USHERS. Appointed March 12 1666 DANIEL HENCHMAN,* Left office before Oct. 20. 1668. * March 12th, 1666 The towne agreed with Mr. Daniell Hincheman for £40 per ann to assist Mr. Woodmansey in the Grammar Schoole and teach children to wrighte—the year to begin March 1 1665-6. In 1668, Nov. 7, the General Court appointed Mr. Daniel Hinckman (sic) with three others a Committee to arrange about the location of the town afterwards Worcester. July 13, 1674, this Committee took a deed of the plantation from the Indians, where he is called Daniel Hinchman of Boston, brewer. In the record of the General Court, May 19, 1683, approving the plan for laying out the plantation of Quansiggamon, (sic) his name appears as one of the active proprietors. [Mass. Records, v. 413.] In 1684 the plantation was called. Worcester. In May, 1685, he was present in the town with his son Nathaniel,-but in 1686 he died. Philip's War broke out in 1675, and Hinchman served in it as Captain of a Company which saw active service constantly, and at the end was a Major. [See extracts from one of his reports in Hubbard's Ind. Wars, v. 1, p. 86.] June 26, 1675, two days after Philip's War broke out by the murders in Swanzey, a foot company under Capt. Daniel Hinchman, and a troop under Capt. Thomas Prentice, were sent from Boston towards Mt. Hope, a message for assistance having been received from Plymouth Colony. "It being late in the afternoon before they began to march, the central eclipse of the moon in Capricorn happened in the evening before they came up to the Neponset river about twenty miles from Boston, which occasioned them to make a Halt, for a little repast till the moon recovered her light again. Some melancholy fancies would not be persuaded, but that the eclipse falling out at that instant of time was ominous, conceiving also that in the centre of the moon, they discovered an unusual black spot, not a little resembling the scalp of an Indian." Hubbard's Indian Wars, v. 1, p. 67. This expedition of Henchman and Prentice, afterwards joined by Mosely and Cudworth of the Plymouth troops, only drove Philip to the west. Henchman with a hundred men was left to watch and follow them, while the rest of the force returned to Boston. He was ordered to disband his men some time in midsummer. Nov. 1675. He marched again on an expedition against Hassanemesit, (Grafton,) which had but little result. He was not one of the six captains appointed for the army under Winslow, which assembled at Dedham, Dec. 9, 1675, and was not in the attack on the Narragansett fort, Dec. 19, 1675, which broke the Indian power; but April 27th, 1678, he was out as Captain of a company of horse, commander in chief of three of horse, and three of foot, to range toward Hassanemesit. His troops returned and were discharged "by reason of an epidemical cold, at that time prevailing through the country," and because of the rain which prevented their following the enemy, May 10th; but May 30th, 1676, they were called together again, and were out as far as Hadley, in which Henchman killed and took about eighty-four of the enemy without the loss of any of his own men. This expedition ended early in July. Hubbard's Indian Wars, v. 1, pp. 226 and 235. Henchman is thus seen to have been the principal man among the Massachusetts captains. "Capt. Daniel Henchman planted the Great Elm on Boston Common in 1670." .... Boston Transcript, July 3, 1848. A tradition has existed in the Hancock family, passed down by Mrs. Lydia Hancock, wife of Thomas, . . . . . that her grandfather, Hezekiah Henchman, set out the tree when he was a boy; which would have been over two hundred years ago, as his father, Daniel, the old schoolmaster, left Boston as early as 1674. Other accounts, from the Henchman family, give the honor to the old schoolmaster, who wielded the sword as well as the birches, — for he commanded the famous Artillery Company, and served in King Philip's War in 1675. The last tradition says that the tree was set out as a shelter for the company. N. B. Shurtleff's Top. and Hist. Descr. of Boston, p. 335. Dr. Shurtleff states the reasons for doubting this tradition, and for supposing that the tree was of good size and growing in 1630 when Boston was settled. Hist. of Anc. and Hon. Art. Co. 2d edit. p. 195; also Histor. Catal. of the Old South Church, p. 229. * May 8, 1699, "At Publick Town Meeting of the Inhabitants of