Memoir of Solomon Willard, architect and superintendent of the Bunker Hill Monument

Front matter

MEMOIR

OF

ARCHITECT.

CHAPTER I. Introductory — Boston

Mr. Willarcl not a native of Boston ; Liberal and generous character of the people of Boston ; Their encouragement of worth and merit ; Eminent names in the history of the city ; Mr. Willard belongs to the class of " self-made" men ; The value of such men and the lessons they leave to the young ; Mr. Willard's cultivation, &c. 17 — 20

Chapter II

Mr. Willard's Ancestors — His Early Life.

His coming to Boston — Birth and parentage ; His ancestry ; Major Simon Willard, from England ; His arrival in this country, in 1634 ; His public character and services ; His death at Charlestown ; Major Willard Moore at Bunker Hill ; Rev. Samuel Willard, President of Harvard University ; His personal characteristics ; Solomon Willard's Early Life ; His employments and ingenuity ; His perseverance and personal characteristics. 21 — 26

CHAPTER III. His Employment in Boston

Commenced as a Carpenter ; His economy and success ; Work on the Exchange Coffee House ; Improvement of his mind and purchase of Books ; Working as a Draughtsman and Carver in wood ; Work for Peter Banner and Charles Bulfinch, architects ; Carving of a Colossal Eagle for the Custom House ; The Eagle on the Beacon Hill Monument ; The Beacon and Monument ; Reerection of the Beacon Hill Monument suggested — Mr. Willard's progress in Carving ; Carving of figure-heads and a bust of Washington. 27 — 33

STATEMENT OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV. Visits to the South — Statue of Washington

Mr. Willard visits the South ; Spends three mcnths in Richmond, engaged in Carving, &c. ; Also at Baltimore and New York ; Proposed Statue of Washington ; Model in Wax after Houdon's Statue at Richmond ; Destroyed in its transportation from Richmond to Boston, and the undertaking relinquished ; Chantrey's Statue at the State House ; Visit to Mr. Rush at Philadelphia ; Drawing of the " Water Nymph" ; Mr. Rush's compliment; Alpheus Carey's opinion of Mr. Willard. 34 — 37

CHAPTER V. Modelling — The Capitol at Washington

Letter from Mr. Charles Bulfinch ; Visit to Washington ; Model of the Capitol ; Exhibited to Mr. Willard's friends at Washington, (not Boston, as in the text) ; Invitation to carve the ceilings of the Congressional Rooms declined ; Rooms in New York ; Models of the Pantheon and Parthenon. 38 — 41

Chapter VI

Carving in Stone — St. Paul's Church — Teaching.

New studies ; Carving marble panels for Mr. David Sears ; Stone work on St. Paul's church ; Its portico and pediment ; Proposed Scripture piece ; the U. S. Branch Bank at Boston ; Teaching ; Designing and building Suffolk County Court House. 42 — 44

CHAPTER VIL

New Heating Apparatus — The Hot-Aik Furnace.

Pursuits in Boston ; Building and warming houses ; Franklin's fire-place and Count Rumford's cooking range ; Use of Sea coal ; Development of coal in this country ; Invention of a hot-air furnace, and its introduction ; English inventions ; Furnaces for the capitol at Washington. 45 — 51

CHAPTER VIII. Boston Mechanics' Institution

Harmony between the Mercantile and Mechanical professions ; The spirit of the Revolution exemplified in the formation of the Mechanics' Institution ; Officers and members ; Mr. Willard one of the Vice Presidents ; Mr. Everett's lecture, 1827 ; Mr. Webster's lecture, 1828 ; After ten years of exist ence its effects given to the Mass. Charitable Mechanic Association. 52 — 57

STATEMENT OF CONTENTS.

Chapter IX

Mr. Willard's great work — Bunker Hill Monument. His idea of the work and devotion to it ; Incorporation of the Bunker Hill Monument Association ; Address to the Public ; Plans for the monument ; Mr. Willard elected a member of the Association ; Circular of the Standing Committee ; Measures to obtain subscriptions ; Address to the Selectmen of the towns in the Commonwealth. 58 — 69

CHAPTER X. Selection of a Design for the Monument

Designs by Mr. Willard ; The corporation propose a monument 220 feet high ; Another plan by Mr. Willard, lor public exhibition ; Premium offered for a design ; Thanks to Mr. Willard for his plans ; Letter from Mr. Everett and reply ; Discussion of a design ; First, Second and Third Committees ; Final Report on the subject ; Letter from Mr. Willard ; Report of Building committee ; Dimensions of the proposed obelisk. 70 — 81

