Bank, and for a number of years President of the Seventh Ward Bank of New York. For fifteen years he was President of the Village Corporation of Flushing, and many years warden of St. George's Episcopal church. In politics he was a Democrat, and was elected to the State Legislature. and in 1845 he was a member of the House of Representatives at Washington, D. C., but declined to accept a renomination as he did the nomination for the office of Lieutenent-Governor of the state of New York. He d. Dec. 20, 1888, at his residence where his father died about the time he was born, in the residence as now seen, and known as "Willow Bank." His wife died there August 3, 1874. Both were interred at Flushing cemetery. Children of Hon. John W. and Mary (Bowne) Lawrence: *1-Caroline Bowne (Lawrence), b. Sept. 17, 1827, m. Hon. Henry Bedinger. *2-Eliza Southgate (Lawrence), b. Nov. 6, 1828, m. Armistead Tomson Mason Rust. *3-Mary Bowne (Lawrence), b. Sept. 28, 1830, m. Henry A. Bogert, Esq. *4-Emily (Lawrence) b. August 20, 1832, m. Charles Hamilton Shepard. *5-Ann Louise (Lawrence), b. Aug. 20, 1834, m. Rt. Rev. Thomas A. Jaggar. *6-Walter Bowne (Lawrence), b. Oct. 31, 1839, m. Annie Townsend. 7-Rebecca (Lawrence), b. Sept. 8, 1841, d. Jan. 10, 1848. *8-Isabella (Lawrence) b. Oct. 16, 1846, m. Lemuel Pendleton Dandridge. *9-Frances (Lawrence), b. Aug. 10, 1849, m. Rev. Frederick Brewerton Carter. *10-Robert Bowne (Lawrence), b. Dec. 1,1852, m. Eliza H. Clements. HENRY B. SMITH. 2 Rev. Henry Boynton Smith, D.D., LL. D., b. in Portland, Nov. 21, 1815, son of Henry and Arixene (Southgate) Smith, she a granddaughter of Dr. Robert and Mary (King) Southgate, was, from childhood, an invalid, yet he performed a masterly amount of labor. He was, in short, a wonderful man-a graduate of Bowdoin College, tutor, foreign traveler, country parson, newspaper contributor, then editor, book compiler, lecturer, church historian, philosopher, theologiast, college professor, a companion of the most learned of his generation, and yet, his name is seldom heard in the city of his birth or in Westbrook, the town in which his father, with his step-mother, resided, the inscription upon whose monument in the village cemetery at Saccarappa we have presented in a former article. And why is this state of forgetfulness so complete hereabouts? The youth is told that if he engages in the cause of his country and falls upon the battle field his name will be revered. Where is the "Hall of Fame" for such hereabouts? Are there even official records of names? In education, where is the record of the deserving? Where is the "Hall of Fame" located? The trumpet of fame over the name of Prof. Henry Boynton Smith is so seldom heard now-a-days that the name almost sleeps the sleep of utter forgetfulness, but it may yet be reclaimed, and Westbrook, as a municipality, can perform no wiser act than to cause the erection of a statue in front of the Public Library building as an object lesson of a public character of a worthy citizen of whom in original thought and literary labor few only are his peers. He printed sermons, essays, lectures, newspaper editorials and books compiled by him, and all while in feeble health, are too numerous for us to notice only in a general way,-a reference only to a few of the most salient points in his career can we give. When a mere child, and before his parents were aware of the fact, he could read with wonderful accuracy. His perceptions were quick, and his memory extremely retentive. At the age of thirteen he had assigned him for a composition the subject:— "Which has the most influence in society, wealth or knowledge?" John Neal, Esq., was present when the composition was read, and so struck was he with the ability displayed that Mr. Neal called at the lad's home and cccused the parents of assisting but was assured that the lad performed the whole labor unaided, and furthermore, it was the original, and not a copy of the draft, that was read. At the age of fourteen he kept a journal of his personal experiences, and in it is an account of his admission to Bowdoin College, then under fifteen years of age, and on the 23d day of July, 1830, he writes: "Here I am up at five o'clock, sitting at my desk in my chamber, writing a preface to it-(his journal.) It appears his father was in religious belief a Unitarian who attended Rev. Ichabol Nichols' meeting at the Portland First Parish and young Smith viewed as irrational the doctrines of total depravity and spiritual change, but a "revival" in college, while a student there, changed his views upon theological matters and he not only accepted the light of the "revival" but presented criticisms for publication upon "Scientific Tracts," entitled--"Moral Reforms," which were accepted, approved and praised by the radical Orthodox of the Congregational church, Dr. Cummings inviting him to contribute to the "Christian Mirror," the Congregational paper of the state. His college graduation part was entitled-"The Power of the Gospel," which was declared a masterly production. In the month of October, 1834, he entered the Theological Seminary at Andover, in order to prepare himself for the