History of Stockbridge, (Berkshire County) Massachusetts United States of America

Our database does not include an historic photo for Stockbridge, (Berkshire County) Massachusetts, do you have one you would like to contribute? Contact Us!

Biographies:

Josiah Brewer, missionary, was born at South Tyringham Mass., June 1,1796. He was graduated at Yale ia 1821, after which he studied theology at Andover for a time, interspersing his studies with missionary labors in jails and hospitals and among the Indians. From 1824 to 1826 he was a tutor at Yale, continuing his theological studies under the Yale professors, and in 1826 he was licensed to preach. In the same year he was sent by the American board of foreign missions as a missionary to Smyrna. He made a tour of the Archipelago, preaching and distributing Bibles, and in 1828 returned to America and severed his connection with the American board. He was married in December, 1829, to Emilia A. Field, daughter of Dr. David Dudley Field of Stockbridge, Mass., and with his young bride started for Smyrna, in February, 1830, having been employed by the New Haven ladies' Greek association to establish female schools for Greeks in Asia Minor. The destruction of the Turkish fleet by the alHed naval forces of England, France and Russia at the battle of Navarino, in 1827, had opened the door of Turkey to the messengers of civilization, and Mr. Brewer was a pioneer in the introduction of female schools and of the printing press. In 183l he published in Smyrna the first religious newspaper printed in the Greek language. After eight years of arduous labor he returned to the United States, settling in Connecticut, where he was appointed chaplain of tim penitentiary at Wetnersfield. From 184l to 1850 he lectured and preached in the anti slavery cause, and edited various antislavery journals; from 1850 to 1857 he taught school at Middletown, Conn., and from 1857 to 1866 was officiating pastor of the church in Housa-tonic, Mass. His published works include, "Residence in Constantinople" (1827), and "Patmos and the Seven Churches of Asia" (1851). He died at Stockbridge, Mass., Nov. 19, 1872.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

John Seely Hart, educator and author, was born at Stockbridge, Mass., Jan. 28, 1810; son of Isaac and Abigail (Stone) Hart; grandson of Job and Rachel (Tyrrell) Ball Hart, and of the Rev. John S. Stone, D.D., and a descendant in the eighth generation of Deacon Stephen Hart, who was born in Braintree, Essex, England, in 1605, and came to Massachusetts Bay about 1632. In 1812 his parents removed to Luzerne county, Pa., near Scranton, and in 1823 to Wilkes-Barre, where John attended the academy. He was graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1830, taught for a year in Natchez, Miss., and was graduated from Princeton theological seminary in 1834. He was a tutor at the College of New Jersey, 1832-34, and adjunct professor of ancient languages, 1834-36. He was licensed by the presbytery of New Brunswick, Aug. 4, 1835, but subsequently returned his license to the presbytery, by whom it was cancelled. He was married April 21, 1836, to Amelia Caroline, daughter of Edmund Morford of Princeton, N.J. He was principal of the Edgehill school at Princeton, 1836-42, and of the Philadelphia high school, 1842-59. Meanwhile he edited the Pennsylvania Common School Journal in 1844, and Sartain's Magazine, 1849-51. He edited the publications of the American Sunday School union in Philadelphia, 1859-62. He established the Sunday School Times and to secure greater independence for this paper he separated from the union in 1861 and continued the periodical on his own account till 1871. He was principal of the model department of the New Jersey state normal school, Trenton, 1862-63, and principal of the entire institution, 1863-71 He was lecturer on the English language in the College of New Jersey, 1864-71, and professor of rhetoric and English language there, 1872-74. He resigned and removed to Philadelphia, where he devoted his time to literary work. He received the degree of LL.D. from Miami university in 1850. Among his publications are: Reports of the Philadelphia High School (1842-59); Class-Book of Poetry and Class-Book of Prose (1844); Essay on the Life and Writings of Edmund Spenser (1847); Female Prose Writers of America (1851); In the School Room (1868); Manual of Composition and Rhetoric (1870); Manual of English Literature (1872); Manual of American Literature (1873); Short Course in Literature, English and American (1874); Language Lessons and English Grammar Analysis (1876); Mistakes of Educated Men; and Greek and Roman Mythology. At the time of his death he was engaged upon a Grammar of Grammars. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., March 26, 1877.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

James Harris Fairchild, educator, was born in Stockbridge, Mass., Nov. 25, 1817; son of Grandison and Nancy (Harris) Fairchild. He was a brother of George Thompson Fairchild. He entered the first freshman class at Oberlin in 1834 and was graduated in arts in 1838 and in theology in 1841. He was professor of ancient languages in Oberlin college, 1841-47; of mathematics, 1847-58; and of moral philosophy and theology, 1858-66, and president of the college, 1866-89. He resigned the presidency in 1889, retaining the chair of theology until June, 1897, when he resigned, but retained his position on the board of trustees and on the presidential committee of the college. He was married on Nov. 29, 1841, to Mary Fletcher Kellogg of Minden, La. He edited Memoirs of Charles G. Finney (1876); and Finney's Systematic Theology (1878); and is the author of: Moral Philosophy (1869); Oberlin, the Colony and the College (1883); Woman's Right to the Ballot (1870); Elements of Theology (1892). He died in Oberlin, Ohio, March 19, 1902.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Henry Martyn Field, editor and author, was born in Stockbridge, Mass., April 3, 1822; son of the Rev. David Dudley and Submit (Dickinson) Field, and grandson of Captain Timothy Field and of Captain Noah Dickinson, officers in the American Revolution. He was graduated at Williams in 1838, studied theology and was installed pastor of the Third Presbyterian Church, St. Louis, Mo., in 1842. Resigning in 1847, he spent over a year in Europa and was in Paris at the Revolution in 1848, and stood in front of the Tuileries when it was being sacked by the mob. Returning to America he was settled over the Congregational church in West Springfield, Mass., 1851 to 1854, when he removed to New York, where he had purchased half of The Evangelist and afterward purchased the other half, becoming sole proprietor and editor. He travelled much abroad and wrote many books, the first of which was "The Irish Confederates, a History of the Rebellion of 1798," that appeared in 1851, and the next, "Summer Pictures from Copenhagen to Venice," in which he described a visit to Europe in 1858. In 1875-76 he made a journey round the world, which was the subject of two volumes, "From the Lakes of Killarney to the Golden Horn," and "From Egypt to Japan." In the autumn of 1881 he went abroad again, and in the following spring made a second visit to Egypt, and crossed the Desert to Mount Sinai, living in tents and riding on camels, and returned by "the great and terrible wilderness" to the Holy Land; which altogether furnished material for three volumes, that appeared one after the other, at intervals of two or three years, viz: "On the Desert," "Among the Holy Hills," and "The Greek Islands and Turkey after the War." His next route of travel was in another direction, to the southwest corner of Europe, to Spain and Gibraltar, from which he crossed over into Africa, an excursion which he repeated several years later, and out of which came three books: Old Spain and New Spain (1890); Gibraltar (1892); and The Barbary Coast; while home topics were treated in Blood Is Thicker Than Water, and Bright Skies and Dark Shadows, both giving his impressions of the southern states after the civil war; followed by Our Western Archipelago, in which he pictured Alaska as he saw it in the summer of 1894.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor