Harvard Beats Dartmouth 1901

From Boston Sunday Herald November 17, 1901

Joshua Coffin of Newbury Obit

From The Liberator July 1 1864 Please post or email for PDF/JPEG Copy of article or Coffin Line

"Olden teacher, present friend, Wise with antiquarian search, In the scrolls of State and Church; Named on history's title-page, Parish-clerk and justice sage." To My Old Schoolmaster." John Greenleaf Whitter 

Newburyport Preservation Trust

Coffin Family Papers, 1700s-1860s
Joshua Coffin Papers

Purchase Book at Sons & Daughters of Newbury 

Charles Henry Bartlett NH

From the Archives Bartlett line PDF can be emailed by request on Obituary 

Manchester Historical Collections, Volume 3
Charles Henry Bartlett was born in Sunapee, N. H., October 15, 1833. He is the fourth son of John Bartlett and Sarah J. Sanborn, and is a lineal descendant, in the eighth generation, of Richard Bartlett, who came from England to Newbury, Mass., in the ship "Mary and John," in 1634.
John Bartlett son of Solomon Bartlett was born at Deering New Hampshire He settled at Wendell now Sunapee New Hampshire He married Sarah Sanborn of Springfield New Hampshire Children born in Wendell.

Charles H  Bartlett's early life was mainly spent upon his father's farm, laboring through the summer season and attending school during the winter. He early developed a decided taste for literary pursuits, and from childhood devoted a liberal share of his leisure moments to the perusal of such books as were accessible to him. He also contributed liberally to the current literature of the day, and showed remarkable facility in both prose and poetic composition. He received his academic education at the academies at Washington and New London, after which he commenced the study of law in the office of Metcalf & Barton at Newport.

He studied subsequently with George & Foster of Concord, and with Morrison & Stanley in this city, being admitted to the bar of Hillsborough County from the office of the latter in 1858. In that year he began the practice of his profession at Wentworth and in 1863 removed to this city, where he ever afterwards resided. For two years he was law partner with the late Hon. James U. Parker, the partnership terminating with the retirement of the latter. In June, 1867, Mr. Bartlett was appointed Clerk of the United States District Court for the New Hampshire District, since which time he had not actively practiced his profession, but had devoted himself to the duties of his office, which became onerous and responsible upon the passage of the bankrupt law, about the time of his appointment. He was Clerk of the New Hampshire Senate from 1861 to 1865, Gov. Smyth's private secretary in 1865 and 1866, Treasurer of the State Industrial School in 1866 and 1867. In the same year he was unanimously chosen City Solicitor, but declined a reelection. In 1872 he was elected, as a nominee of the Republican party, Mayor of Manchester by an emphatic majority, and served till February i8, 1873, when he resigned in accordance with the policy of the National Government, which forbade United States officials to hold city or municipal offices.

His cooperation with the administration on this matter, though at a sacrifice of a conspicuous public position, was recognized by President Grant through Attorney General Williams. His last official act as Mayor was to turn over the amount of salary which would have been paid him as the city's chief executive, to the Firemen's Relief Fund, and this act of generosity at that time was illustrative of the interest which he ever felt in the Fire Department of Manchester.

Mr. Bartlett had been Trustee of the Merrimack River Savings Bank from its organization in 1874, a Trustee of the Peoples Savings Bank, and a director in the Merchants National Bank. He was Master of Washington Lodge of Masons from April, 1872, to April, 1874, and held membership to Mt. Horeb Royal Arch Chapter, Adoniram Council, and Trinity Commandery, Knights of Templar. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention and Chairman of the Commission appointed by the Governor and Council, to investigate the affairs of the Asylum for the Insane.

