Essex County, Massachusetts - Biographical sketches (8 of 8 so headed), 1888

Biographical sketches

Charles Louis Flint, born in Middleton on the 8th of May 1824, was the second son of Jeremiah and Mary (Howard) Flint. His father was a farmer, and occupied a part of the estate that had been the ancestral inheritance for several generations.

The first American ancestor of this branch of the Flint family, Thomas Flint, is reported to have come from Wales about the year 1640, and to have settled soon after in what was then known as Salem village, now called Peabody. The farm he then acquired by purchase was held till recently by one of his lineal descendants. Charles I^. is of the seventh generation by direct descent from this agricultural colonist.

Like most farmers' sons, his early years were spent on the farm and in the district school, and were, of course, quite uneventful, given to acquiring the first rudiments of an education, and to the innumerable chores and lighter kinds of farm work which usually fjill to the lot of countrj^ boys. These occupations, though often irksome and gladly shunned as distasteful by most boys on the farm, really constitute by far the best foundation for the practical education of life. The influences of the farm are healthful, mentally, morally and physically. Other things being equal, that is with equal natural gifts, equal advantages for education, and equal opportunities for advancement and mental discipline, the boy on the farm will in the long run come out ahead of the boy in the city.

At the age of twelve, when scarcely able to realize the loss, came the great misfortune of his life - the death of a devoted mother. This led to some change in the iamily, and at the age of fourteen he went to live with an uncle, who was a large farmer, in the town of Norway, Oxford County, in Maine. There too, he enjoyed a few weeks ofschooling in the winter, and for the rest of the year worked diligently on the farm. The experience then acquired enabled him to s^jeak and write with clearness and intelligence on the practical as well as the scientific elements of agriculture in subsequent years of public and official toil. Among the few judicious friends with whom he there came in contact, and who inspired him with a desire to obtain a liberal education, was an excellent teacher, who had been unable to realize his own wishes in that direction, and by his advice, at the age of seventeen, young Flint repaired to Phillips Academy at Andover, a town adjoining his native town of Middleton, to prepare for college. Here, almost unaided, and in the midst of many obstacles arising from the want of means, and the necessity of relying wholly upon his own resources, he fitted for college in little over three years, and entered Harvard in 1845. It required a brave heart, a clear brain, a strong will and a high hope and trust in the future, with a stubborn determination to enter upon the activities of life with all the advantages of a thorough intellectual training, to lead a young man wholly dependent upon his own energy to enter upon a long and expensive course of education like that at Harvard College, but with native vigor, self-reliance and indomitable persistence, obstacles are apt to vanish as we approach them, and it is a question whether the very effort required to triumph over them does not result in a firmer, more compact and more complete manhood. " Where there's a will there's a way," and the energy that finds it has much to do in moulding the character, and gives increasing self-confidence to meet and overcome future difficulties which lie in the way of success in life. A busy brain can devise many ways to meet emergencies, and to work one's way through college, though hard and unpleasant enough at times, is not without its compensations. By writing for the press, by utilizing the vacations in framing essays, stories, poems, anything that the reading public was willing to pay for, the object was accomplished and he graduated, not without honor and free fron^ debt, in 1849.

In 1850 Mr. Flint entered the Dane Law School at Cambridge, and spent two years there in preparing for the profession of the law. Previous to this time he had competed for the Bowdoin prize of forty dollars for the best dissertation, open to the senior class in college, and had won it triumphantly against the strongest competition in his class, the subject assigned being "The Different Representations of the Character of Socrates, by Plato, Xenophon and Aristophanes." This essay, prepared under difficulties, gained for the earnest student the highest commendations from a wide circle of friends.

About the same time in his senior year in college, he had competed for the Boylston prize in declamation, and in this eflbrt had come off second best, receiving a second prize. While connected with the Law School he also competed for the post-graduate prize of fifty dollars for the best essay upon the " Representative System at different Times and in different Countries," and won it.

At the end of two years in the Law School, a part of which time he was connected as computer with the American Nautical Almanac office, then located at Cambridge, under the superintendence of Commodore, afterwards Rear Admiral Charles Henry Davis, he entered the office of a lawyer in New York City, studied the New York code of practice, and was admitted to the New York bar on examination in October, 1852.

The Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture was organized, as a department of State government by the Legis'ature of 1852. It was designed as a representative body, but ultimately connected with the civil government, having the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor and the Secretary of the Commonwealth as members ex nfficiis, three members to be appointed by the Executive for the purpose of bringing, so far as possible, a scientific element into the Board, and one delegate elected by each of the County Agricultural Societies, each member, when elected, to hold his office for three years. Since the original organization of the Board, the members ex offieiis have been increased by the addition of the president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, and the State Inspector of Fertilizers, both which positions were created subsequently to the establishment of the State Board of Agriculture.

After the organization of the Board, the first effort was to secure the services of a competent secretary. The position was thought to be of great importance, as the character, reputation and usefulness of the department would depend very largely upon its executive officer.

Mr. Flint had previously become somewhat identified with agriculture, and had gained some reputation from having written for and received two j^rizes for " Essays from the Essex County Agricultural Society," a diploma and a silver medal from the New York State Agricultural Society, etc., and the attention of the Board was thus naturally turned to him. A member of the Board having written to ask for his opinion as to what the duties of such a position ought to be, he replied at considerable length, without having the slightest idea that he had been thought of as a candidate. He was asked, soon after, to become a candidate, when he promptly and positively declined, on the ground that it would involve a complete and radical change of his plan for life, and that his education had not been designed as a preparation for such a life's work as its accei>tance would involve, and that his prospects in his position were too flattering to be given ujj for any salaried position. These objections were finally overcome by the committee appointed to consider and report upon a candidate, and after much persuasion and a full consultation of many judicious friends, he finally accepted the responsibility, and entered upon the performance of his duties as secretary on the 14th of February, 1853, spending the first few months, however, in the laboratory of the Sheffield Scientific School at New Haven, Conn.

Agricultural science and literature were then, as they always had been, in comparative neglect. Few agricultural works had been published in this country at that time, and most of those were reprints of English works, with little pretension to finish or beauty of style. The literature of the farm was highly discreditable as compared with what it is at the present time, and as compared with what it was in other departments of labor and of thought, and Mr. Flint determined to bring both the science and the literature of the subject into due prominence.

To accomplish this he planned a series of consecutive reports, with some special subject to be developed in each, and the scheme was carried out with only such modifications as were necessary to keep the reports within proper limits.

The fourth Report, for example, contained a practical treatise upon " Grasses and Forage Plants," which was subsequently made the basis of a separate work, which has passed through several editions, and had a wide distribution throughout the cnuntry. Hon, P. A. Chadbourne, President of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, said of it: " Mr. Flint's treatise embodies the most practical and scientific information on the history, culture and nutritive value of the grasses and the grains. His style of writing is plain, simple, forcible and judiciously adapted to the ends he has in view. The large number of illustrations of the different species of grasses are drawn with great care and accuracy, and greatly facilitate the study and identification of unknown specimens." A revised edition of the work appeared in 1887.

His next publication was a work of over 450 pages on " Milch Cows and Dairy Farming," which also passed through many editions and received the most intelligent praise for its {practical and scientific value. At the request of the State Board of Agriculture he, with George B. Emerson, prepared a " Manual of Agriculture for the use of Schools and Colleges," each writing one-half of the work. This has also passed through several editions.

In 1859, pursuant to a Resolve of the Legislature, he issued a new edition of Dr. Harris's admirable treatise on "Insects Injurious to Vegetation," with very numerous additions and illustrations. Neither pains nor labor was spared to secure the nearest possible approach to perfection, and the work commanded universal admiration as the finest specimen of printing and word-engraving ever produced in this country. All the illustrations were prepared under Mr. Flint's careful supervision.

In 1878, after holding the office for twenty-five years, Mr. Flint thought it desirable to tender his resignation, and, thanking the Board for the entire cordiality, confidence and unanimity with which the members had always co-operated with him, he did so. The re-*ignation was referred to a committee consisting of Hon. P. A. Chadbourne, president of Williams College; Hon. William S. Clark, president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College; and Messrs. Moore, of Concord and Phinuey, of Barnstable, and Wakefield, of Palmer ; who, after full consideration, submitted the following preamble and resolution :

" Wheeeas, Hon. Charles L. Flint has presented to the Board a statement concerning his connection with the same during the past twentyfive years, and has offered his resignation as secretary :

" Resolved, That the Board desires to express its high appreciation of the valuable services of Secretary Flint, and hereby earnestly requests him to withdraw his resignation and continue the good work in behalf of the agricultural interests of the commonwealth, in which he has achieved so enviable a reputation."

