Captain Robert Todd Lincoln

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Harvard Beats Dartmouth 1901

From Boston Sunday Herald November 17, 1901

Tristram Dalton Samuel Williams Transit of Venus Newbury MA

From Melissa Berry Newburyport News Genealogy of Williams Harvard Files
 

Part of the structure of Dalton estate after Victorian renovations. From Leonard Woodman Smith provided by Katharine M. Gove Director, G.A.R. Memorial Library West Newbury, MA 

The West Newbury country estate “Spring Hill” built by Captain Michael Dalton and Mary Little was a pastoral paradise. When son Tristram took up residence it grew more glorious. Visitors from all over the globe enjoyed its enchanting landscape and breath taking views. The poesy of Jacques Pierre Brissott “de Warville” deemed it as “one of the finest situations that can be imagined.”

          J J Currier noted that when Tristram inherited the estate he “found pleasure and profit in the ownership and management of this attractive and productive farm He was liberal in his household expenditures and with lavish hospitality entertained many distinguished travelers at his country home.” (History of Ould Newbury)    

          Tristram and wife Ruth Hooper, daughter of Robert “King” Hooper, a wealthy Marblehead merchant knew how to through a party. The festive soirees hosted George Washington and an ensemble of French royals.    See Tristram Dalton and Family

          However, in the spring of 1769 there was one celebrated guest summoned to the Pipe Stave Road address that would source a different ambit for Dalton, namely the extraterrestrial. 

 Samuel Williams, Harvard professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy was more than happy to oblige as he knew “a seat at Newbury, in a high elevated situation,” was “very convenient for this purpose.”

          The hearth upon the hill behest “forty mountain peaks and oceans far and wide” and was the most auspicious place to observe the celestial heavens. God had even graced Dalton with 18 church steeples in wide view.

          But this gathering was not just for star gazing, it was to expand scientific knowledge by observing the transit of Venus. Dalton had a keen interest in the field of Astronomy and was part of the newly founded American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

          In this venture Dalton choose his cohort carefully. Williams had been selected by Harvard’s John Winthrop to observe the transit in the Newfoundland expedition 1761. His lectures and experiments were progressive, but it was when Williams preached in the Port that Dalton sought him out.

          Williams matched Dalton’s passionate intensity to explore the “dark horses” of the world. Williams excelled in many diverse disciplines and his innovative style earned him honors. More importantly, Dalton knew that besides Winthrop, Williams “was among the most accurate of any estimating the moment of tangency of the internal contact to the Sun which had an uncertainty of only seven seconds.”

          Williams had the same confident spirit working with Dalton. He was well versed in theory from his Harvard days and would be an active participant in assisting him. According to Hinckle, Dalton’s knowledge allowed him to make necessary preparations way in advance such as getting the clock adjusted and longitude determination made.  

          Dalton also took all precautions which included hiring carpenters to build shelters on the roof. A persistent trend of overcast and rain had set over Newbury, but just before the big event Mother Nature decided to cooperate. The conditions could not have been more perfect as one Boston paper reported: “after a long course of cloudy weather it cleared up and last Saturday was fair and afforded a fine opportunity for viewing the Transit of Venus.” 

 The anxiety that would have visited the observers would have been in calculating the exact timing to observe the “black dot,” or Venus landing on the sun. Williams was successful and carefully recorded the planetary activity. He also found that Venus had a definite atmosphere. This was due to the “fuzzy contrast” and “uncertain timing.” In other transits, such as Mercury the observation was precise and easily timed. This revelation would later prove to be a major significant discovery.

          The transit of Venus produced “an intercolonial scientific effort of major proportions” and there were several locations observing the event, but it was Newbury that caught Ben Franklin’s attention.  His organization known as The American Philosophical Society issued William’s publication: “An Account of the Transit of Venus over the Sun, June 3d, 1769, as observed at Newbury, in Massachusetts.”  

          Williams work impacted several scholars, including John Quincy Adams, who attended Williams' series of twenty-four lectures on Astronomy at Harvard. According to Rothschild Adams was “so engrossed with the subject that he wrote copious notes on the lectures during and after their presentation.”

          Adams comradery with Williams is noted in his journals: “he is affable and familiar with the students, and does not affect that ridiculous pomp which is so generally prevalent here.” The warm affinity and respect Adams had for Williams would sustain a relationship for many years after he was equally fond of Williams’ son, Samuel, JR. who was his classmate at Harvard. During his stint in the Port Adams records dinners with Samuel, JR, and some visits to Dalton’s magical manor on the hill.

          The contribution of these two men that summer would reflect a lifetime of reaching for the stars and encouraging others to expand their horizons. Dalton took an active interest in local education. He assisted along with Jonathan Jackson, Nathaniel Tracy, and John Tracy to fund young scholars for college. One fellow, Dudley Atkins attended Harvard due to their generosity. Atkins had Williams as an instructor and Williams extended the use of his home laboratory to him. In 1780 Atkins was chosen to accompany Williams on the Penobscot Bay expedition to observe the eclipse of the sun.

          The grounds at Spring Hill have been torn down and rebuilt since the Dalton reign. Tristram invested in new territory, but calculated risks took his fortune. But the planets taught this explorer heaven is not down on any map; true places never are.

Built by Edward Nairne of London, this telescope was used by Samuel Williams Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington.

           

• Old Paths and Legends of New England: Saunterings Over Historic Roads.
• Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, MA)  
• The Dalton Genealogical Society founded November 1970 by Michael Neale Dalton of London, England.
• Family History Compiled by Lucy Henderson Horton
• Ould Newbury: Historical and Biographical Sketches
• Reminiscences of a Newburyport Nonagenarian 
• Brides of Apollo R F Rothschild

Eben Francis Stone of Newburyport MA

A memorial held April 1895 and Memorial from Bar Association
Eben F Stone mayor of Newburyport in 1867, then a state representative, and subsequently a congressman, 1881-1887.Civil War

 

Memorials of the Essex Bar Association: And Brief Biographical Notices of Some of the Distinguished Members of the Essex Bar Prior to the Formation of the Association 

There are few more impressive thoughts than those which come to us of departed friends. They have been taken from us in the bloom of youth, in the strength and glory of manhood, and in the maturity of age, nevermore to be known on earth. In a moment the book of their earthly life has been closed. With Christian faith, trusting in an Infinite Wisdom far transcending the conception of mankind, we meet this— to us—impenetrable mystery. With us who survive, all thoughts of the departed are in the solemn past. We cherish in memory the virtues of the deceased and the lessons of their lives.

