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HIGGINSON. HILDRETII. threw himself into the thick of the fray, recruited two companies near Worcester, and received a commission as captain in the 51st regiment, Massachusetts volunteers, September 25, 1862. He was, while in camp, appointed colonel of the 1st regi- ment of colored troops enlisted in South Carolina, this being the first regiment of freed slaves mustered in during the war. Col. Higginson captured and held Jack- sonville, Fla., but was seriously wounded in a skirmish at Wiltown Bluffs, S. C, in August, 1863, and was honorably discharged October 27, 1864. But however creditably he fulfilled his mission as clergyman and soldier, it was not on either of these planes that the bur- den of his soul was to find its loftiest expression. The higher development of human nature, physically, mentally, morally and socially, — this was his life work, and whether as essayist, poet, novelist, or lec- turer, this was the germinal motive of his e .i'i'v effort. Col. Higginson"s earliest recognition by the reading public, as an original prose writer, was through a series of essays con- tributed to the " Atlantic Monthly." The most famous of these is "Saints and Their Bodies," one of the most attractive papers ever written on tin- subject of physical development ami its relation to moral and intellectual health. Besides these, his principal works are " Malbone ; An Old- port Romance " (1869); "Army Life in a Black Regiment" (1*70); "Atlantic Es- says" (1871); "Oldport Days" (1873); "Young Folks' History of the United States " (1875) ; " Short Studies of Ameri- can Authors" (1879); "Common Sense about Women " (iSSt) ; " Larger History of the United States" (1885); "The Monarch of Dreams" (1886) ; "Hints on Writing and Speech-making " (18S7) ; and a volume of essays contributed to " Har- per's Bazar " under the title of "Women and Men." He has lately published another prose volume, " Travellers and Outlaws" (1888), and a volume of poems entitled "The Afternoon Landscape" (188,;). As a lecturer, Col. Higginson stands in the very foremost rank. In the days when the lecture platform was a high plane of intelligence and cultivation, he made a national reputation in the " Aristocracy of the Dollar." His devotion to the interests of humanity has led him to espouse with vigor the cause of woman, not only in her higher education, but in her emancipation from intellectual subjection and political servi- tude. While not seeking political honors, Col. Higginson has been called twice by his fellow-citizens of Cambridge to serve his representative district in the General Court, 1880 and '81, and in 1888 he received the nomination for congressional honors, heart- ily voiced by his fellow-citizens, though not successful. HILDRETH, JAMES 2d, son of George anil Lucy Torrey (Winslow) Hildreth, was born in Shirley, Middlesex county, May 29, 1839. His mother is a direct descend- ant of John Winslow, who married Mary JAMES HILDRETH. 2d Chilton, she being the first person to step upon Plymouth Rock at the landing of the Pilgrims. He gathered his knowledge of books in his early youth in the common schools of Lunenburg, to which place his father moved while he was an infant. His ad- vantages were limited, but he made dili- gent use of those at his command. Upon the death of his father the charge of the home farm fell upon him at the age of seventeen. This was in 1856, and he worked without pay until he became of age. At his majority he bought the several interests of the other heirs, excepting that of his mother.