Chapter XI

Authorship of the Design for the Monument. Imperfect account of the proceedings respecting the design ; The premium not awarded ; Employment of Alexander Parris ; Letter to George Ticknor ; Inscription plate and the name of the architect on it ; Robert Mills's letter and claim ; Remarks on the subject. 82 — 92

CHAPTER XII. Ceremony of Laying the Corner-Stone

Mr. Willard not engaged ; Presence of General Lafayette ; National pride and popular interest ; Numbers of people assembled ; Procession ; Oration by Daniel Webster ; The corner-stone. 93 — 97

CHAPTER XIII. Election of Architect and Superintendent

Mr. Willard chosen October, 1825, by the Building Committee ; His qualifications for the work ; The contract with him ; His letter to George Ticknor, proposing a plan for doing the work ; His "salary" and preparations for commencing the work. 98 — 106

CHAPTER XIV. Purchase of the Bunker Hill Quarry

Mr. Willard's explorations for a quarry ; His idea of the work ; Purchase of the Bunker Hill Quarry ; Its distance from Bunker Hill ; Remarks of the Building Committee on the purchase ; Estimate of a quarry ; The Director's estimate of an architect. 107 — 112

STATEMENT OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XV. The Railway Enterprise and Contract

Introduction of the Railway system into the country ; Petition for an act of Incorporation ; Act approved by the Governor, 1826 ; The contract to carry the stone to Charlestown ; Dissatisfaction with the Railway. 113 — 118

CHAPTER XVI. Preliminary work on the Monument

Preparations for proceeding with the work ; Opening and clearing the ledge, and making roads ; Expenses of dressing stone ; Expiration of the architect's engagement ; His letter and plans for the work ; A meeting of the building committee at Quincy, and satisfaction with the work. 119 — 123

CHAPTER XVII. New Contract and Instructions

The new contract with the Architect on a salary ; His intention to have his expenses paid and not a salary ; Instructions for the work. 124 — 127

CHAPTER XV1I1.

Misunderstanding and Reconciliation.

It is not intended to revive misunderstandings ; Various causes of dissatisfaction ; The architect gives up the work ; Note from Amos Lawrence and his reply ; Letter from General Dearborn ; The architect returns to the work ; Subscriptions of the architect and the workmen. 128 — 134

CHAPTER XIX. Legislative aid to the Monument

Extract from the message of Governor Eustis ; Grant of the Legislature in hammering stone at the State Prison ; Authority to the corporation to take land for its purposes : The cannons " Hancock" and " Adams" deposited in the monument ; The legislative grant changed to a grant in money : Fun among the dealers in lottery tickets in Boston. 135 — 140

CHAPTER XX. Contracts and work on the Monument

The making of several contracts for different portions of the work ; Progress of the work in 1827 ; The cost of a course stated ; Experiments and cosl of the work ; Progress in 1828 ; Vote complimentary to the architect ; Letter from Amos Lawrence ; The architect's original plans. 141 — 154

Chapter XXI

Suspension of the work — Discharge of Mr. Willard — Proposed Sale of the Land.

Progress of the work and the conclusion arrived at ; Disadvantage of inadequate means ; The Land mortgaged and the work suspended ; Annual meeting of the Association, 1829 ; New Building Committee ; Letter from General Dearborn to the architect ; Laying out the Land ; Amos Lawrence's desire to save the whole battle-field ; His remarks on the subject. 155 — 161

Chapter XXII

Difficulties in Enterprises — Plans for the prosecution of the Work — 1830.

Difficulties and obstacles in enterprises ; Probable mistake of the Directors ; Plans for resuming the work ; Mrs. Sarah J. Hale's effort and its failure ; Address of Edward Everett and a new appeal to the legislature ; Pamphlet list of contributors and act of incorporation. 162 — 166

CHAPTER XXIIL

Interruption in the Government — Efforts of the Mechanics' Association — 1831 — 1833 Annual meeting, 1831 ; Eruption of a political party into the association ; They left the work as they lound it ; Annual meeting, 1832 ; Efforts of the Mechanics' Association ; Mr. Everett's Address, 1833. 167 — 172

Chapter XXIV

Report of the Committee — Mr. Willard's Review of it.

Report of the sub-committee of the Mechanics' Association ; Its statements reviewed by the architect in a letter to Mr. Sullivan. 173 — 185

Chapter XXV

Effort of the Mechanics' Association — Sale of the Land : 1834 to 1839.

