NECROLOGY OF THE NEW-ENGLAND HISTORIC, GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY.

Prepared by the Rev. SAMUEL CUTLER, Historiographer of the Society.

The Hon. HERMAN FOSTER, a life member of this society, died at his residence in Manchester, N. H., on Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 17, 1875, aged 74 years 34 months.

He was the seventh generation in descent from Reginald Foster, of Ipswich, through William,2 William,3 John,* Obadiah, and John. For the particulars of his genealogy we refer to "The Foster Family," by Perley Derby, of Salem, Mass., printed at Boston in 1872.

John Foster, the father of Herman, was born in Andover, March 3, 1770. He married Mary Danforth, by whom he had two children.

Herman, the subject of our notice, was born in Andover, Oct. 31, 1800. His mother died Nov. 27, 1802, survived by one daughter, Sabra, who married Dr. Isaac Tewksbury, of Hampstead, N. H., Dec. 25, 1822. His father subsequently married, 1803, Miss Lucy Hastings, of Bolton, Mass., who died Sept. 10, 1842. By her he had six children. He married for a third wife, Jan. 25, 1843, Mrs. Sally Morse Couch, of Boscawen, N. H. He died April 13, 1846; his widow died Jan. 24, 1866. Of his children, by his second wife, three are now living: Emily, the wife of Ebenezer Sargent Badger, of Warner, N. H.; John, a member of this society, formerly of the firm of Foster & Taylor, Boston, and now residing in this city; and George, late senator of the legislature of New Hampshire, and a resident of Bedford, N. H.

Herman Foster in early life fitted for college, but a disease of the eyes compelled him to abandon his cherished intention. He acquired his education at the common schools, and at the Atkinson Academy. Dartmouth College, however, in view of his distinguished abilities and position, in 1861 conferred upon him the honorary degree of A. M. For several years he was engaged in teaching school. He then established himself in a mercantile business in Boston. This pursuit he followed for some years, and then, abandoning it, went to Warner, N. H., where his father then lived, and began the study of law in the office of the Hon. Henry B. Chase of that town, and was admitted to the bar in 1839.

He married Nov. 8, 1826, Harriet Mary Ann Whittemore, of West Cambridge, now Arlington, Mass., who still survives, and by whom he had two children, who died in infancy.

In November, 1840, Mr. Foster went to Manchester, N. H., and began the practice of his profession. Growing in influence with the growth of the city, he has for a generation maintained a high position as a citizen, a financier, a legislator, as well as an attorney and counsellor.

To him, by the citizens of Manchester, before and since its organization as a city, have been committed many offices of honor and of responsibility. He was one of its prominent men, and impressed his character on many of the institutions of the city while in the process of formation, and in a manner to merit a cherished remembrance. He was treasurer of the town of Manchester in 1842 and 1843. He was sent to represent the city in the house of representatives of New-Hampshire, in 1845 and 1846; and again in 1868 and 1869. He was state senator in 1860 and 1861, being president of the senate in 1861. He was solicitor of the city in 1857. In August, 1862, he was appointed by President Lincoln assessor of internal revenue for the second district of New-Hampshire, resigning in February of the next

year.

As a financier, the good judgment and ability of Mr. Foster were evidenced in his connection as a trustee, and one of the investing committee of the Manchester Sarings Bank, said to be one of the best managed institutions of its kind in the country, from its organization in 1846, to his death; as treasurer and clerk of the Manchester Gas Light Company since its organization in 1850; as a director in the old Amoskeag Bank for many years; for the last three or four years a director of the Amoskeag National Bank; and as one of the first directors and clerk of the Manchester and Lawrence Railroad. In all these trusts he was diligent, thoughtful and honest.

