.S. marshal for the district of Maine.

Mr. Parker came back to Massachusetts in 1806 upon being elected to the State Supreme Court, becoming the Chief Justice in 1814 and remaining so until his death on July 25, 1830. In a controversial ruling for a Dedham church about who retains the property in a church split, Parker ruled that whoever stays, even if a minority of the congregation, keeps the property. Judge Parker was a Unitarian.

In 1816 Judge Parker was made Harvard’s first Royall Professor of Law, a post that he held until 1827, and in 1820 he served as the President of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention. It was Judge Parker who laid out the plan for Harvard Law School.

Greatly esteemed both as a man and as a jurist, his eulogy records: “We wanted a cautious, but liberal mind, to aid the new growth of principles, to enlarge the old rules, to infuse a vital equity into the system, as it was expanding before us. We wanted a mind to do, in some good degree, what Lord Mansfield had done in England, to breathe into our common law an energy, suited to the wants, the commercial interests, and the enterprise of the age. We wanted a mind, which, with sufficient knowledge of the old law, was yet not a slave to its forms; which was bold enough to invigorate it with new principles, not from the desire of innovation, but the love of improvement. We wanted sobriety of judgment; but, at the same time, a free spirit, which should move over the still depths of our law, and animate the whole mass. Such a man was Mr. Chief Justice Parker.”

Mr. Daniel P. Parker

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:02:00 +0000

A well-known Boston merchant, Mr. Parker traded in textiles, owning one of the finest ships in the port, The Samuel Appleton, named for his friend and neighbor. The ship was 781 tons and was used to conduct trade with China.

On the boards of many banks and one of the Trustees of Massachusetts General Hospital, Mr. Parker was born in 1781 in Southboro and died in 1850.

The best known story associated with him relates to a visit to Boston by the much-reviled Andrew Jackson: “Mr. Daniel P. Parker, a well-known Boston merchant, had come to his window to catch a glimpse of the guest of the State, regarding him very much as he might have done some dangerous monster which was being led captive past his house. But the sight of the dignified figure of Jackson challenged a respect which the good merchant felt he must pay by proxy, if not in person. ‘Do some one come here and salute the old man!’ he suddenly exclaimed. And a little daughter of Mr. Parker was thrust forward to wave her handkerchief to the terrible personage whose doings had been so offensive to her elders.”

Rev. Jacob Norton

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Born in Abington on Feb. 12, 1764 and graduated from Harvard College in 1786, Jacob Norton was ordained at Weymouth on October 10, 1787. Described as “a tall, erect, spare man of dignified appearance,” Rev. Norton served the church in Weymouth until 1824, during which time he also preached the election sermon before the legislature as well as addresses to other societies, our own included.

His departure from Weymouth was a matter of theology rather than health, being dismissed from that congregation due to his theological changes, especially his new opposition to infant baptism. He became a Unitarian after his dismissal. A Unitarian paper in 1843 wrote of discovering the aged, yet spry Rev. Norton in their congregation: “He appears cheerful and happy—and why should he not? He has spent a long life in virtue and usefulness, and now he has the hope of Universalism to cheer him as he travels to the tomb.”

He died in Billerica on Jan. 17, 1858 at the age of 93 years, eleven months, and five days. At the time of his death he was the oldest surviving graduate of Harvard College. He was noted for his many polemical writings although his character was such that he was highly esteemed by his colleagues although they “deplored his heresy.”

Rev. Jedidiah Morse, DD

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:58:00 +0000

For 30 years the pastor of the church in Charlestown, MA, Rev. Morse was born in Woodstock, Connecticut on Aug. 23, 1761. He began at Yale in 1779 and since he did not come from a wealthy family, supported his tuition by teaching school and teaching singing. It was only there at Yale, in conversation with Yale’s President Stiles, that the young Morse made a profession of faith and joined the church. He then determined to enter the ministry.

