THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 Ex Libris 
 
 ^atharine F. Richmond 
 
 and 
 
 ^enry C. Fall
 
 S'C 
 
 7 
 
 a—^
 
 FDELITY AND USEFULNESS. 
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 BY 
 
 Rev. J. M. BREWSTER. 
 
 DOVER, N. H. : 
 
 T. BAPTIST PRINTING ESTABLISHMENT. 
 
 BOSTON: D. LOTHROP & CO. 
 
 1871o
 
 8TEEE0TTPED AT THl 
 
 B08I0N 8TEBE0TTPB FOUlfDST, 
 
 19 Spring Lanet
 
 3nt 
 
 TO THE 
 
 OF WHICH 
 
 WTILLIAM BURR 
 
 was a leading representative, to which his name was a 
 
 synonym of business integrity and Christian excellence, 
 
 and by which it is still revered. 
 
 This Volume is Bespectfully Dedicated hy 
 
 THE AUTHOE. 
 
 ■4 ra.^..nr\.r>
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Soon after Mr. Burr's death, four years ago, the subject of 
 preparing a biography of him was mentioned to me. In 
 consequence of other engagements the work was deferred, 
 but on my return to New England after an absence of several 
 months, I determined that it should receive my first attention. 
 
 Believing the presentation of simply representative facts 
 and incidents to be the true method of writing biography, 
 I have found materials so abundant that it has been my con- 
 stant aim to contract rather than dilute. Indebted to numer- 
 ous sources for assistance, I shall make special mention of 
 none of them, as they will all become apparent to the thought- 
 ful reader. 
 
 Having undertaken the labor as one of love for him whose 
 memory I revere, I have pursued it with growing satisfaction. 
 My task being now completed, I offer this little volume to 
 the public, hoping and praying that it may be of some service 
 in the cause of the Great Master. j. H. B. 
 
 Nov. 1, 1870.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Pagb. 
 I. The Boy at Hingham, 9 
 
 n. The Appkentice IN Boston, .... 24 
 
 m. The Feeewill Baptists in 1826, .... 39 
 
 rv. The Pbinter AT LiMEKiCK, .... 49 
 
 V. Scraps FBOM HIS Journal, 65 
 
 VI. From Limerick to Dover, .... 74 
 
 yn. The Publishing Agent, 90 
 
 Vm. The Editor OF THE Morning Star, . . 107 
 
 IX. The Treasurer of the Benevolent Societies. 129 
 
 X. The Daily Laborer, 140 
 
 XI. The Man and Christian, 152 
 
 XII. The Citizen AND Philanthropist, . . .162 
 
 Xin. The Husband and Father 173 
 
 XIV. As He Was Here AND There,. ... 179 
 
 XV. His Death. Tributes to His Memory, . 190
 
 1
 
 FIDELITY AND USEFULINESS. 
 
 I. 
 
 THE BOY AT HINGHAM. 
 
 The influences which contribute to form char- 
 acter and determine destiny are numerous. It ib, 
 therefore, difficult to decide at what point the 
 biography of an individual should really com- 
 mence. Ancestry, the time and place of birth, 
 the social and moral atmosphere in which the 
 early years were spent, are all entitled to be 
 considered, and to have their value estimated. 
 True always, these things are especially so of the 
 case in hand. 
 
 William Buee was bom in Hlngham, Mass., 
 June 22, 1806. His parents were Theophilus 
 and Sarah Waters Burr, and he was the seventh 
 of ten children, seven sons and three daughters.
 
 10 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 of whom only one son and two daughters survive. 
 Descended from an old Puritan stock, his 
 ancestry can be traced back through six genera- 
 tions, covering a period of more than two hundred 
 years. In 1639, Rev. Jonathan Burr emigrated 
 from England to Dorchester, Mass. Having 
 been graduated from one of the English colleges, 
 he had, for some time, preached in Suffolk, not far 
 from where he was born. His, age at the time of 
 his arrival in America, is unknown, but his career 
 in his new home and field of usefulness was short. 
 Settled in 1640 as a colleague with Mr. Mather, 
 he died the year following, leaving a widow, three 
 sons and one daughter. The names of the sons were 
 Jonathan, who was graduated at Harvard College, 
 John and Simon. It was through the line of the 
 last that the subject of this biography descended, 
 while the names of the two former seem to have 
 been preserved in each successive generation. 
 The family, as a whole, was noted for its longev- 
 ity and numerous progeny. Theophilus Burr, 
 the father of William, was the fourth of seven 
 children, and died in 1835, in the seventy-fifth 
 year of his age, while his grandfather, John Burr, 
 
 i
 
 THE BOY AT HINGHAM. 11 
 
 was one of ten children, nearly all of whom 
 lived to a good old age. 
 
 The earlier years of the present century, during 
 which William Burr was born and received his 
 first impressions, constitute an interesting period 
 in our country's history. Nearly twenty-five years 
 subsequent to the revolution, the people had, in a 
 great measure, risen above the burdens which it 
 imj)osed, and were enjoying the blessings of 
 freedom and good government. The fruits of 
 industry and social order were everywhere man- 
 ifest. But while peace prevailed and prosperity 
 abounded, the public mind was not free from 
 disturbing influences. The federalism of Wash- 
 ington and the elder Adams was being supplanted 
 by the democracy of Jefferson and Madison. In 
 New England, especially, the dividing line between 
 what was known as the " orthodox " and "liberal " 
 wings of the "standing order " was being dra»vn, 
 and the foundations of a fierce theological contro- 
 versy laid ; while the doctrine of free salvation, 
 as preached by Benjamin Randall and others, was 
 warmly welcomed by the people. The influence 
 of the questions which were then agitating both
 
 12 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 church and state, was felt, not only in the cities 
 and larger towns, but it also reached the rural 
 communities and neighborhoods. 
 
 Hingham, situated on the sea - coast, seventeen 
 miles south - east of Boston, was then and is still, 
 for the most part, a rural town. Settled at an 
 early day, its inhabitants were generally staid, 
 industrious and intelligent farmers. Containing 
 at first two Unitarian parishes, the political and 
 theological controversies which were in progress 
 at the commencement of the century, caused what 
 was known as the first or western parish to be 
 divided, and the Rev. Joseph Richardson, who is 
 now Kving at the advanced age of nearly one 
 hundred years, was settled over the more vigorous 
 and progressive portion. What now seem to us 
 minor issues, long since dead, were once live 
 questions, and stirred society to its very founda- 
 tions. It is by means of such convulsions that 
 the people learn independence and self-reliance, 
 and from them comes strong and vigorous man- 
 hood. Had not our nation been tried in its 
 infancy, it could not have endured the burdens 
 and withstood the conflicts of later years. 
 
 * Diod Sentembev. 1871.
 
 THE BOY AT HINGHAM. 13 
 
 In a house, still standing in that part of Hing- 
 ham known as the lower plains or West Hingham , 
 lived Theophilus Burr and his wife, Sarah. 
 Moderately blessed with the things of this world, 
 retiring in their manners and leading quiet Uves, 
 they were industrious, intelligent and highly 
 respected, as were their ancestors who had lived 
 in the same community for several generations. 
 As already stated, there were born unto them ten 
 children ; and it seems to have been the highest 
 ambition of the parents to instil into the children 
 the principles of sound morality, and their own hab- 
 its of industry and self- dependence. The sons 
 belonging to this household, as is almost univer- 
 sally the case with farmers' sons, were required to 
 labor on the farm the entire year, with the excep- 
 tion of two or three months in the winter, when 
 they were privileged to attend the district school. 
 And it may be said to the credit of most farmers' 
 sons, that their scanty educational advantages are 
 usually well improved, and made to contribute 
 largely to future advancement and usefulness. 
 The Burr family afforded no exception to the 
 rule.
 
 14 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 It requires no great stretch of the imagination 
 to see these Burr boys toiling through the summer 
 and fall, impatient of the slow progress of time, 
 and fondly anticipating the luxury they would 
 enjoy when the winter term of school should com- 
 mence. And when their anticipations were real- 
 ized, it is easy to see with what eagerness they 
 improved the hours and moments of those winter 
 days and evenings. Of all that numerous house- 
 hold no one evinced greater love for study, or was 
 more beloved, than the frail and sickly boy, 
 William. Indeed, the parents often cited his 
 example to the other children as worthy of imita- 
 tion. 
 
 To show how he was regarded, a story is told 
 by the surviving members of the family, to the 
 effect, that one day his younger brother Pyam, 
 who is still living, visited an orchard some dis- 
 tance from the house, but returned without brinsr- 
 ing his mother any of its fruit. For this act of 
 neglect she reproved him sharply, saying, " Your 
 brother William would not have done such a 
 thing." This allusion to the noble and generous 
 conduct of William in comparison with his own,
 
 THE BOY AT HINGHAM. 15 
 
 cut him to the very quick, and so keenly did he 
 feel the reproof, that it has never been effaced from 
 his memory. It is also told of him that, though 
 intent on saving his earnings for a special purpose, 
 he took from them to aid his sister, younger than 
 himself, so that she might have her wants supplied, 
 without "being under the necessity of providing the 
 means herself. He thus early manifested the 
 benevolence and great kindness of heart which 
 were among the prominent traits exliibited in sub- 
 sequent life. 
 
 As may be inferred from what has been 
 already said, Mr. and Mrs. Theophilus Burr were 
 Unitarians, and connected with the parish of 
 which Rev. Mr. Richardson was pastor. They 
 were regular attendants upon public worship, and 
 carefully practiced and taught their children the 
 great principles of Christian morality ; but they 
 claimed to have little or no sympathy with " evan- 
 gelical religion." There is, however, reason to 
 believe that Mrs. Burr, like many other Unitari- 
 ans, especially of that day, lived a life of prayer and 
 experienced the saving grace of God in her heart. 
 
 The children of these parents were " christened, "
 
 16 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 in accordance with the custom of the " standing 
 order." William was in fact the first child " chris- 
 tened" by Mr. Richardson on assuming the duties 
 of his pastorate. When quite a lad, he attended a 
 "catechism school," established and taught by Mr. 
 Richardson, at which much moral and religious 
 instruction was imparted. At this school, after 
 the lessons were recited, the pastor often spoke 
 with great earnestness and emotion, weeping him- 
 self and causing the children to weep. Thus we 
 get a view of one side of the relio^ious traininoj to 
 which the mind of William Burr was early sub- 
 jected, — the example of a secretly pious mother 
 and the teachings of an honest and earnest pastor. 
 But there were other influences at work in con- 
 nection with these things, which had a powerful 
 and lasting effect. 
 
 An aunt, who seems to have been an experi- 
 imental Christian, lived in his father's family and 
 took his religious training under her especial care, 
 and, among other things, taught him the Lord's 
 Prayer. When not more than four or five years 
 of age, he was deeply impressed by the death of 
 Mr. Thomas Burr, an aged uncle of his father,
 
 THE BOY AT HINGHAM. 17 
 
 whose residence was only a few rods distant. 
 When told that " Uncle Thomas " was dead, his 
 curiosity was excited ; and when he learned, on in- 
 quiry, what it was to die, his feelings were greatly 
 wrought upon. He came to know, for the first 
 time, that he too must die, as well as his father 
 and mother, and his brothers and sisters. But 
 he was, at the same time, made acquainted with 
 the glorious and comforting doctrine of the resur- 
 rection, as fir as his childish mind could compre- 
 hend it, and especially was he taught that the 
 good would be happy after death. The influence 
 of these early impressions was never outgrown, 
 and it is quite impossible to tell what effect it must 
 have had upon his subsequent life. Thoughts of 
 death and of the future can not be rightly impressed 
 upon the mind at too early an age. 
 
 When some eleven or twelve years of age, his 
 brother Waters Burr died, aged twenty-six. 
 This unwelcome event in the family, which 
 occurred only a week after the marriage of 
 Waters, caused great thoughtfulness on the part 
 of all its members. There was, at that time, a 
 gentleman familiarly called " Uncle Pope," a
 
 18 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 Freewill Baptist minister, who married his moth- 
 er's sister, on a visit to the family. Though 
 among impenitent relatives, he did not neglect, as 
 many in like circumstances often do, to speak a 
 word for Christ, and to urge this sorrowing family 
 to secure a hope in Jesus, the Saviour of sinners, 
 as the only sure refuge in trouble. The words 
 spoken found a lodging - place in the heart of 
 William. He resolved to give himself to Christ, 
 prayed much in secret, and, had he been aided by 
 the prayers, sympathies and counsels of experi- 
 mental Christians, he would doubtless have dated 
 the commencement of his religious life from that 
 time. As it proved, however, he was only a 
 thorny - ground hearer. The fascinations and friv- 
 olities of youth choked the progress of the word 
 of truth. It is not a little remarkable that this 
 early religious experience, though short - lived, 
 was the result of the faithfulness of a humble 
 Freewill Baptist preacher, who little thought that 
 the name of the modest, retiring and pale - faced 
 boy, who caught every word as it fell from his 
 lips, was destined to become a household word in the 
 young and rising denomination with which he was
 
 THE BOY AT HINGHAM. 19 
 
 connected. This circumstance should encourage 
 the Christian laborer " to sow beside all waters." 
 
 The habits of industry and self- dependence 
 which the boy, William Burr, had been taught by 
 his parents, led him early to raise the question, 
 what calling he should thereafter pursue in life. 
 Having a strong love for study and an ardent desire 
 to be useful, his first impulse was to go to college 
 and become a minister ; but when he discovered that 
 such a course was impracticable, he decided that, 
 should the way open, he would be a printer. He 
 soon began to lay various plans, by means of 
 which he might realize this cherished purpose. A 
 printer was, doubtless, what God designed he 
 should be, and he had an important work for him 
 to accomplish in this capacity, though the door 
 through which he was to enter upon his future 
 career was a long time in opening. God alone 
 knows what preparation of mind and heart it is 
 necessary that his servants should receive to qual- 
 ify them for the work for which he has designed 
 them. He has, however, soraetliing for them 
 to do just as soon as they are qualified. This is a 
 ](\«.= nr! v'hioh mnnv nro slow t^^ lenrn nnd ncpfnt.
 
 20 WILLIAM BURE. 
 
 In June, 1821, the month in which the boy, 
 William Burr, completed his fifteenth year, with 
 high expectations, he went to Boston to search for 
 a place in a printing office. He spent the entire 
 day, calling at every office which he could find, 
 but to no purpose. No apprentice was wanted ; 
 and when night approached, the words of the 
 father, who accompanied the son, " Come, Wil- 
 liam, you had better return home with me," were 
 beard with bitter disappointment. But his cher- 
 ished purpose was not to be relinquished. In the 
 following August he again visited Boston, with 
 the same object in view, but his effiarts were 
 attended with no better success, and he returned 
 home more sadly disappointed than before. It 
 ehould be recollected that Boston was a small 
 place half a century ago, in comparison with what 
 it is now, and that even a less number in propor- 
 tion were engaged in publishing. These facts 
 will explain, in part, why a situation could not be 
 readily found for a boy who wished to learn the 
 printer's trade. Though disappointed a second 
 time, the hope of realizing the object upon wliich 
 his heart had been set was not abandoned.
 
 THE BOY AT HINGHAM. 21 
 
 In one of these fruitless searches for a place, he 
 met a wealthy gentleman, who, observing that he 
 was a mere boy, said to him : " Come and live 
 with me three or four years, attend to the calls of 
 my door bell, and wait upon my table. You will 
 then have time enough to learn the printer's 
 trade." But he was not the boy to be allured 
 from his chosen work by such invitations. 
 
 At this point, the first period in the life of the 
 subject of this biography properly terminates. 
 The boy is, in an important sense, the germ of 
 the man. The native qualities, manifested during 
 the earlier years, will, under ordinary circum- 
 stances, mature and ripen during the later ones. 
 Descended from an honored puritan ancestry, 
 early taught habits of industry and self- reliance, 
 manifesting a special regard for his parents as well 
 as for all the members of the household, evincing 
 a strong love of study, impressed with the impor- 
 tance of seeking the salvation of his soul, and 
 decided in his calling for life, one could have 
 easily predicted that the boy, William Burr, 
 would make just what he actually became as the
 
 22 WILLIAil BURR. 
 
 man, William Burr. It is to be regretted that 
 the incidents of this period of his life can not be 
 more fully detailed. But we have enough to afford 
 an insight into what he really was, and his char- 
 acter and example are commended to the young 
 as worthy of study ami imitation. 
 
 During his life - time, Mr. Burr always main- 
 tained a strong attachment to his early home. 
 Although his parents had gone to their reming- 
 places, though his brothers and sisters had become 
 scattered and some of them were no more, and 
 though but few of his early associates remained to 
 welcome liim, there was still a pecidiar charm, in 
 the good old town of Hingham, — in its balmy 
 atmosphere, its pleasant scenery, its delightful 
 beach, and, above all, the familiar spot which gave 
 him bulh. He consequently visited the place as 
 often as his arduous duties would permit, to revive 
 old associations and to note the changes which had 
 taken place ; and he ever took special delight in nar- 
 rating incidents which came under his observation,
 
 THE BOY AT HINGHAM. 23 
 
 and in which he participated during his boy- 
 hood. He paid his last visit to Hingham in July, 
 previous to his death in November, 1866. The 
 Hingham of to-day is, in some respects, differ- 
 ent from that of half a century ago. Its villages 
 have increased in size, its beach has become a 
 watering - place, and many of its inhabitants are 
 believers in " evangehcal religion."
 
 II. 
 
 THE APPEENTICE EST BOSTON. 
 
 After the period of germination, there usually 
 comes one of trial. The boy, William Burr, was 
 destined to pass through one of peculiar severity. 
 Apprentices, at the present day, can have only an 
 imperfect conception of the hardships which fell to 
 the lot of those who served in a like capacity half 
 a century ago. Securing a place, perhaps, with 
 much difficulty, the apprentice was usually bound 
 to serve a master seven years. At first required 
 to perform some of the most menial offices, his 
 progress was watched with a suspiciousness some- 
 times amounting to jealousy. In addition to these 
 things, he was often roughly treated and poorly 
 fed and clothed. 
 
 The apprenticeship of William Burr was at- 
 tended with its full share of annoyances. Twice 
 defeated in his effiarts to secure a place in a print- 
 ing office, and impatient to be doing something,
 
 THE APPRENTICE m BOSTON. 25 
 
 he served for a short time with his brother The- 
 ophilus, who was a house carpenter in Boston, 
 and, a few weeks subsequently, with a Mr. Wheel- 
 wright, a manufacturerof musical instruments and 
 umbrellas. He did not, however, fully relinquish 
 the idea of becoming a printer, though he prob- 
 ably would have served an apprenticeship with 
 Mr. Wheelwright, had not a circumstance, trifling 
 in itself though important in its consequences, oc- 
 curred to lead him to the realization of his cher- 
 ished purpose. The accidental breaking of a 
 pane of glass while splitting wood caused his 
 employer to be so angry with him that he heaped 
 upon him much personal abuse ; and the time for 
 which he was engaged having expired, he wisely 
 declined to remain with him longer. 
 
 On the second day after leaving Mr. Wheel- 
 wright, he secured a place in the printing-office of 
 Mr. George Clark. The exact time when his 
 term of service with Mr. Clark commenced, and 
 the time of its continuance, are unknown. It is 
 probable, however, that the former was not later 
 than November, 1821, and it is to be presumed 
 that the latter was until he was of age. It was
 
 26 WILLIAIVI BURR. 
 
 agreed, among other things, that he should receive 
 his board and clothes. Ensraoed now in a work 
 which he relished, he devoted himself to it with 
 great energy and perseverance, and made unusual 
 proficiency in mastering the elements of the art. 
 But at the expiration of two years, he had re- 
 ceived only his board in IVIr. Clark's family and a 
 single pair of shoes. During this time he had ob- 
 tained a portion of his clothing from home, and 
 had managed to earn the remainder by procuring 
 small jobs of printing from merchants and others, 
 which he performed before and after the usual 
 hours of labor. He sometimes worked until a 
 very late hour, and on one occasion all night. It 
 should be said, however, in behalf of Mr. Clark, 
 that he had failed, and was greatly embarrassed, 
 in his business. 
 
 Tired of this kind of treatment, as he had reason 
 to be, the young apprentice wished to leave Mr. 
 Clark and seek employment elsewhere. His 
 employer objected to this, as young Burr had 
 now become pi'ofitable to him, and he even 
 refused to give him a recommendation by means 
 of which alone, accordino; to an arrangrement
 
 THE APPRENTICE IN BOSTON. 27 
 
 then existing among printers, he could gain ad- 
 mittance to another office. But from this per- 
 plexity relief came in the kindness of two brothers 
 of Mr. Clark, then merchants in Boston, who 
 knew the character of the boy and gave him per- 
 mission to refer to them. 
 
 Consequently he was soon able to obtain em- 
 ployment in the office of Mr. John Frost, then one 
 of the largest and best printing - offices in Boston. 
 He remained here until July, 1825, but his situa- 
 tion with his new employer was neither pleasant 
 nor desirable. Frequent demands were made up- 
 on him, such as proof- reading and errand - going, 
 as were not made upon the other apprentices, 
 though one of them had come into the office more 
 recently than himself. It had been agreed be- 
 tween himself and Mr. Frost that, after setting 
 four thousand ems a day, he should be paid for 
 all additional work at journeyman's prices. He 
 therefore considered it unjust for him to spend so 
 much time in doing work for which no allowance 
 was made. Besides, Mr. Frost paid less for his 
 board than for that of the other apjsrentices, and 
 had at length come to owe him quite a large sum
 
 28 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 earned by working out of his usual hours. Young 
 Burr had frequently sought for a settlenjent and 
 the payment of his due, but he could obtain nei- 
 ther. Bearing all his grievances for a long time 
 without murmuring, the hour came when he could 
 do so no longer, especially as abuse was added to 
 abuse. 
 
 At the close of a hot summer day, after the 
 other hands had left the office, Mr. Frost demand- 
 ed of young Burr that he should carry proof- 
 sheets to an author residing in a distant part of the 
 city, and return and spend a portion of the night 
 in correcting a form which he wished to have in 
 readiness for the press in the morning. The ap- 
 prentice respectfully declined to correct the form 
 that night, but said he would do it in the morn- 
 ing and have it ready at an early hour. To this 
 he received the stern reply, "You must do it to- 
 night." Mr. Frost thereupon left the office for 
 his home expecting, doubtless, that all his orders 
 would be obeyed as usual. Vividly impressed 
 with a sense of the wrongs which he had already 
 suffijred at the hands of his employer, our young 
 apprentice determined that for once he would not
 
 THE APPEENTICE IN BOSTON. 29 
 
 compromise his manhood, let the consequences be 
 what they might. He accordingly cari'ied the 
 proof-sheets to the author as directed, and went to 
 his boarding -place. This decision, costing him 
 no doubt a severe struggle, proved a turning- 
 point in his career. 
 
 As he promised, he returned to the printing 
 office early the next morning, and was busily en- 
 c-ao-ed in correctinar the form when Mr. Frost 
 
 DO O 
 
 came in. Angry because his orders had not been 
 obeyed, he gave young Burr a severe reprimand. 
 In reply to this, he said, " Mr. Frost, if you are 
 not satisfied with my course since I have been in 
 your office, it is best for us to have a settlement, 
 and for me to leave." " But," said Frost, " if you 
 leave my office, I will prevent your obtaining 
 employment in any other in this city." " But 
 Boston," rejoined young Burr, " is not the only 
 place in the world." 
 
 During the conversation, however, he told Mr. 
 Frost that if he would settle with him, pay him 
 his due and treat him as well as he did the other 
 apprentices, he would still remain with him. But 
 Mr. Frost then giving him a peremptory com-
 
 30 WILLIAM BUER. 
 
 niand that he should go to work unconditionally, 
 he refused to comply and left the office. 
 
 From some points of view, this conduct of 
 young Burr may seem rash and willful, but those 
 acquainted with the patience and coolness which 
 he manifested in riper years, must know that, un- 
 less he became greatly changed, he could have 
 been moved to such a cour^se only by the 
 severest provocation. But whenever a principle 
 or his own individual honor was in danger of 
 being compromised, he ever stood firm and abided 
 the consequences. During his apprenticeship, he 
 passed through a discipline which served to qualify 
 him for the arduous duties of his subsequent ca- 
 reer. 
 
 Having left the employment of IVIr. Frost, and 
 feeling that, with his influence against him, there 
 would be no opening for him in Boston, he decided 
 to go elsewhere, little realizing the extent of the 
 trying experiences which still awaited him . Accord- 
 ingly, on the next Monday morning, July 9, 
 1825, young Burr left Boston on the early stage 
 for Providence, where he arrived in the afternoon. 
 The length of the journey, the heat of the day,
 
 THE APPRENTICE IN BOSTON. 31 
 
 and a sense of his lonely and friendless condition , 
 caused him to be weary in body and dejected in 
 mind. He felt even more dejected at the close of 
 the next day, which was spent in fruitless search 
 for employment. Though he visited every print- 
 ing -office in town, he could find no opening. 
 His money was nearly gone, and, in view 
 of his straitened circumstances, he felt that 
 he must do something at once. In his perplexi- 
 ty, he went to the wharves to seek a chance to go 
 to sea. Finding a ship soon to sail for Buenos 
 Ayers, he was informed by the mate, in the ab- 
 sence of the captain that he could be employed 
 as a sailor, if he desired it ; but, at the same 
 time, he was advised not to accept the situation. 
 The youthful and frail appearance of young Burr 
 called forth from this mate, who seems to have 
 possessed much kindness of heart, the remark 
 that sea -faring life was hard, and he would en- 
 courage no young man like him to undertake it. 
 This opinion caused him to suspend his decision 
 another day, but he was determined that, should he 
 still be unsuccessful in his search for otlier 
 employment, he would take the proposed voyage.
 
 32 WILLUIVI BURE. 
 
 Having spent another day in fruitless eflfort, he 
 was preparing, on the following morning, to go 
 on board the vessel. At this juncture, he received 
 a note fr-om a journeyman in the Patriot 
 office, stating that he desired to spend a short 
 time in the countrv and wished to engaije him 
 to fill his place during his absence. The invita- 
 tion was readily accepted, and he went to work 
 feeling relieved of a great burden. Meanwhile, 
 he had received letters from his friends, to 
 whom he had written stating his condition and 
 intentions, in which he was entreated not to go to 
 eea, but to return home. Thus a kind providence 
 watched over and preser\'ed him. 
 
 At the return of the journeyman for whom he 
 was a substitute, it being seen that he was a good 
 workman, he received and accepted an invitation 
 from the proprietors of the Patriot to remain 
 longer. He worked for them and other parties 
 until December, in spite of the efforts of his old 
 enemy, Mr. Frosl, who visited Providence in the 
 meantime, and sought to procure his discharge. 
 In December of the same year, 1825, the Travel- 
 ler was started in Boston, and the proprietors en-
 
 THE APPRENTICE IN BOSTON. 33 
 
 ^raffed Mr. Parmenter of Providence to take 
 charge of its printing. This gentleman was a 
 friend of young Burr, and he invited him to re- 
 turn to Boston and assist in carrying on this 
 work. 
 
 He accepted the invitation and went back to 
 Boston, but not to make it a permanent home. 
 He felt sure his old enemy would follow him and 
 seek to annoy him in every possible way as long 
 as he was within his reach. On this account he 
 dreaded to go back to this city. It soon proved 
 that his fears were not groundless. He had 
 scarcely become settled in his new situati<m when 
 he learned that Mr. Frost and one of the pro- 
 prietors of the Traveller were on very inti- 
 mate terms, and that the former often visited the 
 counting-room of the latter. In view of these 
 facts, he began to look about for employment 
 elsewhere, and he was not long in finding it. 
 