From articles communicated to the Manchester papers, by Judge Daniel Clark, of the circuit court, of New-Hampshire; and Judge Clough, of Manchester; the friends and co-laborers of Mr. Foster, to which I am indebted in preparing this notice, I add the following summary of his character:

Mr. Foster was in many respects a remarkable man. He had characteristics which stamped him as an individual much more deeply and distinctly than most men. While belonging to and making one of the great mass of individuals of which mankind is composed, he was, so to speak, more clearly and sharply individualized than most others. There was a steady firmness about him, coupled with a singular diffidence and gentleness, to such a degree as placed these qualities sometimes in striking contrast. His perceptions were distinct and accurate; his intelligence wide and clear; his purpose firm; his thoughts and actions independent; his decision manifest, and his will tenacious. All his qualities were strong and conspicuous. Such was the power of his memory, that dates, places, persons, facts, occurrences, what was said, who said it, when and where, though many years ago, were engraven upon it, as it were, upon a plate of steel. He could quote from the speeches of Burke, Erskine, Phillips and Webster,—from the poetry and plays of Virgil, Byron and Shakspeare.

In business he was careful, painstaking and methodical, attending to the minutest details, sometimes seeming slow and over cautious, yet so prompt and decided in action as to shut out every idea of hesitancy or vacillation. Deliberation in him was coupled with strength.

In his profession, as an attorney, he was active and vigilant, qualities which in the law practice that existed prior to the coming in of the bankrupt act were among the most useful and successful. No business matter entrusted to him was ever neglected. Money collected for his clients was always ready for them. As a counsellor he formed his opinions upon careful study and examination, and they were generally correct and reliable. In the preparation of a case he was thorough. He was seldom caught unprepared. Towards his brethren in his profession he was courteous, affable, true and polite, and he commanded the respect of all who knew him.

As a politician he was not a partisan in any sense. He had none of the baseness, unfairness, or intolerance of a partisan; but he was a strict party man, liberal and frank, consistent and reliable. He believed in independence of thought and action; he hated servility.

As a man he was honest and upright. He loved truth, hated dissimulation, and never misled by misrepresentation or deceitful acts or appearances. As a citizen he was always the friend of good order; willing to bear a just share of the burdens of society, ready to respond to its requirements, and always benevolent and kind. As a friend he was sincere and true. In religion he was an Unitarian, and was one of the founders and most liberal supporters of that church in Manchester. His theory and practice were founded on the Gospels. He was benevolent, charitable and tolerant.

To this summary of character I add, as a suitable conclusion to this paper, the testimony of one who has known and loved him as a brother. In a note in answer to some inquiries he says: "Of the first half of my brother's life I know but little, as during that period I was young, and he lived most of the time in Massachusetts. That he may have made some mistakes is not unlikely; few have lived who have not done so. But for nearly forty years of his life I can speak from personal knowledge; and during that period he has been entirely correct; upward and onward in goodness, high toned, straight forward, square and upright, gentle and kind as a loving mother, ever ready to join in a helping hand, in liberal measure, to our less fortunate brothers and sisters, and in other directions when duty called. In his life there is so much of good, beautiful consoling memories that I cannot think of him in sadness."

He was admitted a member Dec. 30, 1871.

THE HON. NATHAN SARGENT, a corresponding member of the society, died in Washington, D. C., Feb. 2, 1875, aged 80 years 9 mos. He was born in Putney, Vt., May 5, 1794. He married, Feb. 14, 1821, Mrs. Rosina Lewis, née Miss Hodgkinson, born in Boston Oct. 15, 1798, by whom he had four children. His widow, and a widowed daughter, the relict of the Rev. Dr. Olds, formerly of Christ P. E. Church, Washington, survive him.

Mr. Sargent is a descendant, in the sixth generation, from: William and Sarah Sargent, of Malden, Mass., through John who married Lydia Chipman; Jona

than, born in Malden, April 17, 1677, and Mary Sprague; Nathan, born in Malden, Aug. 27, 1718, married Mary Denny, and moved to Leicester, Mass., in 1741 ; Samuel, born in Leicester, Jan. 7, 1754. He married Mary Washburn, daughter of Seth Washburn, of Leicester, Oct. 11, 1781, and had eleven children, of whom Nathan, the subject of our notice, was the seventh.* Five children were born in Leicester. In 1792 they moved to Putney, Vt.

