M E M O I R

E D WAR D G R I F F I N P O RT E R

SAMUEL SWETT GREEN

M E M O I R

E D WAR D G R I F F I N P O R T E R

SAMUEL SWETT GREEN

R E P R I N T E D F R O M

TH E PUB LI CATI ON S

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M E M O I R

O F TH E

D AR D RI F FI N P OR TER RE '. E W G ,

SAMUEL SWETT GREEN .

D AR D R I F F I N OR TE R i n 24 E W G P was born , January , 1 837 R . He was the son of oyal Loomis Porter, editor and pro ri e tor wh i c h p of the Boston Traveller, a newspaper he started in 1 2 di n 8 5 . R e o Mr . oyal Port r ed in Charlest , South Carolina , where 1 844 ’ he had gone for the benefit of his health , in . Edward Porter s mother was Sarah Ann Pratt, who was born in Charlestown , Mas ,

s a c h u se tts 1 81 2 . , in , and is still living 1 623 hn W B In , Jo Porter came from the est of England to ly m

c . uth, in the Colony of that name Branches of the family after i n t wards settled Farming on and Hartford , Connecticut, and in

. w Danvers and Hadley, Ed ard Porter was de scended, in the sixth generation , from the first settler in East

Hartford, Connecticut. A son of the first settler there was James ’

2 . ' 1 7 0 1 745 . Porter, born in His son , James , was born in ames s 1 776 son, Daniel , was born in East Hartford in , but after the war R moved to Williamstown , Massachusetts . He had a son , oyal ' 1 801 Loomis , born in ermont in , who was the father of Edward

Griffin Porter .

. R Mr oyal Porter was an only son . He graduated at Williams College in 1 823 and taught school a year or two in New 'ork

State before removing to Boston . He is said to ha ve edited the

Traveller with signal ability and success , until he died . He was buried near his father in the old cemetery at Willia m stown . Edward Porter lived in Boston until he was seven years old ; us his father then moved to Canton , Massach etts, but, dying within B . . a a year, the family returned to oston Mrs Porter, left widow 4

r with three child en , Frank , Edward , and William, soon married

Nathan Carruth, a Boston merchant . The family lived in Hancock

Street for about two years and then moved to Dorchester, Massa h h a d c u s e tts . u , where Mr Carr th built a large house in the gothic style , on an elevated spot, regarded as one of the most eligible in the vicinity of Boston . Edward Porter always spoke warmly of

' ' the never failing kindness of his step father .

After attending several private and public schools , Porter, in 1 851 i , entered Phillips Academy, Andover, wh ch was then under

m . the charge of the celebrated educator, Sa uel Harvey Taylor He remained in the Academy du ring the usual course of prepara m 1 854 tion for college . He graduated in the su mer of , after pro no u nc i n g an oration on the Genius of Labor, and left school with high hopes and a stout heart to enter upon college life . 1 853 In January , , Porter united, by public profession of faith , with the Second Church in Dorchester, then under the pastoral

R . e v . care of the James H Means . ’ It had always been Porter s wish and that of his friends that he 1 854 should go to college . In , he was admitted to Williams

College , after examination . It was by his own choice rather than d r that of his frien s , who preferred he should go to Ha vard College , that he went to Williams . He soon became disappointed with the a f educational advant ges o fered there and with his surroundings , 1 855 and in the autumn of , too late to have his name appear in d t the first e ition of the Ca alogue for that year, he transferred his connection to Harvard College . While at Williams College he joined the Alpha Delta Phi Society . In Cambridge he had only s h i m w a few intimate friend , but those who knew well were armly i attached to him and respected him highly . He did not atta n to a high rank in his Class , very likely did not seek it, but was generally regarded as industrious, thoroughly in earnest, a man of considerable attainments and good scholarsh ip . The Class of 1 85 8 in Harvard College does not stand out con s pi c u ou s by reason of a large number of its members having b e come famous . Still , it is pleasant to remark that nearly every b e member has done well while he lived, and many members have come eminent . Samuel Pasco was for several years a United t States Sena or from Florida , and Frederic George Bromberg , ill r W iam Elliot, and the late William Fitzhugh Lee have re p e 5

d 'i r sented in Congress istricts in Alabama , South Carolina, and th e m ginia , respectively . Locally, na es of Winslow Warren and Henry Pickering Walcott will be recognized as belonging to men who have won distinction in public life in Massachusetts . The

t l . lat er has a so been , for several years , a Fellow of Harvard College w Among the teachers are Benjamin Graves Bro n , Professor of

a Mathematics in Tufts College , the lately deceased Br dbury Long w w fello Cilley, and George Albert Went orth , for many years r instructors in the Phillips Exeter Academy, the veteran Geo ge