"Resolved, That the thanks and gratitude of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture are eminently due to the Hon. Charles L. Flint for the ahilitj' and fidelit3' with which he has discharged the duties of secretary for the last twenty-five years in a manner alike honorable to the commonwealth and beneficial to its people.

" Resolved, That we tender to Mr. Flint our personal acknowledgment for the courtesy and kindness which have ever characterized his intercourse with the Board, with the sincere desire that the remainder of his days may be as happy and prosperous as the past have been honorable and useful."

In May, 1879, Mr. Flint was unanimously elected president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College at Amherst, but without relinquishing his duties as secretary of the Board, He held the office one year, during which the college was freed from a burdensome debt.

But the annual reports to the Legislature, twentyseven of which Mr. Flint prepared, constituted an essential part of the work of the office. They were necessarily written and prepared out of regular office hours, and were chiefly the result of night-work, the constant calls at the office and the very extensive correspondence making it impracticable to do any connected literary woi'k in office hours. Of these re-

" These annual volumes, embracing in all an issue of more than two hundred and fifty thousand copies, have gone forth not only to the farmers of this commonwealth, but have been distributed throughout our own and foreign lands. They constitute a comprehensive library in themselves, embracing essays, reports and discussions on almost every subject in agriculture, and are eagerly sought for with every issue. These reports have greatly promoted the objects for which the Board was established, and extended its influence far and wide. No similar publication within my knowledge contains more practical and useful information for farmers. Complete sets have already become very valuable, and are more and more appreciated. By these reports young men have been stimulated to become farmers and by the example of the Board and the correspondence of its members, other States have been led to establish Stata Boards of Agriculture on the plan of ours."

Twelve thousand copies of these reports were published annually for many years and distributed throughout the State, while by a system of exchange with other States and countries, they have reached nearly every farm-house in New England, and found their way to almost every part of the civilized globe.

A few years ago the Chilian Government, in connection with an International Exposition held at Santiago, awarded and sent Mr. Flint a magnificent diploma and a beautiful bronze medal, in recognition of the high quality and value of his reports.

The salary attached to the office was never liberal. For the labor required and the re.sponsibility of the position it was extremely meagre. In 1880, having had a much " louder call," Mr. Flint resigned the office to assume the presidency of the New England Mortgage Security Company, a business corporation established to loan money upon real estate securities at the west and south.

Mr. Flint was married on the 14th of February, 1857, to Ellen Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph and Charlotte (Merriam) Leland, of Grafton, Mass. His children are, - 1, a daughter, Charlotte Leland, born December 1, 1858 ; 2, a son, Charles Louis, born March 9, 1861 ; 3, a second son, Edward Rawsou, born September 8, 1864.

Mrs. Flint died on the 25th of September, 1875. She was a direct descendant of Edward Rawson, secretary of the colony of Massachusetts Bay from 1650 to 1686, a period of thirty-six years.

Daniel Fuller

Daniel Fuller, son of Col. Archelaus and Betty Dale (Putnam) Fuller, and grandson of Benjamin and Mary Fuller, great-grandson of Benjamin and Sarah (Bacon) Fuller, great-great-grandson of Thomas Fuller, who came to this country in 1638, was born November 14, 1771 ; died April 5, 1855. He was a man of superior natural abilities, honest, upright and conscientious in his dealings. He was a farmer and or many years a town officer, and ever manifested a lively interest in its welfare. From time to time he held every oflSce of importance which a town can confer on a citizen.

In 1820 he was constituted and appointed to be one of the justices of the peace, within and for the county of Essex, for the term of seven years, by Gov. Brooks, by and with the advice and consent of the Council. Commit'sion renewed by Gov. Levi Lincoln, by and with the consent of the Council in 1833. Commission renewed by Gov. Marcus Morton, by and with the advice and consent of the Council in 1840. Commission renewed by Gov. George N. Brigg-*, by and with the advice and consent of the Council in 1847.

In politics he had been a Whig - died a Republican. He was a firm believer in the final restoration of all mankind to holiness and happiness.

At the age of fourteen he was a student at Phillips' Academy in Andover. His opportunity for a more full development of his mental energies was lost by the sudden death of his father, who was born May 4, 1727, in that part of Salem which was incorporated as a town and called Middleton in 1728.