After an academic education, Mr. Sargent studied law with Judge White, of Putney, and in his twenty-third year removed to Cahawba, Alabama, where he began the practice of his profession. Afterward he was appointed judge of the county court, also of the probate court, offices which he held, for many years, with dignity and honor.

About the year 1826, finding a change of climate necessary for the health of himself and his family, he removed to Buffalo, N. Y., where he continued the practice of his profession until 1830; when he removed to Philadelphia, Penn., and started a paper in the interest of the whig party. As a politician Mr. Sargent was an ardent whig during the existence of that party. On the organization of the republican party he espoused its cause with ardor. He was a warm supporter of the administration of Abraham Lincoln.

As a journalist Mr. Sargent was well known as the Washington correspondent of the United States Gazette, of Philadelphia, under the nom de plume of Oliver Oldschool. He also wrote for other papers in the north. His ready pen and gentlemanly bearing gained for him a wide reputation. His knowledge of men and things at Washington caused his letters to be read with avidity.

In 1849, he was elected sergeant at arms to the house of representatives at Washington, under Taylor and Fillmore's administrations. Subsequently he was appointed register of the treasury, which he filled a number of years. In 1861, he was appointed to the office of commissioner of customs, and held it until the summer of 1871, when he resigned. I also find his name, but without date, as register general of the United States Land Office.

Judge Sargent took a great interest in the Reform School at Washington, and was its president for many years, up to the time of his death.

Since 1871, Judge Sargent has been engaged in writing a history of public men and events from 1825 to 1850, including Webster, Clay, Calhoun, and others. This is the last work of his pen. It is just published by the Lippincotts, of Philadel phia, and dedicated to the enlightened representatives of the American press, of whose number he was proud to be ranked as a member.

In his private character, and in the fulfilment of his public trusts, it is the testimony of those who knew and loved him, that he stood above suspicion of peculation and wrong. "While surrounded with so much temptation, his hands never were stained with unearned money." "As an officer of the government, the public voice pronounced him

'Honest, Faithful, Capable.'

"Just and impartial in all his official duties, immovable in his integrity, and in the midst of corruption, incorruptible."

"The nation has lost in him a faithful servant, and his family a devoted husband and father."

How grand, in a national aspect, would be the record of our country if such a memorial could be honestly made of all our public servants. Be it ours, as a society, to cherish the memory of those who, from our number, are entitled to such a record; for thus we may exert an influence for good on those who are or who may be called to positions, legislative, judicial, or executive in the state or nation; or to a standing in the world of letters where from the platform and the press they may help onward the reign of truth and righteousness.

He was admitted to this society Feb. 11, 1851.

Prepared by the Rev. DORUS CLARKE, D.D., late Historiographer of the Society. The Hon. JOHN ROMEYN BRODHEAD, LL.D., a corresponding member, was the son of the Rev. Jacob Brodhead, D.D., a distinguished clergyman of the Reformed Dutch Church, and was born in Philadelphia, Jan. 2, 1814, and died in New-York, May 6, 1873. He was descended from an old New-York family, the ancestor of which, Captain Daniel Brodhead, of Yorkshire, England, was an officer in the

*See Genealogy of the Sargent Family, by Aaron Sargent (Boston, 1858), for further genealogical data.

English expedition against the New Netherlands in 1664, and settled in Ulster County in 1665.

