William Smith, of Weymouth, Ms., July 17, 1769; and was baptized by him
the Sabbath following, as appears by the church records.[31] He had
no brother, but two sisters, and these were older than himself. The
elder sister, Elizabeth, married the Rev. Jacob Norton, who succeeded
Mr. Smith in the pastoral office. The other sister married Mr. John
Greenleaf, who resides at Quincy, Ms. Mrs. Greenleaf died Feb. 18, 1846.
His father, Richard Cranch, was born in Kingsbridge, near Exeter in
Devonshire, England, in November, 1726, and was the son of John, the
son of Andrew, the son of Richard, all of Devonshire. He was one of
six sons, and was bound as an apprentice to a maker of wool-cards;
but, at the age of 20, purchased the remainder of his time, and came
to this country in 1746, with General Joseph Palmer, who had married
his sister. Being fond of books, he became a learned man, received
an honorary degree of M. A. from Harvard University, was elected a
member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, sustained several
important public offices, and was for many years a member of the
Legislature and a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He died in 1811,
in his 85th year.
His mother was Mary, the eldest daughter of the Rev. William Smith of
Weymouth, and granddaughter of Col. John Quincy of Mount Wollaston, in
that part of Braintree since incorporated by the name of Quincy, in
honor of his memory. There is now no lineal descendant from him of the
name of Quincy. The next daughter of Mr. Smith was Abigail, who became
the wife of the late President John Adams; and the other daughter was
Elizabeth, who married the Rev. John Shaw of Haverhill, Ms., and after
his death, the Rev. Stephen Peabody of Atkinson, N. H. She died April
9, 1815, aged 65. She had three children by her first husband, William
Smith, Elizabeth Quincy, and Abigail Adams. The son was the principal
founder of the Boston Athenæum. He was born Aug. 12, 1778, graduated
H. C. 1798, and died 1826. The first daughter was born May 26, 1780,
and died Sept. 4, 1798, aged 18. The last daughter is the wife of Rev.
Joseph B. Felt of this city.
The great-grandmother of the subject of this sketch, the wife of Col.
John Quincy, who died July 13, 1767, was Mary Norton, the daughter of
the Rev. John Norton of Hingham, whose genealogy is distinctly traced
back to the time of William the Conqueror.
We cannot trace the ancestors of Judge Cranch's father back further
than his grandfather's grandfather. They all appear to have been
Dissenters, firm republicans, and honest men, but in humble life.
His grandfather, John Cranch, was a farmer and a freeholder; the
others seem to have been manufacturers of woollens. John Cranch, the
naturalist, who was, at the recommendation of Sir Joseph Banks, sent
out in the expedition to Egypt, where he died, was his second cousin.
His father's mother was Elizabeth Pearse, daughter of Christopher
Pearse and Margery Triste.
In April, 1775, his father removed from Boston to that part of
Braintree now called Quincy, where he resided until his death. He died
on the 16th, and his wife on the 17th, of October, 1811, and both
were buried on the same day, the 19th. A sermon was delivered on the
occasion by the Rev. Peter Whitney, which was printed.
Judge Cranch prepared for college under the instruction of his uncle,
the Rev. John Shaw of Haverhill, and entered the Freshman class, six
months in advance, in February, 1784. Having graduated at Harvard
College, he, July, 1787, entered the office of Judge Dawes of Boston,
who was then a practitioner in the courts of Massachusetts, where he
read law three years, and in July, 1790, was admitted to practice
in the Court of Common Pleas. He opened an office in Braintree, now
Quincy, but at the close of the first year, upon the death of his
relative, John Thaxter, Esq., who had been in the practice of the law
at Haverhill, Ms., he was induced by his friends to remove to that
place, and take his office, and complete his unfinished business;
which, with the confidence reposed in him by the Hon. Nathaniel Peaslee
Sergeant, then one of the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court of
Massachusetts, who appointed him sole executor of his will, introduced
him into practice, and enabled him to support himself and pay all
demands held against him. For three years, he attended the courts in
Essex county in Massachusetts and Rockingham county in New Hampshire,
and was admitted to practice in the Supreme Judicial Court in July,
1793.
In September, 1794, he was employed to superintend the affairs of
Morris, Nicholson, and Greenleaf, under their great contracts in the
City of Washington, to which place he removed in October of that year,
and has continued to reside in that place until the present time.