In 1881 Dartmouth College conferred upon him the honorary degree of Master of Arts. In 1882 he was elected to the State Senate, resigning his position as Clerk of the United States District Court. At the assembling of the Legislature he was chosen President of the Senate, an office second in rank to the Governor of the State. He had served as Trustee of the State Industrial School, having been appointed by Governor Goodell, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Clark, whom he succeeded as Clerk of the Board. He was Clerk of the Board of Cemetery Trustees from its creation. He took a deep and active interest in the work of this body. For two years he was commander of the Amoskeag Veterans, and these years were made by him two of the most prosperous and important years in the history of this famous command. He was Judge Advocate on the staff of Gov. Hiram Tuttle, with the rank of General, and was President of the Manchester Board of Trade in 1896 and 1897, and had earlier assisted in the formation of the Board. He was an attendant at the Hanover Street Congregational Church and had been president of the society. Socially he held membership in both the Derryfield and Calumet Clubs. He beame an active member of the Manchester Historic Association soon after its incorporation, and showed great interest in its success.


General Bartlett was a man of rare quality, a man who would have achieved high success in almost any calling in life. He came of a family in which many names are written in high places, and his name deserves to be written among the highest on the roll. He was born at a time when Mason, Webster and Pierce were in the zenith of their fame. All through his school-boy days Webster and Pierce in New Hampshire and Story and Choate in Massachusetts were constantly pointed to as the brightest examples of the most complete success; and interested and attracted by the brilliant achievements of these great leaders he naturally turned to the law and was admitted to the Hillsborough Bar in 1858. Reared upon a farm he passed through all of the struggles and privations that intervene between the days of earnest toil for a living and the time, when by hard, painstaking work, prudence and foresight in management in his chosen profession he had acquired the independence of a comfortable fortune.

A man of fine physique and possessed of an excellent voice and gifts as an orator, he was in frequent demand as a public speaker, responding on many and widely diverse occasions.

In recent years he delivered three notable orations. One at the dedication of Stark Park on June 17, 1893, one at Amherst at the unveiling of the Soldiers' Monument, and the third and last at the Peterborough Celebration. An act illustrative of his generosity occurred in 1893, when after the city had made arrangements for the celebration of the 17th of June by the dedication of Stark Park, the question was raised by the late James B. Straw, then City Auditor, as to the right of the city to expend money for such a purpose. In order that there might be no delay in the proceedings, and to remove all doubt as to the celebration, General Bartlett came forward and generously offered to bear the entire expense of the celebration. At the commemoration of the city's semi-centennial, he was prominent as President of the Day on Tuesday, September 8, and at that time delivered an eloquent address.

Many citizens of Manchester recall General Bartlett's rare affability, and his ready fund of anecdotes and illustration, which never failed him, whether the occasion was in the companionship of a few friends or at public gatherings. Had he been more aggressive and self-assertive he might undoubtedly have attained to high political position, but of a dignified temperament, reserved in his manner, holding his own worth at a true and just estimate, while expecting others to do the same, he had no liking for the scramble that too often accompanies him who seeks for political preferment.

He died on Jan. 25, 1900, in his 67th year, while seemingly in the full possession of all his powers, active until within a few days of his decease.

General Bartlett married, December, 1858, Miss Hannah M. Eastman of Croydon, who died July 25, 1890. They had two children, a son, Charles Leslie, who died at the age of four years, and one daughter, Carrie Belle, who married Mr. Charles H. Anderson, and survived her father. BY  J. P. T.

OBIT from Boston Herald January 26, 1900

Photo by kingoflondonderry grave located at Pine Grove Cemetery Manchester, New Hampshire Some xtra tidbits Barton Line Lawyers Mill town Messenger Newport Historical Society For full article October 2013

Elaine Goodale and Charles Alexander Eastman "Ohiyesa"

After finding the Newspaper clips from 1891 I found these photos from various archives and family collections I have more pdf files and can send them along if you e-mail me.

Charles Alexander Eastmam "Ohiyesa" was born on February 19, 1858, near Redwood Falls, Minnesota. His mother, Wakantankawin (Sacred Woman) or Mary Nancy Eastman, daughter of well-known painter Seth Eastman, only survived her son's birth by a few months, so he was called Hakadah (the Pitiful Last). His paternal grandmother, Uncheedah, raised him, first in Minnesota and then, after the US–Dakota War of 1862, in Canada where his family had fled to safety.

