.. 
 
LIFE OF 
 
 AMOS A. LAWRENCE 
 
 WITH EXTRACTS FROM HIS DIARY 
 AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 BY HIS SON 
 WILLIAM LAWRENCE 
 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 
 
 1899 
 
E415 
 L3SL4- 
 
 Copyright, 1888, 
 By WILLIAM LAWRENCE. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 The Riverside Press, Cambridge , Mass., U. S. A. 
 Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Company. 
 
To 
 MY MOTHER 
 
 31 3!itfcri6e 
 
 THIS VOLUME 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IN gathering together these fragments of 
 my father s journal and letters, I have hoped 
 to recall to his family and friends his charac 
 ter and presence. 
 
 At the same time I have had another ob 
 ject in view. 
 
 Living as he did in the stirring times be 
 fore and during the war and taking his part 
 in the patriotic, social, commercial, and reli 
 gious activities, his experience has its practi 
 cal bearings and his example a close touch 
 upon the life of every man who, like him, 
 wishes to do his simple duty as a citizen. 
 The record of his .motives and work may, 
 therefore, have an interest and inspiration 
 which some may not find in the biographies 
 of greater men. 
 
yi PREFA CE. 
 
 For assistance in this work I am indebted 
 to a number of his friends, to the Diary and 
 Correspondence of Amos Lawrence, and es 
 pecially to Professor L. W. Spring and his 
 History of Kansas. 
 
 W.L. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE, January, 1888. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1814-1831. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PARENTAGE. GROTON. SCHOOL DAYS IN BOS 
 TON AND ANDOVER 1 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 1831-1835. 
 
 HARVARD COLLEGE. RUSTICATION AT BEDFORD 
 AND ANDOVER. JOURNEY TO WASHINGTON. 
 SENIOR YEAR U 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 1835-1839. 
 
 JOURNEY IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. BUSINESS. 
 BOSTON SOCIETY. FIREMAN. RELIGION . . 26 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1839-1840. 
 
 EUROPE. ROME. FLORENCE. ENGLAND. IRE 
 LAND. FATHER MATHEW 36 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1841-1853. 
 
 MARRIAGE. MASON AND LAWRENCE. BUSINESS 
 HABITS. CHARITIES. CONFIRMATION. ROU 
 TINE. COTTAGE FARM. ATHLETICS. LYNN. 
 His FATHER S DEATH. THE LOST DAU 
 PHIN. WISCONSIN. LAWRENCE UNIVER 
 SITY 49 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1854-1856. 
 
 KANSAS - NEBRASKA BILL. ANTHONY BURNS. 
 NEW ENGLAND EMIGRANT AID COMPANY. 
 FIRST KANSAS EMIGRANT PARTIES. CITY 
 OF LAWRENCE, KANSAS. TREASURER S 
 WORK. KANSAS STRUGGLE. PIERCE AND 
 ATOHISON. DR. ROBINSON. SHARPS RI 
 FLES. ABIDE BY THE UNITED STATES LAW 73 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1856. 
 
 RELIEF FOR KANSAS. RELEASE OF DR. ROBIN 
 SON. KANSAS FREE. FREE STATE COL 
 LEGE. KANSAS EDUCATION. KANSAS UNI 
 VERSITY 107 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1855-1859. 
 
 JOHN BROWN. LETTER TO KANSAS. SUBSCRIP 
 TION FOR FARM, NORTH ELBA. HARPER S 
 FERRY. LETTERS TO GOVERNOR WISE AND 
 JEFFERSON DAVIS 122 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1856-1861. 
 
 POLITICS. NOMINATED FOB GOVERNOR. AS 
 SAULT ON MR. SUMNER: HIS RECEPTION. 
 UNION PARTY. AGAIN NOMINATED. ROU 
 TINE. TREASURER OF HARVARD COLLEGE. 
 AGASSIZ MUSEUM. JOURNEY IN THE SOUTH. 
 EVE OF THE WAR 139 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 1861-1862. 
 
 CRITTENDEN COMMITTEE. ZOUAVE DRILL. 
 FIRST CALL FOR TROOPS. OFFER OF SER 
 VICE. BORDER STATES. CONFEDERATE PRIS 
 ONERS. WAR DAYS 166 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1862-1865. 
 
 SECOND MASSACHUSETTS CAVALRY. RECRUITING. 
 NEGRO TROOPS. SYMPATHY. HEAVY FIGHT 
 ING. COLONEL LOWELL S DEATH. CLOSE OF 
 THE WAR. RETURNING REGIMENTS . . . 183 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 INCREASING YEARS. DAILY EXERCISE. HORSE 
 BACK. TOWN INTERESTS. PUBLIC SPIRIT. 
 DEVELOPMENT OF LONGWOOD. WABAN 
 FARM. NAHANT. FAMILY LIFE. EDU 
 CATION OF CHILDREN. KINSHIP. His 
 BROTHER 207 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 MEMORIAL HALL. RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY. 
 FRIENDSHIP WITH CLERGYMEN. CHURCH 
 IDEA. HABITS OF WORSHIP. NAHANT 
 CHURCH CHURCH AT LONG WOOD EPISCO 
 PAL THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL. LAWRENCE 
 HALL 230 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 1867-1882. 
 
 IN EUROPE. MANUFACTURING. BUSINESS HAB 
 ITS. LOANS AND CHARITIES. SHADOWS IN 
 LIFE. NEW PUBLIC INTERESTS. MEMORIES 
 OF GROTON AND ANDOVER. DRIVES AND 
 VISITS. FIRST FAMILY BREAK 246 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 1882-1886. 
 
 PACIFIC MILLS. WORK FOR TEMPERANCE AND 
 UTAH. A QUIET HOUSE. To KANSAS. 
 CLASS OF 35. DEATH OF HIS BROTHER. 
 OPERATION FOR CATARACT. LAST DAYS . . 269 
 
AMOS A. LAWBEETCE. 
 
 -+ 
 I. 
 BOYHOOD. 
 
 1814-1831. 
 
 ON the morning of the 19th of April, 
 1775, Susanna Parker, who lived with her 
 parents on the turnpike in Concord, caught 
 sight of the British troops marching out from 
 Boston, and running with her sister over the 
 hill behind the house watched the gleaming 
 of the muskets along the road. When the 
 soldiers came back that afternoon, pursued 
 by minute men and farmers, the girls again 
 took refuge behind the hill, and on their 
 return to the house found lying dead at the 
 gate a handsome British soldier in his red 
 coat. 
 
 That same morning Colonel Prescott rode 
 to the house of his neighbor, Samuel Law 
 rence, in Groton, and cried out, " Samuel, 
 
fy \ AMGS A" LA WRENCE. 
 
 notify your men ; the British are coming." 
 Mounting the colonel s horse, Corporal Law 
 rence rode seven miles, rousing the min 
 ute men of his circuit, and was back again 
 in forty minutes. In three hours the com 
 pany was ready to march, and on the next 
 day it reached Cambridge. 
 
 At Bunker Hill, Samuel Lawrence re 
 ceived through his beaver hat a musket 
 ball which cut his hair from front to rear, 
 and was struck by a spent grape-shot upon 
 his arm. After serving two years near 
 Boston and in New York, he returned to 
 marry Susanna Parker, to whom he had 
 been engaged since early in 1775. But 
 during the ceremony the signal was given 
 to call all soldiers to their posts, and within 
 an hour he left his bride to join his regi 
 ment at Cambridge. 
 
 At the close of the war Major Samuel 
 Lawrence and his wife settled down at the 
 Lawrence homestead in Groton. He at 
 tended to his duties as farmer, deacon, jus 
 tice of the peace, and trustee of the Acad 
 emy of which he was a founder, while she 
 cared for the house and a family of six sons 
 and three daughters. 
 
 In 1807, the fourth son, Amos, with 
 
BOYHOOD. 3 
 
 twenty dollars in his pocket, drove in his 
 father s chaise to Boston and entered busi 
 ness. 
 
 In a few years he and his younger brother 
 Abbott founded the house of A. & A. Law 
 rence, which with a few other leading firms 
 in Boston carried on her foreign commerce, 
 developed the manufactures of Massachu 
 setts, and gave to that generation of Boston 
 merchants a wide reputation for integrity 
 and success. 
 
 Amos, who was for many years an inva 
 lid, gradually surrendered the active business 
 to the younger members of the firm and de 
 voted himself to philanthropic and public 
 interests, while his sleigh, covered with boys 
 and filled with books and clothing for the 
 poor, was known by every one in town. 
 
 Abbott, a man of fine physique and great 
 activity, was the leading member of the firm, 
 an influential representative in Congress, 
 and a successful minister at the Court of St. 
 James. 
 
 The three other brothers, Luther, Wil 
 liam, and Samuel, rose also to positions of 
 large responsibility in business and civic life ; 
 so that when a manufacturing town rose on 
 the banks of the Merrimac below Lowell, it 
 
4 AMOS A. LA WHENCE. 
 
 was given by vote of the citizens the name 
 of " Lawrence." 
 
 In 1811 Amos Lawrence married Sarah 
 Eichards, the daughter of Giles Kichards, a 
 man of great ingenuity and of little financial 
 wisdom. 
 
 July 31, 1814, their second son was born, 
 and given the name of his maternal grand 
 father, Amos Adams, who during the Revo 
 lution was the minister of the First Church 
 in Roxbury. The mother lived long enough 
 to leave with her two boys and daughter the 
 memory of a sweet and lovely character ; and 
 at four years of age Amos was sent, a mother 
 less boy, to the care of his grandmother and 
 aunt Eliza, at the old homestead in Groton. 
 
 In this town the descendants of John Law 
 rence of Wisset, county of Suffolk, Eng 
 land, had lived for several generations as 
 farmers, soldiers, and leading citizens. The 
 associations and picturesque surroundings of 
 the place entered into the constitution of the 
 growing boy and gave him a love for the 
 scenery and farming life of New England. 
 
 When on a visit to the homestead in his 
 college days, he wrote : " Groton is a beauti 
 ful place, but in particular the old mansion 
 farm exceeds almost , any farming scenery I 
 
BOYHOOD. 
 
 ever saw, excepting the valley of the Con 
 necticut. The house is west of the village a 
 mile, and the farm extends a mile farther 
 west to the Nashua. The slope to the river 
 is gentle, but enough to give a beautiful view 
 of the country for many miles from the high 
 land by the house. The house is not large, 
 a real farmer s house of the best sort ; that is, 
 it is painted white, has green blinds, a front 
 yard and a large old elm in front, and a 
 front and two side doors. The barn is 
 larger than the house, probably the best 
 barn in the country, and well stocked always. 
 The other buildings are arranged round the 
 large yard at the side of the house, and 
 just above is a pretty raised ground covered 
 with apple-trees. They make lots of cider 
 and gather good crops. The cattle always 
 look fat and happy, and all is quiet and con 
 tentment. My old grandmother lives here 
 still, and I hope will many years to come, if 
 she does not prefer death to old age. My 
 aunt [Mary] is a very pious woman, fiery 
 hot as the country people call her, very 
 Calvinistic in her faith and practice. But 
 besides (and better), she is smart, and 
 knows well how to manage the homestead 
 affairs. She finishes a great part of her 
 
6 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 work in the forenoon, and in the afternoon, 
 knits, sews, reads, and attends some inquiry, 
 Bible class, or missionary meeting. A great 
 deal of her money does she give to the poor 
 heathen, and a great deal to poor Orthodox 
 students. She is short in stature, brisk, and 
 has a good face, but, peace be with her, she 
 reads her Bible and is consistent with her 
 belief." 
 
 On the second marriage of his father in 
 1821, Amos was brought back to Boston and 
 sent to school in the basement of the First 
 Church in Chauncy Place, on the same site 
 that fifty years later was occupied by his 
 counting-room and warehouse. For a year 
 or two he was taught by Mr. William Wells 
 in the rear of Trinity Church, Summer Street, 
 and at thirteen years of age was sent to a 
 private boarding-school in the North Parish, 
 Andover, which in th*e fashion of those days 
 was advertised under the ambitious title of 
 " Franklin Academy." 
 
 The boys in the boarding-schools of to 
 day little know what they have escaped by 
 being born in the present generation. Mas 
 ter Putnam of Franklin Academy, famil 
 iarly called "Old Put" or " Old Hickory," 
 represented a system of education which is 
 
BOYHOOD. 1 
 
 more interesting in retrospect than in the 
 realization. 
 
 After a few days at the school, Amos 
 wrote to his father : " Mr. Putnam is subject 
 to very bad headaches, which make him very 
 cross and angry : he scolds his wife and 
 makes her cry, and makes the boys walk 
 Spanish if they don t keep out of his way : 
 he hit his son such a clip the other day that 
 he was lame for a week. I never saw a set 
 of boys that minded the master so well 
 before. I find Mr. Putnam is very un 
 steady in his punishments, and more so, I 
 should think, than a school-master ought to 
 be, as he will beg a boy s pardon after using 
 him badly when he finds he is going to write 
 home." After this, we are not surprised 
 that he adds, " I find a great deal of diffi 
 culty in not knowing the laws of the school," 
 while an " N. B." at the end of the letter 
 informs his parent that the under master 
 "Mr. Pierce grows pretty strict now and 
 gave me a pretty good wrench of my ear 
 and hair." 
 
 He soon grows less respectful in his refer 
 ences to the master, and speaks of " old Put 
 in old Hickory style, with heavy tread, low 
 ered eyebrows and frequent hems, entering 
 
8 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 the school-room," and incidentally mentions 
 " having some trouble with Mr. Hickory on 
 Saturday, but he was finally cooled and be 
 haved well." 
 
 The trouble did not end on Saturday, how 
 ever, for " a great many little items which 
 plagued him and occasioned his having a 
 great many tasks," and " eleven hours of 
 study a day," and especially his hatred of 
 Algebra as taught in Franklin Academy, 
 drove young Amos, who was, as his fellow- 
 pupils testify, a boy " whose self-respect was 
 great," to seek his freedom in the woods of 
 Andover and on the road to New Hampshire. 
 In a day or two he was brought back, and 
 after an humble apology to his father and 
 the master he set about the arduous duty of 
 obeying his father s request " to observe a 
 strict conformity to the rules of the school." 
 
 However, Mrs. Putnam and the fat kitchen- 
 girl tempered the school with mercy and 
 condoled with the boys in trouble. And the 
 resources which served him through life, rid 
 ing on horseback, skating, the enjoyment of 
 the beauties of nature, and an acute interest 
 in people of all sorts, came to his aid in An 
 dover. These probably did as much towards 
 the development of his character as the study 
 
BOYHOOD. 9 
 
 of Euclid, the daily task of twenty pages of 
 the Greek Testament, or the worship in the 
 village church, where the singing was led 
 by Captain Osgood at the " big viol," and 
 the sermons were preached by " Rev. Bailey 
 Loring, a just man and a Unitarian so 
 called." Occasional allusions to mugs of 
 sour cider, and the decanters at Jim Ste 
 vens tavern, suggest that Master Putnam s 
 " Tracts on Temperance " were needed at 
 the school ; and in answer to a letter which 
 he rather irreverently called a " Temperance 
 Essay" from his father, Amos wrote, u To 
 please you more than to allay any fear of 
 mine, I will consent not to taste a drop of 
 distilled spirit for two years ; then, if you 
 wish, I will add four." 
 
 The testimony of his school-mates sketch 
 him as an active, " observing, and thought 
 ful boy, always affable, inviting implicit 
 confidence in his good judgment and honesty 
 of purpose, full of self-respect and respect 
 for others," while letters and diary empha 
 size a pure-minded, restless lad, with a keen 
 interest in the affairs of the world, and with 
 maturity of thought as to the meaning and 
 purposes of life. The boyish resolutions 
 written before the sunrise of his last New 
 
10 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 Year s day at school in 1831, suggest the 
 spirit of his life : " to adhere to veracity, to 
 use as much as in me lies pure and well 
 spoken language, to keep a strict guard 
 against vice and to cherish virtue, to talk 
 sense or not at all." 
 
II. 
 
 COLLEGE. 
 
 1831-1835. 
 
 IN 1831 Amos entered Harvard College 
 without conditions, donned the " University 
 dress " then required of all students, " the 
 coat of black, single breasted, with a rolling 
 cape square at the end, waist reaching to 
 the natural waist ; " and, to quote from a 
 classmate, he was soon " out on the Delta 
 kicking football, full of laughter, and in a 
 state of perpetual motion." 
 
 " A man may be honest, active, brave, 
 moral, and religious, and still no scholar," is 
 the true but dangerous text with which the 
 diary of his college life opens. 
 
 In the spring term of the Freshman year 
 there occurred one of those little episodes in 
 which the students of a former generation 
 sometimes indulged, namely, a gunpowder 
 plot, followed by an explosion, " the refrager- 
 ation of divers windows and the demolition 
 
12 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 of much movable stuff," a class rebellion, in 
 dictments before the grand jury, confession 
 of the ringleaders, and a number of expul 
 sions, suspensions, and letters of advice to 
 pass a few months in some quiet country 
 town. Unfortunately Amos had lately 
 bought some gunpowder for shooting, which 
 he kept in his room. The plotters thought 
 that stealing his powder was safer and 
 cheaper than buying their own ; therefore, 
 on the testimony of the shopkeeper, he was 
 drawn into the investigation. He was, how 
 ever, acquitted of all guilt ; but the excited 
 condition of the students made it advisable 
 for the more restless spirits to rusticate for 
 a few months. 
 
 There soon followed a letter from Presi 
 dent Quincy to his father, who was at that 
 time recovering from a dangerous illness. 
 " I entirely concur in your wishes to keep 
 your son from every appearance of evil, 
 and under all circumstances I have thought 
 it best to advise to take him away a short 
 time, say until next commencement, and let 
 him study under some fellow master. Your 
 son has not been detected in any connec 
 tion with the disorders in the hall or in the 
 chapel. Still, he is young, very susceptible, 
 
COLLEGE. 13 
 
 and if in a thoughtless moment he should 
 get into any difficulty, in your state of mind 
 and health, it might be injurious ; perhaps 
 more than you can bear. I think also the 
 obligation to study, which an instructor, par 
 ticularly attentive to him, might impose, 
 would be very useful to his future habits." 
 
 The result justified President Quincy s 
 wisdom and knowledge of the young man s 
 character. With Mr. John F. Stearns of 
 Bedford, a young Harvard graduate, as his 
 tutor, Amos lived first at Bedford and then 
 in the Mansion House on Andover Hill. 
 Freed for the first time from chafing rules, 
 he developed such a sense of responsibility, 
 and such diligence in study, that from his 
 own choice he prolonged his rustication from 
 six to eighteen months. 
 
 Always impatient at listless work, the 
 school methods of study had irritated and 
 disgusted him, and the following extract 
 from his diary at this time is a leaf from 
 his own experience : 
 
 " There is a method of study adopted by 
 many that is highly injurious to mind and 
 body, indeed it is worse than idleness : to sit 
 down with books open, and the mind as un 
 tutored as the winds, to get a lesson ; to think 
 
14 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 of the lesson one moment, of the girls one 
 more, and of home one more ; then two 
 more of the lesson, and so to spend a day in 
 a shameful waste of time. The body grows 
 crabbed and crooked, and the mind grows 
 empty and weak, and the whole man is de 
 stroyed by it. The habit may be contracted 
 at school by boys, where they are obliged to 
 remain a certain number of hours pent up 
 in a room, not allowed to talk or look any 
 where except on their books. If Mr. Put 
 nam had compelled his boys to study five 
 hours instead of leaning on their elbows 
 eleven, he would so have habituated them to 
 study that they would not have become such 
 dunces as they are now." 
 
 Sometimes the intense moral earnestness 
 of his father s letters chafed him, and his 
 filial respect was tinged with a little pleas 
 antry when, on receipt of an unusually long 
 letter of advice, he answered : " The morality 
 and general observations of your letters, 
 disconnected from the other matters and 
 printed, would make a very instructive vol 
 ume. When you compel us to shift for 
 ourselves I think we may make a very good 
 beginning by publishing a few copies of your 
 miscellaneous works, and so benefit our 
 
COLLEGE. 15 
 
 neighbors and replenish our pockets at the 
 same time." "Your good advice has the 
 advantage of your bills of exchange, inas 
 much as it is current everywhere; if it 
 could only be cashed, how fortunate we 
 should be, and how soon we should spoil." 
 
 During these months he was again thrown 
 into the scenery which he so much enjoyed. 
 "What a vast space a man leaves empty 
 who does not cultivate a taste for natural 
 beauties," he then wrote. And though the 
 old horse " appellated Doctor White " had 
 " a back formed to shed the rain or to cut 
 the air," yet "it was a pleasure to ride 
 him." 
 
 The study of the village characters and 
 his interest in the town meetings, with their 
 lively Orthodox and Liberal discussions, 
 gave him that experience in affairs and that 
 tact in meeting men of all classes which he 
 felt was a part of the education of every 
 American boy, and which served him well 
 in later years. 
 
 His practical sense was offended by the 
 raising of a new meeting-house in Bedford ; 
 for then, as he wrote, " we shall have three 
 ministers (Orthodox, Unitarian, and Uni- 
 versalist) for 690 inhabitants, 670 of whom 
 
16 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 have only the necessaries of life by hard la 
 bor. There are only 120 voters, of whom 
 50 are tipplers, journeymen, shoemakers, 
 heathen, etc. They can hardly support one 
 minister, and sixteen would not convert 
 them." 
 
 Theological discussion was rife, and a. 
 young man of Unitarian education, thrown 
 into the thick of the enemy s ranks at An- 
 dover, was naturally set to thinking. For 
 in those days, as he wrote to his father, 
 " truth in Cambridge becomes a lie in An- 
 dover, and the same of Andover truth when 
 carried to Cambridge." 
 
 Though it is hardly worth the while to 
 follow him through the arguments by which, 
 in a strong Andover atmosphere, he was 
 led to record the fact, " I do not believe 
 the Unitarian doctrine," yet it is suggestive 
 of his independence and his dissatisfaction 
 with both systems, that in Andover he first 
 bought and studied the Book of Common 
 Prayer. 
 
 Other rusticated students found their way 
 to Andover. " There is," he writes, " one 
 who does nothing but smoke and eat. The 
 divines smoke and eat too, but in subor- 
 
COLLEGE. 17 
 
 dination to more important considerations; 
 a good argument, for instance, is more rel 
 ished than all the puddings for a term." 
 Still the solemnity of the theological stu 
 dents oppressed him, his tutor s health had 
 begun to fail for want of something to laugh 
 at, and he begged his father " to send up 
 one or two comic almanacs to lend to the 
 students as an act of charity." The life 
 there led him to consider the question, 
 " Which is the worst crime, intemperance in 
 study or in drinking ? Both of them tend 
 to shorten life and to embitter it ; both are 
 suicides." 
 
 An occasional ride to Groton and other 
 towns varied the monotony. He attended a 
 Concord celebration, where " Mr. Hopkinson 
 exerted himself to the uttermost. His de 
 livery was Cambridge precisely, and that is 
 almost no delivery at all." But the great 
 event was the visit of President Jackson, 
 which he thus described : 
 
 " 1 went to Boston to see President Jack 
 son, who, with his Cabinet, has been making 
 a triumphal tour, as it were, of the Northern 
 States. The Bostonians honored him as 
 much as he deserves, perhaps more. I saw 
 the old gentleman first in a procession near 
 
18 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 the State House. His appearance struck 
 me instantly with a kind of respect for him, 
 it is so remarkable. He alone was uncov 
 ered, and displayed a head higher than those 
 about him, and silvered with age. His hair 
 is remarkable on account of its thickness, 
 and his fashion of combing it back. He re 
 viewed the troops and showed himself an 
 accomplished horseman. From Boston he 
 went to Salem, thence to Lowell through 
 Andover. I was one of the cavalcade here 
 and had a very good sight of him. He put 
 up at this house and ate a lunch of bread 
 and milk in his chamber. Mr. Van Buren, 
 Vice-President, dined in Mr. Skinner s par 
 lor, and so did Major Donelson and myself, 
 and some other of the illustrious. We es 
 corted him out of town, took a stage coach 
 and followed him to Lowell, where we ar 
 rived just in time to see the famous proces 
 sion of factory girls. It consisted of three 
 or four thousand, marching by fours. This, 
 if nothing else, was a splendid sight for the 
 old general." 
 
 In the spring vacation of 1834, following 
 his return to college, Mr. Lawrence, with his 
 tutor, Henry R. Cleveland, and his classmate, 
 Charles H. Gates, made a visit to Wash- 
 ington. 
 
COLLEGE. 19 
 
 Just before reaching Philadelphia they 
 experienced for the first time the wonderful 
 sensation of riding in a steam carriage, but 
 the new invention did not seem to have 
 brought civilization into the filthy streets of 
 the Quaker city, in which a great number 
 of " grunters " luxuriated. In Washington 
 he found that the far-famed David Crockett 
 reigned in the lobby ; that " Clay pestered 
 Van Buren and then took two or three 
 pinches of snuff from the Vice-President s 
 snuff-box ; " that Van Buren was " a great 
 gallant for one so small and old too." 
 
 He was in the House when Mr. Adams 
 presented a petition for the abolition of slav 
 ery in the District of Columbia. " At this," 
 he wrote, " every Southern member took 
 fire ; the most absurd resolutions were in 
 troduced, denouncing Mr. Adams as an 
 agitator, an incendiary, and as offering gross 
 insult to the House and to the feelings of the 
 members of the South, in presenting such a 
 petition. One resolution was to expel Mr. 
 Adams, another was to burn his petition, 
 and another to arraign him before the bar of 
 the House." " If there ever was an eloquent 
 speaker and an able debater, a good the 
 oretical philosopher, it is he. I never heard 
 
20 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 such argument expressed so eloquently be 
 fore, and never expect to again. He covered 
 his opponents with ridicule, and excited the 
 laughter of the House ; the effect you see 
 in the vote and resolutions." 
 
 Of course Mr. Webster filled the eye of 
 a Massachusetts young man. " After Mr. 
 Calhoun s second speech, Mr. Webster rose, 
 and the effect was wonderful. His eloquence 
 is appreciated because he seldom nowadays 
 makes an exhibition of it. The members of 
 the other House were crowded around the 
 President s chair, and the Senators seats 
 and the galleries were full. But when Mr. 
 Webster stood up, all was as still as though 
 the hall was empty. He merely made a 
 motion to adjourn till Monday, which had 
 been made before by Mr. Buchanan." 
 
 But the two features of Washington to 
 the college student were Gadsby s Hotel 
 and President Jackson. 
 
 " Gadsby s Hotel is an immense building 
 as large as a small town, so that the dinner- 
 bell is in a belfry on the top, like that of 
 a church. When this sounds, the crowds of 
 boarders a motley mass, collected from 
 every State in the Union, and Christendom, 
 we might say move in an irresistible tide 
 
COLLEGE. 21 
 
 toward the hall, and seat themselves every 
 one in his chair, while clouds of black ser 
 vants stand behind in mute array. All look 
 about to see who is there, and try to smell 
 what lies hid under the covers. They snuff 
 and rub their hands, take a drink of brandy 
 and water, which is always on the table, and 
 wait the word of command : the negroes 
 eyes twinkle for the same, and all of them 
 wait impatiently for it, eying old Gadsby 
 like eagles. He stands at the head of the 
 board (an elderly, short, white-headed man), 
 and when he sees his legions ready and all 
 still, he braces up his shoulders, looks at the 
 whole, and then at the waiters, opens his 
 mouth, and raises his hand, then says Un 
 cover ! Then is the time to stop your ears, 
 for every blacky leaps at all the covers 
 within his reach, up they raise them with a 
 stupendous flourish, and the air seems made 
 of silver ; but look out and not turn your 
 head too much, or the consequences may be 
 fatal." 
 
 " Our friend Mr. Franklin Pierce very 
 kindly offered to carry us to see President 
 Jackson. * 
 
 " It was his business hour, and we only ex 
 pected him to shake hands with us, and per- 
 
22 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 mit us to look through his halls. We 
 looked at his tobacco pipe and about the 
 room till all was clear, and then Mr. Pierce 
 opened the door and asked leave to intro 
 duce us. With that the gentleman arose, 
 met us at the door and shook hands with 
 us very cordially, and asked us to sit down, 
 which we did and looked at him from head 
 to foot, surprised to find ourselves so sud 
 denly in the presence of the great cause of 
 so much dispute, honest and dishonest, that 
 has divided this whole country. Here sat 
 the grand mover of the machine that sup 
 ports some and crushes others. He ad 
 dressed himself almost wholly to Mr. Pierce, 
 thinking rightly, I suppose, that we came 
 merely to see him. And, by the way, I for 
 got to say that Mr. Pierce, at our request, 
 introduced us as members of Harvard Col 
 lege. The old man recollected the LL. D. 
 he received here last year, and the device 
 took, which accounts, I suppose, in some 
 measure for the politeness with which he re 
 ceived us. But he is a very polite man, as 
 everybody who is introduced to him finds, 
 unless they come on bank business, or some 
 thing else he hates." 
 
 On Mr. Lawrence s return to college his 
 
COLLEGE. 23 
 
 classmates found him the same fun-loving, 
 active, social man; but his character had 
 deepened and developed. He still chafed at 
 the routine of college studies and kept his 
 mind alert. He read with enthusiasm on 
 subjects which interested him, and also made 
 such studies and records of the characters of 
 his classmates as show him to have reached 
 a deeper sense of the responsibilities of life. 
 
 The record of his own future, written 
 early in his senior year, shows that his plans 
 and principles were already formed, for they 
 were carried out in action even to the least 
 detail. 
 
 " My present design is to be a merchant, 
 not a plodding, narrow-minded one pent up 
 in a city, with my mind always in my count 
 ing-room, but (if there be such a thing pos 
 sible) I would be at the same time a literary 
 man in some measure and a farmer. That 
 is, I would live in the country a few miles 
 from town (excepting when devoted to busi 
 ness, which would be the forenoons), and 
 there I would read and work on my farm. 
 My advantages for becoming rich are great : 
 if I have mercantile tact enough to carry on 
 the immense though safe machine which my 
 father and uncle have put in operation, it 
 
24 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 will turn out gold to me as fast as I could 
 wish : and to be rich would be my delight. I 
 consider it an oyster-like dulness, and not 
 a pious or enlightened way of thinking, that 
 makes some despise riches. If any one has 
 any love for his fellow creatures, any love of 
 the worthy respect of his neighborhood, he 
 will be willing and glad to be rich. They 
 say riches are a burden that harass the soul 
 and lead into temptation : so they are to the 
 miser who is in constant fear of losing his 
 acquisitions, and to the profligate who re 
 ceives an inheritance merely to squander it 
 on his passions. A good man will willingly 
 endure the labor of taking care of his prop 
 erty for the sake of others whom he can so 
 much benefit by it, but his thoughts and 
 fears will not be perpetually on the alert 
 that he may not lose a dollar and may not 
 make all he can. If one can be rich and yet 
 for his private ease will not be, he is almost 
 as loving of himself as he who heaps up 
 only to count his dollars, and refuses the 
 demands of charity." 
 
 At last the class of 1835 k all joined hands 
 and danced around the Liberty tree, and in 
 the afternoon they danced still more and 
 
COLLEGE. 25 
 
 drank pails of punch. Then after a supper 
 at Fresh Pond," they separated ; but to the 
 last day of his life, Mr. Lawrence sustained 
 an active interest in every classmate and re 
 ceived great satisfaction from their interest 
 in him. 
 
III. 
 
 FIRST YEARS IN BUSINESS. 
 
 1835-1839. 
 
 A FEW days after Class Day Mr. Lawrence 
 was in Lowell, studying the mills. Soon he 
 took a position with Almy, Patterson & Co., 
 where he could learn the business of a dry- 
 goods commission merchant, for by inherit 
 ance and opportunity that seemed to be his 
 future line of work. 
 
 In July, 1836, being attacked with vario- 
 loid, he was quarantined for several weeks at 
 Rainsford Island. Soon after this, he went, 
 in company with two business friends, on a 
 journey through the West and South, to ex 
 amine credits for Boston firms just before 
 the financial crisis of 1837, and to make busi 
 ness acquaintances through the country. 
 Travelling by canal through Pennsylvania, 
 they reached Pittsburgh in the height of 
 the Presidential canvass. " Seeing a crowd 
 around the dinner hall," Mr. Lawrence wrote, 
 
FIRST YEARS IN BUSINESS. 27 
 
 "I went in, and found General Harrison 
 making a speech about the abuses of govern 
 ment, his political course, and his designs 
 if elected to the presidential chair. After 
 this I was introduced to him. His right 
 hand was disabled by shaking hands with so 
 many people, but he still continued it not 
 withstanding the pain it gave him. The 
 operatives were there in their shirtsleeves, 
 unwashed and unshaved, and received great 
 attention, and the boys loitering about the 
 door were sure to be patted when the gen 
 eral came near them." 
 
 Ohio was then near the frontier. " The 
 population of Ohio is the most unmannerly I 
 ever saw. There is no elegance, no good 
 breeding in the country towns we have been 
 in ; perhaps we ought not expect it. Troops 
 of travellers and farmers come up to the 
 door and dismount, take off their saddle 
 bags, and give their horses to the hostler. 
 They take a glass of toddy and sit down in 
 the bar-room till their dinner is ready, then 
 light a cigar and get on their horses again, 
 and so they jog over the country." 
 
 Down the Mississippi they met the bor 
 der life. " We stopped at a town called Pa- 
 ducah, and I went up to the shops on the 
 
28 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 bluff to get a pencil and see the town. The 
 stationer s shop was well stocked with pis 
 tols, bowie knives, and tobacco ; perhaps 
 there were books and paper in the drawers, 
 but for lead pencils there were none except 
 of solid lead covered with red paper, such 
 as measurers of boards and timber use. I 
 bought one, however." 
 
 Looking for a church on Sunday in a 
 small Kentucky town, they found a few 
 scholars in a Sunday-school in a log-cabin. 
 " The grog shops were open, and drunkards 
 were lolling about. One or two were lying 
 down in the street. There were two fights 
 in the course of the day, and two fellows 
 were stuck with knives." 
 
 He wrote from Georgia, " the want of 
 thrift among the farmers is beyond our com 
 prehension. This must arise from their 
 ignorance of reading and writing, and con 
 sequently their want of facility of informa 
 tion. What I had imagined a Southern 
 planter is a very rare sight. I mean a well- 
 educated gentleman." 
 
 44 We continually meet the caravans of the 
 planters moving into Alabama. First comes 
 a covered cart, drawn by mules and horses, 
 from every corner of which peep the round, 
 
FIRST YEARS IN BUSINESS. 29 
 
 woolly heads of a dozen little negroes, all 
 laughing (I believe a negro child never 
 cries), except those who are asleep. After 
 this one or two or three teams with furni 
 ture and more negroes, according to the 
 riches of the mover. Behind all, the 
 family ride in their carryall and wagons or 
 on horseback, and the grown negroes hunt 
 squirrels along the woods or straggle along- 
 as their inclination leads them. Some of 
 these processions are very ragged, but the 
 negroes are dressed as warm as their mas 
 ters, and sometimes seem pretty much on an 
 equality with them ; and deservedly so, for 
 they know about as much." 
 
 In Virginia, the condition was better. 
 " The negroes in the country appear healthy 
 and happy and are always respectful. A 
 planter or any white person passing a negro 
 almost always nods, bids him a good day- or 
 inquires for his master, and a negro touches 
 his hat or takes it off, if he is well bred, 
 when he meets a carriage." 
 
 On account of his father s retirement from 
 active business, Mr. Lawrence did not have 
 the opportunity for which he had hoped, of 
 entering the office of A. & A. Lawrence & 
 Co., and in time stepping into the position 
 
30 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 and success which that firm had won. But 
 thrown back upon his own resources, he deter 
 mined to hew out his own path, and to suc 
 ceed or fail on his merits as a business man. 
 
 Consequently he opened his own counting- 
 room in a corner of the Phillips Building near 
 Liberty Square, and for three years was a 
 commission merchant for broadcloths, cassi- 
 meres, and silks. His financial success was 
 all that could be expected in the dull times 
 following the crisis of 1837, but his first ob 
 ject evidently was to know business men and 
 their methods and to gain a good mercan 
 tile reputation. That he succeeded in these 
 would seem to be shown by the fact that 
 within two years he was made a director of 
 the Suffolk Bank and a member of the cor 
 poration of the Provident Institution for 
 Savings, of which he became a trustee in 
 1841. Through these and other associations 
 he was thrown in with men of an earlier 
 generation, which from a business view was 
 to his advantage, but in later years tended 
 to make him feel older than he really was. 
 
 His life was much like that of any other 
 intelligent young man who moved in the 
 pleasant provincial life of Boston in the 
 kst generation. He received at his count- 
 
FIEST YEARS IN BUSINESS. 31 
 
 ing-room the first of that line of beggars 
 which was unbroken for fifty years, he 
 rode his horse, and in the evenings either 
 read, wrote an article for the paper, or joined 
 a cotillon party at some hospitable mansion, 
 where the brass-buttoned blue, olive, or claret 
 coats of the gentlemen added a brilliancy 
 and picturesqueness unknown to the present 
 generation of black dress suits. 
 
 With the other young men and women of 
 the day he waxed enthusiastic over the lec 
 tures of Ralph Waldo Emerson. "Have 
 heard an enchanting lecture from Mr. Emer 
 son at the Lyceum. It savored very much 
 of Coleridge s doctrine, but was certainly the 
 most beautiful and strong composition I ever 
 listened to." " His mind is of a poetical cast 
 and he likes metaphysics ; his philosophy is 
 admirable and his lectures are made more 
 pleasing by a musical but manly voice and a 
 very graceful delivery." " Have read Ralph 
 Waldo Emerson s oration at Cambridge and 
 delight in it. Reading his writings and, still 
 more, hearing him speak is charming, it en 
 livens the soul and elevates it beyond all 
 fear." " If his practice is as beautiful as his 
 thoughts, if the nature of his thoughts is 
 always the same, he must live very happily." 
 
32 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 In these years Mr. Lawrence had his first 
 taste of public service. His journal records : 
 " I am a fireman ; the old department re 
 signed, and we better sort of folks took their 
 place. It was hard work for a few nights, 
 but we have slept quietly now for a week. 
 Fires two mornings in succession at four 
 and six o clock, long before daylight, down in 
 India Street. I turn out with my engine." 
 
 " A bad riot took place on Broad Street 
 on Sunday between the Irish and the work 
 men, the Irish beaten, their houses pil 
 laged, property destroyed, and some thirty or 
 forty carried to jail by the Yankees. A mil 
 itary force was put in motion after two or 
 three hours and the confusion ended. I 
 shouldered a musket and joined my company 
 as a volunteer, and was kept on guard all 
 night. William did the same. We ought 
 to have a prompt force to act on the instant. 
 I should like to be one to be drilled and 
 armed and at the command of the mayor in 
 an instant ; then these mobs would be down 
 before they should disgrace our city by their 
 violence." Later he adds : " Squad drill. 
 We have a squad of H. W. Dehon, C. H. 
 Parker, T. Dexter, two Murdocks, Ingalls, 
 H. Lee, Ch. Wild, etc. We meet over Fan- 
 
FIRST YEARS JN BUSINESS. 33 
 
 euil Hall three times a week, and go through 
 a drill under Sergeant Williams of the 
 United States Army. My brother William 
 got it up. I think it a shame for a citizen, 
 a gentleman, not to know military move 
 ments enough to use a musket." llJJf 
 
 At the same time his interest in religion 
 deepened. On Sunday mornings he followed 
 the habits of his father and uncles by attend 
 ing Brattle Street Church, where Dr. Lo- 
 throp preached. In the afternoons his in 
 creasing interest in the Episcopal Church led 
 him into St. Paul s, which was then under 
 the ministration of Kev. J. S. Stone, D. D. 
 Occasionally he would go to hear Dr. 
 Channing, of whom he says : " He is dimin 
 utive in the pulpit, but his eye and counte 
 nance are full of spirit and determination." 
 From this time there occurs in his diary the 
 frequent record of those prayers and relig 
 ious aspirations which we find in the me 
 moirs of most religious lives, but which lose 
 much of their reality and meaning in cold 
 type. 
 
 " Last night of the year 1837. 
 " I thank my God, who has protected and 
 blessed me and brought me to the close of 
 
34 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 the year in peace and health. I have mis 
 spent a great deal of time and can only 
 make new resolutions for the future, on 
 which I implore Divine favor. Great God, 
 regard me in kindness and illumine my mind 
 with heavenly light that I may distinguish 
 truth from error, and in the pursuit of truth 
 give me perseverance. Save me and my 
 friends from that anguish of mind which ac 
 companies fear. May I not fear any but 
 Thee. 
 
 " For Christ s sake pardon my sins, and 
 I always live so as to be willing to die. 
 
 " Extend thy truth to the ends of the 
 world and cause to cease violence and prej 
 udice, and hasten the time when religion 
 shall possess all minds. Grant my prayer 
 for Christ s sake." 
 
 In 1832, Mr. Jeremiah Mason, who once 
 divided the leadership of the Portsmouth 
 bar with Daniel Webster, had been induced 
 by his brother-in-law, Mr. Amos Lawrence, 
 to remove to Boston and become his near 
 neighbor. In 1838 the marriage of their 
 children, Susan Lawrence to the Rev. Charles 
 Mason, Rector of St. Peter s Church, Salem, 
 bound the two families by a closer tie, which 
 
FIRST YEARS IN BUSINESS. 35 
 
 was strengthened a few years later by the 
 business partnership of the two sons, Robert 
 M. Mason and Mr. Lawrence. 
 
 In December, 1838, occurred also the mar 
 riage of Mr. Lawrence s only brother, Wil 
 liam, to Susan Dana, who, as Amos wrote, 
 " by her simple manners, her good sense, and 
 her personal beauty has won the hearts of 
 all who have seen her." 
 
 Through 1839 the business of the country 
 was very unsettled, and the United States 
 Bank suspended specie payment. So Mr. 
 Lawrence decided to take this opportunity 
 to close up his business and to go to Europe. 
 In company with his brother-in-law, Charles 
 Mason, he sailed on November 16, in the 
 " Great Western." 
 
IV. 
 
 EUROPE. 
 
 1839-1840. 
 4 
 
 THOSE long, descriptive letters which our 
 fathers wrote from Europe, and which were 
 read in the family circle and passed on to 
 the neighbors, have lost their value as com 
 pletely as the rejected newspaper articles of 
 the same period. Nevertheless, there was 
 often a personal element in them which shed 
 light on the tastes and interests of the wri 
 ters. Passing through England, Mr. Law 
 rence experienced that " feeling of home " 
 which a common blood and language create 
 in every intelligent American. 
 
 His method in sight-seeing and his prac 
 tical^ sense are suggested in the letters to his 
 father from Rome : 
 
 ROME, April 16, 1840. 
 
 DEAR FATHER, ... In order to have 
 a correct idea of Rome one must refer more 
 to books than is necessary in any other city ; 
 
EUROPE. 37 
 
 on this account I have spent till twelve 
 o clock every day except during the Carnival 
 in reading, and from that till five o clock in 
 visiting everything to which I could obtain 
 admission. 
 