We have been called upon to part with a brother who not only earned distinction at the Bar, but exerted a wide and beneficent influence in the performance of many important public duties.

Eben Francis Stone was born in Newburyport, Aug. 3, 1822, and died Jan. 22,1895. His parents were Ebenezer and Fanny (Coolidge) Stone. His first ancestor in this country was Elias Stone, who settled at Charlestown, and was married to Abigail Long in 1686. On the maternal side Mr. Stone was descended from the Coolidges and Storers, of Boston, and from the Moodys and Titcombs, of Newbury. His ancestors were largely engaged in commercial pursuits.

Mr. Stone's father was a man of sterling character. Caleb Cushing, in speaking of him to a friend, said he considered "Major Stone (he was a major in the militia) a model citizen, and altogether the best man in the town." His mother was a woman of estimable qualities, of great enthusiasm in good works, and possessed of a cultured literary taste. She died in Newburyport at the age of eighty-three. Mr. Stone's home

in his boyhood was a very delightful one. His first teacher was Mr. Alfred W. Pike. Afterwards he attended the school of Mr. Charles Pigeon, and for a short time was a pupil in the High School. At the age of fourteen he entered Franklin Academy in North Andover, where he remained until fitted for college. While at North Andover he lived in the family of the Rev. Bailey Loring, the father of the late Hon. George B. Loring. He entered Harvard University in 1839, and was graduated in 1843. He then entered the Harvard Law School, from which he was graduated in 1846. He was for about one year librarian of the Law School Library. He was admitted to the Bar in Essex County in 1846, and immediately entered upon the practice of his profession in Newburyport, which from that time to the time of his death was his home.

Mr. Stone was married to Miss Harriet Perrin, of Boston, Oct. 20, 1848. By this marriage there were born to them three daughters,—Harriet Child, now Mrs. Alfred Hewins, Fannie Coolidge, and Cornelia Perrin.

Mr. Stone had little inclination for the general practice in the courts. This may be accounted for in part by his early interest and employment in public affairs. The routine of the ordinary business in the courts was irksome to him. Although for many years he tried cases, and tried them well, yet he failed in that love for and enthusiasm in the trial of causes which are necessary to the proper discipline of the faculties for the work. For success in the trial of causes involving facts, quick conceptions, a mind always on the alert, and the faculty of thinking on one's feet are essential; and these come largely from practice. 

(Photo of Eben Stone from Clipper Heritage Trail)  But upon questions of great interest, in which principles were involved, he showed very great ability. It required an important and exciting occasion to bring out his full powers. He was learned in the law, and possessed of a sound, discriminating, and impartial judgment, which gave him great influence in the various public and private affairs in which he engaged.

It is a somewhat general but mistaken view that the reputation and usefulness of a lawyer are confined to his practice in the courts. However valuable and popular his skill in the examination of witnesses, and great the delight in his powers of advocacy, yet a large field for reputation and usefulness is open to him in the performance of the more unostentatious duties of his profession.

The services of the profession are of very great value in all of the more important positions and vocations of life. A large proportion of the members of Congress and of the Legislatures of the several States are men educated in the law. This results, not from any claim of precedence on the part of the profession, but from the fact that the education and discipline of its members best qualify them for the most important of the duties of legislation. The public needs their services, for which it makes requisition.

So in the conduct of the great business affairs of the world their knowledge and advice are a necessity.

They perform a very useful service in checking litigation. Few outside the profession know the difficulty of preventing parties from engaging in lawsuits. Honest-meaning men, warmed in a controversy, not only insist on bringing suits, which once commenced, are sure to entail protracted and unhappy disputes, but in their zeal fail to disclose to their counsel important facts favoring their opponents. It requires wisdom and experience to deal with such parties, skill to draw out all the facts, and patient and dispassionate reasoning to dissuade the beginning. Instead of encouraging lawsuits, it is one of the most difficult of a lawyer's duties to prevent them. There is no profession more open to the wit of the satirist than that of the law. The characterizations of the practitioners are proverbial. Yet, as one of the best lawyers in this county remarked, "although all men abuse lawyers, no one abuses his own lawyer." The client, in his distress, will disclose to his counsel what he will not to a man of any other profession, and will trustfully confide to him his dearest and most important interests. When I speak of lawyers I mean lawyers, not the reptiles which infest not only the legal, but every other profession.

Mr. Stone, in his admirable address at the dedication of the Court House in Salem, expressed his feelings in regard to the ordinary trials, which, in the early days of his profession, and much more since, in accordance with the spirit of the time, have been largely contests for pecuniary ends, in his description of "a clever practitioner who has sufficient knowledge of cases and of the rules of practice in the courts to conduct a case skilfully from its entry on the docket, through its ordinary stages, to judgment and execution, and sufficient shrewdness to deal successfully with the arts and devices by which a doubtful case is brought to a favorable conclusion. Such men may do good and useful work, and acquire and deserve a respectable standing with the distinction that comes from pecuniary success ; but he has no high aim, no adequate conception of the true office of jurisprudence."

Mr. Stone was a member of the Senate of Massachusetts in 1857, 1858 and 1861. The legislature of 1861 convened at a most critical period. We were then on the eve of our sectional war, when the whole country was in a state of the greatest excitement. War was imminent, and measures were adopted in anticipation of it. The " Personal Liberty Bill," as it was called, containing unconstitutional provisions, and being justly considered as offensive by the people of the South, was referred to a committee of the legislature for examination, and, if necessary, for revision. Mr. Stone was chairman of that committee. From his known anti-slavery views those who did not know the fibre of the man were apprehensive that the radical pressure against any modification of the act might influence him.