Washington Copp Noble of Boston , Eugene Frederick Bliss of

Cincinnati , Ohio , and Joseph Alden Shaw of the Highland Mili tary Academy, Worcester, Massachusetts . Of the physicians , the n R ames are well known of John Homans , obert Thaxter Edes ,

. R John Gray Park , and George Ebenezer Francis The everend ' ’ Henry Wilder Foote , Minister of ing s Chapel , Boston, was a member of the Class ; and among those m embers who became w u Ha lawyers are Judge Alfred Stedman Hart ell of Honol lu, wa ii a n M a ss a c h u Islands , Judge William Henry Fox of Taunton , setts , and James Clarke Davis , of Boston . Of the representatives of the Class in business may be mentioned John Lowell Gard ner, recently deceased, Hersey Bradford Goodwin , and the two — ' B Tobeys , Gerard Curtis and Horace Pratt . Well known oston families were represented by Fisher Ames , Josiah Bradlee , Louis

Crowni nsh i e l d Cabot, Benjamin William , Ozias Goodwin, Hollis

B ro m fi e l d . Hunnewell , and Edward Mason George Edward Pond,

who has lately died , was always an editor or editorial writer, and is particularly remembered by his connection with the Army and v h e v Na y Journal during t Ci il War . The writer of this Memoir has helped to give completeness to the list of occupations in the ’ Class by nearly thirty years service as a . Several members of the Class of 1 858 have shown a decid ed h interest in American istory , and Porter was prominent among hi s them . The most eminent of these is , known to

classmates by the name of Henry Brooks Adams , by which name he

was designated in the catalogue thr oughout his college course . ’ ' George Dexter, Foote , John Charles Phillips (Porter s room mate R To a n in the Senior year) , Porter, obert Noxon pp , Walcott, and Warren have been or are Resident Members of the Massachusetts

Historical Society . Adams , Bliss , Dexter , Foote , Francis , Green , 6

To a n v Porter, and pp are the li ing and deceased members of the

Class who have represented it in the American Anti'uarian Society . Many members of the Class have belonged to other historical ffi societies and served as o cers in them , to say nothing of those 1 who are past or present members of this Society . The Class lost some of its most promising members by early ' death , among them William Gibbons of New ork City . He was m with the Class for a few months as a Sopho ore , but died in

Cambridge in that year . The most serious losses , however, came th e through the Civil War . The time of the graduation of Class was such that many members served as soldiers . Five lost their v li es , and among them were such men of promise as James Jackson f n Lowell , Henry Lyman Patten, and Thomas Je ferso Spurr . The s Cla s had representatives in both armies. A story is told of a m eeting, during the war, of William Fitzhugh Lee , a son of Gen R . s . eral obert E Lee , and Nichola Longworth Anderson They G U were enerals in the Confederate and nion armies , respectively, and found themselves , one night, on opposite sides of a river . o Anderson, the st ry runs , sent a pleasant message to his old class ’ mate Lee , but the latter s feelings were too strong to allow him to reciprocate the courtesy . He sent back word that he could have no corr espondence with a man of such objectionable principles as t those of Anderson . The lat er afterwards made his home in ’ . l a c e Washington Lee s p was near that city after the war , and, as before stated, he was in Congress . The two old friends must have often laughed heartily o ver the above ' mentioned scene when they d id renewed, as they , their hearty friendship in the Capital of the country .

' 1 8 1 858 Porter wrote in his college class book , May, , that he was ' ' to sail for Europe the next day . My present plans , he con v w tinnes , are to tra el six months in Europe ith my mother, study e 1 85 9 during the following wint r at Heidelberg, and return in to ' u On enter p the study of theology . He did not return , however, 1 8 1 6 . d until July, While abroad he studied at Berlin and Hei el berg and paid his first visit to the East, spending much time in

travelling in Egypt and Syri a . 1 861 In , Porter took the degree of Master of Arts . In Septem

1 M e ssrs . Lou i s Ca b o t Sa m u e l tt n rd riffi n P o rt r , Swe Gre e , Ed wa G e , a nd Rob e r t N o'o n To a n pp . ber of the same year, he entered the Andover Theological Semi

u 1 864 . nary, and graduate d from it in A gust, The writer of this Memoir remembers Spending a pleasant day with him at Andover whi le he was in the Seminary . He took me on a delightful walk s in the wood , allowed me to accompany him to a lecture by the celebrated Dr . Edwards Amasa Park , and in the evening escorted me to a charming reception at Abbot Academy . He had a rare faculty of finding out the beautiful scenery and interesting historic spots in every town where he stayed , became ac'uainted with the men best worth knowing, and , when long enough in a place , was admitted freely to its best social circles . He much enjoyed sharing his knowledge and privileges with a friend .

Mr . Porter was licensed to preach by the Norfolk Association , 2 t 6 1 864 . at Braintree , Massachuset s , January, In the spring of the same year, while still connected with the Seminary , he went west in the service of the United States Sanitary Commission .