 During the month of February, 1826, two 
 strangers of somewhat peculiar dress and man- 
 ners entered the composing - I'oom of the office of 
 the Traveller. They were close observers, and 
 were in turn closely observed. It was soon un-
 
 34 WILLIAM BLTIR. 
 
 derstood that they had come to Boston in the 
 interest of Hobbs, Woodman & Co., Limerick, 
 Me., a company formed for the purpose of pub- 
 lishing a rehgious paper, and that going to the 
 office of the Traveller to obtain information and 
 assistance, they had been referred to Mr. Par- 
 menter. They wished for assistance in purchas- 
 ing type and other materials for printing, and to 
 learn of some suitable person who could be ob- 
 tained to take charge of the work. Young Burr 
 at once became anxious and secretly hoped that 
 the choice might fall upon himself. He was conse- 
 quently greatly disappointed on learning that Mr. 
 Parmenter had recommended a person of more 
 years and larger experience. These gentle- 
 men, who proved to be Elders Henry Hobbs and 
 Samuel Burbank, had a conference with the per- 
 son recommended and made a conditional bargain 
 with him. After their return to Maine, however, 
 from some cause, he was obliged to inform them 
 that he could not meet his engagement. The 
 hopes of young Burr, who was apprised of what 
 was going on, began to revive ; and, having an in- 
 terview with Mr. Parmenter, in due time he re-
 
 THE APPRENTICE IN BOSTON. 35 
 
 ceived the following letter, the original copy of 
 of which is still in existence. The form and style 
 of the letter are preserved as nearly as possible : 
 
 "Newfield, March 27th 1826. 
 
 Me. 
 
 Burr, Sir you being recommended as 
 capable of managing a Printing Press for us, 
 and throuoh the medium of Mi-. Parmenter en- 
 gaging to serve us for the sum we offered Mr. 
 
 . Confiding in Mr. P. you being a stranger 
 
 to us, we wish you to come on, and enter into the 
 business as soon as may be. You will not now 
 be enabled to arrive by the time we set in our 
 letter to Mr. P. but you will arrive perhaps by 
 the 10th, of April, perhaps before, we shall wait 
 your arrival but wish it may be as soon as prac- 
 ticable. 
 
 Please to call on Mr. Elias Libby, trader at 
 the village in Limerick, and put up with him un- 
 til further directions. 
 
 We shall expect you without fail and shall look 
 for a workman, as foreman, no further. A dis- 
 appointment will greatly injure us. 
 
 Please to call upon Baker & Greeb, and take 
 with you a cut for a horse. I do not know the 
 No. not having the specimen before me, but we 
 want the $5.00 cut, that which is the most ele- 
 gant, tell them to charge the same to Hobbs 
 Woodman & Co. if they request an order, exhib- 
 it this letter. Yours very respectfully 
 
 Sajiuel Burbank 
 For Hobbs, Woodmau & Co. 
 
 Mr. Wm. Burr"
 
 3o WILLIAM BUER. 
 
 With such an opening before him he was re- 
 lieved from all present anxiety. Spending a year 
 or more at Limerick, he would be of age and at 
 liberty to return to Boston or go elsewhere with- 
 out fear of molestation from Mr. Frost or any 
 one else. This seems to have been the way in 
 which the subject presented itself to him ; and he 
 little realized that he was now to enter upon a 
 career of usefulness which would terminate only 
 at his death, but so it proved. While man is 
 short - sighted, God is far - seeing ; and while the 
 plans of the one are narrow, those of the other 
 are vast. 
 
 From a religious point of view, the life of 
 young Burr during this period was far from satis- 
 factory. At first a regular attendant of public 
 worship, having often a battle with conscience, and 
 listening occasionally to the invitations and wai'n- 
 ings of providence and Christian friends, he at 
 length neglected almost entirely the house of God, 
 and became addicted to card-playing, dancing and 
 theater - Roino;. W^hile in Providence he attend- 
 ed church but seldom, and after his return to 
 Boston but once, and then to hear the bold and 
 earnest Dreacher, Rev. Dr. Lymau Beecher, who
 
 THE APPRENTICE IN BOSTON. 
 
 37 
 
 was then at the hight of his popularity. As he 
 once expressed to the writer, he was at this time a 
 careless and thoughtless young man, having no 
 love for God or relish for his truth. As it 
 proved, it was well for him that he left Boston. 
 The little less than five years covered by this 
 chapter constitute the most dangerous period in 
 the life of any individual. During the transition 
 from boyhood to manhood, there is often an in- 
 clination on the part of the individual to be the 
 man, while he is in reality only the boy. In the 
 case of young Burr, in addition to the usual dan- 
 gers of this period, the restraints of home were 
 exchanged for the influences of city life. Hav- 
 ing enjoyed the benefits of a sound moral train- 
 ing, the reader has seen in these pages how he 
 maintained his sense of honor, and exhibited hia 
 firmness of purpose and how a kind providence 
 directed his steps. Of him could it be said 
 with quite as much truthfulness as of Joseph of 
 old, — " The Lord was with him." 
 
 Mr. Burr never forgot the experiences con- 
 nected with his life as an appi'entice, and he took
 
 38 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 especial delight in speaking of some of them. But 
 a short time previous to his death, he narrated 
 them to the writer with great fullness and mi- 
 nuteness. While he spoke of some things with 
 pleasure, he mentioned others with deep sorrow. 
 He ever manifested a due sense of gratitude that, 
 in all his experiences during this period, his feet 
 were, to such an extent, kept from the alluring 
 snares of the destroyer, and that the guiding hand 
 of his Heavenly Father was constantly over him.
 
 Ill, 
 
 THE FREEWILL BAPTISTS IN 1826. 
 
 In these pages, thus far, the writer has sought 
 to unfold the character of WilHam Burr during 
 his boyhood, and to present in detail some of his 
 experiences while an apprentice. Before follow- 
 ing his career further, the reader is invited to take 
 a view of the people with which he was in his fu- 
 ture life to be identified. 
 
 Prior to 1780, Benjamin Randall had removed 
 from New Castle, a small island near Portsmouth, 
 to New Durham, N. H. His conversion had been 
 due, under God, to the preaching of Whitefield ; 
 and, for a time, he had been connected with " the 
 standing order." But he was not at home with 
 them. He soon became dissatisfied with their 
 coldness and formalism, and especially with 
 their method of baptism. Connecting himself 
 with the Baptists, he was, for a time, allowed to 
 travel quite extensively and to preach or exhort.
 
 40 WILLIAM BUEE. 
 
 But it was not long before it was discovered tliat 
 he failed to preach the doctrines of predestination, 
 limited atonement and final perseverance, as held 
 by the denomination at large ; and he was conse- 
 quently tried, adjudged unsound, and disfellow- 
 shiped. Examining afresh his position, he be- 
 came confirmed in it, and continued to proclaim 
 the doctrine of " free salvation." His earnest and 
 pleasing manner attracted attention, and the mes- 
 sage proclaimed met with a ready response from 
 the people, who were hungering for the bread of 
 eternal life. 
 
 During the year bearing the date already giv- 
 en, RandaU organized at New Durham a small 
 church of believers in the doctrines which he 
 preached. From the seed thus planted the vine 
 soon ran over the wall ; and in spite of some of 
 the greatest discouragements and the most bitter 
 opposition, its fruit was destined to be abundant. 
 
 Assuming at first the name of " Baptists," 
 other names were applied to them in derision. 
 One of these, that of "Freewillers," becoming in 
 itself a tower of strength, was incoi'porated with 
 the original name, and from the union thus formed
 
 THE FREEWILL BAPTISTS IN 1826. 41 
 
 is the name "Freewill Baptist." As already in- 
 timated, the distinctive doctrines of Randall and 
 his coadjutors were Arminian as opposed to Cal- 
 vinistic. They taught that Christ died for the 
 whole human family, though faith and repentance 
 were necessary conditions of salvation. As 
 pertains to the Godhead, they were generally 
 Trinitarians, but the questions which relate to 
 this subject do not seem to have been much dis- 
 cussed at first. Eespecting the ordinances of the 
 church, they practiced baptism by immersion and 
 discarded infant baptism ; and they held tliat all 
 true believers have a right to come to the table of 
 the Lord. Their system of church government, 
 for the most part congregational, was gradually 
 developed, and seems to have been modified to 
 meet the wants of the times. The early preachers 
 had neither wealth, prestige, nor worldly wisdom to 
 commend them, but, going forth in the name and 
 strength of the great Master, they told the simple 
 story of the cross in such a manner as to carry 
 conviction to the hearts of sinners. 
 
 In 1826, forty -six years after Randall organ- 
 ized the first church at New Durham, Freewill
 
 42 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 Baptist churches, originating from this one church 
 as a nucleus, existed to the number of nearly 
 four hundred, in all the New England States ex- 
 cept Connecticut, and in New York, Pennsylvania, 
 Ohio and Indiana, together with the Canadas. 
 There were more than three hundred ministers 
 and an estimated membership of about fifteen 
 thousand. The increase would doubtless have 
 been much greater, had the early preachers, in- 
 stead of being content to confine their labors to 
 the rural districts, sought the cities and larger 
 towns and boldly planted their principles in these 
 centers of influence. As it was, however, the in- 
 crease was such as to show that the hand of the 
 Lord was in the movement and hia seal upon it. 
 
 At the time to which reference has just been 
 made, Kandall had been dead eighteen years, but 
 his mantle had fallen upon others. John Colby 
 had, after an active and useful career as an evan- 
 gelist, gone to receive his reward ; John Buzzell, 
 who had been a co -laborer with E.andall, though 
 on the shady side of life, was exerting an exten- 
 sive influence; David Marks, the boy-preacher of 
 Western New York, had made but one or two
 
 THE FREEWILL BArXISTS IN 1826. 43 
 
 visits to New England ; Elias Hutchins. a young 
 preacher of deep and earnest piety, was contem- 
 plating a journey to Ohio; Jonathan Woodman, 
 though only about twenty -five years of age, had 
 been preaching eight years ; Arthur Caverno was 
 settled at Contoocookville, N. H., and was the 
 only minister in the denomination receiving a 
 stated salary ; Silas Curtis was a licentiate ; Mar- 
 tin Cheney had begun to have his attention turned 
 to his life-work in Rhode Island, and Hosea 
 Quinby was preparing for college. With but 
 few exceptions the active and rising ministry of 
 that day has passed away. 
 
 The work accomplished during this period of 
 forty - six years was in greatness and importance 
 incalculable. The mission of the Freewill Bap- 
 tists was from their origin reformatory. Called 
 into existence by the demands of the times, they 
 were bold, earnest and aggressive. Calvinism, 
 as it was then preached, and an unsanctified min- 
 istry, supported by a tax levied upon every citi- 
 zen of whatever faith and order, received no 
 mercy at their hands ; while wickedness in all its 
 forms was denounced unsparingly. External op-
 
 44 WILLIAM BLTIR. 
 
 position had not only to be overcome, but also in- 
 ternal dissensions quieted, and the spirit of fanati- 
 cism which occasionally manifested itself quelled. 
 But the thing of the greatest importance was to 
 warn sinners to flee from the " wrath to come." 
 Having gained a foot - hold, and being keenly alive 
 to the spirit of the age, they were fast becoming 
 prepared for the great work before them. 
 
 Had they erected but few houses of worship ; 
 they had done all in this respect that their cu'cum- 
 stances would allow. Had they but few or no 
 Sabbath schools ; neither had other denominations. 
 Had they not engaged actively in the temperance 
 cause ; the light of the temperance reformation had 
 not then dawned. Had they no mission societies, 
 foreign and home ; the foreign mission enterprise 
 was then in its infancy, and every minister was 
 himself a home missionary. Had they no educa- 
 tion society, schools and colleges ; no class of 
 men ever felt the need of an education more. 
 Had they not become equipped for the fight 
 against slavery ; the anti - slavery warfare had not 
 then commenced. Had no general conference 
 been organized ; they were prepared for the work,
 
 THE FREEWILL BAPTISTS IN 1826. 45 
 
 and the next year was destined to witness its com- 
 pletion. It is impossible to give a correct esti- 
 mate of their character without an intimate knowl- 
 edge of the times in which they lived. 
 
 Perceiving the advantages- to be derived from 
 the aid of the press, the Freewill Baptists were 
 not slow to employ this instrumentality. In 
 1811, Eld. John Buzzell, who resided in Parsons- 
 field, Me., commenced the publication of "A Re- 
 ligious Magazine," which was continued quarter- 
 ly for two years. Its publication was then sus- 
 pended until 1820, when it Avas resumed and con- 
 tinued for two years. In 1819, Eld. Ebenezer 
 Chase commenced the publication of " The Relig- 
 ious Informer," at Andover, N. H., and continued 
 it eight years. It was issued at first once in two 
 weeks, but afterwards monthly. Both of these 
 publications were in pamphlet form, and though 
 their circulation could not have been very ex- 
 tensive, they served as a valuable means of com- 
 munication between the churches and did much to 
 extend a knowledge of the doctrines and polity of 
 the denomination. But the want of a weekly or- 
 gan was felt and recognized, and the question was
 
 46 WILLIAM BUEK. 
 
 often raised respecting how it should be supplied. 
 The answer, however, was not long in coming. 
 
 In 1825, as the result of a conference bettveen 
 Elds. Samuel Burbank and Elias Libby, whose 
 names have already appeared in these pages, the 
 Parsonsfield Quarterly Meeting was consulted re- 
 specting the propriety of publishing a weekly re- 
 ligious journal. While the Quarterly Meeting 
 doubted the success of the undertaking, it prom- 
 ised its patronage. Nine men,* however, were 
 found ready to assume its publication, and having 
 secured a capital of eight hundred dollars at 
 fifty dollars a share, they issued their prospectus 
 in January, 1826. Respecting the paper they 
 said : " The first two pages of the paper will be 
 devoted to religious intelKo:ence and Christian 
 correspondence. The other two pages to news 
 in general, and whatever may be attractive to the 
 candid reader." The company was legally and 
 formally organized early in February under the 
 
 *The names of these nine men were, Henry Hobbs, Jonathan 
 "Woodman, John Buzzell, Samuel Burbank, Elias Libby, An- 
 drew Hobson, Joseph llobson, Mark Hill and William David- 
 sou, all ministers, except Dea. Joseph Hobson. Of these only 
 Woodman, Libby and A. Hobson survive.
 
 THE FREEWILL BAPTISTS IN 1826. 47 
 
 name of Hobbs, Woodman & Co., and Elder 
 Henry Hobbs was chosen chairman, and Elder 
 Samuel Burbank, clerk. During the same month 
 Messrs. Hobbs and Burbank visited Boston in 
 the interest of the company, and, as already stated, 
 young Burr was employed to go to Limerick and 
 take charge of the printing. Henceforth, for a 
 period of forty years, the history of the Freewill 
 Baptist denomination and the life of William 
 Burr were to be closely interwoven. 
 
 The reader is invited to turn from the view of 
 the Freewill Baptist denomination as it was and 
 glance at what it is. From 1826 to the present 
 time, there has been a period nearly as long as 
 the one from the organization of the first church 
 by Randall to 1826. During this time, the work 
 so auspiciously begun by the fathers has been no- 
 bly carried forward by those who have come after 
 them. AVhile the fundamental principles of the 
 denomination have remained intact, its churches 
 have been planted in twice the number of states, 
 and have increased from less than four hundred to 
 nearly fourteen hundred, its membership has
 
 48 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 increased from fifteen thousand to nearly seventy 
 tliousaiid, and its power and facilities for good 
 have increased in a corresponding ratio. In proof 
 of this, thei'C may be cited the character of its 
 churches, not only in the rural districts, but also 
 in the larger towns and cities ; its Sabbath school 
 work, scarcely second in importance to the preach- 
 ing of the gospel ; its missions in India and among 
 the Freedmen, in which its spirit of benevolence 
 and consecration has been manifest ; its Theolog- 
 ical School, which has done so much for the cul- 
 ture of its ministry ; its two colleges in regular 
 operation besides others in embryo ; its preparato- 
 ry schools of a high order and its Printing Es- 
 tablishment scattering its publications broadcast 
 through the land. Indeed, the progress of the 
 denomination has been commensurate with that of 
 the nation. With especial pride can it refer to its 
 excellent system of doctrines and its church polity, 
 its catalogue of sainted dead and its noble record 
 in the warfare against American slavery.
 
 IV. 
 
 THE PRENTER AT LIMERICK. 
 
 Keturning from our digression, we will now re- 
 sume the narrative of young Burr where it was 
 interrupted, at the close of the second chapter. 
 
 There is something grand and significant in the 
 Scriptm-e account of the journey of the youthful 
 Jacob, from the home of Isaac and Rebecca, to the 
 country of Laban. His doubts and forebodings, his 
 experiences during the night at Bethel, with his 
 vows and resolutions, have not been peculiar to him. 
 They have, rather, constituted a part of the men- 
 tal history of many a young man who has gone 
 out into the world not knowing whither he went. 
 It would be strange if young Burr did not have 
 thoughts and feelings similar to those of Jacob, 
 as he left Boston for Limerick to assume the re- 
 sponsibilities which awaited him at the com- 
 mencement of what proved to be his life - work. 
 
 The letter summoning Mr. Burr to Limerick
 
 50 WILLIAM BUER. 
 
 was written on the 27th of March, and he left 
 Boston on the 6th of April. In those days of 
 slow locomotion, not more than a week could have 
 intervened between the reception of his letter and 
 his departure. But this was doubtless a week of 
 activity. He must settle with his employers, 
 make the needed preparation for leaving and the 
 journey, say good-bye to his acquaintances, and 
 perhaps make a flying visit to Hangham to see his 
 parents and receive their blessing. Taking pas- 
 sage for Portland in a packet, which was then by 
 far the easiest and cheapest way that he could 
 reach that city, he arrived after a stormy course 
 of nearly three days, the greater part of which 
 time land could not be seen. Startinsj from 
 Portland in a wagon, and encountering the bad 
 roads of the season, at Buxton he was obliged to 
 take a sleigh for the remainder of the journey. 
 Dragged thus through mud and snow for thirty - 
 six miles, he reached Limerick just at dark, and 
 stopped with Eld. EHas Libby as he had been 
 directed. 
 
 Limerick was then a beautiful country village 
 of several hundred inhabitants, enclosed by hills.
 
 THE PEINTER IN LIMERICK. 51 
 
 midway between the ocean on the southeast and. 
 the Ossipee mountains on the northwest. It con- 
 tained, among other things, a single hotel, two 
 lawyers' offices, half a dozen stores, a chaise and 
 harness manufactory, several shoe -shops, three 
 churches and an academy. One of the most en- 
 terprising business men of this village was Eld. 
 Elias Libby, who also served as pastor of the 
 Freewill Baptist church. It was he who, when 
 a printing - office was wanted for the new paper, 
 invited the company to come to Limerick and oc- 
 cupy rooms which he would furnish either free 
 or at a moderate charge. Situated thirty or 
 more miles from Portland and remote from the 
 great mail routes, this place afforded but few fa- 
 cilities for the publication of a weekly religious 
 newspaper. But, in spite of all obstacles, the 
 enterprise was destined to succeed. 
 
 Mr. Burr found everything pertaining to his 
 future work in a chaotic state. While a compa- 
 ny had been formed and editors appointed, none 
 of the men engaged in the enterprise had any 
 pi-actical acquaintance with the work which they 
 liad undertaken. The task before him appeared
 
 52 WILLIAM BUER. 
 
 formidable. Respecting his own earlj experiences 
 at Limerick, Mr. Burr said, in an article which 
 appeared in the Star of April 4, 1866, and which 
 was the last article of any considerable length 
 which he wrote for its columns, — " Arriving at 
 Limerick, he found in the room which had been 
 prepared for an office, a few boxes of type and 
 some cases, and, stowed away in one corner, an 
 ' old - fjishioned' Raraage press, which looked as if 
 it might have descended fi'om the days of Faust. 
 There were neither fixtures, furniture, nor models 
 of what was requisite. He proceeded to make 
 plans of what he wanted as best he could, and a 
 carpenter was employed to manufacture them. 
 The type was distributed into cases, the old rick- 
 ety press set up, inking-balls made (for that was 
 long before the days of rollers) , a couple of young 
 lads, — one of them now Rev. P. S. Burbank, 
 of Damdlle, N. H., — put under a course of in- 
 struction in the art of printing ; and, on the 11th of 
 May, 1826, the first number of The Morning Star 
 was issued. The sheet was quite small compared 
 with its present size, though it was as large as 
 many other papers of that day. The number of
 
 THE PKESTTER AT LIMERICK. 53 
 
 subscribers was less than five hundred, the names 
 of some of whom are still to be found upon our 
 subscription list, though a large majority of them, 
 with Elds. Buzzell and Burbank (the first two 
 Editors) , Hobbs and Davidson and Deacon Hob- 
 eon, of the Association, have finished their earth- 
 ly career, and are now, we trust, inhabitants of 
 ' the better country'. Subscribers rapidly increas- 
 ed, and, by the end of the first volume, had be- 
 come sufficiently numerous to pay aU the expenses 
 of publication." 
 
 Between Boston and Limerick, and the large 
 and well - furnished office of the Traveller and the 
 humble one of the Star, the contrast must have 
 been great. But it was equally great to him in 
 other respects. Trained under Unitarian influences, 
 and though attending the ConffregationaKst church 
 in Limerick, his daily associations were largely 
 with the Freewill Baptists, and he sometimes at- 
 tended their meetings. Says Rev. O. B. Che- 
 ney in The Freewill Baptist Quarterly for Oct., 
 1<S57, — "After he (Mr. Burr) had been in 
 Limerick a few weeks, a F. Baptist Quarterly 
 Mectin"; was held there. Much had been said
 
 54 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 about the approacliing meeting in the place, and 
 great preparations were made for it. As he had 
 never attended a meeting of the kind, he felt no 
 small degree of curiosity in regard to it ; — the 
 more as a number of F. Baptist ministers were 
 expected to be present, and he had never seen but 
 two or three. At length the day of the meeting 
 arrived. It was a beautiful May morning. A 
 multitude of people assembled, as the Quarterly 
 Meeting embraced a large territory. The meet- 
 ing was held in the old Baptist meeting - house, 
 standing on the hill overlooking the village. It 
 was one of the ' old-fasliioned', two - story, barn - 
 looking houses, very large, with galleries, and on- 
 ly partly finished and plastered. Burr took his 
 place in the gallery, in front of the pulpit, upon 
 one of the rough seats which had been fitted up 
 for the occasion ; and as he looked dovni upon 
 the men occupying the pulpit, the altar and the 
 front pews, mmisters of the gospel, some of 
 them young, others venerable in appearance 
 by then' whitened locks and peculiar dress ; and 
 as he listened to their fervent prayers, their spirit- 
 ual songs, their powerful preaching and earnest
 
 THE PRINTER AT LIMERICK. 55 
 
 exhortations, he could only silently repeat : 'These 
 men are the servants of the Most High God, 
 which show unto us the way of salvation.' " 
 Suffice it to say that this meeting exerted a pow- 
 erful influence in leading him to seek his person- 
 al salvation and inclining him to the views of the 
 F. Baptists, though he did not date his conver- 
 sion until nearly two years later. 
 
 At the commencement of the publication of 
 the Star, the force in the office consisted of the 
 Junior Editor, Eld. Samuel Burbank, then one 
 of the younger and better educated ministers in 
 tlie denomination, Mr. Burr, the printer, a part 
 of whose work was doubtless to instruct JNlr. 
 Burbank in the art of newspaper - making, and, 
 as already stated, two boys as apprentices, — one 
 of whom was Alva Quinby and the other he who 
 is now Bev. P. S. Burbank. At the request of 
 the writer, Mr. Burbank has furnished a state- 
 ment of the experiences of those early years, 
 which is now given for the benefit of the reader. 
 He says : 
 
 " The office of The Morning jSiar, during 
 the first years of its existence, was a large, square
 
 56 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 room with its furniture and fixtures, — a veritable 
 printing-office, containing a small hand, Ramage 
 press, with stands and cases, over which William 
 Burr presided, aided by two boys. Here one 
 might have seen us in our every day rig, as type- 
 setters, or pressmen, or what not. On printing 
 days Burr and myself worked the press. The 
 Editor's little, cosy sanctum was on the same floor, 
 within which we all went for 'copy'. During the 
 three years of my apprenticeship, some changea 
 occurred in the working force of the office. 
 Quinby left ; Irving Favor and two other boys 
 became apprentices, and I came to be what I have 
 heard IVIr. Burr call me, — his 'oldest boy', and, 
 for those tlu-ee years his most intimate co - la- 
 borer. 
 
 " Mr. Burr, when he came to Limerick, 
 though less than twenty years of age, was, as we 
 regarded him, an accomplished gentleman, of 
 pleasing manners and most amiable disposition. 
 He soon and easily made the acquaintance of the 
 leading young men in the village, nearly all of 
 whom attended the Congregationalist church, the 
 largest and most popular in the village. The
 
 THE PRINTER AT LIMERICK. 57 
 
 Baptist church was small and a little at one side, 
 while the Freewill Baptists worshiped in a hall in 
 the third story of a building owned by Elder 
 Libby. Ordinarily Mr. Burr attended the largest 
 church. During the first two years everything 
 went smoothly in the village and the office. Many 
 were the visitors who came to see the wonderful 
 operation of printing, among whom were many of 
 our ministers. I could tell, as a distinct remem- 
 brance, that in the large basket which carried 
 our mail to the post-office, the Wilton package 
 o^ Stars was the largest that went to any town. 
 Hubbard Chandler broiight us in the most sub- 
 scribers, and Arthur Caverno sent the plainest 
 and neatest manuscript communications that came 
 to the office. 
 
 " The third year brought a glad change to us 
 and the village. God sent a religious awakening, 
 which filled the place, swept the entire town, and 
 pervaded all three of the societies. Early in the 
 year 1828, Eld. Clement Phinney, then a revivalist 
 well known in Maine, came to Limerick and 
 preached in our church several Sabbaths and even- 
 ings. He was accustomed to see souls con-
 
 58 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 verted under such circumstances. But here the 
 result was only the partial awakening of the 
 church. Not a sinner had chosen Christ. Dis- 
 heartened, Father Phinney took the stage for 
 home. The next day, to the great surprise of 
 all, Samuel L. Julian, the leading man in one of 
 tlie carriage shops, was present at a church con- 
 ference. Immediately after the meeting was 
 opened by prayer, he arose and said, ' I feel like 
 a stranger in a strange land, and I ask the prayers 
 of Christians for my poor soul.' He soon found 
 peace in believing, and in the precious revival 
 which followed, he has sometimes been spoken of 
 as ^ the first convert'. Others requested prayers 
 in the same meeting. A messenger was dis- 
 patched for Father Phinney, who returned and 
 preached several weeks longer with great power. 
 Mr. Burr, who was a friend of Julian, was one of 
 the early converts in the revival. In the follow- 
 ing months each of the three societies in the 
 village received large accessions. Among the 
 fruits of the revival were several who became 
 ministers. 
 