After a full hearing and consideration of the subject, Mr. Stone, for the committee, reported to the Senate a bill for the repeal of the obnoxious features of the act. This was met by a strong opposition from the radical members. The Senate was nearly equally divided on the measure. At a time when Mr. Stone was engaged in a committee room the opponents of the measure succeeded in bringing it before the Senate. Mr. Stone received information of the fact. In a few minutes, while the subject was under discussion, he entered the Senate chamber. He thought that he had been unfairly treated by this attempt to pass upon the report of the committee in his absence; and the moment an. opportunity offered he addressed the Senate in an impassioned and very eloquent speech, denouncing the attempt that had been made and defending the report of the committee. Upon a vote the subject was postponed. After various and strenuous efforts to defeat the measure, it was finally adopted by a small majority.

A few weeks after the close of the session Fort Sumter was fired upon. Governor Andrew conferred with prominent members of both Houses; and, after the preparation of bills it was deemed necessary to pass, he called an "extra session," which was held. Mr. Stone took an active part in the preliminary work, and himself drew up the bill for the support of the families of volunteers, and was very influential in the important work of the session.

In November, 1862, Mr. Stone was commissioned by Governor Andrew, colonel of the 48th Regiment, which was enlisted for nine months, but was in service about one year at Baton Rouge and at Port Hudson.

Judge Edgar J. Sherman, a captain in the Regiment, writes:—

"Colonel Stone was a conscientious and painstaking officer, looking carefully to the health and efficiency of his command, faithful to every call and duty, and calm and courageous in the hour of danger. The officers and soldiers in his command entertained great respect for him as an officer and ever-increasing admiration for him as a man."

In 1865 Mr. Stone entered into a law partnership with Caleb Cushing in Washington, with a view to removing there, but after a practice of about one year, he became dissatisfied with the place, and returned to Newburyport.

Mr. Stone was a member of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts in 1867, 1877,1878 and 1880, and in the fall of 1880 he was elected a representative to the Forty-seventh Congress, and was re-elected to the Forty-eighth and Fortyninth Congresses. During the time of this service Mr. Stone was on important committees, and performed a large amount of labor. No one can read his very able speech on the proposed breakwater at Rockport without a feeling of deep regret that he did not oftener address the House. That, I am informed, was the feeling of those in the House who knew him best.

Besides the qualities and accomplishments which have been mentioned, Mr. Stone was a man of letters. His address at the dedication of the new Court House in Salem is a model of literary excellence, and his speech in Congress upon the River and Harbor Bill, and his papers on Governor Andrew and Tristram Dalton, read before the Essex Institute, and printed in its Collections, are very finely written. He was among the last of the type of lawyers of the county who associated letters with the law. In his address at Salem he made a quotation from a recent article in the London Spectator upon the retirement from office of two eminent Scotch judges, of which I give a part:—" In Scotland, as elsewhere, the competition for the loaves and fishes is becoming keener in all professions, and the lawyer finds himself hustled out of literature by the trained public writer and man of letters." In his comment on this Mr. Stone said, " This change is inevitable. As society progresses the conditions of success in the various pursuits become more and more scientific and exacting. And yet there was a charm in the social condition which caused the old alliance between law and letters, which we cannot lose without regret. Life was then more interesting and picturesque. Each man's work was less sharply defined, and the distinctions that now separate classes did not exist. Men were selected for special service, not because of special training, but because of supposed natural fitness. The judge on the bench was not the learned lawyer, but the man who was thought by his fellow-citizens to have the judicial

faculty. Every man of natural superiority took two or three different parts. The minister was doctor and farmer as well. The lawyer was the squire of the village, who supplied the demand for literary or oratorical services in default of the scholar and the trained man of letters,—the fruit of a more luxurious and advanced civilization."

There can be no better evidence of the respect with which the people of his native city regarded him than his election or appointment to so many local offices of trust and responsibility affords. Besides the public offices which have been stated, he was, at different times, mayor of the city, a member of its Common Council and its president, city solicitor, a member of the School Committee, and director in or trustee of the most important financial, educational and charitable institutions of the city.

Mr. Stone was especially distinguished for his integrity and native nobility of character. He was modest and unassuming in his manners, and never made any attempt at display, or did anything for sensational effect. He had an ambition for preferment, but never did, or could, resort to any of the arts of the politicians. He stood simply for what he was. He held decided opinions, which he never disguised or compromised for political ends. He stood solely on his merits as understood by those from whom he sought support. He was independent, yet never defiant or censorious. He was very tolerant of the opinions of those from whom he differed. He was never narrow in his views, and his mind was ever open to the arguments of his opponents. He was never a strictly party man. He believed fully in the necessity of united action by those of the same general political beliefs, but reserved the right of individual judgment upon all measures proposed. He never fully consented to all the policies of his own party. All measures were subjected to the crucible of his "unclouded reason." He had great moral as well as physical courage. He felt a personal responsibility in the performance of his public duties, and did right as his reason pointed out the right, without inquiring whether his course would be popular or how it would affect his political future.

In private life Mr. Stone was beloved and respected by all who knew him. With a mind eminently practical, and stored with knowledge derived from books and from his large and varied experiences, he was most interesting and instructive in conversation and in discussions in literary societies. He was true and unswerving in his friendships, and most happy in the delights of his family circle. He left to his friends and this community a priceless legacy in the example of an honorable and useful life.

Such a life as Mr. Stone's is a contribution to the great tide of human advancement through influences which cannot be weighed, or measured by time.

Letter from Eben F. Stone to Samuel Downer accepting his invitation to the reunion

The Berry's of Andover Andover Townsman Historical Series

Looking into the Berry family in Andover I found some interesting info in Dr. Daniel Berry and his wife Susan Farnham Berry. Here is a little earler background from Andover history.
Berry Pond Andover MA 

The "Berry House"; the Blunt tavern in the time of the Revolution; afterwards owned by Ezra Holt Captain Isaac Blunt brought home the elm tree when a sapling and set it out here about 1790. (Miss Dora S. Berry's, Salem Street.) From

Title: Blunt Tavern in the 1890's

Publisher: Phillips Academy

Date: 1890

Description: Berry House was the final name for what had been Blunt Tavern, built sometime before 1765 by Captain Isaac Blunt. Blunt had a son who was one of the first thirteen students at Phillips Academy in 1778. Three generations of Blunts lived in the house until it was sold to Mr. Holt who in turn quickly sold it to the Berry family. This date also places the Tavern/Inn in the Berry Family hands. Green was the color of the day as well in the 1930's as it is today. When the house came down the floor boards were reused in another house.