 . . . There are forty or more Americans 
 here, whom I have not seen often, thinking 
 it rather a waste of time to spend it in visit 
 ing those one sees at home. There are sev 
 eral promising young artists among them 
 studying their profession, particularly a 
 young man named Crawford, who has sud 
 denly executed a piece of sculpture of the 
 highest order almost without tools to work 
 with. His poverty induced him to make too 
 great exertions, and when he had completed 
 his work he was seized with a fever, which 
 attacked his brain, and came near ending his 
 life. He is now almost recovered, and very 
 much encouraged by the praises which are 
 bestowed on his work. Mr. Greene has 
 made a subscription paper for money to en 
 able him to execute it in marble, and in the 
 mean time he has received several orders for 
 busts, which he executes with great quick 
 ness, and transfers to marble with great 
 beauty. He will soon have the means of 
 accomplishing his main work, and as soon 
 
38 
 
 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 as it is finished it will be sent to the United 
 States for exhibition and sale. The young 
 man is very pleasing in his appearance, and 
 is a hard student, so that with his genius for 
 
 . Jhis art he will sooner or later succeed. . . . 
 
 The cause of the poverty of this country is 
 not that the land is not cultivated, nor that 
 the people are unwilling to work ; but that, 
 having become too numerous for the land, 
 a great proportion must be idle, at least a 
 part of the time. If mechanic labor were 
 encouraged, the difficulty would be obviated, 
 as they could then export the product and 
 receive an equivalent, and like England 
 grow rich: but the policy of the govern 
 ment of the Church is so far very bad, and 
 the encouragement to laboring men to leave 
 their homes and travel hundreds of miles as 
 pilgrims, not only not doing themselves any 
 good, but using the money of the people 
 through whose territory they pass, the estab 
 lishment of so many holy days when work 
 is discouraged, the monopolies which cramp 
 trade, all lead one to believe that the design 
 
 o 
 
 is to make the people dependent by not giv 
 ing them means of getting rich. 
 
 
 
 His account of the drive from Rome to 
 
EUROPE. 39 
 
 Florence gives a graphic sketch of Italy 
 fifty years ago : 
 
 FLORENCE, May 4, 1840. 
 
 ... I never had a more agreeable jour 
 ney than from Rome, arriving here a week 
 ago, and never was in a more delightful city 
 than this. 
 
 " The first day we rode through a fertile 
 country of hill and valley, stopping at Monte 
 Rosa and Nepi, all old fortified towns, to 
 Castellana, where we spent the first night. 
 At sunset I strolled out to see the environs, 
 and the people after they had finished their 
 day s labor. It was a fine sight from the de 
 cayed walls to look down five hundred feet 
 to the river winding through a deep ravine, 
 on the other side of which green meadows, 
 covered with luxuriant vegetation, stretch out 
 many miles to the mountains. We follow 
 the green almost to the tops, which are cov 
 ered with snow. The laborers were return 
 ing from the fields to the town in groups, 
 toiling up the ascent to it by narrow wind 
 ing paths, the women were all in the streets 
 or on the heights waiting for them, and the 
 children were running and crawling in every 
 direction. All were gay, all dirty ; one can 
 not be in bad humor after seeing so much 
 
40 AMOS A. LA WHENCE. 
 
 contentment in so great poverty. A post 
 carriage with four horses was passing the 
 immense stone bridge, and two guards who, 
 according to the old custom, accompany it, 
 were riding up the hill. The goatherds 
 were driving their goats into the town to be 
 milked ; the bells of the two convents were 
 ringing; the soldiers of the little garrison 
 were strolling about, smoking their pipes, or 
 playing at some game on the parapets ; and 
 the whole scene reminded me of some of the 
 descriptions given by Mrs. Radcliffe in her 
 novels ; probably it was very much the same 
 two hundred years ago as now. I turned 
 into the town again, and hearing music, I 
 went into the cathedral. There were lights 
 around the altar, but the rest of the church 
 was almost dark, and one could not distin 
 guish the faces of those kneeling; a faint 
 light was sometimes thrown over the grim 
 effigies which ornament the tombs of the 
 crusaders and the bishops who died hun 
 dreds of years ago, and the old Gothic and 
 Saracenic architecture could hardly be 
 traced. After listening to the monotonous 
 chant of the priests I proceeded toward the 
 "Albergo Reale," where I was to pass the 
 night. I had not gone far before I was star- 
 
EUROPE. 41 
 
 tied by a loud voice calling to me, " for the 
 love of God, to give help to a poor soul in 
 prison." I looked up and saw just above me 
 a heavy grating, through which an ugly look 
 ing fellow had thrust his head ; he put his 
 hand out at another opening, and repeated 
 his prayer in a hideous tone, but changed it 
 to a hearty curse when I turned away from 
 him, and the guard, corning up with his mus 
 ket, stopped his prayers and curses together 
 by a stroke of his bayonet, which forced him 
 to draw his head into his cell again. This is 
 a specimen of what one meets within all the 
 towns: gayety, poverty, devotion, villainy, 
 and soldiery. 
 
 Returning through England, he caught a 
 glimpse of the men of that day. 
 
 BOSTON, OLD ENGLAND, August 1, 1840. 
 
 DEAR FATHER, One day I went upon 
 the floor of the House of Lords, where I 
 was almost among the debaters : Lord 
 Brougham was talking next to me, the chan 
 cellor of the exchequer, etc. The Duke of 
 Wellington went fast asleep; he appears 
 quite old and has had several strokes of 
 paralysis, so that the country will probably 
 
42 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 before long mourn his loss. But he is not 
 any older in his feelings than other men. 
 He comes into the House dressed in white 
 linen pantaloons (in a cold day), a military 
 undress coat, white waistcoat and cravat, 
 with a riding whip in his hand. Like most 
 of the members he keeps his hat on, and 
 sleeps more than any of them. I noticed 
 that he staggers somewhat in his walking, 
 but when he mounts his horse he sits firmly 
 and looks remarkably well, so that if you 
 did not know who he was you would turn to 
 look at him. Lord Melbourne reminds me 
 of Mr. Van Buren. He evidently goes into 
 the House, as they say in college, "on tick;" 
 that is, he has so many things to attend to, 
 loves his ease so well, and has such ready 
 talents, that he trusts to luck and to his 
 wits to get through with the business. 
 Your affectionate son, 
 
 A. A. L. 
 
 The misery in Ireland appealed to his ten 
 der sympathies, while the temperance cru 
 sade of Father Mathew aroused his enthu 
 siasm. 
 
EUROPE. 43 
 
 ATHLONE ON LAKE REE, September 5, 1840. 
 
 DEAR FATHER, The country of Ire 
 land is in many parts beautiful, but of the 
 wretchedness and suffering of the people, 
 one who has not seen it can hardly form 
 an idea. To say that they are all ragged 
 would be less than the truth ; the disease 
 and almost nakedness seen in this cold cli 
 mate renders the journey unpleasant, and 
 prevents all enjoyment. To see ragged peo 
 ple is not so bad, after one has been in 
 Italy, as the sight of palewomen and chil 
 dren, haggard men, and crippled boys, with 
 out any means of living, or even of being 
 sheltered. This is so universal, and the 
 loathsomeness of disease so perpetually 
 thrust before a stranger, that I believe it 
 would be impossible for a woman, or any 
 person of delicate feelings, to travel in some 
 parts where I have been. One is surprised 
 and incensed at the supineness of the Eng 
 lish Parliament and people, as well as the 
 Irish nobility and proprietors, in not feeling 
 more for these 7,000,000 of their fellow- 
 beings, and at their love of power, which 
 impels them to hold under taxation a coun 
 try suffering to such extremity. To be a 
 Kadical is natural enough when one sees 
 
44 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 such an abuse of power, and to hope for 
 a revolution or war which will overthrow 
 this system of government is not unreason 
 able in the Irish. The police is seen every 
 where, and the support of this, with the 
 army, which is distributed through the coun 
 ties, the Lord Lieutenancy and his court in 
 Dublin, together with the Church of Eng 
 land which is planted everywhere, is enough 
 to drain them to the last drop. This you 
 know all about, but I supposed that the ac 
 counts we get might have been exaggerated 
 for political effect, and I am glad to have 
 seen exactly the truth, which cannot be 
 known from the public journals. 
 
 But the most singular thing is the tem 
 perance revolution, and the wonder of the 
 age is Father Mathew. I have heard and 
 seen him very satisfactorily, and think with 
 his audiences that it was the greatest 
 spectacle I ever witnessed. To-day I sat 
 very near him by means of Father O Reilly, 
 and not only saw the whole, but took notes 
 of all his sermon, which was excellent. He 
 is a good looking man about forty-five, florid 
 face, curly black hair, and a Roman nose, 
 with a good-humored expression. He was 
 rather late, owing to the pressure of the 
 
EUROPE. 45 
 
 people, but when he stepped upon the plat 
 form, every voice was hushed and all eyes 
 fixed upon him. If he had been an angel 
 from heaven he would not have commanded 
 more attention. I never saw anything like 
 it before. The band of music played a 
 hymn, during which he stood leaning on the 
 altar, looking over the immense concourse, 
 without seeming to feel any awkwardness 
 or any desire to make a display. His dress 
 was a white robe with gold around the neck 
 and on the streamers in front, and his whole 
 appearance was elegant and pleasing. Some 
 poor cripples, who had been laid inside the 
 railing, were kneeling as well as they could, 
 and muttering their prayers to him, of which 
 he took no notice. After the hymn he stood 
 out more in front, and delivered his text and 
 sermon, without book or notes. This was 
 sensible and suited to the audience, who 
 showed their approbation by frequent re 
 sponses and prayers at the end of the sen 
 tences. This lasted half an hour, during 
 which time I do not think there was a dry 
 eye in the whole assembly, and many were 
 sobbing aloud, I could not tell why, except 
 for the excitement. He then retired, and 
 the meeting adjourned to a large open place, 
 
46 AMOS A. LA WHENCE. 
 
 called the Battery, on the outskirts of the 
 town. Here on the rising ground he ad 
 dressed them more particularly on the sub 
 ject of temperance, and administered the 
 pledge; the rush to take this was almost 
 fearful, so that the one or two hundred cit 
 izen constables were obliged to lay about 
 them with their poles, to prevent being over 
 thrown, and some were seriously injured. 
 Father O Eeilly and some others near him 
 constantly shed tears at this sight, which 
 was extraordinary indeed. For a long dis 
 tance around, the hills were covered with 
 people, dressed in their best clothes (which 
 are not very good). The women with their 
 white caps and bright red cloaks gave a gay 
 appearance to the whole. But the most 
 striking feature in the scene was the sick ; 
 these were brought on carts and in litters, 
 and were laid about everywhere upon the 
 grass ; their friends were lifting some up 
 on their shoulders, that the sight of the 
 Father might cure them ; some were too 
 weak to hold up their heads, and made a 
 ghastly appearance as they were raised up 
 to the light ; some seemed in the last stage, 
 and required all the attention of their rela 
 tions. It was a touching scene to see the 
 
EUROPE. 47 
 
 eager anxiety of the mothers and sisters, 
 and to hear their prayers for their sons, 
 husbands, and fathers. One was carried 
 back to the times of the Apostles, and could 
 hardly realize that he was not listening to 
 some inspired person. After seeing the ad 
 ministering of the pledge (which is kept 
 much more sacredly than in the United 
 States), I went around to hear the conversa 
 tion of the people, and to ascertain if possi 
 ble how they were affected. I found they 
 were talking of the death of a man in Dub 
 lin, who had broken the pledge, and run mad 
 (which was correct), the discourse, and the 
 cures. " It is indeed wonderful," said a 
 country proprietor named O Ferren, with 
 whom I became acquainted, " how these 
 cures take place ; the only encouragement 
 Father Mathew has ever given these poor 
 invalids is that he will pray for them, and 
 yet they believe he can cure by his word or 
 touch, and I know of two boys who were 
 made well in an hour after taking hold of 
 his robe." Seeing three decent -looking men 
 talking together, I asked one if any person 
 had been cured to-day. " I know only one," 
 said the man, "but I presume there are 
 more." " Have you seen the person ? " said 
 
48 AMOS A. LA WHENCE. 
 
 I. " Seen him ! and have n t I seen him 
 these three years every day, and never knew 
 him walk a step, and is n t he there now 
 jumping about with them boys yonder?" 
 There was 110 resisting such evidence as this, 
 and as the boy disappeared in the crowd 
 I had no opportunity of disbelieving. I 
 asked a poor woman, who had brought her 
 son ten miles on her back, if she noticed any 
 change in him. " Not yet," she said ; " if 
 it s God s will, he will be cured ; we can- 
 rot have all we ask for. I hope Father 
 Mathew s prayers may prevail, or at least 
 the sight of such an inspired man may do 
 him good." More than a million adults 
 have taken the pledge, and it is very seldom 
 broken ; many say there never has been but 
 one case, that of the man in Dublin who 
 died, which shows that there have been 
 but few. Those who take it receive a medal, 
 which they wear around their necks, and 
 many consider it a kind of charm. Father 
 Mathew s likeness is hung in every cot 
 tage. . . . 
 
 Your affectionate son, 
 
 A. A. L. 
 
Y. 
 
 FIRST YEARS AFTER MARRIAGE. 
 
 1841-1853. 
 
 ON his return from Europe Mr. Lawrence 
 immediately took up the activities of busi 
 ness and society. But he soon felt that the 
 attachments and sympathies of a home were 
 needed to fill out his life. His journal re 
 cords more and more frequent visits to the 
 house of Mr. William Appleton, to whose 
 daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, he soon became 
 engaged. On March 31, 1842, they were 
 married, in Mr. Appleton s house on Beacon 
 Street, by the Rev. A. H. Vinton, who had 
 just taken charge of St. Paul s Church. 
 
 Soon after, they moved to Pemberton 
 Square, which was their home until his love 
 for the country drew Mr. Lawrence and his 
 family outside the city limits. 
 
 About a year after his marriage, Mr. 
 Lawrence made an important change in his 
 business relations, and from that time he 
 
50 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 seems to have really felt that he had seized 
 upon his life work. His journal gives the 
 record of the formation of his business firm. 
 
 " May 18, 1843. Robert Mason and my 
 self have decided to make a partnership and 
 run for luck to get the Cocheco Company." 
 
 " May 26. The Directors of the Cocheco 
 Company voted to give their business to 
 Mason & Lawrence to-day. I have spoken 
 for some signs and written to Robert to come 
 on here." 
 
 " May 29. Signed articles of copartner 
 ship with Robert Mason. I deem this a 
 highly important step in my career, and I 
 pray that I may be true to the new duties I 
 have undertaken, and may not allow indo 
 lence or timidity to hinder me from taking 
 my full share of the labor which will fall 
 upon me. I know that our success depends 
 very much on our own efforts, and I trust 
 that if it should come, I may not forget my 
 duty in using it, not for my own aggrandize 
 ment, but for the advancement of Christ s 
 kingdom upon earth. I hope to look to 
 God for strength and for success ; on Him I 
 will lean." 
 
 Like every good business man, Mr. Law 
 rence believed strongly in system ; the whole 
 
FIRST YEARS AFTER MARRIAGE. 51 
 
 concern, even to its smallest details, should 
 run like a machine ; but he also believed in 
 placing trustworthy men who were in sympa 
 thy with his methods, in the responsible po 
 sitions. Having found his men, he gave 
 them liberal salaries and large freedom of 
 action. He was thus able to reduce the 
 length of his business hours ; and his judg 
 ment of ability and character was such that 
 he soon drew about him men who remained 
 for many years. After fifteen years of active 
 partnership, Mr. Mason was obliged by his 
 wife s health to pass most of his time in Eu 
 rope, so that upon Mr. Lawrence fell the 
 management of the firm s business. Mr. 
 H. B. Mather, who was taken into partner 
 ship in the year 1859, took full charge of 
 the accounting department, and was, until 
 his death in 1884, a faithful assistant. Mr. 
 J. D. W. Joy was also a partner for four 
 teen years, retiring in 1866. 
 
 The Cocheco Company, of which Mason & 
 Lawrence were the selling agents, was a cor 
 poration for the manufacture and printing 
 of cotton cloths, and at that time was losing 
 money heavily ; very soon after the change 
 of management, Mr. Lawrence was able to 
 report that " the company had made six per 
 
52 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 cent, on the capital stock in the past six 
 months." Soon the success was such that 
 the firm organized the purchase of the Sal 
 mon Falls Company, and, increasing the 
 stock to $300,000, rebuilt the mill. 
 
 The selling agency of these two mills Mr. 
 Lawrence held for over forty years, during 
 which the works of both corporations trebled. 
 During most of that time he was director 
 in both corporations, and for some years was 
 treasurer of the Salmon Falls and president 
 of the Cocheco. 
 
 With the first directions to the agent 
 at Salmon Falls went this letter from Mr. 
 Lawrence, which suggests his interest in the 
 welfare of the mill-hands : 
 
 " The accompanying pamphlet represents 
 the growing evils which attend the increase 
 of a manufacturing town so clearly, that it 
 reminds one of the importance of beginning 
 right in Salmon Falls. I hope you will keep 
 your attention directed to this point ; and 
 if any measures are required to prevent 
 their occurrence, beyond what have already 
 been taken, please to suggest them. In re 
 gard to religious instruction, it seems to me 
 that if our church does not produce the de 
 sired interest, either from want of talent in 
 
FIRST YEARS AFTER MARRIAGE. 53 
 
 the preacher or from prejudice against the 
 forms, there must be some kind of preaching, 
 and some form adopted, which will ; " and 
 later, he records, " Went to see the Bishop 
 this week about sending a Roman Catholic 
 clergyman down to Salmon Falls to look 
 after the spiritual interests of the girls, of 
 whom one third are Irish." 
 
 Mr. Lawrence s resolution in college not to 
 be a plodding, narrow-minded business man 
 was a principle for life. Charitable and 
 public interests had their immediate claim 
 upon his attention, and before he was able to 
 respond largely with money he gave his time. 
 
 For six years he was a trustee of the 
 Massachusetts General Hospital, and took 
 great interest in his regular visits to the 
 Hospital and McLean Asylum. 
 
 His work for the colonization of free 
 blacks in Liberia brought frequent applica 
 tions to his office. " A good-looking black 
 preacher," he records in his journal, " came 
 to get some money to free his family of eleven 
 and take them to Liberia. He required 
 16,000. He had just heard of the death of 
 his youngest daughter and his heart was ten 
 der. I found a tear in my own eye, and he 
 took my hand as he went out, saying, I 
 
54 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 think you are my friend, which quite choked 
 me up. Such cases grow more frequent." 
 
 " Went round last evening with Bishop 
 Mcllvaine of Ohio, begging for his institu 
 tion." 
 
 " The Young Men s Benevolent Society 
 chose me president again." 
 
 " Forenoon, went to police court with Mr. 
 Stone to prosecute a man for inhumanly 
 beating his horses." 
 
 Very busy all day with the subscription 
 book for an Episcopal City Mission Chapel : 
 succeeded pretty well." 
 
 The following characteristic letter suggests 
 the memory of a unique and kindly character, 
 familiar to every Harvard student of the 
 last generation. 
 
 TO PROFESSOR SALES. 
 
 BOSTON, December 31, 1852. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Will you accept the 
 above (check for $50.00) as a New Year s 
 present from one of your old scholars, who 
 though he did not learn much Spanish, could 
 not help learning to love an instructor so 
 disinterested, so kind, so gentle, so playful, 
 and yet so venerable. May God grant you, 
 my dear sir, all his consolations here and 
 hereafter. With great regard, 
 
 Yours very truly, A. A. L. 
 
FIRST YEARS AFTER MARRIAGE. 55 
 
 A mixed education in Unitarianism and 
 Orthodoxy is not usually conducive to a set 
 tled faith, and is more likely to lead to argu 
 ment than to piety. Mr. Lawrence had 
 passed through the argumentative phase, and 
 as a result had written, " Would that I 
 had a Creed ; " but that deep and sincere 
 faith which was found in the Unitarianism 
 as well as the Orthodoxy of that day was Mr. 
 Lawrence s by inheritance, education, and 
 conviction. His devotional spirit had sent 
 him to the Prayer Book, which led him into 
 closer sympathy with the Episcopal Church. 
 The result is seen in the record of his 
 journal. 
 
 " May 29, 1842. To-day we were both con 
 firmed at St. Paul s Church by Bishop Gris- 
 wold. There were forty-three others ; among 
 them my brother William and his wife and 
 Marianne Appleton. Our pastor, Dr. Vin- 
 ton, has labored very successfully. God has 
 poured out his Spirit over the whole country, 
 and there seems to be a universal revival. I 
 pray that we may not either of us ever be 
 led astray by the allurements of this world 
 and forget our God and Saviour." 
 
 His practical spirit immediately led him 
 to take hold of the church work. 
 
56 AMOS A, LA WHENCE. 
 
 " Sunday. Went to Sunday-school, St. 
 Paul s : shall have a class next week, of 
 poor children if I can get them. It seems 
 to me the good done by Sunday instruction 
 away from home may be very much in 
 creased by taking the poor. 1. It teaches the 
 others that the poor are as good as themselves 
 and may attain even higher moral excel 
 lence. 2. If brought together in such a way 
 as not to wound the pride of the richer, there 
 will probably spring up a sympathy for the 
 poorer. 3. It will prevent the jealousy which 
 springs up in the minds of the poor, or at 
 least diminish it. 4. It will make them en 
 deavor to resemble the rich in their good 
 manners and refinement. 5. The acquaint 
 ance made at school will often be the cause 
 of their advancement in their trades from 
 the interest which naturally continues for 
 schoolmates, especially those who have im 
 bibed together religious sentiments." 
 
 A few days after moving into Pemberton 
 Square he writes, " Yesterday I had a num 
 ber of poor boys in the lower parlor, whom I 
 hope to teach something. They live about 
 Hatter s Square, are Catholics and cannot 
 all read, and are pretty dirty. They promised 
 to come again Sunday morning, and I have 
 
FIRST YEARS AFTER MARRIAGE. 57 
 
 purchased a little bundle of books for 
 them." 
 
 The week-day evening lecture at St. 
 Paul s, as well as the two Sunday services, 
 were to him as important as any business 
 engagement. The following extracts from 
 his journal and from a letter to his old 
 schoolmate, William Le Baron, suggest the 
 record of these active and happy years. 
 
 "February 17,1850. . . . My attention is 
 so much taken up with business during the 
 week that I find it very difficult to give it to 
 the more important duties of Sunday. My 
 mind runs away from its devotions to the 
 plans of business and various engagements. 
 I pray God to forgive my frivolity and 
 weakness, and help me to think more of 
 spiritual things. By way of ascertaining 
 whether I have not assumed more responsi 
 bility than is consistent with a proper regu 
 lation of the time and the thoughts, I have 
 enumerated them as follows : 1. My busi 
 ness of commission merchant with a large 
 establishment, clerks, etc., and but one part 
 ner. 2. Office of treasurer of a lars:e manu- 
 
 o 
 
 facturing corporation with a capital of a 
 million of dollars. 3. Director in ten cor 
 porations : some of them very large, viz. : 
 
58 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 Suffolk Bank (eleven years) ; Massachu 
 setts General Hospital ; Cocheco Com 
 pany ; American Insurance Office ; Boston 
 Water Power Corporation ; Amesbury Com 
 pany ; Middlesex Canal ; Massachusetts 
 Bible Society ; Massachusetts Board of 
 Domestic Missions; Groton Academy. 4. 
 I have charge of all my father s property ; 
 also Mrs. Luther Lawrence s and Mrs. 
 Seaver s. 5. Of my own property ; includ 
 ing lands in the West, the building of a 
 Seminary and a town (Appleton) in Wis 
 consin, which is a complicated business. 
 Then there is the business of receiving and 
 paying visits, which I do only as much of as 
 is necessary. The membership of various 
 societies requiring some attention ; besides 
 my daily duty of giving two hours of day 
 light to the business of getting exercise 
 enough to keep my body sound. Some 
 trusts I have given up, but others come in to 
 take their place. Is not this too much for 
 one who would improve his mind and his 
 heart, and keep himself ready for a change 
 of scene, and an entrance into the spiritual 
 world ? Can one be prepared for higher du 
 ties when the mind is filled continually with 
 such thoughts as all these things entail ? " 
 
FIRST YEARS AFTER MARRIAGE. 59 
 BOSTON, October 4, 1850. 
 
 MY DEAR LE BARON, ... Nine years 
 ago I was married to one of the fairest, and 
 one of the least frail, of Eve s frail daugh 
 ters, Miss Appleton, who has borne me four 
 children, two boys and two girls ; thank God 
 all are living, and they form, with their 
 mother, as happy a family as the world con 
 tains. Fortune has never frowned badly, 
 for I have seldom tempted her : so far it has 
 been pretty much sunshine, at least for the 
 last few years. Not having aspired to fame 
 or great wealth, I am not disappointed. 
 My family is too dear to me to allow me to 
 pursue the first, and I am well enough off 
 to be above the temptation of avarice. In 
 the summer I have lived in the country, and, 
 if my life is spared, I hope by another year 
 to make my home there, coming to town^ 
 every day. In politics I am a moderate 
 Whig, in religion an Episcopalian, and a 
 very indifferent follower of our blessed 
 Master, through whose merits alone we must 
 be saved, if at all. Your friend, 
 
 A. A. L. 
 
 From his college days Mr. Lawrence had 
 wished not to live " pent up in the city," 
 
60 AMOS A. LA WHENCE. 
 
 but " in the country a few miles from town." 
 In his afternoon rides he was on the watch 
 for a suitable home, and after two daughters 
 and two sons were born, he felt that it was 
 time to carry out his desire. About two 
 miles from Boston, by way of the Mill-dam, 
 was a tract of about ninety acres owned by 
 Mr. Ebenezer Francis, which, on account of 
 the one house then standing there, was called 
 " Cottage Farm." It adjoined a large tract 
 owned by Mr. David Sears, who had named 
 it " Longwood " after the place on St. Hel 
 ena where Napoleon died. This Cottage 
 Farm near Longwood Mr. Lawrence with 
 his brother bought, and on his half he built 
 a stone house in English cottage style, which 
 from 1851 until his death was his homestead. 
 
 The lawn on the south and west was re 
 lieved by a grove of oaks on the north, 
 while on the east was the garden, stocked 
 in later years with a large variety of fruit, 
 which in the autumn mornings was distrib 
 uted to friends and neighbors by Mrs. Law 
 rence on her way into Boston. 
 
 His first act on taking possession of his 
 house was characteristic. " 1851, October 5, 
 Sunday. A week ago last Wednesday I first 
 sat at my own table in my own new home. 
 
FIRST YEARS AFTER MARRIAGE. 61 
 
 My family not having moved here from Mr. 
 Appleton s, I was alone. My man, James, 
 who had come from his farm to live this 
 winter with us, had set the table: he had 
 placed my chair so that I looked out upon 
 the beautiful scene at two windows. As 
 there was no one to sit down but myself, I 
 did not say grace aloud, though I did feel 
 the importance of the change which I had 
 made, and was thankful for having been per 
 mitted to make so auspicious a beginning in 
 my new home, probably my home for life, I 
 hope my children s. If so, how many sor 
 rows and how many joys will these walls 
 witness. As soon as James had left the 
 room, I knelt down at the window which 
 looks out into the wood and devoutly thanked 
 God, and invoked his blessing on the house 
 and on all of us. The next day (Thursday, 
 September 25), we all moved in." 
 
 A few months later (April 20), he wrote to 
 his uncle, George Richards, in Paris : " The 
 spring is just coming here after a wonderful 
 winter. Even within a fortnight we have had 
 a heavy storm : thirty-six regular snow-storms 
 in all, and good sleighing most of the time. 
 Now we begin to enjoy the country : for my 
 house, although only two miles from Beacon 
 
62 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 Street, is as much in the country as though 
 it were twenty. William and myself have 
 ninety acres, and though as to profit we 
 hope to see it occupied, it is more agreeable 
 as a residence as it is now at least a great 
 part of the year. I have cows, hens, horses, 
 puppies, etc., besides a large family inside 
 the house, and we think nobody lives so 
 pleasantly. Kossuth is here : he receives a 
 kind reception : he is certainly a patriot, 
 though an adventurer, too, and a smart fel 
 low. I think he has reached his zenith of 
 fame." 
 
 In those days there was a clear stretch of 
 water on both sides of the Mill-dam from 
 Charles Street to the three roads. Where 
 Commonwealth Avenue now runs, men and 
 boys could almost always be seen in the win 
 ter days spearing eels and catching smelts 
 through the ice, or skating across the Back 
 Bay to Roxbury and Brookline. The wind 
 sweeping down the Charles River valley 
 across this long stretch of Mill-dam gave 
 Mr. Lawrence many a rough and cold ride 
 which probably laid up a store of neuralgia 
 for later life. 
 
 Though not a robust boy, he had by care 
 and regular exercise developed into a man 
 
FIRST YEARS AFTER MARRIAGE. 63 
 
 of more than average strength ; and he had 
 that sensitiveness of nerve and quickness 
 of action which gives success and therefore 
 pleasure in athletic sports. 
 
 When in college he wrote, " I am in train 
 ing to get strength and agility. I am taking 
 some lessons in sparring ; nothing can be of 
 more use to confirm good health or cure it if 
 delicate. I spar with Gray, and am pretty 
 sure of being his equal in a few days, though 
 he is considerably heavier. Then I shall try 
 Thorndike, who has gone through four 
 courses, and is larger in every way and 
 more active." During the winter of 1850 
 he records : " Afternoon, went to Savin Hill 
 with the club to bowl : snowing very fast all 
 the afternoon. W. D. Sohier, Bartlett, Lor- 
 ing, W. Sohier, lawyers ; G. M. Dexter, J 
 P. Putnam, and Dr. S. G. Howe." 
 
 Skating he kept up until nearly the last 
 winter of his life. Though in these days of 
 excessive attention to athletics the senti 
 ments of the following 1 letter to the Master 
 
 O 
 
 of Groton Academy seem commonplace, they 
 were not so in 1853 : 
 
 BOSTON, May 31, 1853. 
 
 DEAR SIR, The lack of manual labor 
 or of manly and athletic exercises is a source 
 
64 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 of weakness and effeminacy in young men, 
 sometimes inducing disease or aggravating 
 it. The old English sports, which gave 
 courage, activity, and strength to our ances 
 tors in the northern country (and which are 
 still kept up there), qualities which the 
 hardships of a New England life in the 
 wilderness sustained for several generations, 
 have almost died out, excepting among a 
 few sporting people, and in some schools 
 where they are kept up under the form of 
 gymnastics. Exercise, merely as such, be 
 comes irksome ; and therefore gymnasiums 
 have usually been failures. The excitement 
 of uncertainty is required of a regular game 
 a party victorious and a party beaten 
 to draw out the energy of body and mind, 
 to develop the powers of all the limbs and 
 muscles and quicken the senses. This gives 
 hardness, and strength, and elasticity of 
 body (which has its effect upon the mind 
 and heart) and which few persons ever at 
 tain, except during their boyhood and youth. 
 A good plan for encouraging some of the 
 most common exercises, such as cricket, 
 quoits, single-stick, would be to offer a hand 
 some medal for each, to be awarded once in 
 a year to him who excels ; the award to be 
 
FIRST YEARS AFTER MARRIAGE. 65 
 
 made by a jury of his peers, to be chosen by 
 the students at large, each jury containing 
 only those who are not competitors. 
 
 These medals, say three, of silver worth 
 twenty dollars each, I propose to furnish. 
 Yours truly, A. A. L. 
 
 He also had the happy faculty of catching 
 a moment s nap at any time and under any 
 circumstances, having such control of him 
 self that he would wake up at a given mo 
 ment ; in fact, during his entrance examina 
 tion to Harvard College he fell asleep, but 
 hearing the professor say "sufficient" to 
 the student next him, he awoke bright and 
 ready. After coming home tired from busi 
 ness, three minutes on a sofa was enough to 
 rest mind and body and give enjoyment to 
 the afternoon ride. " Generally, when no 
 particular occupation offers I sleep easily 
 in the daytime, though not so well at night ; 
 frequently I lie awake several hours in the 
 mo-ht after two o clock. This gives time for 
 
 & 
 
 reflection which is very useful to me, and no 
 one requires it more. These wakeful sea 
 sons may with God s help be the means of 
 keeping religion from dying out in my heart. 
 Never during the day does religion assume 
 
66 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 such importance as when the world is still 
 and shut out from view ; then we weigh the 
 importance of temporal and eternal things 
 more accurately. I pray God that the time 
 may never come to me when these halting 
 places may not occur, affording me an oppor 
 tunity of looking backward on the past and 
 forward to what is to come." 
 
 In 1847 Mr. Lawrence bought a cottage 
 at Lynn just at the head of Long Beach, 
 where its graceful sweep towards Nahant is 
 most marked. And here he passed many 
 summers, reserving a few days in the au 
 tumn when he with his family went to renew 
 old associations at the homestead in Groton. 
 In 1844 his only sister, Mrs. Charles 
 Mason, died, and in 1845 his half-brother 
 Robert, a young man of lovely character, 
 was taken. 
 
 The early death of his mother had bound 
 Mr. Lawrence to his father in close affection. 
 Then their common interests in business and 
 philanthropy had caused an association even 
 more intimate. When at Bedford he wrote : 
 " My father has not written me for nearly 
 two weeks, so that I am afraid he is sick. 
 What would become of me if I should lose 
 him ! So good a father, so affectionate and 
 watchful of my morals." 
 
FIRST YEARS AFTER MARRIAGE. 67 
 
 With evident gratification he records in 
 1841 : " Father was much pleased with the 
 leading article in the Atlas yesterday, and 
 more so when I told him it was mine. It 
 was headed The Scarcity of Money. 
 
 The death of his father was, therefore, the 
 great break in his life. 
 
 " January 1, 1853. The death of my dear 
 father. I can hardly realize as I write, that 
 the time has come for making this record. It 
 reminds me of many things, but at this mo 
 ment more particularly of a similar record 
 which my sons must ere long make, if the 
 life of either of them should be spared a few 
 years, of my own decease. After many 
 months of improved health, of constant cheer 
 fulness, and of religious and benevolent em 
 ployment ; after receiving a long visit under 
 his own roof from his friends Mr. and Mrs. 
 Pierce, President Hopkins, and others, and in 
 the few days before his last having amended 
 his will, closed the affairs of his partner 
 ship of thirty-nine years standing, paid his 
 almost daily visits to our family here at 
 Longwood, and to my brother s, caressed 
 his grandchildren and kindly greeted many 
 friends, he retired to rest on the night of 
 December 30th in apparently good health. 
 
68 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 Soon after midnight he groaned and awak 
 ened my mother ; but in vain she applied 
 the common restoratives. The life was 
 gone ; the soul had gone to God who gave it. 
 Dr. Warren and my brother William were 
 called. Early in the morning William sent 
 out word to me. How many times before I 
 had expected such a sad message, but not 
 now ! O God, our Father, grant that we 
 may die as well prepared ; that our lives may 
 be as useful ; and, if it please Thee, may our 
 death be as free from pain as his." 
 
 For several years an enterprise in Wis 
 consin absorbed much of Mr. Lawrence s 
 time and interest. In the year 1852 the 
 romantic story of " the lost Dauphin " was 
 exciting much interest in this country, and 
 the question was everywhere under discus 
 sion, whether the son of Marie Antoinette, 
 the Dauphin of France, who was said to 
 have been spirited away at the time of his 
 mother s death, was not now the Rev. Elea- 
 zer Williams, missionary of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church among the Oneida Indi 
 ans at their reservation near Green Bay in 
 Wisconsin. 
 
 At that time the claims of Mr. Williams, 
 the story of his escape and life among the 
 
FIRST YEARS AFTER MARRIAGE. 69 
 
 Indians, and, more than all, his Bourbon 
 features and noble presence, appealed to the 
 imagination of many. 
 
 It was Mr. Lawrence s fortune to see the 
 more prosaic side of Mr. Williams s char 
 acter. For the pretender to the throne of 
 France had one feature in common with 
 some of his royal cousins : he was in a 
 chronic impecunious condition. 
 
 The pressure of circumstances had brought 
 him to Boston as early as 1845 to raise 
 money on five thousand acres of land on 
 which he lived in Wisconsin. Rev. Dr. 
 Lothrop, whose father was also a mission 
 ary among the Indians, interested Mr. Amos 
 Lawrence in the matter, but on account of 
 his health the burden of lending the money 
 was taken by his son. The result was that, 
 as the fortune of the lost Dauphin waned, 
 Mr. Lawrence was drawn more and more 
 into the investment, until he found himself 
 the unwilling possessor of over five thousand 
 acres of land in the Fox River Valley, Wis 
 consin. 
 
 Financially, the investment resulted as 
 such forced purchases usually do. The 
 agents turned out careless or dishonest, and 
 the settlers took advantage of a distant 
 
70 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 owner, until, as Mr. Lawrence wrote, " claims 
 have been laid upon every piece of land 
 which I own in Wisconsin, which has risen 
 in value, while those which have not risen in 
 value remain unmolested." 
 
 But the incident has an interest as show 
 ing that with the ownership of property came 
 also a sense of responsibility for the welfare 
 of those who lived upon and near it. For 
 as soon as the five thousand acres fell into 
 his hands he wrote to his agent : " I have 
 been thinking more of the establishment of 
 an institution of learning or college on the 
 Williams land, and there seems to be a good 
 opportunity, not only for improving the tone 
 of morals and the standard of education in 
 that vicinity, but also of conferring a lasting 
 benefit on a portion of our countrymen who 
 most need it. I have a high opinion of the 
 adaptation of the principles of the Metho 
 dists to the people of the West, and I think, 
 from all that I can learn, that their insti 
 tutions are carried on with more vigor, and 
 diffuse more good with the same means, than 
 any other. It seems to me decided by ex 
 perience, that all literary institutions must 
 be controlled by some sect, and efforts to pre 
 vent this have often blasted their usefulness. 
 
FIRST YEARS AFTER MARRIAGE. 71 
 
 I should desire most of all to see a Protest 
 ant Episcopal institution ; but that is out of 
 the question, as our form of worship is only 
 adopted slowly, and never will be popular 
 in this country. I think the old-fashioned 
 name 4 college or school ? is as good as 
 any ; university would hardly do for such 
 a young child." 
 
 Later he wrote : " The school is to be 
 under the control of the Methodist denomi 
 nation, though it is specified that " a large 
 minority of the trustees shall be from other 
 denominations. I trust it will be conducted 
 so as to do the most good, to diffuse the 
 greatest amount of learning and religion, 
 without reference to propagating the tenets 
 of any sect." 
 
 Soon after, Mr. Lawrence yielded to the 
 urgent request of those citizens who were in 
 terested in the establishment of a college, to 
 change the location from the Williams tract 
 to the " Grand Chute " on the Fox River, 
 which was considered by them to be a better 
 position. Here a new town was immediately 
 incorporated and named "Appleton," after 
 Mr. Samuel Appleton of Boston, and in it 
 the college was established. Mr. Lawrence s 
 suggestion of the modest title " school " or 
 
72 AMOS A. LAWJtENCE. 
 
 " college " was not in accordance with the 
 popular taste for great names, and as he had 
 initiated the movement and had given more 
 than twenty thousand dollars towards its 
 foundation, the charter was obtained under 
 the title " Lawrence University." 
 
 For a few years the institution, after the 
 early example and charter of Harvard, edu 
 cated some of the " Indian youth," but its 
 real work has been in the line of Mr. Law 
 rence s first suggestion, the diffusion of learn 
 ing and religion among the people of that 
 vicinity and the neighboring States. Under 
 the successful presidency of his friend, Rev. 
 Dr. Edward Cooke, the university reached a 
 position of influence which it has sustained ; 
 and one of the last days of his life was passed 
 in consultation with Dr. Cooke and its pres 
 ent president as to means for increasing its 
 work. 
 
VI. 
 
 KANSAS STRUGGLE. 
 1854-1856. 
 
 IN the agitation caused by the passage of 
 the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, Mr. Law 
 rence wrote : u Matters of state policy are 
 comparatively of no importance now. The 
 great question is the national one : Shall we 
 stand by the laws or shall we nullify them? 
 Shall we uphold the Union, or shall we 
 break it up ? " Conservative by inheritance 
 and education, he had as little sympathy 
 with the small fraction of " higher law " ab 
 olitionists as with their fellow nullifiers, the 
 political leaders of the slaveholders. He 
 could not follow Mr. Webster in his com 
 promises with slavery, but at the same time 
 rlie esteemed the Free - Soilers a danger lol 
 1 the Union on account of their persistent" 
 agitation of the slave question and their 
 sectional spirit. He was a Whig, bound in 
 honor to preserve the original compact of 
 
74 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 the Union by which slavery was recognized, 
 but bound also to use every legitimate means 
 to prevent the increase of slavery, and ani 
 mated with the hope that time and patience 
 would bring about peacefully the abolition 
 of the evil. His business acquaintance with 
 Southern cotton-growers lead him to appre 
 ciate their side of the question, and to rec 
 ognize the care that many of them took in 
 the welfare of their slaves. " Mr. Carroll 
 of Carrollton," he wrote, "is staying in 
 Boston. He was offered $300,000 for the 
 use of his slaves for five years to be carried 
 to New Orleans and declined. They earn 
 nothing more than their support at home. 
 Would an abolitionist have done it ? " Nev 
 ertheless, his active interest in the colony of 
 freed slaves in Liberia, and in Father Hen- 
 son and other blacks who were purchasing 
 freedom for themselves and their families, 
 kept him alert to the evils of the system. 
 
 The great body of conservative, loyal 
 citizens in the North received a sharp shock 
 when, in 1854, Congress passed the Kansas- 
 Nebraska Bill, thus repealing the Missouri 
 Compromise of 1820. 
 
 For twenty-five years North and South 
 had worked on the common understanding 
 
KANSAS STRUGGLE. 75 
 
 that there should be no slave State north of 
 of the line 36 30 , and the compromise had 
 gained, in popular esteem, the dignity of a 
 compact. When, then, in 1854 Congress cut 
 Nebraska into halves (calling the southern 
 half Kansas) and proclaimed the doctrine 
 of " squatter sovereignty," that each Terri 
 tory had full control over its own domestic 
 institutions and could vote for or against slav 
 ery without regard to the line of 1820, the 
 people of the North began to realize that 
 they had an uncompromising party to deal 
 with. 
 
 It happened that a few weeks after the 
 passage of the bill a slaveholder, Colonel 
 Suttle of Alexandria, made a demand on 
 the authorities in Boston for the delivery of 
 a runaway slave named Burns who was con 
 cealed in the city. The request did not 
 tend to calm the irritated spirits of the Bos 
 ton people. Three years before, when there 
 was danger of a mob on account of the de 
 livery of a slave, Mr. Lawrence had offered 
 his services to United States Marshal Dev- 
 ens ; but circumstances had changed and 
 feelings were aroused in 1854. Mr. Law 
 rence wrote to the mayor that he " would 
 prefer to see the court house razed rather 
 
76 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 than that the fugitive now confined there 
 should be returned to slavery." In a letter 
 to his brother he said : " The newspapers 
 will give you an account of the slave excite 
 ment here. I tell you it was high times. 
 Mayor Smith called out all the troops in 
 this region, and it was a regular muster day 
 when the fugitive was carried off ; all busi 
 ness was suspended. The negro was a good- 
 looking fellow and well dressed ; and as he 
 marched down State Street in the procession, 
 cavalry and artillery with cannon and United 
 States troops were before and behind him ; 
 but he held his head up and marched like a 
 man. The windows and houses were filled 
 with people, though the streets and even 
 the cross streets had all been cleared. The 
 blood of 76,- like that of St. Januarius, 
 boiled up, and it was nothing but the clear 
 ing of the streets previously and the im 
 mense display of military that prevented 
 the total destruction of the United States 
 marshal and his hired assistants." 
 