Recommencement of the work ; Mr. Willard again employed ; Report on the sale of the land ; Land sold. [Note : Visits of President Jackson and Henry Clay to Bunker Hill. Addressed by Mr. Everett.] 186 — 190

Chapter XXVI

New efforts for completing the Monument — The Ladies' Fair : 1S40 to 1843.

Unfinished condition of the monument felt by the people ; Authority for holding a Fair ; The Ladies' Fair and its successful results ; Donations of Amos Lawrence and Judah Touro ; Raising the cap-stone. 191 — 196

STATEMENT OF CONTENTS.

Chapter XXVII

Celebration of the Completion of the Monument — 1843.

Celebration of 1818 ; President Tyler and his Cabinet present ; Mr. Webster's Oration — Extracts ; " The work is done," &c. Amos Lawrence. [Note : Death of Hugh S. Legare and Phineas Johnson.] 197 — 203

CHAPTER XXV1IL.

Cost of the Bunker Hill Monument.

Considerations on the cost of the Monument; Colonel Baldwin's estimate and Mr. Willard'a remarks upon it ; His statement of the actual cost of the work ; Remarks from his published book. 204 — 213

CHAPTER XXIX. Location and Description of Bunker Hill Monument

Charlestown a peninsula with three hills ; Location of the monument and the views from the hill ; Its object and purposes ; Description of the monument and its parts ; The completed monument satisfactory to the Directors ; Its height and the dimensions of its parts. 214 — 224

Chapter XXX

Mr. Willard as Architect and Builder — 1824 — 1835.

His duties at the quarry and the hill ; U. S. Branch Bank ; The monument at Concord ; Rev. Dr. Ripley ; Norfolk County Court House ; Harvard Monument ; Mr. Willard in the Stone business ; Survey of a railroad to Brattleborough ; Building of Bowdoin-street church ; Contracts in New Bedford ; Building of the Court House in Boston. 225 — 230

CHAPTER XXXI. New York Merchants' Exchange — 1836 — 1841

Contract for Stone and correspondence ; Organization of workmen on stone work ; Management of the quarry ; Prejudice among the dealers ; Visit of the President of the Exchange Company to the quarry ; Number of workmen employed and amount of stone quarried ; Number of columns and their cost ; Completion of the work ; Visits to New York. 231 — 237

STATEMENT OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXXILI.

The Stone Business — Me. Willard as a Farmer.

Objects in engaging in the Stone business ; Jealousy of dealers ; Success of his efforts in introducing Granite ; Boston Merchants' Exchange ; The Hall Cemetery ; Engaging in Agricultural pursuits. 238 — 242

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Introduction of Granite and Machinery.

Use of large blocks of Granite and improvement in architecture ; Dry Docks, Astor and Tremont Houses, Blocks of Stores, &c. ; Introduction of machinery, (with illustrations, 1, 3, 4 and 5.) 243 — 249

CHAPTER XXXV.

Closing Labors of Mr. Willard's Life — His death.

Continued residence in Quincy ; Granite paving-stones ; Gliddon's Lectures ; Savings Bank in New York ; Town House in Quincy ; School house in West Quincy ; Building a road to the " new state" — the last labor in which Mr. Willard engaged ; His sudden death at the age of 77 years 8 months ; His funeral obsequies ; Respect of his townsmen towards him. 250 — 255

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Personal Appearance and Character of Mr. Willard.

His thoughtful and studious habits ; Faithfulness ; Standing as a workman ; Cultivation of his intellectual and physical faculties ; Personal appearance ; The charge of eccentricity; Interest in West Quincy ; The " Rejected Column;" Evidences of his skill, industry and benevolence. 256 — 261

APPENDIX — J LU STRATION 8.

Appendix

1. Beacon Hill Monument.

2. Willard Memoir — Letter to the President of the

Monument Association. 3s First Keport of the Committee.

4. Public Monuments in Massachusetts.

5. Statuary in Massachusetts.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

View of Bunker Hill Monument — From a Photograph. View of Beacon Hill Monument — From a painting by Sully.

1. Diagram of the First Course and Corner- Stone (°) of Bunker

Hill Monument.

2. Sectional View of Bunker Hill Monument.

3. Diagram of the Lifting Jack, — with side, interior and front

views of the same.

4. Diagram of the Pulling Jack, for removing large and heavy

blocks of stone.

5. Diagram of the Hoisting Jack, for loading columns, pilas-

ters and other heavy blocks.

MEMOIR

OF

SOLOMON WILL ARD.