 " Converts' and inquirers' meetings began to be
 
 THE PRINTER AT LIMERICK. 59 
 
 held, soon after the commencement of the revival, 
 in Julian's carriage shop or in the 8tar office, 
 and these private meetings gathered new attend- 
 ants, either as seekers or new converts, as the 
 revival progressed. When Burr had attended 
 several of these meetings, and I had not, one day- 
 while both of us were setting type, not far from 
 each other. Burr said to me, abruptly but very 
 quietly, — ' Burbank, What do you think of re- 
 ligion f I said, — 'I suppose it is important.' 
 He said, — ' That is not what I mean. I mean, 
 what do you think of seelcing religion.' I 
 answered, — ' I suppose I ought to.' He added, — 
 * I mean to. I think these Christians enjoy some- 
 thing that I do n't, and though I never felt my- 
 self to be so great a sinner as some, I think re- 
 Jigion to be a good thing, and I mean to seek it, 
 and I hope you will, too.' I was already a pri- 
 vate inquirer, and, not long after this conversa- 
 tion, we were both hoping in Jesus. 
 
 " This conversation indicates something of the 
 character of the man. In business or religion, 
 calmly and deliberately, he asked what was duty, 
 and did it. He concluded that religion was the
 
 60 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 supreme good, and sought to procure it. In all 
 the social meetings of that revival, as in all the 
 remaining years of his life, he was ready to ' stand 
 up for Jesus'. He was a humble Christian and a 
 sincerely devoted Freewill Baptist, to whose 
 heart the interests of the denomination were always 
 dear. And who of us, living or dead, has done 
 more for it?" 
 
 In connection with the revival under the labors 
 of Father Phinney, a volume, entitled, "Persua- 
 sives to Early Piety," by Rev. J. G. Pike, of 
 England, then just published, found its way to 
 the Star office, and was seized and read by young 
 Burr. Its pungent truths carried conviction to 
 his heart, and the seed sown in due time re- 
 sulted in a harvest. In October he was baptized 
 by Eld. A. Bridges, and united with the Free- 
 will Baptist church. 
 
 The conversion of Brother Burr, as he was 
 ever afterwards called, determined his subsequent 
 career, and exerted an important influence upon 
 the future of the denomination. Previous to this 
 event, he had decided to leave Limerick and re- 
 turn to Boston, at the close of his second year's
 
 THE PRINTEK AT LIMERICK. 61 
 
 engagement. He would then be of age, and had 
 no more to fear from his old enemy, Frost. He 
 had notified his employers to this eflPect, and they, 
 having given up all hope of retaining him, had 
 engaged another printer to take his place. But 
 now, animated by a new purpose, he was desirous 
 of identifying his interests with those of the young 
 and rising denomination which he truly loved, 
 and to the principles of which he was becoming 
 strongly attached. The contract between the 
 proprietors of the Star and the printer whom they 
 had engaged, was, by mutual consent, annulled, 
 and the services of Mr. Burr continued. 
 
 The year 1828 witnessed another event in the 
 career of Mr. Burr, second only in importance to 
 his conversion. In June, he was married to INIiss 
 Frances McDonald, the fifth daughter of the then 
 late John McDonald, of Limerick. 
 
 Mr. Burr had been steadily gaining in the con- 
 fidence of his employers from the first, but now, 
 having become an active and experimental Chris- 
 tian, this confidence strengthened, and many 
 looked to him as the one in whom the hopes of 
 the denomination, as they had reference to its
 
 •62 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 publishing interests, centered. In the spring of 
 1829, at the commencement of the fourth volume 
 of the Stai', the position of both Office Editor and 
 of Publishing Agent were tendered him ; but 
 while he accepted the latter, he declined the 
 former. As a reason for tliis, he urged his youth 
 and want of acquaintance with the denomination ; 
 and in this he exhibited his characteristic modes- 
 ty. He performed, however, the duties of both 
 positions, as Elds. Buzzell and Burbank had 
 become but little more than editorial contrib- 
 utors. In fact, Mr. Burr had, during the previ- 
 ous three years, performed much of the labor 
 which usually devolved upon an Editor, such as 
 proof-reading, making selections, and the like. 
 
 Meantime, changes were in constant progress 
 in the firm which commenced the publication of 
 the Star. Some who composed tliis firm dis- 
 posed of their stock and dropped out, while Mr. 
 Burr, who showed his faith by his works, invested 
 in it his carefully saved earnings. In May, 1832, 
 the firm of Hobbs, Woodman & Co., disposed 
 of its property to a new firm, known as Hobbs, 
 Burr &, Co., which was to continue the work of the
 
 THE PRINTER AT LIMERICK. 63 
 
 old firm. The property of the new firm was divided 
 into twenty - three parts or shares. Of these, Wil- 
 liam Burr owned fourteen shares, Henry Hobbs, 
 John Buzzell, Samuel Burbank and Joseph Hob- 
 son, two shares each, and Robert Cole, one share. 
 According to the terms of agreement, no person 
 was to own more than fourteen shares of the 
 stock, and the copartnership, which was formed 
 for ten years, could not be dissolved without the 
 votes of eighteen shares in its favor. These con- 
 ditions may be regarded as significant. But as 
 it is proved, this copartnership continued only un- 
 til the following October, when the paper was 
 sold to the denomination, — a result accomplished 
 largely through the instrumentality of Mr. Burr. 
 One year later, the Slai' and the interests con- 
 nected with it, having outgrown Limerick, were 
 removed to Dover, N. H., where it still continues 
 to emit its rays. 
 
 Limerick remains a beautiful village, with its 
 town hall, academy, three churches, and its plain 
 residences occupied by a busy people. The build-
 
 64 
 
 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 ing in which the Star was printed has long since 
 been removed, and others have taken its place. 
 The disinterested traveler looks upon it as a neat 
 and prosperous village, but to a denomination of 
 Christians it is endeared as the spot that gave 
 birth to The Morning /Siar, and as once the 
 residence of one of its leading benefactors, — 
 William Burr. 
 
 I
 
 V. 
 
 SCEAPS FROM HIS JOURNAL. 
 
 During a portion of his life, Mr. Burr kept a 
 journal, but how long he did this is not known. 
 All that has been found of it is comprised in a few 
 scraps which appear to have been written during 
 the late spring and early summer of 1830, the 
 period covered by the preceding chapter. The 
 fact that this is the only thing which he left that 
 partakes of the nature of an auto - biography, and 
 the interest which many readers are likely to 
 feel in the character of his religious experience, 
 have seemed to warrant giving it special promi- 
 nence. 
 
 None can read the following pages without a 
 strengthened conviction that the individual, of 
 whose mental and spiritual history they form a 
 part, " walked with God" and sought to maintain 
 constant communion with him. 
 
 " Wednesday and Thuksday, May 26 and
 
 6Q WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 27. — Attended the Gorham Quarterly Meeting 
 at Buxton. The reports from the churchea were 
 not very refreshing except in a few instances. 
 Eld. Chandler preached in the afternoon of the 
 first day. On the second day, A. M., Eld. Eli- 
 jah Shaw preached an excellent discourse. It was 
 indeed a strengthening one, it is believed, to many 
 of God's dear children. In the afternoon, Eld. 
 Andrew Rollins preached, followed by many feel- 
 ing exhortations from several other preachers. 
 During this Quarterly Meeting my mind has been 
 considerably unsettled a part of the time. None, 
 or at least but little, of the preaching seemed to 
 suit my case exactly. But I hope I gained some 
 ground. The weather was very pleasant and the 
 collection of people very large. Happened to 
 meet with Bro. Capples at this meeting, who in- 
 formed me that he was going to Limerick. 
 Stayed Wednesday evening at a Mr. Wells's, 
 where I found kind treatment and had the privi- 
 lege of praying with the family, but had but 
 little access to the throne of grace. Indeed, I 
 seemed almost insensible while attempting to call 
 upon the name of the Lord. Lord, show me the 
 v/orst of my case, and give me a knowledge of 
 my duty and grace to perform it ! 
 
 " Friday, 31ay 28. — Arrived home last even- 
 ing from Q. M., and found all well. The Lord
 
 SCEAPS FEOM HIS JOUENAL. 67 
 
 had been pleased to preserve our lives through the 
 short period we had been absent, for vv^hich I 
 tried to thank his name, although it seemed to be 
 a mere lip service. O Lord, soften my heart, 
 and let me feel true penitence ! To - day have 
 had much of the world in my mind, and but little 
 have my thoughts been on eternity. Oh, who 
 shall deliver me from this cold and stupi<l frame 
 of mind, but the Lord? To him will I raise my 
 voice, for his mercy alone can reach my case. 
 This evening a prayer - meeting is to be held at 
 Bro. Burbank's, at which Bro. Capples is ex- 
 pected to be present. Lord, give him a meek 
 and lowly spirit ! — The weather at the present 
 time is exceedingly dry. 
 
 " Attended prayer - meeting last evening, and 
 the Lord was in our midst. It was a solemn 
 time, and I gained a victory over myself in re- 
 sisting the devil. This afternoon one of my 
 brothers (Elijah) called on me, from Hingham. 
 He came entirely unexpected, and brought news 
 that all my relatives in that place and vicinity 
 were in the enjoyment of health wh€n he left 
 home. Was glad to receive him, being the first 
 visit I ever received from either of my relatives, 
 since I removed to this place, over four years 
 ago.
 
 68 WILLIAM BUEE. 
 
 " Sabbath, 3Iay 30. — My brother being with 
 me, and not being a professor of experimental 
 religion, and being necessarily obliged to converse 
 with him considerably on subjects which were not 
 religious, my mind gradually departed from the 
 contemplation of religious things and from a de- 
 votional frame, so that, before the day closed, I 
 found my soul in a barren condition indeed, al- 
 though I seemed, as I thought, unwilling that 
 this should be the case, and strove against it ; 
 but I have no doubt that the cause was found in 
 withdrawing my mind from its appropriate duties 
 on this holy day. O Lord, I need thy gracious 
 assistance in this time of trial ! — Eld. Burbank, 
 Bro. Capples and Eld. John Buzzell preached at 
 the meeting -house. It is to be hoped that some 
 good will result therefrom. 
 
 "Monday and Tuesday, May 31 and June 
 1. — My brother still remains with me. Have 
 conversed with him much on religion, but find 
 that he still holds to morality as all-sufficient, 
 and received no benefit myself from the conversa- 
 tion. I therefore concluded, as I am not likely 
 to do him any good nor to receive any myself from 
 him, that I will not introduce the subject to him 
 again while he is present with me. 
 
 " Wednesday. — ^My brother started for home 
 
 I
 
 SCRAPS FROM HIS JOURNAL. G9 
 
 this morning. I accompanied him as far as 
 Waterboro', where I took my leave of him, per- 
 haps no more to meet him till the Judgment of 
 the great day. Have I cleared my skirts from 
 the blood of his soul, if this should prove the case? 
 Of this I am doubtful. The subject was displeas- 
 ing to him. He thought me too much concerned. 
 * The soul,' he said, ' would be well enough, if we 
 did not trouble ourselves so much about it.' I 
 did not like to displease him, for fear that his 
 visit would not be agreeable, and excused myself 
 by supposing that I could do him no good. I 
 fear that thereby I have been unfaithful to warn 
 him of his danger as I should. If this be the 
 case, I pray thee, O Lord, to forgive, and I will 
 endeavor to be more faithful in time to come. 
 Oh, increase my faith, of which I am now almost 
 destitute ! 
 
 " Thursday. — Attended meeting this afternoon 
 at half - past five, at Stimpson's school - house. 
 But few attended, and it was rather a dry time. 
 Bro. Capples was present and seemed to be en- 
 gaged. Tried to exhort my fellow creatures to 
 seek an interest in the Saviour's blood, but it 
 seemed to me to be of no avail 
 
 "Friday, June 11. — Started for Sandwich, 
 where the Y. M. was held. Arrived at the
 
 70 WILLIAM BUEE. 
 
 place about half-past eight, and found several 
 brethren already there. Enjoyed myself very 
 well on my journey, being in company with Bro. 
 N. Burbank. We took dinner at Effingham with 
 Mr. Marston, and were very kindly entertained. 
 After dinner we had a little praying time and were 
 much refreshed. This evening I was made ac- 
 quainted with a number of brethren from differ- 
 ent parts of N. H., whom I never before met, 
 and saw a number of old acquaintances. On re- 
 tiring for the night, the throne of grace was very 
 appropriately addressed by Eld. Wm^ Buzzell. 
 
 "Saturday, June 12. — This morning I arose 
 at a very early hour and repaired to the grove 
 near Bro. Ambrose's, where I stopped, and 
 tried to thank the Lord for his goodness to me, 
 but in consequence of the scattered situation of 
 ray thoughts, from being in a strange place and 
 seeing so many strangers, I did not experience 
 that access to the throne of grace enjoyed at other 
 times, although I felt that I was doing my duty. 
 About nine o 'clock I went to the meeting - house 
 where the meeting was to be held, and heard some 
 very feeling remarks from Eld. Place, on the ne- 
 cessity of brethren assisting their preachers more. 
 He stated as his belief that, in many places in 
 N. H., the people were awaking to this duty and 
 
 i
 
 SCRAPS FROM HIS JOURNAL. 71 
 
 coming forward in support of it. He knew of 
 several wlio were desirous of bestowing a part of 
 their earthly substance for the benefit of the min- 
 istry, and said he believed, if temperance should in- 
 crease as fast for five years to come as for two years 
 past, that many who had been hitherto unable to 
 contribute anything to this object, would be able 
 to do considerable. The report from the Q. M's 
 were, on the whole, very encouraging. During 
 the meeting, I heard sermons from Elds. Flanders, 
 Woodman, Caverno and Buzzell, some of which 
 were awakening to sinners and edifying to the 
 saints. I tarried on Saturday evening at the north 
 part of the town, with a man who was not a pro- 
 fessor of religion, but he appeared very serious 
 and treated me and my companion with great 
 kindness. 
 
 " Sunday. — Heard Eld. Woodman in the fore- 
 noon, and Eld. Caverno in the afternoon. Eld. 
 C. preached a very practical discourse from these 
 words, — 'Nay, Father Abraham, but if one 
 were sent unto them from the dead, they would 
 repent.' Towards the close there were but few 
 present that were not seen to weep. Some broke 
 out in loud sobs. 
 
 " On Monday, about nine, the brethren who had 
 met from dificrent quarters began to disperse to
 
 72 WILLIAM BUKR. 
 
 tlieir respective homes. The sight was very 
 affecting. Here we had been together for sever- 
 al days, and had taken sweet counsel with each 
 other ; but now all these enjoyments are over, 
 and we are to part, many of us to meet no more 
 on the shores of time. Lord, help us so to live that 
 we may meet around thy dazzling throne in the 
 kingdom of heaven ! 
 
 " We started about nine, arrived at Bro. Hodg- 
 don's, in Ossipee, for dinner, and at Bro. Mason's, 
 in Effingham, for supper, where Eld. Woodman 
 preached, and it was a good time. After meet- 
 ing, a man by the name of Watson, who former- 
 ly lived in Limerick, came and took hold of my 
 hand, and, after the usual ceremonies, asked me 
 with a faltering voice, if I would not call on him 
 before I left the place. I replied that I would. 
 He had, while at Limerick, lived rather a sinful 
 life, and also after he removed to Effingham, up 
 to this time. Seeing some signs of penitence in 
 him, I followed him to his house, when he inform- 
 ed me that he felt himself to be a lost sinner, 
 shedding many tears. I tried to encourage him 
 to go to Jesus, and united with his family in 
 prayer. I saw him the next morning, and he 
 appeared to be still bent down under a load of 
 guilt. The Lord help him to seek till he finds.
 
 SCRAPS FROM HIS JOURNAL. 73 
 
 Tuesday, about noon, I arrived at my dwelling 
 and found all well. 
 
 " Wednesday and Thursday. — Enjoyed 
 some happy hours and endured some dark seasons. 
 Feel resolved to try to arise through divine assist- 
 ance to a newness of life, to live more exemplary 
 and prayei'ful. Lord, help me so to do ! 
 
 "Friday, J?^ we 18. — Eld. Bridges preached 
 at the meeting- house at five o'clock, P. M., and 
 some exhortations were delivered at the close. 
 Five came forward for prayers, among whom was 
 H. J. Libby, who had been, for some time, try- 
 ing to build upon Universal Restoration. Ap- 
 parently the Lord is about to revive his work and 
 to carry it on with mighty power."
 
 VI, 
 
 FROM LIMERICK TO DOVEE. 
 
 The last number of The Morning Star print- 
 ed at Limerick bears the date of Oct. 31, 1833, 
 while the first number printed in Dover bears the 
 date of Nov. 14. One number only was sus- 
 pended in consequence of the removal. This 
 suggests active work, especially in view of the 
 fact that a hard road of nearly fifty miles lay 
 between Limerick and Dover. 
 
 It is one thing to give the date of an event, 
 whUe it is quite another thing to determine the 
 causes which produced it. Mr. Burr never be- 
 lieved that Limerick was a suitable place for the 
 publication of the Star, or that the enterprise would 
 attain the highest success in that locality. With 
 each year the conviction strengthened that, should 
 the Star become a great denominational paper, 
 its removal would be only a question of time. 
 
 But the execution of new measures often de-
 
 FROM LIMEEICK TO DOVER. 75 
 
 niands new men. The first proprietors of the 
 Star were all, or nearly all, residents of York 
 County, Maine. One object had in view in com- 
 mencing its publication was the local advantages 
 to be derived from it ; and, while some of these 
 men may not have been very decided in their op- 
 position to removal, it could have been hardly ex- 
 pected that they should favor it. But at this 
 time, as at other times when God has u work to 
 accomplish, he had in readiness the means of its 
 accomplishment. Two men appeared upon the 
 stage, whom Mr. Burr found very efficient and 
 valuable co-laborers. For a portion of the time, 
 one or both of these men was even more promi- 
 nent than himself, though he was more than any 
 other one, the originator of the new movement. 
 
 The name of Eld. David Marks, known as the 
 boy- preacher of Wetstern New York, has already 
 appeared in these pages. Born in Shendaken, Ul- 
 ster Co., N. Y., in 1805, and removing with his 
 parents, a few years later, to Junius, Seneca Co., 
 he was converted while a mere child, and com- 
 menced preaching at the early age of fifteen. 
 Feeling that " the woe was upon him," he traveled,
 
 76 WILLIAM BUKR. 
 
 on foot, on horseback, and then with his two 
 horses and covered carriage, far and near, and de- 
 livered his plain and simple message with such 
 unction and power that the conversion of hun- 
 dreds and thousands was the result. At one time 
 he was in Western New York, a few weeks later 
 in New England, and a few weeks later still, he 
 had returned to New York and had gone to Cana- 
 da, from which he returned to make a journey to 
 Ohio or another one to New England. For those 
 days of slow locomotion, he was as well - nigh 
 omnipresent as a mortal could be. Though his 
 early educational advantages were small, he was a 
 diligent student, reading and writing as he travel- 
 ed from place to place ; and , possessed of the de- 
 votion of a monk and the activity of a Jesuit, 
 his influence was extensive and his power for good 
 immense. 
 
 In 1828, while Eld. Marks was attending the 
 second General Conference at Sandwich, N. H., 
 his preaching attracted the attention of an intelli- 
 gent and thoughtful young man of retiring man- 
 ners and skeptical tendencies, whose parents were 
 members of the Society of Friends. His conver-
 
 FROM LIMERICK TO DOVER. 77 
 
 sion followed, and he and Eld. Marks became in- 
 timate friends. This young man was Samuel 
 Bedee. Born in Poplin, now Fremont, N. H., 
 in 1799, he had been a resident of Sandwich since 
 the age of seventeen. " Though," to use the 
 language of Eld. Marks in reference to him, " he 
 enjoyed small advantages of attending school, he 
 gave his mind to study from childhood, and even 
 while engaged in other pursuits, he was diligent- 
 ly employed in gaining knowledge. He studied 
 the sciences, the Latin language, and paid 
 some attention to the Greek, and gave himself to 
 very extensive and critical reading. He looked 
 deeply into things, treasured up vast knowledge, 
 and finally became one of the most correct En- 
 glish scholars." The articles from his pen, as 
 they afterwards appeared in the Star, showed 
 him to be a pungent and accomplished writer. 
 These three young men. Burr, Marks and Bedee, 
 of nearly the same age, were attracted to each 
 other, and united their efforts in the accomplish- 
 ment of a work, which, doubtless, neither of 
 them could have accomplished alone. 
 
 The practical acquaintance of Mr. Burr with
 
 78 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 the work of publishing and the interest which he 
 had felt, since his conversion, in the welfare and 
 progress of the denomination, led him to under- 
 stand something of its wants and to devise means 
 to supply them. Knowing, among other things, 
 what the Methodist " Book Concern" was doing 
 for the denomination in whose interests it was 
 established, he readily conceived that similar ad- 
 vantages would accrue to the Freewill Baptists 
 from a similar institution. He pondered the mat- 
 ter long and well; and, at length, he gave 
 a few brief hints in reference to the subject, 
 in the Star of Feb. 9, 1831. It will be 
 sufficient to reproduce a single paragraph from 
 the article. He said : 
 
 " Other denominations of Christians are all 
 alive ; their forces, well marshaled, are in the 
 field; and they are making every exertion, and 
 using every means to build up Zion and dissemi- 
 nate their doctrines. Not only are their preach- 
 ers engaged in the work, but they have applied to 
 the press for her powerful aid. Witness tlieir nu- 
 merous periodicals, their Tract Societies, and 
 their ^ Book Concerns.' The enemies of the cross, 
 too, have taken to their assistance this mighty en- 
 gine, and are thereby scattering their baleful and 
 deleterious doctrines far and wide. And shall
 
 FROM LIMEEICK TO DOVER. 79 
 
 not the Freewill Baptists also have the benefit of 
 the press ? Yes — We have it already, and let 
 us be more careful in the future to secure its ad- 
 vantages." 
 
 As might have been expected, this article ar- 
 rested attention. One after another expressed 
 his views through the columns of the Star in ad- 
 vocacy of the establishment of a " Book Concern." 
 Among these was Mr. Bedee who, at the sugges- 
 tion of BuiT, wrote a series of articles over an 
 anonymous signature, in which he set forth the 
 necessity of a " Book Concern," and the advan- 
 tages to be derived from it in an able and con- 
 vincing manner. The name of the writer of 
 these articles was known to no one except 
 Mr. Burr, until the death of Bedee, when he 
 considered himself absolved from the secrecy laid 
 upon him and revealed it. At this day, it would 
 seem strange that it was deemed necessary to pre- 
 sent an elaborate argument in favor of such an 
 undertaking, but these men were then doing pio- 
 neer work. They were treading upon a terra 
 incognita. Some looked upon the new move- 
 ment with suspicion, while others doubted its fi- 
 nancial success.
 
 80 WILLIAIM BURE. 
 
 At first, Eld. Marks devoted himself almost 
 solely to the procuring the immediate conver- 
 sion of sinners. But more recently, he had come 
 to feel deeply in view of the wants of the denom- 
 ination, and especially its educational wants. He 
 was consequently greatly interested in this discus- 
 sion in the Star. The idea of the " Book Con- 
 cern" met his views, and he corresponded with his 
 friend Bedee respecting it. The first step taken 
 was to secure the endorsement of the General Con- 
 ference, which met at Wilton, Me., in Oct., 1831. 
 This body, however, was cautious in its move- 
 ments. While it said, — " We believe that such 
 an establishment, suitably encouraged and support- 
 ed, would contribute as much to usefulness in our 
 churches, and aid as much in spreading Christian 
 knowledge in the world, as any other single course 
 of measures that we can under the present cir- 
 cumstances pursue," it had no funds with which 
 to undertake such an enterprise on a large scale. 
 Consequently it could only appoint Eld. Marks as 
 Book Agent until the next General Conference, 
 with authority to publish for the Conference such 
 books as it should direct, hold himself responsi-
 
 FROM LIMERICK TO DOVER. 81 
 
 ble to the Conference for his acts, and be himself 
 responsible for all contracts made. A Publishing 
 and Advisory Committee, consisting of H. Hobbs, 
 S. Bedee and Wm. Burr, was also appointed, 
 " with instructions to direct the Book Agent to 
 publish, for and in behalf of the Conference, such 
 books as they might deem suitable and expe- 
 dient to be so published, and to advise with him 
 relative to the sales." Of this Committee Mr. 
 Burr was chosen Secretary. Such was the origin 
 of the Freewill Baptist Printing Establishment. 
 From this humble begiuning, it has grown to its 
 present dimensions. 
 
 But this step being taken, others must soon fol- 
 low. With The Morning Star published at 
 Limerick in the interest of its proprietors, and 
 the " Book Concern" owned by the denomination 
 with its head quarters at the same place, there 
 were two institutions, between which there was 
 liable, sooner or later, to be rivalry and friction. 
 Besides, the time would come when the " Book 
 Concern" would want a paper of its own, which 
 would be the official organ of the denomination. 
 Foreseeing these contingencies and desirous that
 
 OS WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 the unity of the denomination should be preserved, 
 Mr. Burr decided that the wiser course to be per- 
 8ued was for the denomination to purchase the 
 Star ; and, consequently, he, with other proprie- 
 tors, proposed its sale. The proj)osition was ac- 
 cepted by the General Conference, held in Mere- 
 dith in Oct., 1832. Thirty -seven hundred dol- 
 lars was the sum agreed upon, but as the Confer- 
 ence had no funds at its disposal, and the " Book 
 Concern" was already in debt two thousand 
 dollars as the result of its first year's operations 
 in publishing, the benefit of the credit system was 
 given to the fullest extent. The subscribers of 
 the Star then numbered about one thousand and 
 six hundred. The Book Agent was continued in 
 oflfice, and the Publishing and Advisory Commit- 
 tee was increased by the addition of the names of 
 Hosea Quinby, Silas Curtis and D. P. Ciliey. 
 After the purchase of the Star, it was nomi- 
 nally published by Eld. Marks as Agent of the 
 "Book Concern," while he continued to act in 
 that capacity. Traveling, preaching and circu- 
 lating books, he came to Limerick only when his 
 duties called him there. ]Mr. Burr still supcrin-
 
 FROM LIMERICK TO DOVER. 83 
 
 tended the printing and had the immediate over- 
 sight of the editorial and financial departments of 
 the paper. Mr. Bedee seems to have spent some 
 time in Boston in the interest of the " Book Con- 
 cern," and wrote freely for the Star. Before the 
 first year after the purchase had expired, the num- 
 ber of subscribers had increased to two thousand 
 and seven hundred, and the removal had been 
 virtually decided upon. In August, Marks wrote 
 to his friend Bedee, saying, among other things, — 
 " We have almost endless perplexities in publish- 
 ing books in the country. . . . Bro. Burr and 
 myself are about discouraged. We think the re- 
 moval of the office the only remedy ; the sooner the 
 better, unless we should incur censure." 
 
 Previous, however, to the session of the Gen- 
 al Conference, held in Strafford, Vt., in Oct., 
 1833, the Publishing Committee took formal ac- 
 tion upon the subject, and presented to that body 
 substantially the following statement : 
 
 " Several disadvantages have been experienced 
 by our Book Establisliment on account of its un- 
 favorable location. Being situated in an interior 
 country town, thuuc facilities for publishing, print- 
 ing and distributing books and papers have not
 
 84 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 been possessed, that a place of more business, and 
 of more central situation would have aflbrded. 
 Some particular inconveniences that have been 
 suffered, we would state for the consideration of 
 the Conference." 
 
 Then followed six specifications, and the Com- 
 mittee concluded by saying that these inconven- 
 iences could be remedied by the removal of the 
 establishment to some place where intercourse 
 with other parts of the country would be easier 
 and mail accommodations better. 
 
