History of Amherst, (Hampshire County) Massachusetts United States of America

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Biographies:

Henry James Clark, naturalist, was born at Easton, Mass., June 22, 1826. He was graduated at the University of the city of New York in 1848 and began to study under Prof. Asa Gray at the Cambridge botanical gardens in 1850, at the same time teaching at the Westfield, Mass., academy. He was graduated from the Lawrence scientific school at Harvard in 1854, and from 1854 to 1863 was private assistant to Professor Agassiz, whom he aided in the preparation of the portions of his "Contributions to the Natural History of the United States," relating to anatomy and embryology. Professor Agassiz said of him in 1857: "Clark has become the most accurate observer in the country." He was assistant professor of zoology at the Lawrence scientific school, 1865-66. He delivered in 1864 a course of twelve. lectures entitled, "Mind in Nature," at the Lowell institute. He held the chair of natural sciences at the Agricultural college of Pennsylvania in 1866-69; was professor of natural history at the University of Kentucky, 1869-72; and professor of veterinary science at the Massachusetts agricultural college, 1872-73. He was a member of the National academy of sciences and of other learned societies. Besides valuable contributions to the various scientific periodicals, he published: A Claim for Scientific Property (1863); Mind in Nature, or the Origin of Life, etc. (1863), and The Fundamental Science (1865). For full list of his works and memoir, see Biographical Memoirs of American Academy of Sciences (Vol. I, 1877). He died at Amherst, Mass., July 1, 1873.

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

Edward Dickinson, representative, was born in Amherst, Mass., Jan. 1, 1803; son of Samuel Fowler and Lucretia (Gunn) Dickinson; grandson of Nathan Dickinson; and a descendant of Deacon Nathaniel Dickinson, Weathersfield, Conn., 1637. Samuel Fowler Dickinson was one of the founders of Amherst college. Edward was graduated from Yale in 1823, and was admitted to the bar in 1826, practising in his native place. In 1835 he was elected treasurer of Amherst college and held the office until a short time before his death. He was elected to the state house of representatives in 1838 and 1839, to the state senate in 1842 and 1843, and to the executive council in 1846 and 1847. He was a Whig representative in the 33d congress, 1853-55. Amherst conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. in 1863. He died in Boston, Mass., June 16, 1874.

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

Zephaniah Moore Humphrey, clergyman, was born in Amherst, Mass., Aug. 30, 1824; son of the Rev. Dr. Heman and Sophia (Porter) Humphrey and a brother of the Rev. Edward Porter Humphrey, D.D. He was graduated from Amherst college in 1848, studied at the Union Theological seminary, New York city, 1846-47, and was graduated from Andover Theological seminary in 1849. He was acting pastor at Milwaukee, Wis., 1849-50; was ordained by the Presbyterian Milwaukee convention, Oct. 9, 1850; was pastor of the First Presbyterian church, Racine, Wis., 1850-56; of Plymouth Congregational church, Milwaukee, Wis., 1856-59; of the First Presbyterian church, Chicago, I11., 1859-68; and of the Calvary Presbyterian church, Philad?lphia, Pa., 1868-75, and professor of ecclesiastical history and church polity in Lane Theological seminary, Cincinnati, 1875-81. He was connected with the New School branch of the Presbyterian church, exerted his influence for reunion and was moderator of the general assemblly of the reunited church at Chicago, Ill., in 1871. He received the degree of D.D. from Amherst college and from the University of Chicago in 1864. He died in Cincinnati, Ohio, Nov. 13. 1881.

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

Helen Maria Fiske (Hunt) Jackson, author, was born in Amherst, Mass., Oct. 18, 1831; daughter of Prof. Nathan Welby Fiske, of Amherst college. She was educated at Ipswich Female seminary and at the school of John S.C. Abbott, in New York city. She was married, on Oct. 28, 1852, to Capt. Edward B. Hunt, U.S.A. Her husband died in October, 1863, and she continued to reside in Newport, R.I., and contributed to the periodicals, signing her articles "H.H." Her two children died young, and the death of the last was the incident that led to the writing of her first well-known poem, "Left Over," in 1865. She spent a year (1869-70) in Germany and Italy, and on the failure of her health in 1875 she visited Colorado, and on Oct. 22, 1875, she was married to William S. Jackson, a banker of Colorado Springs and a member of the Society of Friends. In her journeys in the country around her home she became acquainted with the needs of the Indians and of the treatment they received from the U.S. government. Her pen recorded these impressions, and their publication led to her appointment in 1883, with Abbott Linney, as a special commissioner to examine into the condition of the Mission Indians of California. While pursuing her investigations she made a study of the history of the early Spanish missions. Her health again declining from her labors, she went to Norway to recuperate. In June, 1884, she received serious injuries from a fall at her home in Colorado Springs, and she was taken to Los Angeles, Cal., for the winter, and in the spring to San Francisco, where she died. Her first grave, the one selected by herself, was near the summit of Cheyenne mountain, four miles from Colorado Springs, but relic-hunting tourists who visited the place in large numbers so desecrated the grave that the body was removed to Evergreen cemetery, Colorado Springs. Her name was one of the twenty-three in "Class A, Authors and Editors," eligible for a place in the Hall of Fame, New York university, in October, 1900, and received three votes. She is the author of: In the White Mountains (1866); Verses (1870); Bits of Travel (1872); Bits of Talk about Home Matters (1873); The Story of Boon (1874); Bits of Talk in Verse and Prose for Young Folks (1876); Mercy Philbrick's Choice (1876); Hetty's Strange History (1877); Bits of Travel at Home (1878); Nelly's Silver Mine (1878); Letters from a Cat (1879): A Century of Dishonor (1881); Mammy Tittleback and her Family (1881); The Training of Children (1882); The Hunter Cats of Connorloa (1884); Ramona (1884); Zeph (1885); Glimpses of Three Coasts (1886); Sonnets and Lyrics (1886); Between Whiles (1887); The Procession of Flowers in Colorado (1887); and she has been credited with the authorship of the stories published in 1874 under the pen name "Saxe Holm." A complete edition of her poems appeared in 1892. She died in San Francisco, Cal., Aug. 12, 1885.

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