 The passage of the Kansas - Nebraska 
 Bill turned the eyes of the whole country 
 upon the new Territory, Kansas, which was 
 placed in a unique and critical position. 
 The scattered settlers in a great Territory, 
 
KANSAS STRUGGLE. 77 
 
 which, until the passage of this bill, had 
 been an Indian reservation, were to have 
 the privilege of deciding by popular vote 
 whether slavery or freedom should exist in 
 its borders. The slave and free powers in 
 the nation were so evenly balanced that 
 the decision of Kansas became of national 
 importance. It was the first open popular 
 struggle, which ended in the civil war. Im 
 mediately that rough body of men which 
 hover around the borders of every new 
 country pushed in and drove down stakes. 
 Drawn largely from the Southern country, 
 their influence was pro-slavery. Soon the 
 adjoining slave State, Missouri, realized the 
 necessity of having her neighbor in agree 
 ment with herself, and across her borders 
 swarmed a very uncomfortable looking lot 
 of settlers, who had at least one firm convic 
 tion, that Kansas must go pro-slavery. Cer 
 tainly every appearance was in their favor. 
 In a few weeks the people of the North 
 began to realize that Kansas needed Free 
 State settlers. Still, slavery had every ad 
 vantage, and the country was about to settle 
 down to the fact of another slave Territory, 
 when Mr. Eli Thayer of Worcester sug 
 gested the idea of organized emigration for 
 
78 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 Kansas. Even before the passage of the 
 Kansas-Nebraska Bill he had obtained a 
 charter for the " Massachusetts Emigrant 
 Aid Association," allowing a capital of five 
 million dollars, with the intention of con 
 trolling all emigration in the interest of 
 liberty. His hope was first to secure all the 
 Territories and then move upon the slave 
 States, a plan more magnificent in idea 
 than in immediate possibilities. The criti 
 cal situation of Kansas, however, gave a 
 practical turn to the scheme. Here was an 
 opportunity for lovers of freedom to fight 
 for their cause in a legitimate and thor 
 oughly American way, by creating public 
 opinion in a Territory through the encour 
 agement of the settlement of bona fide citi 
 zens and legal voters. Having accepted the 
 position as one of the three trustees of the 
 
 i association at the request of his friend, Mr. 
 Patrick Jackson, Mr. Lawrence found to his 
 
 1 surprise that he had undertaken a piece of 
 
 I work which was as arduous as it was expen- 
 
 \ sive. 
 
 v A short experience proved that the origi 
 nal scheme was too magnificent in its scope, 
 and a new and more practical constitution 
 was drawn up. The design of the revised 
 
KANSAS STRUGGLE. 79 
 
 association, called " The New England Emi 
 grant Aid Company," was " to promote the 
 emigration to Kansas Territory of persons 
 opposed to slavery there, and to prevent, by 
 all legal and constitutional means, its estab 
 lishment there as well as in the Territory 
 of Nebraska." Its immediate objects were 
 " to procure for such emigrants cheap fare 
 and good accommodations on the route, to 
 advise them, through agents, on their arrival 
 out, in regard to eligible sites for settle 
 ments ; to secure for their benefit, by pur 
 chase or otherwise, advantageous locations 
 as landing-places, a general rendezvous for 
 outfitting purposes, etc. ; to erect receiving 
 houses for the temporary convenience for 
 settlers families ; to establish furnishing 
 stores, at which, on reasonably low terms, 
 the necessaries and comforts of life may be 
 purchased ; to erect, or aid individuals in 
 erecting and conducting, saw-mills, grist 
 mills, machine-shops, and similar establish 
 ments, essential in new settlements ; to in 
 troduce the printing press, and thus afford 
 a medium of communication between the 
 settlers, their friends, and the public." 
 
 To accomplish these and kindred objects, 
 the trustees proposed to raise the sum of 
 
80 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 $200,000, for which they looked to the liber 
 ality of all disposed to aid in the cause. To 
 contributors they issued certificates of loans 
 representing twenty dollars each. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence never shared the expecta 
 tion of some of his associates, that the stock 
 would pay dividends, or even that the stock 
 holders would ever see their money again, 
 and he would have preferred to depend 
 upon the gifts of patriotic citizens without 
 entering into such financial obligations. To 
 his father s old friend, Professor Packard of 
 Bowdoin College, he wrote : " The shape in 
 which it is presented is objectionable, that is, 
 as a stock company, and it imposes on those 
 who manage it the responsibility of making 
 dividends or of becoming odious. It was 
 with great reluctance that I meddled with it 
 at all ; but it was just about dying for want 
 of concerted action and for want of money 
 and business knowledge on the part of those 
 who had started it. Even now it is sickly 
 for want of funds, but it has given an im 
 pulse to emigration into Kansas which can 
 not easily be stopped." 
 
 To a clergyman who asked his advice 
 about investing in the stock, he answered : 
 " Keep your money for your own use, rather 
 
KANSAS STRUGGLE. 81 
 
 than do anything of that sort. The value 
 of land stock companies is the most delusive 
 of all stocks ; and persons are more easily 
 drawn into them than any other. Some of 
 my coadjutors in this enterprise would, if 
 they had the money, invest large sums in 
 this stock ; but fortunately the sanguine ones 
 who have property are all in debt, and the 
 poorer ones must rest content. I have taken 
 considerable, but only so much as I am will 
 ing to contribute to the cause ; and I have 
 already given a part of this away, and intend 
 to do the same with the balance." 
 
 However, with Mr. John Carter Brown of 
 Providence as president, he accepted the 
 position of treasurer and trustee, in asso 
 ciation with the two other trustees, Messrs. 
 Eli Thayer and J. M. S. Williams. 
 
 On the 17th of July, 1854, the first party 
 of twenty-nine emigrants were cheered out of 
 the railroad station by their friends and the 
 trustees, and on the 29th of August a sec 
 ond party of seventy, which was increased 
 very much on the route, moved out of Bos 
 ton singing, to the tune of " Auld Lang 
 Syne," one of the " Lays of the Emigrants " 
 written by Mr. Whittier : 
 
82 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 " We cross the prairie as of old 
 
 The Pilgrims crossed the sea, 
 To make the West, as they the East, 
 The homestead of the free ! 
 
 " We go to rear a wall of men 
 
 On Freedom s southern line, 
 And plant beside the cotton-tree 
 The rugged Northern pine ! " 
 
 To the record of their departure Mr. 
 Lawrence added : " All the expenditure thus 
 far has been met by myself, but I cannot 
 go farther without funds in hand. These 
 must be raised soon. The stock remains as 
 it was : only $20,000 taken." A few days 
 after, he was able to give this report of 
 doubtful encouragement: "150,000 of our 
 stock has been taken, thereby enabling us 
 to make an assessment. But it was done 
 by a forced process, the trustees taking 
 $10,000 more each, which they are respon 
 sible for." 
 
 As the pro-slavery squatters had settled in 
 little towns on the borders near Missouri, 
 the first object of the New England emi 
 grants was to create a centre for the anti- 
 slavery settlers. The conductor of the first 
 party, C. H. Branscomb, therefore followed 
 the directions given him from Boston, and 
 went up the Kansas Kiver. Soon a camp 
 
KANSAS STRUGGLE. 83 
 
 of tents, increased later by huts and log-cab 
 ins, marked the settlement of Wakarusa. A 
 village with an Indian title seemed to the 
 settlers hardly consistent with the dignity of 
 the rising " city," and they naturally turned 
 to the East for a name. In answer to a re 
 quest for a fitting title Mr. Lawrence had 
 written : " It is my decided opinion that the 
 Indian names of places, if they are not too 
 harsh, are the best." But Dr. Charles Rob 
 inson, who was the leading representative 
 of the Emigrant Aid Company, answered : 
 " Your letter came too late to influence the 
 action of the citizens. A letter from Mr. 
 Thayer was received some time since, offer 
 ing a library on behalf of the citizens of 
 Worcester, if the city would be called by 
 that name ; but our people are nearly unan 
 imous in their opposition to the names of 
 Eastern or other cities for our city. Most 
 of our people are very much attached to your 
 name, and after I had explained your course 
 in connection with our enterprise, and your 
 personal characteristics, as they had been 
 exhibited to me, there was much enthusiasm 
 manifested, and I think it will be impossible 
 to induce our people to change the name of 
 their city for any considerations." 
 
84 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence again protested : " My mo 
 tives, thus far, have been pure and unselfish ; 
 and I wish them not only to be, but to op- 
 pear, so ; this would not be the case, should 
 it be made public that the settlement had 
 been named for me. It would give to my 
 future efforts the appearance of promoting 
 my own celebrity, or, in other words, my 
 own interests, and would lessen my own 
 influence for the good of the cause. Besides 
 this, it might excite dissatisfaction in the 
 minds of my associated trustees, both of 
 whom are devoted to it, and one of whom 
 labored in it long before I did." 
 
 But he was met by the final letter from a 
 committee of citizens: "We thought that 
 one who, in the darkest hour of the grand 
 enterprise, stepped nobly forth to urge on its 
 lagging energies and nerve it with the firm 
 4 sinews of war, and who entered without 
 the hope or expectation of remuneration, 
 was worthy of lasting remembrance. It is 
 for these, with other reasons, dear sir, that 
 we have taken the liberty of calling our al 
 ready important place Lawrence." 
 
 The purchase of a hotel in Kansas City, 
 Mo., for the temporary lodgment of emi- 
 
KANSAS STRUGGLE. 85 
 
 grants, the incidental expenses, and agents 
 salaries, brought steady demands on the trus 
 tees. Mr. Thayer went from city to city, 
 stating the purpose of the society, creating 
 branch societies, and recruiting emigrants ; 
 while in Boston Messrs. Lawrence and Wil 
 liams tried to raise the necessary funds, 
 though the association was most of the time 
 six or seven thousand dollars in debt to the 
 treasurer. It was also easier for those who . 
 talked to make promises than for the treas- \ I 
 ury to meet them. " There is a good deal of 
 bluster," wrote Mr. Lawrence to Mr. John 
 Carter Brown, " in regard to the movements 
 of this company, and statements as to the 
 magnitude of our plans which are untrue." 
 To Mr. Pomeroy, an agent in Kansas, he 
 sent word, " This makes over-drafts for 
 about $6,000. As to obtaining money, I 
 am sorry to say the prospect under our pres 
 ent arrangement is very poor ; some change 
 must be made. Meantime we are making 
 
 o 
 
 large promises as to what we will do for set 
 tlers which are certain to be broken, and 
 which will entail much dissatisfaction." 
 " The labor is much greater than you would 
 suppose," he informed Mr. Williams, " fully 
 as much as to be treasurer of a manu- 
 
86 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 facturing corporation with a capital of 
 $1,500,000." At about the same time his 
 journal reads : " Kansas drafts came in ; no 
 money in the treasury and never have had, 
 and no money of my own. So I transferred 
 some manufacturing company s stock to be 
 sold and pay them. If Kansas should not 
 be a free State, I shall lay it to heart and to 
 my pocket too." 
 
 The report of the Massachusetts emigra 
 tion movement was spread through the coun 
 try with great exaggerations, so that the 
 Southern politicians found in it a ready 
 excuse for pouring ruffians across the line 
 simply to vote ; and though the abolitionists 
 condemned this constitutional method of 
 creating free States as " false in principle," 
 yet it was heralded as an abolitionists move 
 ment. Several congressmen had attacked 
 the association so savagely that Mr. Law 
 rence felt bound to justify to Mr. Benton the 
 company s action. 
 
 BOSTON, January 2, 1855, 
 
 DEAR SIR, ... It has been asserted 
 that the emigrants have had their expenses 
 paid to go to Kansas and vote. In your pub 
 lished speech you say that the same game 
 may have been played on both sides. 
 
KANSAS STRUGGLE. 87 
 
 As you love to know the truth and to de 
 fend it, I will state that not one man has 
 gone from New England who has had his 
 expenses paid, even in part. I am the treas 
 urer and a trustee of the only New England 
 society which has sent out settlers, and know 
 that all the money collected has been spent 
 in erecting school-houses, temporary huts, 
 steam saw and grist mill, in purchasing a 
 tavern in the town of Kansas, Mo., and for 
 similar purposes, and for nothing worse. 
 
 In soliciting subscriptions or receiving 
 them, it is usual to allow the subscriber to 
 take and pay for it as stock, say $200, and 
 to receive a certificate of it, as in any other 
 stock company ; or to give outright, for the 
 same, $100. Many prefer to give the 
 money ; that is, they do not value the stock 
 at half price. None has ever been sold, nor 
 would it sell at over one half ; nor do I be 
 lieve that there is a stockholder who would 
 not have taken three fourths of the cost the 
 moment when he paid the money. It is 
 what those who favor it call a " patriotic " 
 movement, to bring into active and healthy 
 life a new State, and to keep slavery out of 
 it ; to get good institutions in, and to keep 
 a bad institution out. Those "sent out" 
 
88 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 have not been abolitionists ; so far as we 
 know, not one known to be of that stamp has 
 gone in our parties. They are free to vote 
 and to do as they please. The society has 
 no agreement with them nor pledge, nor are 
 they asked any questions ; since it is pre 
 sumed that all New England men think 
 alike about the iniquity of the measure of 
 the last session, and as you do. 
 
 Yours truly, A. A. L. 
 
 President Pierce was only too ready to 
 listen to the Southern statement of the Kan 
 sas difficulties ; but as he happened to be a 
 nephew of Mr. Lawrence s mother, the con 
 nection gave Mr. Lawrence opportunities to 
 try and correct the false impressions. "I 
 have been pained often," he wrote to the 
 President, " by seeing this association mis 
 represented ; it has been called an affair of 
 the abolitionists, etc. Some societies under 
 this name have been formed by abolitionists, 
 but have accomplished nothing." 
 
 In the mean time, affairs were approach 
 ing a crisis in Kansas. Three months after 
 the first party arrived, they had their first 
 experience of a Kansas election. The choice 
 of a delegate to Congress for a fractional 
 
KANSAS STRUGGLE. 89 
 
 term was not a great issue, but it was enough 
 to bring seventeen hundred and twenty-nine 
 Missourians across the border to have a pic 
 nic and stuff the ballot - boxes. The pro- 
 slavery candidate was therefore elected. As 
 the question of slave State or free State de 
 pended on the legislature, the capture of 
 that body in the second election was worth 
 a struggle. Even the Senator from Missouri, 
 then acting vice-president, David R. Atchi- 
 son, did not consider the subject beneath his 
 notice and personal activity. The result was 
 that on the morning of the 30th of March 
 the taverns of Kansas were put to the test 
 to supply food and liquor for the five thou 
 sand new citizens who, armed with revolvers 
 and bowie-knives, had swarmed in from Mis 
 souri to exercise the privilege of American 
 citizens, and to vanish across the border in 
 the evening. A total of sixty -three hun 
 dred and seven votes in a Territory includ 
 ing only twenty-nine hundred and five legal 
 voters was rather trying. In anticipation of 
 this Mr. Lawrence had written to Mr. Atch- 
 ison : 
 
 (COTTAGE FARM NEAR) BOSTON, March 31, 1855. 
 MY DEAR SIR, I take the liberty to 
 address you upon a subject in which I have 
 
90 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 a common interest with yourself, viz. : the 
 settlement of Kansas. Since the repeal of 
 the " Missouri Compromise " by the last 
 Congress, this Territory has attracted the 
 attention of distant not less than of the 
 neighboring States ; for it is evident that 
 there must be decided the question whether 
 there shall be slave or free labor over a 
 vast region of the United States now un 
 settled. You and your friends would make 
 slave States, and we wish to prevent your 
 doing so. The stake is a large one, and the 
 ground chosen. Let the fight be a fair one. 
 , It is to secure this that I address you. 
 Your influence is requisite to restrain your 
 people from doing great injustice to actual 
 settlers, and provoking them to retaliatory 
 measures, the consequences of which would 
 be most deplorable. I beg you, my dear sir, 
 to use your efforts to avert so great an evil. 
 
 Let the contest be waged honorably, for 
 unless it be so, no settlement of the question 
 can ever be final. It is already reported 
 here that large bodies of Missourians will 
 cross over merely to vote, and that they may 
 gain this election as they did the last. But 
 how delusive to suppose that settlers who 
 have come from one to two thousand miles 
 
KANSAS STRUGGLE. 91 
 
 with their families will acquiesce in any 
 election gained by such means, or that any 
 future election can be satisfactory which is 
 not conducted according to law. The ad 
 vantage of proximity is yours ; your people 
 can afford to be not only just, but gener 
 ous, in this matter. The repeal of the law 
 which secured this Territory against the in 
 troduction of slavery is considered by most 
 men in the " free States " to be a breach of 
 the national faith ; and it is not unreason 
 able for those who have gone there to find 
 a home to expect a compliance with the laws 
 as they are. Those from New England 
 have gone in good faith and at their t>wn 
 expense. They are chiefly farmers ; but 
 among them are good representatives from 
 all professions. Some have considerable 
 property, but all have rights and principles 
 which they value more than money, and, I 
 may say, more than life itself. Neither is 
 there any truth in the assertion that they 
 are abolitionists. No person of that stripe 
 is known to have gone from here ; nor is 
 it known here that any such have gone 
 from other States. But oppression may 
 make them abolitionists of the most dan 
 gerous kind. 
 
92 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 There has been much said in regard to an 
 extensive organization here, which is wholly 
 untrue. I assure you, sir, that what has 
 been undertaken here will be carried on 
 fairly and equitably. The management is 
 in the hands of men of prudence, of wealth 
 and determination ; they are not politicians, 
 nor are they aspirants for office : they are 
 determined, if it be possible, to see that 
 justice is done to those who have ventured 
 their all in that Territory. May I not hope, 
 sir, that you will second this effort to see 
 that the contest shall be carried on fairly ? 
 If fairly beaten you may be sure that our 
 people will acquiesce, however reluctant ; 
 but they never will yield to injustice. 
 
 Respectfully yours, A. A. L. 
 
 Soon after he wrote to President Pierce : 
 
 BOSTON, April 17, 1855. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, As the subject of the 
 recent election in Kansas Territory will 
 probably be brought to your notice offi 
 cially, and as various accounts of it will be 
 written by interested parties, it may not be 
 amiss for me to state very briefly what I 
 know to be true. 
 
 Having been in a situation to see many 
 
KANSAS STRUGGLE. 93 
 
 private letters from persons in various parts 
 of the Territory, most of them indicating 
 intelligence and fairness, and having con 
 versed with an intelligent man just from 
 there, I consider it proved conclusively that 
 the proceedings of the Missourians who 
 crossed over with arms were a series of out 
 rages, grossly insulting to the actual settlers, 
 to the government, and to the public senti 
 ment of the whole country. It is difficult 
 to imagine that so much injury could have 
 been inflicted unaccompanied by serious 
 casualties, and it can only be accounted for 
 from the fact that the invading force was 
 overwhelmingly large. 
 
 Since Governor Reeder has declined to 
 be used as the agent of this illegal combi 
 nation, he has been pursued by the foulest 
 slander, and now by threats. He will re 
 quire all the countenance and support of the 
 government to sustain him in the position 
 in which he is placed in the performance of 
 his duty. 
 
 Respectfully and truly yours, 
 
 A. A. L. 
 
 In a few months the citizens of Kansas 
 found themselves with a legislature which, 
 
94 AMOS A. LA WHENCE. 
 
 though repudiated by the territorial gov 
 ernor, Reeder, imported the whole code of 
 Missouri into Kansas. This body of law 
 makers not only legalized slavery, but de 
 nounced death against any one who aided in 
 the escape of a slave. As Professor Spring 
 in his " History of Kansas " writes : " Their 
 code struck at the liberty of the press, at 
 freedom of speech, and the sanctities of the 
 ballot-box." 
 
 The Emigrant Aid Company sent only 
 about thirteen hundred emigrants. But the 
 patriotic motive behind it affected public 
 opinion over the country and helped to 
 make the Kansas struggle of national in 
 terest. The emigrants, too, were of such 
 character and spirit that they formed the 
 nucleus of the Free State movement, and 
 their city, Lawrence, was its headquarters. 
 One of the happiest results, however, was 
 the choice of Dr. Charles Robinson of Fitch- 
 burg as the principal agent of the com 
 pany in Kansas. Having had some experi 
 ences in California in the early mining days, 
 he now developed a power of leadership 
 which made him the centre and guide of the 
 Free State citizens. He soon wrote to Mr. 
 Lawrence, " Instead of recognizing this as 
 
KANSAS STRUGGLE. 95 
 
 the legislature of Kansas and participating 
 in its proceedings as such, I utterly repudi 
 ate it." " Simply as a citizen and as a man, 
 I shall, therefore, yield no submission to this 
 alien legislature." 
 
 A few days after the receipt of this letter 
 an entry in Mr. Lawrence s journal runs : 
 " Paid $1,000 for rifles for Kansas sufferers ; 
 proceeds of them, when sold, to go to the 
 Church of the Pilgrims in Kansas." And 
 he then wrote to President Pierce : 
 
 BOSTON, July 15, 1855. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, It is evident that there 
 is a body of men in Missouri who are deter 
 mined to drive our people from Kansas, if 
 they dare to do so ; and for the reason that 
 the settlers from the " free States " are op 
 posed to the introduction of slave trade 
 there. Up to this time the government has 
 kept so far aloof as to force the settlers to 
 the conclusion that if they would be safe, 
 they must defend themselves ; and therefore 
 many persons here who refused at first (my 
 self included) have rendered them assistance, 
 by furnishing them the means of defense. 
 Yours with regard, A. A. L. 
 
96 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 Then he wrote to Dr. Webb, secretary of 
 the Emigrant Aid Company : 
 
 
 
 BOSTON, July 20, 1855. 
 
 DEAR DOCTOR, Here is a letter which 
 indicates that the crisis approaches, and it 
 shows that our friend Robinson is the man 
 to meet it. That a revolution must take 
 place in Kansas is certain, if that can be 
 called a revolution which is only an over 
 throw of usurpation. When farmers turn 
 soldiers they must have arms. Write to 
 Hartford and get their terms for one hun 
 dred more of the Sharps rifles at once. 
 
 Yours truly, A. A. L. 
 
 On the same day he wrote to Dr. Robin 
 son : 
 
 BOSTON, July 20, 1855. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, You are on the eve of 
 stirring times. I wish Mr. Pomeroy was 
 with you. I wish we all were there, if we 
 could stand up like men to the work in 
 hand. I know more than one man here, 
 who looks every day and every night at his 
 wife and little ones, and doubts which way 
 his duty lies. But we must not doubt. 
 Young men and men like you must do the 
 
KANSAS STRUGGLE. 97 
 
 work, and you must have the glory of sav 
 ing a good part of your country to freedom. 
 But you must have arms, or your courage 
 will not avail. We must stir ourselves here 
 to-morrow and see what can be done. 
 
 Yours faithfully, A. A. L. 
 
 On the promise from Mr. Lawrence of 
 $1,000 for arms, Dr. Samuel Cabot, who was 
 one of the directors of the Emigrant Com 
 pany, immediately started a subscription 
 paper and obtained 81,600 more from a 
 small but mixed company of hunkers, repub 
 licans, and abolitionists, Samuel A. El 
 iot, J. M. Forbes, Wendell Phillips, Gerritt 
 Smith, John Bertram, Cunningham Broth 
 ers, Theodore Lyman, Henry Lee, E. Rock- 
 wood Hoar, Samuel Hoar, G. Howland 
 Shaw, William R. Lawrence, and two or 
 three others. 
 
 At the same time Mr. J. B. Abbott ap 
 peared in Boston with letters from the 
 Kansas people asking for arms. Mr. Law 
 rence immediately gave him this order to 
 Mr. Palmer of the Sharps rifle manufactory 
 at Hartford : 
 
 "Request Mr. Palmer to have one hun 
 dred Sharps rifles packed in casks like hard- 
 
98 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 ware and to retain them subject to my or 
 der. Also to send the bill to me by mail. I 
 will pay it either with my note, according 
 to the terms agreed on between him and Dr. 
 Webb, or in cash, less interest at seven per 
 cent." 
 
 Before the subscriptions had come in, 
 Mr. Lawrence had advanced the payment 
 by his note for $2,700 ; for, as he wrote to 
 his uncle, " I send to Kansas every hundred 
 dollars that I can get and which is not 
 previously engaged ; for that seems to be an 
 immediate necessity and will not bear de 
 lay." A few casks marked " books " were 
 soon on their way to Kansas, and later, 
 several " boxes of primers " were received 
 by the Free State citizens for the education 
 of their Missouri neighbors. They arrived 
 just in time for service. President Pierce, 
 instead of listening to the urgent requests 
 of the citizens of Kansas for justice and pro 
 tection, had dismissed Governor Reeder, and 
 had put in his place Wilson Shannon. The 
 new governor immediately yielded to his pro- 
 slavery advisers, and, taking advantage of 
 exaggerations, ordered out the state militia 
 (which consisted largely of Missouri ruf 
 fians) for the invasion of the Free State 
 
KANSAS STRUGGLE. 99 
 
 headquarters, the city of Lawrence. To 
 their surprise they found five small forts 
 garrisoned with six hundred men, two hun 
 dred of whom were armed with Sharps ri 
 fles. The major-general, Dr. Robinson, had 
 never seen military service, but he had that 
 tact and shrewdness which gave him a blood 
 less victory. In the midst of the excitement 
 he wrote to Mr. Lawrence : 
 
 LAWRENCE, December 4, 1855. 
 DEAR Sm, We are invaded by order 
 of Governor Shannon, but all will be right, I 
 think. I have only time to thank you and 
 the friends who sent us the Sharps rifles, 
 for they have given us, and will give us, the 
 victory without firing a shot. We need, how 
 ever, one or two hundred more of the same 
 sort. 
 
 In haste, very respectfully, 
 
 d. ROBINSON. 
 
 Fearing that the excitement of the Kan 
 sas people might lead them to resist the 
 United States government, Mr. Lawrence 
 in sending the first instalment of rifles had 
 written Dr. Robinson : 
 
100 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 BOSTON, August 10, 1855. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, From Mr. Abbott who 
 has just arrived here from your neighbor 
 hood, I infer that the spirit of the settlers 
 has been raised so high that they are ready 
 to repudiate the present legislature alto 
 gether, and to resist its requirements. In 
 this, you will have the good-will and assist 
 ance of the citizens of the free States at 
 least. 
 
 But many are willing to go farther, and 
 to resist the United States government, if it 
 should interfere. For this I can see no 
 apology ; nor can there ever be good cause 
 for resisting an administration chosen by 
 ourselves. However wrong in our opinion, 
 there never can be good reason for resisting 
 our own government, unless it attempts to 
 destroy the power of the people through the 
 elections, that is, to take away the power of 
 creating a new administration every four 
 years. But I do not believe the present 
 administration will attempt to impose the 
 Missouri code upon the citizens of Kansas. 
 
 There is another reason of a more pru 
 dential kind, viz. : that whoever does this 
 is sure of defeat. We are a law-abiding 
 people, and we will sustain our own govern- 
 
KANSAS STRUGGVI?. 101 
 
 ment " right or wrong." Any movement 
 aimed at the government destroys at once 
 the moral force of the party or organization 
 which favors it. Already the present ad 
 ministration is rendered powerless by the 
 House of Representatives, and soon will 
 come the time to vote for a new one. The 
 people will never resist or attempt to de 
 stroy it in any other way. 
 
 Yours very truly, A. A. L. 
 
 A few days later he wrote : " To set up 
 for yourselves is to dispute the power of the 
 United States government, and that is a 
 thing which never will be approved in this 
 country, I hope. Perhaps this is not a 
 correct view of the case. But if it is, there 
 can be no difference of opinion. The sen 
 timent of the whole free States is right on 
 this subject ; democrats and all think alike.<^n 
 Nothing should be done to make a division. I 
 Prudence, Doctor, forbearance, and decisior-|J 
 these are the qualities which will be most 
 in requisition. I feel sure that the United 
 States government never will undertake to 
 enforce the whole of the laws of the present 
 legislature, and perhaps none of them. I 
 wrote to you on the 10th. Write me a good 
 
"102 AMVS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 letter about the want of the means of de 
 fence, and ask Mrs. Nichols to write me one. 
 Dr. Cabot wants them to show, in order to 
 get money for rifles." 
 
 The Free State settlers felt that they had 
 the right and duty of self-defence from the 
 incursions of Missouri ruffians, the stuffing 
 of the ballot-boxes, and the execution of the 
 code of laws passed by a bogus legislature, 
 and in this they were encouraged by the sen 
 timent of all liberty-loving citizens. But 
 the distinction between such self-defence and 
 resistance to the United States government, 
 the officers of the Emigrant Aid Company 
 and their agents in Kansas held to be a 
 vital one. And though the charge was then 
 made, and has since been repeated, that the 
 officers and agents of the Emigrant Aid Com 
 pany encouraged resistance to the United 
 States authority, there is nothing in their 
 correspondence or actions that substantiates 
 the charge. On the contrary, with every new 
 box of rifles went the urgent advice, " Your 
 best friends would advise you, if their opin 
 ion was asked, not under any circumstances 
 to resist any legal representative of the 
 United States, nor allow our people to do it. 
 That would put you wrong before the coun- 
 
KANSAS STRUGGLE. 103 
 
 try, and more than anything else take from 
 you the nationality which you now hold." 
 44 The President is in a bad predicament, as 
 you see by his proclamation. He wants to 
 have the ruffians flogged, but he is afraid to 
 do it. He knows that Free State people 
 are law-abiding, but he is afraid to say that 
 from fear of being called an abolitionist him 
 self. I do hope our friends will never dis 
 pute the authority of the United States. It 
 will help the cause, if that sentiment could 
 be brought out in some way, so as not to ap 
 pear to have been done by design." 
 
 To Dr. Kobinson he wrote, on December 
 10, 1855 : - 
 
 44 To-day newspapers contain the first reli 
 able information in regard to the recent diffi 
 culties. We are usually obliged to feed on 
 lies for several days, and so it has been in 
 this case. I do not believe you will have the 
 United States government against you. But 
 if you should, adhere to your determination 
 not to allow any circumstances to lead to a 
 resistance. If the Kansas men are true to 
 the cause of freedom, they will never infringe 
 in the least degree the constitution and laws 
 of the United States. For the part which 
 you have taken, I thank you, my dear sir, 
 
104 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 from the bottom of my heart, and you will 
 receive the gratitude of all men who like 
 freedom better than slavery." 
 
 On the same day he wrote to President 
 Pierce, who had begun to suspect the settlers 
 of treason : 
 
 " From letters which I have seen from 
 the men who exert the most influence in 
 Kansas, and who represent the Free State 
 party there (a party comprising three fourths 
 of the inhabitants), there has been no inten 
 tion of resisting the execution of the laws 
 of the United States by the proper officers ; 
 nor can any circumstances arise which will 
 induce them to resist, or even to question 
 the authority of the United States Execu 
 tive. They will not recognize the late legis 
 lature, nor its enactments, nor its officers." 
 
 Again : " I believe you do not overrate the 
 intensity of feeling on this subject in the Ter 
 ritory and in the adjoining States ; nor the 
 magnitude of the danger which now threat 
 ens the peace of the country from this cause. 
 Preparations are making, on the one side for 
 attack, and on the other for defence ; and if 
 the latter proves ineffectual, we shall, within 
 a few months, see what never has been seen in 
 this country, and what never can be seen but 
 
KANSAS STRUGGLE. 105 
 
 once an internal civil and servile war. 
 If future history should trace this back to 
 the repeal of the compromise of 1820, your 
 administration, otherwise so honorable, would 
 receive the condemnation of posterity. 
 
 " But though we have many national sins 
 to be atoned for, I trust that the same kind 
 Providence which has averted previous dan 
 gers to our Union will avert this, and save 
 us from a great national calamity." 
 
 Again, to Hon. Gerritt Smith he wrote : 
 "The outcry made by the Administration 
 papers against sending arms is to hide the 
 Administration s neglect to send orders long 
 ago for protecting the settlers. The asser 
 tion that they are to be used in resisting the 
 authority of the United States government is 
 wholly unfounded." 
 
 Again, when in November, 1856, the prob 
 able election of Buchanan caused the fear 
 that what had been gained might in that 
 case be lost, pressure from some of the more 
 enthusiastic advocates of Kansas suggested 
 resistance to the government. At that time 
 Mr. Lawrence made this record in his jour 
 nal : 
 
 "November 5. Went with Governor Rob 
 inson and Senator Henry Wilson to a pri- 
 
106 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 vate meeting of about twenty Kansas men 
 to decide what shall be done if Buchanan is 
 elected. Kev. Mr. Higginson advocated re 
 sistance to the government. Mr. Wilson 
 spoke against that doctrine very decidedly : 
 so did I." 
 
 The New England Emigrant Aid Com 
 pany had nothing to do with the purchase of 
 arms for Kansas. A few of the officers of 
 the society, who were in a position to know 
 the needs of Kansas, as private citizens joined 
 with other citizens in the purchase of the 
 arms. Mr. Lawrence was treasurer of the 
 Aid Company, but in speaking of the arms 
 he wrote to Dr. Webb, the secretary of the 
 Company, " Dr. Cabot is treasurer of the 
 rifle funds. I am treasurer of the relief 
 funds." 
 
VII. 
 
 KANSAS FKEE. 
 
 1856. 
 
 THE affairs of the Free State men in 
 Kansas, who under their own constitution 
 had elected Robinson governor of Kansas in 
 January, 1856, went from bad to worse. The 
 President, whom Mr. Lawrence described as 
 " a small man who held a great office," 
 seemed passive under the pro-slavery influ 
 ences about him : the territorial govern 
 ment gained courage ; and, under Judge Le 
 Compte, the grand jury sent out warrants 
 for the arrest of the leading Free State men 
 as traitors. Lawrence was invaded, the 
 printing press was destroyed, Governor Rob 
 inson s house was burned and he was taken 
 prisoner, the hotel and shops were sacked 
 and gutted. 
 
 It was, however, a struggle which could 
 be carried on only in Kansas. The Emigrant 
 Aid work was over, and the friends of lib- 
 
108 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 erty could only show their interest by giving 
 aid and encouragement to the impoverished, 
 and bringing pressure to bear upon the Ex 
 ecutive at Washington. Into this work Mr. 
 Lawrence now entered. To a Quaker at 
 Lynn he wrote a characteristic letter : 
 
 BOSTON, September 24, 1856. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, In reply to yours I will 
 say that all money sent to the treasurer of 
 the New England Emigrant Aid Company 
 (myself) will be appropriated as you request. 
 This company has never sent arms nor am 
 munition. Any supplies of this sort were 
 sent by private individuals. . . . This com 
 pany is now forwarding clothing, which is 
 very much wanted to enable the settlers, who 
 have been harassed all summer, and have lost 
 their crops partially or wholly, to remain 
 during the winter. Few have money to spare 
 to lay in a stock of new clothes, and they 
 must buy them at a high price, if at all. 
 We have a depository for all this in Iowa, 
 and it will be used only as it is wanted. 
 Shoes. What can Lynn people do so useful 
 as collect all the unsalable shoes, if there are 
 such things, and send them out. They must 
 have them packed in barrels, or you may 
 
KANSAS FREE. 109 
 
 pack them and mark them LYNN. A dozen 
 or two such boxes would revive their weary 
 soles. Send to T. H. Webb, Emigrant Aid 
 Rooms, 3 Winter Street, Boston. Now is 
 the time. All merchandise must go out at 
 once. In many towns the ladies are having 
 " Bees " to sew for Kansas. In some houses 
 (my own for one) they have packed up 
 evervthing not in use, and will buy a new 
 stock for themselves. Remember that there 
 are thirty thousand Free State men, women, 
 and children there. Take off your coat, my 
 dear friend, and put on your best one : and 
 take your overcoat and pantaloons ; save 
 only one suit for Sunday and week days, and 
 pack up the rest. That will stir up your 
 neighbors to do the same. They will be 
 warmer without them because their hearts 
 will keep them warm all winter, and inside 
 heat is the best and lasts the longest. 
 
 Yours very truly, A. A. L. 
 
 To a citizen of Osawatomie, Kansas, he 
 wrote : " At this time there is a great effort 
 making to get enough to rebuild the hotel 
 and to place two more mills where they have 
 been promised. I wish my own means were 
 commensurate with my desires, and I would 
 
110 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 do the needful. Some people dread the re 
 sponsibility imposed by wealth ; I have never 
 had that feeling, but the reverse, for I feel 
 every day and hour, the want of money. 
 Twenty times the amount I have to spare 
 would not come amiss, in fact the want of it 
 makes me more or less unhappy every day. 
 This very morning I have declined to do as 
 much as would require my receipts for many 
 months." 
 
 To the release of Dr. Robinson, Mr. Law 
 rence gave close attention. He wrote to 
 Hon. S. G. Haven, member of Congress, " A 
 friend of mine, Dr. Charles Robinson, one 
 of the noblest men I ever knew, is at this 
 moment a prisoner, guarded by the troops of 
 the Federal Government, though he has 
 done nothing but what you or I would have 
 been proud to do. He is not only a patriot, 
 but he is a lover of the constitution and the 
 laws. In order to save him from trouble, 
 I have taken for him, from the commence 
 ment, the highest legal advice in Massachu 
 setts, and he has followed it." 
 
 Through Mr. Pomeroy of Kansas, who was 
 now in Washington, Mr. Lawrence tried un 
 successfully to move the President to release 
 Dr. Robinson. But another and more effec- 
 
KANSAS FREE. Ill 
 
 tive method was used. He first wrote the 
 draught of such a letter as would have been 
 written by a wife imploring the release of 
 her husband. This letter was then copied 
 by Mrs. Robinson, who took the precaution 
 to omit some of the more sentimental pas 
 sages, and was sent to Mrs. Pierce inclosed 
 with a letter from Mr. Lawrence s step 
 mother, who was a favorite aunt of the 
 President. Mrs. Pierce after reading the 
 letter handed it to her husband, and a few 
 days later Mr. Lawrence was able to write 
 to Mrs. Robinson, " Not long since the Pres 
 ident wrote to my brother that he had given 
 such instructions as would gratify him and 
 his friends here, especially my mother, whose 
 good opinion he valued more than that of all 
 the politicians." 
 
 The result was the release of Dr. Robinson. 
 
 In a few months Kansas seemed to be as 
 sured of freedom ; and Mr. Lawrence could 
 write to a Kansas acquaintance in July, 
 1857 : - 
 
 " We look on the great question as now 
 settled, and all political movements in Kan 
 sas as having chiefly a local interest. Some 
 of us stood ready to have made a much 
 greater sacrifice had it been necessary, some- 
 
112 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 what commensurate with that made by your 
 self and others. For months I felt as though 
 I held my property and even my life by an 
 uncertain tenure ; but with a numerous fam 
 ily of children and a loving wife, I did not 
 intend to part with either until it was nec 
 essary to bring up the 4 forlorn hope. But 
 I have never had the least doubt about our 
 carrying it ultimately. Please not show this 
 to any one, for I never wrote it before, and 
 never reflect upon it without devout grati 
 tude to God for having spared me so great 
 a sacrifice. Now we must be magnanimous 
 to the South. Slavery cannot be extended. 
 Whether it can ever be got rid of in this 
 country is doubtful. It is a curse imposed 
 by the sins of our ancestors, and we must 
 bear it patiently." 
 
 In January, 1858, Dr. Robinson sent the 
 welcome news to Mr. Lawrence : " Thank 
 God, the battle is over in Kansas and the 
 victory is won. The Lecompton state gov 
 ernment is secured, and now all is in the 
 hands of the people. The border ruffians 
 are now opposing their own constitution." 
 
 Eighteen months later, when affairs in 
 Kansas were settled, Governor Robinson in 
 a friendly letter gave this gratifying testi~ 
 
KANSAS FREE. 113 
 
 mony : " You may not know it and the peo 
 ple of Kansas may not be sensible of it, but 
 I am very much mistaken in my estimate of 
 the influences that have contributed to the 
 freedom of Kansas, if we are not far more 
 indebted to you than to any other man for 
 our success. Without your name, the Emi 
 grant Aid Company would have been a ci 
 pher, and without your encouragement, cour 
 age, and support, what little I have been 
 able to do would have been left undone." 
 
 Time and more mature thought seem only 
 to have deepened the impression of Governor 
 Robinson, who thirty years later writes to 
 Mr. Lawrence s son. 
 
 LAWRENCE, KANSAS, June 13, 1887. 
 MY DEAR SIR, I have said innumerable 
 times that I believe that without the aid ren 
 dered by Amos A. Lawrence and Eli Thayer, 
 Kansas would have been a slave State. I 
 think the absence of either would have been 
 fatal. I know of no other man whose pres 
 ence was indispensable. When the dust of 
 controversy shall have settled or been wiped 
 away, it will be clearly seen that without the 
 movement in New England, embodied in the 
 Emigrant Aid Society, the South would have 
 
114 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 had an easy victory, and without the mate 
 rial and moral support to that society of Mr. 
 Lawrence and Mr. Thayer, it would have 
 been an abortion. It was his individual 
 money that sent out the first agents, Mr. 
 Branscomb and myself, in June, 1854, within 
 one month after the passage of the Kansas- 
 Nebraska Bill, and my belief is that all the 
 money advanced for months, if not for years, 
 was from his private funds, that is, the 
 receipts were always behind the expendi 
 tures, and the company was always in debt 
 to its treasurer. The moral support his 
 name gave the movement cannot be meas 
 ured. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence was one of the very few 
 men who seemed to comprehend the struggle 
 in its every detail, and to see the end from 
 the beginning. To his mind there were no 
 accidents. Each step taken by the Free 
 State men had a meaning, and every move 
 ment of the Free State party was in ac 
 cordance with a plan well digested and 
 understood by him. Mr. Lawrence was 
 distinguished for many and great virtues 
 and deeds, but the crowning glory of his 
 beneficent life will forever be his work in 
 saving Kansas to freedom, and, as a con- 
 
KANSAS FP.EE. 115 
 
 sequence, redeeming the nation from the 
 curse of slavery. Very truly, 
 
 C. ROBINSON. 
 
 The account of Mr. Lawrence s connec 
 tion with the settlement of Kansas would 
 not be complete without the mention of two 
 points which suggest historic interest as well 
 as some features of his character. 
 
 The first is in relation to the education of 
 the people of Kansas. As was seen in Wis 
 consin, he could not throw money and en 
 thusiasm into the development of a piece of 
 country, or of a struggling population, with 
 out, at the earliest moment, laying the foun 
 dation of some system of popular education. 
 
 The earliest settlers of Kansas, like true 
 New Englanders, had no sooner driven down 
 their tent-pins than they began to talk of a 
 college. Fearing that they might fall into 
 the error of developing a superficial form of 
 higher education before the rudiments had 
 been attended to, Mr. Lawrence wrote to 
 Dr. Robinson in November, 1854 : 
 
 "You have laid out grounds for a col 
 lege, and will have a good one, without 
 doubt, in time ; but, in the first place, you 
 must have a preparatory school, where the 
 
116 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 boys shall be fitted for college. It should 
 be for boys, and not for girls. There may 
 be a girls school too ; but the boys should 
 be cared for first. My own impression is 
 that we have fallen into a great error here in 
 Massachusetts, of late years, by raising the 
 standard of female education so high that 
 physical development has been checked, and 
 the constitutions weakened. Our women 
 are good scholars, and good school-mis 
 tresses ; but they are unhealthy and weak, 
 and do not bear strong children ; and while 
 we are refining the intellect, we are injur 
 ing the stock. . . . 
 