See Elaine Goodale Eastman PBS Special Raised in a sheltered, puritanical household in New England, Elaine Goodale Eastman (1863–1953) daughter of Dora Hill Read and Henry Sterling Goodale followed her conscience and calling in 1885 when she traveled west and opened a school on the Great Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. Over the next six years she witnessed many of the monumental events that affected the Lakotas, including the inception of the Ghost Dance religion and the fallout from the Wounded Knee massacre in December 1890. She also fell in love with and married Charles Eastman, a Dakota doctor with whom she had six children, and went on to help edit his many popular books on Sioux life and culture.

This biography draws on a newly discovered cache of more than one hundred letters from Elaine that were collected by one of her sisters, Rose Goodale Dayton, as well as newly discovered family correspondence and photographs. Previous books about Elaine—including her own autobiography—emphasize her work on the Sioux reservation and association with her famous husband. Access to her personal papers, however, enabled Theodore D. Sargent to shed new light on the dynamics of her thirty-year marriage to Charles and its ultimate demise, the importance of her own literary contributions during this period, and the challenges and successes of her life following their separation. The result is a long overdue multidimensional portrait of the relationships and aspirations that impelled and troubled this fascinating woman and her extraordinary life. From Review on The Life of Elaine Goodale Eastman By Theodore D. Sargent

Charles A. Eastman (Ohiyesa) and Elaine Goodale Eastman: A Cross-Cultural Collaboration
Sources: Sister to the Sioux: The Memoirs of Elaine Goodale Eastman, 1885-1891
By Elaine Goodale Eastman
Indigenous Modernity and the Making of Americans, 1890--1935 By Kathleen Grace Washburn
Wigwam Evenings

Charles and Elaine had six children:

• Dora Winona Eastman, d. August 22, 1964, Northampton, MA (married)
• Irene Eastman, d. October 23, 1918, Keene, NH
• Virginia Eastman, d. April 2, 1991, Amherst, MA (married Mr. Whitbeck)
• Eleanor Eastman, d. May 2, 1999, Pittsford, NY (married Mr. Mensel)
• Florence Eastman, d. December 30, 1930, Holyoke, MA (married Mr. Prentiss)
• Charles Eastman Jr. (Ohiyesa), d. January 15, 1940, Detroit, MI

Goodale Eastman wrote a memoir about her experiences as a school teacher of the Sioux called Sister to the Sioux. The manuscript, which is property of the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College, was published posthumously in 1978 by the University of Nebraska Press

Photo of Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa) and his daughter Dora in 1892

Dora Winona Eastman

Florence Bascom Eastman Prentiss

Irene Taluta Eastman

Virginia Eastman Whitbeck

Virginia Eastman Whitbeck

Charles Alexander "Ohiyesa" Eastman, Jr

Eleanor Eastman Mensel

Photos from K M (#46494343)

[Dr. Charles; Alexander; Eastman; New York; Thursday; Miss Elaine; Goodale]Wednesday, June 24, 1891  New Hampshire Sentinel (Keene, NH)  

Charles Alexander Eastman (Ohiyesa) at the estate of Mr. Ward Burton, Lake Minnetonka, 1927. Photographer: Edward Augustus Bromley.

 

Mary Nancy Wakantankawin Eastman (1830-1858) - daughter of Brigadier General Seth M Eastman & Wakan inajin win Stands Sacred - wife of Jacob Many Lightnings Eastman - mother to Charles Ohiyesa Eastman Photo from Eastman Family

Brigadier General Seth M Eastman (1808 – 1875)

                             

Rev James Powell in Newburyport

DEATH OF REV. JAMES POWELL, D.D.

From The American Missionary Volume 42, No 2, February 1988 Project Gutenburg

"He whom thou lovest is dead," were the sorrowful words of the stricken sisters concerning their brother; we repeat them to our many friends who enjoyed the personal friendship of our beloved brother Powell. These friends cannot restore him to us, as the Friend restored Lazarus to his family; but they can sympathize with us in our great bereavement. It is scarcely three months since our honored president, Gov. Washburn, was suddenly taken away, and we have not yet found his successor; and now, Dr. Powell has been removed almost as suddenly, and we can scarcely hope to find one to take his place. Our only consolation is, that God makes no mistakes, and that, while men die, His work goes on.

