History of Sturbridge, (Worcester County) Massachusetts United States of America

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Biographies:

Samuel Bacon, clergyman, was born in Sturbridge, Mass., July 22, 1781. In 1808 he was graduated at Harvard college and studied law, which profession he followed in Pennsylvania. He next essayed journalism, being editor of the Worcester, Mass., ?gis, and afterwards editor of the Lancaster, Pa., Hive. He was ordained to the priesthood of the Protestant Episcopal church, and in 1819 sailed for Sierra Leone, Africa, in charge of a company of negroes, whom it was his appointed mission to settle as a colony, he being one of a committee of three sent by the United States government, under the auspices of the American colonization society, for that purpose. The settlement was effected at Campelar, on the Sherboro river, where two of the agents died. Mr. Bacon, whose health had become seriously impaired, was carried to Kent, on Cape Shilling, where he died May 3, 1820.

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

John William Stearns, educator, was born in Sturbridge, Mass., Aug. 10, 1889; son of Orrin O. and Nancy C. (Valentine) Stearns. He was graduated at Harvard, A.B., 1860, A.M., 1864. He was married, Sept. 22, 1862, to Florence Ella, daughter of David and Sarah (Davis) Blood of Dracut, Mass. He was tutor of Latin in the University of Chicago, 1865; professor of Latin there, 1868?74, and director of the National Normal school of Tucuman, Argentine Republic, 1874?78. He was president of the Wisconsin state normal school at Whitewater, 1878?85; professor of the science and art of teaching in the University of Wisconsin, 1885?88, and in 1888 became professor of philosophy and pedagogy in the same institution, and in 1897 he became also the director of the school of education. He received the degree of LL.D. from the University of Chicago in 1877.

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

George Baxter Hyde, philanthropist, was born at Sturbridge, Mass., March 20, 1811; son of Joshua Hyde. He taught in country schools in early life and afterward for many years was principal of the Dwight and Everett schools in Boston. He was a member of the school committee of Boston for a number of years. He was married to Mary Wilbur, daughter of Jason and Polly Clapp, of Walpole, Mass. He bequeathed to the city of Boston $14,000 for a statue of Rufus Choate; to the town of Sturbridge, $20,000 for a public library, and to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, his residuary estate, estimated at $40,000. These bequests became active in 1894. Harvard conferred upon him the honorary degree of A.M. in 1861. He died in Boston, Mass., July 8, 1889.

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

George Henry Haynes, educator, was born in Sturbridge, Mass., March 20, 1886; son of Henry Dunton and Eliza (Carter) Haynes; and grandson of Henry and Julia (Dunton) Haynes and of George and Nancy (Carter) Carter. His ancestor, Walter Haynes, came to Boston, Mass., from England in 1638, and was one of the settlers of Sudbury, Dec. 22, 1639. George attended the Hitchcock Free high school at Brimfield, Mass., and was graduated from Amherst in 1887. From the Johns Hopkins university in 1893 he received the degree of Ph.D. in the department of history. He was instructor in German and mathematics in the Worcester polytechnic institute, 1887-90, and was elected professor of history and economics in 1893. He was made a member of the American historical association in 1893, and of the American antiquarian society in 1896. He published Representation and Suffrage in Massachusetts, 1620-91 (1894); and articles on political history in various magazines.

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