 " I wish my finances were so that I could 
 give you an order to go on and build at 
 once ; but that is out of the question. My 
 share in the transaction shall be to pay one 
 hundred dollars every month, and I think I 
 can continue to do that, if my health is 
 spared, for some time to come. The only 
 condition which shall be imposed is that 
 you shall not mention to any one, nor inti 
 mate to any one, except Mr. Pomeroy (with 
 whom you may advise, you having imposed 
 the same injunction on him), from whence 
 the money proceeds, except that you may 
 say, when it is necessary to do so, that it is 
 
KANSAS FREE. 117 
 
 sent to you from Massachusetts. Perhaps 
 some one will appear, who will give money 
 to build it up at once, but I know of no one. 
 The building when completed should be a 
 handsome one, and of stone or brick." 
 
 Two years later the development of the 
 people and the heroic deaths of some of the 
 young men of Kansas seemed to Mr. Law 
 rence to give both a reason and a name for 
 a college, and he then wrote to Rev. Mr. 
 Nute, of Lawrence, and Governor Robinson. 
 
 BOSTON, December 16, 1856. 
 DEAR SIR, Some time ago I requested 
 Governor Robinson to spend some money for 
 me in laying the foundation of a " prepara 
 tory school " in Lawrence, but the title to 
 the land was imperfect, and the thing was 
 not done. The plan of a preparatory depart 
 ment must be adopted before you can have 
 a college ; unless there should be a classical 
 school established by the town. Neverthe 
 less, I wish to see the plan adopted, and to 
 help along its completion. 1 have thought 
 it over much and it is briefly this, viz. : 
 You shall have a college, which shall be a 
 school of learning, and at the same time 
 a monument to perpetuate the memory of 
 
118 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 those martyrs of liberty who fell during 
 the recent struggle. Beneath it their dust 
 shall rest. In it shall burn the light of lib 
 erty, which shall never be extinguished till 
 it illumines the whole continent. It shall 
 be called the " Free State College," and all 
 the friends of freedom shall be invited to 
 lend it a helping hand. 
 
 Will you oblige me by conversing with 
 Governor Robinson in regard to this, and 
 with any other whom you would consult, but 
 without publicity. I cannot furnish cash 
 for building, but I can give what will be 
 as good for paying expenses after it is up. 
 For instance, having advanced 110,000 to 
 the university at Appleton, Wis., last year, I 
 hold their notes on interest. This is a good 
 institution, and owes little or nothing except 
 this. They have about two hundred thou 
 sand dollars worth of property, and 450 
 students on their catalogue. I wish I had 
 money, but fear the time is distant when I 
 shall have more than enough to carry along 
 my plans begun long ago. 
 
 With great regard, yours truly, 
 
 A. A. L. 
 
KANSAS FREE. 119 
 
 He thus wrote to Dr. Robinson : 
 
 December 17, 1856. 
 
 DEAR SIR, ... I wrote yesterday to 
 Rev. Mr. Nute (with whom I had no per 
 sonal acquaintance) about a monumental 
 college, and requested him to consult with 
 you. It is an old project of mine, and per 
 haps of yours. At any rate, I do not wish 
 to lead off in it at all, and will not. It may 
 seem assuming too much to suggest a name 
 for it, but do so to prevent my own from 
 being thought of, nor would I consent to it 
 under any circumstances. It is a grand 
 project, and I hope it will be carried out. 
 It pains me not to be in a condition to take 
 hold and put up the first building. . . . 
 Yours, A. A. L. 
 
 The immediate need of the State was not, 
 however, a great monumental institution, 
 but some educational system in all the towns 
 and sparsely settled districts ; therefore Mr. 
 Lawrence wrote to Governor Geary : 
 
 " To secure the adoption in all parts of 
 the Territory of the best system of public 
 schools seems to be desirable at this early 
 day, and I have a plan to communicate to 
 some one or two who have the leisure to at- 
 
120 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 tend to its execution. Some funds which I 
 intended for the proposed university will 
 be better used for the present for this pur 
 pose ; and if the government should make 
 adequate provisions for the former, no pri 
 vate contributions would be required. In 
 the centre of this continent there should be 
 a model State which shall be an example to 
 all ; a model for those which come in here 
 after to copy, and a stimulant to the old 
 States to keep up a high standard of learn 
 ing, virtue, and patriotism." 
 
 Soon he placed in the hands of Dr. Rob 
 inson and Mr. S. C. Pomeroy, as trustees, 
 $10,000 for educational purposes. The sum 
 served as a stimulus to several religious 
 bodies to organize educational institutions 
 in order to obtain the income. In answer 
 to an appeal from one denomination he 
 wrote this letter : 
 
 " The subject of denomination for the 
 proposed college may turn out hereafter to 
 be very important, and as it is decided now, 
 so the institution may or may not be success 
 ful. But if it were left to myself to decide, 
 I should be totally at a loss ; and therefore 
 it has appeared to be best to allow it to take 
 its chance. Though a pretty rigid Episco- 
 
KANSAS FREE. 121 
 
 palian, I have no prejudice against any body 
 of men who love the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 only hope that such men will control the af 
 fairs of the proposed seminary. The older 
 we grow, the more we value simple piety, 
 wherever we find it, and the less importance 
 we attach to sects." 
 
 When the State University was founded 
 in 1863, the 110,000 held by trustees in the 
 city of Lawrence induced the government to 
 place their university there, where it now 
 forms a centre of literary life in that rapidly 
 developing country. 
 
VIII. 
 
 JOHN BROWN. 
 
 1855-1859. 
 
 THE other point of interest in Mr. Law 
 rence s Kansas experience is his relations to 
 old John Brown of Harper s Ferry fame. 
 
 While John Brown was a wool merchant 
 in 1843, Mr. Lawrence had made some pur 
 chases of him. When Brown s four sons, who 
 were in Kansas, sent for their father to come 
 out and help fight the border ruffians, he 
 sought his old business acquaintance, who, 
 as treasurer of the Emigrant Aid Company, 
 was informed in Kansas matters. Mr. Law 
 rence gave him a letter to Dr. Robinson, and 
 at the same time noted in his diary that " he 
 had the look of a determined man." 
 
 The aim of the great body of Free State 
 settlers who were led by Robinson was rad 
 ically different from that of Brown. Theirs, 
 as we have seen, was to create a free State 
 by lawful means; his was to exterminate 
 
JOHN BROWN. 123 
 
 slavery with gun, pike, and sword. John 
 Brown himself said to Dr. Robinson, that 
 " the success in securing a free State was 
 his failure ; " still, the opposition of the Free 
 State party to the first elections of the ter 
 ritorial legislature brought them together for 
 a time. Against the peaceful and constitu 
 tional measures of the Free State citizens 
 Brown protested, and he soon entered on 
 his course of violence and bloodshed, which, 
 beginning at Pottawatomie, ended at Har 
 per s Ferry. 
 
 In spite of the fact that Dr. Robinson 
 wrote to Mr. Lawrence that Brown was 
 "unreliable, and would as soon shoot a 
 United States officer as a border ruffian," 
 the excitement and violence of the times 
 were such that deeds and methods were not 
 tested with the nicety of sober judgment. 
 
 In January, 1857, John Brown came to 
 Boston to testify before a legislative com 
 mittee which had before it the subject of 
 an appropriation of $100,000 for the aid of 
 Kansas. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence s journal has this record : 
 
 " January 6, 1857. Very cold and windy. 
 Rode an hour and a half. Called at the 
 United States Hotel on Captain John Brown, 
 
124 AM 08 A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 the old Kansas hero. Found Governor Rob 
 inson of Kansas at the Emigrant Aid rooms. 
 Spent most of the forenoon with him. He 
 has resigned his office, and the plan is to 
 give Governor Geary, now a United States 
 official, the popular vote, and so help on 
 the Free State movement. Bought a fur 
 coat for Robinson. Met Captain Brown ; 
 he is trying to raise a company to be ready 
 in any emergency that may arise in Kansas. 
 He looks a little thinner than when he went 
 to Kansas with his sons. He fought the 
 Missourians at Osawatomie in such a style 
 as struck terror into the whole body of 
 marauders. To Professor Longfellow s in 
 Cambridge with my wife and Mary. A 
 party mostly of young people. Played whist 
 with Mr. Nathan Appleton, Mrs. Lothrop 
 Motley, and Sarah. Home at half past ten, 
 very cold. Deep drifts on the cross roads, 
 Cambridge. 
 
 " 7. Very cold. Busy with Governor Rob 
 inson in forenoon. Captain John Brown, 
 the old partisan hero of Kansas warfare, 
 came to see me. I had a long talk with 
 him. He is a calm, temperate, and pious 
 man, but when roused he is a dreadful foe. 
 He appears about sixty years old." 
 
JOHN BROWN. 125 
 
 Friends of Brown were collecting money 
 for him, and to them Mr. Lawrence wrote : - 
 
 GENTLEMEN, Inclosed please find twen 
 ty-five dollars toward the fund for the brave 
 Captain John Brown, who may appropri 
 ately be called the "Miles Standish " of 
 Kansas. Few persons know the character of 
 this man, or his services ; and he is the last 
 one to proclaim his merits. His severe sim 
 plicity of habits, his determined energy, his 
 heroic courage in the time of trial, all based 
 on a deep religious faith, make him a true 
 representative of the Puritanic warrior. I 
 knew him before he went to Kansas, and 
 have known more of him since, and should 
 esteem the loss of his services, from pov 
 erty, or any other cause, almost irreparable. 
 Perhaps there are those who would come 
 forward and support his family while he 
 gives his time to completing and keeping up 
 the military organization of the Free State 
 men. It would afford me pleasure to be 
 one of ten, or a smaller number, to pay a 
 thousand dollars per annum till the admis 
 sion of Kansas into the Union, for this pur 
 pose. A* ** 
 
126 AMOS A. LAWKENCE. 
 
 The day after Brown s speech before the 
 committee Mr. Lawrence inclosed seventy 
 dollars to him, saying, "It is for your own 
 personal use, and not for the cause in any 
 other way than that." 
 
 Soon after, Mr. Lawrence received this 
 letter written on the back of one of John 
 Brown s " Circulars to the Friends of Free 
 dom." 
 
 NEW HAVEN, CONN., March 11, 1857. 
 
 DEAR SIR, The offer you so kindly 
 made through the telegraph some time since 
 emboldens me to propose the following for 
 your consideration. For one thousand dol 
 lars cash I am offered an improved piece 
 of land which with a little property I now 
 have might enable my family, consisting of a 
 wife and five minor children (the youngest 
 not yet three years old), to procure a sub 
 sistence should I never return to them ; my 
 wife being a good economist, and a real old- 
 fashioned business woman. She has gone 
 through the two past winters in our open 
 cold house, unfinished outside, and not plas 
 tered. I have no other income or means 
 for their support. I have never hinted to 
 any one else that I had a thought of asking 
 for any help to provide in any such way for 
 
JOHN BROWN. 127 
 
 my family, and should not to you, but for 
 your own suggestion. I fully believe I shall 
 get the help I need to operate with West. 
 Last night a private meeting of some gen 
 tlemen here voted to raise me one thousand 
 dollars in New Haven, for that purpose. If 
 you feel at all inclined to encourage me in 
 the measure I have proposed I shall be 
 grateful to get a line from you, care of 
 Massasoit House, Springfield, Mass. ; and 
 will call when I come again to Boston. I 
 do not feel disposed to weary you with my 
 oft-repeated visitations. I believe I am in 
 debted to you as the unknown giver of one 
 share of Emigrant Aid stock ; as I can think 
 of no other so likely to have done it. Is my 
 appeal right ? 
 
 Very respectfully your friend, 
 
 JOHN BROWN. 
 
 To this Mr. Lawrence answered : 
 
 BOSTON, March 20, 1857. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Your letter from New 
 Haven is received. I have just sent to Kan 
 sas nearly fourteen thousand dollars to es 
 tablish a fund to be used : 1. To secure the 
 best system of common schools for Kansas 
 that exists in the country. 2. To establish 
 Sunday-schools. 
 
128 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 The property is held by two trustees in 
 Kansas, and cannot return to me. On this 
 account, and because I am always short of 
 money, I have not the cash to use for the 
 purpose you name. But in case anything 
 should occur while you are engaged in a 
 good cause, to shorten your life, you may be 
 assured that your wife and children shall be 
 cared for more liberally than you now pro 
 pose. The family of " Captain John Brown 
 of Osawatomie " will not be turned out to 
 starve in this country, until liberty herself is 
 driven out. 
 
 Yours with regard, A. A. L. 
 
 He immediately drew up this subscription 
 paper and headed it with the names of his 
 brother and himself : 
 
 " The family of Captain John Brown of 
 Osawatomie has no means of support, owing 
 to the oppression to which he has been sub 
 jected in Kansas Territory. It is proposed 
 to put them (his wife and five children) in 
 possession of the means of supporting them 
 selves as far as possible for persons in their 
 situation. The undersigned, therefore, will 
 pay the following sums, provided one thou 
 sand dollars shall be raised. With this sum 
 
JOHN BROWN. 129 
 
 a small farm can be now purchased in the 
 neighborhood of their late residence in Es- 
 
 o 
 
 sex County, New York." 
 
 But Brown was anxious to have his affairs 
 settled and his family provided for, as his life 
 was always in danger. So in a few days he 
 sent this letter of urgency to Mr. Lawrence : 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, MASS., April 16, 1857. 
 DEAR SIR, I expect to leave these parts 
 within four or five days, and would be most 
 grateful for the proceeds of the subscription 
 you so generously started for me, so that I 
 may effect the arrangement before I part 
 with my family. I am sorry to burden you 
 with any of my wants, but I must cast my 
 self on those most kind. Please direct to 
 John (not Captain) Brown, care of Massasoit 
 House, Springfield, Mass. Please say to me 
 what is the fate of the subscription at any 
 rate, and greatly oblige your sincere friend. 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 JOHN BROWN. 
 
 After a few months the sum was made up 
 with the aid of Mr. George L. Stearns and 
 a few other friends of Brown and the farm 
 at North Elba, where his widow lived for 
 several years, was paid for. 
 
130 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 In the mean time Brown had started for 
 Kansas, followed by a letter from Mr. Law 
 rence to Governor Robinson, in which he 
 said : " Old Brown (John Brown) will be 
 your humble servant and an efficient one, 
 but he requires some coaxing as well as some 
 controlling power near him." 
 
 In this Mr. Lawrence reckoned without 
 his host. 
 
 Two years later, May 28, 1859, Mr. Law 
 rence recorded in his journal, " Captain John 
 Brown of Osawatomie called to see me 
 with one of his rangers. He has been steal 
 ing negroes and running them off from Mis 
 souri. He has a monomania on that sub 
 ject, I think, and would be hanged if he were 
 taken in a slave State. He has allowed his 
 beard to grow since I saw him last, which 
 changes his appearance entirely, as it is al 
 most white and very long. He and his com 
 panion both have the fever and ague, some 
 what, probably a righteous visitation for their 
 fanaticism." 
 
 In the following October the country, 
 which was in a sensitive frame of mind, was 
 startled by the news of the attack on Har 
 per s Ferry and the attempt to arouse a 
 slave insurrection ; and then occurred the 
 
JOHN BROWN. 131 
 
 trial of " Old Brown," who by his courage 
 and evident sincerity won the admiration of 
 millions who condemned his methods. The 
 journal of Mr. Lawrence at this time runs : 
 
 " October 18. The telegraph gives an ac 
 count of an attempt at insurrection among 
 the negroes at Harper s Ferry under the 
 head of my Kansas acquaintance, Old Cap 
 tain John Brown of Osawatomie. The 
 old man has become a desperate abolitionist, 
 and hates the slaveholders the more because 
 he believes that they are responsible as a 
 class for the death of one of his sons and 
 the imprisonment and insanity of another." 
 
 " 21. Cold. Henry Wilson came to see 
 me about Brown. He thinks it will have a 
 very bad effect on the Republican party ; 
 thinks all such attempts must fail always. 
 Brown s conversations are all given in the 
 newspapers by telegraph. He is a brave 
 man, and if he is hanged he will die a mar 
 tyr to his hatred of slavery." 
 
 " 24. G. L. Stearns came at my request. 
 He told me that the rifles were the lot which 
 were turned over to Old Brown by the 
 National Committee ; he did not suppose that 
 they would be used for an insurrection, but 
 only to defend the Kansas settlers." 
 
132 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 " 26. Dr. Samuel G. Howe came to ask 
 me if I would be one of ten to furnish good 
 counsel to defend Old Brown, to which I 
 agreed." 
 
 " November 1. The newspapers are full of 
 Old Brown and his trial. He carries himself 
 wonderfully well. He scorns the plea of in 
 sanity which was set up by his counsel." 
 
 " 5. Old Brown convicted. He made a 
 brief speech that was worthy of the best of 
 the early reformers. To-day I was told that 
 his wife was in Boston, and I went with Dr. 
 Webb to the American House to see her. 
 She appears well. She is a large, strong 
 woman, good-looking, and when young she 
 must have been handsome. She feels the 
 loss of her two sons and the critical situation 
 of her husband very much. She says that 
 it is a matter of religious conviction with 
 her husband ; that he would make the same 
 attempt again if set free. I admire the old 
 man ; but considering that three persons 
 were killed by his party, I do not see how 
 he can escape death, even had the occurrence 
 been in a free State. He will be lauded by 
 the abolitionists as a martyred hero, and he 
 does resemble that. His death will hasten 
 the removal of slaves from Virginia." 
 
JOHN BROWN. 133 
 
 " 22. Rain-storm. The excitement in 
 Virginia is very great ; the fear of insurrec 
 tion and all kinds of fear." 
 
 " 25. Looked over the report of the com 
 mittee of Congress which went to Kansas in 
 1856 to investigate the troubles there. I 
 did this in order to ascertain whether John 
 Brown committed murder at Pottawatomie 
 Creek in May, 1856. The affidavits show 
 that a party which he commanded did take 
 five men from their houses at night on the 
 24th of May, 1856, and murdered them at 
 once. These were pro-slavery men, and they 
 were killed when there was danger that the 
 Missourians would get possession of the gov 
 ernment of Kansas." 
 
 " 29. Great preparations for hanging 
 Brown. Two thousand troops in barracks 
 to prevent any attempt at rescue." 
 
 " December 3. Old Brown hanged with 
 great ceremony. He died grandly. Never 
 theless he must be called a fanatic. De 
 clined to sign a call for expressing adher 
 ence to the Union, not being conscious that 
 I have ever done or said anything to endan 
 ger the Union, and not wishing to certify my 
 adherence to the Union very often for the 
 benefit of politicians." 
 
134 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 " 5. Declined to serve as vice-president 
 of the Union meeting at Faneuil Hall, be 
 cause I do not wish to help the Democrats. 
 
 " 6. Storm. Agreed to be at Faneuil 
 Hall and act as an officer of the meeting. 
 Public meeting at Faneuil Hall. A grand 
 affair. The crowd was very great even on 
 the outside. Ex-Governor Lincoln presided. 
 Though over eighty years old he appeared 
 well. Mr. Everett spoke as well as I ever 
 heard him. Then Caleb Gushing. The 
 enthusiasm was tremendous whenever the 
 Union was alluded to. The Democrats will 
 try to make something of it." 
 
 "11. Old John Brown was buried at 
 North Elba in New York near his own 
 house. A favorite tune of his was Blow ye 
 the trumpet, blow. This was sung by the 
 neighbors." 
 
 On the second day of Brown s trial Mr. 
 Lawrence wrote to Governor Wise of Vir 
 ginia : 
 
 BOSTON, October 26, 1859. 
 
 DEAR SIR, From the telegraphic re 
 port of the trial of Captain Brown it appears 
 to be uncertain whether he will have a trial 
 in the usual form. Permit one who loves 
 the whole country as much as yourself to 
 
JOHN BROWN. 135 
 
 urge on you the necessity of securing this. 
 Brown is a Puritan whose mind has become 
 disordered by hardship and illness. He has 
 the qualities which endear him to our peo 
 ple, and his sudden execution would send a 
 thrill of horror through the whole North. 
 From his blood would spring an army of 
 martyrs, all eager to die in the cause of hu 
 man liberty. I am sure that I express the 
 desire of all conservative men here, when I 
 beg you to insist on a fair trial. 
 Respectfully and truly, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 A. A. L. 
 
 Soon after the trial he wrote to Governor 
 Robinson, " If they hang Old Brown, Vir 
 ginia will be a free State sooner than they 
 expect. He has played his part grandly, 
 though the plot of the play is a poor one." 
 
 The evidence at his trial brought out the 
 facts that Brown had been planning his raid 
 for months, that money which had been 
 given him for Kansas had been appropri 
 ated for this scheme, and that he had sur 
 reptitiously gained possession of the rifles 
 which Mr. Lawrence had bought of the 
 Sharps Company for use in Kansas, and 
 
136 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 which were at that time held in trust by the 
 Kansas National Committee. 
 
 The result was that though Brown had 
 confided his scheme to a few of his aboli 
 tionist friends, the Southern politicians had 
 an opportunity, which they used with effect, 
 of drawing into the affair the names of 
 many men who had assisted Brown at other 
 times. 
 
 On this account Mr. Lawrence wrote this 
 letter to Senator Jefferson Davis : 
 
 BOSTOK, December 22, 1859. 
 
 DEAR SIR, I am sorry to see, by a re 
 ported speech of yours, that you are among 
 those who have been duped by vile fellows 
 who believe that a large number of decent 
 men in this part of the country are impli 
 cated in the affair of Harper s Ferry. 
 Among other names I find my own, and I 
 am the person alluded to as a cotton specu 
 lator who employed Brown to do his work. 
 To show you how absurd this whole plan of 
 libel will appear when it is examined, I will 
 state my own case. 
 
 1st. I am the son of Amos Lawrence, 
 now deceased, whom you knew, and who 
 brought me up to be a " national " man, as 
 
JOHN BROWN. 137 
 
 we understand that term. 2d. I have been 
 so decided in my own opposition to the for 
 mation of sectional parties, that those who 
 voted for Fillmore in Massachusetts, in 
 1856, nominated me for governor, but I de 
 clined. They have requested me to be a 
 candidate every year since that, and last 
 year I did run against Mr. Banks. 3d. 
 Though largely interested in cotton facto 
 ries as a shareholder, I never owned a bale 
 of cotton in my life, and never had any busi 
 ness with any person whom I knew as a 
 speculator in cotton. Some years ago I 
 took a great interest in our people who set 
 tled in Kansas, many of whom went from 
 Lowell and Lawrence with their families. 
 They were shockingly abused, and if it were 
 not for my wife and seven children at home, 
 I would have taken a more active part in 
 that business. But that has passed long 
 ago ; it did not induce me to join the Re 
 publicans, though it did most of my friends. 
 I took part with Mr. William Appleton 
 and my relative Mr. F. Pierce in the Fan- 
 euil Hall meeting here the other day, and 
 with most of our people am called a " hun 
 ker," and even in Mississippi should be a 
 law and order man. You will do me a 
 
138 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 favor, if you will prevent my being sum 
 moned to Washington on so foolish an er 
 rand as to testify about Harper s Ferry. 
 Respectfully and truly yours, 
 
 A. A. L. 
 
 When in 1879 the confession of one of 
 Brown s Pottawatomie party brought out 
 into clearer light than ever before the brutal 
 midnight attack on the Doyles and the al 
 most savage methods of Brown s humanity, 
 Mr. Lawrence became more firmly convinced 
 in his early opinion that Brown s career was 
 that of an earnest heroic spirit who, brooding 
 over the wrongs of slavery and the death of 
 his son in the cause of freedom, had de 
 veloped a monomania which regarded no 
 law, provided only that his purpose was 
 accomplished in his own way. 
 
IX. 
 
 POLITICS AND PERSONAL. 
 
 1856-1861. 
 
 His Kansas experience did not move Mr. 
 Lawrence from his hunkerish sympathies in 
 politics. He still felt that the great danger 
 to the Union was the encouragement of sec 
 tional spirit. In criticising an anti-slavery 
 resolve, he said : " By assuming that the 
 honor and virtue and patriotism of the 
 country are concentrated in the free States, 
 or that these qualities largely preponderate 
 here, we place ourselves in a position which 
 we cannot maintain, and we cherish that 
 sectional exclusiveness and that love of sec 
 tional power which is more dangerous to our 
 national existence and to the true interests 
 of liberty than anything else. 
 
 The elections of Sumner and then of Wil 
 son to the Senate seemed to him little less 
 than calamities. Though the trimming pol 
 icy of the Whig Eepresentatives in Congress 
 
140 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 gave him but little satisfaction, yet the Ab 
 olitionist and Republican policies were far 
 more dangerous. 
 
 His patriotism led him to take an active 
 interest in the strengthening of the conser 
 vative party, but he disliked to be drawn 
 into political associations. " I can do noth 
 ing here," he wrote to a friend at Washing 
 ton, " without going into state politics, a 
 dirty pool, but not easy to keep out of 
 always. The leaders of the American party 
 are neither my friends nor acquaintances." 
 But the fact that he was a conservative and 
 had at the same time been so active in 
 attacking the slave power in Kansas made 
 him an available candidate for the party 
 which was struggling in vain to hold the 
 Whig and Republican elements together. 
 The result was that, in 1856, he was nomi 
 nated by the " Americans " for governor, 
 although he had already declined the nomi 
 nation of the Springfield Convention as a 
 Fremont presidential elector. 
 
 Believing that his acceptance of the nom 
 ination from those parties would discourage 
 his friends in Kansas, he felt justified in de 
 clining. It was just at this time that Mr. 
 Sumner was recovering from the assault upon 
 
POLITICS AND PERSONAL. 141 
 
 him by Brooks in the Senate, which sent 
 such a shock through the country at what 
 was considered a typical blow of slavery, 
 brutal and cowardly. As the assault had 
 been made on account of Mr. Sumner s 
 speech on "The Crime against Kansas," Mr. 
 Lawrence, in spite of his strong antipathy 
 to Mr. Sumner s general policy, wrote this 
 invitation : 
 
 COTTAGE FARM, BKOOKLIKB, October 10, 1856. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Having been informed 
 that you contemplate making a visit to Bos 
 ton, and knowing how difficult it will be for 
 you to avoid the fatigue and excitement 
 which must attend your stay within the city, 
 I beg to offer you a home at my house. 
 
 You may prefer to be with some one of 
 those who agree with you in regard to party 
 politics, and you will without doubt have 
 many invitations from nearer and dearer 
 friends than I am ; but I assure you that no 
 one will give you a more cordial welcome. 
 With much regard, yours truly, 
 A. A. L. 
 
 It seems hardly credible to-day that for 
 this act of hospitality Mr. Lawrence met 
 
142 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 with criticism from politicians, and felt 
 obliged to write to Professor Longfellow. 
 "Mr. Sumner s speech on the Kansas 
 Crime alone entitles him to the gratitude 
 of every man who has an American heart, 
 whatever may be his politics. > He will 
 always have mine, and shall be welcome to 
 my house as long as I have one." 
 
 The return of Mr. Sumner to Boston was 
 accompanied by an enthusiasm that sug 
 gested a popular sympathy with him if not 
 also with his political principles. Mr. Law 
 rence recalls the reception : 
 
 "November 3. The newspapers advertise 
 Mr. Sumner s reception to take place to-day : 
 that he will be received by a committee at 
 my house, thence taken to Boston, where he 
 will be received at the Koxbury line by the 
 Mayor and city authorities and a cavalcade 
 of citizens, and an address to be made to 
 him by Josiah Quincy, Sen. (eighty-six years 
 old), thence to the state house, where he 
 will be welcomed by the Governor. 
 
 " I went to Boston as usual. Came out 
 at one. Found Mr. Sumner here, with Mr. 
 Longfellow, Rev. Dr. Huntington, Dr. Perry, 
 his physician, and his brother George. 
 
 " He lunched, conversed with a reporter for 
 
POLITICS AND PERSONAL. 143 
 
 the press, and gave him his speech in manu 
 script, after which I sent the reporter to 
 town. He appears well when sitting, but is 
 feeble when standing. I gave him a parlor 
 to himself, and shut him up to avoid fatigue 
 and enable him to prepare his speeches. He 
 was here an hour and a half. I gave him 
 some wine before starting, then delivered 
 him over to the committee, who were in 
 barouches. They had reserved a seat for me 
 by the side of Mr. Sumner, but I declined 
 to go. I thought the committee were disap 
 pointed, and also at seeing a Fillmore flag 
 flying at the side of my house. But they 
 had told me the reception was to be with 
 out distinction of party, and I took them on 
 their own ground. After dinner I drove to 
 town with Sarah and the children. Saw the 
 procession from Mr. Appleton s. A long 
 cavalcade, music, then carriages with Mr. 
 Sumner and his friends." 
 
 Again in 1858 he was induced to lead a 
 forlorn hope. He wrote to Governor Robin 
 son of Kansas : 
 
 July 24, 1858. 
 
 I am under the harrow again in regard 
 to politics, and do not see any way of escape. 
 If put up to run against Mr. Banks, I shall 
 
144 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 be beaten soundly. If for Congress, I might 
 be successful ; but it would be like cutting 
 off my right hand to leave my wife and 
 seven children (one recently), my business 
 and all, to go to Washington. Without 
 any desire to shirk the responsibility which 
 every good citizen ought to be willing to 
 assume, I am distressed beyond measure. 
 If it were not for making myself ridiculous 
 I would join the red-hot Republicans (who 
 have many candidates) and so get rid of the 
 difficulty. 
 
 In 1859 he would not allow his name to 
 be used ; but at the time of the great pres 
 idential election in 1860 he had, as four 
 years before, thrown himself with great 
 earnestness into the effort to unite the con 
 servative elements of the different parties 
 and to ward off the danger of disunion by 
 the development of the National Union 
 party. In March, his journal records, " For 
 several days I have been very much occupied, 
 having, in addition to my other pursuits, 
 taken up the project of forming a party of 
 conciliation in the country. 4 Blessed are 
 the peacemakers is one of the promises. I 
 have written a great many letters to influ- 
 
POLITICS AND PERSONAL. 145 
 
 ential men throughout the State, ex-gov 
 ernors and others, and have engaged in 
 brinoinsr together a convention on the 29th. 
 
 O O o 
 
 Besides this, for several weeks I have em 
 ployed agents to form Union clubs in the 
 towns and cities. It is a work of great 
 labor, and I have no idea whether it will 
 not appear a quixotic effort after all ; it cer 
 tainly will be so regarded if it fails." 
 
 It took but a few weeks to show that the 
 sentiment of Massachusetts had passed far 
 beyond the platform of the Union party. 
 But as the success of one of the other par 
 ties seemed to forebode disunion or war, 
 loyalty to the Union kept a few thousand 
 men together. Other candidates like Mr. 
 Lawrence declined to be offered as a sacri 
 fice, but at the convention he was pressed 
 to yield his own preference, and after the 
 nomination he went home, feeling, as he re 
 corded in his journal, "better for having 
 done my duty." The only other consolation 
 that he received is found in the last sentence 
 of this letter from his friend and classmate, 
 E. Rockwood Hoar : 
 
 CONCORD, September 13, 1860. 
 
 MY DEAR AMOS, Considering, as you 
 say, the state of the weather, the news from 
 
146 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 Maine, and the prospects of your party, I 
 admire your pluck. 
 
 I hope you will, some time or other be 
 fore you die, belong to some respectable or 
 ganization, having some definite principles, 
 so that I can vote for you. 
 
 In the mean time, I congratulate your lit 
 tle squad on having a candidate who is nei 
 ther " for sale or to let." 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 E. E. HOAR. 
 
 His strong political feeling did not affect 
 his personal regard for others, for at the 
 same time that he was working for the over 
 throw of Sumner s and Wilson s policy, he 
 was writing to a fellow-member of the cor 
 poration of Harvard College that it was 
 high time that Mr. Sumner be given the 
 degree of LL. D., and he was also lending 
 small sums of money to Mr. Wilson, who 
 was as conscientious in the payment of his 
 smallest debts as he was honest in all his 
 financial relations with the government. 
 
 During these years from 1856 to 1861 
 Mr. Lawrence followed the happy routine 
 of his private and business life. 
 
POLITICS AND PERSONAL. 147 
 
 After removing to Longwood, in 1850, 
 with two daughters and two sons, three 
 more daughters were born, so that by 1858 
 the voices of seven children filled the house. 
 
 His position as president of the trustees 
 of Groton Academy called him back at in 
 tervals to the old homestead, where in the 
 barn, down at the meadow, or in the apple 
 orchard and beside the cider press he re 
 newed his old associations. He enjoyed 
 nothing more than a call upon his old pen 
 sioner, " Uncle Oliver," whom he always 
 kept supplied with tobacco, snuff, and other 
 more useful though no better appreciated 
 articles ; or he would sit and talk for an 
 hour or more in the cabin which he pro 
 vided for the old negro nurse, " Peter," who 
 used to sing his negro melodies to Mr. Law 
 rence when, as a motherless child, he lived 
 upon the old farm. Writing to his aunt he 
 said, " Good New England living ought to 
 be encouraged by every head of a New Eng 
 land family, and at our house we always 
 hope to have it. Apples and cider compose 
 an important element. Of the last we crack 
 365 bottles in a year, and I only hope my 
 children will drink nothing stronger during 
 their lives. They surely can have nothing 
 better." 
 
148 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 His morning ride on horseback from 
 Longwood to Boston, often covering eight 
 miles about the country before getting to his 
 office at nine o clock, his return in the after 
 noon, and then a drive, a skate, or coast with 
 the children, or a game of quoits with some 
 of the neighbors, were his relaxations. A 
 few extracts from his journals suggest the 
 tenor of his life. 
 
 " January 4, 1858. Rode over to Jamaica 
 Pond to see about skating. Found it good. 
 Met the omnibus driver, Mr. Kemp, to whom 
 I gave a hundred-dollar bank bill by mis 
 take. Told him to give half of it to Duffy 
 the blacksmith for the poor." 
 
 " April 19. Anniversary of the battle of 
 Lexington. May God give us courage to 
 defend the liberty of the institutions which 
 our fathers have handed down to us." 
 
 " June 19. Last night a circumstance 
 reminded me of the passage of years. At 
 midnight I was awakened by vocal music 
 from under the trees near my window. It 
 was some Cambridge students. I could 
 hardly realize that these young men have 
 been born since I graduated. Poor Mary, 
 for whom the serenade was intended, could 
 not be awakened, for her door was locked. 
 
POLITICS AND PERSONAL. 149 
 
 " This afternoon we drove down upon the 
 Western Avenue to see the regatta. The 
 boys with me in my open wagon and the 
 girls in the open carriage. The Harvard 
 beat in the large boat race." 
 
 " July 5. The boys came into my room as 
 usual, when they were dressed, to say their 
 prayers. I prayed with them and for them, 
 that they might always love their country, 
 and be ready to suffer and even to die in its 
 defence." 
 
 " August 5. Atlantic telegraph laid and 
 a message received. The whole country is 
 electrified. Every assembly took notice of 
 it. Thanksgivings offered by the clergy." 
 
 " October 22. In riding through Roxbury 
 I saw immense placards calling on the 
 friends of Amos A. Lawrence and Newell 
 A. Thompson to be present at a great 
 ratification meeting this evening. Such 
 things can do my name no good. I hope 
 they will not result in any harm either to 
 the name or to its owner. No one will sus 
 pect me of standing as a candidate this time 
 in the expectation of getting into office." 
 
 " 28. Beautiful days. Up to top of Co 
 rey s Hill. Not a newspaper nor a public 
 speaker has abused me. One of Mr. Banks s 
 
150 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 newspapers spoke of me in complimentary 
 terms yesterday." 
 
 " December 13. Rode over to Jamaica 
 Pond early, with my skates in my pocket. 
 Tied my horse to a tree and skated half an 
 hour on the most beautiful surface I ever 
 saw. There was not a mark on the virgin 
 ice, and as I flew over it I was reminded of 
 4 angels wings. Reached town at nine. 
 
 44 The Salmon Falls Company s account 
 so bad that I have made an offer in writing 
 to the directors through the treasurer to give 
 up commissions enough to make the account 
 up to three per cent, or $30,000." 
 
 41 25. Christmas. Once more this delight 
 ful day returns, bringing with it the grateful 
 memory of a Saviour s birth, and of his life 
 on earth spent in poverty and suffering that 
 He might bring to us salvation. There are 
 the memories, too, of those who have been 
 dear to us in this world, and who are now, as 
 we trust, enjoying a better life in heaven. 
 
 44 We had spent the evening with the chil 
 dren at Mr. Nathan Appleton s, where were 
 about a hundred persons, young and old, rel 
 atives of the family and near friends. St. 
 Nicholas (little Nathan) came in during the 
 dancing, bringing a large basket on his 
 
POLITICS AND PERSONAL. 151 
 
 back in which was a pretty present for every 
 one of the young people. Then there was 
 supper, and we returned to the parlors, 
 where Mrs. Appleton arranged an old-fash 
 ioned contra-dance and invited me to be her 
 partner, which I accepted. All this kept us 
 up till quarter before eleven. But the chil 
 dren were awake in the morning not less 
 early than usual, feeling for their stockings 
 and admiring their presents. 
 
 " We went to Sunday-school and church. 
 All were happy and I trust thankful. At 
 five we went to town and dined at Mr. Wil 
 liam Appieton s, where there was another 
 gathering in the evening. At ten we left 
 for home, bringing all at one trip, nine in 
 side the carriage and myself riding as foot 
 man behind. If their precious lives are 
 spared I would be content to ride always 
 on the outside. May God bless them, and 
 grant that they may never have cause to 
 look back with sorrow on their present days 
 of innocence." 
 
 " 31. To-day my partnership with Mr. 
 Mason is dissolved after about fifteen years. 
 Walked to town against a driving snow 
 storm. Stopped at William s house ; found 
 him not very well. He is an invalid not 
 
152 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 unfrequently, and sometimes I have anxiety 
 on his account. But I trust that he will be 
 spared to us. He is very dear to me, as an 
 only brother ought to be. This night, in 
 1852, my dear, good father went to heaven. 
 God grant that we may follow him whenever 
 our time on this earth shall be ended." 
 
 "1859. January 10. Cold. 14 below 
 zero at my house. Much colder elsewhere, 
 especially in New Hampshire and Vermont. 
 38 in Montpelier and in some other places. 
 Rode over to Cambridge. Asked a boy 
 about a poor woman who is dying of con 
 sumption. He knew her and told me she 
 had been burnt out (of the old Porter Tav 
 ern) and was living near. He jumped on 
 my horse and rode him up and down the road 
 while I went in and found the poor woman. 
 She was overjoyed at seeing me, and laughed 
 and cried by turns. 
 
 "11. Went over to see my poor woman 
 again." 
 
 "May 22. Sunday. Across the fields 
 with the children (how beautiful they are !) 
 to Sunday-school. With such company how 
 can any father wish for any situation in life 
 better than mine : how can any one have 
 more advantages than I have? Rev. Dr. 
 
POLITICS AND PERSONAL. 153 
 
 Stone preached two excellent sermons ; and 
 at sunset we enjoyed the sermon of nature 
 in the golden colors of the sky. 
 
 "23. Rode up Corey s Hill. What a 
 view ! The country is clothed with verdure 
 and with flowers ; the trees covered with 
 blossoms. The blessing of God seems to be 
 present in such a fair scene." 
 
 "27. Cricket in the afternoon in my 
 grove with the children." 
 
 " June 11. The spring is most beautiful. 
 My horseback ride in the morning exhila 
 rates me beyond anything which is not ar 
 tificial excitement, and it is much more sat 
 isfactory than any art can produce. From 
 Corey s Hill the view is wonderful." 
 
 " July 9. Solferino. Hell on this beauti 
 ful earth, and men turned into devils. God 
 grant that the result may in some way con 
 duce to extend his kingdom in this world of 
 fallen men." 
 
 " 19. Bought some 25-pound dumb-bells, 
 as those which I have used are too light." 
 
 " December 27. Went to see F. E. Par 
 ker and asked him if he would be presi 
 dent of Harvard College if he were asked. 
 He was very much surprised ; said it seemed 
 to him ridiculous, but was too serious to 
 
154 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 answer then. I told him that I could vote 
 for him confidently, and I believed Judge 
 Hoar would, and his chance of election was 
 as good as that of any one. 
 
 " 28. Parker declines." 
 
 "July 18, 1860. Commencement. At 
 Cambridge at 8 in president s room. Cor 
 poration there. We tried on the President s 
 new cap. At ten we went to the library. 
 Soon the Governor came with his aids, the 
 overseers, etc.; also Mr. Douglas, United 
 States Senator. Procession moved to church 
 with a band of music. On the platform 
 were Messrs. Sumner, Wilson, Banks, Doug 
 las, all men of mark. My class mustered six 
 teen ; twenty-five years out of college. Met 
 in a room near the church ; pleasing but sad 
 remembrances. 
 
 " 19. Inauguration of president at Cam 
 bridge. Heavy rain in morning. Went to 
 Cambridge in the saddle ; got to Boston 
 from there at half past nine, wet through. 
 Home at two and changed dress, then to 
 Cambridge again. Went up in the pulpit 
 where Mr. Felton was delivering his address 
 with great earnestness. The Governor and 
 all the dignitaries of church and state, in 
 cluding ex-Presidents Everett, Quincy, and 
 
POLITICS AND PERSONAL. 155 
 
 Sparks. Mr. Quincy is quite feeble. I 
 spoke to him afterwards and asked him if 
 lie was going to dinner with us, and he said 
 4 No, he was too feeble. I fear the old 
 gentleman has taken part for the last time 
 in the celebration of his Alma Mater. 
 
 "After the exercises in the church, we had 
 the grand dinner in Harvard Hall ; Henry 
 Lee with his twenty marshals managing 
 everything. I sat at the official table, next 
 to Dr. Walton, the oldest graduate after 
 Mr. Quincy ; he is nearly ninety years old. 
 Governor Banks spoke exceedingly well ; so 
 did Rev. Dr. Osgood. After satisfying my 
 appetite, I went down and sat with my 
 class." 
 
 " August 14. Up at five. Exercise with 
 dumb-bells and in other ways. In afternoon 
 went with Sarah and the two boys to Marion 
 near Wareham, about two hours on the Old 
 Colony Railroad. Found a good hotel. In 
 the evening I danced a hornpipe with Judge 
 Joel Parker, very much to the amusement of 
 my good wife." 
 
 " 29. President Felton came after his re 
 turn from Canada. He speaks well of the 
 Prince of Wales ; says he should think he 
 might rank number twenty in a class of 
 
156 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 eighty if he should study for it ; thinks ho 
 has been well trained." 
 
 " October 8. Two thousand citizens with 
 torches and bands of music assembled from 
 Boston and the neighboring towns and made 
 me a visit in the evening. I stood in the 
 doorway and received their salutes with my 
 wife and children. I hope that the mem 
 bers of my family will not think more of 
 this kind of applause than it is worth. 
 
 " 26. A panic at the South about Lin 
 coln s election. There is no cause for alarm 
 from Mr. Lincoln, even if he had riot 
 against him both houses of Congress. The 
 effort at the South for secession may pro 
 duce anxiety, and they will not cease im 
 mediately after the election, if Lincoln 
 should be chosen." 
 
 " November 7. Lincoln chosen president 
 by immense majorities in almost all the free 
 States. Breckinridge comes next in elec 
 toral votes ; then Bell, and Douglas last. 
 Andrew chosen governor of Massachusetts 
 by an immense majority." 
 
 " 29. Thanksgiving. Received notice to 
 meet a town committee on Bradley s Hill, 
 about buying it. Then went to church. 
 Afterwards to see Henry Upham, who is un- 
 
POLITICS AND PERSONAL. 157 
 
 well. The children went to James Amory s 
 in the evening. The reminiscences grow too 
 numerous to make such days cheerful ones, 
 except as we should be cheerful in approach 
 ing the end of our journey." 
 
 " God bless my dear ones, and give them 
 all grace to serve Thee all their days. 
 Grant that we may all meet, when this life 
 is over, in heaven. 
 