The subject of this notice graduated at Rutgers College in 1831, and was admitted to the bar in 1835. After practising this profession two years, his tastes inclining him to literary pursuits, he gave himself up to the study of American history. In 1839, he went to Holland, and was attached to the United States Legation at the Hague. Here, he projected the writing of a history of New-York. While here he was appointed, by Gov. Seward, agent to procure and transcribe original documents relative to the colonial history of New-York, and obtain such additional historical records as should render the archives of New-York as complete as possible. The three following years were spent by him in searching the archives of Holland, England and France, which were liberally opened for his examination. The result was a vast collection of historical documents, many of which had never been known to the historian, comprising a large part of the official correspondence of the colonial authorities of New-York with the government at home. In 1844, he returned to America, and was immediately invited by the New-York Historical Society to deliver the address on its fortieth anniversary, Nov. 20, 1844. In 1846, he was commissioned Secretary of the U. S. Legation at London, which position he held until 1849, when, on returning to New-York, he applied himself diligently to the execution of his history of New-York. The first volume of this work was published in 1853, and the second in 1871. In 1853, he was appointed naval officer of the port and district of New-York, which office he held until 1857. He was an active and efficient member of the New-York Historical Society.

He was admitted a member of this society Oct. 6, 1854.

DANIEL DENNY, Esq., a life member, died in Boston, Mass., February 9, 1872, in his 80th year.

He was the son of Daniel and Nancy (Watson) Denny, and was born in Leicester, Mass., November 6, 1791. He was a descendant in the fourth generation from Daniel' Denny, who with his brother Samuel1 and his sister Deborah1 afterward wife of the Rev. Thomas Prince, came to New-England from Coombs, Eng., the descent being Daniel and wife Rebekah; Samuel, b. May 20, 1731, and wife Elizabeth Henshaw; Daniel,3 his father, above-named, b. Aug. 6, 1758, who married Nancy dau. of Matthew Watson.

His early business days were passed in the importing house of Tuckerman, Rogers, and Cushing, in Boston. Leaving them he became a merchant on his own account, and for a half century or more no name has been better known than his as that of one of acknowledged integrity, enterprise and gentlemanly kindliness and courtesy. To the clear head were united the firmest and truest principles and the friendly and loving heart. Outside of his immediate vocation, he filled several offices of responsibility. He was the oldest railroad director in the United States, having continuously served on the board of the Boston and Worcestor corporation from the outset of that pioneer company. He was, at the time of his death, president of the Hamilton National Bank, and though he retired from the firm of Denny, Rice & Co., in January, 1871, he by no means retired from the activities of the Exchange. Long a prominent citizen of Dorchester, now the sixteenth ward of Boston, the First Church in that town always found him a generous member; his assured christian faith showed itself incessantly and in various ways bearing the fruits of righteousness. During the war no one was more ready than he to exhibit a practical loyalty, that never refused to open its purse or show its personal interest in the cause of the union and the welfare of the soldier; and there are many young men and others to testify to the readiness of his sympathy and the helpfulness of his hand, when they needed counsel or material aid.

He was admitted to the society May 7, 1869.

ANSON PARKER HOOKER, M.D., a resident member, was born in East Cambridge, Mass., Sept. 29, 1829, and died of typhoid fever in that place Dec. 31, 1873, at the age of 44 years. He was the son of Dr. Anson Hooker, who was the son of Dr. William Hooker of Westhampton, Mass. A taste for the medical profession was thus perpetuated in the family through three generations. The family descended from the Rev Thomas Hooker, the first minister of Hartford, Conn. Dr. Anson P. Hooker's mother was Elizabeth Parker, daughter of Samuel and Hannah Crocker Parker, of East Cambridge. The mother of Hannah Crocker was Mrs. Hannah Mather Crocker, author of "Observations on the Rights of Woman" and other works, who with her husband and children was entombed in the cemetery on Copp's VOL. XXIX. 28*

Hill, Boston. He received his early education in the schools of Cambridge, was graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1851, and at the Harvard Medical School in 1855. He practised his profession in the place of his nativity, and in the adjoining towns, and upon the death of his father, he succeeded to his large and lucrative business. In 1861, he was commissioned Surgeon of the 26th Massachusetts Regiment, and served with that Regiment in the Department of the Gulf till June, 1862, when ill health compelled him to resign, and in 1863 was appointed by Gov. Andrew Assistant Surgeon General of Massachusetts. He continued in that office, and upon the staffs of Governors Bullock and Claflin, was re-appointed by Gov. Washburn, and held that office at the time of his death. He also held several civil offices in the city government of Cambridge, and for two years he was a representative in the legislature of this Commonwealth.