In April, 1795, he was connected in marriage with Nancy Greenleaf,
daughter of the late William Greenleaf of Boston, and moved his wife to
Washington, in May.
They have been the parents of 13 children, 3 of whom died in infancy.
The names of the other ten were 1. William Greenleaf; 2. Richard;
3. Ann Allen; 4. Mary; 5. Elizabeth Eliot; 6. John; 7. Edward Pope;
8. Christopher Pearse; 9. Abby Adams; 10. Margaret Dawes. Richard
was drowned in Lake Erie, while in the discharge of his duty as an
assistant-engineer, surveying the harbor, in his 29th year, unmarried.
Ann Allen died in April, 1821, of consumption, aged 22, also unmarried.
Mary married Richard Cranch Norton, and died when her first child was
one week old, in July, 1821, aged 20. Her husband died in October of
the same year.
The other 7 children are still living. Elizabeth married Rufus Dawes,
a son of the late Judge Dawes of Boston. Abby Adams married the Rev.
William G. Eliot of St. Louis, Missouri, where they reside and have a
number of children. William has been a clerk in the Patent Office. He
was two years at Harvard University; but his delicate health and feeble
constitution obliged him to leave his studies in his Junior year. The
other sons were educated at the Columbian College in the District of
Columbia. John spent three or four years in Italy, in drawing and
painting, to perfect his knowledge of these branches, and now resides
in Boston, where he pursues the employment of drawing and painting.
Edward Pope is settled in Cincinnati as a lawyer. Christopher Pearse
has been a preacher of the Gospel, but has lately turned his attention
to portrait painting, and is now in Italy. Mrs. Cranch deceased Sept.
17, 1843.
In the year 1800, Judge Cranch was appointed one of the Commissioners
of the City of Washington, which office he resigned in 1801, when he
was, by President Adams, appointed the junior assistant Judge of the
Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, under the act of Congress
of Feb. 27, 1801; the late Governor Thomas Johnson of Maryland, who
had been one of the Commissioners of the City of Washington, having
been appointed Chief Judge; and Mr. James Marshall, brother of the late
Chief Justice Marshall, having been appointed elder assistant Judge.
Gov. Johnson refused to accept the office; and Mr. Jefferson appointed
William Kitty, Esq., Chief Judge. Mr. Marshall resigned in 1803, and
Nicholas Fitzhugh, Esq., of Virginia, was appointed in his place.
In 1805, Mr. Kitty having been appointed Chancellor of Maryland, Judge
Cranch was appointed by Mr. Jefferson to the office of Chief Justice,
which office he now holds; and by virtue of that office is sole Judge
of the _District_ Court of the United States, for the District of
Columbia, which has the same jurisdiction as the other District Courts
of the United States have.
He has published nine volumes of Reports of cases in the Supreme Court
of the United States, a Memoir of the life, character, and writings of
President John Adams, (70 pages,) read before the Columbian Institute,
March 16, 1827, and an Address upon the subject of Temperance, in 1831,
a small pamphlet.
Judge Cranch is a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,
and of the American Antiquarian Society. He has received also the
degree of Doctor of Laws from Harvard College.
PROFESSOR EBENEZER ADAMS OF HANOVER, N. H.
PROFESSOR ADAMS was the son of Ephraim Adams of New Ipswich, N. H.,
who was a highly respectable man, having been a magistrate, an officer
in the church, and a representative of the town. He was born in that
place, Oct. 2, 1765. The father was a native of Ipswich, Ms., born in
that part of the town which is now Hamilton. He was brought up on the
farm which was first occupied by his ancestor, one of the eight sons
of Henry Adams, who came to this country from Devonshire, England, and
settled in that part of Braintree now called Quincy, about the year
1630. The father of Dea. Adams, whose baptismal name was Thomas, was
either the grandson or great-grandson of this ancestor. The first wife
of Dea. Adams was Rebecca, daughter of James Locke, who was a native of
Woburn, Ms., and died in Ashby, Ms. The name of his second wife is not
known. The children of Dea. Adams were fifteen in number.