Subject: Phillips Academy -- Buildings

Collection : History of the Academy

Tags : Berry House, Blunt Tavern, Phillips Academy

Citation : "Blunt Tavern in the 1890's," in NOBLE Digital Heritage, Item #16259, http://heritage.noblenet.org/items/show/16259 (accessed July 25, 2014).

 

Dr Daniel Berry b. 7 Feb 1777 in Andover, MA d. July 1851 in St. Louis. His wife, Susan Farnham Berry b. 1784 in Andover d. July 1851 in St. Louis. Dr Berry graduated Harvard 1806
Listings of Berry Graves Andover MA 

From History of Nashville, Tenn

Nashville Female Academy was chartered in 1817, Dr. Daniel Berry serving as principal. August 4, 1817, the Nashville Female Academy was opened, with Dr. Daniel Berry and wife, of Massachusetts, as principals. A charter was granted by the legislature on the 3d of the following October. The charter appointed a board of seven trustees—Robert White, Robert Searcy, Felix Grundy, John L. Erwin, John Baird, Joseph T. Elliston, and James Trimble— who were to act until the first Monday in January, when they were to give way to a new board of seven trustees chosen by the stockholders of the academy. Thereafter once a year a new board appointed in the same way was to supplant the old one. Dr. Berry and his wife severed their connection with the academy in July, 1819, and were succeeded by Rev. William Hume. The Nashville Female Academy was one of the first institutions of its kind in the United States. A number of gentlemen associated themselves together for the purpose of its establishment early in 1816. 

For the use of the proposed academy, these gentlemen, on the 4th of July, 1816, purchased three acres of land of David McGavock, the land lying on the south side of the town, and costing $1,500. Contracts were entered into for building part of the academy house, which was ready for occupancy in July, 1817. On the 2d of this month the trustees of the academy announced that they had at length succeeded in securing suitable teachers for this school, from which so much was expected (and from which so much was realized). The teachers selected were Dr. Daniel Berry and his wife, of Salem, Mass., who were recommended by some of the leading citizens of that State as possessing superior qualifications. Dr. Berry and lady, the trustees said, had arrived, and their bearing and manner had very highly and favorably impressed the trustees, who were happy to add their approbation to that of the citizens of Massachusetts.

The second session of this academy commenced February 2, 1818, under the direction of Dr. Berry and his wife. Mr. Leroy was professor of music, and was assisted by his wife and her sister. There were in attendance at that term one hundred and eighty students. Miss Gardette, of Philadelphia, and Miss Payson, of Portsmouth, N. H., were engaged as " auxiliary tutoresses," in May, 1818. The semi-annual examination of this school, July 13 and 14, 1818, was attended by a large number of citizens, including the trustees.

The third session of this school commenced August 12, 1818, and closed December 19 following, and was still under the care and supervision of Dr. Berry and his wife. The number of students was one hundred and eighty-six. On Monday, January 4, 1819, Robert Whyte, Felix Grundy, James Trimble, John P. Erwin, Joseph T. Elliston, William Hume, and Oliver B. Hayes were elected trustees. Robert Whyte was again elected President; John P. Erwin, Secretary; and Joseph T. Elliston, Treasurer. The fourth session commenced January 17, 1819, and closed June 25, Dr. Berry and wife still in charge, assisted by Miss

Payson, Miss Carl, Miss Owen, and Mrs. Jane Maney. The number of students received was two hundred and eighteen.

In July, 1819, Dr. Berry and wife retired from connection with the academy, and on the 23d of August John P. Erwin resigned his position as trustee, and was followed by Thomas Claiborne. Mr. Claiborne was appointed Secretary. On the 2d of December, 1819, James Trimble resigned, and John P. Erwin was elected a trustee in his stead. Felix Grundy resigned, and Thomas Crutcher was elected a trustee in his stead. Thomas Claiborne resigned, and Alfred Balch was elected a trustee in his stead. John P. Erwin was elected Secretary. The fifth session commenced July 19, 1819, and closed on the 23d of December. Rev. William Hume was principal as the successor of Dr. Berry, and was assisted by Miss Payson, Miss Carl, Miss Childs, Miss Stearns, Miss Owen, and Mrs. Maney. The number of students received that term was one hundred and thirty-seven.

More @ Tennessee Historical Quarterly
Tennessee Historical Quarterly, Volumes 19-20
Higher Ed in Tenn

[St. Louis; Dr. Daniel Berry; Completed; Beyond; Live]

Date: Thursday, August 7, 1851
Paper: Salem Register (Salem, MA) 

article no. 125 published July 29, 1904 Andover Historical Society

The earliest records spell the name Berry and Barry, but always Berry by those who knew how to spell, and it was perhaps pronounced variously. The ancestor of (1) Thaddeus Berry of Lynn, Rumney Marsh (Chelsea) and Boston. His estate was divided between the children in 1718, record in Boston. The eldest son, John, of Wenham (near Danvers line) looked after mother Hannah, and had brothers (2) Samuel, Thomas and Daniel, sisters Elizabeth, wife of Joseph Townsend, Hannah, wife of Edmond Needham, Sarah, wife of Thomas Stockton, Rebecca, wife of William Bassett, and Abigail, of John Bassett, Jerusha of Ebenezer Merriam, while the inevitable spinster of the family, (2) Mehitabel, closed the list in 1720.

   We must follow the fortunes of (2) John in a limited paper like this. His mother was Hannah Farrar, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth of Lynn. Bodge gives the record of Thaddeus in "King Philip's War", 1676, in Col. John Whipple's Company, that was credited to Lynn, and as a soldier grantee in the award to Narragansett fight men, his claims lay in Buxton, Maine, in 1735, and were taken by John Mitchell and Mary Mitchell and Ambrose Berry, whose connection with Thaddeus, whether of blood of "commercial" I have not traced.
  
The wife of (2) John Berry, of Wenham, was Rachel, whose family has not yet been stumbled upon. He moved into Danvers about 1709, when he appears upon the minister's tax, and in some depositions of 1719 said he was of Wenham 26 years before. In 1722 he had returned to Wenham, apparently buying a large estate for 540L in Salem of Edward Fuller, the village blacksmith, near the Boxford line. This estate was a little later set off to the present town of Middleton, where, in 1727, he divided 60L in value of Fuller land to four sons (said land lying near their own) - (3) Samuel, (3) Ebenezer, (3) Ben. The land at Chelsea had been sold by father (2) John to his brother (2) Thomas as most of the second generation remained in the vicinity of Boston, while the line of (2) John built the town of Middleton.