 " God bless my distracted country. Turn 
 the hearts of the people toward each other 
 again. Save us from disunion, and save us 
 from shedding fraternal blood." 
 
 From 1857 to 1860 Mr. Lawrence was 
 treasurer of Harvard College. It was an 
 added duty which was undertaken out of 
 loyalty to the college, and which yielded a 
 good return in many pleasant associations 
 with its officers and in a lengthened morning 
 ride. 
 
 " 1858. January 21. Over to Cambridge 
 by arrangement with President Walker. 
 Found him at breakfast (eight o clock), rode 
 round to the unfinished Appleton Chapel, 
 where he soon met me and took me inside. 
 There is no wood-work yet : nothing but 
 the bare stone walls. He described to me 
 
158 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 the proposed arrangement of the interior, 
 which I remarked as quite like an Episco 
 pal church. He replied : There is such 
 a thing as church architecture ; and as long 
 as we have undertaken to build a church we 
 may as well have a real one. It shall not 
 belong to any sect. Here all sects must 
 unite. " 
 
 The magnetic spirit of Agassiz soon drew 
 the interest of Mr. Lawrence towards the 
 foundation of the museum. 
 
 " June 12. Professor Agassiz came to 
 see me about his additional salary. He 
 says he wishes to create the most complete 
 collection of natural history in the world ; 
 so that it shall command students not only 
 from all parts of this country, but from 
 Europe. I said to him, We shall draw 
 students if we have the right man, pointing 
 to him. 4 Yes, he added, the man may 
 draw students, but he cannot teach forever. 
 He must go ; and then if you have not some 
 other inducement, the students will go. It 
 is such a collection of objects as I will make 
 which will perpetuate the school. He is a 
 frank, hearty-looking man." 
 
 " November 17. President Walker, Chief 
 Justice Shaw, Judge G. T. Bigelow, Rev. 
 
POLITICS AND PERSONAL. 159 
 
 Dr. Putnam, Professors Agassiz and Long 
 fellow, Messrs. David Sears, W. Appleton, 
 E. Rockwood Hoar, Jared Sparks, and J. 
 A. Lowell dined here at four o clock. They 
 had an agreeable meeting. Chief Justice 
 Shaw took Mrs. Lawrence in to dinner, 
 though I asked Dr. Walker to do so ; the 
 former (who is seventy-eight) being more 
 active than Dr. Walker, who is lame. The 
 dinner was cooked by our own cook, Marion, 
 and they all were cheerful and even gay; 
 nor did they leave the dining-room until 
 they went away. Mr. Agassiz sat next to 
 me and talked all the time. I asked him 
 whether some anecdotes about him in the 
 newspapers to-day were true, but he had not 
 seen them. Then I repeated one about his 
 replying to a person who offered him a large 
 sum for some lectures, that he was too 
 busy to waste his time in making money ; 
 and this he pronounced to be true." 
 
 "January 21, 1859. Evening to James 
 Lawrence s. Meeting of forty gentlemen 
 about a building for Agassiz collection. Mr. 
 Gray has given 850,000 for increasing and 
 supporting the collection already made. Ex- 
 Governor Clifford in the chair. Those who 
 made remarks were Dr. Walker, Governor 
 
160 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 Banks, ex-Governor Washburn, E. R. Hoar, 
 Mr. George Ticknor, Dr. Gould, Dr. Jacob 
 Bigelow, and myself. But Agassiz made 
 the speech of the evening, very modest and 
 characteristic ; all for the science, nothing 
 for himself. Dr. Bigelow introduced a vote 
 and called the collection the Agassiz Mu 
 seum, etc., but Agassiz interrupted him and 
 declined decidedly. * Personalities, said he, 
 must be banished from science. 
 
 " 26. Wednesday. Company to dinner at 
 four. Agassiz, George Ticknor, Professor 
 Felton, Eev. Dr. Huntington, Charles Hale 
 (Speaker of House of Representatives), 
 Lord Radstock, ex - Governor Washburn, 
 and some gentlemen from the legislature 
 whom I wished to become acquainted with 
 Mr. Agassiz. They all seemed to have an 
 agreeable visit, and I hope it will help along 
 the project of establishing the Museum of 
 Zoology at Cambridge. Lord Radstock is 
 a young man, travelling with his wife." 
 
 "February 15. Subscribed $1,000 to 
 Agassiz s museum in Cambridge. The com 
 mittee now have $40,000 subscribed, and ex 
 pect more." 
 
 " April 9. . . President Walker came to 
 see about the Sanders donation. Before he 
 
POLITICS AND PERSONAL. 161 
 
 left Mr. Agassiz came to get some money in 
 advance and at the same time Governor 
 Gardner came about something else." 
 
 " May 5. Meeting at my Court Street 
 office of the committee appointed to be the 
 faculty of the Agassiz Museum : President 
 "Walker, Dr. Jacob Bigelow, Dr. O. W. 
 Holmes, and Mr. Agassiz. The latter is so 
 progressive that it requires all the tact of 
 Dr. Walker and Dr. Bigelow to keep him 
 in check." 
 
 An interesting photograph of five presi 
 dents of Harvard College, now hanging in 
 the college library, was taken under the fol 
 lowing circumstances : 
 
 " April 27, 1861. The President and ex- 
 Presidents of Harvard College met at W hip 
 pie s by my request, to be photographed to 
 gether for the college library. Messrs. 
 Quincy, Everett, Sparks, Walker, and Fel- 
 ton. We waited for Mr. Everett, who had 
 forgotten his appointment, and had a great 
 deal of talk. Mr. Quincy was very bright 
 and earnest. He told me he had enjoyed 
 his life since he was seventy-four more than 
 any previous part of it. He is now about 
 ninety." 
 
 The pressure for charity continued at his 
 
162 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 office, though, as he always remarked, it va 
 ried with the weather. His journal records : 
 " December 11. Rainy. No beggars. Quiet 
 day but busy in counting-room. 12. Fine 
 day. Beggars plenty." For many years he 
 made a standing offer to the agents of char 
 itable societies that he would give a five- 
 dollar gold piece to any poor person whose 
 poverty was not caused by either drink, lazi 
 ness, or bad temper. Experience and in 
 vestigation assured him that there was no 
 great risk in the offer. A more genteel 
 class of beggars and money borrowers sug 
 gested these remarks : 
 
 " August 1. Fine day. Annoyed by be 
 ing forced to decline several applications for 
 money. My experience leads me to know 
 that the greater part of those who apply for 
 loans or for gifts of money either live more 
 expensively than their means warrant or 
 they are unwilling to fix themselves down 
 to one pursuit. If we should undertake to 
 criticise cases, there would be found very few 
 where hardship does not follow bad manage 
 ment and where relief can be anything but 
 temporary." 
 
 It was a satisfaction to him to help raise 
 a fund for Dr. Morton simply as his thank- 
 
POLITICS AND PERSONAL. 163 
 
 offering for the " inestimable blessing of 
 ether." In such a special emergency as the 
 fall of the Pemberton Mills he was quick to 
 join with others in carrying the paper about. 
 
 " 1860. January 10. Pemberton Mill at 
 Lawrence fell down in one sudden ruin 
 while in operation. The pay-roll shows 960 
 persons employed. While the multitude 
 confined in the ruins were being dug out, a 
 fire started and finished the horrible catas 
 trophe. 
 
 " 11. Meeting of fifteen gentlemen at the 
 Hospital Life office. We subscribed |2,000 
 on the spot for the sufferers. Meeting of 
 the New England Societies in afternoon. 
 Voted to omit the annual dinner to-day and 
 added about $3,000 to the subscription. 
 
 "12. Hard at work collecting money. 
 Went with Beebe into State Street. All of 
 us obtained $5,000 to-day." 
 
 In January, 1860, Mr. Lawrence took a 
 short journey through the South with two 
 nephews, and had the satisfaction of seeing 
 Southern life near the end of the old regime. 
 
 " February 2. Savannah. Drove out two 
 miles to an auction sale of 180 negroes. 
 They looked serious, and the girls shed some 
 tears. They were sold in families, and after 
 
164 AMOS A. LAWltENCE. 
 
 they were knocked off I thought they looked 
 anxious, and I noticed that a mother who 
 was sold with her seven children sobbed 
 very much. It is always a sad sight." 
 
 " 7. Negro dealing is carried on here by 
 gentlemen of family who have been un 
 fortunate in other business/ 
 
 The travellers could see in the social life 
 at the South no signs of the approaching out 
 burst, for on arrival at home Mr. Lawrence 
 wrote, " My neighbors think I must have 
 incurred some risk in going to the South. 
 How mistaken the opinion is of the two sec 
 tions of the country in regard to the feel 
 ings of each other. May God make them 
 more friendly and more emulous and excel 
 in promoting the great cause for which our 
 government was made." 
 
 The year 1860 closed under the shadow of 
 the coming struggle. 
 
 " December 21. Laid up. Have worked 
 too hard, and been too anxious for the 
 Union. South Carolina secedes." 
 
 " December 24-30. This has been a week 
 of anxious interest for the welfare of our 
 country. Events follow in quick succession 
 which will be felt in our future history for 
 good or for evil, and I fear it will be the 
 
POLITICS AND PERSONAL. 165 
 
 latter. The fear and hatred of the Republi 
 cans by the people of the South drives them 
 forward to repudiate the government. In 
 South Carolina the people have seized Fort 
 Moultrie and Fort Pinckney and a United 
 States cutter, besides the custom-house and 
 other government property. They have now 
 sent commissioners to Washington to treat 
 for a partition of government property and 
 to make a treaty with the United States. 
 The President seems to be weak in sup 
 porting the government, and even leaning to 
 the side of the traitors. Secretary Cass has 
 resigned in disgust with the favor which is 
 
 O O 
 
 shown to nullification in the cabinet. 
 
 " Sunday. May the Lord spare us a little 
 longer, and humble this great nation without 
 inflicting us with the shedding of fraternal 
 blood. 
 
 " 31. Monday. A sad day. The anni 
 versary of my dear father s death. A sad 
 ending of one year in the history of my 
 country ; I fear the last year of our happy 
 
X. 
 
 THE WAK. 
 
 1861-1862. 
 
 FKOM the special Fast Day of January 
 4, 1861, until the middle of April, national 
 events moved with great rapidity, but pop 
 ular sentiment moved faster. In spite of 
 the increasing intensity of feeling between 
 the North and the South, Congress was full 
 of the talk of compromise and peace. 
 
 It was not in the nature of Mr. Lawrence, 
 who loved peace and had an over-charitable 
 confidence in the Southern loyalty to the 
 Union, to let pass any consistent work for an 
 amicable settlement. As one of a committee 
 composed of Edward Everett, Robert C. 
 Winthrop, and other representatives of the 
 conservative elements of Massachusetts, he 
 went to Washington with a petition of 
 fifteen thousand citizens urging the passage 
 by Congress of the Crittenden compromise. 
 They were received by Mr. Buchanan, who, 
 
THE WAR. 167 
 
 in dressing-gown and slippers, spoke with 
 great anxiety in regard to a collision at the 
 South, and expressed a strong desire (in 
 which the whole North joined) to be free 
 from the cares of office. They called upon 
 Vice-President Breckinridge, General Scott, 
 Mr. Seward, Mr. Sumner, and others, but 
 the tide had set too strong for any such ac 
 tion. Mr. Sumner was too near the truth 
 when he told the committee that their mis 
 sion " would be of no more use than a penny 
 whistle in a tempest." Having done his part 
 for peace, Mr. Lawrence immediately pre 
 pared to do his part for war. 
 
 Two years before, in a speech on Wash 
 ington s birthday, he had said, 
 
 " It was a theory of Washington, and it 
 has become the theory and the practice of 
 this government, that the military power of 
 the country shall reside in the people them 
 selves ; that, without a standing army, every 
 citizen shall be accustomed to and shall be 
 ready at all times to perform militia service. 
 
 " In accordance with this theory of Wash 
 ington and our government, it becomes the 
 duty of every citizen to have a knowledge of 
 and to bear arms, and it is not hazarding too 
 much to say that every citizen who has never 
 
168 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 borne arms, and who has never submitted to 
 the military drill as commonly practised, has 
 not performed his whole duty, because he is 
 not ready at all times to perform any service 
 to which he may be called by his State or 
 Country." 
 
 Though he had taken his part as a young 
 man in the militia, he now felt that the test 
 of the principle had come. On his return 
 from Washington he threw himself with 
 great enthusiasm into the organization of 
 drill clubs. In February he wrote, " I go 
 to drill every day at eleven with about fifty 
 of various ages." In March he added, 
 " Drill club in afternoon ; all in uniform 
 jackets and red caps ; about ninety came out 
 and marched quietly to Boylston Hall (over 
 Boylston Market), where the exercise lasted 
 two hours. I do the whole with the young 
 est, because it is never too late to practise 
 what every citizen ought to be familiar with, 
 and because a good example stimulates oth 
 ers." Though twenty years older than most 
 of the men, his activity and endurance soon 
 made him an excellent drill-master. His 
 journal runs, April 17 : " Find that I am 
 chosen quartermaster of our zouave regiment 
 proposed to be formed of Colonel Salignac s 
 
THE WAR. 169 
 
 drill club. Advertised to drill recruits to 
 the number of 800." 
 
 At his invitation the zouaves would 
 march out to Longwood and drill, while his 
 family supplied barrels of lemonade. By 
 comparison with later movements, those 
 manoeuvres had a very fresh and amateur 
 appearance, but it was the first step in 
 arousing the soldier spirit ; and among those 
 red-capped recruits were many who a few 
 months later led battalions, regiments, and 
 brigades into battle. 
 
 On the 15th of April came the proclama 
 tion of the President calling for 75,000 vol 
 unteers from the States, and the same day 
 came a telegram to Governor Andrew to 
 send forward 1,500 men. Popular feeling 
 had moved on so rapidly that it was more 
 than ready to respond. On hearing of the 
 call for troops, Mr. Lawrence, who only a 
 few weeks before had been urging Mr. 
 Seward to act for peace, and who was still 
 hopeful of some loyal sentiment in the 
 South, now wrote him : 
 
 BOSTON, April 1, 1861. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Permit a member of the 
 Constitutional Union party to suggest that 
 
170 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 the call for 75,000 troops by the President 
 will not have the desired effect on our 
 friends in the South who are wavering 
 
 o 
 
 about secession. If it were five times that 
 number it would satisfy all that the govern 
 ment would be maintained, and I believe 
 it would be responded to in the Northern 
 States, and ultimately in the Border States. 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 A. A. L. 
 
 Two weeks after he wrote to his friend, 
 Henry Lee, of Governor Andrew s staff : 
 
 BOSTON, April 17, 1861. 
 
 DEAR HENRY, I don t wish to court 
 notoriety by offering my service to Governor 
 Andrew, but shall be glad to undertake any 
 service of which I am capable. Therefore 
 please to keep an eye out for me, where 
 smart young chaps are wanted, and small 
 pay. Yours truly, 
 
 A. A. L. 
 
 His journal suggests the memories of that 
 eventful week : 
 
 " April 17. The Sixth Regiment muster 
 in Boston, and march through the streets on 
 
THE WAR. 171 
 
 their way to Washington, midst crowds of 
 people. 
 
 " 18. Troops going off to Washington in 
 long trains of cars amid great enthusiasm." 
 "21. Monday. Great town meeting in 
 Brookline. I made the committee s report, 
 putting the whole town on the war footing, 
 and appropriating $15,000 to be used by a 
 military committee whom we named. This 
 was adopted with great excitement. 
 
 " 22. Thirty-five of my neighbors marched 
 to Boston by way of drill. I led them part 
 way, and then left them to Captain Wilder, 
 as I was engaged at Cambridge. Great ad 
 ditions to drill club, over 400. 
 
 " 23. Norfolk Navy Yard destroyed by 
 government to prevent its being taken, with 
 some of the finest ships of the navy. 
 
 " 24. Drilling everywhere. To Brookline 
 in evening. Drilled the townspeople ; the 
 halls filled. 
 
 " 25. Massachusetts troops fired on in 
 Baltimore. Washington barely saved from 
 the revolutionists. Troops from the North 
 sent through Annapolis. Arthur Lawrence 
 in North Carolina. Mr. William Appleton 
 in South Carolina. 
 
 "28. Kailroad bridges all broken, north 
 and west of Baltimore." 
 
172 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 He added to his work as treasurer of the 
 college one duty which gave him great de 
 light. At eight o clock in the morning he 
 was in Cambridge drilling the students. 
 His interest in them did not cease in the 
 college yard, but followed many of them, 
 his own young recruits, into camp, battle, and 
 to death ; and his love for them and devotion 
 to their memories prompted him, at the close 
 of the war, to throw something of his old 
 enthusiasm into the erection of the Memo 
 rial Hall. Not content with drillino- towns- 
 
 O 
 
 men and students, he gave the first lessons 
 in the manual to his sons, and then sent 
 them to Brookline to join a boys company. 
 In fact, as he wrote to his uncle, "We all 
 drill, even my girls belong to a squad and 
 carry arms well." 
 
 These were active days, as his journal 
 testifies : 
 
 "June 10. My daily duties sometimes 
 press hard. First I rise and dress, say my 
 own prayers, and prayers with some of my 
 children. Before seven the triangle is 
 struck for family prayers in the library. 
 Breakfast at seven. Lay out work for men 
 afterwards. Off on horseback at eight. 
 Visit the contractors who are building for 
 
THE WAR. 173 
 
 me about here and the laborers on the 
 grounds. Then to Cambridge, oftenest to 
 look after new work or old just now the 
 new house for president, and refitting the 
 Brattle House ; or to meet the president 
 or steward or some one of the professors 
 on their business ; or to review the college 
 4 troops. Then to Boston by half past nine. 
 Here are all sorts of business, commercial, 
 philanthropic, political ; besides building of 
 three large stores, and a carriage factory, 
 and drilling my company daily. This pushes 
 me hard till after three, when I get on my 
 hors/e again and reach home a little late for 
 dinner. Then read the news, and rest until 
 I turn out to inspect my garden and work 
 men, or to take my wife to drive in my coun 
 try wagon. All assemble at quarter before 
 eight o clock at tea. Children s bed -time 
 and prayers with them at half past eight. 
 Then a nap, and reading or writing till 
 eleven or twelve. There is a great scarcity 
 of employment, and I have taken about thir 
 ty-five men to dig over my marshes, then to 
 haul gravel from them, then to cover with 
 . loam, and sow grass seed." 
 
 " 14. Drill in Pemberton Square. Very 
 hot." 
 
174 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 His first thought was for the Union men 
 in the border States, Tennessee and Ken 
 tucky. Those whom he knew he urged to 
 adhere to the Union. To Senator Critten- 
 den of Kentucky he wrote : " You can have 
 but a faint idea of the indignation which 
 has seized the people since the defeat of An 
 derson. Every man wishes to be a volun 
 teer ; business is suspended ; political asper 
 ities have ceased, and we all stand as one 
 man for the government. Our friends in 
 Kentucky may rely on it, the government 
 will be sustained and its seat will not be 
 moved from Washington in our day. Why, 
 then, should not they stand by it ? " 
 
 Andrew Johnson had written asking aid 
 for the Union cause in Tennessee. Mr. 
 Lawrence immediately sent $1,000, and 
 started off among his friends with a sub 
 scription paper. It was an easy time for 
 subscriptions. " Money is poured out like 
 water. Thirty-three thousand dollars have 
 been sent to my office in three days for the 
 Massachusetts Soldiers Fund. We are 
 getting 100,000 men ready to go South in 
 the fall, and when all our men have gone, 
 then old Massachusetts is going herself." 
 The question as to whether a man in his 
 
THE WAR. 175 
 
 position with large financial responsibilities 
 as well as seven children should enter active 
 service was continually before him. In an 
 swer to a request of Mr. Paul Revere and 
 Dr. Coolidge, to take command of a regi 
 ment in which they were to be officers, he 
 wrote : 
 
 BOSTON, July 3, 1861. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, At a period like this, the 
 present duty of every loyal citizen will lead 
 him to abandon his occupations and his at 
 tachments for the public service whenever 
 those who have the appointing power de 
 mand it of him, but he is not to obtrude 
 himself into any position for which he is 
 unfitted, nor is he to urge his pretensions 
 for any position whatever. 
 
 With this view, I have carefully consid 
 ered the proposition which you have been 
 kind enough to make to me, and have only 
 to say, that I shall always be ready to make 
 any sacrifice which the national or state 
 authorities may require of me. Though I 
 should have great diffidence in undertaking 
 military service, I stand ready to do anything 
 which others may decide I can do well. 
 Whatever it may be, I trust it will be un 
 dertaken simply as a duty, and without any 
 
176 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 desire for notoriety or from any unworthy 
 ambition. Yours with regard, 
 
 A. A. L. 
 
 Again, in December, 1861, when Mr. 
 Chase, the secretary of the treasury, was 
 developing a plan for the movement to the 
 Northern markets of those Southern staples 
 that could be obtained, Mr. Lawrence wrote 
 to him : " I nave ventured to offer to devote 
 myself to the government if I can render 
 any service in perfecting the details of your 
 plan. I will serve at any personal inconven 
 ience and risk on any part of the Atlantic 
 coast during the present winter, and longer 
 if necessary, without any remuneration, ex 
 cept the payment of niy expenses incurred 
 in the transaction of the business. Having 
 been a large buyer of cotton in Southern 
 markets for manufacturing purposes, and a 
 consigner of manufactured goods to those 
 markets, and having had charge for many 
 years of large numbers of free laborers of 
 both sexes, in factory and in the field, I feel 
 competent to do anything which can be done 
 by any agent who would probably be solic 
 ited by the government." 
 
 Good service in the army he considered 
 
THE WAR. 177 
 
 as an equivalent for the payment of small 
 debts, as is seen by this letter to a lieuten 
 ant in the field : 
 
 DEAR SIR, We cancel with pleasure 
 our demand against you (1877.88) in consid 
 eration of your active services as a volunteer 
 in supporting the government. 
 Yours truly, 
 
 MASON & LAWRENCE, 
 
 By A. A. L. 
 
 He offered a new house opposite his place 
 in Longwood for invalid soldiers, and wrote : 
 " I wish to offer my own services as steward, 
 and those of my wife and family for any 
 duties they can perform ; promising that, if 
 accepted, the routine of service shall be as 
 faithfully performed as by regularly ap 
 pointed agents ; " adding, " In these times we 
 are all desirous to do something for those 
 who are fighting the battles, and for one I 
 am desirous to be useful here rather than 
 to leave a very large and young family for 
 distant service. But if I cannot do one I 
 shall feel bound to offer the other ; though 
 three years beyond the drafting age, I am 
 strong and active, and can do anything re 
 quired of younger men." 
 
178 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 Another letter runs, " The Sanitary Com 
 mission may have the use of the store at the 
 corner of West and Mason Streets free of 
 rent, until further notice." 
 
 War meant death to the Whig and Union 
 parties. When, then, the next canvass ap 
 proached, Mr. Lawrence heard, to his sur 
 prise, that his name was to be joined with 
 that of Governor Andrew on the Republican 
 ticket. This compliment he declined, but 
 from that time until the presidential elec 
 tion of 1884 he voted and worked with the 
 Republican party. 
 
 - At about this time the cruel treatment of 
 our soldiers in Southern prisons had sug 
 gested the policy of retaliation in order to 
 press the Southerners to humane methods. 
 The kindly spirit of Mr. Lawrence suggested 
 another policy. Having returned from a 
 visit to the rebel prisoners at Fort Warren, 
 he wrote to the commandant : 
 
 " It probably has occurred to you that the 
 treatment of the rebel prisoners will have an 
 effect upon our own prisoners at the South, 
 
 " As the government rules are necessarily 
 rigid, it is possible that the attentions of 
 private citizens may be occupied in alleviat 
 ing their condition in some measure. The 
 
THE WAR. 179 
 
 loan of books, addition to their clothing, 
 etc., may not come amiss to those who have 
 been good citizens heretofore, and accus 
 tomed to the comforts of home. There is 
 no doubt but that many of the soldiers were 
 forced into the ranks in North Carolina, 
 and I have supposed that some of the men 
 who were more distinguished are held more 
 as hostages than otherwise. It will afford 
 me pleasure as a private citizen to assist in 
 any plan which may require individual co 
 operation, though I do not suppose that it 
 falls within your official duty to devise any 
 such plan, unless to ascertain whether it is 
 desired." 
 
 A letter to Mr. Robert Mason gives in 
 a few words the drift of Mr. Lawrence s 
 thoughts and feelings in 1862. 
 
 BOSTON, August 26, 1862. 
 
 DEAR ROBERT, ... The war now has 
 
 reached very broad dimensions. With an 
 army of a million, which we shall have (un 
 der pay at least) in November, and the new 
 gunboats, the government will carry sub 
 mission wherever it goes. Whether it will 
 go into the interior of the South, except by 
 gunboats, we cannot tell. It may be more 
 
180 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 expensive of life and money than profitable. 
 The obstinacy of the rebels indicates that it 
 will be necessary to ruin them completely 
 and settle their lands with Yankees. The 
 proclamation of emancipation of the slaves 
 in the rebel States will be made whenever 
 it will do more good than harm ; and that 
 time seems to be approaching. The Presi 
 dent will not do it until the people of the 
 loyal States are pretty much agreed upon 
 it ; and public opinion is setting that way 
 more and more. The Yankee settlers in the 
 South will get good day s work out of the 
 negroes even if they are free. 
 
 The free States are very prosperous. 
 Never have there been such crowds at the 
 watering-places ; never such an abundance 
 of money. It may be like the days before 
 the flood, when they ate and drank until 
 Noah went into the ark, and the flood came 
 and drowned them all. But so it is. There 
 comes a heavy sorrow to many families after 
 a great battle, and all the time there are be 
 reavements which the public does not see. 
 There were several funerals here at one time 
 recently when the bodies of Captain Good 
 win (Ozias s son), Captain Abbott (Judge 
 Abbott s son), Captain Cary (T. G. Cary s 
 
THE WAR. 181 
 
 son), Lieutenant Perkins (Stephen Perkins s 
 son) were brought home. A son of Dr. 
 Shurtleff was killed in the same engagement. 
 One of Josiah Quincy s sons is missing ; the 
 time now elapsed makes it doubtful whether 
 he is a prisoner. George Russell s son is a 
 prisoner in close confinement ; Quincy Shaw 
 has been down there to learn about him, and 
 his family have received two notes in pencil 
 from him. These things make people feel 
 rather sad ; but they are small compared 
 with the great mass of sorrow which all the 
 deaths of soldiers create. But all does not 
 have the effect of preventing our fashion 
 able people from making fools of themselves, 
 and of others. Down at Newport they say 
 the balls are splendid. 
 
 Factory business better than ever, but 
 looking forward into empty space. . . . Busi 
 ness is easily done ; no dickering about 
 prices ; almost all sales for cash. Stores all 
 shut up at two o clock, when the bells begin 
 to ring and the drums to beat. I wonder 
 that any of the young men stay out of camp. 
 I find it hard myself, though three years be 
 yond the military age, and might be laughed 
 at. Besides, it behooves every man to make 
 sure that he is doing the best thing he can 
 
182 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 do, when he leaves a large family to go sol 
 diering. If he has a doubtful conscience he 
 has made a blunder and will regret it all the 
 time. All well in my family. They are at 
 Swampscott for a few days longer. Re 
 member ine to all yours, and regards to Mrs- 
 Mason. Yours very truly, 
 
 A. A. L. 
 
XL 
 
 THE WAR. 
 
 1862-1865. 
 
 THE summer campaign of 1862 had dem 
 onstrated to the government that the army 
 was woefully weak in the cavalry service. 
 Consequently in the autumn there was a 
 strong movement by the government for ad 
 ditional mounted service. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence had been drilling with the 
 sabre for some weeks, and had ridden and 
 lived among horses from boyhood. This 
 movement therefore seemed to give him an 
 opportunity for more personal service than 
 he had thus far given. He therefore wrote 
 to Colonel Henry Lee of the governor s 
 staff : 
 
 BOSTON, October 5, 1862. 
 
 DEAR HARRY, ... Everybody wants 
 to have a hand in putting an end to the war. 
 If anybody who is authorized would direct 
 me to recruit a regiment of cavalry for 
 
184 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 three years service, I should think my time 
 of service had come and should do my best 
 to accomplish it. 
 
 Yours truly, A. A. L. 
 
 The question whether he should himself 
 enlist was settled by a letter from the Gov 
 ernor advising him against active service, 
 and one from his friend, Major Gardiner, of 
 the United States Army : 
 
 " I would most strongly advise you against 
 joining a cavalry regiment. I have been a 
 cavalry officer for more than twenty years 
 and know what the service is. No man is 
 fitted for such service after thirty years un 
 less he has been brought up to it, and even 
 if he has been he ceases to be equal to it un 
 less he is of an extraordinary constitution." 
 
 In answer to his letter to Colonel Lee, 
 Mr. Lawrence received this letter from the 
 Governor : 
 
 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, 
 EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, 
 BOSTON, October 27, 1862. 
 
 SIR, You are hereby authorized to re 
 cruit a battalion of four companies of cav 
 alry (including the one coming from Cali 
 fornia) for three years or the war, and if 
 
THE WAR. 185 
 
 you can arrange with his honor, the Mayor 
 of Boston, to receive the city bounty upon 
 the remaining three hundred men, we shall 
 be ready, upon your assurances that they 
 will be forthcoming, to accept them as part 
 of the Boston quota. 
 
 Your obedient servant, etc. 
 
 JOHN A. ANDREW, 
 
 Governor, etc. 
 
 He had anticipated the formal authoriza 
 tion by writing to Captain Charles R. Low 
 ell, who was at the time an aid to General 
 McClellan : - 
 
 BOSTON, October 25, 1862. 
 
 DEAR SIR, I am authorized to assure 
 you that if you should think favorably of 
 the proposition to take command of a bat 
 talion of cavalry to be raised in this State 
 for three years service, his excellency the 
 Governor will issue to you a commission of 
 major. In this case your presence will be 
 required here at once to assist in the organ 
 ization of the battalion. 
 
 It is the intention to appoint captains who 
 are now in active service ; gentlemen with 
 whom you are probably acquainted. 
 
 Your obedient servant, A. A. L. 
 
186 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 The battalion soon developed into the Sec 
 ond Regiment of Cavalry, with Charles R. 
 Lowell, colonel ; Henry S. Russell, lieuten 
 ant-colonel ; Caspar Crowninshield, major ; 
 and William H. Forbes, the son of Mr. 
 John M. Forbes, who was associated with 
 Mr. Lawrence in recruiting the regiment, 
 as a captain. 
 
 The fascination of cavalry service and 
 the reputation of its young colonel appealed 
 to young men of good physique and active 
 spirit, and soon applications came pouring 
 in for commissions for their sons from moth 
 ers and fathers of young Harvard students 
 and graduates, from ministers and Boston s 
 dancing master, Papanti. It was an easy 
 task to fdl the list of officers. But the re 
 cruiting for the ranks was a different mat 
 ter. The early days of the war had passed, 
 when at town meetings and enthusiastic gath 
 erings, after a stirring speech and roll of 
 drums, the men had walked up to the plat 
 form and enlisted, amid the cheers of their 
 neighbors and the tears of their families. 
 
 Massachusetts had sent over fifty thou 
 sand into the army and navy ; drafts had 
 been ordered, and " bounties " and " substi 
 tutes " were familiar words. The methods 
 
THE WAR. 187 
 
 of recruiting in 1862 and 1863 were very 
 business-like and not inspiring. Each town 
 had its quota of men to fill. The recruiting 
 agent, like Mr. Lawrence, would write to a 
 town that he would supply them with men 
 for their quota at the rate of $200 apiece. 
 He would then send some officers of the 
 regiment through the country or into Can 
 ada to raise men who for the bounty of from 
 1100 to 1175 would enlist the remainder 
 of the money going to the payment of ex 
 penses and the regimental fund. 
 
 At the time of recruiting the Second Cav 
 alry, the farms, shops, and factories had been 
 thoroughly ransacked, the army of bounty 
 jumpers had developed, and even the jails 
 had been called upon to open their gates to 
 certain classes of prisoners, who on their 
 promise to enlist were given their freedom. 
 The result was that while there was a good 
 body of patriotic young men in the ranks of 
 the Second Cavalry, there was also a strong 
 mixture of rough and mutinous elements, 
 which, however, the firm and soldierly spirit 
 of Lowell succeeded in disciplining. One 
 day a squad of recruits in barracks showed 
 an unruly spirit and the colonel was called. 
 He found a serious mutiny in progress, and 
 
188 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 the men in the act of attacking their line 
 officers with the sabre. Lowell drew his 
 pistol and shot the ringleader dead, and 
 then ordered the officers to march their men 
 off for drill upon the common, thus remov 
 ing them from the scene and keeping them 
 occupied until the excitement was over. 
 From that time the men learned that they 
 had a commander to deal with. A company 
 from California, composed largely of New 
 England born men, came to Boston and 
 
 O 
 
 swelled the ranks of the regiment. It was 
 in the commonplace work of advertising for 
 and receiving men that Mr. Lawrence s duty 
 lay. But his pleasure was in the association 
 with the young officers ; and his counting- 
 room often sounded with the click of the 
 sabre as he taught some young lieutenant 
 the first rudiments of the sabre manual. 
 
 In January, 18G3, he was able to write to 
 Governor Andrew : 
 
 " It is now more than two months since 
 you sent for me and gave an authorization 
 to recruit a battalion of cavalry ; and I am 
 happy to inform your excellency that the 
 duty has been performed. . . . 
 
 " There remains in my hands a considera 
 ble sum of money received from citizens and 
 
THE WAR. 189 
 
 towns for the purpose of filling their quotas 
 with three years men. Of this an accurate 
 account will be kept and the quotas will soon 
 be filled as agreed. If any balance remains 
 it will be turned over to the regiment ; but 
 if the sum should be insufficient, I shall 
 cheerfully supply the deficiency." 
 
 On January 1, 1862, the Proclamation of 
 Emancipation went into effect, and at about 
 the same time came the movement for negro 
 troops. On the 9th of February Mr. Law 
 rence received this letter : 
 
 COUNCIL CHAMBER, February 9, 1863. 
 SIR, I have invited the following gen 
 tlemen, with yourself, to act as a committee 
 to advise arid consult with myself and the 
 officers of the regiment, in organizing and 
 recruiting a colored regiment of volunteers, 
 viz. : George L. Stearns, John M. Forbes, 
 Dr. LeBaron Russell, Richard P. Hallowell, 
 and Wm. I. Bowditch, with F. G. Shaw, 
 Esq., of New York and Morris L. Hallowell 
 of Philadelphia as corresponding members. 
 I hope that you may be able to act upon this 
 committee, and am 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN A. ANDREW. 
 
190 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 On the 28th of May the 54th Regiment 
 marched on to Boston Common. Colonel 
 Eobert G. Shaw, whom Mr. Lawrence de 
 scribes as " youthful, handsome, sensible, de 
 termined, a model for a hero," marched at 
 their head. The journal runs : 
 
 " All Boston turned out to see the first 
 regiment of negroes that had ever been raised 
 in the Northern States. The officers are all 
 educated gentlemen, and Shaw rode with 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Hallowell (whose arm 
 was still in a sling) at the head of the col 
 umn. He was splendid. I stationed myself 
 outside the window on a projection of one 
 of the stone stores in Franklin Street, and 
 as they came up with the bands playing and 
 the people cheering from the street, and from 
 the houses, with the flags flaunting, it was 
 indeed a grand and novel sight. The troops 
 marched beautifully. When Shaw and his 
 staff came opposite I hailed him and bid him 
 adieu. He raised his hat to me, and waved 
 it toward me twice, at the same time speak 
 ing to Hallowell, who did the same. May 
 God bless these dear youths. May God 
 save our country from its foes. May God 
 help this government to crush rebellion, and 
 
THE WAR. 191 
 
 to crush its cause with it slavery. Would 
 to God, would to God, I could fight these 
 battles for these young men." 
 
 In everything that related to himself and 
 his home during these years, life ran 
 smoothly, as the following letter testifies : 
 
 LONGWOOD, July 31, 1863. 
 
 DEAR WIFE, This day brings me up to 
 forty-nine years. What a level plain of pros 
 perity has my journey been across thus far ! 
 Family, friends, fortune, all twining around, 
 so that they alone seem to be a sufficient 
 support. Yet it is plain that the time is not 
 far off when they all will fail. May the 
 grace of God strengthen me now, and then ; 
 and save me from falling when the time of 
 trial comes. Yours affectionately, 
 
 A. A. LAWKENCE. 
 
 But the increase of blessings only added 
 to the intensity of his sympathy for others 
 less fortunate, especially when war had cut 
 off the pride of a family. 
 
 He wrote to his cousin, whose nephew had 
 met a noble death : 
 
192 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 (Near) BOSTON, March 11, 1864. 
 
 MY DEAR COUSIN SALLIE, The account 
 of young Dahlgren s death reads like an an 
 cient romance. How sad ! how brilliant ! 
 how wonderful ! What devotion ! what in 
 trepidity ! what patriotism ! 
 
 I recalled the appearance of the pale, 
 maimed youth who sat on your piazza on the 
 day of Abbott s funeral ; when I pressed his 
 hand and he mine as though we were blood 
 relations, though we had never seen each 
 other before. How he could have gained 
 strength to ride on one of those painful, 
 exhausting raids surpasses comprehension. 
 But there he was, fighting like a hero ; dy 
 ing like a martyr ; his body stripped and 
 insulted and ignominiously buried. His 
 memory will live when we are all dead and 
 forgotten. May God s grace sustain his 
 parents and his family under this great and 
 sad, but hallowed affliction. 
 
 My tears drop right down while reading 
 the extracts from the Richmond papers, 
 tears of sorrow, of anger, of joy that my 
 country has produced such a noble youth, 
 and that she has more. 
 
 I hope that you are well, and that life 
 wears a brighter aspect for you. You are 
 
THE WAR. 193 
 
 still young, and you may have many years 
 of useful happiness. 
 
 We are all well at " Cottage Farm," in 
 cluding Henry A. Green s family. My 
 Mary is looking forward to be married be 
 fore summer. My wife sends her love. 
 Your affectionate cousin, 
 
 A. A. L. 
 
 A few extracts from his journal suggest 
 the memory of those days. 
 
 " 1881. May 8. Sunday. All sorts of 
 rumors, after service this afternoon. I sad 
 dled my horse and rode to Boston to learn 
 the truth. Severe righting, but no great 
 victory. Eight thousand wounded and sent 
 to the rear of Meade s army, and. the first 
 battle-ground in possession of our army. 
 Spare us, O God, from defeat. Give us the 
 victory. Give us peace." 
 
 " 10. Severe fighting. Brigadier-General 
 Wadsworth killed. Colonel Griswold of the 
 Massachusetts 56th, the only child of a widow 
 who lives near to us, is killed ; also Major 
 Abbott, son of Judge Josiah G. Abbott of 
 Boston ; this is the second son killed in bat 
 tle in this war ; he was in command of the 
 Massachusetts 20th, and a very fine young 
 officer. 
 
194 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 " 11. The battle still raging in Virginia. 
 Grant gains ground. Major-General Seclg- 
 wick killed. May God give us the victory, 
 and confound the enemy. 
 
 "May 12. Mary s wedding. . . . 
 
 " I could not stay at home without hear 
 ing from the army. So I rode to Boston to 
 learn the news, and afterwards rode to Wa- 
 ban Hill Farm. 
 
 " The fighting continues. Very bloody, 
 very desperate at times. General Steven 
 son of Boston killed ; a good officer. May 
 the Lord of Hosts give our brave army the 
 victory. He alone can do it." 
 
 " June 21. Wounded men are seen every 
 where ; in the streets, on the railroad cars, 
 at the railroad station. Some badly maimed. 
 Certainly there were never so many maimed 
 men of one nation before, and the graves I 
 And the sorrowing hearts ! O God, how 
 long ? " 
 
 " 24. Cotton has sold at 165 cents a 
 pound for middling ; and gold at 225 
 cents for a dollar. Heavy sheetings about 
 60 cents a yard. Cocheco prints at 37*- 
 cents." 
 
 " 26. Hot. To church twice. How hard 
 to bear is this oppressive heat by the poor 
 
THE WAR. 195 
 
 fellows in the hospitals, and in the field. 
 The great reaper, Death, has an abundant 
 harvest. O God, listen to the prayers of 
 the suffering people, and pardon our sins, 
 and bless us once more." 
 
 "July 17. Philip Mason died at S. 
 Hooper s house in Washington after great 
 suffering. His thigh and part of one hand 
 were shot away. Goodwin Stone of the 
 Second Cavalry (Massachusetts) is mortally 
 wounded. He was a young man of fine tal 
 ent ; one of the highest scholars at Cam 
 bridge of the class of 62. I obtained his 
 commission for him, and gave him lessons in 
 the broadsword exercise. His family live 
 in Newburyport, and he was their pride ; 
 respected everywhere. 
 
 " We moved to Nahant, to our new house 
 on the rocks, and are all well pleased with 
 it. The addition which I have made to it 
 has a good piazza all around on both stories ; 
 and the sea view is excellent." 
 
 " 23. Took tea at Mr. Longfellow s with 
 Charles Sumner. The latter wishes to see 
 a president with brains ; one who can make 
 a plan and carry it out." 
 
 " 25. The fighting in Georgia was severe. 
 Not less than 6,000 rebels killed and 
 
196 AMOS A. LA WHENCE. 
 
 wounded. Mr. Sumner thinks McPherson 
 was fit to be placed at the head of the army. 
 
 " 31. To-day I am fifty years old. 
 
 " It is not often that I think of my dear 
 mother, whose image I cannot recall. Yet 
 now I do bring up circumstances transpir 
 ing fifty years ago, when she first looked in 
 tenderness on me. Can it be that she has 
 been watching me since that time ? And will 
 she welcome me when God calls me home ? " 
 
 " August 2. Salmon P. Chase (ex-Secre 
 tary of the Treasury), Agassiz, J. W. Paige, 
 Horace Gray, S. Hooper, and myself made 
 the company at dinner at Samuel T. Dana s, 
 who lives on the north side of Nahant in 
 Edward Motley s cottage. 
 
 " I asked Mr. Agassiz why no report was 
 made by the late C. C. Felton, himself, and 
 Benjamin Peirce, who were chosen a com 
 mittee to investigate the subject of modern 
 spiritualism. He said the facts were too 
 bad to publish ; they implicated many most 
 respectable persons ; and they would not be 
 believed. The whole system only indicated 
 how weak is human nature in resisting im- 
 
 O 
 
 posture, and in curbing the natural lusts of 
 the flesh." 
 
 With the news of cavalry successes in 
 
THE WAR. 197 
 
 the autumn of 1864 came also the tidings 
 of heavy losses from among the best men in 
 the service. Mr. Lawrence followed every 
 movement of the Second Cavalry with in 
 tense interest. It was therefore with a sharp 
 pang of sorrow that he recorded the death of 
 the young colonel whom only a few months 
 before he had named to Governor Andrew 
 as a soldier fit to command. 
 
 " October 24. Colonel Lowell s death con 
 firmed. He was a splendid officer ; a young 
 man of fine talents and character, of great 
 energy and of great accomplishments ; the 
 first scholar in Cambridge, and everywhere 
 the first in action." 
 
 "28. Colonel Charles E. Lowell s fu 
 neral at the college chapel in Cambridge. It 
 was very impressive. The Cadets performed 
 escort duty. He was the only son of his 
 parents, his younger brother having been 
 killed in Virginia in the Peninsular Cam 
 paign." 
 