Boston " it "was Voted by sd Inhabitants, That the Selectmen shall agree wth mr Ezekiel Lewis for his Salary as an assistant to his Grandfather mr Ezekiel Cheever in the Latine School, not Exceeding forty pounds p year." Hassam on Cheever, p. 12. At a Town meeting May 12, 1701, "Whereas Mr. Ezekiel Lewis Assistant to Mr. Cheever in the Government of the Latin free School, hath represented unto the Town that the sum of forty pounds per annum is not sufficient for his comfortable subsistence. The Town by their Vote have granted that hence forward he be Allowed Forty five per annum, during his being continued in that Situation. Oct. 12, 1704. Mr. Ezk. Lewis marries the widow Kilcup. See Histor. Catal. of the Old South Church, pp. 324 and 325. Town Records, ii, 240. Sewall's Diary, v. 2, p. 117. + At a Town meeting held at the Town House in Boston, Apr. 27, 1703, it was "Voted that the Selectmen do take care to procure some meet person to be an assistant to mr Ezekiell Chever in the Government of the Lattin Schooll, and to allow him a Sallery not exceeding forty-five pounds p annum, untill farther Order from the Inhabitants at some other meeting. Town Records, ii, 267. May 13, 1703 "Sundry of the ministers in this Town haveing recommended mr Nathll Williams to be a fitt person to be joyned wth mr Chever in Governmt of the Lattin School, ordered that Sd mr Williams be Treated with abt the Same." Selectmen's Minutes, i, 72. At a town meeting June 1, 1703 "Upon a debate abt ye Settleing a Sallery upon an assistant to mr Chever in the Governint of ye Lattin School Voted that the Same be referred to the determination of the next Town Meeting, & that notice thereof be incerted in the warrant for calling such meeting. Town Records, ii, 268. At a town meeting held June 25, 1703 "The Town by their vote do declare their approbation of mr Nathaniell Williams to be an assistant to mr Ezekiel Chever in Governing & Instructing the youth at the Lattin School. Voted that mr Nathaniel Williams be allowed the Sum of Eighty pounds for the year ensueing in case he accept and perform the aforesaid Service. And it is Left to the Selectmen to agree with him accordingly. Ibid. ii, 268. Harv., 1710, A. M.; Hollis Prof. Harv.; Fellow Harv., Perhaps Lat. Sch. 1714. Harv., 1725, A.M.; died Sept. 7, Aug. Possibly Lat. Sch. 1722. Harv., 1733, A. M.; died 1769. 1721 * Ordained over Second Roxbury Church, Nov. 12, 1712; so he must have left the School as early as that. + Edward Wigglesworth was born at Malden about the beginning of the year 1693. At College he had a high standing for general scholarship, and was distinguished for his classical attainments. He studied theology after graduation, and was licensed to preach. A certificate signed by Mr. Nathaniel Williams, 1714-5, proves that he was a teacher in our School for at least a quarter before October, 1714. He was not a preacher attractive to the multitude, and so never settled as a pastor, but was appreciated by the intelligent, and when Thomas Hollis, of London, established the professorship at Harvard College, bearing his name, was nominated by him as its first occupant, and inducted into office, October 24, 1722. In 1724 he was elected a member of the Corporation of Harvard College. He was greatly distinguished for his benevolence. He continued to perform the duties of his professorship until within a few days of his death, which occurred January 16, 1765. Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit, i. 275. In 1732 Jeremiah Gridley edited a newspaper called the Rehearsal, which almost weekly contained an essay on some historical, literary or political subject, generally, it is supposed, written by him. They abound in Latin allusions and quotations; the style is not bad nor uninteresting. There is a file in the Library of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass. He was afterwards Attorney General, and as such opposed to Otis in the question of the Search Warrants. See Knapp's Biog. Sketches, p. 199. § These dates are right, though they differ from the Eliot Biography. They are taken from Wendell's Valedictory of 1729, of which we have the manuscript. Appointed at £80 per year. ¶ Drake's History of Boston, p. 604. Appointed Left office 1739 NATHANIEL GARDNER,* Lat. Sch., 1728. Harv., 1739, A. M.; died 1760. Lat. Sch., 1738. Harv., 1749, A. M., LL. D. 1805; died 1757 JAMES LOVELL,‡ Lat. Sch., 