The Biographical Dictionary of America/Appleton, Samuel

APPLETON, Samuel, philanthropist, was born at New Ipswich. N. H., June 22, 1766, son of Isaac and Mary (Adams) Appleton. As one of the twelve children of a farmer not over well-to-do, he was compelled to begin work at an early age, and had little opportunity for education. But so well did he employ his leisure moments, that at the age of seventeen he taught the village school. When twenty years of age he set out for Maine, where, in the woods, two miles from any dwelling, he cleared some land and built a hut. He carried all his implements and provisions to his cabin on his back over a road that he had blazed out for himself. Here for two years he lived alone. The logs he cut in Maine woods brought him money enough to open a store in New Ipswich, and he prospered so well that in 1794 he removed to Boston, where he engaged in the importing business. In 1813, in connection with his brother Nathan, Francis C. Lowell, Patrick T. Jackson, Paul Moody and others, he established cotton mills at Waltham and Pawtucket Falls. In 1823 he retired from business, and thenceforth devoted his entire income to benevolent uses. At his death nearly one-half of his great estate, over two hundred thousand dollars, was bequeathed to different charitable objects. He died in Boston July 12, 1853.