The subject of this sketch fitted for college at the Academy in New
Ipswich, under the care of Hon. John Hubbard, who was afterwards
Professor in Dartmouth College. Having graduated at that institution
in 1791, with high reputation as a scholar, especially in mathematics
and philosophy, he went immediately into the Academy at Leicester, Ms.,
where he spent fifteen years, fourteen of which he was the Principal.
In 1806, he took charge of the Academy at Portland, Me., which he
left after a year and a half, having accepted the Professorship of
Mathematics in Phillips Academy, Exeter. In 1809 he was appointed
Professor of the Languages in Dartmouth College, and in 1810, upon
the death of Professor Hubbard, he was transferred to the department
of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, and continued in that office
until 1833--twenty-three years--when he was induced by advancing age
and infirmities to resign all active and responsible service in the
College; his connection with it since being simply that of Professor
Emeritus, which continued until his death.
Professor Adams possessed great constitutional energies, both physical
and mental. These he carried into active life. As an instructor he was
able and accurate. No one surpassed him in faithfulness, and hence it
was proverbial that he made thorough scholars. In the Languages he was
good, but in Mathematics and Philosophy he excelled as a teacher.
As would naturally be expected, he took a lively interest in all
efforts made to promote the cause of literature, the sciences, and the
arts, and was connected with several literary associations. He was an
original Member of the Northern Academy of Arts and Sciences, and took
an active part at the time of its formation, as presiding officer. He
was also a Member of the New Hampshire Historical Society, the American
Antiquarian Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the
Maryland Academy of Sciences and Literature, and the Royal Society of
Northern Antiquaries, Copenhagen. He was a Trustee of Kimball Union
Academy in Plainfield, and sustained the office of President of the
Board of Trustees twenty years, and, for about as long a time, he was
President of the New Hampshire Bible Society.
Professor Adams was twice married. His first wife was Alice Frink,
daughter of Dr. John Frink, a distinguished physician of Rutland, Ms.,
by whom he had five children, Alice A., Adeline A., John, Charles
A. and Harriet R., of whom John only is now living. He graduated at
Dartmouth College in 1817, and is now a practising attorney in Mobile,
Ala. His second wife was Beulah Minot, daughter of Dr. Timothy Minot
of Concord, Ms. By her he had two children, Eliza M. and Ebenezer. The
daughter is now the wife of Prof. Ira Young. Ebenezer was graduated at
Dartmouth College in 1831, and died in July, 1837. Of seven children,
therefore, two only survive. The last Mrs. Adams still lives, and
resides with her daughter, Mrs. Young.
Professor Adams "was one of the few remaining old school citizens
and scholars of New England, and was hardly surpassed by any of that
venerable class of men in intelligence, patriotism, and Christian
virtue." He possessed a well balanced mind, "was judicious,
magnanimous, and firm." He died calm and happy in the triumphs
of religion, August 15, 1841, in the 76th year of his age, from
ossification of the heart.
HON. JAMES SAVAGE OF BOSTON.
The subject of this sketch was born July 11, 1784, in Boston, where his
progenitors since 1635 have always lived. His father was Habijah, and
his mother, Elizabeth, daughter of John Tudor. Of eight children, five
sons and three daughters, born before him, two sons died in infancy;
the rest attained full age, as did also two sons younger than himself.
His mother died before he arrived at his fourth year of age; and his
father, by reason of ill health, was unable to take charge of him in
his early education. The Rev. Dr. Thacher preached on the occasion
of his mother's death from Psalms xxvii: 10--"_When my father and my
mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up._"
The father of Mr. Savage was son of Thomas, by his first wife, Deborah
Briggs, who was, it is believed, a granddaughter of John Cushing, one
of the Judges of the Superior Court of the Province of Massachusetts
Bay. John, his father's elder brother, was father of Thomas of York,
Me., from whom descended the Savages in Bangor. His grandfather's
second wife was Sarah Cheever, who survived him nearly fifty-one years.
One of their children was the late Ezekiel Savage, Esq., of Salem, H.
C. 1778, father of Rev. Thomas Savage of Bedford, N. H., H. C. 1813,
and several other children, of whom one, Sarah, distinguished herself
by the composition of some interesting books.