 " The General Conference," said the Star, 
 " took the above statements into consideration, and, 
 after making such inquiry and examination as it 
 saw fit, in relation to the probable advantages 
 and disadvantages of Limerick, Portland, Dover, 
 Boston, Providence and other places named for 
 a new location, agi'eed"That the Printing Es- 
 tablishment be removed to Dover, N. H. , as soon 
 as convenient." But why Dover was selected, in 
 preference to Portland or Boston, does not ap- 
 pear from any statement on record. It was prob- 
 ably chosen, however, as a compromise between 
 Limerick and Boston, and in consequence of its 
 central position among the New England churches
 
 FROM LIMERICK TO DOVER. 85 
 
 and the advantages which the phxce itself af- 
 forded. Mr. Burr once told the writer that this 
 selection was in accordance with his own prefer- 
 ences, and it does not appear that he ever re- 
 gretted the choice made. 
 
 Dover, from that time to the present, the head- 
 quarters of the publishing interests of the Free- 
 will Baptist denomination, is situated on the Co- 
 checho river, twelve miles from Portsmouth, 
 and sixty - eight from Boston. Within its lim- 
 its the first settlement in New Hampshire was 
 made in 1623, three years after the settlement 
 of Plymouth, Mass. Twelve years later, Major 
 Richard Waldron settled at Cochecho Falls, at the 
 head of tide water and now Dover proper, and in 
 process of time, both the business and the popu- 
 lation centered at this place. The inhabitants 
 suifered severely during the Indian wars, in which 
 occurred the famous Waldron tragedy in 1689, 
 the story of which will continue to be told in con- 
 nection with the history of Dover, for generations 
 to come. In 1833, the town contained nearly six 
 thousand inhabitants, and was the second in pop- 
 ulation in the state. It had, for twenty years,
 
 86 WILLIAM BUER. 
 
 been a manufacturing town, and its four cotton 
 mills and its printery gave employment to fifteen 
 hundred people, and afforded the great stimulus 
 to its business. It had water communication 
 with Portsmouth, and it was the center of no less 
 than sixteen difierent mail routes, by means of 
 which it had direct communication with Boston, 
 Lowell, Concord, Portsmouth, Saco, Portland, 
 Augusta and a large number of other places. 
 Here were then pubhshed three papers, the En- 
 quirer^ the Gazette, the Unitarian Recorder, 
 two of which are still in existence. " The Land- 
 ing" was then the Central square, and Main and 
 Cochecho Streets, the Franklin square of to - day, 
 while the " old Court House" answered for that 
 time for what the City Hall is now. Daniel M. 
 Christie had been in the practice of law in the 
 place some ten years, but though diligent and la- 
 borious, his reputation had not been achieved. 
 John P. Hale had, a few years before, opened 
 his oflfice, but ten or twelve years must pass be- 
 fore he was to be animated with his great life - 
 purpose ; and the wealthy, gray - haired men who 
 now walk the streets, were then the young and
 
 FROM LIMERICK TO DOVER. 87 
 
 rising men of business. There were eight re- 
 ligious societies in the place, viz., — The First 
 Congregationalist, (the second in the state), the 
 Friends', the Methodist, the Uuiversalist, the 
 Freewill Baptist, the Unitarian, the C. Baptist 
 and the Catholic. The Freewill Baptist society 
 or church, of which Eld. N. Thurston was then 
 pastor, had been organized seven years and had 
 a membership of one hundred and thirty. Its 
 house of worship, on the corner of Chestnut and 
 Brick streets, now devoted to another purpose, 
 had been erected a little more than a year, and 
 all the interests of the church were in a prosper- 
 ous condition. — It was in this place that Mr. 
 Burr, then twenty - seven years of age, was des- 
 tined to spend the remaining thirty - three years 
 of his useful life. 
 
 The " Book Concern," including the Star, 
 found its home at first over a store on Central St. 
 just south of the bridge, and everything was 
 soon in running order. But until the commence- 
 ment of the new volume, in May, there were for 
 Mr. Burr six busy months. He had to become 
 accustomed to his new position and relations ;
 
 88 WILLIAM BUEE. 
 
 his CO -laborers were, a part of (he time, sick, in 
 consequence of which his own burdens were in- 
 creased ; the Committee for the compilation of the 
 first edition of the " Treatise," of which he was a 
 member, had three sessions, two of which were of 
 several weeks duration ; and what brought an- 
 guish to his soul, his friend Bedee, who had been 
 appointed to take the editorial charge of the Star, 
 and was to come into the office at the commence- 
 ment of the next volume, sickened and died. 
 
 For several weeks, dm'ing the months of Jan- 
 uary and February, the editorials of the Star 
 seem to have been almost entirely from Mr. 
 Bedee's pen. 
 
 Among the last articles which Mr. Bedee wrote 
 was one entitled, " Slavery and Abohtion," in 
 which he took the ground, that, though slavery was 
 an evil, it was one for which the North was equal- 
 ly responsible with the South, denounced the 
 course of emancipationists and counseled the exer- 
 cise of moderation and charity. After writing 
 this article, it would almost seem that he laid 
 down his pen, never to take it up again. His 
 triumphant death, which occurred on the 28th of
 
 FROM LEVIERICK TO DOVER. 89 
 
 March, was deeply and sincerely mourned as a de- 
 nominational calamity. But if this article fore- 
 shadowed what the course of the 8tar would have 
 
 » 
 
 been, in reference to the " Great American Con- 
 flict," had he livedo seeing things from our stand- 
 point, we are led to say, — " God's ways are not 
 as our ways." The death of Mr. Bedee left a 
 vacancy not to be easily filled. 
 
 During the next year and a half, there does not 
 seem to have been anything in Mr. Burr's career 
 particularly new or striking, apart from his usual 
 routine of duties. But important changes were 
 Boon to follow.
 
 VII. 
 
 THE PUBLISHESra AGENT. 
 
 In these pages, thus far, it has been the aim of 
 the writer to treat of the career of Mr. Burr in a 
 continuous narrative, in which it has been sought 
 to present the different phases of his life. In this 
 chapter and several chapters which follow it, an- 
 other course will be pursued, since, subsequent to 
 the point now reached, Mr. Burr's duties became 
 so numerous and his life so diversified, that the 
 method hitherto adopted becomes unwieldy. The 
 new method will become apparent as the reader 
 proceeds. 
 
 At the General Conference, held at Bvron, N. 
 Y., in Oct., 1835, Eld. Marks resigned the 
 agency of the " Book Concern." Wearied by his 
 excessive labors in traveling, preaching and at- 
 tending to business, he had decided to leave New 
 England and return to Western New York, to 
 seek rest in a more retu-ed sphere of action. For
 
 THE PUBLISHING AGENT. 91 
 
 the service which he had rendered the " Book 
 Concern" during the four years of his agency, he 
 had charged only a little more than seven hun- 
 dred dollars, besides one hundred and fifty dol- 
 lars for traveling expenses, although his own 
 private property was held, during the time, for 
 debts contracted. The Conference expressed it- 
 self satisfied with the service rendered and ac- 
 cepted his resignation. 
 
 The Conference then appointed a Board con- 
 sisting of eleven members, viz., — Wm. Burr, 
 Silas Curtis, Daniel P. Cilley, Jacob Davis, 
 Enoch Place, Joseph M. Harper, Samuel Bur- 
 bank, Trueman Carey, Elias Hutchins, Seth C. 
 Parker and Charles Morse, to be known as " The 
 Trustees of the Freewill Baptist Connection," 
 who should assume the responsibilities of the 
 Book Agent and manage the affairs of the " Con- 
 cern." Among the duties devolving upon the 
 Board were the employment of the printer and 
 the appointment of the Editor or Editors of the 
 Star, and the preparation and publication of such 
 books as it should deem expedient. These Trus- 
 tees were also directed to obtain from the Legis-
 
 92 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 lature of New Hampshire, an act of incorporation 
 for their Board, as soon as it could "be done 
 with prudence and safety." 
 
 From the report of the Book Agent made at 
 the General Conference, it appeared that the 
 " Book Concern" was at this time over six thou- 
 sand dollars in debt, while about this sum was 
 regarded as collectable on what was due from sub- 
 scribers and agents ; and the assets of the " Con- 
 cern" amounted to some more than four thousand 
 dollars in addition. But as subsequent experi- 
 ence proved, the estimate made of what was col- 
 lectable was too large, so that it is not probable 
 that if the affairs of the " Concern" had been then 
 closed, it could have much more than paid its 
 debts. Where the blame for tliis state of things 
 was chargeable is very obvious. Said the Pub- 
 lishing Committee in its report to the Conference, 
 written by Mr. Burr, — " As to the future pros- 
 pects of the Star, the Committee are of the opin- 
 ion tliat with prudent management, a continuance 
 of the patronage which it now receives, and 
 ^?i;wci!2f«/«V?/ on the part of subscribers in making 
 payments, it will be able to pay its debts in the
 
 TILE PUBLISHING AGENT. 93 
 
 course of two or three years. As will appear 
 from the account of debts now due, there is most 
 to be feared from neglect in some of the subscrib- 
 ers to make payments." Among other things, 
 this Conference voted that the Siar be enlarged, 
 which was the fourth enlarajement since the com- 
 mencement of its publication. 
 
 The first meeting of the Trustees, held in Dover 
 soon after the General Conference, was a critical 
 and important one. No act of incorporation hav- 
 ing been secured, the Trustees were required to 
 give to Eld. Marks a bond of indemnity, and be- 
 come personally responsible for the debts of the 
 " Book Concern." There was consequently a 
 nervous anxiety on the part of some of the mem- 
 bers of the Board, who feared a failure. But 
 something must be done. Mr. Burr was re- 
 quested to take the Agency. Knowing the actu- 
 al state of things better, probably, than any one 
 else, he shrank from the responsibility. At 
 length, however, he consented to accept the posi- 
 tion proffered, provided an effort be made to raise 
 five thousand dollars by a loan for three years, 
 and that, to secure this loan, the property of the
 
 94 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 " Concern" be divided into one hundred shares, 
 one of these shares being given as security 
 for every fifty dollars borrowed. In this way a 
 little more than half of the proposed sum was 
 raised, much of which came from members of the 
 Board. As an example of the difficulties at- 
 tending the situation, it is stated that soon after 
 the adjournment of this first meeting, one who had 
 signed the bond given to Eld. Marks, demanded 
 that Mr. Burr should take his name from the bond 
 or call another meeting of the Board. But de- 
 clining to do either, he gave the person men- 
 tioned his own private bond, assuming all his 
 liabilities in addition to his own. Mr. Burr felt 
 that he had put his hand to the plow and could 
 not look back. The enterprise must and should, 
 under God, succeed. 
 
 The nine years which followed 1835 were years 
 which tried men's souls. The financial crisis of 
 1837 and '38 came on, and the bankrujjt of 1841 
 with all its attendant evils followed in its trail. 
 The Trustees of the Establishment applied, year 
 after year, to the Legislature of New Ilampshix-e 
 for an act of incorporation, but their application
 
 THE PUBLISHING AGENT. 95 
 
 was as steadily refused. Some ofthe Trustees de- 
 clined to become personally responsible for the 
 debts, as required by the General Conference, 
 while others resigned. The enterprise had to 
 encounter a storm of opposition from within and 
 without the denomination ; but the Agent, sus- 
 tained by the counsels and sympathies of such 
 men as Harper, Place, Curtis, Hutchins and 
 Woodman, braved the storm and came safely in- 
 to port. Other establishments of the kind went 
 down, but not the Star. Eespecting what had 
 been accomplished during these years, Mr. Burr, 
 in his oiEcial report to the General Conference, 
 held in Plainfield, N. Y., in Oct., 1844, said: 
 
 " When the Establishment came under its pres- 
 ent management, nine years ago, there was a debt 
 standing against it of $6,222,48. This debt has 
 now been entirely canceled, with the interest 
 wliich had accrued upon it, (including the 
 money borrowed on stocks,) land has been pur- 
 chased, and a neat and commodious building 
 erected for the use of the Establishment, at an 
 expense of about $2,000 ; cash is now on hand to 
 the amount of $670,86, and the demands ofthe 
 Establishment have increased from $9,373,70 to 
 upwards of $30,000. all of which is the proper- 
 ty of the denomination. The subscription list of
 
 96 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 The Morning 8tar has also been increased 
 about two thousand, notwithstanding all the ef- 
 forts which have been made against it. When 
 we look back upon this period, and consider the 
 difficulties we have encountered, the opposition 
 we have met, the cares, anxieties, and perplexities 
 we have endured, truly we can say, ' Hitherto 
 the Lord hath helped us.' To his name be the 
 praise.' " 
 
 Such was the success of the Establishment dur- 
 ing the first nine years of Mr Burr's agency, and 
 well could the Conference say, through the chair- 
 man of the Committee on " The Printing Estab- 
 lishment," Rev. D. Waterman, — " The conductors 
 have had many severe trials to encounter, without 
 funds and with heavy liabilities, and, exposed to 
 jealousies arising from local and personal feelings, 
 they have toiled on, discharging their arduous 
 labors with faithfulness and abihty, which has se- 
 cured to them the approbation of the denomina- 
 tion generally and the respect of the Christian 
 community." 
 
 The building referred to in the report of Mr. 
 Burr was erected in connection with the Washing- 
 ton St. Freewill Baptist society, the upper part of 
 which it owned and occupied as a place of wor-
 
 THE PUBLISHING AGENT. 97 
 
 sliip. In describing it, he said, — "It is about 
 seventy feet long and forty -six wide. Its walls 
 are of brick, and it contains a composing room, a 
 press room, a book room, a counting room, a 
 room for a bindery, a paper room, and a cellar 
 under two - thirds of the building, which is a con- 
 venient storage." It was completed and entered 
 in Nov., 1843, and the apartments which it fur- 
 nished were occupied by the Establishment until 
 after the death of Mr. Burr. It was at the Con- 
 ference in 1844 that direction was first given for 
 the appropriation of five hundred dollars, annu- 
 ally, to each of the Benevolent Societies. 
 
 From 1844 to 18G5, tlie Printing Establish- 
 ment enjoyed continued prosperity. It obtained 
 its act of incorporation in 1846, when it ceased 
 to be called the " Book Concern." The 8 tar, en- 
 larged and improved in 1851, had its subscription 
 list increased from seven thousand to about 
 eleven thousand, new and valuable books were 
 added to the list of publications, the places of 
 those Corporators who had died or resigned were 
 supplied by other and serviceable men, the annu- 
 al appropriations were made to the Benevolent
 
 98 WELLIAIVI BURR. 
 
 societies, together with occasional donations to 
 institutions of learnino;, — includina^ three thousand 
 dollars to Hillsdale College, — safer and better 
 methods of doing business were adopted, and the 
 crisis occasioned by the recent conflict was safely 
 passed. In October, 1865, Mr. Burr at- 
 tended the General Conference, held at Lewiston, 
 Me., as it proved, for the last time. As learned 
 from his official report and other sources, the assets 
 of the Establishment amounted to sixty thousand, 
 three hundred and eighty - five dollars and twen- 
 ty-two cents. Of this sum, thirty - eight thou- 
 sand dollars were invested in a permanent fund. 
 Since 1844, when the Establishment became free 
 from debt, at least forty thousand dollars had 
 been contributed from the earnings of the Estab- 
 lishment to the various benevolent enterprises of 
 the denomination. Not a single dollar had 
 been donated to the Establishment from any 
 source. 
 
 Having stated thus briefly the diflficulties that 
 were surmounted and the successes that were 
 achieved by the Printing Establishment, under the 
 leadership of Mr. Burr, it remains to point out the
 
 THE PUELISniNG AGENT. 99 
 
 means by which the results reached were accom- 
 plished. It may be said, in the first place, that 
 it was by the practice of the strictest economy. 
 In everything which pertained to the Establish- 
 ment, Mr. Burr exercised as much care and so- 
 licitude as in any private interest. He saw that 
 nothing was wasted. He felt that the minutest 
 article belonging to the office, even to each type 
 and rule, belonged also to the Lord, and that he 
 was placed as the keeper over it. At first he 
 employed, as far as practicable, apprentices as 
 compositors, because that, with the exercise of 
 proper care, this kind of help was the cheapest ; 
 and, to save still more, he boarded them in his 
 own family. The salaries paid were all small. 
 His own salary was at first only three hundred 
 and fifty dollars, then five hundred, then seven 
 hundred, and then for a few years a thousand 
 dollars. Only for the last two or three years 
 before his death did he receive more than the 
 last named sum. It would have been raised 
 oftener, but he refused to have it done. In this 
 respect he was willing to place himself upon a 
 level with his co - laborers in the ministry.
 
 100 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 To economy, Mr. Burr added practical knowl- 
 edge of his work. He knew the quality of every 
 article purchased, its value and uses, whether it 
 was paper J type or ink. A practical printer him- 
 self, he knew also the quality of work. He had 
 every individual in his employ under his eye ; 
 was he inefficient and wasteful, he knew it ; was 
 he competent and interested, he knew that also. 
 Having once proved a man, he was slow to re- 
 lease him and put an untried one in his place. 
 At the time of his death, his pressman had 
 served him thirty years, his clerk twenty - one 
 years and his foreman eighteen years. His com- 
 positors, principally ladies, had each served for a 
 term of years. • 
 
 There were also thorough business qualities. 
 Mr. Burr was pi'ompt, exact, reliable and honest. 
 He knew men and understood how to deal with 
 them. In business circles, wherever he was 
 known, his name was a synonym of integrity, and 
 wherever he went, as a representative of the Es- 
 tablishment, he carried with him the influence of 
 his great power of personal character, — and the 
 more so as he advanced in years.
 
 THE PUBLISHING AGENT. 101 
 
 Again, Mr. Burr exhibited a large amount of 
 forethouglit. lie had constantly an eye to the 
 future. Whatever was to be done was under- 
 taken in its season. When material of any kind 
 was wanted, it was usually in readiness. If 
 a crisis approached, he sought to be prepared for 
 it. For instance, when our national struggle 
 came, the financial safety of the Establisment was 
 to him a thing of momentous interest. He saw 
 at once that, with the supply of cotton from the 
 South cut off, the price of paper must advance 
 beyond any former precedent. He brought the 
 telegraph into requisition, and in a single day, 
 while other publishers were apparently asleep, he 
 had saved the Establishment, or the subscribers 
 of the Star, thousands of dollars, for he was 
 thereby enabled to afford the paper at its old price 
 until near the close of the war. At the Confer- 
 ence in Lewiston, in his remarks accompanying 
 his financial report, he said : 
 
 "From the above statement it appears that the 
 profit arising from the publication of the Star for 
 the past three years amounts to $7906,04, or 
 about $2035,00 a year. But had it not been for
 
 102 WnXlAM BUER. 
 
 the fortunate purchase of large quantities of pa- 
 per at prices prevalent previous to the war, just 
 before the great advance in price, and taking ad- 
 vantage of the market since, and generally pur- 
 chasing when prices were at the lowest point, the 
 amount, instead of showing a profit, would have 
 exhibited a considerable loss." 
 
 Still again, Mr. Burr constantly manifested a 
 zeal for the interests of the Establishment, 
 amounting almost to jealousy. He was constant- 
 ly on the alert to guard against everything which 
 was liable to militate against its welfare. EQs 
 characteristics in this respect may be seen from 
 speeches which he made at the General Confer- 
 ences, held at Hillsdale, Mich., and Lewiston. 
 On the former occasion, the proposition Avas 
 made to appropriate three thousand dollars 
 from the fund of the Printing Establishment to 
 aid Hillsdale College to endow a professorship of 
 Biblical Literature. The following is his speech 
 at that time as reported in the Star : 
 
 " W. Burr was exceedingly sorry that this res- 
 olution had been introduced. He was not op- 
 posed to the Institution at Hillsdale, but wished 
 it well, was glad of its prosperity so far, and
 
 THE PUBLISHING AGENT. 103 
 
 liopcd it would continue to thrive. But he was 
 decidedly oi)posed to making appropriations to 
 this or any other Literary Institution from the 
 Printing" Establishment. . . . Other denomina- 
 tions in founding a Printing Establishment, have 
 solicited and received large donations from their 
 membership, but ours started penniless and has 
 never received one contribution to the amount of 
 a single dollar from any source, but is constantly 
 paying out for the benefit of our benevolent ob- 
 jects. We have only about $19,000 as a perma- 
 nent fund, while other similar establishments 
 have hundreds of thousands, and regard these 
 sums — immense compared with our little capital — 
 as indispensable to the prosecution of their work. 
 In view of the recent falling oft" of the subscrip- 
 tion list of the Star, the probable continued loss 
 on the publication of the Myrtle and Quarterly, 
 and the increased and increasing price of paper 
 and other printing materials, we can reasonably 
 expect nothing more of the Establishment, while 
 the war continues, than to hold its own and meet 
 its expenses. Should it come to this, as there 
 is a fair prospect that it may, what will become 
 of our Missions, with our contributions necessa- 
 rily diminished, and no funds in the Establish- 
 ment to fall back upon, or to borrow in case of 
 necessity, as they have often been obliged to do ? 
 But for the aid they have received from this source 
 heretofore, they must have inevitably suffered, 
 and I do not know what they possibly could have 
 done. In addition to this, the Education Society 
 has been dependent upon the Establishment for
 
 104 WILLIAM BUKR. 
 
 $500 a year, towards the support of our indigent 
 students, whom God is calhng to the work of the 
 ininistiy, and who are endeavoring to quaUfy them- 
 selves for the more efficient discharge of its im- 
 portant duties. If this appropriation should 
 cease, to what source can it look to supply the 
 deficiency ? " 
 
 After considerable discussion the resolution was 
 adopted with the understanding that this action 
 should not be a precedent for the future. The pro- 
 fessorship was named the Burr Professorship. 
 At Lewiston, three years later, when the prop- 
 osition was before the Conference to dispose of 
 some of the funds of the Printing Establish- 
 ment in a similar maimer, Mr. Burr made several 
 speeches in the course of the discussion. His 
 views were substantially as follows : 
 
 "He thought that the funds of the Printing 
 Establishment should be allowed to accumulate un- 
 til it was properly endowed. He wished the Star 
 established upon a permanent basis, that it might 
 continue to be published and exert a saving influ- 
 ence after he was dead. Large funds were also 
 needed in the future to pay for the writing and 
 publishing of books, a work which he hoped 
 would soon be undertaken, and for other legiti- 
 mate purposes of the Institution. Compared 
 with other Institutions of the kind our fund is
 
 THE PUBLISHING AGENT. 105 
 
 quite small. It was an Institution of a similar 
 chai'cater with tlie American Tract Society, the 
 Methodist Book Concern, the American Baptist 
 Publication Society, and the like. Who ever 
 heard of Literary Institutions applying for and re- 
 ceiving aid from them ? In reply to a statement 
 of the last speaker that we had {)recedents for mak- 
 ing appropriations to our Literary Schools, he 
 said that if we had done wrong heretofore, it was 
 no reason that we should do so again. He liad 
 always opposed the appropriations because he be- 
 lieved them wrong. For these 3'ears he had had to 
 stand, as it were, with a club in his hand, at the 
 door of the treasury of the Printing Establish- 
 ment to keep its funds from being scattered. To 
 appropi'iate the funds of the Establishment to any 
 but strictly religious objects, he believed would 
 be robbing God's Treasury." 
 
 The touching emphasis with which he uttered 
 these closing words, together with his solicitude 
 of manner, produced a mai'ked impression, and 
 will long be remembered. He carried the Con- 
 ference with him, gained his point, and established 
 a principle. But, knowing that some were dis- 
 appointed at the result, if not aggrieved, he called 
 an informal meeting of the Corporators present, 
 and, after consulting with them, employed a 
 brother to introduce into the Conference resolu- 
 tions conceding in part that for which the minori-
 
 106 WILLIAM BUEE. 
 
 ty contended. These resolutions were passed 
 unanimously. In this act he manifested his 
 characteristic generosity. 
 
 In a career so full and round at every 
 point as was that of Mr- Burr, it is difficult to 
 tell in what he excelled, but it would, perhaps, 
 be making no invidious distiaction to say that he 
 was more at home in the field of finance than 
 elsewhere. The fruits of his labors here will 
 loni? be manifest. The Printino; Establishment 
 will ever stand as the monument of his labors in 
 this department, and his ideas of economy, busi- 
 ness and general management will continue to 
 exert a wide influence. It would be difficult to 
 estimate the indebtedness of the denomination to 
 him in this one particular alone.
 
 VIII. 
 
 EDITOR OF THE MORNING STAR. 
 
 From the commencement of the publication of 
 the Star at Limerick, many of the duties usually 
 performed by an office editor, such as reading 
 proof, making selections, and, to some extent, 
 the correction of manuscript, devolved upon Mr. 
 Burr. As already stated, in 1829, the position 
 of office editor v^as formally tendered him, but 
 while he declined to accept it in name, he per- 
 formed nearly all the duties pertaining to it. At 
 one time there was a prospect that he might be 
 relieved from this part of his service, but the 
 death of Bedee blasted the hopes entertained. 
 
 At the meeting of the Trustees, held immedi- 
 ately after the General Conference in 1835, Mr. 
 Burr was formally chosen, not only to the office 
 of Publishing Agent, but to that of Office or 
 Eesident Editor of the Star. In reference to this
 
 108 WELLIAM BURR. 
 
 subject, there soon appeared in the Star the fol- 
 lowing article, which was probably from the pen 
 of Eld. Marks, or some other member of the 
 Board of Trustees aside from Mr. Burr. But the 
 question respecting the authorship is not essential : 
 "editors of the star. 
 
 " By this week's Star, it will be seen that it is 
 to be published hereafter by a Board of Trustees 
 appointed by the General Conference, instead of 
 being issued in the name of an individual. The 
 Trustees have determined that it shall be here- 
 after edited in the following manner : Five breth- 
 ren are to be engaged to furnish one column each 
 (weekly) of original matter, designed for editori- 
 al. Brother Wm. Burr is to fill the editorial 
 columns from the articles thus furnished, make the 
 selections and arrangement, correct and prepare 
 communications from correspondents for the 
 press, &c. He will also w^rite as he has formerly 
 done, such brief editorial articles and notes as he 
 may judge necessary and his other numerous duties 
 may permit. 
 
 " Doubtless there will be some inconvenience in 
 this manner of filling the editorial columns, be- 
 cause the writers will be, for the most of the 
 time, absent from the office where the paper is 
 published. But it is thought the good taste and 
 judgment of Bro. Burr will make amends for 
 this, especially as this method will be likely to 
 secure a greater amount and variety of editorial
 
 EDITOR OF THE MORNING STAR. 109 
 
 articles than would be furnished by a single edit- 
 or. This has been the plan on which the Star 
 has been edited for eighteen months past. When 
 it was adopted, the Publishing Committee did not 
 intend to publish the signatures of the writers, 
 yet they designed to be able themselves to know 
 tlie author of each article by a very small figure 
 whicli the printer was to affix to each one's piece. 
 But the curiosity of our patrons has become so ur- 
 gent to know the meaning of these little figures, 
 that the Trustees have resolved that it shall be 
 published. 
 
 "The writers wei'C chosen eighteen months 
 since, and their pieces are numbered according 
 to the ages of the authors. Thus, number 1 was 
 affixed to the writings of Eld. Arthur Caver- 
 no ; number 2, to the pieces written by Eld. D. 
 Marks; number 3, to those of Bro. Porter S. 
 BuRBANK ; and number 4, to such as were furnish- 
 ed by Bro. J. J. Butler. 
 
 " The same brethren have again been elected 
 as editorial writers, and their respective pieces 
 may be distinguished by the same figures as for- 
 merly. In addition to these, Bro. Enoch Mack 
 has been elected, and will probably furnish a col- 
 umn a week, over figure 5." 
 
