HALE, Benjamin, educator, b. in Newburvport, Mass., 23 Nov., 1797; d. there, 15 July, 1863. lie was graduated at Bowdoin in 1818, studied theology at Andover, and in 1822 was licensed to preach as a Congregationalist. In 1823 he became tutor in Bowdoin, but subsequently established the Gardiner lyceum, of which he became principal. From 1827 till 1835 (when his chair was abolished) he was professor of chemistry and mineralogy at Dartmouth, and aided in the foundation of its geological and mineralogical cabinet. Meantime, he took orders in the Protestant Episcopal church. The winter of 1835-'6 he spent in St. Croix, W. I., for his health. In 1836. he became president of Hobart college, Geneva, N. Y., and held the office till feeble health compelled him to resign on 19 Jan., 1858, when he returned to his native town. He published "Introduction to the Mechanical Principles of Carpentry" (Boston, 1827) and "Scriptural Illustrations of the Liturgy" (1835).
HALE, Eugene, senator, b. in Turner, Oxford, co., Me., 9 June, 1836. He received an academic education, studied law in Portland, was
admitted to the bar in 1857, and began to practise at Ellsworth, Me. He was for nine successive years county attorney for Hancock county, was a
member of the legislature of Maine in 1867-'80, and
was then elected a representative in congress from
that state, serving from 1869 till 1879. He was
elected to the U. S. senate as a Republican to succeed Hannibal Hamlin, took his seat 4 March, 1881,
and was re-elected in 1887. He was appointed
postmaster-general in 1874, but declined, and also
refused a cabinet appointment by President Hayes.
He was a delegate to the Republican national conventions of 1868, 1876, and 1880. Mr. Hale has received the degree of LL. D. from Colby university.
HALE, John, clergyman, b. in Charlestown,
Mass., 3 June, 1636; d. 15 May, 1700. He was
graduated at Harvard in 1657. In 1664 he went
to Beverly as a religious teacher, and on 20 Sept.,
1667, was ordained pastor of the newly organized
church at that place — a charge which he retained
till his death. He was chaplain in the expedition
to Canada in 1690, and in 1734 his services were
rewarded by a grant of three hundred acres of
land to his heirs by the general court. During the
Salem witchcraft trials in 1692, Mr. Hale attended
the examinations of the accused persons, and
approved of the judicial murders resulting from the
charges. He afterward published “A Modest
Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft” (1697), which
indicated a change of opinion relative to the
justice of the executions. His only other publication
was an “election sermon” of nearly two hundred
pages (1684). — His grandson, Robert, physician, b.
in Beverly, Mass., 12 Feb., 1703; d. 20 March, 1767,
was graduated at Harvard in 1721, and subsequently
practised as a physician in his native
town. He commanded a regiment under Sir William
Pepperell at the capture of Louisburg in 1745,
in 1747 was appointed by the legislature of
Massachusetts a commissioner to New York to adopt
measures for the general defence, and in 1755 was
a commissioner to New Hampshire to concert an
expedition against the French. He was appointed
sheriff of Essex county, Mass., in 1761, and was for
thirteen years a member of the legislature. —
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John's great-grandson, Nathan, soldier, b. in Coventry, Conn., 6 June, 1755; d. in New York city, 22 Sept., 1776, was a feeble child, and gave little promise of surviving his infancy; but as he grew up he became fond of out-door sports, and was famous for his athletic feats. His attention was early turned to books, and his father desired him to study for the ministry. Accordingly, he was fitted for college by the Rev. Joseph Huntington, and was graduated at Yale in 1773. Dr. Eneas Munson, of New Haven, says of him at this time that “he was almost six feet in height, perfectly proportioned, and in figure and deportment he was the most manly man I have ever met. His chest was broad; his muscles were firm; his face wore a most benign expression; his complexion was roseate, his eyes were light blue, and beamed with intelligence; his hair was soft and light-brown in color, and his speech was rather low, sweet, and musical. His personal beauty and grace of manner were most charming. Why, all the girls in New Haven fell in love with him, and wept tears of real sorrow when they heard of his sad fate. In dress he was always neat; he was quick to lend a helping hand to a being in distress, brute or human; was overflowing with good humor, and was the idol of all his acquaintances.” At his graduation he was engaged with William Robinson and Ezra Samson in a Latin syllogistic dispute followed by a debate on the question, “Whether the education of daughters be not, without any just reason, more neglected than that of the sons.” His classmate, James Hillhouse, wrote: “In this debate Hale was triumphant. He was the champion of ‘the daughters,’ and most ably advocated their cause.” He then taught school first in East Haddam and afterward in New London. The news of Lexington reached the quiet village where he was teaching, and a town-meeting was at once held. Among the speakers was Hale, who urged immediate action, saying: “Let us march immediately, and never lay down our arms until we have obtained our independence.” He at once enrolled himself as a volunteer, and was made a lieutenant in Col. Charles Webb's regiment. In September, 1775, his regiment was ordered to Cambridge, where, after participating in the siege of Boston, he was made a captain in January, 1776. He then went to New York, where, early in September, with a few picked men, he captured at midnight a supply vessel that was anchored in the East river under the protection of the guns of the British man-of-war “Asia.” The stores of provisions from the prize were distributed among his hungry fellow-soldiers. About this time he was made captain of a company in the “Connecticut Rangers,” a corps known as “Congress's Own,” commanded by Thomas Knowlton. In response to a call from Gen. Washington, he volunteered to enter the British lines and procure intelligence. Disguising himself as a school-master and loyalist, he visited all of the British camps on Long Island and in New York, openly making observations, drawings, and memoranda of fortifications. As he was about returning, he was apprehended and taken before Sir William Howe, who, upon the evidence found in his shoes, condemned him to be executed before sunrise on the next morning. He was denied the attendance of a chaplain, and his request for a Bible was refused. The letters he had written to his sisters and betrothed (who was his step-sister) were destroyed before his eyes by the provost-marshal, William Cunningham, so that, as he afterward said, “the rebels should never know that they had a man who could die with such firmness.” His execution took place in Col. Henry Rutgers's orchard, near the present junction of Market street and East Broadway. As he ascended the scaffold he said: “You are shedding the blood of the innocent; if I had ten thousand lives, I would lay them down in defence of my injured, bleeding country”; and his last words were: “I only regret that I have