 On the same day Mr. Lawrence wrote for 
 the paper this notice of his death. 
 
 A GLORIOUS DEATH. 
 
 " The brigade of cavalry which was raised 
 for General Buford is called the finest in the 
 
198 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 army. After his death the command was 
 assigned to Colonel Lowell, as a compliment 
 to his services, and he acquitted himself in 
 it so as to command the admiration of the 
 officers and men. General Sheridan was so 
 struck with his efficiency that he urged the 
 President to make him a brigadier-general, 
 and the commission had been issued. He 
 had always exposed himself whenever he 
 could render any service, leading his men, 
 and fighting often like a private soldier. 
 But in this campaign of thirty days his ex- 
 posure had been very great ; twelve horses 
 had fallen under him, one of them struck 
 in seven places, and his clothes had been 
 riddled with balls; yet he had not been 
 touched. 
 
 " His first wound was received about one 
 o clock on the day of the battle of Cedar 
 Creek, from a spent ball which struck him 
 in the breast. The concussion of the lungs 
 was so great as to cause anxiety. General 
 Torbett urged that he should be carried from 
 the field ; but this he resisted. Though his 
 voice could only be raised to a whisper, he 
 hoped to lead in the final charge : and so 
 he did. He was carried to the rear, and a 
 little parapet of earth thrown up to shield 
 
THE WAR. 199 
 
 him ; and he lay there motionless for two 
 hours, having exacted a promise that he 
 should be told when the charge was ordered. 
 This came at three o clock. He was then 
 raised up and placed upon his horse, and for 
 a time seemed to receive new life. He rode 
 to the front, amid the cheers of the men, 
 and took the command, which had devolved 
 upon Lieutenant-Colonel Caspar Crownin- 
 shield. His clear voice was gone, but all 
 saw by the waving of his sword and by his 
 eye, what he meant. He whispered the or 
 ders to his officers and they were passed 
 along the lines. 
 
 " It was half an hour before the bugle 
 sounded the grand charge. Then his 
 strength rose with the occasion : he threw 
 into it his whole life : it was to him the 
 final charge, and to many other brave men. 
 A ball pierced him from shoulder to shoul 
 der, and, laid on a shelter tent, he was car 
 ried from the field. Though paralyzed, he 
 remained conscious, and gave minute direc 
 tions about the business of his command. 
 He dictated letters and sent loving messages 
 to his young wife, his parents, and friends, 
 and, having finished all, he lay quietly ex 
 pecting death. No doubt he was prepared 
 
200 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 for it, for the whole of his brief life had 
 been spent in the performance of his duty. 
 Few men have combined so many talents 
 and accomplishments, so much learning and 
 so much virtue, with so strong a love of 
 country." 
 
 During the canvas of 1864 Mr. August 
 Belmont of New York wrote to the " New 
 York Times," offering to bet in the form of 
 two propositions of 110,000 each. The first 
 proposition was " that if Mr. Lincoln should 
 be elected, we will be in a state of war dur 
 ing the term of his administration or will 
 be forced to a disgraceful peace, with sepa 
 ration." This drew from Mr. Lawrence, 
 whose admiration for the policy and charac 
 ter of Mr. Lincoln led him for the first time 
 to vote for a Republican president, the fol 
 lowing letter to the editor of the " Times." 
 
 (Near) BOSTON, November 4, 1864 
 
 DEAK SIK, The proposition of Mr. 
 Belmont in your paper of yesterday seems 
 to be calculated to influence doubting or 
 timid persons to vote with him. If you 
 think so, and if none of your people will 
 take him up on his first proposition, then I 
 
THE WAR. 201 
 
 will do it, provided the money shall be given 
 to some charitable object in New York or 
 Boston, at the option of the winner. 
 
 I have always voted against the Republi 
 can candidates, and never have bet, and have 
 no money to spare at this time. I pray 
 for peace as devoutly as Mr. Belmont, and 
 for union, and believe that we shall have 
 both, but not in the way he proposes. 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 Nothing was heard from Mr. Belmont. 
 
 The year 1864 closed with the news that 
 the Confederacy had been cut in halves by 
 Sherman s march. 
 
 " December 15. General Sherman s guns 
 heard on the seaboard at Beaufort. Frank 
 Lawrence at Port Royal writes, 4 We hear 
 the guns and hope to see Arthur soon." 
 (Arthur is with Sherman.) This will be 
 the greatest march of the war, if he gets 
 through safely from the Mississippi to the 
 sea." 
 
 " 31. 11 P. M. My God, my Father. I 
 would utter grateful thanks for the constant 
 and unnumbered blessings on myself and 
 on my family during the year just passing 
 
202 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 away. Lift up our hearts from the de 
 voted love of this world to the love of thyself. 
 Turn our eyes away from the contemplation 
 of vain things upon our Saviour who suffered 
 for us. Make us like Him. Accept our poor 
 efforts ; pardon our infirmities and sins ; and 
 prepare us for the great change that awaits 
 us all, and finally receive ns into thy heav 
 enly kingdom. I ask this in the name of 
 our dear Saviour, Jesus Christ ; and for His 
 sake, grant my prayer, O my God." 
 
 The year 1865 opened upon the final 
 events of the Rebellion, when the rapid suc 
 cession of victorious news was eclipsed by 
 the tragic week in April. 
 
 "April 2. Major Charles J. Mills of 
 Boston killed. lie had been at home for a 
 long time badly wounded, and we had seen 
 him about the streets and in company repeat 
 edly ; in fact he had only just left us for 
 the front when he was cut down in the 
 flower of his youth. O God, give us peace ; 
 peace with good government ; peace with lib 
 erty. This is Sunday. How sad to many 
 hearts all over the land. 
 
 " 3. Richmond surrendered. Thanks be 
 to Almighty God. 
 
 " 4. Great rejoicing, and no business 
 done." 
 
THE WAR. 203 
 
 " 6. I am building a new library on the 
 south side of my house, and in the stone at 
 the base of the chimney outside, I have had 
 an inscription cut, RICH. VICT. APR. in. 
 
 A. D. MDCCCLXV. 
 
 " 9. General Lee s army surrendered to 
 General Grant. Thanks be to Almighty 
 God for this. Now He smiles once more 
 upon us. I have ordered another inscrip 
 tion cut in the stone of my 4 Memorial 
 room as I propose to call it. EXERCIT. 
 CONFED. DEDITUS. APR. ix. MDCCCLXV. 
 
 " 10. Rejoicing, flags, cannon firing, fire 
 works, illuminations and thanksgiving, and 
 little else." 
 
 " 15. President Lincoln assassinated. 
 While we were at breakfast the waiting- 
 maid came in and said that President Lin 
 coln and Mr. Seward were assassinated. 
 At that moment the Brookline bell struck 
 and the town flag was hoisted to half-mast. 
 This told the story. The news had just 
 come, in fact the President had but just then 
 died. This shows the wickedness of the Re 
 bellion and the desperation of the rebels. I 
 ordered a new inscription to be cut : POP. 
 GAUDIO SUCCEDIT SUMMITS DOLOR. APR. 
 xiv. MDCCCLXV. All the bells over the 
 
204 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 whole country are tolling; all the flags at 
 half-mast. Mourning everywhere. 
 
 "16. Mourning everywhere for Mr. Lin 
 coln. (Mr. Seward and his son not dead, 
 but very ill from wounds.) The houses all 
 draped more or less with black and white, 
 and all the stores. 
 
 " 17. Put one more inscription in the 
 stone. SICUT PATRIBUS SIT DEUS No- 
 BIS. 
 
 " June 1. Grand procession of mourning 
 for Mr. Lincoln. This day is appointed by 
 the President as a day of mourning. In 
 the morning at 9 A. M. we went to church. 
 The display of military was large, com 
 manded by General Bartlett, i the bravest 
 of the brave, who rides as well as though 
 
 o 
 
 he had as many legs and arms as he had 
 before the war. Many officers and men 
 scarred and browned with their campaigns 
 were in the procession ; but as interesting as 
 any were the great vans filled with soldiers 
 who had lost their lower limbs and who 
 could not walk. These were cheered more 
 than any." 
 
 To Mr. Mason he wrote : 
 
 BOSTON, June 28, 1865. 
 
 DEAR ROBEBT, The regiments are 
 
THE WAR. 205 
 
 coming home fast. Every day we see the 
 swarthy veterans marching through the 
 streets. The railroad stations, the cars, 
 everything is alive with them. Just now 
 the 4th Massachusetts Artillery is passing up 
 the street. The colonel (King) has been 
 knocked pretty much to pieces ; but he sits 
 erect on his horse and looks as handsome as 
 ever, though his hair has turned to gray. 
 Several officers have only one arm or have 
 lost a leg. The drum major is a perfect 
 giant. The men are very thin and the color 
 of Spaniards ; they look straight forward, 
 and do not mind the cheering. At every 
 step some relative or friend recognizes a sol 
 dier and calls him by name, which causes 
 him to look in that direction. Then as the 
 rusty flag passes, everybody gives it a cheer. 
 This is going on all over the country. The 
 officers put 011 their civilian dress the next 
 day after they are mustered out, and the 
 men take off their buttons and faded trim 
 mings at once, so that in a few weeks we 
 shall see no soldiers. 
 
 The year 1865 closed with the final war 
 scene. 
 
 " December 22. Forefathers Day. A 
 
206 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 procession of all the regiments which have 
 been to the war, with all their flags. These 
 last they carried to the state house and de 
 livered to the Governor. It was a touching 
 sight. Most of the regiments were repre 
 sented by a score or two of men, with their 
 colonel in most cases at their head. Some 
 had as many as one hundred. Some had one 
 old, tattered, faded flag. Some had several. 
 The men had but little uniform. Being dis 
 banded, they had gone to their old pursuits, 
 and had no uniform, except a few. Some 
 were wounded, one poor fellow had lost both 
 arms. There were over sixty regiments in 
 all, and when all the flags had been taken by 
 the Governor they were displayed in front 
 of the state house. That was a glorious 
 sight as it was seen from the Common. 
 Many a poor wounded and dying soldier had 
 looked on one or another of these flags, now 
 displayed to an admiring throng of his fel 
 low countrymen who enjoy what he gave his 
 life to obtain, a good, stable government." 
 
XII. 
 
 PERSONAL TRAITS. 
 
 IT was a favorite idea with Mr. Lawrence 
 that after a man had passed the age of forty 
 his gain in wisdom and experience did not 
 counterbalance the loss in activity of mind 
 and body and the gradual failure of the ex 
 ecutive faculty. On this principle he was 
 always an advocate of putting young men of 
 promise into responsible executive positions ; 
 and he had that appreciation of the worth 
 and intelligence of young men that under 
 his guidance their best qualities were devel 
 oped and their activities brought to the 
 highest pressure. But the application of 
 the principle to himself had this drawback, 
 that when, at the close of the war, he had 
 reached the age of fifty, he began to feel 
 that his best years had passed and some 
 times to affect an old age which really hail 
 no place in his strong physique. Having 
 moved much with older men in his early 
 
208 AMOS A. LAWRENCE, 
 
 business day, he looked upon them as his 
 contemporaries, and whenever an acquaint 
 ance died who was not more than twenty or 
 thirty years older than himself, he felt that 
 one of his own age had departed and that 
 his own time must soon corne. With a man 
 of his intense activity and nervous tempera 
 ment, reactions were sure to occur, and at 
 this time we begin to read the first note of 
 what later became sometimes a rather mel 
 ancholy strain. Anniversaries suggested sad 
 rather than hopeful thoughts. 
 
 " July 31. My birthday. My life seems 
 to be passing away without any great result. 
 My chief care and ambition for this world 
 now centres in the welfare of my children. 
 Age makes me less sanguine about changing 
 the destinies of men, and I cease to take an 
 active part in popular movements. God give 
 grace to save me from a sordid selfish ease. * 
 
 " August 7. Since the war and since so 
 many of my friends have gone abroad, I look 
 too much on the dark side. Ambition 
 seems to have died out and great hopes 
 have ceased to be excited." 
 
 The following letter to his Uncle Giles 
 Richards suggests the double life which in 
 tensified as he grew older, that of an intro- 
 
PERSONAL TRAITS. 209 
 
 spective melancholy bound to an earnest 
 faith, which was so common among our New 
 England ancestors, combined with a viva 
 city and cheerfulness in society of which our 
 fathers were seldom guilty. 
 
 December 7, 18G5. Thanksgiving Evening. 
 
 MY DEAR UNCLE, On these anniver 
 sary days the memory runs back to the days 
 long passed away, and it requires a great 
 effort for any except the very young to 
 avoid an overpowering feeling of sadness. 
 I think of you in what was not many years 
 ago your " new home," surrounded with all 
 that makes life sweet. The glad voices of 
 your children, the tender smile of their 
 mother, all united to warm your heart and to 
 make you thank God for so much happiness. 
 
 Now in your " old home " you sit by your 
 hearth, an old man, the lamp growing dim, 
 the bright lights of former days gone out. 
 The forms so clear are not seen ; their cheer 
 ful voices are not heard. Yet in your own 
 imagination you do see them, and you do hear 
 their voices. But their forms are more 
 heavenly, and their voices are calling on you 
 to prepare to rejoin them. No doubt you 
 will gladly obey the summons when in God s 
 
210 AMOS A. LAWKENCE. 
 
 good time it shall come. Meantime you will 
 live for those who remain to you, cheerful 
 and cheering, in the service of the Lord, 
 and in communion with his saints. 
 
 All this reminds me of my own life, so 
 filled with blessing, yet fast gliding away. 
 All my dear ones remain with me. My good 
 wife, seven children, and one grandchild, 
 all are here under this roof. I see their 
 forms, to me the most beautiful on earth, 
 and I hear their voices on this Thankso-ivina- 
 
 o 
 
 evening. Indeed, I have cause for thank 
 fulness, though the black clouds of sorrow 
 should gather from this very hour ; still I 
 could be thankful, for my cup of blessing 
 has long been full and running over. Who 
 that has lived fifty years can enjoy these 
 family days without some sadness, if those 
 cannot who have been prospered all the 
 time. 
 
 Sunday 10th. My note was stopped by 
 the influx of some twenty young people, 
 chiefly nephews and nieces, who assembled 
 here to have " high jinks " on Thanksgiving 
 evening. There were two families of Uncle 
 William L. s grandchildren (Sprague and 
 Whitney), two families of Uncle Abbott s 
 grandchildren (Abbott L. s and Rotch), and 
 
PERSONAL TRAITS. 211 
 
 an equal number of Appleton grandchildren. 
 They soon had possession of my sanctum 
 where this is written, and turned me out to 
 help play the u elephant," to " wind the 
 bottle," to see " the dwarf" and the "gi 
 ant." The sport ran high from six o clock 
 till nine, and then they disappeared into the 
 snow-storm to their homes. They like to 
 come to Uncle Amos s ; they think, no doubt, 
 that I have been here always, and that I am 
 as lasting as the hills. If the new heaven 
 and the new earth are to be our everlasting 
 home, then in our human weakness some 
 might pray that this present home may be 
 ours hereafter. Certainly I should be one 
 to ask to live right here. 
 
 Your affectionate nephew, 
 
 A. A. L. 
 
 None of this inner melancholy tone was 
 noticeable to his friends, however, except that 
 he occasionally " talked old," and heard with 
 satisfaction mingled with chagrin that some 
 one had taken him for an old man. In fact 
 his bald head, encircled by the finest silken 
 hair, which was too silvery to turn gray, 
 gave him that appearance. But his strong, 
 stocky, active body, smooth complexion, soft 
 
212 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 skin, and clear blue eye were certain marks 
 that great vigor still remained. And his 
 habits were those of a vigorous man. A few 
 minutes exercise before the open window 
 with his twenty-five-pound dumb-bells pre 
 ceded breakfast, at which he was sure to find 
 his whole family, his wife and seven children, 
 promptly at seven o clock. In those years 
 Longwood had only candles to dispel the 
 wintry gloom from the breakfast-room. At 
 quarter before eight family prayers were 
 over and his horse, which was often an ugly- 
 tempered, ill-trained, or high-strung beast, 
 was at the door. He was then off for the 
 country sometimes to rap with his whip 
 on the window of his pastor, Dr. Stone, or 
 his loved friend and relative, James S. 
 Amory, or to rouse from the breakfast-table 
 some other neighbor. 
 
 While treasurer of the college he usually 
 took Cambridge into his circuit. After 
 1862 his farm at Waban Hill in Newton 
 always received one visit in the day. But, 
 a few minutes after nine he had thrown the 
 rein on his horse s neck in the stable in 
 Mason Street at the rear of his father s 
 house, and was on his way to the count 
 ing-room at 17 Milk Street. (In 1869 he 
 
PERSONAL TRAITS. 213 
 
 removed his office to 13 Chauncy Street.) 
 Six houi$ of active business, including the 
 reception of beggars, borrowers, and ac 
 quaintances with schemes to unfold, gave 
 him the impulse for a sharp ride home over 
 the Mill-dam. Dinner and a five minutes* 
 nap refreshed him for a drive, a skate on 
 Jamaica Pond, or another ride on a fresh 
 horse, from which he returned after dark 
 ready for his tea, newspaper, and pipe or 
 cigar. This life on the road made him a 
 familiar figure, and that person was a 
 stranger in Brookline who did not recognize 
 and give a passing nod to Mr. Lawrence. 
 For his taste was so social that he was ready 
 to stop and have a chat with any one. 
 Every workman on the road looked up 
 with the feeling that he would be recog 
 nized and accosted, and it was seldom that 
 Mr. Lawrence did not carry away from his 
 conversation a piece of useful information, 
 while the Irishman retained a kindly feeling 
 and often a gold dollar for the children ; 
 for Mr. Lawrence always carried gold to 
 give away even in the days of its highest 
 premium. Duffy, the blacksmith, was the 
 means of quietly passing from five to fifty 
 dollars into the hands of his neighbors. 
 
214 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 And for the mechanics and tradesmen in 
 the town he had as respectful and neigh 
 borly interest as he did for his friends Dr. 
 Francis, Dr. Wharton, or Mr. Winthrop. 
 
 It was this perfectly natural sympathy 
 with men of all sorts, combined with his 
 other conditions, that gave him a unique 
 position in the community. At the town 
 meetings, though he was not a ready 
 speaker, he had that business-like but kindly 
 manner, mixed with a little dry wit, which 
 disarmed criticism, created confidence, and 
 sent a glow of kindly feeling among those 
 who were wrangling about some great ques 
 tions as the widening of a street or the 
 draining of a marsh, such as rouse the pas 
 sions of fellow townsmen. He never had 
 the time to accept many long term offices in 
 the town, but if there were any special ques 
 tion or new undertaking he was ready to 
 take his share of the work. There was one 
 kind of town improvement in which he al 
 ways had an interest, the laying out of 
 play-grounds for the boys. His faith in the 
 worth of physical exercise led him to join 
 with others in creating a skating pond on 
 the Aspinwall meadows, and building a float 
 ing bath-house on Charles River. And no 
 
PERSONAL TRAITS. 215 
 
 part of his work in connection with the col 
 lege interested him more than the building 
 of the gymnasium and the purchase of Jar- 
 vis Field to take the place of the Delta, on 
 which Memorial Hall was to be built. 
 
 Associated with his out-of-door life was 
 his interest in adding to the beauty of the 
 towns, not only by parks but in the simpler 
 way of creating in the people a pride in the 
 neatness and beauty of their surroundings. 
 
 The meeting-house, the roads, and the 
 cemetery at Groton were special objects of 
 his care. 
 
 The following instances of the correction 
 of public annoyances are mentioned not for 
 their importance but simply as characteristic 
 of the man. While the newspapers were 
 scolding about the disfigurement of the 
 towns and country by advertisements and 
 posters, Mr. Lawrence was having copies of 
 the stringent statutes on the subject mailed 
 to the chief of police or selectmen in every 
 town and village in the State, with an urgent 
 request that the law be enforced. And it 
 was a satisfaction to him to know that, 
 largely through his influence, the two towns 
 in which he lived permitted no advertise 
 ments or posters within their limits. It 
 
216 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 pleased him very much to try without success 
 to induce a man with posters on the Cam 
 bridge side of Charles River to bring his ad 
 vertisements across the line to Brookline. 
 
 The shriek of the Worcester Railroad 
 whistle, as the trains shot across the crowded 
 streets towards Boston, induced his brother 
 and himself to offer through the " Daily Ad 
 vertiser " the sum of " 110,000 to be given 
 to the inventor of a system of signals in 
 lieu of whistles." Whatever effect the of 
 fer may have had, their urgency of the mat 
 ter upon the railroad officials resulted in 
 causing the engineers to cease whistling 
 several miles outside of Boston. 
 
 From the first day that he moved to 
 Longwood, in 1851, he joined with his 
 brother in laying out their tract of land, 
 planting trees, opening up roads, and build 
 ing houses ; so that within a few years the 
 Cottage Farm was covered with a cluster of 
 stone and brick cottages which, hidden be 
 hind trees and hedges, gave it the appear 
 ance of a private park. And as the first 
 object was the creation of a pleasant neigh 
 borhood, the houses were always filled with 
 families who joined with each other in mak 
 ing a delightful and refined community. 
 
PERSONAL TRAITS. 217 
 
 In 1862 Mr. Lawrence anticipated the ap 
 proach of Boston, which is now converting 
 Cottage Farm into city streets, and bought 
 a farm of over 100 acres about three miles 
 farther out of town, on a part of the tract 
 formerly occupied by the chief Waban and 
 his tribe. It was an unrealized dream that 
 he might retire to Waban Farm as Boston 
 approached Longwood. But the city soon 
 took a large slice of his tract for the bed of 
 the " Lawrence Basin " of the Chestnut Hill 
 Reservoir, and thus deprived it of its bucolic 
 aspect. However, for twenty years this 
 place was his autumn home, and to it he 
 rode almost every day in the year, superin 
 tending the plowing, sowing, and reaping, 
 planting nurseries of fruit-trees, pruning and 
 grafting, overseeing the dairy, and giving 
 play to his taste for farming and country 
 life which his ancestry from Wisset, Eng 
 land, to Groton had cultivated from neces 
 sity. 
 
 In 1864 Mr. Lawrence moved for the 
 first time to his summer home at Nahant. 
 With each of the succeeding twenty-two 
 years he became more and more attached 
 to the spot which nature and neighbors 
 made so congenial. The cottage, which 
 
218 AMOS A. LAWHENCE. 
 
 stands on one of the southwest points, 
 caught the breezes fresh from the water ; 
 the clear sweep of view across Lynn Bay 
 to the Saugus Hills gave every sunset with 
 its reflected colors a double glory ; and at 
 night when Mr. Lawrence lay awake for 
 hours reflecting and praying, as he often 
 did, his thoughts were accompanied by the 
 soft splashing of the waves beneath his win 
 dow. His love for Boston people intensi 
 fied as he grew older ; and the description 
 of Nahant society by his near neighbor Mr. 
 Thomas G. Appleton, "cold roast Boston," 
 was to Mr. Lawrence its chief recommenda 
 tion. With Mr. Longfellow next door and 
 with many representatives of Old Boston 
 all about him, he could cultivate to his 
 heart s content that social nature which 
 would not let a day pass without informal 
 calls on his friends. 
 
 Here also it was his pleasure to pass sev 
 eral hours in the saddle, exploring the fields 
 and rocky points, discovering new views, 
 chatting with the neighbors in the Irish set 
 tlement as well as on the hill, and then tak 
 ing a sharp canter on the hard sand of Long 
 Beach. At Nahant the whole family cen 
 tred, so that a dinner-table of twelve or fif- 
 
PERSONAL TRAITS. 219 
 
 teen children and grandchildren was a fa 
 miliar scene. These family gatherings were 
 the happiest occasions in his life, so happy 
 as to keep his somewhat morbid tempera 
 ment in anxiety lest the first gap should 
 soon occur. 
 
 Sunday was never complete at Nahant, 
 or at Longwood, without the singing of 
 " psalm tunes " in the evening. Children 
 and guests were all expected to join, and 
 Mr. Lawrence s voice could always be heard 
 leading off in " Dundee," " Federal Street," 
 " Coronation," and other familiar tunes. 
 
 This letter to his son suggests his old as 
 sociations with psalm singing. 
 
 Sunday Evening, April 6, 1873. LONGWOOD. 
 
 MY DEAR SON, We have had half an 
 hour of what I call good music. Some peo 
 ple might dispute this, but they could not 
 doubt about the sentiment. There is no 
 music better than psalm tunes, and no senti 
 ments higher than those contained in the 
 poetry at the end of the Prayer Book, in my 
 opinion. Plow we used to troll them off at 
 Groton fifty odd years ago. Sunday even 
 ing my grandfather would send out for " Oli 
 ver " (Went worth), who lived in the cottage 
 
220 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 beyond the barn, and who was an humble 
 friend of my grandfather (who took him out 
 of the poor-house when he was a child) and 
 of his descendants for eighty years. Then 
 he would set the tune and Oliver would sing 
 the tenor and my grandmother and Aunt 
 Mary Woodbury and Aunt Eliza and we 
 boys and anybody else who happened to be 
 there would join in. I have never heard any 
 music since that struck my ear like that. I 
 can hear Oliver clearing his throat now for 
 another effort. No doubt the old chap has 
 now a seat somewhere in the heavenly choir. 
 When we abandon the psalms and the Sun 
 days of our forefathers then we shall be 
 carried away captive into Egypt, and we 
 shall never be released except by a miracle. 
 Sometimes it looks as though that is just 
 where we are going, ^ especially hereabouts. 
 We ve set up a great light and we think we 
 can see into all past and future things. But 
 our lantern will be upset some day, and we 
 shall be left in Egyptian darkness, unless we 
 take a back track in time. 
 
 Your affectionate father, 
 
 A. A. L. 
 
PERSONAL TRAITS. 221 
 
 His wife, who was endowed with peculiar 
 beauty and dignity, was the complement of 
 himself, strong where he was weak. If his 
 sentimental or enthusiastic nature was in 
 danger of leading him into unwise action, 
 her sturdy common sense held him in check ; 
 if a nervous reaction caused depression of 
 spirits, her even, well-balanced temperament 
 would in time bring him to a healthy view of 
 life. As the greater part of the cares of the 
 large household fell to her, it was fortunate 
 that she had the strength and executive abil 
 ity to carry them. " If," as he wrote to her 
 father, " Sarah had taken charge of the com 
 missariat of the British army when Miss 
 Nightingale did of the hospitals, the war in 
 the Crimea would have been better con 
 ducted than it was." 
 
 Mr. Lawrence, however, was not one who 
 could throw all the responsibility of his 
 children s care and development of charac 
 ter upon the mother. Every morning they 
 were called into his dressing-room for pri 
 vate prayer, and in the drives and Sunday 
 walks he had the faculty of interspersing 
 the light conversation with such remarks on 
 people, society, and character as would lead 
 them to a higher sense of duty and the 
 
222 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 worth of life. Twice every Sunday he ac 
 companied them to church, and, that his ex 
 ample might have its influence upon them 
 as well as others, he worked in the Sunday- 
 school as teacher, superintendent, or libra 
 rian. And if prevented from going to 
 church a second time, he sometimes called 
 them to his room and there joined with them 
 in prayer. There was no religious compul 
 sion in the house ; the force of example and 
 teaching, joined with a confidence in the chil 
 dren, was alone regarded. 
 
 In the education of his sons, he sent them 
 for a time to the public school that they 
 might learn to meet and respect boys of all 
 classes, and he made them learn to use car 
 penter s tools, and to care for a horse or a 
 garden, that they might appreciate good 
 work in others. He, fortunately for them, 
 had as little regard for high scholastic rank 
 as when he was in college. Next to the de 
 velopment of a good character in young 
 men, he esteemed the habit of a right use of 
 money. He insisted on exact accounts in 
 earliest boyhood, created a realization of the 
 value of money by paying interest on all 
 cash deposited with him, and, when he had 
 tested the ability to save as well as spend, 
 
PERSONAL TRAITS. 223 
 
 he gave such generous allowances that he 
 could reasonably and successfully ask that 
 savings and gifts to charities should begin 
 in early days. When each of his children 
 became twenty-one, he gave them unreserv 
 edly a patrimony which would support them 
 in comfort without any further obligation to 
 himself. He thus made them independent 
 of their parents in fortune, and they were 
 held to the home only by bonds of affection 
 and gratitude. 
 
 In fact, so little did the love of accumu 
 lation bind Mr. Lawrence that he system 
 atically reduced his property the last thirty 
 years of his life by gifts to his children and 
 charitable or public enterprises. 
 
 With the property delivered to each of his 
 children he always sent some such letter as 
 the following to a daughter : " But after all, 
 it is only yours in trust. It will not be long 
 (though it may seem otherwise to you now) 
 before you will be called to give an account 
 of the whole of it. May God help you to use 
 it and all your advantages so as to render 
 an account that will be acceptable to Him. 
 You have been a dutiful and loving daugh 
 ter, for which I thank God every day of my 
 life." 
 
224 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 Or this to his elder son : 
 
 " This property with your profession will 
 give you a good living, and will enable you 
 to lay up something before you have a 
 family of your own, and against a rainy 
 day. But it is not possible for me to en 
 rich my children nor even to give them such 
 a kind of support as some people think is 
 necessary in these extravagant times, nor am 
 I sorry for it. On the contrary, I am glad 
 that my children should have the stimulus 
 to exertion which I myself had. Labor has 
 been to me one of the greatest enjoyments of 
 my life, and one of my greatest blessings, 
 and I hope it may be theirs. 
 
 " You cannot expect to be so long and so 
 abundantly blessed as I have been ; but you 
 will be spared from some hardships which 
 fall on those who begin life poor. Property 
 is a trust ; and it affords more or less pleas 
 ure in proportion to the fidelity with which 
 we administer it." 
 
 In the education of his daughters there 
 was one burden that hung heavily on him 
 through life the aimless existence which 
 social conventionality gives to the young 
 woman after her school days. In this, as in 
 the strict observance of Sunday and a love 
 
PERSONAL TRAITS. 225 
 
 of simplicity in dress, he exhibited something 
 of his Puritan ancestry. 
 
 He had no patience with those fashionable 
 people who, as he used to say, debauched 
 the young with late hours and excitement. 
 Writing to his daughter he said : " If any 
 of the family went to the party, I hope 
 they set an example of plain dressing and 
 early hours. If anything can be out of place 
 at Nahant, it will be trailing dresses in the 
 scanty space of the cottages and party hours 
 of the city. We dry goods importers and 
 stocking weavers make ourselves and our 
 families ridiculous when we ape the fash 
 ions of foreign courts. Don t you agree to 
 that ? If you don t you will when you have 
 seen what the world is made of." 
 
 A useful or refining occupation was, in his 
 opinion, one of the necessaries of life. With 
 that feeling he wrote to a niece who was 
 travelling in Europe and who afterwards de 
 veloped a remarkable taste in embroidery. 
 
 MY DEAR , The handsomest present 
 
 that I have received for a long time was sent 
 to me the other day by a delightful lady now 
 eighty years old, Mrs. Guild, of Brookline, 
 a sister of Mrs. Ticknor. It is the picture 
 
226 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 of a young robin, rather larger than life, 
 beautifully drawn and painted. It is the 
 best robin I ever saw. Mr. Audubon could 
 not have done it better. What a great 
 pleasure it must be for this ancient lady to 
 be exercising herself in this elegant manner. 
 How much more elevating and refining, 
 than in darning an old pair of stockings, or 
 in taking snuff and tea, and talking about 
 one s neighbors. If you have not yet dis 
 covered any particular taste which you can 
 indulge and cultivate, perhaps by looking a 
 little more carefully you will meet with suc 
 cess. And then you will have great pleas 
 ure in doing what you find yourself doing so 
 well. You will be pleased to excel others ; 
 you will enjoy the admiration of friends and 
 of others. But above all you will be pleased 
 to find yourself doing good, and improving 
 that talent which the good Lord has given 
 you. Good-by my darling. 
 
 Your affectionate uncle Lawrence. 
 
 That the evil of aimless lives was not to be 
 met by the collegiate education of women, 
 would seem to be his opinion ( which was 
 somewhat modified in later years), from a let 
 ter in connection with co-education in Kansas 
 
PERSONAL TRAITS. 227 
 
 University. " I think there never has been 
 and never will be a high standard of learn 
 ing in an institution where the sexes are 
 
 O 
 
 instructed together. Such institutions may 
 be tolerable academies, but never will be 
 first-class colleges. I have no faith in the 
 utility of giving diplomas to women, except 
 for good housewifery, for courage, and for 
 rearing good families of children." 
 
 He was not only courteous to his servants, 
 but he had a personal interest in each, and in 
 his conversation with them would vary his an 
 ecdotes with friendly advice in such a way as 
 to gain their confidence and affection. They 
 always were welcomed to family prayers, and 
 he would not begin to read the Bible until 
 he was assured that some were present. He 
 followed, with interest, the lives of those who 
 had once served in the house, and for the 
 thirty last years of his life, regularly visited 
 the nurse of his children. 
 
 His sense of kinship was very strong. He 
 corresponded with relatives whom he had not 
 seen for a generation. To one of them he 
 writes : " As time wears on and we form new 
 attachments, we think of old friends less of 
 ten, but the memory of and love for blood 
 relations can never be obliterated. It conies 
 
228 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 over one in solitude and sickness with a force 
 that is not known in the bustle of business 
 and the rounds of daily life." A family 
 quarrel was, in his opinion, the most needless 
 and wicked form of selfishness. 
 
 There was one bond of kinship which was 
 of peculiar strength and tenderness. 
 
 With the death of their father, in 1852, 
 his brother William and he were left the 
 only representatives of that branch of the 
 family. The affection which, up to this time, 
 had bound them together developed into a 
 closeness of thought, sympathy, and senti 
 ment which steadily strengthened for over 
 thirty years. His brother, who had been a 
 traveller of wide experience and some adven 
 ture, and who was endowed with a fund of 
 anecdote and wit, had somewhat remarkable 
 social traits. He became a physician and 
 immediately devoted his skill to the poor, 
 and in their interest was very active in the 
 organization of the Boston Dispensary. Be 
 sides publishing his father s " Diary and 
 Correspondence," he wrote a book on the 
 " Charities of France," in the hope of giving 
 American charities the benefit of the French 
 men s experience. Ill health called him to 
 Europe continually after his marriage ; but 
 
PERSONAL TRAITS. 229 
 
 while at home he gave strength and time to 
 charities and religious work, especially the 
 organization of Emmanuel Church. His 
 house on Arlington Street was the centre 
 of such forms of activity. 
 
 A regular correspondence during Wil 
 liam s absence and an almost daily call when 
 living at home, kept the brothers in constant 
 sympathy. A slight illness of one brought 
 the other immediately to his side. Each 
 gave to the other s charitable or patriotic in 
 terests. In the development of Longwood 
 they worked and owned together. When 
 therefore, in 1867, Dr. Lawrence built a 
 home next to his brother in Longwood, it 
 seemed to be the last touch to their blessings, 
 and Mr. Lawrence s record of the fact closes 
 with the words, " May God bless our declin 
 ing years and unite us hereafter ; and those 
 whom we have loved with those whom we 
 so much love now." 
 
XIII. 
 
 PHILANTHROPIC INTERESTS. 
 
 HAVING suggested a few of the more per 
 sonal traits of Mr. Lawrence in the maturity 
 of his life, we may now return to the record 
 of his interests and activities. 
 
 The echo of the last shot of the war had 
 hardly died away before the alumni of Har 
 vard College met to arrange for the recep 
 tion of their brethren who had been in the 
 army. From that there naturally sprang 
 the thought of a memorial, and by August, 
 1865, Mr. Lawrence had recorded " several 
 meetings of a college committee to erect a 
 Memorial Hall in honor of those of the col 
 lege who fell in the war." He was made a 
 chairman of the finance committee, which 
 immediately entered upon the task of rais 
 ing the money. Daily committee meetings, 
 the enthusiasm and untiring industry of 
 Charles G. Loring, J. Ingersoll Bowditch, 
 Stephen M. Weld, Henry B. Rogers, Henry 
 Lee, and other loyal sons of the college, soon 
 brought about happy results. 
 
r 
 4 
 
PHILANTHROPIC INTERESTS. 231 
 
 On February 2, 1866, Mr. Lawrence 
 wrote : " Theodore Lyman came to offer 
 $5,000 for building Memorial Hall at Cam 
 bridge, if twenty can be found to do the 
 
 same." 
 
 A letter to one of the older alumni tells 
 the story of the earliest subscriptions to the 
 fund, which (with the Sanders bequest and 
 other gifts) finally reached the unexpected 
 amount of 1387,000. 
 
 BOSTON, February 28, 1866. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Mr. Richardson of Cam 
 bridge, who lost a son in the war, says that 
 he will be one of twenty to give $5,000 each 
 to build the Memorial Hall of the alumni. 
 Mr. E. R. Mudge, who lost his oldest son in 
 the same way, offers the same. Theodore 
 Lyman, who served three years and more, 
 offers $5,000. Nathan Appleton, who served 
 three years, does the same. 
 
 Now these are not the men to build it. 
 The two first are not alumni, and they have 
 already given to their country what is dearer 
 than their own lives ; the other two have of 
 fered their lives ; and have endured hardship, 
 and have incurred expense, while most of 
 us alumni were living at ease. I have pro- 
 
232 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 posed, and it is agreed to by the committee, 
 that the subscribers may pay in instalments, 
 one fifth every year. By this last I am in 
 duced to subscribe $5,000. This is hard 
 work and slow. But if we get twenty, then 
 we may be assured of the rest. 
 
 My object in writing this is to seize hold 
 of your love for Alma Mater, and to ask you 
 whether, if we get nineteen names, you will 
 be the twentieth subscriber. This would en 
 courage us very much. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 A. A. L. 
 
 The motive of the work is expressed in a 
 letter to his cousin, James Lawrence, from 
 whom he was asking for a subscription. " It 
 seems to be the least that we can do, who 
 did not go to the war, to commemorate the 
 virtues of those who did go, and especially 
 of those who marched and fought and died 
 while we were comfortable at home." 
 
 Under the inspiration of this motive, the 
 noble Memorial Hall was erected, and 
 through the energies of Messrs. C. W. 
 Eliot, Lee, and Bowditch, and of Mr. Law 
 rence, who added efficient financial support, 
 the college was furnished with a far better 
 
PHILANTHROPIC INTERESTS. 233 
 
 play-ground than the Delta on which the hall 
 stands. 
 
 The next two objects of Mr. Lawrence s 
 activity have to do with his religious and 
 church life. 
 
 His journals and letters reveal a simple 
 faith, a deep, personal piety, and a realiza 
 tion of the heavenly life which are as diffi 
 cult to attain as they are rare among men 
 who, like himself, move in the midst of busi 
 ness, political, and social activities. As long 
 as he lived in Boston, he attended St. Paul s 
 Church, of which he was the treasurer for 
 several years. For some time after his re 
 moval to Longwood, his loyalty to St. Paul s 
 and devotion to Dr. Vinton led him to go 
 to Boston to service. But, wishing always 
 to take his family, he found it more conven 
 ient to go to St. Paul s Church, Brookline, 
 where, as usual, he did work as vestryman 
 and in the Sunday-school. The sympathetic 
 nature of Mr. Lawrence was never content 
 with official pastoral association. Between 
 himself and his minister there always ex 
 isted such friendly and personal relations as 
 made him almost as necessary to them as 
 they were to him. These few lines from his 
 journal suggest the tenderness of the rela 
 tions : 
 
234 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 " October 7, 1853. Friday morning at 
 six was sent for by Rev. Dr. Stone ; has 
 tened to his house ; went up-stairs and into 
 his chamber; found him sitting up in bed 
 partially paralyzed. I put my arm around 
 him and endeavored to encourage him ; and 
 he soon appeared to rally his spirits. I 
 asked him if he wished to send for any of 
 his friends, Mr. Upham, Mr. Aspinwall, or 
 others. He answered, i No, Amos, you are 
 friend enough for me, throwing his arms 
 about my neck." 
 
 In fact the same regard for ministers of 
 hiffh character and varied creeds which 
 
 o 
 
 made his father the friend of President 
 Mark Hopkins, Dr. Palfrey, Dr. Lothrop, 
 Father Taylor, Father Mathew, and others, 
 seemed to descend to the son. 
 
 His house was always open to the cler 
 gymen of the younger as well as the older 
 generation, but, with few exceptions, his 
 friendship was confined to the latter. Bishop 
 Eastburn was for years his next-door neigh 
 bor, and into his house Mr. Lawrence car 
 ried the dying form of Bishop Griswold, who 
 had fallen at the steps. Drs. Vinton, Stone, 
 Lothrop, Wharton, Peabody, and Professor 
 Packard were all close to him in friendly or 
 
PHILANTHROPIC INTERESTS. 235 
 
 intimate sympathy. Dr. Mark Hopkins 
 made an annual visit. Dr. Henry C. Potter 
 was his nearest neighbor as long as he was 
 assistant minister of Trinity Church. Of 
 him Mr. Lawrence at that time wrote : " He 
 is a finished writer and preacher, and fine- 
 looking. If he has his health, he will be a 
 noted divine of our church and a bishop." 
 To Cottage Farm, Bishop Paddock first 
 came after his election ; and he was one of 
 the last guests before the death of Mr. Law 
 rence at Nahant. 
 
 Two old saints he kept near him to give, 
 as it were, a benediction to his office and to 
 his home. On account of his kindly rela 
 tions with the venerable city missionary, Dr. 
 E. M. P. Wells, Mr. Lawrence became the 
 guardian of the small fund provided for his 
 personal needs ; for, like the saints of old, 
 the doctor gave away everything. He was 
 therefore a frequent visitor at the office, and 
 many an hour was snatched from business 
 to listen to his holy conversation. " If 
 Father Wells does not get to heaven, then 
 none of us can expect to reach that much- 
 expected home. He is eighty years old, I be 
 lieve. He lost everything by the fire ; but he 
 says he gained more than he lost, i. e. y grace : 
 
236 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 the other could not help him long." In 
 Longwood, the oldest presbyter in the dio 
 cese lived and died in a house provided by 
 Mr. Lawrence, who took even more satisfac 
 tion in presence of his neighbor than did the 
 grateful clergyman in the comfort of his 
 home. 
 
 The same hatred of wasted spiritual en 
 ergies which moved him as a young man at 
 Bedford, where many churches were built for 
 the few inhabitants, followed him through 
 life. It was from this point of view that he 
 criticised and avoided sectarianism. It was 
 more than unchristian ; it was unbusiness 
 like. In 1870, finding his name attached to 
 an appeal for an organization which he felt 
 would provoke partisanship, he wrote : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, The Church consists of 
 all those who love the Lord Jesus Christ and 
 obey his precepts. And of all the denomi 
 nations into which, through human weakness 
 and ignorance, it has become divided, I be 
 lieve the Protestant Episcopal Church is the 
 best. On that account I joined it nearly 
 forty years ago, and my love for it has in 
 creased ever since. But this does not pre 
 vent my loving Christians of other denomi- 
 
PHILANTHROPIC INTERESTS. 237 
 
 nations and acting with them ; and especially 
 it does not prevent my living and acting 
 with those of my own denomination who en 
 tertain opinions in which there are " shades 
 of difference." No doubt this movement to 
 make all men of one mind will gain adher 
 ents, and churchmen may become so hostile 
 to each other as to divide the Church many 
 times ; but all this will not make men agree, 
 nor will it advance the truth nor the cause 
 of religion. 
 
 Holding these views, my name is out of 
 place in your organization. 
 
 With sentiments of esteem for yourself 
 and for the other gentlemen of the board, 
 I remain your obedient servant, 
 A. A. L. 
 