The death of Dr. Powell was unexpected, but its cause lay far back. When only nineteen years of age, he entered the service of the Christian Commission, and in the malarial regions of the South, the germs of disease were planted in his system. They were the cause of frequent and distressing turns of illness, while his irrepressible energy never allowed him to take the rest necessary for recovery. The physicians pronounced the immediate cause of his death to be apoplexy, but most men carrying his burden of ill-health would have yielded long before; only his immeasurable hopefulness and activity sustained him to the end.

Rev. James Powell, D.D., was born in Wales, December 25, 1842. At an early age he came to this country, and partly by his own exertions and partly by the help of friends whom he had won to himself by his genial nature and evident indications of future usefulness, he obtained an education, graduating from Dartmouth College in 1866, and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1869.

He was installed as pastor of the church at Newburyport in November, 1869, his only pastorate, and remained there till February, 1873. His health being impaired by his incessant labors as pastor, he was persuaded by his friend, Rev. Mr. Pike, to aid in introducing the Jubilee Singers to the English public, with the further purpose of either remaining abroad to manage the affairs of the Singers in Great Britain, or of returning and temporarily taking Mr. Pike's place in Connecticut and New York, as District Secretary of the Association. The latter alternative was finally decided upon, and Mr. Powell assumed these duties in the latter part of the year 1873. A year afterwards, on the resignation of Rev. Dr. Patton from our Chicago office, Mr. Powell, who had shown remarkable gifts as a speaker, was at once selected as District Secretary of our Western department. Here he remained for nearly ten years, when some changes were required in our district offices and he was called to New York as Assistant Corresponding Secretary, and entrusted with the supervision of the entire collecting field. The work he had done so acceptably and efficiently at the West was followed by equally effective services in his wider field at the East. In the three years of the recent burden of debt upon the Association, the energies of Dr. Powell were called into full play, and when, at our last Annual Meeting, we rejoiced in deliverance from debt, it was felt that the gratifying result was due in a large measure to his eloquence by voice and pen. At that meeting Dr. Powell was elected Corresponding Secretary of the Association.

Bro. Powell was an orator born, not made. His eloquence was not of the Websterian sort, massive and logical, but rather of that magnetic kind which wins and sways an audience at will, sometimes to smiles and then to tears, but always with definite persuasion. He was a brilliant writer as well as speaker. His pen glowed with a special inspiration, and was prolific as well. The pages of the American Missionary, the columns of the weekly religious press, the numerous circulars issued from this office and his abundant correspondence, all bear witness to this. He was a wise man in counsel.

The impassioned and imaginative speaker is not usually characterized by a cautious judgment or administrative gifts; but we have found in this office that when grave questions arose for consideration, Dr. Powell was remarkably conservative and judicious. But the crowning glory of the man was his bright and genial nature, and his warm and devoted Christian character. It was this that won all hearts, that made him welcome on every platform and in every pulpit, that bound his friends to him in warmest attachment, that opened the doors of all homes to him and that leaves the memory of brightness behind him in the offices where he toiled and in his own dear home. His life went out not as the lightning's flash, that leaves the deeper darkness behind, nor as the setting sun, that has the night before and after, but his departure from life was only the entrance into eternal brightness, and leaves a radiance behind that will be a perpetual joy and consolation to his friends. He was born on Christmas day, and the festivities of another Christmas day were not wholly past when he died. His birth was a Christmas gift to earth, and, be it said with reverence, his death was a Christmas gift to Heaven, for through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the sanctifying influence of the blessed spirit, we believe he was made meet to be presented to the Father, in whose hands we leave him.

James was born in Wales December 25, 1842. He married Ella Andrews Powell
From  James Powell, Reminiscences (1893) Edited by H Porter Smith

• Order of Exercises at the Ordination of James Powell, as Pastor of the North Congregational Church, Newburyport, Mass., Wednesday, November 24th, 1869, at 2 O'clock
• Photo of Church from Clipper Heritage Trail 
• The Dartmouth, Volume 4
• Sketches of the Alumni of Dartmouth College

Daniel Webster's visit to John Colby

From The Friend Volume 51 Incidents and Reflections.—No. 8 An intimate friend of Daniel Webster, who spent some weeks with him at his place in Franklin, in the autumn of 1851, the year before his death, relates that one pleasant morning Webster proposed driving to Andover, a distance of about ten miles.*

* John Colby was the husband of Mr. Webster's eldest sister, who died many years before the visit here referred to. He was known as a great septic in religious matters in early life, and hence Mr. Webster's earnest desire to visit him soon after he heard of Mr. Colby's conversion.