His father (Archelaus) was a member of the first, second and third Provincial Congress. From the journal of the Provincial Congress it appears that he was a member of a committee over sixty times. In the Revolutionary War he served in the capacity of colonel, and while connected with the army was attacked by a disease of which he died, and was buried at a place in Cheshire County, N. H., called Charlestown No. 4, through which at that time the road from Boston to Quebec passed. He had been much honored and was much lamented. His earthly mission was comparatively short, ending in forty-nine years, three months and twenty-one days.

Their children were, - Archelaus, born February 12, 1799, received a medical education, settled as a physician in the town of Fairfield, Me., practiced in several towns in Kennebeck County. He married Elizabeth A. Craig, of Fayette, Me. She died May 6, 1874. They had seven children, all of whom died before the close of the year 1863. None were married. He passed away October 6, 1880 ; was buried in Albion, Me. Daniel, born February 2, 1801 ; died May 19, 1801. Nancy, born March 29, 1802; married Joseph W. Batchelder, of Topsfield, Mass. ; died August 6, 1842. He died May 19, 1887, in Topsfield. Sophronia, born December 19, 1803. Thomas, born November 29, 1806 ; was offered the command of a ship about to sail from Boston, Mass., but declined the office, and sailed in the capacity of mate for Rio Janeiro, December 4, 1830 ; since then his relatives have never heard from the ship nor from any who were on board; he was unmarried. George W., born October 4, 1807 ; removed to Galena, Illinois, and became a wholesale grocer. He married, first, Emeline Fowler, of Guilford, Ct. All their children died in infancy; married, second, Sarah W. Putnam, of Danvers. Their child, Jessie P., is totally blind. He died February 1, 1884.

Jeremiah, born June 17, 1809, cultivates the homestead acres which have descended through a long line of Fullers to him and his sister, Sophronia. He married Eunice L. Pike, of Ossipee, N. H., who died June 30, 1886. Sarah P., born August 23, 1811, married Nathaniel H, Johnson, of Haverhill, Mass., October 6, 1836 ; died August 6, 1838. He died July 29, 1864. Samuel, born November 25, 1814 ; died August 16, 1848. His integrity and kindness endeared him to those who made his acquaintance ; unmarried. Caroline, born May 17, 1817 ; died October 8,1821. Elbridge, born August 11,1816; died February 12, 1847; unmarried. Beloved and respected, he gave promise of a useful life.

Sisters and brother of Daniel Fuller. Betty, born February 6, 1760, married, first, Nehemiah Putnam, born October 14, 1753 ; died December 14, 1792. She next married Samuel Wilkins, November 13, 1796 ; he died September 11, 1803. She died August 25, 1838. Sarah, born February 27, 1762; married Eleazer Putnam, Esq., who died May 31, 1836 ; she died December 21, 1802. Mary, born January 6, 1764; married William Symonds, son of Joseph Symonds and Lucy Kimball ; she died September, 1833. Benjamin, born September 13, 1767 ; married Abigail, daughter of Dr. Silas Merriam, of Middleton. They removed to Norway, Me., and both ended their days there, she in March, 1838 ; he in March, 1850. In 1794 no roads had been located, but settlers cut down trees so that they could get from one to another. They went with an ox-wagon, one yoke of oxen and two horses.

David Stiles

David Stiles, son of the deacon of the same name, was born in Middleton, Massachusetts, June 19th, 1813. He received a common school education, and afterwards chose the profession of farrier, which he has pursued for fifty-three years in his native town. He has lectured on the subject in various places in Essex County, and once before the New England Agricultural Society in Boston. He has also written for the press on various subjects for more than fifty years, many of his articles being marked with originality of thought, and the one on " The Decay of Iron " being extensively copied. He has been especially interested in genealogical, historical and agricultural matters. In 1850 he obtained a United States patent on a hay and stalk cutter. He married Miss Rebecca Perry, of Danvers, by whom he had five children. He passed his golden wedding, April 21, 1886, and his wife died February 2, 1887. Mr. Stiles is more than ordinarily well acquainted with the history and interests of Essex County, and especially of the town of Middleton. He is a man of firm convictions, has always maintained a lively interest in public and church affairs, and is a good representative of our steady. New England country life.