Chapter I. Introductory — Boston

Solomon Willard was not a native but a voluntary citizen of Boston; and although at one time disposed to take up his residence in another city, and actually locating himself there, he soon returned to Boston as his most congenial home.

Bostonians are proud of their city, its history and its honorable names in the various walks of business, in public and private life. Her citizens have been distinguished as patriots and heroes, and professionally as lawyers, statesmen, clergymen, and in the departments of art, science and literature. They are known in history and biography, and bear a fame down to posterity as enduring as language, which, whatever may be said of the self-complacency of the people, will forever justify the right of the city to appreciate its own. It is a testimonial to her liberality and the generous nature of her people that no distinctions are made, in the award of merit or in the contest of excellence, between native and voluntary citizens ; those of the household and those who seek its shelter and its consideration. The road 3

MEMOIR OF SOLOMON WILLARD.

to distinction has been ever open to all competitors, titled or not titled, and merit, made more apparent by the obstacles it has to encounter, is assured of its position and its honor. Pretension everywhere has its achievements and for a time revels in success, but true worth always finds its appreciation and reward among an intelligent people. It may not be entirely peculiar, but it is deemed characteristic of the people of Boston, that those who have come into her fold have found as ready employment, consideration and honor, as those born into it. This is her early and later history, and numerous illustrations, more or less conspicuous, are to be found in her annals. Commendable as this may be in her life and honorable to her judgment, her generosity and her patriotism, it is almost too much to believe that mistakes or omissions have not happened in which injustice has been done to worthy motives and a reasonable ambition. But as the rule, encouragement and appreciation have been bestowed upon all who have taken up their abode with her people, whether coming to them over the hills of New England or the waves of the Atlantic. The guerdon of learning, the stamp of genius, the odor of sanctity, the oriflamme of patriotism, have been recognized by the citizens of Boston, more readily and more surely than any hereditary claims to position or consequence, or the flaunting of any token of imperial favor. And not this alone, not merely achieved prominence or distinction, but humble effort, immature merit, aspiring hopefulness, in science or art, in learning or labor, have rarely failed to meet that encouragement which rightly and earnestly directed effort is entitled to receive.

Boston has honored herself in this : The list of worthy names which adorns her history, of men who have ornamented her society, directed her councils, represented her in the state and federal governments, graced and honored her professions, promoted her wealth and prosperity as merchants and mechanics, and who have in a more than poetic sense, lived in her life, includes those of many who were not born on her soil and inherited none of her greatness though they now bear a proud share in it. Revere and

MEMOIR OF SOLOMON WILLARD.

Franklin were her's ; Hancock and Otis were her's ; Samuel Adams and the Phillipses, the Jacksons, the Sullivans and the Lowells, were her's ; but the names of Warren, Adams, Quincy, Dexter, Gerry, Mason, Story, Webster, Bowditch, Choate, the Lawrences and others, and many more among the living, are her's only by voluntary residence and adoption : in the whispered words of another to our private ear, u they had their nests in the woods." She has welcomed and nurtured and honored these, as her own children, and they have faithfully given back to her their labors, their success, their thoughts, their unforgotten names, and side by side with her own, and as her own, they stand upon the pages of her history. Thay are no less than others, her jewels, and form with them her chaplet of fame, her constellation of patriotic and high-souled men.

The subject of this memoir, in other countries, where other laws prevail, where different institutions exist, where merit attaches to position, or is compelled to seek it for countenance and support, would hardly be considered as entitled to this distinction, by the higher classes, nor would it be demanded by those less favored who could not bestow it. The class, — it seems as though we might almost say race, — to which Mr. Willard most unequivocally belongs, though not wholly unknown in some other of the civilized and progressive nations, is believed to be peculiar to our own country, born with its birth — existing even before its birth as a nation — and growing with its growth, with a vigor which proves its congeniality, if not its indigenousness to the soil. The laws, it is true, or the absence of them, have undoubtedly something to do with this : neither making or allowing any distinctions between elder and younger sons, or men as men ; but leaving every one at liberty to seek his own improvement, promote his own welfare, work out as it were, under God alone, his own destiny, making his mark if he can, or writing his full name as he may, upon the page of history or the scroll of fame. Born, it may be, in obscurity or retirement, with no inherited claim to prominence, often with no education but that furnished

MEMOIR OF SOLOMON WILLARD.

by a half yearly public school ; with no endowment of wealth or prestige of position ; in fact often amidst deprivation, labor and hardship — those parents of perseverance and skill — men among us have worked their way to high positions of usefulness and honor, — as if the very point from which they started, and the way they were compelled to travel, were alike necessary to that developement of energy and intellect which has made them men among men equal with the highest peer of them all. The lives of such men are of great advantage to community, in all the departments of science, learning, literature and the arts of life, for they are inventive and progressive men ; and the lessons they afford are by no means the least of the benefits they confer upon the whole human family. They adorn the times in which they live, and leave, besides the wealth of their intellect, an example to be followed by succeeding generations, which the historian of men should not fail to record.

Mr. Willard was one of this class of men and minds — so received, so welcomed, so encouraged, so appreciated by the people of Boston. He was endowed by nature with a mind of original mechanical and artistic thought, combining tact and talent, which were developed by self-effort and judicious self-cultivation, — some of processes and means and results of which we shall see and endeavor to illustrate in the course of this narrative of his life and labor.

MEMOIR OF SOLOMON WILLARD.

Chapter II

MR. WILLARD'S ANCESTORS — HIS EARLY LIFE.

Mr. Willard came to Boston in early life, a "rough ashlar," to seek employment, to learn a trade, labor and obtain an honest living, — and see, as many others have done and thought, what shall come of it. Not as "waiting for something to turn up," but rather to turn something up and see what activity, energy and industry, directed by the best lights open to him, might be able to accomplish.

He was born at Petersham, Worcester County, Massachusetts, on the 26th of June, 1783. His father, known as Deacon William Willard, was a native of Biddeford, Maine, and his mother, Katherine Wilder, of Lancaster, Massachusetts. They were married November 22, 1763. William Willard was the son of Rev. Samuel Willard of Biddeford, who was the son of Maj. John Willard of Port Royal, Jamaica, and grandson of Rev. Samuel Willard, D. D. pastor of the Old South Church and Vice President of Harvard College. As the last named Samuel was a son of Major Simon Willard, the first emigrant and military leader of his time, Solomon Willard, the subject of this memoir, was a direct descendant from that noted man, of the sixth generation, as follows : 1. Simon, the first emigrant ; 2. Samuel, the Vice President of Harvard College ; 3. John, of Jamaica, trader ; 4. Samuel, of Biddeford ; 5. William, of Petersham ; 6. Solomon, the architect.

William Willard had two brothers, Rev. John Willard, D. D.

t of Stafford, Connecticut, and Rev. Joseph Willard,* the fourteenth President of Harvard College, father of Joseph Willard, Clerk of the Superior Court, Suffolk Co., at the present time, (1863,) and author of the "Willard Memoir." William was the father of eleven children, and Solomon was the youngest but one : two of them died in early life. The Rev. Samuel Willard, of Deerfield, known as the Blind Preacher, and yet remembered by many persons in this vicinity, who have listened to his discourses with peculiar interest, was a brother of Solomon. His blindness was caused by grief and over-use and a similar cause brought the same deprivation upon his son. His familiarity with the Bible and Psalm Books was remarkable, and his memory was so retentive and firm that he was able, with slight preparation, to perform all the services of the pulpit without authorizing a suspicion of his blindness.

Major Simon Willard, above mentioned, was a native of Horsmonden, County of Kent, England, and was baptized on the Tth of April, 1605. He came to this country with his sister Margery and his half brother George, in the year 1634, and was three times married — his second and third wives being near relatives of President Dunster, of Harvard University. It seems that he held a military commission in England. Soon after his arrival here he was engaged in the public service, and besides filling numerous civil offices, as a military teacher and leader served the colony for nearly forty years. He first settled at Cambridge ; was the principal purchaser of Concord from the Indians ; removed from Concord to Lancaster ; thence to Groton — and finally to Charlestown, where he died. He was a leading man in all these towns, and a large landholder, having received several grants of land for his various public services.

* This uncle of Solomon Willard was inaugurated as President of the College on the 19th of December, 1781, under Governor Hancock, and held the office until his death, September l£th, 1804, within a few days of the coming of his nephew to seek his fortune in Boston.

MEMOIR OF SOLOMON WILLARD.