   There were other prominent Berrys in the colony, besides the line of Thaddeus. Newbury and other towns had lines which will probably be taken up in July issue of the Essex Antiquarian. Mariners and traders abound, but Thaddeus and his descent were plain farmers for years, till intermarriage changed the bent. Some of the Berrys elsewhere were prominent as physicians. Barnstable County had many early like Richard, Edmond and Anthony, and the connection between these emigrants may be placed sometime by research abroad. Capt. Thomas Berry, of Boston, who died on the voyage from Jamaica in 1685, buried at sea, left an only son who was a Harvard graduate, married the president's daughter, and left a son, Col. Tom, a physician of note, ancestor of the late Henry Dutch Lord, a genealogist, who did very good work on Berry lines.

   (3) Joseph Berry, whose first wife Sarah, has escaped us, was the first to enter Andover records. Rebecca, daughter of Thomas Farnum and Hannah Hutchinson, married Obadiah Holt in 1726, and in 1739 he died up on the Kennebec in camp, perhaps on a prospecting or trading trip. Whether his family had ever lived there, or whether Joseph Berry was a companion, I did not discover, but in 1742, Joseph, having lost Sarah, annexed the widow Rebecca Holt and her Holt tribe to his band of Berrys and they raised one half brother (4) John Berry, born 1743, who married Eunice Howe and lived around Boxford way in 1773. This record in Andover is somewhat broken. Joseph, born 1726, (4) Sarah 1727, (4) Hannah wife of Andrew Foster, Jr., of Andover, in 1753, (4) Abigail 1733, (4) Bartholomew Nov. 3, 1734, wife Elizabeth Hayward of Reading about 1757, (4) Mary 1737, children of Sarah are all I could recover of this family. The record of (3) Ben, the other Andover ancestor, is more obscure, and I am hoping the Antiquarian may give us family records to piece out.

   Born 1709, (3) Ben married Priscilla Smith in 1736, and was then called a resident of Andover. From my own search, and notes from the Stiles' sketch of Middleton in the Essex County Standard History, I conclude he was the Ben who bought the old Samuel Farnum estate of the Andover line, near his land in Middleton. His eldest son, (4) Ben, was recorded in Middleton in 1739, married very young and seems to be in Andover with wives Mary and Phebe all before 1776. (4) Sarah, born 1758, after a long gap filled up by a son recorded without name in Andover in 1743, and (4) John both 1756, baptized in our North church, and later with a wife, Polly annexed still to be explored, are all I could find by the wife Priscilla Smith.  

In 1775 he was Capt. Ben, and married in Andover, widow Ruth Estes, whose maiden name I have not got, and a son (4) Daniel Berry, recorded in baptisms of North church, 1777, was Dr. Daniel Berry of Salem, who married Susanna Farnum, of Andover, in 1809, and a son, (4) Ebenezer, still younger, and called a minor in the probate notices of (3) Ben in 1789, was father of (5) Ebenezer Gardiner Berry of Danvers, who married Elizabeth Abbott of Andover, and the children are well known here through the relatives, Asa and Sylvester Abbott, at whose home Elizabeth was "raised". The only surviving daughter, (6) Emily Gardiner Berry, widow of John Sylvester Learoyd, spends her summers with us, and one son, (7) Charles, is a prominent young physician of Taunton. This family will probably be fully given in the Berry genealogy. 

The old and famous Berry tavern of Danvers Square was started by the (4) Ebenezer of Andover, who, according to Stiles, owned a farm where he was born, last house on North Andover line of Middleton, on the North Road, a cellar hole visible in 1880 - near railroad. This was the Farnum estate, bought by (3) Capt. Ben on a mortgage. (4) Ebenezer left this farm and was owner of the Danvers tavern. (5) Ebenezer at the age of 80 told this to Mr. Stiles, who sent it to the Townsman in Mr. Carpenter's day, when we had a regular weekly historical column. A second sketch will give the lines to date.

The People of the Eye: Deaf Ethnicity and Ancestry By Harlan Lane, Richard C. Pillard, Ulf Hedberg 

Vital Records of Andover, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849

May Eliza Wright Sewall

Mary Wright Sewall was born in Wisconsin in May 27 1844 (She later changed her name to May). May died July 23, 1920, Indianapolis, Indiana. See Mary Wright Materials
 Mary Eliza Wright was born on May 27,1844 in Greenfield, Wisconsin, the daughter of Philander W. Wright and Mary W. Wright. She earned a bachelor's degree in 1866, and a master's degree in 1868, from North Western Female College. She married Edwin W. Thompson in 1872 and moved with him to Indianapolis, Indiana where he died in 1875. She became interested in women's suffrage, attending a national conference in 1878. She married Theodore Lovett Sewall in 1880 and became involved in the Boys' Classical School he founded and then in the Girls' Classical School which they jointly founded. She was elected president of the National Congress of Women in 1891 and the International Congress of Women in 1899. She was a member of Henry Ford's Peace Expedition in 1915, and she was a proponent for peace for many years. She sold the Girls' Classical School in 1907, having headed it after her husband's death in 1895. She made a living as a lecturer and author. She died July 23, 1920 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Sewall, May Wright. Indiana Historical Society.
"Sewall, May Wright". Pictorial and biographical memoirs of Indianapolis and Marion County, (p.322-325). (1893), Goodspeed Brothers, Chicago, IL    See also Sewall-Belmont House
From Pictorial and biographical memoirs of Indianapolis and Marion County 