1744. Harv., 1756, A. M.; Del. in Amer. Con- April 19, 1775 *Nathaniel Gardner was in office at least as late as 1754. + In office in 1750, because May 15th, 1750, at a town meeting, "£50 lawful money was voted Mr. Robert Treat Paine for his salary as Usher of the So. Grammar School." Drake's Hist. of Boston, p. 631. James Lovell, son of John Lovell, born at Boston, Oct. 31, 1737, Usher Latin School, 1757, was also Master of the North School, now Eliot School. In 1775, after the Battle of Bunker Hill, thirty-one persons, among whom was Mr. Lovell, were imprisoned in Boston Gaol by General Howe. At the evacuation of the city, March, 1776, he was carried to Halifax with the British troops, and was a prisoner in that city, while his father was also there as a loyalist refugee. Exchanged and returned to Boston, Nov. 30, 1776. Elected to Continental Congress, December, 1776. Receiver of Continental taxes, 1784. Collector of the Port of Boston, 1788-1789. Naval officer at Boston, 1790-1814. Died at Windham, Maine, July 14, 1815. The London Political Register for 1780 says: "In the pockets of Warren, the Rebel commander killed at Bunker Hill, were found letters from James Lovell, a rebel spy, stating the number and disposition of the troops in Boston, with a variety of other information. The spy, instead of being sentenced to the gallows and executed, was only taken up and detained in custody, and when our army was at New York, he was discharged at the request of some of the Rebel chiefs. Instead of being grateful for this, the instant he landed in the rebel territory, (he) wrote the commissary a most abusive letter; and by this infamous behavior, having arrived at the summit of villainy, was in the opinion of the rebels of Massachusetts deemed a fit person to represent them in Congress; accordingly, as soon as he set his foot in Boston, he was chosen one of their delegates to Congress. ..... .... Loring's One Hundred Boston Orators. Mention is made of the imprisonment of Mr. Lovell in Boston in the "Diary of Peter Edes written during his confinement by the British, in Boston, in 1775, after the battle of Bunker Hill," Bangor, 1837; and in "a journal kept by John Leach during his confinement by the British in Boston Gaol in 1775," N. E. Hist. Gen. Reg., July, 1865, the originals of both of which are now in the possession of Henry H. Edes, Esq., of Boston, by whom they were kindly loaned to the Rev. Dr. Hale to read to the Latin School Association at its first annua dinner, November 8, 1876. He delivered in the Old South Church April 2, 1771, An Oration, at the request of the Inhabitants of the Town of Boston to commemorate the Bloody Tragedy of the 5th of March, 1770, which is in the Library of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester. The address is a statement of the objections to standing armies. It is filled with classical Appointed Nov. 8, 1776 Aug. Left office Appointed Head Master, North Grammar School. WILLIAM BENTLEY,* Harv., 1777, A. M., and Dart. 1787; D. D. Harv., 1819; WILLIAM CROSWELL,† . Lat. Sch. 1768. Harv., 1780, A. M. 1786; died 1834. 1782 SAMUEL PAYSON, Aug. 1782 Sept. 1786 allusions in its opening. When the invitation to deliver it was given to him, his father advised him not to accept it, because his life might be jeopardized by doing it. "Is that the case? was his reply, "then my mind is decided-my resolution is fixed-I will attempt it at every hazard." In the Library of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and also of Harvard College, are copies of an oration by him, "in Funere Henrici Flyntii Arm.” 8vo, Boston, 1760. The first page of E. T. Channing's Life of Wm. Ellery gives some comments on his style. *William Bentley, son of Joshua Bentley, a ship carpenter, born in Boston, June 22, 1759. He was ordained in Sept. 1783, as colleague pastor over the East Church in Salem. A full account of him is given in the Annals of the American Pulpit, by Wm. B. Sprague, D.D., Vol. viii, pp. 154-157, where it is stated, we fear erroneously, that he was educated at the Latin School. See Buckingham's Reminiscences, ii. 341. + In 1791 was a teacher of navigation in Boston, and published Croswell's Tables. "1794, Apr. 21, Chas. Cutler was introduced as usher." S. Hunt. Given in the old Catalogue as in office in 1796; he probably went out of office about 1799, and was reappointed in 1800, as appears below. |