There he contracted a fever which seriously impaired his health . t After graduating a Andover, he remained at home in Dorchester, ' taking charge of a church during the absence o f its pastor . In i the follow ng year he preached occasionally in various places , but did not feel strong enough to accept any proposals for settle n ment . By the advice of his physician and friends he sailed agai

31 1 866 . for Europe , May, After some time spent in England , he i n went to Switzerland and Italy . There he studied with great te re stthe Waldensian movement to give Protestant churches and schools to all the principal towns , and was almost persuaded to t ' accept the charge of the new I alian church at enice . He

‘ E a st wh e re went next to Malta, and thence to the , he spent the spring of 1 867 . The work of the American Mission at Beirut and on the slopes of Mount Lebanon enga g ed much of his attention . d Afterwards , in Greece , he ai ed in the distribution of some of the u n American supplies among the Cretan refugees . Ret rni g through i n Austria and Germany, he reached Paris time to see the close of the great Exhibition , and arrived in this country again in January,

1 868 . He spent a short time in arranging the materials collected

i in his journey, but kept in m nd the work for which he had been educated . 1 6 m 8 8 . On the first of October , , Mr Porter was ordained inister

' d of the Hancock Congregational Church , a newly forme Trinitarian

9

ds the time of its establishment, and afterwar he became President of its Board of Trustees . Porter represented Massachu setts in the Historical Department 1 8 76 of the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, in , and was a delegate of the American Anti'uarian Society at the meeting of the R 1 897 oyal Society of Canada held in Halifax in the spring of , the chief object of which was to erect a monument to John Cabot .

His interest in American history was very great, and the study and presenta tion of portions of it occupied a considerable part of his activities and gave a coloring to most of his literary productions . He was an accomplished guide in pointing out places of historical n interest in Lexington , Boston and its eighborhood, Plymouth, and other localities . His services in this capacity were regarded as very valuable , and were freely given when asked for . He alway s had investigations in hand . The writer of this paper remembers that for two or th ree years before his death Porter was actively engaged in looking up the path which in Colonial times led from

Boston , through Worcester and other towns , to Springfield . 1 6 87 . In April, , Mr Porter was elected a member of the Amer 1 8 80 M a ssa c h u ican Anti'uarian Society, and in a member of the setts Historical Society . He was also a member of the American

Historical Association and of other historical organizations . In r 1 899 Janua y, , he was chosen President of the New England His toric Genealogical Society, and in the following summer he was elected to fellowship in the Harvard chapter of the Fraternity of P h i ' Beta appa .

1 887 . In , Mr Porter published an interesting book entitled

R . ambles in Old Boston , New England It is a work which is much in demand, and has for some time been out of print . He also con t tributed to the third volume of he Memorial History of Boston , edited by Justin Winsor, the chapter on The Beginning of the R 1 760 1 875 evolution ( In , he published an Historical th e a Sketch of Battle of Lexington , and edited the volume cont in ing the Proceedings of the Celebration Commemorative of th e one hundredth anniversary of that battle . Among his occasional papers which have been printed are ' Sermon on the death of the R 1 . 860 everend William Hooper Adams ( H . C ) Memoir of John

Charles Phillips, prepared for the Massachusetts Historical Society ; an Origi nal Document of the House of Washington (thirteenth 1 0 century) an Address on the Centennial of Washington’s visit to Lexington ; an Address on Samuel Adams ; Four Drawings of ’ Lexington and Concord in 1 775 ; President Garfield s Ancestry ; The Ship Columbia and the Discovery of Oregon ; The Cabot Celebrations of 1 8 97 ; Sketc hes of the English towns of Dor f chester, Ipswich , Billericay, and Bed ord ; and The Aborigines of

Australia . i 5 1 900 Mr. Porter d ed February, , at the home of his mother, d 7 Ashmont, Dorchester . Two days after, on We nesday , February, he w a s bu ried from the same place . A large assembly came to gether to do honor to his memory . Among those present were the venerable Dr . Cyrus Hamlin and other clergymen, a numerous delegation from his Society in Lexington, college classmates , and associates in historical and other societies .

Porter died in harness . Only a few days before his death, a corrected proof of Remarks made by him at the meeting of the t 1 899 American An i'uarian Society held in October, , was received by its Publishing Committee . He had agreed to make Remarks at the meeting of the Massachusetts Historical Society which n occurred a few days after his death, and had made other e gage ments to write or to speak . From boyhood Mr . Porter had been a

s . student . His life pa sed smoothly He was an industrious and h i s h useful man ; and, busy, loved , and respected as he was , deat d will be wi ely felt .

Mr . Porter was elected a Resident Member of this Society on 3 1 89 . the fifteenth of March, On the twentieth of December, fol a m b a lowing, he was appointed ember of the Committee of Pu lic — a tion , position he continued to hold until his death, and in which he rendered valuable service .