Page:The librarians of Harvard College 1667-1877.djvu/17

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LIBRARIANS OF HARVARD COLLEGE. I I which he took his second degree, his service of three years as Librarian. In September, 1691, there is an entry in the College records of 3 paid to him as " Library-keeper." Later in the records (1694-95) are several references to his services in procuring " the Colledge arms to be cut in Freestone or in marble " ; but it is uncertain whether this plan, which seems to have originated with him, was finally carried out. About 1707 Newman went to England, where for a time he lived in the Duke of Somerset's family, in what capacity we are not told. Afterwards we find him settled in the Inner Temple in Lon- don. Nearly half a century before this time, Edward Hopkins had bequeathed a legacy to Har- vard College, but his heirs had disputed his will and it was still unsettled. In 1709 the College appointed Newman its agent toward procuring this bequest; and in three or four years his efforts were successful. In fact, during the whole of his life in England, Newman was active in furthering the interests of the College in that country, and procured for it many gifts both of money and of books. It is said by Turell, the biographer of Dr. Colrnan, that he "saw cause to conform to the Established Church. But he ever cherished and exprest a warm and generous Love and Regard for his Country, and the Churches and Colleges here, and sought their Prosperity and flourishing." As late as 1741, he was still the English agent of the College as appears from the following votes of the Corporation, passed 6 April, 1741 : " That in Consideration of the many good Services done for the College by Henry Newman of London, Esq :, Mr. Treasurer be directed to give him a full Discharge, of whatsoever may be due from him to the College, upon his Book. That the Pres dt be desir'd to give the Thanks of the Corporation to Henry Newman of London, Esq., for the informa- tion he gives us by D r Colman of some Prospect there is, of our obtaining a part of the Library of S r Richard Gyles Bar. which he is about to bestow upon Dissenters, & pray him to continue his good Offices to the College, and particularly in that affair." For many years Newman was the agent in Eng- land of New Hampshire. Governor Belcher was his warm personal friend, and many of the letters that passed between the two have been preserved and printed. Several others of Newman's letters have been printed : two or three to Colman, one to President Leverett, and another to his uncle, Tutor Flynt, well-known in the College history. His only other publications were two Almanacs for 1690 and 1691, and a paper in the London Philosophical Transactions (xxxii. 33) on "The way of proceeding in the small pox inoculated in New-England." The date of Henry Newman's death is not known. His name was starred in the Triennial Catalogue of 1745, but Sibley states that he was living as late as 1748. He was certainly dead in 1749, when TurelFs book, mentioned above, was published. AUTHORITIES: Mass. hist. soc. Collections, vi. 118; 3d series, v. 229; 6th series, vi. vii. passim (Belcher papers) ; Proceedings, vi. 352; 2d series, ix. 383. Quiney, History of Harvard, 1840, i. 205, 231, 383, 474. Savage, Geneal. diet., iii. 275. Sibley, Harvard graduates, 1885, iii. 389-394. Turell, Life of Colman, 1749, p. 146.


1693-1697.

Ebenezer Pemberton, A.M., a distinguished minister of Boston, fifth son of James Pemberton, one of the founders of the Old South Church, was born in 1671-72. He graduated at Harvard in 1691, held the positions of Librarian 1G93-1697, of tutor 1697-1700, and of fellow from 1707 until his death, 13 February, 1717. On leaving the college he was ordained as colleague of the Rev. Samuel Willard of the Old South or Third Church, Boston, 28 August, 1700. He was married 12 June of the next year to Mary Clark, who survived him. Their son Ebenezer (H. U. 1721) was one of the founders of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).

Mr. Pemberton's " Sermons and Discourses on several occasions " were printed in London in 1727, with a portrait of the author and a memorial sermon by the editor, Rev. Benjamin Colman. H" had also previously printed a number of sepa- rate sermons. After his death a catalogue of his library to be sold by auction was issued by "Samuel Gerrish, bookseller, near the Old Meeting-house." It consisted of 1000 lots, and is "perhaps the first instance in New England of a printed catalogue of books at auction."

Mr. Pemberton had a high reputation as a preacher, and held his audience by his strong, masculine style, and the fervor of his delivery. "He had," says Dr. Joseph Sewall in his funeral discourse, " a great natural capacity, a large and comprehensive genius, and by hard study and great industry had amassed a rich treasure of learning. I suppose few in these corners of the earth have been better acquainted with books and men."

AUTHORITIES: Watkins, The Pemberton family, 1892. Sprague, Annals of the Amer. pulpit, 1857, i. Winsor, Memorial hist, of Boston, 1881, ii. 212, 419.

1697-1701.

Nathaniel Saltonstall, fourth child of Colonel Nathaniel Saltonstall of Haverhill, and Elizabeth Ward, was born at Haverhill 5 September, 1674. His family had held an honorable position in Eng-