mrs. May Wright Sewall, the chairman of the committee on a World's Congress of Representative Women, convened under the auspices of the World's Congress Auxiliary of the World's Colombian Exposition, is a native of Wisconsin; her parents, however, were both from old New England families. After graduating from the Northwestern University at Evanston, I1l., Mrs. Sewall taught public schools in Michigan and was soon made the principal of the high school. She became, later, the principal of the high school in Franklin, Ind., and teacher of English and German in the high school of Indianapolis. From this position she resigned in 1880, upon her marriage with Mr. Theodore L. Sewall, principal of a private school for boys in that city.
In 1882 Mr. and Mrs. Sewall opened a private school for girls, known as the Girls' Classical School, which was immediately successful and has become widely known. Mrs. Sewall's profession is thus that of a teacher, her specialty being English literature; her school duties occupy the first and highest place in her attention and demand and receive a large share of her time. From her infancy Mrs. Sewall was trained to a strong belief in the right of women to wider opportunities for education and to a fuller share in the honors and the profits of business, professional and industrial activity than they have hitherto enjoyed. Her energies were enlisted in these reforms soon after reaching womanhood and for twenty years she has been a strong ally of every cause that promoted the advancement of women. She was first actively connected with National Woman Suffrage Association, in which her power was immediately recognized and in which she held for many years the arduous and responsible office of chairman of the executive committee. She was one of the promoters of the International Council of Women, which convened in Washington in 1888, and conceived the idea of perpetuating its influence through permanent international and national councils of women. In the organization of both of these bodies she subsequently aided. Mrs. Sewall was one of the committee that formulated the plan for the general federation of women's clubs. She is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Women, an honorary member of the Union Internationale des Sciences et des Arts, of Paris; a member of the American Historical Association, of Sorosis, etc.
In her own home Mrs. Sewall has played a most active part in the work of organization for social reform and other purposes. Thus she was one of the founders of the Indianapolis Woman's Club, of the Indianapolis Art Association, of the Indianapolis Equal Suffrage Society, of the Indiana State Suffrage Society, of the Indianapolis Ramabai Circle, of the Indiana branch of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae, of the university extension work in Indianapolis under the auspices of this latter society, of the Indianapolis Local Council of Women; of the Indianapolis Woman's Exchange, and of the Indianapolis Contemporary Club. She also originated the plan of the Indianapolis Propyheum, an incorporated joint stock company of women, which has erected a handsome building for social and educational purposes.
Mrs. Sewall was appointed by Gov. Hovey a member at large of the Board of World's Fair Managers for Indiana, and is chairman of the committee on women's work and a member of the committee on education in that body. Being president of the National Council of Women and acquainted with many of the leading women of Europe from several summers spent in England, France, Germany and Italy, Mrs. Sewall was made the chairman of the committee on a World's Congress of Representative Women, to the success of which she has devoted her energies and her time for the past twelve mouths, spending the summer in Europe for the purpose of explaining to foreign women its importance and its scope. In Berlin Mrs. Sewall held many conferences with small groups of prominent women, and later visited Homlmrg by appointment with the Empress Frederick, who granted her an hour's interview and who was deeply interested in the work as outlined by Mrs. Sewall. In Brussels Mrs. Sewall addressed the Woman's League of Belgium and in Paris she gave an address in the Mairie St. Snlpice before a large company of leading men and women. This address was widely noticed in the press of Russia. France, England and Italy, and the leading facts of the congress were thus widely disseminated. Mrs. Sewall devoted two weeks in Paris to conferences with individuals and organizations in the interest of the congress.

See Power of the People by Skip Berry
Mrs. Sewall's public work is thus, it will be seen, devoted to the furtherance of organization among women. She has always labored with a broad view, careless of the letter if the spirit can be secured. Her work is all done above the plane of personalities and she cares little for the honors that it brings her in comparison with the good of the cause. She has worked steadily for harmony and consolidation among conflicting interests, with an eye single to the permanent good. She labored earnestly and successfully, with others, to accomplish the union of the American and the National Suffrage Associations and of the eastern and the western branches of the Association of Collegiate Alumnse. She is widely known as a warm friend, a generous and fair opponent, sympathetic with all workers for the good of humanity and especially of women. Mrs. Sewall has many lectures on social, educational and reform topics and her services as a lecturer are widely sought for. She is perhaps at her best as an extemporaneous speaker, her style being clear, cogent and eloquent, with full command of her subject. As a presiding officer she is uniformly successful, being dignified, clear-headed, impartial and quick to seize a point.

Mrs. Sewall is also a prolific writer, but her work is not of a character to be easily cataloged, consisting chiefly of newspaper editorials and correspondence, constitutions, programs, reports and addresses on educational, reform and social subjects. To the various activities outlines above Mrs. Sewall adds those of a housekeeper who oversees all the affairs of her household in minute detail. She is widely known as an entertainer and plays her full part in the social and even the fashionable life of Indianapolis, her Wednesday afternoon receptions being a feature of the intellectual and social life of the city. Among prominent western women of to-day few, if any, take a higher rank than Mrs. May Wright Sewall, of Indianapolis, Ind. She has gained this prominence, and national recognition as well, through her remarkable and rare executive ability. So sure footed is she in all of her efforts that her name in connection with any undertaking is regarded almost as a talisman of success. She is one of those in whom action becomes unconsciously a synonym of leadership, and by instinct and by choice her attention has been turned largely to public matters, in which the interests of numbers are involved. This has made her a market! figure in nearly all public movements in her home city, in her State and in the nation. Yet the time she gives to those things is what for another woman would be her leisure hours. The usual working hours of each day she devotes conscientiously to her model school for girls.

 

Memorial Banner ”In Memory of May Wright Sewall” hot pink cotton twill face, with yellow painted lettering with four hanging loops across top edge, cream colored cotton twill backing. Machine stitched. Canvas interfacing.