On their "way, he said the object of his trip was to visit an old man named John Colby, who had married his half-sister. She had long been dead, and he had not seen John for forty-five years, and all interest in him had died out. He was a wild, reckless fellow when young; and though not a drinking man, and thrifty as to business, acquired the reputation of being the wickedest man in tho neighborhood, so far as swearing and impiety went. Daniel then told his friend what had impelled him to renew the long-suspended intercourse.

"Now I will give you the reason why I am to-day going up to see this John Colby. I have been told by persons who know, that, within a few years, he has become a convert to the Christian religion, and has met with that mysterious change which we call a change of "heart; in other words, he has become a constant, praying Christian. This has given me a very strong desire to have a personal interview with him, and to hear with my own ears his account of this change. For, humanly speaking, I should bavo said that his was about as hopeless a case for conversion as I could well conceive. Ho won't know me, and I shall not know him; and I don't intend to make myself known at first.

"We drove on, and reached the village,—a little, quiet place, one street running through it, a few houses scattered along here and there, with a country store, a tavern, and a post office. As we drove into this quiet, peaceable little hamlet, at midday, with hardly a sign of life noticeable, Webster accosted a lad in the street, and asked where John Colby lived.

"'That is John Colby's house,' said he, pointing to a very comfortable two-story house, with a green lawn running down to the road. We drove along towards it, and little before we reached it, making our horse secure, we left tho wagon and proceeded to the house on foot. Instead of steps leading to it, there were little flagstones laid in front of the door; and you could pass right into the house without having to stop up. The door was open. There was no occasion to knock, because, as we approached the door, tho inmates of tho room could see us. Sitting in the middle of that room was a striking figure, who proved to be John Colby. He sat facing tho door, in a very comfortably furnished farm-house room, with a little table, or what would perhaps be called a light-stand, before him. Upon it was a large, old-fashioned Scott's Family Bible, in very large print, and of course a heavy volume. It lay open, and he had evidently been reading it attentively. As we entered, he took off his spectacles and laid them upon the page of the book, and looked up at us as we approached, Webster in front. He was a man, I should think, over six feet in height, and he retained in a wonderful degree his erect and manly form, although he was eighty-five or six years old. His frame was that of a once powerful, athletic man. His head was covered with very heavy, thick, bushy hair, and it was white as wool, which added very much to the picturosqueness of his appearance. As I looked in at the door, I thought I never saw a more striking figure. He straightened himself up, but said nothing until just as we appeared at the door, when ho greeted us with,—

"'Walk in, gentlemen.'

"He then spoke to his grandchild to give us some chairs. The meeting was, I saw, a little awkward, and he looked very sharply at us, as much as to say, 'You are here, but for what I don't know: make known your business.' Webster's first salutation was,—

"This is — Colby, John Colby, is it not?'

"'That is my name, sir,' was the reply.

"' I suppose yon don't know mo,' said Webster.

"' No, sir, I don't know you; and I should like to know how you know me.'

"' I have seen you before, —Colby,' replied Webster.

'"Seen me before!' said he; 'pray, when and where?'

"' Have you no recollection of me?' asked Webster.

"'No, sir, not tho slightest;' and he looked by — Webster toward me, as if trying to remember if ho had seen me. Webster remarked,—

"' I think you never saw this gentleman before; but you have seen me.'

"Colby put the question again, when and where?

"' You married my oldest sister,' replied Webster, calling her by name. (I think it was Susannah.)

"'I married your oldest sister!' exclaimed Colby; 'who are you?'

'"lam "little Dan,"' was tho reply.

"It certainly would be impossible to describe the expression of wonder, astonishment, and half-incredulity that came over Colby's face.

"' You Daniel Webster I' said he; and he started to rise from his chair. As he did so, he stammered out some words of surprise. 'Is it possible that this is the little black lad that used to ride tho horse to water? Well, I cannot realize it!'

"Webster approached him. They embraced each other; and both wept.