 As was anticipated, the curiosity felt was for 
 
 the moment allayed, but there is no evidence that 
 
 the /S'^arwas, subsequent to this revelation, more 
 
 valuable or accomplished more good. Truth 
 
 should be received and valued for its own sake,
 
 110 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 rather than in consequence of the instrumentality 
 by means of which it is imparted. Far less esti- 
 mate should be placed upon the vessel than upon 
 the treasure it contains. 
 
 In making this arrangement, the Trustees little 
 thought that it was to continue substantially the 
 same for nearly thirty years. While some of 
 these first writers soon ceased to furnish articles, 
 others were added to the list, so that there are 
 found, during the above named period, nearly 
 twenty different names. Two of the first four, 
 Burbank and Butler, continued until the very 
 last. After a few years, the small figures were 
 dropped, and the initials of the writers substitut- 
 ed. Subsequent to 1856 or '57, the articles ap- 
 peared without signatures, except in cases where 
 an article contained some personal reference to 
 the writer or gave expression to views which the 
 Resident Editor did not endorse. The principal 
 reason for dropping the initials was that the paper 
 might give the appearance of having greater 
 unity in its management. 
 
 As was expected at the outset, this method on 
 which the Star was conducted gave vai'iety and
 
 EDITOR OF THE MORNING STAR. Ill 
 
 ability to its editorial columns, but it had also its 
 disadvantages. Besides throwing a large burden 
 of responsiblity upon Mr. Burr, in connection 
 with his other duties, it occasioned some friction 
 and annoyance. Residing in different parts of the 
 country, two or more of these writers were liable 
 to furnish articles upon the same subject, and the 
 Resident Editor was called upon to choose between 
 them. Entertaining sometimes different views of 
 a subject, they were also liable to controvert each 
 other, and thus mar the unity of the paper. 
 There was also danger that the questions of the 
 day might be discussed a week or two after they 
 ceased to be of public interest. Mr. Burr met 
 and skillfully managed these difficulties until 
 May, 1864, when he procured an assistant, who 
 relieved him of much of his editorial labor, while 
 he retained most of his editorial responsibility 
 until his death. But so numerous had his burdens 
 then become that any relief was felt and val- 
 ued. 
 
 Mr. Burr never assumed the large responsibihties 
 entrusted to him from choice, but from necessity. 
 He repeatedly expressed the desire that some one
 
 112 WILLIAM BUER. 
 
 might be chosen to aid him in his work. But 
 once only did the General Conference express its 
 views in reference to the subject. This was in 
 1856, at Mainville, Ohio, when instruction was 
 given " the Corporators to take into consideration 
 the propriety of appointing an Assistant Resident 
 Editor, to share in the editorial labors of the Es- 
 tablishment, and perform such other duties as 
 they may direct ;" and this was done, " in view of 
 the increased and rapidly increasing business of 
 the Printing Establishment, and the liability of 
 serious embarrassment in case of failure in health 
 or otherwise, on the part of our present worthy 
 and excellent Editor and Publisher." Notwith- 
 standing this instruction, the Corporators, after 
 considering the subject more or less seriously, for 
 five or six years in succession, were unable to 
 make a selection. At a meeting held three or 
 four years previous to his death, the question had 
 been discussed and a further postponement was 
 suggested. Mr. Burr objected, saying at the same 
 time, with a tremulous earnestness, " I must be 
 relieved from this burden of responsibility, for I 
 must have time to care for the ititerests of my
 
 EDITOR OF THE MORNING STAR. 113 
 
 soul before I die." "Never," says one of the 
 Corporators, " did I hear words fall from his lips 
 which impressed me more powerfully." The 
 whole subject of procming an Assistant was then 
 left with him. 
 
 "While Mr. Burr wrote but few elaborate edi- 
 torial articles, the shorter notes in the paper were 
 nearly all from his pen ; and when occasion re- 
 quired, it was evident that he was not wanting in 
 ability to defend his position or to assail an oppo- 
 nent. In 1836, soon after he became the Agent 
 of the Printing Establishment, he published in 
 the 8tar a lengthy article in which he gave in- 
 structions to Book Agents. In the course of the 
 article, he named the distinctive doctrines held by 
 the Freewill Baptists, and included the doctrine of 
 " total depravity." To this one of the Fathers in 
 the ministry took exceptions, and wrote a some- 
 what spirited article in reply. He commenced 
 thus ; 
 
 " In your remarks to the Agents of The Morn- 
 in() Star, January 27, you had occasion to men- 
 tion the distinctive sentiments of the Freewill 
 Baptists ; and among others you mentioned 
 ' total depravity.' You say these principles of the
 
 114 WILLIABI BURR. 
 
 gospel are held among us, almost without a dis- 
 genting voice. Is it possible ? Have we come to 
 this ? What ! the Freewill Baptists hold this as 
 gospel truth, that man is naturally, totally de- 
 praved, wholly inclined to evil, and defiled 
 throughout, soul, spu'it and body, and yet boast 
 of free agency?" 
 
 Then followed more of the same sort, making 
 two - thirds of a column in all. Mr. Burr took 
 time to reply, and when his reply appeared, 
 it filled nearly three columns. It can not, there- 
 fore, be reproduced here. But his method of 
 treatment can be given. In the first place, it was 
 important to inquire what is meant by the term 
 " total depravity." It was possible his correspon- 
 dent might mean one thing by it and he another. 
 He then showed what he understood the denomi- 
 nation to believe in reference to the subject, — the 
 total extinction of the spuitual life in man, — and 
 quoted from the language of Eld. Randall, whose 
 authority had great weight in those days, in proof 
 of the tenableness of his position. He then 
 cited the teachings of the Scriptures to substan- 
 tiate the correctness of this position. His argu- 
 ment was skillful and convincing. After finish- 
 ing the body of the argument, he said : —
 
 EDITOR OF THE MOnNING STAE. 115 
 
 " From these Scriptures it is plain that man, Ly 
 nature, is totally destitute of the spiritual life 
 — is spiritually blind and dead, and tiuit totally. 
 And being in this state, he is incapable of see- 
 ing or understanding the things of God's spirit- 
 ual kingdom, and does not possess within him- 
 self, independent of the Spirit of Christ imparted 
 to his soul as a ^/-aciow*- interposition, any means 
 or faculty or power by which he could know and 
 love and obey his Maker. Yet the natural facul- 
 ties of the soul or the understanding are not de- 
 stroyed, — they still possess a degree of vigor ; 
 the perception of nalural things, the will or 
 faculty of choice, the iinayination, i\\Q judgment 
 or reasoning faculty, the affections in their rela- 
 tion to natural objects, hope and memory, &c., — 
 all these faculties are inherent to our nature and 
 exist in the soul independent of the influences of 
 redeeming grace. But the utmost vigor ot aU 
 these faculties, unaided by Christ, could never 
 enable their possessor to know or love God, or 
 cnjcjy the things of this spiritual world, — no more 
 than a blind person can discern, distinguish or 
 enjoy colors. >^o distinct is tiie natux-al soul from 
 that spiritual life which God breathed into it at 
 the firbt, and which, since it was destroyed by 
 transgi-essions, is cow imparted by the Spirit of 
 Christ." 
 
 The fo]io\\ing, which appeared in the Star 
 some eiglit years previous to liis death, shows 
 how he was accubtomed to deal with the state-
 
 116 WILLI AJVI BURR. 
 
 ments of others which he regarded as incorrect : 
 
 " The animal increase of the Methodist Episcopal church 
 alone, leaving out the South, is more than twice as much as the 
 entire Freewill Baptist denomination, though both started 
 about the same time.^^ 
 
 " The above sentence occurs in the reply of 
 Zion's Herald to our New York correspondent 
 some two or three weeks ago. We think it con- 
 tains two errors. 
 
 "1. In reaard to the annual increase of the 
 
 Methodist church,- &c Deducting the 
 
 'probationers,' therefore, we find 55,859 left as 
 the net increase of the church, which, instead of 
 being 'more than twice as much as the entire Free- 
 will Baptist denomination,' lacks 437 of being us 
 many as were reported by our churches in June 
 lust. 
 
 " 2. The second error is found in the last 
 clause of the sentence quoted from the Herald 
 though both started about the sa,7ne thneJ' The 
 first Freewill Baptist church was formed in New 
 Durham, a small interior town in this state, by 
 Eld, Benj. Randall, in 1780. It was very small 
 and feeble. There were associated with liandall, 
 at this time or soon after, two or three other men 
 who had, with him, but recently commenced hold- 
 ing meetings. Randall and most of his early co- 
 adjutors possessed more than usual natural abili- 
 ties, great piety, zeal and self-denial; but none 
 of them had received the advantages of a liberal 
 education. They were emphatically men of one 
 book, the Bible. This they searched diligently.
 
 EDITOR OF THE MORNING STAR. 117 
 
 with a determination to adopt its doctrines and di- 
 rections, wherever they might lead, and that they 
 came to correct conclusions so far as the funda- 
 mental principles of the gospel are concerned, as 
 well as on most minor points, we sincerely be- 
 lieve. But, owing to the peculiar circumstances 
 that surrounded them, on one subject of great 
 practical importance they unfortunately adopted 
 erroneous views, viz., the education mid sup- 
 port of the ministry. This they strenuously 
 opposed, which proved a great obstacle to their 
 success. Believing it wrong to receive pay for 
 preaching, they were dependent on the labors of 
 their own hands for the maintenance of them- 
 selves and families. Hence, they could attend to 
 their ministerial duties only on the Sabbath, and 
 such time during the other six days as they could 
 spare from their secular pursuits. Laboring un- 
 der these disadvantages, it is not strange that 
 they made but little progress, —that, at the end 
 of ten years (1790), their number of members 
 did not exceed four hundred, with but eight or- 
 dained ministers, — nor that, in 1800, they had 
 but forty-eight churches and thirty ministers. A 
 quarter of a century later than this, they did not 
 probably number more than 15,000 members and 
 300 ministers, only eight or ten of whom, as 
 near as can now be ascertained, devoted them- 
 selves entirely to the work of the ministry, a 
 majority of the rest preaching only on the Sab- 
 bath. Down to this period (1825) the labors of 
 the ministers of our denomination had been most- 
 ly confined to the states of New Hampshire and
 
 118 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 Maine ; and in these two states we number about 
 as many as the Methodists. 
 
 " Let us now take a glimpse at the rise and 
 progress of Methodism. It commenced in En- 
 gland in 1739. Its founder, John Wesley, was 
 one of the most remarkable men of the eighteenth 
 century. Besides being endowed by nature with 
 a most capacious intellect, he had been thorough- 
 ly educated in literature, science and theology at 
 the University of Oxford, one of the very first 
 Institutions in the vv'orld. Some of his early 
 ministers, also, were men scarcely inferior to him- 
 self. Still, the progress of Methodism in En- 
 gland was nearly as slow as was that of our de- 
 nomination in America ; for, in 1770, thirty - one 
 years after its commencement, it numbered less 
 than thirty thousand, with only 121 lay itinerants, 
 and as many local preachers. 
 
 " Methodism was introduced into the southern 
 part of this country about 1764, sixteen years 
 before the first Freewill Baptist church was 
 formed at New Durham, and for a long time 
 was under the fostering care of the English Meth- 
 odists. The Freewill Baptists had no such pow- 
 erful and eflicient aid. In 1766, a company of 
 Wesley ans, from Ireland, established the first 
 Methodist church in the city of New York. 
 Among them was a local preacher, who adminis- 
 tered to them the word of life. Two years after, 
 says Stevens's Memorials of Methodism, to which 
 we are indebted for these tacts, a society of not 
 less than one hundred members had been formed 
 in Philadelphia, through the labors of Capt.
 
 EDITOR OF TIIE MOENING STAR. 119 
 
 Webb. The next year Mr. Wesley despntched 
 to their assistance two of his preachers. In two 
 years more (1771) tlie hiborious Aisbury arrived, 
 accompanied by Richard AVright. Asbury, says 
 Stevens, was providentially designated as the 
 leader of American Methodism. His vigorous 
 and energetic mind gave it system and impulse 
 everywhere. At his arrival, the aggregate mem- 
 bership could scarcely have exceeded six hun- 
 dred, but in less than two yeai's after, 1,160 were 
 reported to the first Conference (July 4, 1773). 
 ]\Iethodism had scattered its germs in five states. 
 In 1784, only four years after the formation of 
 the first F. W. Baptist church, it had increased 
 to nearly 15,000 members and 83 preachers; 
 and five years subsequent, ' the spiritual host was 
 more than 43,000 strong, led on by nearly 200 
 devoted itinerant evangelists. Eleven conferences 
 were held that year, in almost as many states.' 
 At that time our denomination numbered less 
 than 400 members, and not more than six or 
 eight ministers." 
 
 As already intimated, Mr. Burr's chief labor as 
 an editor did not consist in writing editorials, 
 but rather in correcting communications, making 
 selections, and in controlling the columns of the 
 paper. In all these departments he exercised 
 much skill and judgment. During his editorial 
 career, especially the first part of it, a large num- 
 ber of the original communications, as they came to
 
 120 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 the office, were very imperfectly prepared. Some 
 of them had to be rejected outright, while others 
 were corrected, abridged and improved. To do 
 this work and, at the same time, not to give of- 
 fense, was perplexing. Parties to difficulties in 
 churches and Quarterly Meetings often wished to 
 express their views of the questions involved, 
 through the Star. His policy was to exclude all 
 communications of this class, as far as possible. 
 The following letter is expressive of his views of 
 the subject, and is, at the same time, suggestive of 
 his caution and wisdom. The letter itself will 
 explain, in part at least, the circumstances under 
 which it was written : 
 
 " Bro. : 
 
 ]\Iy object in delaying to pub- 
 lish your ' Card' hitherto has been to keep the 
 details of the matter out of the Sta7\ I do not 
 think it will be of any advantage to you or to the 
 cause of God to have them published, but detri- 
 mental to both. Other denominations do not, 
 and in my opinion ought not to spread such mat- 
 ters before the public. Neitlier should we, and 
 the only way to prevent it is to confine our 
 publications to official documents or action. If 
 your 'Card' is published, the Q. M. will, no 
 doubt, wish to be heard in defense of their action.
 
 EDITOR OF THE MORNING STAR. 121 
 
 and you will probably wish to rejoin, and where 
 will it end? You say that very many brethren 
 think you ought to be heard. Will you please 
 give me their names ? I have no personal feeling 
 in the matter, and wish to do what is right, but I 
 have not yet seen the first brother who advises 
 the publication. The matter is still under con- 
 sideration, and I shall not come to a final conclu- 
 sion till I have opportunity of consulting our ad- 
 visory committee, which I have not yet had in 
 regard to your ' Card.' 
 
 Yours Truly, 
 
 " Wm. Burr." 
 
 In making selections, he did not always in- 
 quire what article had the greatest literary merit, 
 but rather what would best meet the intellectual 
 and spiritual wants of the readers. When exam- 
 ining his exchanges, he would often say, — "When 
 I find an article which interests me, I am quite 
 sure it will interest others also." For his course 
 in the performance of the duties already specified, 
 he was but once publicly assailed. This was 
 before the General Conference of 1844, when, 
 after a long and animated discussion, so com- 
 plete and convincing was his defense, that he was 
 sustained with only a single dissenting vote, and 
 that given by his assailant.
 
 122 WILLIAM BUER. 
 
 Mr. Burr's editorial career was chiefly distin- 
 guished by firmness and discrimination in the ad- 
 vocacy of the great moral questions of the day. 
 Previous to 1835, the btar had become commit- 
 ted in favor of missions, home and foreign, Sab- 
 bath schools and an educated and consecrated 
 ministry and membership. It continued to speak 
 in behalf of these things, and, in the character of 
 its advocacy, it not only kept pace with the in- 
 creasinjx liulit and knowleda:e of each succcedinfj 
 year, but it also sought to lead the way in the 
 adoption of better views and the employment of 
 more efficient measures. It never uttered an 
 uncertain sound, and its opinions always carried 
 weight. 
 
 But the 8iar, under the editorial management 
 of Mr. Burr, was pre - eminently distinguished 
 for its opposition to American slavery. Silent in 
 regard to this subject during the first seven years 
 of its existence, taking then the position of an 
 apologist for slavery, during the year 1835 it be- 
 came bold and pronounced in its opposition to it. 
 If Burr and Marks ever held the views of the sub- 
 ject advocated by Bedee, it was not long. Dur-
 
 EDITOR OF THE MORNING STAR. 123 
 
 ing the same year in which his death occurred, 
 1834, tliere was piibHshed in the Star an account 
 of the organization of an anti - slavery society in 
 Maine, and notice was given of a meeting to form 
 such a society in New Hiunpshire. But in Feb- 
 ruary, 1835, just one year after the publication 
 ofBedce's article, there appeared, from the pen 
 of Eld. Marks, a long article setting forth the 
 character of slavery as it existed in the South, 
 giving a summary of the laws relating to it, and 
 depicting some of the horrors with which it was 
 attended. The article closed with the following 
 queries : 
 
 "1. Is not the state of things exhibited in 
 the preceding the natural result which, in the 
 present imperfect state of society, might be ex- 
 pected from the system of slavery ? 
 
 "2. How can Christians, who are not blinded 
 by self- interest, suppose such a system as slavery 
 compatible with the infinite benevolence of the 
 gospel ? 
 
 " 3. If the blacks have souls for whom Christ 
 died, souls which must exist forever, can any 
 candid man blame us for writing, si^eaking^ 
 weepivg and iiraying on this subject, with the 
 anxious hope that we may do something toward 
 und(jing a system of heavy burdens, and breaking 
 the chains of the oppressed ?"
 
 124 Wn.LIAM BURR. 
 
 This article was soon followed by other editori- 
 al articles, and by selections, taking the same 
 view of the subject, and at length the paper had 
 a department entitled, " Slavery." Although 
 many of the subscribers, especially those in the 
 South, were angry and oi'dered their papers dis- 
 continued, those having the immediate manage- 
 ment of tlie paper were firm and decided in their 
 course. They were soon strengthened in it by a 
 resolution of the New Hampshire Yearly Meeting 
 favoring it, and by the action of the General Con- 
 ference, in 1835, which, though it said nothing 
 respecting the position of the Star^ pronounced 
 against slavery, declared in favor of its abolition 
 and recommended candid and mutual discussion 
 as the best means of reaching this end. But 
 there continued, both in and out of the denomina- 
 tion, a deep - seated opposition to the anti- slav- 
 ery position of the Star^ and there were those, 
 ministers and laymen, who were untiring in their 
 efforts to effect a change. 
 
 When the Trustees met in 1836, an act of 
 incorporation had been refused by the Legislature 
 of New Hampshire, the burden of debt was in-
 
 EDITOR OF THE MORNING STAR. 125 
 
 creasing, and many more were threatening to 
 withdraw their patronage. The great question 
 ^vas, — " Shall The Morning Star pursue its 
 present anti - slavery course ?" Impressed with 
 the importance of doing present duty and adher- 
 ing to principle, the Board discussed the question 
 with increasing earnestness, all day and into the 
 night, and did not reach a decision until near the 
 morning, when the vote was taken. Of the 
 eleven present, all but one or two voted in the af- 
 firmative, and thus committed the Star in favor 
 of liberty, — a decision never revoked, and mo- 
 mentous in its consequences. In this discussion 
 Mr. Burr took a leading part, as he was the prin- 
 cipal party arraigned ; and such was the ability 
 with which he sustained his position that some 
 who had previously wavered were won to his 
 views. All things considered, the triumph was 
 one of the grandest sort, and marks one of 
 the brightest spots in Mr. Burr's career. 
 
 But though defeated, the opposition was not 
 subdued. To use Mr Burr's own lanouajie in 
 Speaking of this subject : 
 
 " This (last) contest continued in a most jjer-
 
 126 WILLIAM BURE. 
 
 sistent and virulent manner for many long years. 
 Ministers of our own denomination traversed New 
 Hampshire and Maine, denouncing the course of 
 the Star, and using their utmost efforts to destroy 
 its influence, and to create a public opinion in the 
 denomination which would either demand the re- 
 moval of its conductors, or compel them to ex- 
 clude the discussion of tlie subject of slavery from 
 its columns ; while the papers of the pro - slavery 
 parties opened their batteries upon it, to counter- 
 act its damaging effects upon their corrupt politi- 
 cal plans and prospects. But, thank God, victo- 
 ry came at last to the cause of liberty and jus- 
 tice." 
 
 But in spite of opposition, the paper gained in 
 strength and influence. It was largely owing to 
 its work that, in 1846, New Hampshire was lost to 
 the pro - slavery party, John P. Hale elected to 
 the United States Senate, and, among other 
 things, the Printing Establishment incorporated. 
 During the years which followed, the paper did a 
 noble work in preparing its readers for the great 
 storm which burst upon the nation in 1861 ; and 
 during all the years of the war, its tones were 
 clear, its faith was unfaltering, and its influence 
 in behalf of " Liberty and Union" immense. It 
 was a proud day for the Editor, when, at the 
 General Conference in 1865, and, as it proved,
 
 EDITOR OF THE MORNING STAR. 127 
 
 almost at the completion of his grand career, he 
 was able to say in his official report : 
 
 " Since the last Conference the Star has had 
 the unspeakable joy of announcing the most im- 
 portant event of the nineteenth century, viz. : 
 the overthrow and, as we hope in God, the final 
 death of American slavery, for which it has so 
 long and so arduously labored, and ardently 
 hoped and prayed, but which" at times it has al- 
 most despaired of living to see. It is the Lord's 
 doings, and marvelous in our eyes. To his great 
 name be all the glory given." 
 
 One of the chief things which distinguished the 
 anti - slavery position of the Star while under the 
 editorial management of Mr. Burr, and for which 
 it is deserving of great praise, was that it advo- 
 cated the reform upon the basis of Christianity. 
 While a class of laborers in the contest ignored 
 the church, the Star sought to effect its purpose 
 through the church. It ever regarded the spirit 
 of Christianity and anti - slavery as in unison. 
 The only difference that it knew between them 
 was that the latter is the legitimate outgrowth of 
 the former ; the one was the parent and the other
 
 12S WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 the child ; and when victory came, it felt that the 
 triumph was, on this account, the more grand and 
 complete. 
 
 It is difficult to estimate the influence and re- 
 sponsibility of an editor of a religious newspaper. 
 He speaks to hundreds and thousands whom he 
 has never seen, and of whom he may never have 
 heard. While he is himself in the seclusion of 
 his office, he is read by the wayside, in the place 
 of business, and especially in the home circle 
 where his name sometimes becomes a household 
 word. His weekly ofiering affords mental and 
 spiritual stimulus to all classes and conditions. 
 It suggests thought to one, affords encourage- 
 ment to another, and proves a warning to still 
 another, and thus sets in operation a chain of in- 
 fluences the measure of which is infinite. Among 
 the editors whose influence has been great, and 
 whose sense of responsibility has been keen and 
 constant, the name of BuRR occupies a place sec- 
 ond to but few.
 
 IX. 
 
 THE TREASURER OF BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES. 
 
 The printing press has always been the friend 
 and promoter of progress. Its invention served 
 to arouse Europe from the slumbers of centuries, 
 to give new impulse to learning of every kind and 
 to prepare the way for the Reformation. The le- 
 gitimate results of its work are still of a similar 
 character. 
 
 From some points of view, the founding of 
 The Morning Star at Limerick was a thing of no 
 special significance. The time, however, when 
 it was done and the peculiar circumstances at- 
 tending it, served to render it an event important 
 in its consequences. The denomination, in the 
 interest of which it was published, was young and 
 plastic. Imperfect in its organization, without 
 general and systematized methods of operation and 
 any special bond of union, it had nevertheless zeal 
 and activity sufficient, if properly directed, to ac-
 
 130 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 complisli a grand work. Indeed, it needed just 
 such an instrumentality as the Star proved, to 
 serve as a medium for the interchange of thought, 
 to suggest new plans of Christian effort and ways 
 and means for their prosecution, and to inspire the 
 body with high aims and noble purposes. 
 
 It is a sio;nificant fact that all the other great 
 enterprises of the denomination date their origin 
 subsequent to that of the Star, and it can be easily 
 shown that they are in an important sense in- 
 debted to it for their existence. Of these other 
 enterprises, the Foreign JMission enterprise is the 
 oldest, the idea of wliich was first suggested by 
 the General Baptists of England. In 1824, Eev. 
 James Peggs, a General Baptist missionary, then 
 in Cuttack, Orissa, addressed a letter " To the 
 churches and ministers of the Freewill Baptists in 
 America," in which he described the condition of 
 the heathen among whom he labored and asked 
 for CO - operation. This letter was published in 
 the Star in 1827, where it was read by hundreds, 
 and its contents pondered. In 1832, the Star 
 contained a letter from Rev. Amos Sutton, then 
 a niissionary in Orissa, in which he sought to en-
 
 THE TEEASUKEE, ETC. 131 
 
 list the denomination in the foreign mission work. 
 The seed sown soon produced fruit, for early the 
 next year, 1833, the Foreign Mission Society was 
 organized with John Buzzell, then Senior 1 Editor 
 of the Star, as President, and William Burr as 
 one of the Executive Committee. Had it not 
 been for the /SVa?*, through the columns of which 
 attention was called to the subject, if the Society 
 had existed at all, it would probably have dated 
 the commencement of its existence some years 
 later. 
 
 The connection between the iStai- and the ori- 
 gin of the Home Mission Society is still more di- 
 rect. Says the compiler of " Marks's Life" : — 
 " For several months, Mr. Marks had had his 
 sympathies greatly pained by his inability to an- 
 swer favorably the numerous requests from dif- 
 ferent sections for laborers, addressed to him as 
 Agent of the Printing Establishment. These 
 calls continued to grow more numerous and im- 
 portunate. In the early part of July, while he 
 and Mr. Burr were conversing upon this subject, 
 it was agreed that Mr. Marks should write a no- 
 tice in the Sia7', calling a meeting for the forma-
 
 132 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 tion of a Home INIission Society, to be held at 
 Dover, N. H., on Thursday, July 31, 1834, at 
 10 o'clock, A. M. Among other things append- 
 ed to the notice was the following, — ' Some of 
 our brethren, when asked what they will do for 
 the Orissa Mission, have plead that they thought 
 there was need of doing something at home first. 
 Such brethren will now have an op- 
 portunity to show their faith by their works.' " 
 The Society was duly organized, and Eld. Marks 
 was chosen Corresponding Secretary and Mr. 
 Burr, Treasurer. 
 
 The 8tar early commenced to advocate the 
 cause of Sabbath schools. One of the results of 
 this advocacy was that the General Conference 
 du'ected the Publisliing Committee, and after- 
 wards the Trustees, to organize into a Sabbath 
 School Union, inviting others to membership 
 with them. Of this Union, Mr. Burr was the 
 Treasurer from the first. The anti - slavery sen- 
 timent of the denomination, fostered by the /Si!ar, 
 gave rise, in due time, to the Anti - Slavery So- 
 ciety. It would also be easy to show how the 
 influence of the Star contributed to found Par-
 
 THE TREASURER, ETC. 133 
 
 sonsfield Seminary and Strafford Academy, the 
 oldest denominational schools, and to organize 
 the Education Society. 
 
 To the origin of all these interests the Star not 
 only contributed, but it has ever been to them a 
 most powerful ally. It has defended the cause 
 of each against opposition, spoken to them words 
 of encouragement in despondency, and rejoiced 
 with them in their prosperity. It would have 
 been quite as natural for a mother to forsake her 
 children, as for the Star to abandon the advoca- 
 cy of these causes. And a reason for this is found 
 in the fact that from the very first they had no 
 truer friend and warmer supporter than the Editor 
 of the Star and the Agent of the Printing Estab- 
 lishment. 
 