It would require a large space simply to enumerate the various public offices held, and public duties performed, by Major Simon Willard, during the forty years of his public life. He was 1 Clerk of the Writs' at Concord, for nineteen years, by election ; deputy and representative for fifteen years ; assistant for twenty years. He was the surveyor of arms ; superintendent of the fur trade ; commissioner and negotiator for numerous important purposes relative to towns, boundaries, the Indians, &c. He was for more than twenty years in command of the Middlesex Regiment ; for much of the time on the frontier towns, defending them against the incursions of the Indians ; was the leader of the expedition against Ninigret, the Narraganset sachem, and near the time of his death, unable to discharge his civil duties by reason of his military services, he was actively engaged in King Philip's War. Twice he had the subject of "the Concord and Sudbury meadows" in his hands — an important interest, not yet after the lapse of more than two centuries, finally disposed of. There is scarcely any kind of service needed of a public man in those early times, that Major Willard did not render to the colony : in making and administering the laws, preparing for war and conquering peace, regulating trade, settling controversies and town difficulties, buying and dividing lands, &c. His house at Groton having been burnt by the Indians, in March, 1675, his family fled to Charlestown, where he died on the 24th day of April, 1676, (4th of May, N. S.) Major Willard was the father of seventeen children, and his descendants of the 6th generation are estimated at 10,976 ; of the 8th generation, 239,057.

In speaking of one of his descendants, Major Willard Moore, it is said, "At the battle of Bunker Hill, he was a Major in a new regiment raised at Cambridge, of which Colonel Doolittle was commander. In the absence of the Colonel, the command of the regiment devolved upon Major Willard Moore. 'He was early in the field, and took a prominent post of danger. . . . He was wounded, and fell in the second charge of the enemy upon

MEMOIR OF SOLOMON WILLARD.

the lines. He received another wound through the body, as his men were carrying him from the field, which proved fatal.' At the foot of that hill reposed in peace the remains of his great-grandfather, Major Simon Willard."*

The Rev. Samuel Willard, D. D., was the seventh President of Harvard College, the General Court, by its votes having excluded President Increase Mather and appointed Dr. Willard, on the same day, 6th of September, 1701. He held the office under the title of Vice President, for more than six years, and discharged the duties of the office to great acceptance. "Willard was quiet, retiring, phlegmatic and unpretending. His life had been devoted to professional research and pastoral duties. His study was the scene of his private labors ; his church the theatre of his public action. These had constituted a sphere of usefulness, to which his ambition had been limited ; which he did not quit until after repeated legislative applications, for one higher and wider, and then with reluctance, "f

It is remarkable how nearly some of these personal characteristics were reproduced in the subject of this memoir, a hundred years later. The Doctor's independence of character, as illustrated in the following extract, was not less conspicuous in Mr. Solomon Willard : "Amid the agitations consequent on that insanity of the age, denominated 'The Salem Witchcraft,' the conduct of Willard was marked by prudence, firmness and courage. He neither yielded to the current, nor feared to cast the weight of his opinion publicly in opposition to the prevailing delusion ; an independence the more remarkable and honorable, as Stoughton and Sewall, two of the Judges of the Court of trial, men of great influence in the Province, both his personal friends, and the latter a principal member of his church, were deeply infected by the distemper of the times. "| He died on the 12th of

* Willard Memoir, or Life and Times of Major Simon Willard, by Joseph Willard, p. 391. 1858.

tQuincy's History of Harvard University. $ Ibid.

MEMOIR OF SOLOMON WILLARD.

September, 1707. His son Josiah held the office of Tutor in the University, and was afterwards Secretary of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, earning in this office the sobriquet of "the good Secretary."

Of Solomon Willard's early life we have only some general information ; and this, of small importance in most cases, is perhaps less essential in Mr. Willard's, whose early career was of a most common character — and yet, bred a man of industry, perseverance, self-reliance and energy, he was sure to leave an impress of himself upon whatever he touched. His brother, Cephas Willard, of Petersham, writes of him, uMy brother had no advantages but a common school of that day. He acquired easily and made good proficiency. His employment was mainly agricultural. His father was a carpenter and joiner, and in dull weather and in winter, Solomon was employed in the shop, — not with the expectation of learning a trade, but to fill up his time in some useful employment. He was very ingenious and would perform skilfully many things in the mechanic arts. He labored upon the farm until about the first of August after his majority, and in October, 1804, he left home for Boston."

These few lines indicate Mr. Willard's birth, parentage and education — such as belong to the history of thousands of young men born and nurtured, i. e. made useful, in New England. — There is nothing peculiar in it — nothing important, unless it be in the general absence of all advantage of position, means and influence, sometimes supposed to be necessary to success. It is no disparagement to the boy — no reflection upon the interest of the parent — to say that, besides being occupied "in some useful employment," he was left to develope himself, like a tree in the field, expected and permitted, in due time, to bear its own fruit, with such care alone as the husbandman can give it in common with the rest.