Mrs. Sewall is by birth and by her most noticeable characteristics and special sympathies a western woman. She was born in Milwaukee, Wis., then a frontier settlement, whence her parents had come from New England. She received her early education in the district schools; later she spent two years in a private academy. She was afterward for a time under the care of private tutors, who prepared her to enter, at an early age, the Northwestern University of Evanston, where she was graduated with the degree A. B. in 1867. The degree A. M. was conferred upon her three years later. She served her apprenticeship as an educator by taking private pupils and by teaching in different graded schools of Michigan. She was soon called to more advanced work and filled with success the position of principal successively in the high schools of Plainwell, Mich., and Franklin, Ind.
In 1874 she became instructor in German in the high school at Indianapolis. In 1880 she became the wife of Theodore L. Sewall, a prominent educator of Indianapolis, and for several years gave her chief attention to home and social duties. Domestic duties were then a comparatively unknown field to Mrs. Sewall, but with her characteristic energy and determination to master whatever work might be set before her she fitted herself for a model housekeeper by doing all of her own work until she had learned thoroughly all branches of housekeeping. As a result of this training her domestic affairs, to which she still gives her personal supervision, run like clock-work and her servants are examples of faithfulness and efficiency.
In 1883 Mr. and Mrs. Sewall opened the Classical School for Girls in Indianapolis. To this school Mrs. Sewall gives her life work and the fairest fruit of her genins. In its brief existence it has become large and flourishing and the cherished plan of its principals, of making it a school complete and thorough in every department from the lowest primary to the collegiate, has been carried out. It provides everything except a college course, to which its senior class is a stepping stone. Mrs. Sewall is probably more widely connected in an active way with local and national organizations than any other woman in the country. She is interested first of all in the advancement and higher education of women. She was one of the founders and a most enthusiastic member of the Woman's Club, an influential literary club of Indianapolis.

She has been a moving spirit in the Indianapolis Ramabai Circle, in the Indianapolis Suffrage Society and in the Propylseum, an organization which deserves much more than a passing notice. It is a woman's stock company, organized in 1888, which has recently carried out its chief purpose, the erecting of a handsome club building for club meetings and public entertainments, which is not only a useful and ornamental structure but promises to be a profitable investment for the stockholders. Mrs. Sewall is and has been from its beginning the president of the organization and its success is largely due to her business tact and skillful management.
Mrs. Sewall is an enthusiastic member of the Indianapolis Art Association, which holds yearly exhibitions, and is exercising a wide influence in cultivating artistic taste. And last, but by no means least, in her connection with local affairs she was the first president of the Contemporary Club, a literary club organized a year ago, whose large membership includes both men and women prominent in her city and State. Mrs. Sewall is a warm advocate of the political rights of women, and has been for a number of years prominent in the work of the Indiana and the National Equal Suffrage Societies. She is president of the National Council of Women, vice-president of the National Federation of Woman's Clubs, and one of the vice-presidents of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae. She is a member of Sorosis, of the Association for the Advancement of Women, of the American Historical Society, and of the International Council of Women. In 1889 she was a delegate to the Woman's Congress in Paris, and made an address in French which received praise for its eloquence from M. Jules Simon and others. Mrs. Sewall has since been made au honorary member of the Union Internationale cles Sciences et des Arts, Paris.
The latest public honor done to Mrs. Sewall is her appointment by Governor Hovey to a place on the Board of Commissioners for the World's Fair. If we add that Mrs. Sewall is in frequent demand as a lecturer on literary, education and reform subjects, her almost phenomenal capacity for public work may be more fully estimated. But this is not all of her achievements. Her versatility of talent and tireless energy have enabled her to do also a great deal of literary work. Her contribution on the education of women in the Western States to the recently published "Woman's Work in America" is one of the most interesting chapters in that wholly interesting and valuable work. Mrs. Sewall is still a young and youthful looking woman. She is fond of society and of social life, and has exerted a wide and good social influence in Indianapolis. She presides over an elegant and hospitable home, where her friends are frequently entertained, and where many strangers also, men and women of note who visit Indianapolis, are made welcome. Her weekly informal Wednesday afternoon receptions are always largely attended, and have become a prominent feature in the social life of Indianapolis. Probably no woman in America so completely represents the life of modern woman with its marvelous round of occupations and duties. Mrs. Sewall is a fine embodiment of the practical ideas of the day. Her unvarying success is due largely to the system and thoroughness underlying her smallest as well as her greatest undertakings, and to the religious care she takes of her bodily health. A worker, a thinker, a writer, of virile ability,
Mrs. Sewall is withal a most womanly woman, loving pretty dresses, pictures, books, and perhaps most of all, fine china. She has a beautiful collection, gifts of friends and souvenirs, whose history she delights to relate to sympathetic listeners. A large number of contributions to the press, on varied subjects, historical, literary, reform; in particular contributions, editorial and other, to the Woman's Journal, Boston; the American Woman's Journal, New York; the Indianapolis Journal; the Woman's Tribune; Dress; Journal of Speculative Philosophy; the Woman's Magazine; the Arena; the Cycle; the Union Signal; the Indianapolis Times; the Boston Traveler; the Woman's Penny Paper (London, England).

Woman's Party Booth at San Francisco Exposition Spring 1915. L-R, Front - 1 Mrs. May Wright Sewall, 2 Mrs. Kate Waller Barrett (Alexandria, Va), Rear - 3 Miss Anita Whitney (Cal.), 4 Mrs. Mary Bear, 5 Miss Vivian Pierce, 6 Miss Margaret Whittemore 
A large number of pamphlets and monographs, principally on educational and reform topics, in particular relating to organization and work among women. Among these may be mentioned: Disinherited Childhood (published by the Moral Education Society, of Washington, D. C, 1881); Report on the Position of Women in Industry and Education in the State of Indiana (prepared for the New Orleans Exposition, at the request of the Commissioners for Indiana, 1885); Women as Educators (an address before the Association for the Advancement of Women, New York, October, 1887); The Domestic and Social Effects of the Higher Education of Women (an address read before the Western Association of Collegiate Alumnae, Ann Arbor, December, 10, 1887); Report on the Higher Education for Women in the United States (read at the session of the International Council of Women, March 2, 1888; printed in the Report of the proceedings); The Industrial Relations of Women to the State (an address prepared for the Indiana Board of Agriculture); Woman's Work in America (the chapter on the Education of Women in the West; Holt & Co., 1891); Exposition Day in the Schools (prepared at the request of the Committee on Education of the Indiana Board of World's Fair Commissioners, Indianapolis, 1891; Preliminary Address for the World's Congress of Representative Women, Chicago, 1892; Form of Constitution of Local Councils of Women, Indianapolis, 1892; Pamphlet outlining the work of the Committee on Woman's Work of the Indiana Board of World's Fair Commissioners, 1892; History of the Indianapolis Art Association (Vouge's Art Folio, March, 1892; The General Federation of Women's Clubs (in the Arena, August, 1892); Introduction to a Symposium on Woman's Dress (in the Arena, September, 1892).
See More @ The Sewall Papers
May Wright Sewall: Hoosier Victorian Women's Rights Advocate , Educator, and Advocate of the Arts

The Illustrated AmericaN Volume 13

Mrs. May Wright Sewall.