 Mr. Burr took an active part in the or- 
 ganization of the Foreign Mission Society, 
 though he was not chosen Treasurer until 1837. 
 Of the other Societies, he was not only present 
 and assisted in their formation, but was also 
 chosen Treasurer of them at the same time . Of 
 all the Societies he continued Treasurer until 
 1864, when, inconsequence of a conviction that
 
 134 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 the time had come for him to be relieved of a 
 part of his responsibilities, he resigned the treas- 
 urership of the Education Society. Two years 
 later as the result of an increased conviction of 
 the same kind, he also resigned the same office 
 in the Home Mission Society. Of the other So- 
 cieties he continued to be Treasurer until his 
 death. He was also a member of the Executive 
 Committee of the Foreign Mission Society from 
 its organization until his death, a member of the 
 Executive Committee of the Home Mission Soci- 
 ety almost fronrits formation until 1861, when he 
 resigned and recommended another in his place ; 
 and he was for several years a member of the 
 Executive Committtee of the Education Society. 
 During all the years which Mr. Burr acted as 
 Treasurer of these Societies, notwithstanding the 
 numerous additional burdens imposed upon him 
 and the anxieties thereby caused him, he made no 
 charge for his services. All that he did, he did 
 as unto the Lord ; and, at the same time, he con- 
 tributed as much as any one of his means, for 
 missions and education. When he resigned the 
 Treasurership of the Education Societv. ii- ^t-?a
 
 THE TREASURER, ETC. 135 
 
 voted to give him three hundred {lolki-s as a slight 
 compensation for the service rendered. But in- 
 stead of receiving it for his own use, he gave it to 
 found a four years' course of study for the benefit 
 of such young men as could not devote a longer 
 time, — a thing in which he felt a deep interest 
 and earnestly advocated. 
 
 In the performance of his duties as Treasurer of 
 the Benevolent Societies, together with those of a 
 member of one, two or all, of the Executive Boards, 
 he practiced the same economy, exercised the 
 same forethought and manifested the same business 
 qualities as in the management of the affairs of 
 the Printing Establishment. He constantly felt 
 that he was a keeper of the Lord's money, and that 
 he was accountable to him as well as to men for 
 the manner in which he fulfilled the responsible 
 trust committed to him. Did either of the socie- 
 ties propose large outlays, he always had an eye 
 to the financial side of the question. " Will the 
 state of the treasury admit of it?" was a question 
 which he repeatedly asked when new and, as he 
 often regarded them, visionary schemes were 
 proposed. From how many failures he, in this
 
 136 WILLIAM BURE. -j 
 
 way, saved the enterprises with which he was con- 
 nected it is quite impossible to tell. 
 
 His judgment of men and measures was excel- 
 lent. Nearly twenty years since, when the charge 
 of a St. Helena Mission was offered to the Foreign 
 Mission Board, he opposed its reception. Al- 
 though members of the Board with whom he was 
 intimately associated and whom he dearly loved, 
 favored it, he could not. And when after pro- 
 tracted discussion, a vote to receive it was passed 
 by a small majority, he hoped that it would be re- 
 scinded, and labored for this object. The desired 
 result was soon realized, as subsequent develop- 
 ments unmistakably proved the correctness of 
 Mr. Burr's position. This is only one of the 
 many instances of the kind. It was his broad 
 views that especially qualified him to act as Treas- 
 urer of all the Benevolent Societies. He under- 
 stood and felt the wants of each, and it is not 
 known that he was ever charged with partiality 
 for either. The fact that he continued Treasurer 
 and a member of the Executive Committee of the 
 Foreign Mission Society longer than of either of 
 the others Societies proves nothing. It was felt
 
 THE TREASURER, ETC. 137 
 
 that his counsels and labors in connection with 
 this Society could not be spared. Money was oft- 
 en placed in his hands with the simple request 
 that he would bestow it where it was most needed 
 and would do the most good, and the injunction 
 was always executed with the most conscientious 
 fidelity. Although others sometimes differed 
 from him, they were forced to give his opinions 
 the deference to which years of experience in his 
 special work entitled them. In periods of danger 
 his counsel was most earnestly sought, and it was 
 then tliat others most fully confided in him. The 
 following letter, which is only one of the many of 
 a similar character that might be reproduced, will 
 tell its own story : 
 
 "Buffalo, N. Y., March 17, 1862. 
 jNIy dear Bro. Burr : 
 
 I wish to breathe a few thoughts 
 to you privately in regard to our Foreign Mis- 
 sion. Letters from India, for some months, have 
 continued to give notice of Bro. Smith's faiUng 
 liealth, yet I have all along hoped that he might 
 be braced up during the present cold season so as 
 to take a chanfje to the mountains durincr the next 
 hot season, and get on for a time without coming 
 home. Your notice in the Star seems to be 
 conclusive, and yet the fact that I have received
 
 138 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 nothing which indicates positively that he was on 
 the point of leaving, leads me to hope a little, but 
 faintly. 
 
 But in case he is on his way home, what 
 next? 
 
 It will be two years or more, before Bro. Coo- 
 ley can go back with renewed health. James 
 Phillips might be induced to go, though he would 
 much prefer to remain two or three years longer 
 so as to study medicine, nor would his going 
 materially help us in the present emergency. 
 We must pass two years, more critical than any 
 period of our mission, before either Bro. Cooley 
 or Bro. Smith can return 
 
 I have tried to look at this matter in all its 
 bearings, and weigh the chances for and against 
 us. With our present financial difficulties it 
 would be impossible to talk of 0U7' returning, nor 
 could we move with the necessary dispatch to 
 meet the difficulty, I have been thinking of this, 
 whether it would be judicious or possible for me 
 to step in to fill up this breach until Bro. Cooley 
 could return, leaving my family at home. 
 
 This is the only practicable plan I can devise 
 thus far. I drop these hints to you in confidence, 
 wishing them to go no further. Any plan that 
 would seem to you practicable, I have no doubt 
 the Executive Committee would coincide in. 
 
 Yours Truly, O. R. Bacheler." 
 
 The last meeting of the Foreign Mission Board, 
 
 which Mr. Burr attended, was held at South 
 
 Berwick, but little more than a week previous to
 
 THE TEEASURER, ETC. l^JO 
 
 his death. It was a meeting of much importance, 
 and in some of its discussions which were more 
 than usually animated, he took an active part and 
 manifested some of his prominent characteristics. 
 
 The work performed by the several Benevolent 
 Societies during the years in which Mr. Burr 
 labored for them, stands in part as a monument 
 to his memory. Its results may be seen in 
 the Freewill Baptist churches in some of our cities 
 and larger towns, which are now centers of in- 
 fluence ; in the schools and colleges of the denom- 
 ination, now among the most vuluable and pre- 
 cious of its treasures ; and in the Mission in India, 
 which speaks in behalf of the faith and patience 
 of the people which established it. Had not 
 William Burr lived, it is safe to presume that 
 all these interests would have been far less numer- 
 ous, strong and eflacient. Many, not only in 
 favored America, but also in distant heathen 
 India, will rise up to call him blessed.
 
 X. 
 
 THE DAILY LABORER. 
 
 Thus far, the reader has taken only a general 
 and distant view of the subject of this biography. 
 In this chapter, it is proposed to present him for 
 close inspection and in the performance of his 
 daily duties. 
 
 The subscriber who reads his paper, — The 
 Morning Star for instance, — fresh from the of- 
 fice, little realizes the labor expended upon it, or 
 considers through what processes it has passed be- 
 fore taking the form in which it is presented to his 
 eye. A cursory glance, however, will teach him 
 that its literary material may be divided into three 
 parts, viz., — such matter as is written by the ed- 
 itor or by editorial contributors, such as is fur- 
 nished by ordinary contributors, and such as has 
 been selected from other papers. From what- 
 ever source any of this material has come, it has 
 cost the editor more or less labor. The editori-
 
 THE DAILY LABORER. 141 
 
 al, written by the editor himself, is the result of 
 patient and consecutive thought, and of the great- 
 est care in composition. Conscious that he is 
 writing for hundreds and thousands of critical 
 readers, he is stimulated to give them his best 
 ideas, expressed in the best possible manner. 
 And from this work there is neither rest nor 
 change. The lawyer is excessively busy only 
 during the session of court, but the editor is al- 
 ways busy. The school - teacher has his regular 
 vacations, but the editor's service is continuous. 
 The minister who has been sick during the week, 
 or engaged in duties outside of his calling, can 
 exchange on the Sabbath, or use an old sermon ; 
 but the editor can resort to no such expedient. 
 He must present fresh and vigorous thoughts 
 upon the subjects which are agitating the public 
 mind, and are calculated to interest the reader. 
 
 The editorials written by others must receive 
 the editor's careful inspection, and he must de- 
 cide whether the views expressed are such as he 
 can endorse and are consistent with the unity of 
 the paper. In this work he is required to dis- 
 criminate closely and to judge correctly.
 
 142 WILLIAIVI BUER. 
 
 Many of the ordinary communications come 
 into the hands of the editor in a very crude form ; 
 and, while many of them are rejected, others have 
 to receive his careful revision. The selections, 
 which seem to many to have cost the editor but 
 little or no labor, are the result of much diligent 
 research and careful discrimination. The short, 
 pithy paragraph, which is read almost at a glance, 
 may have required hours of patient toil to put it 
 in its present form. The editor must watch 
 closely public opinion, and be thoroughly conver- 
 sant with the news of the day, so that he may pi'e- 
 Bent to his readers all the recent and important 
 items of intelligence. It will not do for him to 
 be found off his guard here. The offense is ac- 
 counted almost unpardonable. 
 
 The material thus prepared must be in due pro- 
 portion, so that the variety and form of the pa- 
 per may be preserved, and must be dealt out to 
 the compositors when they call for it. As re- 
 spects this, the editor is usually the servant, and 
 the compositors are the lords. They require not only 
 to be served, but to be served immediately. The 
 copy must also be distributed to them in such a
 
 THE DAILY LABOEER. 143 
 
 way that each may have his due proportion of 
 " fat" and "lean", or good copy and poor, or there 
 will be chafing and discontent. 
 
 Constantly watcliing the progress of the work 
 in the composing room, lest there may be an ex- 
 cess or deficiency of copy, the editor, at the proper 
 time, directs his foreman how to arrange the arti- 
 cles, and the proof is soon taken, usually on sheets 
 containing two columns each, and brought to him. 
 This he examines with the utmost care, and 
 marks each error with its appropriate sign. In 
 this work a large number of faculties are called 
 into exercise. The eye must see every letter and 
 point, the orthography and punctuation must be 
 corrected, and sometimes more suitable words 
 chosen. The attention must be closely confined, 
 for the least mental wandering or abstraction may 
 result in a failure to detect an error which would 
 seriously injure his reputation for correctness. 
 After the editor has read the sheet, it is passed 
 with the copy to proof-readers, one of whom 
 reads the copy and the other looks upon the sheet, 
 to sec whether the latter agrees with the former, 
 and mark such omissions as may be discovered,
 
 144 WILLIAM BUKR. 
 
 and typographical errors which, notwithstanding 
 the careful reading it has received, may have been 
 overlooked. The proof- sheet is then returned to 
 the compositor to correct the errors discovered, — 
 a work in which he takes no special delight. 
 This being done, a revised proof is taken, which, 
 with the original proof, is passed to the editor 
 who compares the two, to learn if the compositor 
 has faithfully performed his work. Such errors 
 as have not been corrected are marked, the whole 
 proof is again re -read, and the revised sheet is 
 given to the compositor for further correction. A 
 second revised proof is taken, when needful which 
 is either examined by the editor, or by an experi- 
 enced proof - reader. After the entire paper has 
 been subjected to this process, it is adjudged 
 ready for the eye of the public. The form is 
 then laid down and given into the hands of the 
 pressman. In the meantime, the editor is at 
 work preparing material for another issue ; and 
 such is his routine of duties, week after week, and 
 year after year. Mr. Burr performed tliis kind 
 of work, as an Editor, for nearly forty years, in 
 addition to his duties as a Publisher, and Treas-
 
 THE DAILY LABORER. 145 
 
 urer of the Freewill Baptist Benevolent Soci- 
 eties. 
 
 After having thus described the process of 
 newspaper making, the writer would ask the 
 reader to spend a week with him in the ofl&ce of 
 The Morning Star, in May, 1864. It is Mon- 
 day morning, and the press - room is the center of 
 attraction. The Adams press is throwing off the 
 Star, at the rate of nearly a thousand copies per 
 hour. From the press the papers are run through 
 the folder quite as rapidly, — a process of much 
 interest to strangers. The papers are then 
 mailed by the use of Dick's mailing machine, 
 and sent to the Post Office. In the composing 
 room, the compositors are busy in marking and 
 measuring their work of the previous week ; 
 but this is soon done, and then they commence 
 putting in type the matter for the outside of the 
 next week's paper. But to the Editor and Publish- 
 er, after inspecting the work in progress and open- 
 ing the mail, this is a sort of holiday. 
 
 On Tuesday the solid work of the week, with 
 INIr. Burr, actually commences. The first thing 
 required of him — and this is true of each succeed-
 
 146 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 ing morning of the week — is to satisfy himself that 
 each person connected with the office is on duty, 
 and that everything is in running order. Two 
 hours are now devoted to business of various 
 kinds. There are accounts to be adjusted, letters 
 to be written before the close of the morning 
 mail, the requisitions of various parties in and out 
 of the office to be met, and various other things 
 to be attended to, all of which make these two of 
 the busiest hours of the day. At a little past ten, 
 the carrier has brought the morning Journal, and 
 everything else is laid aside for this ; because it is 
 war-time and the nation is in peril. Its con- 
 tents are soon devoured, and every item of special 
 interest is marked. When this is done, he goes 
 for the morning mail, returning usually with from 
 ten to fifty letters from all parts of the country, 
 and with half this number of exchanges. The let- 
 ters now receive his special attention. In the 
 first place, each of them is opened with a paper- 
 cutter and laid on the desk. He then takes 
 each out of its envelope and reads it almost at a 
 glance. The first, perhaps, contains a communica- 
 tion for tlie jStar, and sometimes with the direc- 
 
 1
 
 THE DAILY LABOEER. 147 
 
 tion that it shall be " put in a conspicuous place 
 and leaded." This is laid in its appropriate 
 place. The second contains money, and he 
 learns that a part of it is to pay for the Star, a 
 part to pay for books, and the remainder is to be 
 divided between one or both of the Mission So- 
 cieties and the Education Society. He counts the 
 money and writes the sum at the top of the letter, 
 together with his initials, " W. B." A third let- 
 ter contains both manuscript and money. The 
 former is placed with the manuscript embraced in 
 the first letter, and the letter is disposed of in the 
 same way as the money contained in the second ; 
 and so with them all. When the lettei's are all 
 tlius treated, those which contained money are 
 passed to the clerk, who examines them and 
 credits the money on its appropriate book. The 
 money brought by the morning's mail is deposit- 
 ed for safe keeping, and the work of the fore- 
 noon is usually completed. 
 
 The afternoon is devoted to such business sug- 
 gested by the mail of the morning as demands 
 immediate attention, in correcting communications, 
 the preparation of editorial articles for the inside
 
 148 , WILLIAM BUEE. 
 
 of the paper, and in general and miscellaneous 
 work. In the evening he returns to the office and 
 opens the evening mail, which is usually much 
 smaller than that of the morning. This being done, 
 he closes his office, for the reason that this is the 
 night of the weekly prayer - meeting of the church, 
 and he must attend it. On Wednesday all his 
 time, except what is occupied by the imperative 
 demands of business, is devoted to the reading of 
 the outside of the paper, and this work sometimes 
 occupies a portion of the evening. On Thursday 
 he goes through very much the same routine of 
 duties as on Tuesday, but perhaps more of his 
 time is given to the preparation of copy. The 
 evening, however, is spent in the office in the 
 critical examination of exchanges. Friday morn- 
 ing is passed in very much the same manner as 
 Tuesday and Thursday mornings. The afternoon 
 and evening are occupied largely with the reading 
 of the proof of the inside of the paper, and 
 with the numerous little things requiring the per- 
 sonal attention of an editor. At the busiest mo- 
 ment, he is liable to be called upon by a composi- 
 tor to deci])her copy or to answer some question.
 
 THE DAILY LABOEER. 149 
 
 All things considered, this is to Mr. Burr the 
 busiest and most trying day of the week. Satur- 
 day is spent largely in the completion of the work 
 begun on Friday, and in the selection and prepara- 
 tion of copy for the outside of another issue ; and 
 at night this copy is distributed among the com- 
 positors. During Friday and Saturday the out- 
 side of the paper has been printed, and to - night 
 the inside is ready to go to press on Monday 
 morning. Such are the ordinary labors of Mr. 
 Burr for a single week. 
 
 During the week in May, the reader found Mr. 
 Burr doing his regular work, but if he will 
 spend a week with him during the earlier part of 
 September, when the business of the Printing 
 Establishment for the year is being closed up, he 
 will find him doing extraordinary work. 
 
 No small item in Mr. Burr's daily labor was 
 his correspondence. There were numerous ques- 
 tions to be answered, false impressions to be 
 removed, solicited advice to be given, and various 
 interests demanding attention. Of all letters 
 relating to things of vital importance, or to sub- 
 jects respecting which there was liable to be
 
 150 WILLIAM BCmR. 
 
 controversy, he retained copies. These copies, 
 and the replies to their originals, or the letters to 
 which their originals were replies, were carefully 
 preserved for future reference. From the large 
 amount of this correspondence still preserved, 
 many interesting facts might be obtained and 
 many secret things brought to light. But there 
 are obvious reasons why this correspondence 
 should remain, for the most part, undisturbed. 
 
 With the exception of reading proof, Mr. Burr 
 usually performed his labor standing. This waw, 
 it is believed, owing to the fact that he regarded 
 this posture more conducive to health than sitting. 
 Many of the readers of this volume will remem- 
 ber how he appeared when at his standing desk in 
 the old editor's room of the Star office. 
 
 With his habits of industry and application, 
 one can readily conceive the immense amount of 
 work which he must have performed during his 
 life-time, first as printer, and afterwards as editor 
 and pubUsher. He strictly obeyed the injunction, 
 "Not slothful in business," and the daily laborer in 
 any occupation can find in him an example 
 eminently worthy of imitation.
 
 THE DAILY LABORER. 151 
 
 The weekly routine of labor in the Star office 
 is substantially the same now as it was during the 
 life - time of Mr. Burr, though a much larger pro- 
 portion of the copy is now prepared at the office, 
 and the publication of books has brought a new 
 and important element into the editor's sphere of 
 service. The duties of editor and publisher are, 
 however, now performed by two persons instead 
 of by one, and the paper is half a day later in 
 going to press. This last change was made at 
 the time of the enlargement of the Star in 1868, 
 so that the news of Monday morning might be 
 inserted in the issue that goes to press in the 
 afternoon.
 
 XI. 
 
 THE MAN AND CEHISTIAN. 
 
 Turning from the consideration of the more 
 public acts of Mr. Burr, as they pertained to the 
 denomination of his choice, the reader is now 
 invited to take a view of him in other and, in some 
 respects, more private relations. There were in- 
 deed many sides to his character, on neither of 
 which does he seem to have been deficient. 
 While his manhood was of the highest type, but 
 few have ever performed more faithfully the duties 
 of a Christian, a citizen, or those of a husband 
 and father. His very presence revealed such a 
 depth and fidlness of meaning that no one could 
 be mistaken respecting him. 
 
 The story of Mr. Burr's church relations is 
 quickly told. As already stated, he was con- 
 verted in 1828, and united with the Freewill
 
 THE MAN AND CHRISTIAN. 153 
 
 Baptist church in Limerick. On coming to Dover, 
 in 1833, he united with the First Freewill Baptist 
 church in this place. In February, 1840, he and 
 twelve others were organized into what is now 
 known as the Washington St. Church. He was 
 then chosen one of its deacons, and he continued 
 to serve in this relation until his death. Twice, 
 in 1839 and 1862, he was chosen delegate to the 
 General Conference of the denomination, and, on 
 the former occasion, he acted as Secretary pro tern. 
 of that body ; though as a representative of the 
 Printing Establishment, he attended every session 
 of the Conference subseqitent to 1830. For a 
 year or two, 1839 and '40, he held a license to 
 preach, but having become convinced that duty 
 did not require him to exercise the functions of 
 the sacred office, the idea of preaching was 
 abandoned. 
 
 The conversion of Mr. Burr, an account of 
 which has been given in a former chapter, was of 
 the most thorough and radical character. Rarely 
 has a work of grace been more complete. From 
 the state of self- righteousness and self- sufficiency 
 in which he had dwelt with a feelins: of preat
 
 154 WILLIAM BURE. 
 
 security, he came to see his own poverty and help- 
 lessness and the necessity of fleeing to Christ as 
 Lis only hope of salvation. He sought constantly 
 to maintain a vital union with Christ. He was, 
 especially during his earlier Christian experience, 
 sensitive to the least fluctuations in his reliirious 
 enjoyment. He rejoiced, or was depressed, just 
 in proportion as he believed his heavenly Father 
 smiled or frowned upon him. He entered the 
 service of the great Master as a laborer. As 
 already seen, he had scarcely indulged a hope 
 before he urged his apprentice to seek Jesus with 
 him. From the first, "he was a constant attendant 
 upon all the means of grace, especially the prayer- 
 meeting. Sometimes he would go miles to attend 
 one, and his voice was invariably heard in prayer 
 and exhortation. One of the most transparent of 
 men, a conscientious fidelity was apparent in all 
 his acts. The few pages already given from his 
 journal contain a vivid portraiture of his early 
 Christian experience. To many it is believed that 
 no pages in this little volume will be more re- 
 plete with interest. The experience of later 
 years was the legitimate out-gi*owth of that of
 
 THE MAN AND CHKISTIAN. 155 
 
 those early years. If the former was the small 
 and bubbling rill, the latter was the broad, deep 
 river. 
 
 He ever sou2;ht to maintain a firm adherence to 
 the right, and his standard of rectitude was at 
 the same time exalted. The idea of doing things, 
 or failing to do them, from motives of expediency, 
 seems to have formed no part of his mental con- 
 stitution. Whatever others might do, he could 
 never countenance a wrong act anywhere, much 
 less in the church. Although his views in regard 
 to this subject might involve him in difficulty, yet 
 he could not swerve from his conscientious con- 
 victions of duty. Such a course he believed that 
 God would neither bless nor the world approve. 
 
 He could never knowingly do a wrong act, 
 and whenever he discovered that he had inadver- 
 tently done so, he could have no enjoyment until 
 the injury was repaired. He felt that before he 
 could be at peace with God, his Father, he must 
 have a reconciliation with man, his brother. 
 
 He maintained a constancy and faithfulness in 
 the performance of what he regarded as his whole 
 duty. He was never what is termed a backslid-
 
 156 WILLIAM BUER. 
 
 er. Though his experience was more or less va- 
 ried, he never turned aside from the path which 
 he had chosen, from the day of his conversion to 
 that of his death. He was ever constant and 
 faithful in the performance of his religious duties 
 in the family and the prayer - meeting. He was 
 absent from the latter only in case of absolute 
 necessity, and when present he almost invariably 
 occupied the same seat. No one usually enjoyed 
 the meeting more than he, and he sometimes drank 
 in of its spirit to overflowing. In prayer he was 
 satisfied only when he felt that he was talking 
 with the Eternal as in his very presence chamber. 
 In exhortation, though he was sometimes slow of 
 utterance, there was a power in his words that 
 the most thoughtless could not but feel. He was 
 constantly troubled, lest he should fail to do his 
 whole duty. In the "Scraps from his Journal," 
 the reader has seen how he felt in regard to his 
 conduct toward his brother Elijah while on a visit 
 with him, and this feeling seems to have been 
 characteristic. It led him at one time to raise the 
 question whether he ought not to enter the minis- 
 try, and it was some time before he could be per-
 
 THE MAN AND CHRISTIAN. 157 
 
 suaded that he was preaching to a larger audi- 
 ence from his place in the Star office than the 
 occupant of any pulpit in America. His allegi- 
 ance to his heavenly Father was complete, and 
 he felt that his claims upon him were imperative. 
 
 But his sense of obligation did not terminate 
 here. He felt that others had claims upon him. 
 This led him to contribute liberally for the sup- 
 port of the ministry and the various benevolent 
 enterprises of the day. Yet his religion did not 
 consist entirely in giving, but in doing, as well. 
 The many acts of kindness which he did and the 
 repeated words of encouragement which he spoke, 
 all told of his goodness of heart and the noble 
 aims of his life, — things which arrested attention 
 and commanded respect. 
 
 It is not known that, during all his years of 
 Christian experience, any one ever doubted his 
 piety, unless he sometimes doubted it himself. 
 Even those who had no respect for religion, could 
 say nothing against his manner of life, while, on 
 the other hand, it was to them a perpetual warn- 
 ing. Since his death, an impenitent woman 
 has been heard to say that she had been to
 
 158 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 his door to listen to him while en!Taa:ed in 
 family devotions. On the day of his funer- 
 al, no one seemed to be a more sincere mourner 
 than a woman of another faith and anoth- 
 er nationality who had served in his family. 
 She came to his residence to take a last look of 
 his lifeless remains and went with the procession 
 as it moved to the church, manifesting at the 
 same time great sorrow. Such incidents tell 
 their own story. 
 
 Thus was Mr. Burr an embodiment of some of 
 the rarest and best Christian virtues ; and mani- 
 festing these through a period of neai'ly forty 
 years of Christian walk, his daily life told largely 
 for the honor of God and the good of his fellow 
 men. Rarely has there been a better specimen, 
 among the laity, of the type of Christianity devel- 
 ope^d by the denomination with which he was con- 
 nected. As was said of him in an editorial in the 
 Star, the week following his death, — " Religion 
 was the governing principle of his life, and, as 
 such, regulated all his acts." 
 
 After the oviranization of the Washino;ton Street 
 church, in 1840, this was emphatically Mr. Burr's
 
 THE MAN AND CHRISTIAN. 159 
 
 spiritual home. Chiefly instrumental in its for- 
 mation, he gave it all the strength and influence he 
 could exert, though he never manifested a narrow 
 sectarian spirit. The band of brethren and sisters 
 that composed the church was at first small and 
 weak, but it gradually increased in numbers and 
 strength. From the small room over one of the 
 stores on Central Street, where the church was 
 organized, they soon removed to the " Old Court 
 House," in which they worshiped until the comple- 
 tion of the Old Church on Washington Street, in 
 1843. Under the labors of the first three pastors, 
 Davis, Moulton and Dunn, each of whom served 
 but a short term, the foundations of a permanent 
 interest were laid, while under the long pastorate 
 of tlie lamented Ilutchins, which commenced in 
 1845 and continued thirteen years, the church 
 became a power for good scarcely second to any 
 churcli in the place. In the accomplishment of 
 this result, the influence and labors of Mr. Burr, 
 from some points of view, were at each period 
 quite as important as those of the pastor. He 
 early made upon the church his own impress, and 
 sought to mold it in accordance with his ideas of
 
 IGO WILLIAM BUER. 
 
 what a church should be. From the first it took 
 an advanced position upon all the reforms of the 
 day, such as missions, temperance, anti- slavery 
 and the like, and its membership was composed 
 largely of earnest Christian workers. 
 