Habijah, father of Mr. Savage's grandfather Thomas, was educated at
Harvard College, where he received his first degree, in 1695. He
married Hannah, who had been a short time widow of ---- Anderson. She
was a daughter of Samuel Phillips, distinguished among booksellers in
Boston one hundred and fifty years ago, as John Dunton mentions in the
entertaining account of his visit to our country, published in his
"Life and Errors." Arthur, a younger brother of his great-grandfather,
married another daughter of Mr. Phillips, and one of their children was
Samuel Phillips Savage, father of the late Samuel Savage, H. C. 1766,
of Barnstable.
Thomas, father of the last named Habijah, born 1640, was second child
of Thomas, who emigrated from England. His mother was Faith, daughter
of William and the celebrated Ann Hutchinson, who was a _speaking_
if not a _ruling_ elder in the First Church in Boston. He married
Elizabeth, daughter of Joshua Scottow, author of two curious tracts in
the latter part of the 17th century. With two of his brothers, Ephraim,
H. C. 1662, and Perez, he served at various times and places in King
Philip's war, in the early part of which, their father was in the chief
command of the forces of the Colony of Massachusetts. Ephraim gained
some reputation in command of one of the vessels of the fleet, in the
daring but disastrous expedition from Boston against Quebec, by Sir
William Phips, in 1690, and Thomas was at the head of one of the three
regiments engaged in it, and wrote a brief and modest account of the
service, published the following year at London. He died July 2, 1705.
Mr. Savage's great-great-great-grandfather, Thomas, was a man of high
public spirit. Disgusted with the treatment of the majority towards
Wheelwright and other friends of Sir Henry Vane, whom he had perhaps
accompanied from England, he, with Gov. Coddington and others, removed
in 1638, and purchased Rhode Island. He soon returned, however, to
Boston, recovered his former standing with early friends, and was
often one of the representatives of the town, and, in the trying times
of 1665, was respected for his moderation. He was one of those who
undertook, in 1673, to erect a barricade in the harbor, for security
against a fleet then expected from Holland. Out of this barricade grew,
in less than forty years, the Long Wharf, a small portion of which has
continued ever since the property of some members of the family. He was
Speaker of the Deputies in 1659, and again after an interval of eleven
years, and in 1680 was chosen by the colony one of the Assistants, in
which station he died, Feb. 14, 1682, aged 75. A funeral sermon on that
event is among the printed works of Rev. Samuel Willard, pastor of the
_third_ church, of which Major Savage was one of the founders, at the
secession occasioned by the coming of Davenport from New Haven to the
_first_. The text was, Isaiah lvii: 1.
The eldest son of this ancestor of most who bear the name on this
side of the ocean, Habijah, H. C. 1659, died in a few years, but left
children by his wife, daughter of Edward Tyng, one of the Assistants.
A grandchild of these parents removed from Boston, early in the last
century, to Charleston, S. C., where he is commemorated by Dr. Ramsay,
in his History of the Independent Church in that city. Descendants have
been known in different parts of South Carolina and Georgia. The late
Judge Clay of the latter state, afterwards pastor of the first Baptist
Church in Boston, married one, and his son, Thomas Savage Clay, H. C.
1819, is highly respected for his Christian philanthropy.
In the catalogue of the sons of Harvard are numbered eleven lineal
descendants of the first Thomas, of whom six have been noticed. John,
1694, was son of Ephraim; Habijah, 1723, was either son or nephew
of Habijah; John, 1810, and James Rodon, 1812, were sons of William
Savage, Esq., of Jamaica, son of Samuel Phillips Savage, before
mentioned.
Of the progenitors of Mr. Savage, no means are possessed by which to
trace the line before the arrival of his ancestor in this country; but
a family tradition, committed to writing many years since, makes him to
have been a brother of Arthur, an English dean.
Mr. Savage fitted for college at Derby Academy, Hingham, under the
tuition of Abner Lincoln, and at Washington Academy, Machias, Me.,
instructed by Daniel P. Upton.
After graduating at Harvard University in 1803, he studied law under
the direction of the late Chief Justice Parker, Hon. Samuel Dexter, and
Hon. William Sullivan, and entered upon its practice January, 1807.
Mr. Savage has been Representative and Senator in General Court, a
Counsellor, and a Delegate to the Convention in 1820 for amending the
Constitution of the State. He has been also in the City government as
one of the Common Council and an Alderman, as well as one of the School
Committee.