Among the features of the World's Fair celebrations will be a congress of representative women from all parts of the world. This congress will have no specific object beyond bringing together from all parts of the world individuals and organizations laboring for the same ends, or interested in any department of intellectual activity, in philanthropy, or reform.

The chairman of this committee is Mrs. May Wright Sewall, whose name is as familiar to the West as that of Mrs. Potter Palmer. Mrs. Sewall is already on the board of commissioners for the World's Fair, and deserves her place by virtue of her acquirements and her services for the benefit of the public.

Born in Milwaukee, Mrs. Sewall's chief characteristics and special sympathies are Western. She was graduated from the Northwestern University, in Illinois, and at once began her apprenticeship as an educator by teaching in the different schools in Michigan. In 1880 she becam: the wife of Theodore L. Sewall, himself a prominent educator at Indianapolis, and for several years she devoted her entire attention to her home and to society.

Mrs. Sewall is widely and actively connected with organizations throughout the country. She was one of the founders of the Woman's Club at Indianapolis and is still an enthusiastic member. In the Ramabai Circle and in the Indiana Suffrage Society she is a moving spirit; she has also a large interest in the Propytasum, a woman's stock company which has erected a handsome building for club meetings and public entertainments. The building has been a profitable investment, and its success is largely due to Mrs. Sewall's business tact and skillful management. She is an enthusiastic member of the Indianapolis Art Association, which holds yearly exhibitions and is exercising a wide influence in cultivating artistic taste.

Mrs. Sewall is a warm advocate of the political rights of women. She is president of the National Council of Women, vice-president of the National Federation of Woman's Clubs, and one of the vice-presidents of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae She is a member of Sorosis, of the Association for the Advancement of Women, of the American Historical Society, and of the Industrial Council of Women.

In 1889 Mrs. Sewall was a delegate to the Woman's Congress in Paris, and made an address in French which received unstinted praise for its eloquence from M. Jules Simon. At that time she was made an honorary member of the " Union Internationale des Sciences et des Arts," of Paris. A Progressive Woman. Mrs. May Wright Sewall a Leader in the National Council of Women Date: Thursday, September 27, 1894 Paper: Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, NJ) Page: 8

See The Propylaeum Historic Foundation, Inc
From Pictorial and biographical memoirs of Indianapolis and Marion County 
Theodore Lovett Sewall was born in Germantown, Ohio, September 20, 1853. His mother, Louise K. Lovett, belongs to the old and substantial Lovett family, of Beverly, Mass. His father, Edmund Quincy Sewall, Jr., belongs to a family that has been distinguished in Massachusetts annals for two centuries and a half, including in its direct line, Chief Justice Samuel Sewell, the Diarist (died 1730), Rev. Joseph Sewall of the Old South Church, Boston (died 1796), and a second Chief Justice Samuel Sewall (died 1814). The family is of English stock.

Mr. Sewall received his early education in a private school at Wilmington, Del. He entered Harvard College in 1870, and graduated in 1874, being the seventh Sewell in a direct line to receive his education and his degree from this institution. Mr. Sewall remained in Cambridge two years longer taking the course in the Harvard Law School, receiving the degree of LL. B. in 1876. Spending the summer of 1876 in Indianapolis, Ind., he was invited by prominent citizens of that place to open a preparatory school for boys, which he did in September, 1876, naming it the Indianapolis Classical School. In 1880 Mr. Sewall married May Wright Thompson, a lady descended from the Wright and , Brackett families of New England, and who is well known for ability in educational and reform movements, especially, such as affect women (see May Wright Sewall). In 1882 Mr. and Mrs. Sewall opened a Girls' Classical School, with a course of study conforming to the Harvard requirements for admission. These schools were among the first private schools in the West, to meet fully the highest collegiate requirements for admission, including Greek and mathematics for girls; and to introduce the systematic work of the gymnasinm, under competent teachers, in connection with the other school work. A girls' boarding department was opened in 1886. Both institutions have had more than a local influence. The girls' school, especially, draws pupils from all sections of the country, and has graduates in all the prominent woman's colleges in the country. In 1889 Mr. Sewall transferred the boys' school to other hands, and Mr. and Mrs. Sewall have since then devoted their entire time to the school for girls. Mr. Sewall received the degree of A. M. from the Indiana University, in 1887. He has done considerable literary work, and has lectured frequently on social and literary subjects. For ten years he was the secretary, and, later, the president, of the Indianapolis Literary Club. Mr. and Mrs. Sewall have spent four summers traveling in Europe.

The Harvard Graduates Magazine By George P. Sanger, Sec.
940 Exchange Building, Boston. Theodore Lovett Sewall died at Indianapolis, Ind., Dec. 23 1874. He was born at Germantown, Ohio, Sept. 20, 1853. Both his mother, Louise Kilham Lovett, and his father, Edmund Quincy Sewall, Jr., were of old Massachusetts families. In the direct line are included Chief Justice Samuel Sewall, who died in 1730 ; the Rev. Joseph Sewall, of the Old South Church, Boston, who died in 1796; and the second Chief Justice Samuel Sewall, who died in 1814.
See MA History Archives
Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society

Theodore Sewall attended a private school at Wilmington, Del. He entered Harvard in 1870, and was graduated in 1874, the seventh Sewall in the direct line to receive his degree at Harvard. He remained at Harvard two years longer, attending the Law School, and received, in 1876, the degree of LL. B. While visiting Indianapolis in 1876, he was invited to open a preparatory school for boys, and in the fall of that year he started the Indianapolis Classical School. In 1880 he married May Wright Thompson. Two years later Mr. and Mrs. Sewall opened the Girls' Classical School, with a course adapted to the Harvard requirements for admission. Both the boys' and girls' schools were conducted by the Sewalls until 1889, when the boys' school was transferred to another management, and the attention of the Sewalls was turned to the girls' school exclusively. Mr. Sewall was interested in literary work. He was for ten years secretary, and for one term president of the Indianapolis Literary Club. For four years he was secretary of the Contemporary Club, which was organized under his direction at his house. He was also a member of the Art Association. In religious belief be was a Unitarian; in politics, an Independent.