 During all these years, the interests of the 
 church lay very near his heart. No one thanked 
 the Lord more heartily when it prospered, or 
 grieved more sorely in its adversity. From the 
 first the growth of the church was almost without 
 interruption, and but few have been the instances 
 in which an enterprise of the kind has been con- 
 ducted with greater union of feeling. The ac- 
 knowledged leader in both the temporal and spir- 
 itual affairs of the church, no one of all the nu- 
 merous and valuable co -laborers who came to his 
 assistance, seems to have been jealous of his po- 
 sition or influence. The great secret of his suc- 
 cess in this particular consisted in the fact that, 
 while he was disposed to consult the wishes and 
 feelings of all as far as practicable, it was very 
 apparent that, in all his acts, self-interest was 
 subordinate to the good of the cause. And some- 
 times when there misrht have been a division of
 
 THE MAN AND CHRISTIAN. 161 
 
 feeling arising from a partial view of the case in 
 hand, when all the facts came to be known, every 
 breath of discontent was hushed. 
 
 It is quite unnecessary to say more respecting 
 Mr. Burr's character and labors as a Chiistian. 
 There are hundreds, if not thousands, of living 
 witnesses who can testify of these things, and 
 upon whom his example has left its impress. The 
 Washington Street church, so largely the result 
 of his labors, will continue to speak in his praise, 
 and eternity alone will fully reveal what was ac- 
 complished by his life. The memory of such a 
 man and Christian is blessed. 
 
 It is common to speak of churches as the re- 
 sult of the labors and sacrifices of ministers. Is 
 it not, however, often the case that the instrumen- 
 tality of pious and influential laymen is quite as 
 important? To be the means, under God, of 
 founding a church that will continue for genera- 
 tions to exert a saving influence in a community, 
 is something worthy of a life - time of toil in the 
 service of the Master. Let none be weary in 
 well - doing.
 
 XII. 
 
 THE CITIZEN AND PHILANTHEOPIST. 
 
 In such a man as Mr. Burr it is difficult to dis- 
 tinguish between his character as a Christian and 
 his character as a citizen. What he was as the 
 latter, as well as in all the other relations of life, 
 was largely the outgrowth of what he was as the 
 former. 
 
 Mr. Burr held no office strictly political until 
 six or seven years previous to his death, when he 
 occupied, for two or three years, a prominent 
 place in the City Government, and was for two 
 years a member of the Legislature. But this 
 fact indicates but little respecting the nature of 
 his work and influence. Restrained from seeking" 
 
 o 
 
 office by his characteristic modesty, and the fact 
 that the party to which he belonged was for many 
 years in the minority, his numerous duties did 
 not allow him to hold it. Nevertheless his influ- 
 ence was constantly felt in favor of the right and 
 in opposition to the wrong.
 
 THE CITIZEN AND PHILANTHEOPIST. 163 
 
 The thirty - three years during which Mr. Burr 
 was a citizen of Dover, embraced almost the en- 
 tire period of the great anti- slavery conflict, and 
 through all these years, he was an anti - slavery 
 man in the capacity of a citizen as well as that of 
 an editor. An oj)ponent of Jackson's administra- 
 tion, he was for some years identified with the 
 Whig party, and he not only believed in the gen- 
 eral soundness of its policy, but he also respected 
 its intelligence. Feeling, however, that the par- 
 ty as a whole was not committed in opposition to 
 slavery, he separated himself from it. As early 
 as 1840 or '41, he and a few others voted what 
 was known as the " Liberty Ticket," and thus 
 commenced in Dover a political party which con- 
 tinued its existence until 1855, when there was a 
 recast of parties, and the principles for which the 
 anti - slavery party had contended were embodied 
 in those of the party dominant in the city and in 
 the state. The third party, of which Mr. Burr 
 was a leader, was always small, yet it was this 
 same small band of reformers, composed of ear- 
 nest, thouglitful and true-hearted men, that re- 
 ceived Hon. John P. Hale with open arms, when
 
 164 WELLIAJVI BUER. 
 
 he was cast out of the pro - slavery party in 1845. 
 Contending constantly and steadily for a great 
 idea J they went bravely forward to the accom- 
 plishment of a noble work, and were eventually 
 rewarded with a triumph most grand and com- 
 plete. Viewing things from our stand- point, we 
 can not but honor, nay, reverence, the noble pi- 
 oneers in the anti - slavery reform, who were will- 
 ing to struggle on year after year, " steady through 
 evil report and good report, through honor and 
 dishonor," that they might maintain a great prin- 
 ciple and become the benefactors of an oppressed 
 race. 
 
 Mr. Burr was, during those years, what might 
 be termed a practical anti -slavery man. More 
 than once the hunted fugitive found protection 
 within his dwelling, and was speeded by him in 
 his flight from bondage to liberty. A story is 
 told of him that on one occasion his earnestness 
 of manner was so misunderstood that it came near 
 having an effect opposite to the one intended. 
 One morning as he was deeply engaged in busi- 
 ness, a fugitive, who had grown gray in the 
 service of a southern master, entered his office
 
 THE CITIZEN AND PHILANTHROPIST. 165 
 
 and gave him a letter of introduction from a 
 Friend residing in Philadelphia. As the colored 
 man passed the letter to him, he tremblingly in- 
 quired, "Are you an abolitionist?" Mr. Burr, 
 reading the letter, at once replied, " I am abo- 
 litionist enough to take care of you." The empha- 
 sis and almost sternness with which these words 
 were uttered, terrified the poor fellow, who feared 
 that he had fallen into the hands of an enemy. 
 The kindness, however, with which he was 
 treated, and the hospitable manner in which he 
 was received into Mr. Burr's home, soon quieted 
 all his fears, and he came to feel and know that 
 he had found a friend indeed. 
 
 While Mr. Burr belonged to the party in the 
 minority, his labors in behalf of the cause of lib- 
 erty were untiring. His presence and words 
 cheered his few associates even in the darkest 
 hour. But when he became a member of the 
 party in the majority, his efforts did not cease, 
 though somewhat changed in their direction. He 
 was especially solicitous that the party be kept 
 pure, and that none but good men be selected for 
 office. Consequently, he made it a special point
 
 166 WILLIAM BUER. 
 
 to attend the primary meetings of the party. 
 Sometimes, when not more than a dozen were 
 present at one of these meetings, he was one of 
 the number. In this way he accomplished more 
 for the principles which he advocated than a 
 large number of well - meaning men who think it 
 unnecessary to attend a political caucus, and there- 
 by forget that, for the stream to run clear, the 
 fountain must be kept pure. 
 
 During the war of the rebellion, no man felt 
 more deeply for his country's welfare, or prayed 
 more earnestly for its salvation. His spirits 
 were elevated or depressed just in proportion as 
 the army of liberty met with successes or reverses, 
 yet his faith in ultimate victory was ever firm. 
 On Monday morning, when the fall of Richmond 
 was announced, his heart overflowed with thank- 
 fulness to the Giver of victory. Returning to 
 the office from " the bulletin board," where he was 
 usually one of the first to learn the news, he hast- 
 ily prepared a brief statement of the great event 
 for insertion in the paper, which was then being 
 issued. As he gave it to the compositor, calling 
 her by name, he said, — "You never put in tvT>e
 
 THE CITIZEN AND PHILANTHROPIST, 167 
 
 a paragraph containing news of such a glorious 
 character." But the heart then exultant was, in 
 less than two weeks later, pierced with deep sor- 
 row, as were the hearts of thousands all over our 
 land, at the death of our martyred Lincoln. In 
 the suppression of the rebellion and the conse- 
 quent overthrow of slavery, he felt that the la- 
 bors, prayers and sacrifices of a life -time in the 
 cause of liberty had been more than abundantly 
 rewarded, and fittingly might he thus feel, since 
 the Master's approval was, " Because thou hast 
 labored and not fainted." 
 
 The writer is pleased to receive the following 
 testimony, respecting the character of Mr. Burr 
 as an anti- slavery man, from a source which 
 renders it especially valuable : 
 
 "Dover, N. H., Oct. 10, 1870. 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 You asked me for some brief 
 statements of my recollections of Mr. Burr, es- 
 pecially of his character as an anti- slavery man, 
 and his fidelity to principle. 
 
 When I first knew Mr. Burr, I knew him sim- 
 ply as a quiet, unobtrusive editor of a weekly re- 
 ligious newspaper printed in Dover, called. The 
 Morning Star, steadily and unostentatiously de-
 
 168 WILLIAM BUEE. 
 
 voting himself to the multifarious duties of his 
 profession. 
 
 When the anti - slavery controversy first mani- 
 fested itself in New England, it found arrayed 
 against it the organized religious and political 
 action of a vast majority of the members of all 
 denominations. But Mr. Burr viewed the ques- 
 tion from a different stand - point than those by 
 whom he was surrounded. It presented itself to 
 his mind simply as a question of duty. Having 
 clear convictions on the subject himself, the course 
 he was to pursue appeared to him a plain one, — 
 to follow tliose convictions to their legitimate re- 
 sult, entirely irrespective of any consequences 
 which might affect him or his interests in any 
 point of view. 
 
 It required no ordinary nerve in a young man 
 at that time, thus to separate himself from the 
 opinion of those about him. Almost solitary and 
 alone he devoted himself and the press with which 
 he was connected to the great cause of suffering 
 and down- tx'odden humanity ; satisfied that he was 
 right, he did not stop to inquire if his course was 
 popular. From this time Mr. Burr was open and 
 decided upon this question, as he always was upon 
 all subjects to which he gave his attention. His 
 was no timid, cautious, calculating support, but an 
 entire surrender of himself and all his interests to 
 the advocacy of human rights. 
 
 He was an early, steadfast, heroic advo- 
 cate and protector of the hunted fugitive, 
 even in those days when it was dangerous 
 to harbor a runaway slave ; no fugitive was ever
 
 THE CITIZEN AND rniLANTHEOPIST. 169 
 
 turned away from his door without having received 
 the sympathy and aid which his case demanded. 
 It is indeed difficult in these days to reahze the 
 obloquy and danger attending protection thus af- 
 forded. 
 
 Mr. Burr lived to see the triumph of the great 
 principles which he had advocated, lived to see 
 them the controlling policy of the country, yet, 
 although a pioneer in the cause now become 
 popular, he asked no office or favor from the 
 Government. His life flowed on tranquilly in 
 our midst, and when death snatched him away, 
 the prayers of the ransomed ascended to Heaven 
 for him, and a glorious company welcomed him to 
 the eternal city. John P. Hale." 
 
 As already stated, Mr. Burr held no office 
 
 strictly political until six or seven years previous 
 
 to his death. He was then, for two years, a 
 
 member of the City Government, and his weight 
 
 of character, together with his business qualities, 
 
 pointed to him as the member most suitable to 
 
 preside over the branch to which he belonged. 
 
 For two years later, 1862 and '63, he was elected 
 
 to the Legislature. In consequence of the war, 
 
 this was a critical period, and the exercise of much 
 
 wisdom and judgment was required of a legislator. 
 
 Though making but few speeches and not always 
 
 voting with his party, in the languaa;e of one of
 
 170 willlvjvi burr. 
 
 his associates, "Mr. Burr's words, whenever he 
 did speak, carried weight, and he was soon re- 
 garded as one of the most rehable and influential 
 members of the House." Among his more impor- 
 tant and praiseworthy acts, while a member of 
 the Legislature, were his efforts in behalf of Gov. 
 Berry. The duties and responsibilities of the 
 Governor were largely increased in consequence 
 of the war, and it was simply an act of justice that 
 he should receive some additional compensation. 
 The politicians with whom he was not particularly 
 popular sought to deprive him of this, but IMr. 
 Burr, always a friend of justice, interested him- 
 self in his behalf and gained the end sought. In 
 response to a note from the writer, Gov. Berry 
 recognizes the service rendered, and pays a beauti- 
 ful tribute to Mr. Burr's memory. His letter is 
 
 as follows : 
 
 "Andover, IMass., Sept. 24, 1870. 
 Eev. J. M. Brewster : 
 
 Dear Sir, — Yours of the 
 2 2d inst. is before me, and in answer to your 
 inquiries I would say, that I have a very distinct 
 and pleasing recollection of Mr. Burr. From the 
 short personal acquaintance I had with him, and 
 from what I had learned of him otherwise, I truly
 
 THE CITIZEN AND PHILANTIIEOPIST. 171 
 
 considered him one of the best of men, and when 
 I heard of his death, I felt sad that so good a man 
 had been taken from us. I distinctly recollect 
 that lie ever manifested a deep interest in my 
 behalf while I occupied (at that time) the very 
 responsible position of Governor of New Hamp- 
 shire. He thought that I was justly entitled to 
 compensation in addition to what had been the 
 usual salary of the Governor of the State, in as- 
 much as my duties and responsibilities were far 
 greater than those of any Governor before me, 
 and he therefore used his influence with other 
 representatives in my behalf. I shall ever re- 
 member Mr. Burr with affectionate gratitude, not 
 only for the part he took in relation to my salai-y, 
 but also for the deep sympathy and Christian 
 counsel and advice I received from him, when I 
 felt the need of these things as I never felt them 
 before. Very Truly Yours, 
 
 N. S. Berry." 
 
 To the necessities of the poor Mr. Burr's heart 
 was always open, and his hand ready to relieve 
 when he was convinced of their wants . With other 
 citizens of Dover, he waged war with intemper- 
 ance at an early day, when legal as well as moral 
 suasion was used. He contributed his share in 
 securing for the city its present and excellent 
 system of public schools, and, in a word, he was 
 always among the foremost in every good work,
 
 172 WILLIAM BUEE. 
 
 and his name was a terror to evil doers. Such 
 were his character and reputation, that no one was 
 in doubt respecting the side of any moral ques- 
 tion on which he was to be found. For several 
 years he was a member of the Board of Directors 
 of Strafford bank, and his financial ability rendered 
 him one of its most efficient members. Dover 
 has lost few of its citizens whose death brought 
 a larger caiianity or suggested stronger reasons 
 for lamentation.
 
 xin. 
 
 THE HUSBAND AND FATHER. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to say that Mr. Burr 
 was, during all the years of his married life, a 
 devoted husband. Indeed, he was in this relation 
 all that might have been expected of a man who 
 acted so well his part in so many other relations 
 in life. 
 
 To these parents were born nine children, — six 
 sons and three daughters, — only three of whom, 
 two sons and one daughter, survive their father. 
 These facts at once suo-o-est an intermino;ling of 
 joy and sorrow in these parents' hearts, a succes- 
 sion of sunshine and shadow along their pathway. 
 
 The first death in their household was that of 
 little Harriet Ann, in the early spring of 1838. 
 During the month of April, 1850, Death twice 
 came and took away two boys, Charles Henry and 
 James Albert, aged respectively seven and five.
 
 174 WILLIABI BURR. 
 
 Thus early in their experience of sorrow, though 
 their hearts had been thrioe torn, these grief - 
 stricken parents came to feel, 
 
 "That most our Heavenly Father cares 
 For whom he smites, not whom he spares," 
 
 and, clinging closer to his side, they bowed their 
 heads and kissed the rod. 
 
 But other and more unwelcome lessons were to 
 be taught them in the school of affliction. 
 
 Of all the children, no one seems to have been 
 so much the pride of his father as the eldest, 
 William^Vaters. In the twenty - fifth year of his 
 age, of a generous nature, ambitious of honor 
 obtained only by devotion to duty, well educated 
 and possessed of strong mental powers, 
 
 "Seldom, in youth, is brighter promise given 
 Of a rich noon, or more effulgent day." 
 For some years he had been connected with the 
 
 Treasury Department at Washington, and after a 
 short vacation spent at home, with failing health, 
 he returned to Washington in December, 1856, 
 as it proved, to die. Prompt to duty, he immedi- 
 ately wrote to his father, under date of December 
 15, as follows : 
 '' My Dear Father : 
 
 Here I am at my desk, and the
 
 THE HUSBAND AND FATHER. 175 
 
 first thing will be to finish this letter 
 
 I unp<acked the medicine and found all safe, and 
 now I am, as already stated, at my desk. It is 
 somewhat warmer here than in Dover. As to 
 my health, I really do not know what to say. I 
 am not quite so hoarse, but how in the world I 
 got here, I am sure I can not explain. I have 
 seen some rough times. I have but time now to 
 close, for I was assured by Gov. Anderson this 
 morning that I had been missed exceedingly, and 
 that they hardly knew what they should do with- 
 out me. I find my desk hea/ped Avith work. 
 Poor me ! Love to all. Tell mother the medi- 
 cine was all right. 
 
 AflTectionately, W. W. Buee." 
 
 This seems to have been the last letter which 
 he wrote to his father. He continued to decline 
 rapidly, yet with an indomitable will and a hero- 
 ism with which the invalid only is acquainted, he 
 sought his accustomed work almost until the sum- 
 mons came, which was on the evening of the 24th 
 of January, 1857. The father and mother had 
 previously left home for Washington^ hastily 
 summoned thither by a telegram sent without the 
 knowledge- of William, but not to reach the 
 city until after his death. 
 
 No event connected with his life seems to have
 
 176 WILLIAM BUEE. 
 
 caused Mr. Burr so much anguish of soul as the 
 death of this son. He grieved, and grieved sore- 
 ly. Though sympathy was proffered on eveiy 
 hand, and though he felt that he had the prayers 
 of thousands, yet rehef was found only in looking 
 to the Great Helper, and the promise became 
 manifest, — " As thy day, so shall thy strength 
 be." 
 
 Judged from a human stand -point, this afflic- 
 tion would have seemed sufficient to stamp upon 
 him, " perfect through suffering," but God saw it 
 otherwise, and he was to drink deeper of the bit- 
 ter cup. 
 
 In March, 1860, a little more than three years 
 after the death of William "Waters, John M., the 
 eldest surviving son, then in the twentieth year of 
 his age, passed peacefully and triumphantly to the 
 other shore ; and in March, 1863, a little less 
 than three years later still, they buried Emma, 
 a beloved daughter, then in the vigor of early 
 womanhood. 
 
 Thus we get some idea of the character of Mr. 
 Burr's domestic sorrows during these years. 
 But though overwhelming, they served to a na-
 
 THE HUSBAJS^D AND FATHER. 177 
 
 ture like his, to deepen aud elevate rather than 
 conquer. Strieken, bereft, bright hopes with- 
 ered, joys torn away, his confidence remained un- 
 shaken in the goodness of his heavenly Father. 
 Amid all the darkness, his faith did not let go 
 its hold on the eternal wisdom, and rest and ref- 
 uge were found in the sympathy of Christ. With 
 one of old he was able to rise up and say, " The 
 Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed 
 be the name of the Lord !" 
 
 Mr. Burr's was eminently a Christian home. 
 Relio'ion was the golden thread which ran through 
 all the web of his domestic life. On the day on 
 which he was married an altar was set up, and in- 
 cense was kept constantly burning thereon until the 
 day of his death. To the children the best moral 
 and Christian instruction was given. Whatever 
 interest the father manifested in their education 
 or solicitude for their worldly prosperity, he felt 
 even greater interest and solicitude for their per- 
 sonal salvation. Frequent conversations were 
 sought and each opportunity striven to be em- 
 braced to urge it upon their attention. Ilis faith 
 in the efficacy of prayer was strong. That which
 
 178 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 helped him bear the death of his eldest son was 
 the fact, brought to his knowledge by a teacher of 
 William, that he daily found enjoyment in carry- 
 ing his wants to his heavenly Father. Often- 
 times his prayers for the conversion of his chil- 
 dren were very importunate, and these prayers 
 were offered to a covenant - keeping God. "The 
 promise is unto you and to your children." 
 
 The death of Mr. Burr left a sad vacancy in 
 all the positions which he so acceptably and hon- 
 orably filled. But there is no place from which 
 he is so much missed, or where his absence is so 
 deeply mourned, as in his own home to which 
 his presence was always a benediction. In this 
 home, from which so many loved ones have gone 
 to be tenants of heavenly mansions, there linger 
 blessed memories, and grateful hearts look up 
 through their tears and thank God for the influ- 
 ence of a holy life. 
 
 " Ob, though oft depressed and lonely, 
 All my fears are laid aside, 
 If I but remember only 
 
 Such as these have lived and died."
 
 XIV. 
 
 AS HE WAS HEIIE AND THERE. 
 
 Wliile Mr. Burr's name was familiarly spoken 
 in so many households, he was personally known 
 to comparatively few. Confined to his office by 
 his numerous duties, he traveled but little, and 
 then, for the most part, to attend denominational 
 gatherings. The engraved likeness at the com- 
 mencement of this little volume, will, therefore, 
 serve as a pleasant reminder to those who knew 
 him personally, and it will be of scarcely less in- 
 terest to the larger class who never looked upon 
 his pleasant features and noble form. The like- 
 ness is from a photograph taken less than two 
 years previous to his death, and presents him as 
 he appeared in his later years, with his genial ex- 
 pression, free from a sense of care. When en- 
 gaged in business or burdened with anxiety, he 
 wore an expression somewhat stern.
 
 ISO WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 In his tastes and habits, Mr. Burr was averse 
 to ostentation in dress and manners, but he was 
 in the highest sense of the word a o-entleman. In 
 early Hfe he was frail in form and youthful in 
 appearance, so that at thirty - five years of age 
 he could have easily passed for twenty - five. In 
 middle life, he suffered considerably from ill 
 health, resulting largely from close confinement 
 to his woi'k. Some ten years previous to his 
 death, much anxiety was manifested lest he should 
 break down under his burden of responsibility. 
 He rallied, however, and during the last six or 
 eight years, he became somewhat robust in form 
 and appearance. This was owing largely to the 
 fact that he was more regular and systematic in 
 taking exercise. He priiciiced horse - back rid- 
 ing much, and found it very beneficial. In the 
 later hours in the afternoon, he could be almost 
 invariably seen on some of the pleasant drives 
 about Dover upon his pony, which he kept al- 
 most exclusively for this purpose. These rides 
 served to him as agreeable pastimes, and doubt- 
 less aided in prolonging his life for years. Some- 
 times he rode in his carriage and invited a friend
 
 AS HE WAS HERE AND THERE. 181 
 
 to accompany him. At such times he was one of 
 the most chatty and companionable of men, de- 
 lighting to rehearse some early experience or to 
 discuss interests pertaining to the passing mo- 
 ment. 
 
 In midsummer, he sometimes snatched a day 
 or two from the hurry of business to visit Hing- 
 ham, or to take a pleasure trip to the Isle of 
 Shoals, or some other point. On such days he 
 usually forgot his business cares and devoted him- 
 self to recreation as far as it is possible for a man 
 of his habits to do ; and, as the natural result, 
 he returned refreshed and invigorated. 
 
 While, as just intimated, Mr. Burr made most 
 of his longer journeys to attend denominational 
 gatherings, this was not exclusively the case. In 
 the summer of 1838, he left the Sta^^ in charge 
 of Rev. E. Mack, and went to what was then 
 known as the " Far West," —a great undertaking 
 for those times. He traveled in company with 
 Rev. Mr. Spaulding, of the M. E. church, and 
 gave a graphic account of their experiences in a 
 series of letters in the Star. They left Boston,
 
 182 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 on the 22(1 of June, by rail for Stonington, 
 where they took a steamer for New York. They 
 enjoyed a pleasant sail up the Hudson to Albany, 
 whence they went to Utica by rail. Taking a 
 canal passage to Rochester, they again traveled 
 by rail to Batavia. Thence going by stage to 
 Buffalo, they there took a steamer for Detroit. 
 Of this place he said : 
 
 "We arrived at Detroit on Saturday, June 
 30, at half- past six, A. M., just one - half hour 
 too late to take the cars for Ypsilanti, and were 
 therefore under the necessity of remaining in De- 
 troit until jNlonday ; for though the cars left on 
 Sunday morning, we of course were not disposed 
 to profane God's holy day. Detroit contains 
 8,200 inhabitants. Some of the buildings are 
 well and handsomely built, but far the greater 
 part are of an inferior character." 
 
 Near Kalamazoo they were obliged to purchase 
 horses, and to make most of the journey west of 
 this point on horseback. At a place which he 
 calls " Little Prairie Ronde," they visited Rev. 
 S. L. Julian, " the first convert" in the " Limerick 
 revival," who accompanied them in their travels 
 further west. Of Chicago, where they arrived on 
 the 11th of July, he said:
 
 AS HE WAS HEEE AND THERE. 183 
 
 " We are somewhat disappointed in this phnce. 
 The buildings are too scattering to appear to ad- 
 vantage. Most of them are small and poorly 
 built — but few blocks of handsome, buildings. 
 The houses are scattered along the shore for 
 three or four miles, and one or two miles inland. 
 There can hardly be said to be a regularly built 
 street in all the place, though it contains a popu- 
 lation of 5,000. Its commercial advantages, 
 however, will eventually render it a large city. 
 It stands on the border of a low, flat prairie, which 
 is, some part of the year, covered with water. 
 In the vicinity nothing is to be seen but the lake 
 on one side, and on the other, one vast plain with 
 woods far away in the distance ; on the north the 
 woods appear nearer the city. Here is room to 
 build a city as large as London." 
 
 During a portion of their journey their experi- 
 ences were somewhat severe. In a new and 
 sparsely settled country, they sometimes lost their 
 way ; and when night came, if they were fortu- 
 nate enough to find a stopping -place, their ac- 
 commodations were extremely poor, and their 
 landlords were sometimes of a doubtful character. 
 On one occasion, as Mr. Burr used to tell the 
 story in later years, after having traveled nearly 
 all day through the woods, at night they came to 
 a small log cabin tenanted by a man and his wife
 
 184 - WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 whose appearance was not at all prepossessing. 
 Learnino; that there was no other habitation for 
 miles distant, with considerable reluctance they 
 concluded to remain for the night. Vacillating 
 between hope and fear, just as they retired to 
 their small and poorly furnished lodging -place, 
 they espied behind the door several copies of 
 The Morning Star suspended upon a wooden 
 hook. For Mr. Burr this was sufficient. He 
 felt safe in a house where the Star was taken ; 
 and dismissing all further anxiety, he enjoyed a 
 good night's rest. Before leaving, he could 
 scarcely persuade his landlord that he was the 
 veritable Editor of the Star^ as he seemed to be 
 possessed with the idea that the Editor of such a 
 paper must be something " more than an orduia- 
 ry man." 
 
 Mr. Burr's description of a night spent between 
 Janes ville and Mineral Point, Wisconsin, is par- 
 ticularly interesting. It seems tliat, as there was 
 no habitation for thirty miles, the party expected 
 to encamp, and made some preparation according- 
 ly. They found themselves encamped at night in 
 the middle of an extensive high - rolling prairie at
 
 AS HE WAS HERE AKD THERE. 185 
 
 the foot of an old and large oak tree, more or less 
 wet by a shower of the afternoon. Here they 
 built a fire and tried to make themselves as com- 
 fortable as possible. He says : 
 
 "In this situation, we remained until past twelve 
 o'clock, the thunders rattling through the con- 
 cave, and the lightnings flashing v^^ith great viv- 
 idness from west to east and east to west, without 
 scarcely a cessation during the whole time. The 
 grandeur and sublimity of the scene which we 
 witnessed during the night are seldom surpassed 
 even in the works of nature. At one moment the 
 heavens and the broad swells of the high prairie, 
 which stretched out before us as far as the eye 
 could reach, were splendidly lighted up by the 
 vivid lightning's flash ; and the next, dense dark- 
 ness surrounded us, and loud rumbling thunder 
 seemed to shake the earth to its center. It was 
 but a faint emblem, however, of that awful day 
 ' when the heavens shall be rolled together as a 
 scroll and the elements be melted with fervent 
 heat.'" 
 
 Mr. Burr arrived at his home on the 25th of 
 August, after an absence of nine weeks. During 
 this time he traveled not less than three thou- 
 sand miles, and visited nine states and one terri- 
 tory. 
 