 It was in this spirit that, when he found 
 the Methodists established in Wisconsin, he 
 placed the funds of Lawrence University in 
 their hands. When he went to a village or 
 summer resort where there was but one 
 church, he always worshipped in that. When 
 prevented by storm from attending his own 
 church at Lynn, he was to be seen in the 
 Methodist meeting-house listening to the 
 local preacher, or a negro exhorter. For 
 
238 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 some months he was a teacher in the church 
 founded by Mr. Sears, the " Searsarian 
 Church," as Mr. Lawrence used to call it. 
 He would never allow himself to be class 
 ified with a party, and was one of the first 
 vice-presidents of the Church Congress, 
 which he felt would lead to mutual under 
 standing and forbearance. 
 
 It was also a satisfaction to him that, at 
 the General Convention of 1865, to which 
 he was a delegate, there occurred the recon 
 ciliation of the church, which had been di 
 vided by the war. 
 
 When party feeling was running high, he 
 wrote to his daughter, who, while at school 
 in New York, attended St. George s Church, 
 of which Dr. Tyng was rector : 
 
 " October 12, 1869. Rev. Dr. Tyng has 
 written a remarkable letter. He is a zeal 
 ous man. But he is a revolutionist. He is 
 in favor of making a new Prayer Book, and 
 of throwing away the old one. This, he 
 thinks, will make a new church. I guess it 
 will. But it will not be a large one. It will 
 rather be an offshoot of a gnarly growth 
 from the parent church, and what used to be 
 called a schism, and that is the right name 
 for it. The doctor is a good Tyng ; but he 
 
PHILANTHROPIC INTERESTS. 239 
 
 is a Tyng nevertheless. If you were a 
 hundred years old, you would know what 
 that means. I don t believe in making di 
 visions in the Church, but in healing them. 
 Protestantism is sometimes called a failure 
 because it has led to the formation of many 
 sects. We should have charity for each 
 other, and agree to differ about minor 
 things." 
 
 The church at Nahant was a source of great 
 satisfaction to him. The preachers, Sunday 
 after Sunday, are of different denominations, 
 and the worshippers conform to the manner 
 of worship of the denomination represented 
 by the preacher. For many years two dea 
 cons were chosen to invite and entertain the 
 ministers. Mr. Lawrence always took his 
 turn as deacon, and looked forward with 
 pleasure to the entertainment of the clergy 
 men. He always spoke with great satisfac 
 tion of the fact that for over fifty years 
 people of different creeds had worshipped 
 together without a jar, and he gave his sup 
 port to the church as an outpost of Christian 
 unity. In memory of his interest and bene 
 factions the proprietors have placed a tablet 
 in the wall of the church. 
 
 By 1867 Longwood had developed into 
 
240 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 quite a community. With a sense of respon 
 sibility for the spritual welfare of the people 
 whom they had drawn together, Mr. Law 
 rence and his brother joined in building a 
 stone church in memory of their father. In 
 March, 1868, it was consecrated under the 
 name of " The Church of our Saviour," and 
 was presented to a corporation, to be held 
 in trust. With a wish to interest the people 
 in the work, Mr. Lawrence and his brother 
 persistently refused to be conspicuous in the 
 church, and, when possible, sat far back, that 
 there might be no thought on the part of 
 others of proprietorship. For years a good 
 part of the financial burden fell upon them ; 
 but, while always taking it, their object was 
 to educate the people into a sense of respon 
 sibility in the support of public worship. 
 
 As early as 1852 Mr. Lawrence had urged 
 the building of galleries in St. Paul s Church, 
 Boston, that seats might be made for poor 
 persons. Therefore, with a desire to do 
 everything to make the building a church 
 for all the people, the brothers entered with 
 enthusiasm some years later into making all 
 the seats free. During the last year of his 
 life, while Mrs. Lawrence was giving a stone 
 rectory, he presented some property to be 
 
PHILANTHROPIC INTERESTS. 241 
 
 held in trust for the preservation and sup 
 port of the church. 
 
 It was a sight seen oftener in old Eng 
 land than in this country, the two vener 
 able brothers with their families joining the 
 group of neighbors, as they walked to the 
 door of the memorial church, then worship 
 ping together like one large family. On 
 week-days as well as Sundays, they might 
 both be found with the little company of 
 faithful worshippers. As if to continue 
 their close association there, a memorial tab 
 let records their names, with the inscrip 
 tion : 
 
 TOGETHER THEY BUILT THIS CHURCH IN MEM 
 ORY OF THEIR FATHER, AMOS LAWRENCE. 
 
 LOVELY AND PLEASANT IN THEIR LIVES, AND 
 IN THEIR DEATH THEY WERE NOT DIVIDED. 
 
 Early in 1867 Mr. Benjamin T. Reed gave 
 1100,000 towards the foundation of an Epis 
 copal Theological School, and, having the in 
 tention of finally devoting his whole fortune 
 to the object, he called about him a board 
 of five trustees, composed of Robert C. 
 Winthrop, James S. Amory, Edward S. 
 Rand, J. P. Putnam, and Mr. Lawrence. 
 
 The munificence of the gift and its reli 
 gious object appealed to the interest of Mr. 
 
242 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 Lawrence. Moreover, in the plan he saw a 
 long-desired opportunity to bring a more 
 positive religious element into the neighbor 
 hood of Harvard College. The religious in 
 fluences at Cambridge had been a source of 
 anxiety to him, and he had always felt 
 that the identification of a Unitarian Divin 
 ity School with the college was a positive 
 injury to both, and as a member of the cor 
 poration he had urged some change. When, 
 therefore, the question of a site for the The 
 ological School was raised, and when some of 
 Mr. Reed s friends advised strongly against 
 Cambridge on account of its Unitarian and 
 negative religious influence, Mr. Lawrence 
 joined with others in pressing the establish 
 ment of the site in Cambridge, and as near 
 the college as possible. They felt convinced 
 (and experience has justified their convic 
 tion) that the contact with the university 
 life would be an advantage to the school, 
 and that the school and its chapel might 
 exert a positive influence upon the life of 
 the university. As usual, the position of 
 treasurer, which he continued to hold for 
 fifteen years, fell to his lot, and he again 
 took up his rides through the Cambridge 
 roads which had been so familiar to him 
 
PHILANTHROPIC INTERESTS. 243 
 
 when treasurer of the college. His satisfac 
 tion in the work was enhanced by the re 
 newed association with two of his old pas 
 tors, Drs. Stone and Wharton, who were 
 called to fill chairs in the new institution. 
 His familiarity with the place made him ac 
 tive in the selection of sites, and in 1869 
 the school laid its permanent foundations in 
 its present beautiful position, the choice of 
 which was hastened by the offer by his old 
 partner, Robert M. Mason, to build St. 
 John s Memorial Chapel. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence determined to mark his 
 gratitude for thirty years of exceptional 
 blessings in the way expressed in this letter 
 to the trustees of the school : 
 
 (Near) BOSTON, June 23, 1873. 
 GENTLEMEN, More than a year ago, on 
 the anniversary of my marriage, I was so 
 much impressed with the remembrance of 
 the great goodness of God to myself and my 
 numerous family, during the thirty years 
 which have elapsed without any cessation to 
 our prosperity and happiness, that I wished 
 to make some acknowledgment, and to have 
 some permanent, and if possible some use 
 ful memorial of it. 
 
244 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 Therefore, after purchasing the requisite 
 amount of land, I commenced the building 
 of a dormitory for the use of our theolog 
 ical students, corresponding with the chapel 
 and with the plan of building adopted by 
 the trustees. Before the next meeting this 
 work will be done so far as to accommodate 
 twenty students, and the rooms will be fur 
 nished. At a future time, if it should be 
 required, I may complete the design by add 
 ing twenty rooms more. 
 
 Meantime, having placed a brief inscrip 
 tion over the entrance, to indicate the cir 
 cumstances which conduced to its erection, 
 I beg to present the whole to the trustees, 
 in the hope that it will be useful in advan 
 cing the cause for which we are associated, 
 and which we all have at heart. 
 
 Faithfully yours, A. A. L. 
 
 In 1873 the first half of the building was 
 completed, and in 1880 the second half was 
 added, making one side of the open quad 
 rangle, which, with the chapel and other 
 buildings since presented by Mr. Reed and 
 Mr. John A. Burnham, now form a pictur 
 esque group of stone. 
 
 Over the door of the dormitory stands this 
 inscription : 
 
PHILANTHROPIC INTERESTS. 245 
 
 IN MEMORIAM SUMMJE * 
 DEI BENEVOLENTLE 
 
 PRID KAL APRIL M D CCC LXXII 
 
 During the term of his treasurership, Mr. 
 Lawrence had the usual privilege of advan 
 cing money and helping to make up deficits, 
 but he had the satisfaction of seeing the 
 school develop in strength far beyond the 
 expectation of its founder. 
 
XIV. 
 
 MATURE YEARS. 
 
 1867-1882. 
 
 IN 1867 the active routine of twenty-five 
 years had begun to affect Mr. Lawrence s 
 health ; he had the first sharp warnings of in 
 digestion, neuralgia, and depression of spirits, 
 und by the doctor s advice decided to pass a 
 summer in Europe. His social disposition 
 never allowed him to travel alone ; the larger 
 the party the more he enjoyed a journey. If 
 at any time a trip to the South or West was 
 advised by the physician (and a physician s 
 advice alone could drive him from home), he 
 called on some friends to make up a com 
 pany. His cousin, Dr. Samuel A. Green, 
 was always ready to start with him, or with 
 any of his family, at twenty -four hours 
 notice. On this summer journey, in which 
 he renewed the memories of his bachelor 
 travels, he had a family party of twelve, 
 which partially compensated him for the loss 
 
MATURE YEARS. 247 
 
 of home life ; though even under these cir 
 cumstances he felt restless and sometimes 
 homesick until he recrossed the Channel and 
 was driving through the homelike fields and 
 lanes of England. The break of routine 
 enabled him to return refreshed to added 
 responsibilities. 
 
 The business of the Cocheco and Salmon 
 Falls Companies had increased very much on 
 Mr. Lawrence s hands, but experience and 
 system had put them into such shape that 
 he was able to enlarge his work. Feeling 
 that this country ought not to be dependent 
 upon others for the clothing of her people, 
 and believing that the skill and industry of 
 the New Englander would, if temporarily 
 protected, produce cheaper and better goods 
 than Old England could supply, he was 
 tempted to become a manufacturer as well 
 as a commission merchant and a farmer. 
 
 Therefore in 1860 he bought a mill at Ips 
 wich for the manufacture of hosiery and 
 other knit goods. But the industry was a 
 new one in this country, the machinery was 
 crude, the labor unskilled, and the American 
 people had not realized that hosiery could 
 be made here, and therefore refused to buy 
 anything with an American mark. The 
 
248 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 experiment resulted at first in heavy and 
 steady losses. For years Ipswich was a recep 
 tacle for profits from other sources. In Jan 
 uary, 1868, Mr. Lawrence wrote : "Am start 
 ing up my mill at Ipswich again, which has 
 been stopped for a few weeks. This attempt 
 to manufacture cotton stockings by machin 
 ery so that they can be sold at f 1.50 a dozen 
 has caused me to lose not less than $ 100 a 
 day for 800 days, 180,000. Yet I am not 
 discouraged, though I feel the loss very much, 
 for I want a great deal of money to use." 
 If at any time for several years he was 
 attacked with indigestion, it was his habit to 
 lay it, with good reason, to " too much Ips 
 wich." 
 
 However, after a hard and persistent 
 struggle of twenty years, he had the satis 
 faction of seeing his object gained, cheap 
 American stockings and other knit goods 
 sold by the million to the American people. 
 And it was with the greatest pleasure that 
 he saw his friends and family buying goods 
 of his own manufacture under the impres 
 sion given by the salesmen at the retail shop 
 that they were French or English. This in 
 terest, which was increased later by the pur 
 chase of the Gilmanton and Ashland Mills 
 
MATURE YEARS. 249 
 
 in New Hampshire, made him the largest 
 knit goods manufacturer in the country and 
 led him to encourage the formation of the 
 Association of Knit Goods Manufacturers, of 
 which he was president for some time, as he 
 had been of the National Association of Cot 
 ton Manufacturers and Planters. 
 
 In 1870 he also took the selling agency 
 of the Arlington Mills in Lawrence, which 
 increased rapidly and added to his responsi 
 bility. 
 
 The manufacture of knit goods brought 
 him into closer relations than ever with the 
 tariff question, and caused his recommen 
 dations to have great weight in the con 
 struction of the earlier knit goods tariff bills. 
 Few things are more dreary than the rehear 
 sal of tariff discussions ; it may be enough, 
 therefore, to say that Mr. Lawrence, in the 
 earlier part of his business life, advocated a 
 high tariff for the protection of infant in 
 dustries, but as years passed he believed in 
 the gradual reduction of that protection, 
 and in later years he was very positive in 
 the advocacy of more moderate duties, es 
 pecially on raw materials. 
 
 In all his business relations Mr. Law 
 rence was quick to decide and to act ; be- 
 
250 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 sides judgment, he had that other trait nec 
 essary to success in business courage ; he 
 readily caught the point of a problem, and 
 was restless until it was answered. He 
 would chafe at listening to an explanation 
 which was a few minutes too long, and then 
 would turn to sit patiently for a half an 
 hour while some missionary from the West 
 or an agent of a charitable society would 
 slowly unfold his tale. Experience led him 
 to believe more and more in system, and to 
 shrink from attending to details himself. 
 
 Writing to his elder son, who had just 
 entered business with him, he said, " Losses 
 are made in a day, while profits are a long 
 time accumulating. Let us adopt a good 
 system and then not be anxious about re 
 sults." " It is not easy to save money in 
 commission and manufacturing business, and 
 much skill and judgment are required in 
 both. The cause is this, that it is difficult 
 to avoid losses, much more difficult than it 
 is to make profits. I am led to make this 
 remark from looking over L. & Co. s trial 
 balance." 
 
 The faculty of quick decision and system 
 atizing enabled Mr. Lawrence to bring the 
 hours of his own business into a very short 
 
MATURE YEARS. 251 
 
 compass. The greater part of office hours 
 was given to other people s affairs. Besides 
 the public interests already described, he was 
 active in establishing a line of steamships 
 from Boston to New Orleans and was presi 
 dent of the company ; he was also the first 
 president of the New England Trust Com 
 pany, and a director in the Massachusetts 
 Hospital Life Company and in a number of 
 manufacturing and mercantile corporations. 
 As an officer of the Massachusetts Society of 
 the Cincinnati, the Bunker Hill Monument 
 Association, the Massachusetts Society for 
 Promoting Agriculture, and the Home for 
 Aged Men, he took a lively interest in these 
 associations. When Dr. Howe, with his in 
 extinguishable love of liberty, espoused the 
 cause of the Cretans in their struggle with 
 the Turks, his Kansas memories prompted 
 him to turn to Mr. Lawrence to act as treas 
 urer of the funds. All such duties, as well 
 as the giving to deserving objects, were ac 
 companied with a sense of satisfaction ; but 
 there was one class whom, on account of his 
 sympathetic nature, he unconsciously en 
 couraged, and yet whom he could not treat 
 with patience, the chronic borrowers. The 
 only satisfaction he ever took in lending to 
 
252 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 such people was the hope, which was usually 
 a forlorn one, that they would not show their 
 faces again. The following is one of a mass 
 of letters which tell the same story : 
 
 BOSTON, August 9, 1872. 
 
 DEAR SIR, A large sheet might be cov 
 ered with the reasons why I cannot lend 
 money, not even to my nearest friends. But 
 I will only say that it would be as safe as 
 taking out the bung from a barrel of cider. 
 In my case it is the only barrel in the house. 
 It is good cider and the bung is in the bot 
 tom, as the barrel lays. 
 
 For twenty years I have been busy writ 
 ing letters, with reasons. For ten years be 
 fore that I lent some money, and wrote some 
 letters. In both cases I was the loser, and 
 don t think anybody was the gainer. 
 
 Yours truly, A. A. L. 
 
 His resolution not to lend was better than 
 his practice, for on several occasions his sym 
 pathy for acquaintances in financial distress 
 lead him into heavy losses. But that no ill 
 will was harbored is seen by this letter to a 
 person who had borrowed several thousand 
 dollars, and who announced a few days after 
 that he had failed. 
 
MATURE YEARS. 253 
 
 BOSTON, November 13, 1873. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Your note is received 
 with great regret, chiefly on your account (I 
 trust) and not on mine ; for your disappoint 
 ment must be infinitely greater than mine 
 can be. You have been most unfortunate ; 
 but nobody has said that you have been in 
 fault, that I ever heard, except in judgment. 
 And many great and good men have erred 
 strangely in their judgment of business mat 
 ters. Rev. Mr. Beecher says he rather 
 thinks that those who are most unfortunate 
 in this world (without intentionally doing 
 wrong) will be the favored ones in the next, 
 and he says that if he takes off his hat in 
 the street to any man, it will be to him who 
 has struggled to do his duty and who has in 
 a good measure succeeded in that ; but who 
 has failed in achieving any worldly success. 
 
 I am rather of Mr. Beecher s opinion. 
 Yours truly, A. A. L. 
 
 In one form of beneficence he took keen 
 delight ; that of sending unexpected gifts to 
 literary men whose salaries were such as to 
 demand strict economy. Now and again a 
 box of fine tea or a check or a cloak would 
 be delivered at the door of some professor 
 
254 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 at Bowdoin, Williams, or Harvard, accom 
 panied by a brief line which gave grace to 
 the gift. He could not open a fresh box of 
 cigars without the satisfaction of feeling 
 that some clergyman had a duplicate. The 
 old librarian of Harvard College, whose 
 economy was only exceeded by his generos 
 ity, pours out his thanks for a new cloak; 
 " Mrs. S. has been chiding me a long time 
 for wearing my old one till it has now got to 
 be the twenty-ninth winter, and says she is 
 delighted ; and she desires me to express her 
 gratitude for your practical wisdom in trying 
 4 to make me look decent. 
 
 At sixty years of age Mr. Lawrence was 
 still active in body and bright in society, but 
 his nervous system was weakened. Neural 
 gia again laid its torturing grasp on him and 
 depression of spirits resulted. To those who 
 suffered like him he gave good advice. To 
 a farmer in Maine he wrote : " You write 
 as though your spirits were poor. But you 
 must remember that this is the season when 
 the bile is stagnant. Take a little good 
 cider with your dinner ; take a little in the 
 morning before breakfast with saleratus in 
 it. Put a strengthening plaster on your 
 back between your shoulders. Take a little 
 
MATURE YEARS. 255 
 
 whiskey if it suits. Go out and sit on the 
 warm side of the house, and listen to the 
 birds in the morning." 
 
 To his friend Le Baron, who suffered 
 from the same trouble, he sent word, " Now, 
 my dear old Baron, I charge nothing for my 
 advice. Brom. potas. is good: so is quin 
 ine ; and bismuth ; and some whiskey. But 
 God holds the key of our minds." 
 
 Still he found it hard to act always on his 
 own advice. 
 
 In trying to help friends in business he 
 had met with some losses which were more 
 annoying than serious ; the fall of his horse 
 upon his ankle had cut off his customary ex 
 ercise and, more than all, four children 
 had married and had left his house for 
 homes of their own. " What strikes me 
 most is the quickness with which our chil 
 dren have come and gone," he wrote to his 
 son ; and one great dread of his life was the 
 thought, " What shall we do if we live till all 
 our children have left us ? " He took great 
 satisfaction in the way that each of them 
 left home, and yet he never could reconcile 
 himself to their absence. The house had 
 been so full of noise and activity for years, 
 and he had become accustomed to the echo 
 
25G AMOS A. LA WHENCE. 
 
 of young voices in the halls, that even the 
 absence of some of the family for a short 
 visit would depress him. His sympathetic 
 nature was not satisfied without the presence 
 of those whom he loved, but the very inten 
 sity of his sympathy made him a poor nurse 
 and assistant in the sick room. At about 
 this time sickness took its first strong hold 
 in the family. In 1870 Mrs. Lawrence, who 
 had borne the cares of the large household, 
 suffered in health for some months, but was 
 restored by a few weeks with Mr. Lawrence 
 and a part of the family in Europe. In 
 1875 a son who was just entering work in 
 the ministry was stricken with typhoid fever ; 
 at the same time a daughter was brought to 
 the point of death. In the long illness of 
 the latter, lasting two or three years, Mr. 
 Lawrence followed the even course of his 
 life, though consumed by anxiety ; and the 
 only outlet for his sympathies was found in 
 visiting the sick in other houses. He had 
 always been a frequent visitor when friends 
 were ill or in trouble, but from this time the 
 habit became constant. The object in his 
 ride was almost always an invalid. Such 
 an afternoon as this was his frequent rou 
 tine. 
 
MATURE YEARS. 257 
 
 " February 2. Went in a sleigh with Sa 
 rah to visit Tom Knowles (my farmer s son), 
 who is failing by consumption. Then to see 
 Harry Slade, of the same age, who has the 
 same disease. Poor boys! So early laid 
 on the bed of suffering and death. May 
 God in his mercy comfort them, and prepare 
 them for his heavenly kingdom. Visited old 
 sick neighbor, Mr. Hichborn." 
 
 Then came a shock from an unexpected 
 quarter as told in his journal. 
 
 "Nahant, July 1, 1879. Dr. Williams 
 told me that a 4 cataract is forming in my 
 right eye. It made itself known by a 
 blurred, cloudy appearance before the spy 
 glass through which I was looking to the 
 sea from my piazza. God give me grace 
 and strength to bear this and all the ills of 
 this body with fortitude, and, if possible, 
 with cheerfulness, knowing that He will 
 never afflict except in mercy." 
 
 However, he held to the routine of his life, 
 but the proportion of time given to the dif 
 ferent pursuits changed. His son Amory 
 was now able to relieve him of a large part 
 of the responsibility of the business, though 
 Mr. Lawrence went daily to the office for 
 two or three hours and gave his advice in the 
 
258 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 more important matters. He also held to 
 his other interests, and even entered upon 
 new ones. Tom Hughes Rugby experiment 
 appealed to his love of enterprise and faith 
 in good settlements. Elected an overseer of 
 Harvard University, he took a keen interest 
 in all the discussions, which at that time 
 were exceptional in brilliancy and ability on 
 account of the important reforms then in 
 view. And his short, quaint speeches added 
 strength and humor to the debates. To the 
 last he opposed the spirit of secularization 
 of the college. 
 
 Hearing of the struggle of the Misses 
 Smith of Glastonbury, who allowed their 
 property to be sold for taxes because they 
 as women had no voice in the appropria 
 tion of the taxes, he went to their rescue 
 with letters and money, and with some chiv 
 alry expressed his views. 
 
 " The taxation of the property of women 
 without allowing them any representation in 
 town affairs is so unjust that it seems only 
 necessary to bring it to public notice to excite 
 the interest of all honest voters to make a 
 change. Therefore you deserve the greater 
 honor for resisting that injustice, and for set- 
 ing an example which must lead to reform. 
 
MATURE YEARS. 259 
 
 " Your case has its parallel in every town 
 ship in New England. In the town where 
 this is written a widow pays 17,830, while 
 six hundred men, a number equal to half 
 the whole number of voters, pay $1,200 in 
 all. Another lady pays 15,042. Yet neither 
 has a single vote, not even by proxy. That 
 is, each one of six hundred men who have no 
 property and pay only a poll tax, many of 
 whom cannot read or write, has the power of 
 voting away the property of the town, while 
 the females have no power at all. 
 
 " We have lately spent a day in celebrat 
 ing the heroism of those who threw over the 
 
 O 
 
 tea; but how trifling was the tea tax and 
 how small the injustice to individuals com 
 pared with this one of our day. The prin 
 ciple, however, is the same, that there should 
 be no taxation without representation." 
 
 To a gentleman who hoped that another 
 woman suffragist had been raised up, he 
 stated his opinions in a more positive way. 
 
 BOSTON, October 14, 1874. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Universal (manhood) suf 
 frage has proved to be a failure in the cities 
 and thickly settled communities, and all 
 through the South : chiefly because it is not 
 
260 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 based on intelligence, nor on character, nor 
 on property. To give the right to vote to all 
 the women would only be to increase the evil. 
 It seems to me that the women who are 
 taxed should have the right to vote, and if 
 that is refused, they have the right to rebel : 
 and the men would have a right to help 
 them, that is, those who chose to. 
 
 Yours truly, A. A. L. 
 
 With the approach of old age he naturally 
 turned with pleasure to the scenes of his boy 
 hood. As his younger son was rector of 
 Grace Church, Lawrence, Mr. Lawrence 
 was enabled to visit the North Parish, An- 
 dover, and look up the old school-house, 
 which he recognized transformed into a 
 barn ; he took intense delight in talking over 
 the days with his former school-mates Sur 
 geon General Dale and Captain Chever ; 
 and as long as the poor old sexton John 
 Frye lived in his filthy hovel, Mr. Lawrence 
 insisted on sending money to keep him out 
 of the poor-house, where the town authori 
 ties insisted that he ought to go. 
 
 His associations with Groton had been 
 kept up by correspondence and occasional 
 visits. He was still interested in the affairs 
 
MATURE YEARS. 261 
 
 and people of the town, as the following let 
 ter to his aunt Eliza (Mrs. Green), who had 
 cared for him after the death of his mother, 
 and with whom he kept up an affectionate 
 correspondence for over fifty years, shows. 
 
 BOSTON, March 29, 1871. 
 
 MY DEAR AUNT, If you ever see Mr. 
 Spaulding who makes the cider, will you be 
 good enough to give my compliments to him 
 and inform him that there is one denomina 
 tion of Christians who will not think worse 
 of him for having made such a delightful 
 and wholesome drink. I do not believe that 
 his success in this particular would of itself 
 entitle him to be received and duly enrolled 
 as a member of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church ; but it would be counted in among 
 his other virtues, of which he is said to have 
 many. With this I send a pamphlet which 
 will explain the theory and practice of that 
 religious denomination, which you perhaps 
 will hand to him. Though it says nothing 
 about making cider or drinking it, it will be 
 easily inferred from it that he who makes 
 good cider, and gives good measure, for a 
 reasonable price, is so far a public benefac 
 tor. And that is true of Mr. Spauldiiig. 
 
262 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 There is a story that he has been excluded 
 from the Groton church for the exercise of 
 this homely art of making good cider, and 
 on that account I have written this letter. 
 With love to all, 
 
 Your affectionate nephew, 
 
 A. A. L. 
 
 But with the death of his aunts and 
 friends in Groton, his memories became so 
 tender and sad that he did not dare to go 
 there often. 
 
 The death of old black Peter Hazard, who 
 had been a pensioner of the family for three 
 generations, called him back once, and the 
 simple country funeral is thus described : 
 
 " November 12, 1880. Went to Groton 
 with Dr. Green to bury my old friend, Peter 
 Hazard, who was one hundred and one years 
 old. It was a primitive country funeral at 
 Peter s house (mine, which he has lived in 
 free of rent) by the Nashua river, on the 
 borders of my woods : not another house in 
 sight. There were his two married daugh 
 ters and their children, and many friends, 
 white and colored. A good service of sing 
 ing, prayer, and exhortation by Mr. Robie, 
 the Orthodox minister. Then we shook hands 
 
MATURE YEARS. 263 
 
 with the relatives and drove away. Peter s 
 body lay in a handsome coffin, dressed in his 
 best clothes, and looking as though he were 
 asleep. Good old Peter, farewell, we hope 
 not forever. It is sixty and more years since 
 our acquaintance began. Then you swam 
 with me on your shoulders across the Nashua, 
 and held me on your knee, and cared for me 
 when I was weak and recovering from a fe 
 ver. My grandfather and grandmother and 
 all of us loved Peter and his sister Lucy, 
 peaceful, kind members of our Groton fam 
 ily. Sam Green took me to the burial 
 ground where rest the bodies of our relatives 
 and friends. I read their dear names on the 
 headstones : I looked off to the grand old 
 Wachusett and Monadnock, the mountains 
 which bounded my boyish world. They 
 brought back the old memories of my child 
 hood. How brief seemed this life ! how 
 worthless much that men prize ! I hardly 
 knew whether I was living in the present or 
 the past. God help us all to live as in thy 
 presence, and without sin, ready to go hence 
 at thy summons, to meet those who have 
 been dear to us, and whom we believe to be 
 with Thee in heaven. 
 
 " Went over the old homestead, which 
 
264 AMOS A. LAWKEXCE. 
 
 James has enlarged and beautified. Here 
 came the memories again. Sam was sad, 
 and so was I ; but we talked of old times and 
 laughed away our tears. Reached home af 
 ter dark." 
 
 On the last Christmas of his life he gave 
 his cousin, Dr. Samuel A. Green (who was his 
 ready agent in many charities and in the pur 
 chase of a rich collection of Revolutionary 
 and Rebellion literature for the Massachu 
 setts Historical Society), $400 for distribu 
 tion among sixteen old persons in Groton. 
 
 Two occupations steadily increased, his 
 out-of-door life and his visits on the sick and 
 aged. Though his eyesight was failing, he 
 either continued in the saddle, or else he 
 would take some young neighbor or other 
 companion to drive. Except when the neu 
 ralgia caught him, no weather was too rough, 
 and until he was seventy he knew no greater 
 delight than a good skate on Jamaica Pond 
 or a coast down Amory s Hill. 
 
 Every morning Mr. Lawrence would start 
 in his buggy for the counting-room, but it 
 was seldom that he reached there without call 
 ing at some houses on the way, to inquire for 
 some sick one, to leave a few pats of fresh 
 butter for an invalid, or to take a pink to his 
 
MATURE YEARS. 265 
 
 grandson, Amos. A few lines from his jour 
 nal tell the story and suggest the variety 
 of his friends. 
 
 " November 30. Sick calls. To Alanson 
 Tucker, who is in bed, and sees no one but 
 his family. Visited Mrs. James K. Mills. 
 She looks worn and ill. But she was glad 
 to converse, and grateful for kindness. 
 
 " December 1. Visited my old friend, Mrs. 
 Clapp, at the Brunswick hotel. She is a 
 widow, and lives alone. Called on sick Mrs. 
 Ryan in the village ; gave her money. Then 
 on old Mr. Warren and his wife. Took them 
 clothes, very poor. Then Miss Laura Rog 
 ers, who mourns the loss of her aunt, my old 
 friend, Martha C. Derby. 
 
 " 2. Visited my friend, Henry B. Rogers, 
 who has been in Europe since the death of 
 his wife. He and his daughter Annette live 
 together. Seemed glad to see me. Excel 
 lent people. 
 
 " Visited the widow of the late Rev. Dr. 
 Andrew Bigelow. She was delighted to see 
 me. She is a Spiritualist, and immediately 
 gave me a communication from my mother ; 
 also from my uncle Abbott. She talked 
 fluently and well. Gave her twenty dollars 
 for her poor." 
 
266 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 But the spring of 1882 opened sadly for 
 Mr. Lawrence. Though he fully realized 
 his exceptionally happy surroundings, yet ill 
 attuned nerves and neuralgia had depressed 
 his spirits; only one child was left in the 
 home where seven had once lived ; death had 
 been busy among his old friends ; his failing 
 sight had caused him an injury by falling, 
 and had made him less confident in walking. 
 
 " My eyesight grows feebler with cata 
 ract," he wrote ; " one is almost gone. With 
 age must come the loss of our faculties, one 
 by one. If it leads us to look upwards more, 
 for heavenly light, then the loss may be 
 changed to gain." 
 
 In May, however, occurred the great sor 
 row of his life, the death of his oldest 
 daughter, Mary. Up to this time, the unity 
 of Mr. Lawrence s family had been remark 
 able. On the preceding Thanksgiving Day 
 he had been able to record : " In the after 
 noon assembled all our children and grand 
 children ; all who have been born to us. 
 How remarkable, after nearly forty years of 
 married life, to have health and life con 
 tinued twenty-five in all." The married 
 children lived in Longwood or Boston, with 
 the exception of one son who was only an 
 
MATURE YEARS. 267 
 
 hour away in Lawrence. But Mary, who 
 with her husband, Dr. Amory, and her child 
 lived near by, was in and out of the house 
 continually. Her handsome, bright face and 
 cheery laugh were likely to break in upon 
 the quiet homestead at any moment. In her 
 girlhood, Mr. Lawrence had written of her 
 with perfect truth : " She is truthful, con 
 scientious, kind to all, and I trust sincerely 
 religious. Everything she does affords me 
 pleasure, because she does it cheerfully and 
 as though it were her duty. Her religion 
 seems to be of a practical and at the same 
 time of a cheerful kind." 
 
 And yet though he was so easily depressed 
 by the slight illness of a child, or by his own 
 indisposition, he was one of those who seem 
 to take the heavy blows with perfect equa 
 nimity. 
 
 From the first hour of her short illness un 
 til months after her death, a stranger would 
 never have guessed the anguish in his heart. 
 He was as calm as she in the face of death, 
 and with composure prayed with her as she 
 was dying. After all was over, he was more 
 than ever tender and gracious in meeting 
 every one ; as was his habit he continued 
 to whistle unconsciously as he worked and 
 
268 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 walked, and on the day of the funeral began 
 again his routine of calls. After the ser 
 vices in the church in which she had worked 
 and for which she had devoted some of her 
 best energies, her body was laid to rest in 
 Forest Hills. But Mr. Lawrence seemed to 
 take the spirit of her life with him, as he 
 wrote on his return : " Dear Mary : dear, 
 good, lovely, and loving daughter, may you 
 rest in the dear Saviour s arms, and may we 
 follow the example of your good life, until 
 we too are called to meet you in heaven. 
 God grant this for Jesus sake." 
 
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XV. 
 
 LAST YEARS. 
 
 1882-1886. 
 
 IT will be remembered that Mr. Lawrence 
 had entered business for himself, and by his 
 own ability had reached his present position. 
 In the mean time the old firm of A. & A. 
 Lawrence & Co. had dissolved and their 
 large business had been distributed among 
 different firms. The largest selling agency, 
 that of the Pacific Mills, had been given to 
 Messrs. James L. Little & Co., who in 1882 
 resigned the charge. It was with great sat 
 isfaction that Mr. Lawrence learned that the 
 directors of the Pacific Mills had offered the 
 agency to his firm of Lawrence & Co., for it 
 was the indorsement by those best able to 
 judge of his own business capacity and suc 
 cess, and it was a fitting climax to his mer 
 cantile life. Moreover, a return of this 
 great agency to the family was significant of 
 their ability to handle it. 
 
270 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 His record is characteristic. 
 "January 6, 1883. The Pacific Mills 
 Corporation, through its directors (all of 
 whom signed the proposition), have offered 
 to my firm the direction of their vast busi 
 ness, the largest in the United States. May 
 God direct us to a right decision ; and if we 
 undertake it, may He give us success and 
 wisdom to use the results in his service, and 
 not in selfish gratification ; so that we, and 
 our children after us, may not be damaged 
 by it. Amen." 
 
 It required courage to assume, at his age, 
 new and heavy responsibilities, and to reor 
 ganize the firm by calling in new partners ; 
 but with the help of his son he undertook it, 
 throwing off the smaller selling agencies and 
 retaining only the Cocheco and Salmon Falls 
 with the Pacific. 
 
 Other new philanthropic interests gave 
 him thought and work. At this time he 
 realized more than ever the evils of the liq 
 uor traffic, and its baneful effects in poli 
 tics and social life; and he threw himself 
 with much activity into several forms of 
 temperance work, especially the Law and 
 Order League. 
 
 Utah was also drawing the attention of 
 
LAST YEARS. 271 
 
 the people through the efforts of Congress 
 to suppress Mormonism. Here seemed to 
 be another opportunity, by self - sacrificing 
 immigration, to fill Utah with Christian citi 
 zens and to free the Territory from the curse, 
 as Kansas was freed from slavery a genera 
 tion ago. Mr. Eli Thayer, Mr. Branscomb 
 (one of the first Kansas agents), the Rev. 
 Edward Everett Hale, Mr. Williams, and 
 other Kansas veterans, now joined forces 
 again, organized, obtained a charter, and at 
 the expense of Mr. Lawrence sent out scouts 
 to Utah to study the country and the op 
 portunities for an emigrant crusade. It was 
 touching to see these men, now old if not 
 infirm, calling others together in Mr. Law 
 rence s parlor to polish again their rusty in 
 struments of patriotic emigration for this 
 campaign. But it was of no use. The im 
 mediate reason for dropping the scheme was 
 the discovery that the Mormons had posses 
 sion of all the available farming land ; but 
 in fact a new generation had risen, the 
 moral enthusiasm and the crisis were want 
 ing, and the leaders were men who could 
 never again rouse the energies of the rising- 
 life as they had in Kansas days. The work, 
 however, gave Mr. Lawrence many busy and 
 happy hours. 
 
272 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 In September, 1883, the last wedding took 
 place from Longwood. Mr. Lawrence wrote 
 on the day of the wedding : "Our last un 
 married child has left us. All have homes 
 of their own. God be praised for his good 
 ness to us ! Henceforth, 4 forgetting those 
 things which are behind, let us reach forth 
 unto those things which are before, and 
 press toward the mark of the prize of the 
 high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Dear 
 wife ! dear children ! how my heart goes 
 out to you all! Let us rejoice evermore." 
 
 "September 30. My dear wife Sarah 
 and I are now living in our house alone, as 
 when we were first married. Dear, good 
 wife she has been to me, the light of my 
 life and my chief worldly support. May we 
 live together hereafter forever! But our 
 house does seem lonely with all our children 
 gone out of it. God alone can support and 
 cheer us now, near life s end. To Him I 
 look for light to illumine the darkness which 
 deepens as years increase." 
 
 He tried to drive away the sense of loneli 
 ness with renewed calls. He became a Vis 
 itor of the Associated Charities in Roxbury, 
 and went about among the sick neighbors. 
 Many afternoons were passed like this: 
 
LAST YEARS. 273 
 
 " Very cold wind. Walked to Brookline ; 
 called on Moses Kimball (74), hurt on 
 railroad, very bright and cheerful. Called 
 on old Madame Wakefield (90). She em 
 braced me. Deaf and failing, but still 
 strong ; poor old woman. To Brother Wil 
 liam s as usual. Dined at six o clock." 
 
 But his mental depression and sensitive 
 nerves reacted on each other. He writes : 
 " December 20. Neuralgia. Pain, pain ; 
 sinking of the heart for many days and 
 nights. Father in heaven, put under me 
 thy everlasting arms, and sustain me and 
 comfort me." 
 
 Thinking that the society of friends and 
 children in Boston would cheer him, he and 
 Mrs. Lawrence lived for three or four 
 months in the house of their daughter, who 
 was in Europe for her health, and here, 
 with his friends, James S. Amory, Robert 
 C. Winthrop, William R. Robeson, Dr. 
 Hodges, and others, as near neighbors, and 
 with children and relatives frequently call 
 ing, he passed the time happily. 
 
 He was now able to renew his attendance 
 at the Thursday Evening Club, and the 
 Massachusetts Historical Society, of which 
 he had been a member for many years. 
 
274 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 For thirty years it had been his unfulfilled 
 expectation to visit Kansas, to see the places 
 and the people so familiar by name, and the 
 university which his bounty had founded. 
 After declining many urgent invitations 
 from Governor Robinson and the hospitable 
 citizens, he at last, in 1884, made the journey. 
 He looked for a quiet visit, such as his health 
 would endure, but the reception was so gen 
 erous and overwhelming that it was too 
 much for his sympathies, and, for fear lest 
 he should break down altogether, he beat a 
 hasty retreat from the grateful people. 
 
 The spring of 1884 had brought its har 
 vest of deaths of the aged, among them his 
 business associate of forty-one years, Mr. 
 Mather, whose regularity at the office had 
 hardly suggested to others the thought of 
 age. Mr. James S. Amory had also dropped 
 from the ranks of his dearest friends. 
 
 During the summer, Mr. Lawrence still 
 rode his mare " Pet " along the rocky shores 
 of Nahant, though his eyesight was failing ; 
 and, as he wrote on his seventy-first birth 
 day, " Sarah, my dear, devoted wife, remains 
 to be my companion and helper, the guar 
 dian angel of my house and of my heart. 
 Though she and I are left alone in our house, 
 
LAST YEARS. 275 
 
 it is because our children have made happy 
 homes of their own, and the eldest, our dear 
 Mary, has, we trust, a happier home in the 
 heavens." 
 
 Another year of the same routine, short 
 business hours, long drives, short rides, many 
 calls and letters of sympathy to others, passed 
 away. He retired from some duties, such 
 as the position on the Board of Trustees of 
 the Episcopal Theological School, and the 
 Overseers of Harvard College. He met the 
 old Class of 35 for the last time at Com 
 mencement, as he writes : 
 
 " June 25. Fiftieth Anniversary of our 
 graduation at Cambridge. Twenty-one sur 
 vivors of our class met in Hoi worthy. Some 
 had not met for fifty years. Dear old boys ! 
 How cheery they were! Boys over again. 
 I thank God for having spared my life so 
 long. More than half of our whole number 
 (fifty-eight) have gone on before. To-day 
 there were present E. Appleton, C. Y. 
 Bemis, H. G. O. Blake, John Carr of Vir 
 ginia, whom we had not seen for fifty years, 
 J. H. Elliot, Charles H. Gates, J. L. Good- 
 ridge, E. R. Hoar, W. Ingalls, J. Alsop 
 King (fifty years nearly). A. A. Lawrence, 
 H. Lyon, C. W. Palfrey, Charles H. Parker, 
 
276 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 W. R. Robeson, C. C. Shackford, C. W. 
 Storey, F. M. Weld, B. H. West. 
 
 " There were living, but not there, W. H. 
 Allen (off West ; he wrote a good letter) ; 
 J. S. Beal (fading out at Kingston) ; W. F. 
 Frick, Baltimore (he ought to have come) ; 
 F. Jones ; Edward Lander (in Washing 
 ton) ; L. Stephens; N. L. White; F. E. 
 White (very ill) ; Samuel Willard (sick 
 and blind). There was a plenty to eat and 
 drink, all of which was furnished by E. R. 
 Hoar. We were joyous for a while, but sad 
 when we reflected that this is the last meet 
 ing on earth for most of us. 
 
 "After our meeting in Hoi worthy, we 
 joined the procession of graduates to Me 
 morial Hall. J. Russell Lowell and others 
 made speeches, Choate of New York pre 
 sided, Hoar answered for our class. God 
 bless the dear old boys for the remnant of 
 their days." 
 
 For two or three years his brother Wil 
 liam s health had been failing, and instead 
 of the morning call in Longwood of Wil 
 liam upon Amos, and the return call at sun 
 set, there was now only the sunset call. 
 After dusk on the winter evenings, Amos, 
 
LAST YEARS. 277 
 
 with imperfect vision, would slowly make his 
 way over the familiar path to William s 
 house ; and then the brothers, with one hand 
 on the other s knee, would talk over the lit 
 tle family matters, recount their blessings, 
 and confirm each other in their faith, while 
 an occasional laugh would reveal the fact 
 that behind the feeble voice of the invalid 
 was a witty mind and genial heart. 
 
 It was one of the pleasures of Nahant that 
 Mr. Lawrence was within driving distance 
 of his brother, who always passed the sum 
 mer at Swampscott. But in the summer of 
 1885 the drives to Swampscott were sad 
 ones ; for William was slowly sinking, and 
 was able only at times to " whisper that he 
 had company always, for the angel of the 
 Lord encampeth round about them that fear 
 Him, and delivereth them." 
 
 On the 20th of September he peacefully 
 fell asleep, and three days later his body was 
 taken from the memorial church at Long- 
 wood to Mount Auburn. 
 