"' Is it possible,' said Colby, when tho embarrassment of the first shock of recognition was past, ' that you have come up here to see me? Is this Daniel? Why, why,' said he, 'I cannot believe my senses. Now, sit down. I am glad, oh, I am so glad to see you, Daniel! I never expected to see you again. I don't know what to say. I am so glad,' ho wont on, 'that my life has been spared that I might see you. Why, Daniel, I road about you, and hear about you in all ways; sometimes some members of tho family come and tell us about you; and the newspapers tell us a great deal about you, too. Your name seems to be constantly in the newspapers. They say that you are a great man, that you are a famous man; and you can't tell how delighted I am when I hear such things. But, Daniel, the time is short,—you won't stay here long,—I want to ask you one important question. You may be a great man : are you a good man? Are you a Christian man? Do you love the Lord Jesus Christ? That is the only question that is worth asking or answering. Are you a Christian? You know, Daniel, what I have been: I have been one of the wickedest of men. Your poor sister, who is now in heaven, knows that. But the spirit of Christ and of Almighty God has come down and plucked me as a brand from the everlasting burning. I am here now, a monument to his grace. Oh, Daniel, I would not give what is contained within the covers of this book for all the honors that have been conferred upon men from the creation of the world until now. For what good would it do? It is all nothing, and less than nothing, if you are not a Christian, if you arc not repentant. If you do not love the Lord Jesus Christ, in sincerity and truth, all your worldly honors will sink to utter nothingness. Are you a Christian? Do you love Christ? You have not answered me.'

"All this was said in the most earnest and even vehement manner.

"'John Colby,' replied Webster, 'you have asked me a very important question, and one which should not be answered lightly. I intend to give you an answer, and one that is truthful, or I won't give you any. I hope that I am a Christian. I profess to be a Christian. But, while I say that, I wish to add,—and I say it with shame and confusion of face,—that I am not such a Christian as I wish 1 wore. I have lived in the world, surrounded by its honors and its temptations; and I am afraid, John Colby, that I am not so good a Christian as I ought to be. I am afraid I have not your faith and your hopes; but still, I hope and trust that I am a Christian, and that the same grace which has converted you, and made you an heir of salvation, will do the same for me. 1 trust it; and I also trust, John Colby,—and it won't be long before our summons will come,—that we shall meet in a better world, and meet those who have gone before us, whom wo knew, and who trusted in that same divine, free grace. It won't be long. You cannot tell, John Colby, how much delight it gave me to hear of your conversion. Tho hearing of that is what has led me here to-day. I came here to see with my own eyes, and hear with my own ears the story from a man that 1 know and remember well. What a wicked man you used to be!'

"'0 Daniel!' exclaimed John Colby, 'youdon't remember how wicked I was; how ungrateful I was; how unthankful I was! I never thought of God ; I never cared for God; I was worse than the heathen. Living in a Christian land, with the light shining all around me, and the blessings of Sabbath teachings everywhere about me, I was worse than a heathen until I was arrested by the grace of Christ, and made to see my sinfulness, and to hear the voice of my Savior. Now I am only waiting to go home to Him, and to meet your sainted sister, my poor wife. And I wish, Daniel, that you might be a prayerful Christian, and I trust you are. Daniel,' he added, with deep earnestness of voice, 'will you pray with me?'

"We knelt down, and Webster offered a most touching and eloquent prayer. As soon as he had pronounced the 'Amen,' J. Colby followed in a most pathetic, stirring appeal to God. He prayed for the family, for me, and for everybody. Then we rose ; and he seemed to feel a serene happiness in having thus joined his spirit with that of Webster in prayer.

"' Now,' said he, 1 what can we give you? I don't think we have any thing that we can give you.'

"' Yes, you have,' replied Webster; 'you have something that is just what we want to eat.'

"' What is that?' asked Colby.

"' It is some bread and milk,' said Webster. 'I want a bowl of bread and milk for myself and my friend.'

"Very soon the table was set, and a white cloth spread over it; some nice bread was set upon it and some milk brought, and we sat down to the table and eat. Webster exclaimed afterward: 'Didn't it taste good? "Didn't it taste like old times?'