 All things considered, this was the most note- 
 worthy journey of Mr. Burr's life, though he
 
 186 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 made others quite as long. At the close of the 
 General Conference held at Maineville, Ohio, in 
 October, 1856, he and others crossed the Ohio 
 River, penetrated Kentucky, went as far as 
 Lexington and Ashland, and visited the homes of 
 Henry Clay and John C. Breckenridge, the latter 
 a candidate for the Vice - Presidency. On his 
 i-eturn home, he and Rev. S. Cuitis visited Wash- 
 ington, where his son William was then a clerk. 
 
 Many of the writer's personal recollections of 
 Mr. Burr are particularly pleasing. Well does 
 he remember the morning in March, 1864, when 
 he entered the office of the Star, and asked Mr. 
 Burr, who was standing at his desk, for his influ- 
 ence in securing a position which was then named. 
 Removing his glasses, he promptly replied with 
 one of his significant smiles, "I will do so if you 
 desire it, but I have other work for you." As the 
 result of this interview, the writer entered the 
 office a few weeks later and became Mr. Burr's 
 assistant. During the entire period he was with 
 him, so uniformly kind was all his bearing, so 
 vaulable were his counsels, and so unceasing was
 
 AS HE WAS HERE AND THERE. 187 
 
 his interest, that he came to regard him as a 
 father, and as such he cherishes his remem- 
 brance. 
 
 Recollections of Mr. Burr during the last year 
 of his life are especially fresh. Through a large 
 portion of the month of December, 1865, he was 
 confined by sickness. For a few days his situa- 
 tion was considered critical. He was, however, 
 soon able to attend to his usual routine of duties. 
 For a few days in the earlier part of June, he 
 was confined again, and was scarcely able to 
 make the journey by his own private conveyance 
 to be present at the New Hampshire Yearly 
 Meeting held at Holderness — a gathering which 
 he invariably attended, and in the proceedings of 
 which he always took an active part. Many will 
 call to mind his very appropriate remarks on tak- 
 ing the chair at this meeting, and the grace and 
 dignity with which he filled it. In July he 
 visited his native town for the last time, and in 
 September attended the Vermont Yearly Meeting, 
 and spent a few days with Rev. S. Curtis amid 
 the delightful scenery of the Green Mountains, 
 returning in season to be present at the meeting
 
 188 WILLIAM BUER. 
 
 of tlie Corporators. After attending the Anniver- 
 saries at Lawrence early in October, and the 
 Foreign Mission meetino; at South Berwick a 
 week or two later, he was to be seen no more at the 
 gatherings of the denomination, where his 
 presence had been for years most warmly 
 welcomed and his service highly valued ; — he had 
 become one of the great assembly before the 
 throne of God. 
 
 While Mr. Burr was not a singer, but few 
 enjoyed good music better than he. The week 
 previous to his death, a musical convention was 
 held in Dover, at which several highly trained 
 singers, including Mrs. D. C. Hall, of Boston, 
 were present. The singing of this lady almost 
 enraptured him ; — especially was this the case in 
 her rendering of the piece, entitled, "Birdy Looking 
 out for Me," a beautiful and touching poem, w^hicli 
 this lady sang most skillfully and effectively. 
 The next day he would not be satisfied until he 
 had found the poetry,* read it to Mrs. Burr, who 
 had not heard it sung, and laid it aside for publi- 
 
 *PubUshed in the Star of Jan. 2, 1867.
 
 AS HE WAS HEEE AND THERE. 189 
 
 cation in the Star. As it proved, his ear was 
 being tuned for the richer and sweeter music of 
 heaven. 
 
 Already had his spiritual life become quickened, 
 his prayers more fervent and his mention of his 
 future home more frequent. His work on earth 
 was being finished, and the faithful servant was 
 to be called to his rest and reward in his Father's 
 house above. Indeed, the door stood wide open, 
 and he was soon to enter.
 
 XV. 
 
 HIS death; teibutes to his memory. 
 
 In taking his servants to himself, God employs 
 different methods. Sometimes he does it by 
 means of a long and lingering sickness, and thus 
 affords a warning of the approaching change. 
 At other times, he summons them into his im- 
 mediate presence without premonition. In such 
 cases, though not translated as were Enoch and 
 Elijah, yet, ripe for heaven, they are relieved at 
 once from the labors and conflicts of earth, and 
 the presence and glory of God, with all the heav- 
 enly hosts, are suddenly and unexpectedly re- 
 vealed to their em-aptured vision. As regards 
 the manner of his death, Mr. Burr belongs to the 
 last named class. 
 
 Sunday, Nov. 4, 1866, was a beautiful, late 
 autumn day. The sun shone clyar and bright, 
 while scarcely a cloud was to be seen. The day
 
 HIS DEATH. 191 
 
 was especially favorable to church - going, and 
 almost everywhere the house of God was tilled 
 with devout worshipers. On this day, Mr. Burr 
 occupied his accustomed seat in the Washington 
 Street church. It being the first Sabbath in the 
 month, at the close of the second service the 
 Lord's Supper was observed. As deacon of the 
 church, he occupied his place at the altar and 
 passed the sacred emblems, prepared on this oc- 
 casion with his own hands. Though the season 
 was impressive and peculiarly precious, it was 
 not expected that one of those present, — and es- 
 pecially he whom all loved and honored as a 
 father and friend, — was, before the rising of an- 
 other sun, to eat bread and drink wine in the 
 kingdom of God. 
 
 On the previous evening, after spending an hour 
 or two in the examination of exchanges, Mr. Burr 
 had left the office and the very chair which he 
 had occupied for twenty- three years. During 
 the day, as observed by his family, he was unu- 
 sually cheerful, and several who saw him at 
 church remarked that he manifested more than his 
 usual vigor and freshness. He spent much of
 
 192 WILLIAJI BUiiR. 
 
 the day while at home in conversation with his 
 daughter and her husband, who were then return- 
 ing from Buffalo to Bangor. At his family devo- 
 tions that evening he read the hymn commencing, 
 
 *' The leaves around me falling, 
 Are preaching of decay," 
 
 remarking, at the same time, that it was a favor- 
 ite hymn. 
 
 At the prayer - meeting m the evening, he was 
 in his accustomed seat, and joined in the exer- 
 cises, both by prayer and exhortation. In the 
 former he was more than usually fervent. Re- 
 ferring to the futm-e world, he said, — " We have 
 friends there ; some of them have passed the riv- 
 er only just before us." With the utterance of 
 these words, his feelings overcame him and he 
 paused, to recover himself in a few moments. In 
 his exhortation, later in the meeting, he referred 
 to the Christian warfare, to which the sermon of 
 the afternoon had special reference, and urged 
 upon Christians the importance of " fighting the 
 good fight of fiiith." He also spoke of the short- 
 ness of time and the importance of improving it. 
 Speaking of his own life, he said that it seemed
 
 HIS DEATH. 193 
 
 to him he had accomplished but little, and he de- 
 sired to renew his consecration, and thereby 
 pledge himself to increased fidelity. In closing, 
 he appealed to the large number of young men 
 present to consecrate themselves to Christ, that 
 they might become useful in his service and thus 
 accomplish the great end of life. He believed 
 that God designed some of them for the ministry. 
 His remarks were a noble testimony for Jesus, and 
 in every way worthy to be the dying words of 
 such a man and Christian. 
 
 A few minutes before eight o'clock, he rose and 
 attempted to remove his overcoat, but sank back 
 upon his seat. Some wlio had observed that his 
 movements were not entirely natural, went to him 
 and learned that he was sick and wished to re- 
 tire. It was soon discovered that he had been 
 seized with what might prove to be apoplexy, 
 yet all hoped that the stroke might not be fatal. 
 He was soon carried by his brethren from the 
 church to his grief- stricken family. He spoke 
 but few words after he was seized, and these with 
 difficulty. On his arrival home he seemed to 
 recognize his wife and daughter, but soon be-
 
 194 WILLIAM BUKR. 
 
 came unconscious. Every means in human pow- 
 er was used for his relief, but to no purpose. 
 He grew worse, and about two o'clock in the 
 morning it became evident that his end was near. 
 
 During the hour following, there stood around 
 him his devoted family and a few long - tried but 
 now weeping friends. Angels hovered over that 
 dying scene, and all could not but rejoice in view 
 of the prospects which awaited him who was 
 about to depart to his eternal home. At three 
 o'clock, his convulsions ceased, and it became ap- 
 parent that his time had fully come. He breathed 
 easily once or twice, and then his spirit took its 
 departure. The gates of heaven opened widely 
 for its entrance, and there was joy at its advent. 
 Three hours later, the Star announced to the 
 community, the denomination and the world that 
 its honored Editor and Publisher was no more. 
 
 On the following Wednesday, he was buried 
 from the Washington Street church. An appro- 
 priate funeral discourse was preached by Eev. S. 
 Curtis, Revs. T. Stevens, D. M. Graham and 
 others assisting in the exercises. His Honor, the 
 Mayor, and the City Government of Dover were
 
 TllIBUTES TO HIS MEMORT. 195 
 
 in attendance, and escorted to the place of burial 
 the procession, consisting of the relatives of the 
 deceased, the Corporators of the Printing Es- 
 tablishment, the employees of the Star office, 
 the members of the Foreign Mission Board, 
 the Board of Directors of Straffi^rd Bank, the 
 Freewill Baptist ministers in attendance, the 
 members of the Washington Stx*eet church, and 
 others. The pall bearers were the deacons of the 
 several evangelical churches in Dover. The 
 places of business in the city were closed between 
 the hours of ten and three, and numerous other 
 marks of respect were shown by the citizens. The 
 attendance of strangers from abroad was large. 
 Tlie remains were deposited in the beautiful Pine 
 Hill Cemetery, beside those of the six children who 
 had preceded him to the spirit world. 
 
 To the memory of Mr. Burr there have been 
 numerous and touching tributes. To the pre- 
 sentation of some of the more important of these 
 tributes the remainder of these pages will be de- 
 voted. On the week following that of his death, 
 tli'^ t^'/ffv mve \\\o f;>]'<i-\vii;(r '-nj'n^T'v o<' liis la-
 
 196 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 bora and estimate of his character. Though 
 written but a day or two subsequent to his death, 
 the statement is very complete as well as brief. 
 In this place, it may serve not only as a tribute 
 to his memory, but also as a statement of what he 
 was and did : 
 
 "WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 The announcement contained in our last issue, 
 that he whose name stands at the head of this 
 article had gone to the spirit land, carried sorrow 
 to many a heart. Well it might, for his death 
 was not only sudden and unexpected, but the de- 
 ceased also belonged to the higiiest type of man ; 
 his very name was a synonym for all that per- 
 tained to moral and Christian excellence, and 
 such were his relations and responsibilities that it 
 seemed impossible for him to be spared. 
 
 Born in Hingham, Mass., June 22d, 1806; 
 went to Boston at the age of fifteen to learn the 
 printer's trade ; commenced the printing of 
 'llie Morning Starlit Limerick, Me., in May, 
 1826 ; converted and joined the Freewill Bap- 
 tist church in Limerick in 1828 ; married to Miss 
 Frances iSIcDonald of Limerick the same year ; 
 removed to Dover in 1833, and became a mem- 
 ber of the 1st Fi-eewill Baptist church ; chosen 
 Agent of the Printing Lstablishment and Editor of 
 the Star in 1835 ; chosen deacon of the Washing- 
 ton l^treet church at its organization in 1840 ; 
 held ii'so various otlier positions of honor and
 
 TRIBUTES TO HIS MEMORY. 197 
 
 trust In both church and state ; died of apoplexy, 
 Nov. 5, 1866, aged 60 years, 4 mouths, and 13 
 days. 
 
 Such is a brief outline of the leading events of 
 his life, but they of themselves give us a very 
 inadequate idea of its inner history and true 
 character. These are a study, and a proper 
 delineation of them must be the work of labor and 
 time. He who shall thoroughly accomplish it, 
 will be amply rewarded in the many things which 
 he will behold to love and admire. There will 
 be the kind husband and father, the agreeable 
 companion, the generous and patriotic citizen, the 
 prompt and accurate business man, the able 
 editor, the wise counselor, the friend of the needy 
 and oppressed ; and above all the sincere and 
 earnest Christian. A life - long student, his 
 information was varied and accurate, and his 
 experience large and rich. If he was cautious in 
 arriving at conclusions, those once formed were 
 held most firmly. While he was conservative in 
 his feelings, no man ever put his shoulder to the 
 wheel of progress more resolutely, especially when 
 he was convinced what progress was. He hated 
 evil in all its forms with intensity, and fought it 
 with determination. The wicked feared him, 
 the good loved him, and all respected him. 
 
 Religion was the governing principle of his 
 life, and, as such, regulated all his acts. Apart 
 from his duties to his family, there were two 
 enterprises, to promote which his time and atten- 
 tion were largely, and we may say almost solely, 
 devoted, and with the history of which that of hia 
 life is closely interwoven. We refer to th<^
 
 198 WILLIAM BUER. 
 
 PrintiDg Establishment and the Washington St. 
 church. These were objects which lay very near 
 his heart. He witnessed the birth and growth 
 of each, and while he labored for, and rejoiced in, 
 their prosperity, he felt most keenly for them in 
 the periods of their adversity. Their interests 
 were emphatically his interests. He lived to see 
 each of these enterprises a success, and they will 
 continue to be standing monuments to his memory. 
 In the denomination with which he was connected 
 and which he ardently loved, he has won a 
 lasting name and place. In his departure, one 
 has been added to its catalogue of loved and 
 honored dead. Henceforth, while Randall will 
 continue to be spoken of as its founder, Colby 
 and Marks as its leading evangelists , and Hutchina 
 as a specimen of its highest type of piety, BQHR 
 will be known as its organizer. 
 
 Such is but an imperfect picture of the man 
 whose genial, expressive countenance and noble, 
 manly form we shall see no more. His last 
 counsels have been given, his labors are ended, 
 and he has gone to be with angels, the redeemed, 
 and especially the Saviour whom he so much 
 adored. 
 
 Friend, brother, father, noble man and 
 Christian patriot, thou whom we loved and 
 honored in all these relations, we bid thee fare- 
 well ! Thou hast not lived in vain. We would 
 profit by thy counsels, emulate thy virtues, and 
 shall be more than satisfied if our reward shall 
 approximate to thine. Pure spirit, enjoy thy 
 rest ! We hope to join thee."
 
 TRIBUTES TO HIS MEMORY. 199 
 
 On the week of Mr. Burr's death, the other 
 papers in the city gave brief reviews of his career, 
 and voiced the sentiment of the community re- 
 specting him and his death, and the testimonials 
 from exchanges abroad were many and appreciat- 
 ive. 
 
 Numerous letters of sympathy and condolence 
 were written to the widow of the deceased, but as 
 tliey were designed for her alone, it is hardly to be 
 expected that they will be reproduced here. 
 Some of these letters came from beyond the 
 ocean. 
 
 At the meeting of the Corporators of the 
 Printing Establishment, held early in December, 
 a little more than four weeks subsequent to Mr. 
 Burr's death, the following resolutions were unani- 
 mously adopted : 
 
 "TFAeyeas, It has pleased God to remove by 
 sudden death our honored and beloved fellow - 
 laborer, William Burr, Esq., who has served 
 for more than thirty years as the Agent of the 
 Freewill Baptist Printing Establishment and 
 the Editor of The Morning Star, therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That it is with profound gratitude 
 for his long and eminent services, and with 
 profound grief over the loss which his departure
 
 200 williajvi burr. 
 
 occasions, that we express our submission to that 
 Providence which smites us, and record our testi- 
 mony to tlie worth and usefulness of our departed 
 brother. 
 
 Resolved, That we recognize in our deceased 
 associate, qualities of mind and heart such as 
 combined to make him the true Christian man, 
 the warm-hearted friend, the wise counselor, the 
 vigilant guardian of trusts, the skillful and discreet 
 manager of business, and the embodiment of 
 conscientiousness and integrity in his dealings 
 with all men. 
 
 Resolved, That, in the peculiarly responsible, 
 difficult and delicate position which he has so long 
 occupied as the Agent of the Printing Establish- 
 ment and Editor of The Morning Star, we have 
 found in him the happy union of hopefulness and 
 caution, patience and energy, conciliation and 
 firmness ; showing a ready deference to the 
 opinions of others while maintaining fidelity to 
 his own personal convictions ; developing a care- 
 ful regard for the general good while sacredly 
 recognizing the rights and interests of the in- 
 dividual ; at once exhibiting self-sacrifice and 
 maintaining self-respect; never forgetting what 
 was due to a true expediency but always clinging 
 fast to moral principle ; forever discharging his 
 duties to men under the sense of responsibility to 
 God ; identifying himself with the interests of the 
 Establishment and rejoicing in the prosperity 
 which his labors brought to it, and yet satisfied 
 only when it was serving the cause of spiritual 
 religion ; joyfully spending and being spent for
 
 TRIBUTES TO HIS MEMOEY. 201 
 
 the good of his own denomination, but happy in 
 its successes chiefly because he believed they were 
 aiding to bring in the final triumph of the king- 
 dom of God ; gaining in honor and esteem as his 
 abilities became recognized and his efficiency 
 became embodied in results, and yet growing in 
 Christian humility and devotion as his life wore 
 on ; gathering a rare enjoyment in the circles of 
 earthly life which he lighted with his chastened 
 cheerfulness, and yet ever looking forward and 
 upward to the immortal sphere as the only 
 complete home of his heart. We mourn his loss, 
 but revere his memory ; we deplore the sinking 
 of our strength when his arm was so suddenly 
 palsied, but are stirred to higher effort by his 
 abiding example ; we would gladly have wrought 
 with him for the achievement of yet other objects, 
 but, aided by God's blessing, we will endeavor to 
 carry forward to completeness the work which he 
 passes over to our hands at the end of so conse- 
 crated and efficient a service. 
 
 Resolved, That we tender our earnest Christian 
 sympathies to the family and the numerous friends 
 of our deceased brother, and commend them in 
 their affliction to the richest consolations of our 
 Father in heaven." 
 
 Resolutions were also passed by Quarterly 
 
 Meetings located in all parts of the denomination, 
 
 expressive of Mr. Burr's worth of character, the 
 
 value of his services to the denomination, the loss 
 
 sustained by it in his death, and extending
 
 202 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 sympathy to his bereaved family. The Yearly 
 Meetings, in due time, passed resolutions of the 
 same purport. 
 
 The General Conference, at its session held at 
 Buffalo in Oct., 1868, through its Committee on 
 the Printing Establishment, said : 
 
 "This General Conference having experienced 
 since its last session a great bereavement in the 
 death of the late William Burr, who for more 
 than thirty years acted as Editor of the Morning 
 Stay' and Agent and Treasurer of the Printing 
 Establishment, does hereby enter upon its records 
 a grateful recognition of the fidelity, ability, and 
 signal success with which he discharged the duties 
 connected with those perplexing and responsible 
 duties until the close of his life." 
 
 In accordance with a previous vote of the Cor- 
 porators, the Printing Establishment had early in 
 Oct., 1867, erected a Monument over the grave of 
 Mr. Burr in Pine Hill Cemetery. It is of marble, 
 with a base of granite, standing twelve feet high, 
 measured from the ground, chaste and simple in 
 design, beautiful indeed but without ostentation, 
 and so harmonizing with the character and life
 
 TRIBUTES TO HIS MEMOEY. 
 
 203 
 
 which it is erected to commemorate. On the 
 west, or front face, is the following inscrip- 
 tion : 
 
 WILLIAM BUKR 
 
 DIED 
 
 Nov. 5, 1866, 
 
 M 60. 
 
 This Monument, erected by the 
 
 Freewill Baptist Denomination, 
 
 stands as a tribute to his memory. 
 
 He had charge of the Printing 
 
 Office at its opening'in 1826, 
 
 and was Editor of the Morning Star 
 
 and Agent of the Printing 
 
 Establishment during a period 
 
 of more than thirty years. 
 
 {North Side.) 
 
 By his integrity in business, 
 Ms urbanity in social intercourse, 
 
 his broad and philanthropic * 
 
 sympathies, and especially by his 
 devout earnestness as a Christian, 
 he won and retained the high 
 
 esteem of all who knew him. 
 
 He was a member of the City 
 
 Government in Dover, and of the 
 
 Legislatm'e of New Hampshire ; and 
 
 for more than twenty - five 
 
 consecutive years was elected 
 
 Treasurer of the Benevolent Societies. 
 
 " The memory of the just is blessed." 
 
 It was dedicated on the 8 th of October, in con- 
 nection with the Anniversaries which convened
 
 204 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 in Dover on that day. After singing and prayer, 
 
 addresses were made to a large assemblage of 
 
 people by Rev. H. Quinby and Rev. E. Knowl- 
 
 ton. The first recalled incidents in the early life 
 
 and associations of Mr. Burr, and the second 
 
 spoke of some of the leading traits of his character 
 
 as a business man and Christian. In the eveninof 
 
 a Eulogy was pronounced upon the character and 
 
 services of Mr. Burr by Rev. G. T. Day, D. D., 
 
 in the Washington Street church. It occupied 
 
 about an hour and a quarter in delivery, and was 
 
 regarded as one of the author's best efforts. From 
 
 a production so full of brilliant and excellent 
 
 passages, it is difficult to make a selection, but 
 
 perhaps no extract can more appropriately appear 
 
 at this place in this volume than the following, 
 
 which relates to the service which JVIr. Burr 
 
 rendered the denomination : 
 
 "Of his work for us as a Christian denomination 
 it would be easy and pleasant for us to speak 
 freely ; but it may be too soon to estimate that 
 properly, and a few words will be better tlian 
 many. That work was a needed and pecuHar 
 one, and it was large, important, interested, 
 laborious, — a work prompted and sustained by 
 love and distinguished by fidelity. He felt both
 
 TEIBUTES TO HIS MEMORY. 205 
 
 the privilege and responsibility of his position and 
 his service. He had many cares, anxieties and 
 trials in connection with his service, as every real, 
 useful, responsible worker must have. He came 
 to us when we were weak and unorganized ; he 
 helped us into sti-ength and unity. He came to 
 fill a sphere for which we had no fitted occupant ; 
 he filled and then enlarged it, growing himself as 
 the functions increased their proportions, — 
 managino; an institution which began in debt to 
 the amount of half its value, and providing for a 
 steady prosperity which has made it a growing 
 bond of union, a medium for the effective exercise 
 of our power, and a scatterer of benefactions 
 which have fallen in abundant blessing from the 
 valley of the Mississippi to the shore of the 
 Gano;es. Few men would have brought to his 
 task among us so true a heart and so free a serv- 
 ice as he laid down through so many years at our 
 feet ; and few could have done for us so ample 
 and fitting a work, even if they had possessed his 
 rare and unselfish devotion. He was identified 
 with us as a people scarcely less closely than with 
 his own fiimily ; and next to his love for them 
 was his abounding aftection for us. He was a 
 good and discreet manager ; — a balance - wheel 
 that kept our ecclesiastical macliinery steady in 
 its movement without taxing our motive power ; — 
 successful in harmonizing confiicting interests and 
 o[)inions ; — blending firmness and conciliation ; — 
 knowing when to resist innovation, and yet 
 yielding without bitterness and after - comphiint 
 to what was a decisive verdict; — not daringly
 
 206 WILLIAM BURR. 
 
 and audaciously attempting to lead the body on 
 the one hand, nor reluctantly dragged onward by 
 its providential momentum on the other, he 
 generally marched abreast with its best sentiment 
 us did Mr. Lincoln with the nation ; "fivino: it his 
 sympathy, keeping its confidence, growing in its 
 esteem, and himself lifted into higher hope and 
 nol)ler moral statui-e by the reciprocal blessing 
 which the denomination poured back into the 
 spirit of its benefactor." 
 
 To the above the following may be added, 
 
 which is designed to convey the great lesson of 
 
 his life : 
 
 "Here was a man without brilliance of parts, 
 without unusual opportunities or marked abilities, 
 ir.lieriting no fortune, helped by no influential 
 friends, having* at least his full share of hardship 
 and discourao:emeut, sharing: nothino; of what men 
 call good luck, amid unpromising surroundings, 
 lifted to no eminent station, Qfainin^: nothing: save 
 what he honestly earns by persistent and taxing 
 industry, taking every ascending step up the hill 
 of difficulty, and living b}^ his labor whose com- 
 mon implements he never lays down to the end of 
 his life. He is a fair example of our common lot 
 and life ; he springs from the people and ia 
 eminently one of the people ; he shares their com- 
 mon hardships and carries their common burdens ; 
 he has only the helps and resources which are 
 their usual inlicritance, and no grander career is 
 opened before him by Providence than is opened
 
 TRIBUTES TO HIS MEMORY. 207 
 
 to them. He starts from only the average level 
 of American citizenship, and he is supplied with 
 simply the usual stimulants. And in what he 
 became and in what he did — in his industry, his 
 economy, his integrity, his acquired ability and 
 skill, his study and growth in knowledge, his 
 Christian virtues, his official positions, the grow- 
 ing confidence which he inspired, the increasing 
 influence which he wielded in a whole denomina- 
 tion, the strong friendships which he won, the 
 prayers that were daily offered for him in a 
 thousand homes, the eagerness with which men 
 sought his counsel, the deference paid to his 
 opinions, the grief and tears which burst forth 
 when he fell, the spontaneous standing still of 
 business with uncovered head when his body went 
 by on its way to the grave, the crystallization of 
 religious esteem into a shaft of marble which you 
 have just left standing above his dust to speak 
 your thought of him to the future, this gathering 
 here to - night that you may lay your tribute on 
 the altar that guards his memory, — in all these 
 things we have but so many indications of what 
 a common lot and life may be when the highest 
 duties are honored, and God has put the crown of 
 his waiting favor upon the loyal and loving soul." 
 As an appropriate close of these tributes to the 
 memory of Mr. Burr and of this volume, the fol- 
 lowing poem written for the Star by Mrs. V. G. 
 Ramsey, whose poetical talent Mr. Burr held in 
 high esteem, is here presented :
 
 208 WILLLOI BURR. 
 
 THE TJasr^'OIRa-OXTElST IDE.A-ID. 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIAM BUER. 
 
 Prized weekly visitant, tliou bringest ever 
 A welcome presence to my waiting heart, 
 
 A memory dear of one whose spirit never 
 Seems from thy pages and thy work apart. 
 
 I know full well, beyond the pearly portal, 
 Which shuts the Golden City from our eyes, 
 
 Forever blest, he dwells with the immortal, 
 Where beauty never fades nor friendship dies. 
 
 And yet, so deeply is his memory graven. 
 Time has no power the record to efface ; 
 
 His influence lives with us, the while in heaven 
 He sees the glories of Jehovah's face. 
 
 For with a patient zeal and love untiring, 
 He labored faithfully through good and ill ; 
 
 Asking not honor, nor to wealth aspiring. 
 He sought alone to do the Master's wiU. 
 
 With lamp all burning and his sheaves around him. 
 He heard the midnight cry the Bridegroom 
 sends, — 
 
 The summons came unheralded, but found him 
 Robed for the feast where Jesus meets his friends. 
 
 And when, with sorrowing hearts and tearful faces, 
 We heard tlie tidings that his work was done, 
 
 We said, " the Father to his own embraces 
 Has called the servant whom his grace has won." 
 
 O gracious Lord, beneath thy wing abiding. 
 And closely pressing to thy wounded side, 
 
 Plelp us, witli patient trust and love confiding, 
 To do thy will though good or ill betide. 
 
 So may we hope, when this brief life is over, 
 And all the work thou givcst us is done. 
 
 That thou, O Jesus ! pitying Friend and Brother, 
 A\'ilt crown us with the joys which he has won.
 
 This book is DUE on the last 
 date stamped below. 
 
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