He graduated from Yale in 1783 and began the study of theology. He was licensed and preached in several locations while also tutoring at Yale, finally becoming ordained right before swapping positions with fellow founder Abiel Holmes, just recently come north from Georgia. After six months in Georgia, Rev. Morse returned to New England, finally settling at the Charlestown Church.

Rev. Morse was one of the Overseers of Harvard standing in opposition to the selection of founder Henry Ware as the Hollis Professor of Divinity. Health forced his resignation from Charlestown in 1820 and he went back to New Haven.

While the Bible Society is more apt to highlight his theological background, most of society knows Jedidiah Morse as the “Father of American Geography,” a passion that developed during his years teaching young girls, when he wrote a textbook on the subject for them. That textbook turned into more and better until his reputation was universally established. The son of Rev. Morse, Mr. Samuel F.B. Morse invented the telegraph and “Morse Code.” Rev. Jedidiah Morse died on June 9, 1826.

Deacon Josiah Moore

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:28:00 +0000

Elected Deacon to the First Church in Cambridge in 1804, Josiah Moore was a carpenter by trade and served as Deacon with fellow founder William Hilliard. Born in Sudbury on September 25, 1747, he was an assessor and overseer of the poor for many years after serving as a sergeant in Captain Thatcher’s company of Minute Men, who marched 28 miles on the alarm on April 19, 1775 when the British landed in East Cambridge. Josiah Moore died suddenly on May 1, 1814.

Mr. John Mellen, Esq.

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:39:00 +0000

John Mellen might well have been listed as Rev. John Mellen, due to his 1783 ordination to the East Congregational Church in Barnstable. With his wife’s ill health, however, he resigned that position in 1800 and moved to Cambridge where he became active in the affairs of his 1770 alma mater, Harvard College.

For Harvard, Mr. Mellen ran the lotteries of 1806 and 1811 which built Halworthy Hall and in 1808 was chosen to represent Cambridge in the General Court. Born June 17, 1752, he was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Massachusetts Militia and was a member of many of the Societies of the day.

But the accomplishment for which he is best remembered was his ability to endure the total blindness that encompassed many of his later years with both grace and cheerfulness. He neither retreated from the company of others nor gave up his pursuit of learning and theological inquiry, having works read aloud to him that he might digest and discuss their merits.

After his death on Sept. 19, 1828, the Christian Examiner wrote of him: “The knowledge which he had laid up in former years was now an inexhaustible fund, from which he brought the materials for new processes of thought, and the aids to a constant moral improvement. The truths, and to a wonderful extent, the words even, of the New Testament were engraven on his memory, and its spirit had long been cherished in his heart. The evident pleasure with which he listened, and the judicious criticism of his remarks, converted the office of reading aloud into a privilege, and he never wanted friends who were glad to avail themselves of such an opportunity of doing and of acquiring good. He was thus enabled to maintain an acquaintance with the current literature, and with the theological writings of the day.”

Rev. Joseph McKean

noreply@blogger.com (Massachusetts Bible Society) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:36:00 +0000

Rev. McKean was born in Ipswitch, MA on April 19, 1776 and, showing a sharp mind, was sent to Andover to prepare for college at age 11. He matriculated at Harvard in 1790 and quickly became part of the social life of the campus. As a freshman he was called upon to host a gathering of students who just liked to get together for food, drink, and socializing and for that occasion, young McKean chose to roast a whole pig. From his successful idea, and probably a fair amount of wine, this later corresponding secretary for the Society for the Suppression of Intemperance became known as the founder of the “pig club,” which became Harvard’s Porcellian Club. The McKean Gate at Harvard pictured here is named for him.

McKean graduated from Harvard in 1794, studied theology, and was ordained at the Congregational Church in Milton in 1797.

Having a frail constitution, he gave up the pulpit in 1804 and traveled for a bit in warmer climates. After returning to Boston he was courted by Harvard as a Professor, first refusing the chair in Mathematics later offered to founder John Farrar but finally accepting the position of Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, where he remained for ten years.

Again plagued by ill health, Rev. McKean traveled to Havana, where he died on March 17, 1818 at the age of 42.