Dr. Hooker was among the more distinguished physicians and surgeons of this metropolis and vicinity, and was rapidly rising in his profession when death arrested his useful career.

He was married in September, 1861, to Miss Rebecca Pitman Boies, youngest daughter of the Hon. Patrick Boies, of Westfield, Mass., one of the most eminent barristers in western Massachusetts. Dr. Hooker had three children, two of whom died in infancy, and the other, a daughter of eight years of age, still lives. He was admitted to the society Oct. 27, 1868.

JONATHAN TOWNE, Esq., a resident member, the father of Wm. B. Towne, A.M., vice-president of this society for New-Hampshire, was born at Amherst, N. H., in that part of the town now included in Milford, Aug. 6, 1784, and died of paralysis in the house in which he was born, Feb. 10, 1874, consequently at the very advanced age of 89 years. At the time of his death he was the oldest citizen of Milford. The family is quite distinguished for longevity. Mr. Towne's father, Jonathan Towne (No. 241 in Towne Genealogy, ante xxi. 222) died in 1842 at the age of 89 years the very age of the subject of the present memoir. He too died in the house in which his son died. He had a brother who lived to be more than 90 years of age. Jonathan' Towne had three children, namely: Jonathan, who died as stated, Feb. 10, 1874. David, a resident of Claremont, N. H., who died in his 88th year, and Mary, who resides in the old homestead in her 86th year. Jonathan Towne and Mary (Blanchard) Towne, his wife, had ten children, of whom eight are still living,— two of whom are, Wm. B. Towne, Esq., long connected with this society, and President of the Souhegan National Bank, of Milford, N. H., and John P. Towne, Esq., a prominent lawyer in Wisconsin. Mr. Towne, in early life, resided with his uncle, Mr. William Blanchard, a trader in Wilmington, Mass.; but afterward he bought a farm in Bow, N. H., and worked on his farm in the summer and taught school in the winter, and hence he was often called "Master Towne." In 1830 he removed to Milford, N. H., and remained there during the residue of his life. He was an active member of the Baptist church in Milford, for forty-four years. He was an honorable man, a wise counsellor, and a highly respected citizen. He was a great reader, and voted at every election. He was first a federalist, then a whig, then a republican. He was also a temperance man. A few days before his death, his physician prescribed some stimulant. He took the prescription once, but the second time he said, "I had rather not take it. I have been a temperance man for ninety years.'

Mr. Towne married Miss Clarissa Hoyt, daughter of Capt. John Hoyt, of Concord, N. H. She was born Feb. 12, 1790, and was 84 years of age on the day of her husband's funeral. She is a woman of remarkable vigor of constitution, of sound judgment, and still manages her household affairs with the energy of her earlier days. At the funeral of Mr. Towne two beautiful sheaves of grain crossing each other, were laid upon the casket, surrounded by the words, "We mourn not the gathered grain." He was admitted to this society Dec. 4, 1871.

[Prepared by the Hon. LEWIS H. STEINER, M.D., Frederick, Md.]

RALPH DUNNING SMITH, son of Richard and Lovine (Hebert) Smith, was born in Southbury, Conn., October 28, 1804. On the father's side he was a descendant of John Smith, who with his wife Grace came to Milford about 1640. His mother was a daughter of Ebenezer Hebert, of Wyoming, Pa., and was born in Easton, Pa., during the flight of her mother from the great massacre at Wyoming.

He was fitted for college at the Weston (now Easton) academy, under the super