"The brothers-in-law soon took an affectionate leave of each other, and we left. Webster could hardly restrain his tears. When we got into tho wagon ho began to moralize.

"'I should like,' said he, 'to know what the enemies of religion would say to John Colby's conversion. There was a man as unlikely, humanly speaking, to become a Christian as any man I over saw. He was reckless, heedless, impious; never attended church, never experienced the good influence of associating with religious people. And here he has been living on in that reckless way until he has got to bean old man ; until a period of life when you naturally would not expect his habits to change: and yet he has been brought into tho condition in which we have seen him to-day,—a penitent, trusting, humble believer. Whatever people may say, nothing,' added Webster, 'can convince mo that any thing short of the grace of Almighty God could make such a change as I, with my own eyes, have witnessed in the life of John Colby."

"When we got back to Franklin, in the evening, we met John Taylor at the door. Webster called out to him:—

"'Well, John Taylor, miracles happen in these later days as well as in the days of old.'

"'What now, squire?' asked John Taylor.

"' Why, John Colby has become a Christian. If that is not a miracle, what is?'"

Opportunity is the flower of time, and as the stalk may remain when tho flower is cut off, so time may remain to us when opportunity is gone forever.

Daniel Webster's Brother-in-Law Saturday, January 23, 1886 Grand Forks Daily Herald ND

Historical Sketches. The Family of Daniel Webster Wednesday, Nov. 14, 1849 Jackson Citizen

• The life: experience and travels, of John Colby, preacher of the gospel  By John Colby 
• Webster: An Ode 1782-1852 by William Cleaver Wilkinson
• The Sunday at Home, Volume 25

Dartmouth College and Phelps family

Davenport Phelps was in Piermont NH till 1792. He owned 130 acres of land, what is now Piermont Village, then called Phelps Farm. Episcopalian minister, and settled at Geneva, in the State of New York, and died there before 1816. He marrued Catherine, the daughter of Doct. Gideon Tiffany of Hanover New Hampshire.His father, Hon. Alexander Phelps, was a graduate of Yale and an influential man. His Grandfather Wheelock was the first president of Dartmouth College. His father was instrumental in moving the Indian School to Hanover. Well known friends of the Chief Tecumseh

Alexander Phelps, son of Nathaniel Phelps, of Hebron, Conn., was born Jan 6, 1723-24; graduated at Yale College, 1744; prepared for the ministry, and preached a while, but is said to have been later a lawyer. His letters show that he adhered to the English Church. He was a tutor at Yale 1747-49; member of the Connecticut Colonial assembly eleven sessions, between 1754 and 1762; and twice appointed judge of probate pro tern. He was also lieutenant-colonel of militia in 1766. See More info on Dartmouth Phelps

                                                                     

Theodora Wheelock was born on 23 May 1736 at Lebanon, New London Co., CT. She was the daughter of Eleazar Wheelock (photo above) son of Deacon Ralph and Ruth (Huntington) Wheelock and Sarah Davenport widow of Captain William Maltby of New Haven, Connecticut. Sarah Davenport was daughter of John Davenport and Martha Gould.

Children of Eleazer Wheelock and Sarah Davenport:

•  Ruth, married Rev. William Patten, D.D., of Halifax, Mass.
•  Theodora married Alexander Phelps, son of Capt. Nathaniel Phelps and Abigal Pinney, on January 9 1751/52 Hebron, Co., CT.  
• Theodora Wheelock married 2nd John Young on April 27 1777 Hanover, NH. Theodora Wheelock died after 1811 at Piermont, NH.
• Rev. Ralph, who graduated at Yale College in 1765
  
  Children of Theodora Wheelock and Hon. Alexander Phelps

• Sarah Phelps  b. 15 Jul 1753
• Rev. Davenport Phelps + b. 12 Aug 1755, d. 27 Jun 1813
• Theodora Phelps b. 8 Sep 1757
• Alexander Phelps b. 2 Sep 1759
• Lucey Phelps b. 17 Mar 1762, d. 14 Apr 1767
• Emelia Phelps b. 14 Jun 1764
• Eleazar Wheelock Phelps b. 16 Oct 1766, d. 12 Oct 1818
• Ralph Rodolphus Phelps b. 21 Mar 1772, d. 23 Mar 1849 weighed at birth 16.J pounds (Mass. Gazette, April 13, 1772)

Colonel Phelps died April 19, 1773, age  49 (N. H. Gazette, April 30,1773). He is spoken of as "a gentleman of a liberal education, who had sustained several offices of trust in Connecticut, which he discharged with fidelity." Jointly with Colonel Morey he appears in December, 1771, as agent for the town of Oxford before the General Assembly of New Hampshire.
From History of Dartmouth 
Wheelock's Diary, June 18, 1778.

