LIBRARIANS OF HARVARD COLLEGE. 27
1769, he resigned and returned to Medford.
On the memorable 19th of April, 1775, he did
active service, and in 1777 became chaplain to the
frigate "Hancock." The "Hancock," under the
command of Capt. Manly, captured the British
frigate "Fox" but was in turn overpowered off
Halifax. After his release, Mr. Brooks returned
to Medford, where he lived until his death, 6
May, 1781.
His wife was Abigail, daughter of Rev. John and Joanna (Cotton) Brown, of Haverhill. Of his four children, the second child, Peter Chardon Brooks, became a distinguished merchant of Boston.
AUTHORITIES: Brooks, History of Medford, 1855. Chase, History of Haverhill, 1861, p. 248. N. E. Hist. and Gen. Register, viii. 298-299. Old Times: a mag. devoted to the early history of North Yarmouth, Me. pp. 265, 910.
1760-1762.
Samuel Deane, was born at Dedham, Mass., 10 July, 1733, the oldest son of Samuel and Rachel (Dwight) Deane. He graduated at Harvard in 1760, having the honor of contributing to the volume of congratulatory addresses ("Pietas et Gratulatio") sent by the college to George III. on his accession to the throne. Mr. Deane's English poem (No. 10) and the Latin poem supposed to have been written by him (No. 21) give fervid assurance that King George would be the pride and protection of his American subjects; although within twenty years the colony demonstrated to King George's satisfaction that he was neither the one nor the other. He was Librarian from 1760 to 1762, and tutor 1763-1764.
On the 17th of October, 1764, Mr. Deane was ordained colleague of Rev. Thomas Smith at the First Church, Portland, Maine. After a successful ministry of forty-five years, Deane received as his colleague Rev. Ichabod Nichols, who became pastor after his death, 12 November, 1814. His wife was Eunice, fourth daughter of Moses Pearson.
Mr. Deane began a Diary in 1761, and continued it until his death. The diary which was published at Portland in 1849 under the title "Journals of the Rev. Thomas Smith and the Rev. Samuel Deane," is a concise record of a busy, useful life. He was chosen in 1787 to the convention in Massachusetts for the adoption of the national constitution, but declined. He was a member of the committee to advise on the separation of Maine from Massachusetts, and drew up an able report. His tastes were classical and literary; he was a fellow of the American Academy, and received the degree of D.D. from Brown in 1790. Many of his poems appeared in contemporary periodicals, and a few sermons and a longer poem are preserved in pamphlet form.
His knowledge of agriculture was both practical and scientific, and his work "The New England farmer, or Georgical dictionary" (Worcester, 1790) was widely read and used. He was not given to bigotry nor to theological quarrels. In appearance he was tall and portly, of dignified carriage and of keen wit, with social and agreeable manners. His sermons were simple and practical, delivered without oratorical display.
A portrait accompanied the "Journals" cited above.
AUTHORITIES: Journals of Rev. Thos. Smith and Rev. Samuel Deane, ed. by Wm. Willis, 1849. Allen, Amer. biog. and hist, dictionary, 1832.
1762-1763.
Stephen Sewall, born at York, Maine, 4 April, 1734, was the son of Nicholas and Mehitable (Storer) Sewall. He graduated at Harvard in 1761, having taught in the Cambridge grammar school. In May of the same year he was appointed to give instruction in Hebrew at the college, and two years later "in the other learned languages." He received in 1764 the newly founded Hancock professorship of Hebrew and other Oriental languages, and was publicly installed 19 June, 1765; this chair he held until September, 1785, having been for nearly three years mentally and physically incapable of performing his duties.
Prof. Sewall held the position of Librarian in 1762-1763, and was a master of arts, a fellow of the American Academy, and in 1777 a representative to the General Court from Cambridge as a whig. He married Rebecca, daughter of Rev. Edward Wigglesworth, the Hollis professor of divinity, 9 August, 1763 ; their only child Stephen died in infancy. Prof. Sewall's executive ability, coupled with his wide acquaintance with the Oriental languages and literature, raised his department into merited prominence. Beside Hebrew and Chaldee, he is said to have taught in a more private way Samaritan, Syriac, and Arabic. He died at Boston 23 July, 1804, at the age of 71.
Of the thirty pieces in the volume entitled "Pietas et Gratulatio," referred to above under Deane, Professor Sewall is said to have contributed seven or eight, four in Latin, two in Greek, and either one or two in English. He was also the author of a Latin oration on President Holyoke, an English one on Professor Winthrop, and several other pamphlets. At the request of the College he prepared a Hebrew grammar to replace that previously in