 His brother, the last surviving member of 
 his father s family, returned to Waban Farm 
 to write : " Farewell, dear brother, until we 
 meet again in the presence of God and his 
 
278 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 angels, and of those whom we have loved and 
 who have gone before." 
 
 Again followed the routine-calls upon the 
 sick, with the day s text, " Be of good cour 
 age, and He shall strengthen your heart ; " 
 sleepless nights after days of depression ; 
 and in spite of rapidly increasing blindness, 
 horseback rides, and activities in many inter 
 ests. On Thanksgiving Day there was the 
 usual family gathering. " We played games, 
 we older ones joined in them all ; blind man s 
 buff, puss in the corner, contra-dance, etc. 
 My heart was very sad, but I concealed it." 
 With Christmas comes the thought : " There 
 can be but few more Christmas Days for me 
 on earth, for the lights are fading out for 
 me ; my sight has become dim with the eye 
 which remains ; the other sees not at all." 
 
 Three weeks later he records : 
 
 " January 18, 1886. My dear wife tells me, 
 before we are up, of the decision to operate 
 on my eye at once. Dr. Derby was here yes 
 terday and advised it. Dr. Hodges came 
 this morning. God my Father give me forti 
 tude to bear it all, and faith in his goodness 
 now and evermore." 
 
 The next day the operation took place suc 
 cessfully. Mr. Lawrence met the trial with 
 
LAST YEARS. 279 
 
 great calmness, and endured the darkness 
 of several weeks with patience. His first 
 thought, a few minutes after the operation, 
 was to have two checks sent to the Blind 
 Asylum and to an industrial school. 
 
 The calls of his many friends and of his 
 children gave him great comfort. And he 
 was particularly happy in the companion 
 ship of his friend and classmate, Charles H. 
 Gates, who from this time devoted himself 
 to Mr. Lawrence ; walking, driving, and 
 reading with him. 
 
 As soon as he was able to go out, he was 
 so anxious to call upon all those who, during 
 his confinement, had been sick or afflicted, 
 that the strain on his sympathies had to be 
 checked by the doctor. Nevertheless the 
 pen of his wife or of Mr. Gates was set to 
 work on messages of sympathy. 
 
 The early summer was passed in visits to 
 his children at their summer places in Bev 
 erly, Medford, and Newport, and then came 
 the quiet of Nahant. The days were bright 
 ened by increasing clearness of vision, and 
 by the restoration to health of his youngest 
 daughter, who had been three years an in 
 valid and away from home. 
 
 Sharp pains across the chest, and an in- 
 
280 AMOS A. LAWR.ENCE. 
 
 creasing inability to walk, cramped his activ 
 ity. His birthday passed with the record : 
 
 " Seventy-two. Sustain me, O God ! dur 
 ing what remains to me of life. Enable me 
 to be still of some use in this world. Give 
 me courage to live cheerfully and to do my 
 duty, to be helpful to my dear wife, who is so 
 helpful to me, and to my dear children and 
 grand-children. 
 
 With a daughter and her family next door, 
 and guests within and friends all about, he 
 followed his routine of life, going to his office 
 in Boston two or three times a week. " This 
 text," he wrote, " has helped me much: Let 
 us not be weary in well-doing, for in due 
 season we shall reap if we faint not. 
 
 On Sunday, August 22, he, his wife, and 
 Mr. Gates formed the family in the house 
 where ten or twelve young people used to sit 
 at table. The day before, his friends, Dr. 
 and Mrs. Slade, had left after a short visit. 
 In the morning he went to church as usual, 
 when, as he wrote his son later, " the 
 preacher was a bright man, they say. Mr. 
 Beal said his sermon was very powerful. 
 Gates wondered what it was about. I tried 
 hard to admire it and be benefited by it, 
 but think the air must have been poor in the 
 church." 
 
LAST YEARS. 281 
 
 But his heart was heavy with the sad 
 downfall of a friend and neighbor whom he 
 had lately visited in sympathy. He was 
 restless and could think of nothing else; 
 " sad, sad," he wrote and felt that afternoon. 
 However, as usual, he made some calls and 
 then walked home to tea. His son-in-law 
 came in, and again the sad subject was 
 touched upon ; soon the last visitor had gone 
 and the house was closed. He went up-stairs 
 to his room, lighted his candle, and then a 
 heavy thud upon the floor warned his wife 
 that he had fallen. Before she could reach 
 him the life had departed ; the heart which, 
 through many active years, had beaten so 
 strong in sympathy, was worn out and had 
 ceased to do its work. 
 
 Thirty-four years before his father had 
 fallen asleep just as suddenly and as peace 
 fully, and in his journal Mr. Lawrence had 
 then recorded : " May God grant to me as 
 peaceful a release from this body as was 
 granted to him! God of my fathers, help 
 me to live a holy life ; help me by my ex 
 ample to lead those who look up to me in 
 the heavenly life." 
 
 His prayer was answered in life and death. 
 On the 25th of August, less than a year 
 
282 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 
 after his brother s death, the church which 
 they had built was crowded with relatives, 
 friends, and citizens, rich antl poor. 
 
 The funeral service was read by the Rev. 
 R. H. Howe, the rector of the church, and 
 by Mr. Lawrence s nephew, the Rev. Arthur 
 Lawrence. The body was carried from the 
 church by eight nephews, and was then borne 
 through Cambridge and by Lawrence Hall 
 to Mount Auburn, where it was laid to rest 
 in the Lawrence lot. Over it was placed a 
 stone cut with a text of his own choice : " Be 
 of good courage, and He shall strengthen 
 your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord." 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ABBOTT, Captain E. G., 180. 
 
 Abbott, J. B., 97, 100. 
 
 Abbott, Josiah G., 193. 
 
 Abbott, Major H L., 193. 
 
 Adams, Amos, 4. 
 
 Adams, John Quincy, 19, 20. 
 
 Agassiz Museum, 159-161. 
 
 Agassiz, Professor, 158-161, 196. 
 
 Alabama, 28. 
 
 Alrny, Patterson & Co., 26. 
 
 Amory, Dr. R., 267- 
 
 Amory, James S., 157, 212, 241, 
 
 273, 274. 
 
 Andover, 6, 9, 13, 16-18, 244. 
 Andrew, Governor John A., 156, 
 
 169, 170, 178, 184, 188, 189. 
 Appleton Chapel, 157. 
 Appletou, Marianne, 55. 
 Appleton, Nathan, 124, 150. 
 Appleton, Samuel, 71. 
 Appleton, Sarah Elizabeth, 49, 
 
 59. 
 
 Appleton, Thomas G., 218. 
 Appleton, William, 49, 137, 151, 
 
 159, 171, 211. 
 Appleton in Wisconsin, 58, 71 ; 
 
 university in, 71, 118. 
 April 19, 1775, 1 ; anniversary of, 
 
 148. 
 
 Arlington Mills, 249. 
 Ashland Mills, 248. 
 Associated Charities, 272. 
 Association of Knit Goods Man 
 ufacturers, 249. 
 Atchisou, David R., 89. 
 Athlone on Lake Ree, 43. 
 Atlantic telegraph, 149. 
 Auction sale of negroes, 163. 
 Aunts Eliza and Mary, 4-6, 220, 
 
 245. 
 
 Baltimore, 171. 
 
 Banks, Governor, 137, 143, 154, 
 155. 160. 
 
 Bartlett, General William F., 204. 
 
 Beal, J. H., 280. 
 
 Beaufort, 201. 
 
 Bedford, 13, 15, 66, 236. 
 
 Beecher, Rev. Mr., 253. 
 
 Beggars, 31, 162. 
 
 Bell, John, 156. 
 
 Belmont, August, 200, 201. 
 
 Benton, T. H., 86. 
 
 Beverly, 279. 
 
 Bigelow, Dr. Jacob, 160, 161. 
 
 Bigelow, Judge G. T., 158. 
 
 Blind Asylum, 279. 
 
 Border life, 28. 
 
 Boston, Old England, 41. 
 
 Boston, riot in, 32. 
 
 Bowditch, Dr. J. Ingersoll, 230, 
 232. 
 
 Bowditch, William I., 189. 
 
 Bradley s Hill, 156. 
 
 Branscomb, C. H., 82, 114, 271. 
 
 Brattle House, Cambridge, 173. 
 
 Breckinridge, J. C., 156, 167. 
 
 Brookline town meeting, 171. 
 
 Brooks, assailant of Sunnier, 141. 
 
 Brougham, Lord, 41. 
 
 Brown, John, 122-136, 138; hia 
 wife, 129, 132. 
 
 Brown, John Carter, 81, 85. 
 
 Buchanan, President, 105, 106, 
 165, 166. 
 
 Buford, General, 197. 
 
 Bunker Hill, 2. 
 
 Bunker Hill Monument Associa 
 tion, 251. 
 
 Burnham, John A., 244. 
 
 Burns, Anthony, 75. 
 
 Cabot, Dr. Samuel, 97, 102, 106. 
 Calhoun, J. C., 20. 
 California, 188. 
 
 Cambridge, 2, 152, 154, 157, 172 f 
 173. 
 
284 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Carroll of Carrollton, 74. 
 
 Gary, Captain, 180. 
 
 Cass, Secretary, 1G5. 
 
 Cavalry, 183, 186, 197. 
 
 Cedar Creek, 198. 
 
 Chaiming, Dr., 33. 
 
 Chase, Secretary, 176, 196. 
 
 Chauncy Place, 6. 
 
 Chestnut Hill Reservoir, 217. 
 
 Chever, Captain, 260. 
 
 Christmas, 150, 151, 278. 
 
 Church Congress, 233. 
 
 Church, reconciliation of, 238 ; 
 at Longwood, 240, 241 : at Na- 
 haut, 239 ; St. Paul s, Boston, 
 33, 55-57, 233, 240; St. Paul s, 
 Brookline, 233. 
 
 Cider, 147, 261. 
 
 Clapp, Mrs., 265. 
 
 Clay, Henry, 19. 
 
 Cleveland, Henry, 18. 
 
 Clifford, ex-Governor, 159. 
 
 Cocheco Company, 50, 51, 247, 
 270. 
 
 Commonwealth Avenue, 62. 
 
 Concord, 1, 17. 
 
 Cooke, Dr. Edward, 72. 
 
 Coolidge, Dr., 175. 
 
 Corey s Hill, 149, 153. 
 
 Cottage Farm, 60, 193, 216, 217, 
 235. 
 
 Crawford, 37. 
 
 Cricket, 153. 
 
 Crittenden, Senator, 174. 
 
 Crockett, David, 19. 
 
 Crowninshield, Lieutenant-Colo 
 nel Caspar, 186, 199. 
 
 dishing, Caleb, 134. 
 
 Dahlgren, Paul, 192. 
 Dale, Surgeon General, 260. 
 Dana, Samuel T., 196. 
 Dana, C. Susan, 35. 
 Dauphin, the lost, 68, 69. 
 Davis, Jefferson, 136. 
 Derby, Dr., 278. 
 Derby, Martha C., 265. 
 Devens, U. S. Marshal, 75. 
 Donaldson, Major, 18. 
 Douglas, Senator, 154, 156. 
 Drill, military, 32, 168, 169, 171, 
 
 172. 
 Duffy, the blacksmith, 148, 213. 
 
 Eastburn, Bishop, 234. 
 Eliot, C. W., 232. 
 Emancipation proclamation, 180, 
 189. 
 
 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 31. 
 Emigrants to Kansas, 81, 82, 85, 
 
 91, 94, 102, 122. 
 Episcopal City Mission Chapel, 
 
 54. 
 Episcopal Theological School, 
 
 241-245, 275. 
 Everett, Edward, 134, 154, 161, 
 
 166. 
 
 Factory girls, procession of, 18. 
 
 Faiieuil Hall, 134. 
 
 Felton, President, 154, 155, 160, 
 
 161, 196. 
 
 Flags, delivery of, 206. 
 Florence, letter from, 39. 
 Forbes, John M., 186, 189. 
 Forbes, William H., 186. 
 Fort Moultrie, 1G5 ; Pinckney, 
 
 165 ; Warren, 178. 
 Fox River Valley, Wisconsin, 69, 
 
 71. 
 
 Francis, Dr., 214. 
 Francis, Ebenezer, 60. 
 Franklin Academy, Andover, 6, 
 
 8. 
 
 Free State settlers, 102, 122. 
 Free States, prosperity of, 180. 
 Frye, John, 260. 
 Fugitive Slave Law, 73. 
 Funerals, 180, 197, 262, 268, 277, 
 
 282. 
 
 Gadsby s Hotel, 20, 21. 
 
 Gardiner, Major, 184. 
 
 Gardner, Governor, 161. 
 
 Gates, Charles H., 18, 275, 279, 
 280. 
 
 Geary, Governor, 119, 124. 
 
 Georgia, 28, 195. 
 
 Gilmanton Mills, 248. 
 
 Goodwin, Captain, 180. 
 
 Grant, General, 194. 
 
 Gray. Horace, 196. 
 
 Green, Henry A., 193. 
 
 Green, Dr. Samuel A., 246, 262- 
 264. 
 
 Green, Mrs. (Aunt Eliza), 261. 
 
 Greene, Mr., 37. 
 
 Griswold, Bishop, 55, 234. 
 
 Griswold, Colonel, 193. 
 
 Groton, 1, 4, 215, 260, 264 ; Acad 
 emy, 2; homestead, 4, 5, 66, 
 147, 263, 2C4. 
 
 Guild, Mrs., 225, 226. 
 
 Hale, Charles, 160. 
 
 Hale, Rev. Edward Everett, 271. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 285 
 
 Hallowell, Lieutenant - Colonel, 
 190. 
 
 Hallowell, Morris L., 189. 
 
 Hallowell, Richard P., 189. 
 
 Harper s Ferry, 123, 130, 131, 
 136, 138. 
 
 H \rrison, General, 27. 
 
 Harvard College, 11 ; rebellion 
 in, 12 ; class meetings, 154, 
 275 ; presidents, 154, 1G1 ; com 
 mencement, 154; inauguration 
 of president, 154, 155; libra 
 rian, 254 ; alumni, 230, 231 ; 
 religious influences at, 242. 
 
 Haven, Hon. S. G., 110. 
 
 Hazard, Peter, 147, 202, 2G3. 
 
 Hazard, Lucy, 2G3. 
 
 Henson, Father, 74. 
 
 Hichborn, Mr., 257. 
 
 Higginson, Rev. Mr., 106. 
 
 Hoar, E. Rockwood, 145, 159, 
 160, 275, 276. 
 
 Hodges, Dr. R. M., 273, 278. 
 
 Holmes, Dr. O. W., 161. 
 
 Home for Aged Men, 251. 
 
 Hooper, S., 195, 196. 
 
 Hopkins, President, 67, 234, 235. 
 
 Howe, Rev. R. H., 282. 
 
 Hughes, Tom, 258. 
 
 Huntington, Rev. Dr., 142, 160. 
 
 Inscriptions on library, 203, 204. 
 Ipswich, mill at, 247, 248. 
 Ireland, 43, 44. 
 Italy, sketch of, 39, 40. 
 
 Jackson, Patrick, 78. 
 
 Jackson, President, 17, 18, 21, 
 
 22 
 
 Jarvis Field, 215. 
 Johnson, Andrew, 174. 
 Joy, J. D. W., 51. 
 
 Kansas, 75-80, 86, 88; election 
 in, 92, 93 ; rifles for, 95, 97, 98, 
 135 ; invasion from Missouri, 
 99, 107 ; not to resist the au 
 thority of the United States, 
 103, 104 ; freedom assured, 111, 
 112 ; education in, 115, 117, 
 119, 121 ; visit to, 274. 
 
 Kansas City, Missouri, 84, 87. 
 
 Kansas River, 82. 
 
 Kentucky, 174. 
 
 Kimball, Moses, 273. 
 
 King, Colonel, 205. 
 
 Knit goods, American, 247-249. 
 
 Kossuth, 62. 
 
 Lawrence, A. & A., 3, 29, 269. 
 Lawrence, Abbott, 3, 210. 
 Lawrence, Amory A., 257. 
 Lawrence, Amos, 3, 4, 34, 66, 67, 
 
 69, 136, 264. 
 
 Lawrence, Amos Adams, birth 
 and name, 4 ; Groton, 4, 5, 6 ; 
 school troubles and resources, 
 6, 7, 8; character in boyhood, 
 9, 12 ; resolutions, 10 ; college, 
 11 ; rustication, 13 ; Bedford, 
 13, 15 ; Andover, 13, 16 ; visits 
 Washington, 18-22; plan of 
 life, 23, 24; journey through 
 the West and South, 26-29; 
 begins business life, 30 ; even 
 ing occupations, 31 ; service 
 as fireman, 32 ; military duty, 
 32 ; drill, 32, 33 ; religion, 33, 
 34; European letters, 36-48; 
 Rome, 36 ; Florence, 39 ; Eng 
 land, 41 ; Ireland, 44 ; Father 
 Mathew, 44, 45, 47 ; marriage, 
 49; Mason & Lawrence, 50; 
 business habits, 51 ; success, 
 52 ; charitable and public in 
 terests, 53, 54 ; letter to Prof. 
 Sales, 54 ; confirmation, 55 ; 
 Sunday-school work, 56; letters 
 to William Le Baron, 57, 59 ; 
 business responsibilities, 57, 
 58 ; Cottage Farm, GO, 61, 62 ; 
 athletics, 63, 64; sleep, 65; 
 Lynn, 66 ; deaths of his sister 
 and brother Robert, 66 ; death 
 of his father, 67, 68; invest 
 ment in Wisconsin lands, G9, 
 70; establishes a college in 
 Appleton, Wisconsin, 71, 72 ; 
 position on the slavery ques 
 tion, 73-7G ; connection with 
 emigrant aid companies, 78-87; 
 letter to Mr. Benton, 8G; to 
 Mr. Atchison, 89 ; to President 
 Pierce, 92, 95, 104; purchase 
 of rifles for Kansas sufferers, 
 95-98, 106 ; letters to Dr. Rob 
 inson, 96, 100, 103 ; letter to a 
 Quaker, 108 ; to a citizen of 
 Kansas, 109, 111 ; efforts for 
 release of Dr. Robinson, 110, 
 111 ; work in saving Kansas to 
 freedom, 113, 114 ; connection 
 with education in Kansas, J 15 
 -121 ; acquaintance with John 
 Brown, 122-130, 138 ; extracts 
 from journal, 131-134 ; letters 
 to Governor Wise, and Jeffer- 
 
286 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 eon Davis, 134, 13G; politics, 
 139, 140, 144; nominated for 
 Governor, 140, 145 ; reception 
 of Mr. Sumner, 141, 142, 143 ; 
 his children, 147 ; visits to the 
 old homestead, 147 ; relaxa 
 tions, 148, 149, 150; extracts 
 from journal, 148-1G5 ; treas 
 urer of Harvard College, 157 ; 
 interest in the foundation of 
 the Agassiz Museum, 158-1G1 ; 
 journey in the South, 1G3, 1G4 ; 
 at Washington as one of a 
 committee, 1GG, 167; speech 
 on Washington s birthday, 
 1G7 ; organizes drill clubs, 1G8, 
 1G9, 171, 172 ; active days, 172, 
 173 ; otter of service, 17G, 177 ; 
 letter to Robert M. Mason, 
 179 ; Second Regiment of Cav 
 alry, 184-189 ; interest in the 
 first colored regiment, 190; 
 letters to his wife, and his 
 cousin, 191, 192 ; journal ex 
 tracts, 193-197; mention of 
 his mother, 19G ; notice of 
 Col. Lowell s death, 197; letter 
 to New York Times, 200; 
 prayer at close of the year, 
 201 ; inscriptions on library, 
 203, 204 ; letter to Mr. Mason, 
 204 ; final war scene, 20G ; in 
 creasing years, 207, 208 ; letter 
 to his uncle, 209, 210 ; daily 
 habits, 212, 213; interest in 
 town improvements, 214, 215 ; 
 correction of public annoy 
 ances, 215, 21 G ; improvement 
 of Cottage Farm, 216, 217; 
 home at Waban Farm, 217; 
 life at Nahant, 217, 218,219; 
 letter to his son, 219 ; training 
 of his children, 221-225 ; letter 
 to a niece, 225 ; opinions on 
 education of women, 227 ; 
 treatment of servants, 227 ; 
 sense of kinship, 227 ; brother 
 ly affection, 228, 229; inter 
 ested in erection of Memorial 
 Hall, Cambridge, 230-233 ; re 
 ligious and church life, 233 ; re 
 gard for ministers, 233-236 ; 
 avoidance of sectarianism, 236- 
 238 ; letter to his daughter, 
 238 ; connection with church at 
 Nahant, 239 ; church at Long- 
 wood, 240, 241; Episcopal Theo 
 logical School, 241-245 ; health, 
 
 246, 254 ; a summer in Europe, 
 246 ; a manufacturer, 247-249 ; 
 business habits, 250, 251 ; public 
 interests, 251 ; lending money. 
 252, 253 ; favorite form of be 
 neficence, 253, 254 ; letters of 
 advice, 254, 255 ; marriages -of 
 his children, 255; illness in 
 his family, 256 ; visits to sick 
 neighbors, 256, 257; failing 
 eyesight, 257, 264, 266; in 
 terest in the Rugby experi 
 ment, 258 ; overseer of Harvard 
 College, 258 ; views on taxing 
 property of women, 258-260 ; 
 memories of Andover and Gro- 
 ton, 260; letter to his aunt, 
 261 ; description of country 
 funeral, 262, 263 ; out-of-door 
 life, 264 ; visits, 265 ; sorrows, 
 26C-2G8 ; new business respon 
 sibilities, 269, 270; philan 
 thropic interests, 270, 271; 
 sense of loneliness, 272 ; visits, 
 273 ; journey to Kansas, 274 ; 
 death of friends, 274 ; meeting 
 of college class, 275, 276 ; death 
 of his brother, 277 ; operation 
 for cataract, 278, 279 ; the last 
 Sunday, 280, 281 ; his death, 
 281 ; the funeral, 282. 
 
 Lawrence, Mrs. Amos A., 60, 155, 
 191, 221, 240, 256, 272. 280, 281. 
 
 Lawrence, Amos Amory, 249. 
 
 Lawrence, Arthur, 171, 201, 282. 
 
 Lawrence, Frank, 201. 
 
 Lawrence, James, 159, 232, 264. 
 
 Lawrence, John, 4. 
 
 Lawrence, Luther, 3. 
 
 Lawrence, Mary (Mrs. Amory), 
 124, 148, 193, 194, 26G-2G8, 275. 
 
 Lawrence, Robert M., 66. 
 
 Lawrence, Samuel, Corporal and 
 Major, 1, 2. 
 
 Lawrence, Samuel, 3. 
 
 Lawrence, Susan, 34, 66. 
 
 Lawrence, William, 3, 210. 
 
 Lawrence, William R.,32,33, 35, 
 68, 151, 228, 229, 240, 276, 277. 
 
 Lawrence, Kansas, 84, 99, 107, 
 117, 121. 
 
 Lawrence, Massachusetts, 4. 
 
 Lawrence Hall, Cambridge, 243- 
 245. 
 
 Lawrence University, Wisconsin, 
 72, 237. 
 
 Le Baron, William, 57, 59, 255. 
 
 Le Couipte, Judge, 107. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 287 
 
 Lee, General surrender of, 
 
 203. 
 L 9 e, Henry, 155, 170, 183, 230, 
 
 232. 
 
 Letters, European, 36. 
 Lexington, anniversary of battle, 
 
 .148. 
 
 Liberia, 53, 74. 
 Lincoln, ex-Governor, 134. 
 Lincoln, President, 15G, 200, 203, 
 
 204. 
 
 Little, James L. & Co., 209. 
 Longfellow, Professor, 124, 142, 
 
 159, 195, 218. 
 Longwood, 00, G7, 147, 212, 216, 
 
 229, 239, 272. 
 Loring, Rev. Bailey, 9. 
 Loring, Charles G., 230. 
 Lothrop, Dr., 33, 69, 234. 
 Lowell, Jackson s visit to, 18. 
 Lowell, Charles R., 185-188, 197- 
 
 199. 
 
 Lowell, J. A., 159. 
 Lowell, J. Russell, 276. 
 Lyman, Theodore, 231. 
 Lynn, 66, 108 ; bay, 218. 
 
 Marion, 155. 
 
 Mason & Lawrence, 50. 
 
 Mason, Charles, 34, 35 ; wife of, 
 
 66. 
 
 Mason, Jeremiah, 34. 
 Mason, Philip, 195. 
 Mason, Robert M., 35, 50, 51, 
 
 151, 179, 204, 243. 
 Massachusetts, 174, 186. 
 Massachusetts Emigrants Aid 
 
 Association, 78. 
 Massachusetts General Hospital, 
 
 53. 
 Massachusetts Historical Society, 
 
 25, 273. 
 Massachusetts Hospital Life 
 
 Company, 251. 
 
 Massachusetts Society for Pro 
 moting Agriculture, 251. 
 Massachusetts Society of the Cin 
 cinnati, 251. 
 Massachusetts Soldiers Fund, 
 
 174. 
 
 Mather, Henry B., 51, 274. 
 Mathew, Father, 44-48, 234. 
 M-Clellan, General, 185. 
 M?Ilvaine, Bishop of Ohio, 54. 
 McLean Asylum, 53. 
 McPherson, General, 196. 
 Meade, General, 193. 
 Medford, 279. 
 
 Melbourne, Lord, 42. 
 Memorial Hall, 172, 231-233. 
 Merrimac, The, 3. 
 Methodists, 70,71,260. 
 Miles, Major Charles H., 202. 
 Milldam, The, 60, 62, 213. 
 Mills, Mrs. James K., 265. 
 Missouri, 77, 89, 94, 95, 98. 
 Mormouism, 271. 
 Morton, Dr., 162. 
 Motley, Mrs. Lothrop, 124. 
 Mudge, E. R., 231. 
 
 Nahant, 66, 195, 196, 217-219, 
 225, 235, 239, 274, 276, 279. 
 
 National Association of Cotton 
 Manufacturers and Planters, 
 249. 
 
 Nebraska, 75, 79. 
 
 New England Emigrant Aid Com 
 pany, 79, 80, 92, 94, 102, 106, 
 108, 113. 
 
 New England Trust Company, 
 251. 
 
 Newport, 181, 279. 
 
 New York Times, The, 200. 
 
 Nichols, Mrs., 102. 
 
 Norfolk Navy Yard, 171. 
 
 North Carolina, 179. 
 
 North Elba, 129, 134. 
 
 Nute, Rev. Mr., 117, 119. 
 
 Ohio, 27. 
 
 Osgood, Captain, 9. 
 
 Osgood, Rev. Dr., 155. 
 
 Osawatomie, Kansas, 109, 124, 
 
 128, 130, 131. 
 Pacific Mills, 269, 270. 
 Packard, Professor, 80, 234. 
 Paddock, Bishop, 235. 
 Paducah, 28. 
 Paige, J. W., 196. 
 Palfrey, Dr., 234. 
 Papanti, 186. 
 Parker, F. E., 153, 154. 
 Parker, Judge Joel, 155. 
 Parker, Susanna, 1, 2. 
 Peabody, Dr., 234. 
 Peirce, Professor Benjamin, 196. 
 Pemberton Mill, 163. 
 Pemberton Square, 49, 56, 173. 
 Perkins, Lieutenant, 181. 
 Perry, Dr., 142. 
 Philadelphia, 19. 
 Photograph, 161. 
 Pierce, Franklin, 21, 22, 67, 88, 
 
 92, 95, 98, 103, 104, 107, 111, 
 
 137. 
 
286 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 eon Davis, 134, 13G; politics, 
 139, 140, 144; nominated for 
 Governor, 140, 145 ; reception 
 of Mr. Sunnier, 141, 142, 143 ; 
 his children, 147 ; visits to the 
 old homestead, 147 ; relaxa 
 tions, 148, 149, 150; extracts 
 from journal, 148-1G5 ; treas 
 urer of Harvard College, 157 ; 
 interest in the foundation of 
 the Agassiz Museum, 158-1G1 ; 
 journey in the South, 163, 1G4 ; 
 at Washington as one of a 
 committee, 1GG, 167; speech 
 on Washington s birthday, 
 1G7 ; organizes drill clubs, 1GS, 
 1G9, 171, 172 ; active days, 172, 
 173 ; otter of service, 17G, 177 ; 
 letter to Robert M. Mason, 
 179 ; Second Regiment of Cav 
 alry, 184-189 ; interest in the 
 first colored regiment, 190; 
 letters to his wife, and his 
 cousin, 191, 192 ; journal ex 
 tracts, 193-197; mention of 
 his mother, 19G ; notice of 
 Col. Lowell s death, 197; letter 
 to New York Times, 200; 
 prayer at close of the year, 
 201 ; inscriptions on library, 
 203, 204 ; letter to Mr. Mason, 
 204 ; final war scene, 206 ; in 
 creasing years, 207, 208 ; letter 
 to his uncle, 209, 210 ; daily 
 habits, 212, 213; interest in 
 town improvements, 214, 215 ; 
 correction of public annoy 
 ances, 215, 21 G ; improvement 
 of Cottage Farm, 216, 217; 
 home nt Waban Farm, 217; 
 life at Nahant, 217, 218,219; 
 letter to his eon, 219 ; training 
 of his children, 221-225 ; letter 
 to a niece, 225 ; opinions on 
 education of women, 227 ; 
 treatment of servants, 227 ; 
 sense of kinship, 227 ; brother 
 ly affection, 228, 229; inter 
 ested in erection of Memorial 
 Hall, Cambridge, 230-233 ; re 
 ligious and church life, 233 ; re 
 gard for ministers, 233-23G ; 
 avoidance of sectarianism, 236- 
 238 ; letter to his daughter, 
 238 ; connection with church at 
 Nahant, 239 ; church at Long- 
 wood, 240, 241 ; Episcopal Theo 
 logical School, 241-245 ; health, 
 
 246, 254 ; a summer in Europe, 
 246 ; a manufacturer, 247-249 ; 
 business habits, 250, 251 ; public 
 interests, 251 ; lending money. 
 252, 253 ; favorite form of be 
 neficence, 253, 254 ; letters of 
 advice, 254, 255 ; marriages -of 
 his children, 255; illness in 
 his family, 25G ; visits to sick 
 neighbors, 256, 257; failing 
 eyesight, 257, 2G4, 266; in 
 terest in the Rugby experi 
 ment, 258 ; overseer of Harvard 
 College, 258 ; views on taxing 
 property of women, 258-260 ; 
 memories of Andover and Gro- 
 ton, 260; letter to his aunt, 
 261 ; description of country 
 funeral, 262, 2G3 ; out-of-door 
 life, 2G4 ; visits, 265 ; sorrows, 
 266-2G8 ; new business respon 
 sibilities, 2C9, 270; philan 
 thropic interests, 270, 271; 
 sense of loneliness, 272 ; visits, 
 273 ; journey to Kansas, 274 ; 
 death of friends, 274 ; Meeting 
 of college class, 275, 276 ; death 
 of his brother, 277 ; operation 
 for cataract, 278, 279 ; the last 
 Sunday, 280, 281 ; his death, 
 281 ; the funeral, 282. 
 
 Lawrence, Mrs. Amos A., 60, 155, 
 191, 221, 240, 256, 272. 280. 281. 
 
 Lawrence, Amos Amory, 249. 
 
 Lawrence, Arthur, 171, 201, 282. 
 
 Lawrence, Frank, 201. 
 
 Lawrence, James, 159, 232, 264. 
 
 Lawrence, John, 4. 
 
 Lawrence, Luther, 3. 
 
 Lawrence, Mary (Mrs. Amory), 
 124, 148, 193, 194, 266-268, 275. 
 
 Lawrence, Robert M., GG. 
 
 Lawrence, Samuel, Corporal and 
 Major, 1, 2. 
 
 Lawrence, Samuel, 3. 
 
 Lawrence, Susan, 34, 66. 
 
 Lawrence, William, 3, 210. 
 
 Lawrence, William R., 32, 33, 35, 
 68, 151, 228, 229, 240, 276, 277. 
 
 Lawrence, Kansas, 84, 99, 107, 
 117, 121. 
 
 Lawrence, Massachusetts, 4. 
 
 Lawrence Hall, Cambridge, 243- 
 245. 
 
 Lawrence University, Wisconsin, 
 
 Le Baron, William, 57, 59, 255. 
 Le Couipte, Judge, 107. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 287 
 
 Lee, General surrender of, 
 
 203. 
 Lee, Henry, 155, 170, 183, 230, 
 
 232. 
 
 Letters, European, 36. 
 Lexington, anniversary of battle, 
 
 .148. 
 
 Liberia, 53, 74. 
 Lincoln, ex-Governor, 134. 
 Lincoln, President, 15G, 200, 203, 
 
 204. 
 
 Little, James L. & Co., 209. 
 Longfellow, Professor, 124, 142, 
 
 159, 195, 218. 
 Longwood, GO, G7, 147, 212, 21G, 
 
 229, 239, 272. 
 Loring, Rev. Bailey, 9. 
 Loring, Charles G., 230. 
 Lothrop, Dr., 33, 69, 234. 
 Lowell, Jackson s visit to, 18. 
 Lowell, Charles R., 185-188, 197- 
 
 199. 
 
 Lowell, J. A., 159. 
 Lowell, J. Russell, 276. 
 Lyman, Theodore, 231. 
 Lynn, GG, 108 ; bay, 218. 
 
 Marion, 155. 
 
 Mason & Lawrence, 50. 
 
 Mason, Charles, 34, 35 ; wife of, 
 
 66. 
 
 Mason, Jeremiah, 34. 
 Mason, Philip, 195. 
 Mason, Robert M., 35, 50, 51, 
 
 151, 179, 204, 243. 
 Massachusetts, 174, 186. 
 Massachusetts Emigrants Aid 
 
 Association, 78. 
 Massachusetts General Hospital, 
 
 53. 
 Massachusetts Historical Society, 
 
 25, 273. 
 Massachusetts Hospital Life 
 
 Company, 251. 
 
 Massachusetts Society for Pro 
 moting Agriculture, 251. 
 Massachusetts Society of the Cin 
 cinnati, 251. 
 Massachusetts Soldiers Fund, 
 
 174. 
 
 Mather, Henry B., 51, 274. 
 Mathew, Father, 44-48, 234. 
 M :Clellan, General, 185. 
 M-Ilvaine, Bishop of Ohio, 54. 
 McLean Asylum, 53. 
 McPherson, General, 196. 
 Meade, General, 193. 
 Medford, 279. 
 
 Melbourne, Lord, 42. 
 Memorial Hall, 172, 231-233. 
 Merrimac, The, 3. 
 Methodists, 70,71,260. 
 Miles, Major Charles H., 202. 
 Milldam, The, GO, G2, 213. 
 Mills, Mrs. James K., 265. 
 Missouri, 77, 89, 94, 95, 98. 
 Mormouism, 271. 
 Morton, Dr., 1G2. 
 Motley, Mrs. Lothrop, 124. 
 Mudge, E. R., 231. 
 
 Nahant, 66, 195, 196, 217-219, 
 225, 235, 239, 274, 276, 279. 
 
 National Association of Cotton 
 Manufacturers and Planters, 
 249. 
 
 Nebraska, 75, 79. 
 
 New England Emigrant Aid Com 
 pany, 79, 80, 92, 94, 102, 106, 
 108, 113. 
 
 New England Trust Company, 
 251. 
 
 Newport, 181, 279. 
 
 New York Times, The, 200. 
 
 Nichols, Mrs., 102. 
 
 Norfolk Navy Yard, 171. 
 
 North Carolina, 179. 
 
 North Elba, 129, 134. 
 
 Nute, Rev. Mr., 117, 119. 
 
 Ohio, 27. 
 
 Osgood, Captain, 9. 
 
 Osgood, Rev. Dr., 155. 
 
 Osawatomie, Kansas, 109, 124, 
 
 128, 130, 131. 
 Pacific Mills, 269, 270. 
 Packard, Professor, 80, 234. 
 Paddock, Bishop, 235. 
 Paducah, 28. 
 Paige, J. W., 196. 
 Palfrey, Dr., 234. 
 Papanti, 186. 
 Parker, F. E., 153, 154. 
 Parker, Judge Joel, 155. 
 Parker, Susanna, 1, 2. 
 Peabody, Dr., 234. 
 Peirce, Professor Benjamin, 196. 
 Pemberton Mill, 163. 
 Pemberton Square, 49, 56, 173. 
 Perkins, Lieutenant, 181. 
 Perry, Dr., 142. 
 Philadelphia, 19. 
 Photograph, 161. 
 Pierce, Franklin, 21, 22, 67, 88, 
 
 92, 95, 98, 103, 104, 107, 111, 
 
 137. 
 
288 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Pierce, Mrs., 67, 111. 
 
 Pittsburgh, 26. 
 
 Pomeroy, Mr. S. C., 85, 96, 110, 
 
 116, 120. 
 
 Posters, 215, 216. 
 Pottawatoinie, 123, 133, 138. 
 Potter, Dr. Henry C., 235. 
 Prescott, Colonel, 1. 
 Prince of Wales, 155. 
 Putnam, J. P., 241. 
 
 Quincy, Josiah, 181. 
 Quincy, President, 12, 142, 154, 
 155, 161. 
 
 Radstock, Lord, 160. 
 
 Railroad bridges, 171 ; whistles, 
 
 216. 
 
 Rainsford Island, 26. 
 Rand, Edward S., 241. 
 Rebellion, final events of. 201, 
 
 202. 
 
 Recruiting, 186, 187. 
 Reed, Benjamin T., 241, 244. 
 Reeder, Governor, 93, 94, 98. 
 Regatta, 149. 
 Regiments, the Sixth, 170; the 
 
 Fifty-fourth, 190; return of, 
 
 205, 206. 
 
 Revere, Paul, 175. 
 Richards, George, 61. 
 Richards, Giles, 4, 208. 
 Richards, Sarah, 4. 
 Richardson, Mr., 231. 
 Riches, 24. 
 
 Richmond surrendered, 202. 
 Rifles for Kansas, 95-98, 99, 131, 
 
 135. 
 
 Robeson, William R., 273, 276. 
 Robie, Rev. Mr., 262. 
 Robinson, Dr. Charles, 83, 94, 
 
 96, 99, 103, 205, 107, 110-113, 
 
 115, 117, 119, 120, 122-124, 130, 
 
 143, 274; his wife, 111. 
 Rogers, Henry B., 230, 265. 
 Rogers, Miss Laura, 265. 
 Rome, 30. 
 Rugby, 242. 
 Russell, George, 181. 
 Russell, Henry S., 186. 
 Russell, Le Baron, 189. 
 Rustication, 13. 
 
 St. John s Memorial Chapel, 243. 
 Sales, Professor, 54. 
 Salignac, Colonel, 168. 
 Salmon Falls Company, 52, 150, 
 247, 270. 
 
 | Sanitary Commission, 178. 
 
 ! Sanders bequest, 160, 231. 
 
 i Saugus Hills, 218. 
 
 I Savannah, 163. 
 
 I Scott, General, 167. 
 
 Sears, Mr. David, 60, 159, 238. 
 
 Sedgwick, Major-Geueral, 194. 
 
 Serenade, 148. 
 
 Seward, Mr., 167, 169, 203, 204. 
 
 Shannon, Wilson, 98, 99. 
 
 Shaw, Chief Justice, 158, 159. 
 
 Shaw, F. G., 189. 
 
 Shaw, Quincy, 181. 
 
 Shaw, Colonel Robert G., 190. 
 
 Sheridan, General, 198. 
 
 Sherman s March to the Sea, 
 
 201. 
 
 ! Slmrtleff, Dr., 181, 
 I Skating, 62, 63, 148, 150, 245. 
 I Slade, Dr., 280. 
 | Smith, Gerritt, 105. 
 I Smith, Mayor, 76. 
 
 Smith, the Misses of Glaston- 
 bury, 258. 
 
 Soldiers, call for, 169 ; Massa 
 chusetts, 186. 
 
 Solferino, 153. 
 
 South Carolina, 164, 165. 
 
 Southern prisoners, 178. 
 
 Sharks, President, 155, 159, 161. 
 
 Spiritualism, 196. 
 
 Spring, Professor, 94. 
 
 Steamships, Boston to New Or 
 leans, 235. 
 
 Stearns, George L., 129, 131, 189. 
 
 Stearns, John F., 13. 
 j Stevenson, General, 194. 
 
 Stone, Goodwin, 195. 
 i Stone, Rev. J. S., D. D., 33, 153, 
 
 212, 234, 243. 
 | Study, methods of, 13. 
 
 Subscribers for arms, 97. 
 1 Suffrage, universal, 259, 260. 
 
 Summer, Charles, 139, 140-143, 
 146, 154, 167, 195, 196. 
 
 Sumner, George, 142. 
 
 Suttle, Colonpl, 75. 
 
 Swampscott, 182, 276, 277. 
 
 Tariff, 249. 
 
 Taxation, 258-260. 
 Taylor, Father, 234. 
 Tennessee, 174. 
 Thanksgiving, 156, 209, 210, 211, 
 
 266, 278. 
 Thayer, Eli, 77, 78, 81, 83, 85, 
 
 113, 114, 271. 
 Thompson, Newell A., 149. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 289 
 
 Thursday Evening Club, 273. 
 Tickuor, George, 160. 
 Torbett, General, 198. 
 Tucker, Alanson, 265. 
 Tyng, Rev. Dr., 238, 239. 
 
 Union meeting, 134. 
 
 Union men, 174. 
 
 Unitarian Divinity School, 242. 
 
 United States Bank, 35. 
 
 Upham, Henry, 234. 
 
 Utah, 270, 271. 
 
 Van Buren, Vice-President, 18, 
 19, 42. 
 
 Vinton, Rev. A. H., 49, 55, 233, 
 234. 
 
 Virginia, 29, 133, 135, 194. 
 
 Volunteers, called for, 169 ; col 
 ored regiment, 189. 
 
 Waban Hill Farm, 194, 212, 217, 
 
 277. 
 Wadsworth, Brigadier-General, 
 
 193. 
 
 Wakarusa, 83. 
 Walker, President, 157-161. 
 "Walton, Dr., 155. 
 Warren, Dr., 68. 
 Washburn, ex-Governor, 160. 
 Washington, 18, 19, 171. 
 
 Washington, George, theory of, 
 167. 
 
 Webb, Dr., 96, 106, 132. 
 
 Webster, Daniel, 20, 34, 73. 
 
 Wedding, 194, 272. 
 
 Weld, Stephen M., 230. 
 
 Wellington, Duke of, 41, 42. 
 
 Wells, Dr. E. M. P., 235. 
 
 Wells, William, 6. 
 
 Wentworth, Oliver, 147, 219, 220. 
 
 Wharton, Rev. Dr., 214, 234, 244. 
 
 Whittier, John G., verses of, 82. 
 
 Wilder, Captain, 171. 
 
 Williams, Dr., 257. 
 
 Williams, Rev. Eleazer, 68, 69. 
 
 Williams, J. M. S., 81, 85, 271. 
 
 Wilson, Senator Henry, 105, 106, 
 131, 139, 146, 154. 
 
 Winthrop, Robert C., 166, 214, 
 241, 273. 
 
 Wisconsin enterprise, 68, 69, 70, 
 115, 121. 
 
 Wise, Governor, 134. 
 
 Wisset, England, 4, 217. 
 
 Women, aimless lives of, 224, 
 226 ; education of, 227 ; injus 
 tice towards, 258-260. 
 
 Wounded men, 194. 
 
 Young Men s Benevolent Soci 
 ety, 54. 
 
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