Hanover, at a special meeting, April 2, chose Jonathan Freeman her delegate, and appointed a committee of six1 to determine his instructions. At a later meeting (May 25), they joined with him two associates, Capt. John House and Ensign Nathaniel Wright, and again adjourned to the next Saturday to settle the instructions. How they were settled we know not.

We have no record of the meeting at Lebanon, but we know from collateral circumstances that the union was there accepted. Orford (whose delegate was Wheelock's grandson, Davenport Phelps), at a special meeting the first Wednesday of June, "veted nem. con. that they accede and agree a union with the State of Vermont, agreeable to the doings of the above convention at Lebanon."

"Colonel Wyllis and Esquire Ledyard," of Hartford, were among Dr. Wheelock's legal advisers in 1768, and probably at this period. June 7,1769, we find Dr. Wheelock addressing Governor Wentworth as follows:

"I have been making some attempt to form a Charter, in which some proper respect may be shown to those generous benefactors in England who have condesceilded to patronize this school, and I want to be informed whether you think it consistent to make the Trust in England a distinct corporation, with power to hold real estate, etc., for the uses and purposes of this school." But the impress of Governor Wentworth does not appear till a somewhat later period. August 22,1769, Dr. Wheelock informs him that he is about to present him a " rough draught" of a Charter, for an "Academy," adding this somewhat significant postscript: "Sir, if you think proper to use the word College instead of Academy in the Charter, I shall be well pleased with it."

 Alexander Phelps

Dr. Wheelock's son-in-law, Mr. Alexander Phelps, and Rev. Dr. Whitaker seem to have been the principal agents to confer with Governor Wentworth in regard to the Charter.

October 18, 1769, he gives his views at length, in a letter to Dr. Wheelock, advising some amendments. Proposing some additions to the Board of Trust, he says: "The nomination of the Provincial officers I strongly recommend, though I do not insist upon. It was indeed resolved on my side that the Governor should be one" of the Board. "That I did not mention any other than the Governor can by no means be preclusive. Neither did I so intend it. The three provincialofficers will be a natural defense, honor and security to the institution."

The following letter indicates that Governor Wentworth had eminent legal counsel:

"Rev. Sir: I have had an opportunity of conferring with Colonel Phelps on the affair of the College proposed to be erected here. You 'll find some alterations in the scheme and draft of the Charter; they are supposed to be amendments, and I think they, to say the least, will not be impediments. I cannot stay to enumerate them ; the Charter will show them and the Colonel will be able to explain the grounds and reasons of them. I have spent some considerable time with the Governor to form the plan in such a manner as will make it most beneficial, and to prevail on him to make such concessions as would suit the gentlemen with you. I am apt to think the plan will be more serviceable as it now stands than as it was before.

I shall be glad to serve the cause, and have persuaded Colonel Phelps to communicate it before the finishing stroke, though it will cost him another journey. I have only to add that I am, with great esteem,

"Your most obedient humble servant,

William Parker.

"portsmouth, October 28, 1769."

Edward E Phelps Faculty 1879

Prof. Edward Elisha Phelps, M.D. LL.D., died at his residence in Windsor, Vt., on Friday, Nov. 26, 1880. He was born in Peacham, Vt., April 24, 1803. In 1822 we find him in attendance on his first course of medical lectures, at Dartmouth Medical College. He was for two years a student in medicine with Prof. Nathan Smith, then a resident of New Haven, Conn., but early in life settled in Cornish, N.H., and at Hanover. He graduated in Medicine at Yale, in the class of 1825. More info on Edward E Phelps

     William Phelps Kimball Thayer School at Dartmouth