In April, 1823, he married Elizabeth O., widow of James Otis Lincoln,
Esq., of Hingham. She was daughter of George Stillman of Machias, Me.,
an officer in the war of the Revolution. Their children are Emma,
Harriet, Lucy, and James.
At times letters have engaged the attention of Mr. Savage, but not
to withdraw him from the proper duties of his profession or the
service of the community in active life. He was during four or five
years associated with the gentlemen who edited the (Boston) Monthly
Anthology, and contributed articles for that work, as he has also for
the North American Review. At the request of the municipal authorities
of Boston, he delivered an oration, July 4, 1811. The compilation of
the Colonial and Provincial Laws of Massachusetts, published under the
title of Ancient Charters, according to direction of General Court,
by the late Hon. Nathan Dane, Judge Prescott, and Judge Story, was by
these gentlemen confided to his supervision while passing through the
press. The Index to the work was prepared by him. He superintended
an edition of Paley's Works; and the presswork of the ten volumes of
American State Papers, selected by Hon. John Q. Adams, under authority
of Congress. But Mr. Savage's greatest effort of this nature was his
edition of Gov. Winthrop's History of New England, with notes.
This is a work of much labor and value. It is understood that he has in
contemplation a new edition of Farmer's Genealogical Register of the
First Settlers of New England.
Mr. Savage was more than twenty years Secretary or Treasurer of the
first Savings Bank in Boston, and nineteen years Treasurer of the
Massachusetts Historical Society, of which he is now the President.
He is a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has
received the degree of LL. D. at Harvard College.
Forty-one years since, for the benefit of his health, he, in company
with his relative and friend, William Tudor, Jr., visited the islands
of Martinique, Dominique, St. Thomas, St. Domingo, and Jamaica. Since,
he has been to Demerara, and five years ago, he went to England, with
a view of visiting his fathers' sepulchres, and of enjoying himself in
the father-land.
HON. LEVI WOODBURY OF PORTSMOUTH, N. H.
LEVI WOODBURY was born at Francestown, N. H., Dec. 22, 1789, where his
father, the Hon. Peter Woodbury, resided. _He_ was born in Beverly,
Ms., in 1767, removed to New Hampshire with his father, and, when
he entered upon the active business of life for himself, engaged in
mercantile and agricultural pursuits, and was about fifteen years a
Representative, and two years a Senator, in the State Legislature.
He died in 1834. _He_ was son of Peter Woodbury, who was born March
28, 1738, at Beverly, and married there, and in 1773 removed to Mont
Vernon, then a part of Amherst, N. H. He spent the last twenty years
of his life at Antrim, with his youngest son, Mark Woodbury, Esq.,
where he died, March, 1819, aged 85. _His_ father was Josiah Woodbury
of Beverly, who was born June 15, 1682, and lived in the Second or
Upper Parish. The father of Josiah was Peter, who was born in 1640,
made a freeman in 1668, and elected a Representative in 1689. He filled
the office of deacon, and died July 5, 1704, aged 64. His father was
Humphrey Woodbury, who was born in 1609, came to New England with his
father, John Woodbury, in 1628, was admitted to the church in 1648, was
a member of the First Church in Beverly, at its formation, was chosen
deacon in 1668, and was living in 1681. John Woodbury, who was one of
the original settlers of Beverly, came from Somersetshire, England,
under the direction of the Dorchester company, which established itself
at Cape Ann about 1624. He came to Salem in 1626, was made a freeman
in 1630, and in 1635 was chosen a Deputy to General Court. He was an
original member of the First Church in Salem. In 1636, he received a
grant of two hundred acres of land on Bass river. He died in 1641.
Mr. Woodbury's mother was Mary Woodbury, daughter of James Woodbury,
who was born in Beverly, but removed to Mont Vernon, N. H., in 1782.
He was a subaltern in Col. Robert Rogers' regiment of Rangers, and was
near Wolfe when he fell at the storming of Quebec. The sword he used
in that service is now in the possession of a descendant. He had eight
children, all daughters, and died at Francestown, March, 1823, aged 86.
The subject of this sketch was prepared for college in part at New
Ipswich Academy, N. H., with Mr. Mulliken, but chiefly under the
instruction of Hon. John Vose, the distinguished Preceptor of Atkinson
Academy. In 1805 he entered Dartmouth College, where he remained
till 1809, when he graduated with high reputation for talents and
acquirements.