History of Medfield, (Norfolk County) Massachusetts United States of America

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Biographies:

Hannah Adams, author, was born at Medfield, Mass., in 1755. Her father was a man of literary taste, who taught her Greek and Latin, as well as higher English. These advantages gave her an education above that of the average woman of her time, and thrown upon her own resources she supported herself and several younger brothers and sisters after her seventeenth year. During the revolutionary war she gained a livelihood by teaching and making lace; she then took up authorship, and she is said to have been the first woman in America to have made literature a profession. "A view of Religious Opinions" was her first and most popular attempt at authorship, and was reprinted in England. Later she wrote a "History of the Jews," the "Evidences of Christianity," "History of New England," "Controversy with Dr. Morse," and "Letters on the Gospels." She was remarkable for beauty of character, and was greatly respected for her learning. Her body was the first to be buried in Mount Auburn cemetery. Her biography has been written by Hannah E. Lee. She died in Brookline, Mass., Dec. 15, 1831.

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

William Gammell, educator, was born in Medfield, Mass., Feb. 10, 1812; son of the Rev. William and Mary (Slocomb) Gammell. He was graduated from Brown university in 1831 and became principal of the South Reading, Mass., academy. He was a tutor at Brown, 1832-35; assistant professor of belles-lettres, 1835-37; professor of rhetoric, 1837-50; professor of history and political economy, 1850-64; and a fellow of the university, 1870-89. He was president of the Rhode Island Bible society, 1869-84; vice-president of the American Bible society, 1884-89; president of the Providence, R.I., Athen?um, 1870-81; member of the Rhode Island historical society, 1844-89, and its president from 1882. The honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by the University of Rochester in 1859. He was assistant editor of the Christian Review 1850-53, a frequent contributor to the press, and the author of the lives of Roger Williams and Samuel Ward in the second series of Sparks's Library of American Biography. At the request of the American Baptist missionary union he prepared a History of American Baptist Missions. He died in Providence, R.I., April 3, 1889.

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

Lowell Mason, musician, was born in Medfield, Mass., Jan. 8, 1792; son of Johnson and Katy (Hartshorn) Mason; grandson of Barachias and Love (Whitney) Battelle Mason, and a descendant of Robert Mason of England, who came to America with John Winthrop's company, 1630, and was an original landholder in Dedham, Mass., in 1642. Johnson Mason was one of the pioneers in the straw-weaving trade of Medfield; a colonel of the Massachusetts militia and a representative in the general court, 1809-11, 1821 and 1843. Lowell taught himself to play every instrument that came within his reach and at the age of sixteen trained and conducted a church choir in Medfield. He was employed as a bank clerk in Savannah, Ga., 1812-27; gave lessons in singing, conducted choirs, and arranged a series of sacred music, which contained some of his own compositions, and was published by the Handel and Haydn society as the "Boston Handel and Haydn Society's Collection of Church Music" (1822). He removed to Boston, Mass., in 1827, and was elected president of the Handel and Haydn society, 1827-32. He established singing-classes, and taught a system which was an application of the Pestalozzian principles. With George James Webb, he established the Boston Academy of Music in 1832, and he promoted schools for instrumental music, for voice culture, and for the training of teachers in different parts of the United States. He visited Europe in 1837 to make himself acquainted with didactic methods, especially those used in Germany. In 1838 he was granted the privilege of teaching his method in the public schools of Boston. During his later years he tried to establish congregational singing in churches, and gave his time to musical study and composition. After a second visit to Europe, 1850-51, he settled in New York, and in 1854 he removed to Orange, N.J., where he was a founder of the Valley Church. He received the degree of Mus.D. from the University of the City of New York in 1855. At his death his valuable musical library was presented by his heirs to Yale university. He was married, Sept. 3, 1817, to Abigail Gregory and had four sons Daniel Gregory, Lowell, William and Henry. He compiled, composed and published numerous collections of songs, sacred, secular and educational, most of which had a wide circulation. The Juvenile Psalmist (1829) was said to he the first music book ever published for Sunday schools. Of his American Tune Book (1841) more than 600,000 copies had been sold at the time of his death, which occurred at Orange, N.J., Aug. 11, 1872.

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