ministry, but commencing study at six in the morning and continuing till eleven at night soon produced a prostrating illness which required him to leave Andover, but he resumed study at Bangor. Finishing at Bangor he became a tutor in Greek and Librarian at Bowdoin, aged but twenty. In 1837, in May, he was a visitor at Philadelphia, and witnessed the scenes of rupture in the Presbyterian Church General Assembly, the healing of which division he was more instrumental than any other person in producing, thirty years later, in the same city and in the same church edifice. seven At Bowdoin College, March 4, 1837, he wrote, in referring to a weeks' vacation spent "at home" [Saccarappa] as follows: "I enjoyed myself in reading, writing, talking, laughing—and preaching --for [Rev.] Mr. Searle was part of the time disabled, and I filled his place [Rev. Mr. Searle was the Congregational clergyman at Saccarappa.] I like such extemporaneous trials for myself. I think the discipline does me good, and keeps my heart warm in the great work to which I have devoted myself wholly," etc. Then he spent a period of two or three years in Europe, the state of his health forbidding a continuance of his theological studies in this country, returning and arriving July 1, 1840. The following is from his diary: "Father was quite urgent that I should attend the Association [of Congregational ministers] and get a license, so I went to work on my sermon, and in about five hours had written one that I thought might do, for, though in point of style it had defects, yet it was sound in doctrine, scriptural, presented the grand reconciling truths of our dispensation; the text, I Cor. i. 30, -For of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto many us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.' "Well, on Tuesday morning I went to New Gloucester, [Me.] where the Association met. The examination came on after dinner. They found me Orthodox and gave me my commission. More than twenty ministers were present." It appears that he had kept school at Walnut Hill and was there to preach to the people when he wrote the above, and added as follows: "I had four invitations to preach this Sunday and five for the next but have refused all, for this I came here. I know the people. A beautiful new church is here." Dec. 29, 1842, he was ordained as a Congregational minister at West Amesbury, Mass., and assumed the pastoral duties of the position. Of the examination one who was present remarked: "It seems rather doubtful whether he was before the council or the council before him." Oct. 10, 1847, he preached his farewell sermon at West Amesbury. During the time he was there he not only interested himself in local improvements of the neighborhood, but delivered many college lectures before college and other societies. In 1850, at the age of 36, the chair of Church history was tendered him by the Union Theological Seminary of New York city, which, after much deliberation, he accepted. His first lecture in that institution "commanded the admiration of Christians throughout the land." In 1853 there was added to his labors in the Seminary the chair of Systematic Theology, the duties of the two positions he performed until June, 1855. In 1858 the editorship of the Presbyterian Quarterly Review, published in Philadelphia, was tendered him, he having become a Presbyterian, which position he accepted in addition to his school cares-and he made a lively denominational paper. In 1859 he again visited Europe, landing in New York on the return trip, Sept. 27, of that year. His "Tables of Church History" were now printed, a work of great magnitude, containing more than thirty thousand references, and he smiled over a rich harvest of public approval of his labors on this branch of his work. One critic wrote: "The Tables are extraordinarily rich. It indeed has been a most laborious task, requiring a great deal of reflection, to present a general view of the rich contents of history, sacred and profane, you have done." Of his writings during the War of the Rebellion in favor of the cause of the Union, George Bancroft, the historian, said: "I read nothing in our contest more instructive and more satisfactory." Of an oration delivered at a Middletown, [Ct.,] commencement, the New York Tribune said: "Profoundity altogether too deep for a popular audience;" to which he added-"so much for trying to enlighten people." "Amid all his work in the Seminary and in the church his literary labors were manifold. His pen was never idle. He was constantly at work on translations, reviews of books, sometimes elaborate articles for different periodicals." Prof. Smith, in the spring of 1854, purchased the residence numbered thirty-four, East 25th street, New York city, where he ever after resided till his death. In 1864, George Bancroft, the historian, proposed a donation to pay off the mortgage, saying he would contribute $500, and June 16th, of that year, a bank check of $5,100 was sent the Professor, Mr. Bancroft pronouncing publicly, Prof. Smith "most learned man in his line ever produced." At Hudson, Ohio, July 14, the same year, Prof, Smith wrote: "This college made me LL. D. yesterday!" Of notices of him recorded the previous year we select the following: After preaching in Portland, he went out on Monday to Prout's Neck, Scarboro, a favorite resort of his, ten miles distant. "He took his family one day, to the old home of his grandfather where his uncle, Hon. Horatio Southgate, still resided. (We have noticed the place). With the eager delight of a boy he went round with them, up stairs and down, and into the large barn, to the garden and orchard, to the fir-grove (hemlock) and the clear, flowing brook, and above it the picturesque ledge of rock I cut with the initials of many a househeld name. After the death of his uncle, the following year, all these passed into the hands of strangers." In 1869, accompanied by his wife and son, on the 24th of February, in extreme feebleness he again sailed for Europe, returning, landed in New York, Oct. 14, 1870. He took special pleasure in fitting up the library and study of his New York home. Of it Rev. Marion R. Vincent, D. D., wrote as follows: "Ah! those hours in the library! Who that has enjoyed them can ever lose their fragrance? Who can forget that room, walled and double walled with books, the baize-covered desk in the corner by the window, loaded with the fresh philosophic and theologic treasures of the European pens, and the little figure in the long gray wrapper seated there, the figure so frail and slight that, as one of his friends remarked, it seems as thought it would not be much of a change for him to take on a spiritual body; the beautifully moulded brow, crowned with its thick, wavy, sharplyparted iron gray hair, the strong, aquiline profile, the restless shifting in his chair, the nervous pulling of the hand at the moustache, as the stream of talk widened and deepened, the occasional start from his seat to pull down a book or to search for a pamphlet, how inseparably these memories twine themselves with those of high debate and golden speech and converse on the themes of Christian philosophy and Christian experience." Prof. Henry Boynton Smith m. Jan. 5, 1843, Elizabeth Lee Allen, born at Hanover, N. H., Sept. 3, 1817, dau. of William Allen, D. D., who served as President of Dartmouth and Bowdoin Colleges and who finally settled and died at Northampton, Mass., Aug. 16, 1868, and where his remains were interred. Prof. Smith died at his New York residence February 7, 1877; she, in Lakewood, N. J., Dec. 5, 1898, at the home of their daughter-the wife of Rev. Charles H. McClellan, D. D. Of the much that was said at his funeral exercises which were holden on the 9th of February in the New York Madison Square Presbyterian Church we can present but a few lines from the addresses of Rev. Dr. Prentiss as follows: Our "Should the story of his noble career ever be fully told, his name will be enrolled, by general consent, among those of the most useful and most remarkable men of his generation country has produced no theologian who combined in a higher degree the best learning, literary and philosophical culture, wise, discriminating thought, and absolute devotion to Christ and His kingdom." In the ancient Northampton, Mass., cemetery may be seen upon his tombstone transported from his native State of Maine, an inscription that reads as follows: In Pace Domini. HENRY BOYNTON SMITH, D. D., "In Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption." The epitaph is from 1 Cor. 1. 30,the text of his first sermon, which was delivered in 1840, at Walnut Hill, North Yarmouth. Children of Prof. Henry B. and Eliza beth E. (Allen) Smith: *1-Arixene Southgate (Smith), b. in Amesbury, Mass., Nov. 2, 1843, m. Col. Charles W. Woolsley. *2-Maria Malleville Wheelock (Smith), b Dec. 15, 1845, m. Rev. Charles H. McClellan. *3-William Allen (Smith), b Aug. 16, 1848, m. Zilpha I. W. Cutter. *4-Henry Goodwin (Smith), b. January 8, 1860, m. Helen R. For man. FREDERICK S. SMITH. b. 3. Frederick Southgate Smith, in Portland January 26, 1817, son of Henry and Arixene (Southgate) Smith, a brother to the preceding and grandson of Dr. Robert Southgate, m. Emma Pike. He was a civil engineer, held office in the Patent Office at Washington, D. C., but resigned on account of ill health and died at the home of his wife's family in Northern Pennsylvania Oct. 17, 1861, of consumption, and his remains "lie in a little wood-sheltered nook of the farm on the border of the wood-a beautiful spot. The bearers carried him there relieving each other on the way. At the grave they sang a resurrection hymn." He is alluded to as a college-room companion of his brother, Henry B., at Bowdoin College. He left a son. HORATIO S. SMITH. 5. Horatio Southgate Smith, M. D., b. in Portland July 28, 1820, a brother to the preceding and child of Henry and Arixene (Southgate) Smith, was a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1840, and from Bowdoin Medical School in 1843. He was a practicing physician in Brooklyn, N. Y. He married in Boston, Mass., May 16, 1849, Miss Susan Dwight Munroe, dau. of Edmund and Sophia (Sewall) Wood. He died in Brooklyn, N. Y., April 26, 1876. The widow resides on Appleton street, Cambridge, Mass. Children, born in Brooklyn, N. Y.: |