1821. The city of Boston incorporated. Elias Boudinot died, in the 82d year of his age;1 Samuel Worcester died at Brainerd.2 1822. THE city of Boston was incorporated, and the Hon. John Phillips was elected the first mayor. The first of May being appointed by the charter as the day for the commencement of the municipal year, the ceremonies of inducting the mayor and other officers into their new offices were attended at Faneuil Hall. After an introductory prayer by the Rev. Dr. Baldwin, senior minister of the metropolis, chief justice Parker administered the oaths of allegiance and office to the mayor elect, who administered similar oaths to the aldermen and members of the common council. The chairman of the Selectmen then rose, and, after an appropriate address, delivered to the mayor the city Charter, contained in a superb silver case, and the ancient 1 Elias Boudinot, LL.D. was born in Philadelphia in 1740. He was a descendant of one of the Protestants, who, at the revocation of the edict of Nantes, fled from France to America. After receiving a classical education, be engaged in the study of law under the direction of the Hon. Richard Stockton of Princeton, and soon after his admission to the bar in New Jersey, became very eminent in his profession. In 1777 he was chosen a member of congress, and in 1792, its president. In 1789 he was again elected to a seat in the house of representatives of the United States, which he continued to occupy for six years. On quitting that station, he was appointed by president Washington Director of the National Mint, in which office he remained 12 or 14 years, performing its duties with such ability and fidelity, as commanded universal confidence. Resigning his office, he withdrew to private life, and resided at Burlington, where he passed his time in literary pursuits, liberal hospitality, and active attention to the best interests of his country and of the church of Christ, for which he was ever distinguished." In early life he united himself in full communion with the Christian church, and uniformly continued a zealous and exemplary professor of religion. Beside liberal donations to literary and religious objects during his life, he left large bequests to them at his death. Such donations, or bequests, he made to the College of New Jersey, of which he was long an active and useful trustee; to the Theological Seminary in Princeton; to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and to various Societies for propagating the Gospel at home and abroad, ainong Jews and Gentiles; and particularly to the American Bible Society, of which he may be considered as the father. Of this Society he was the first president, and continued to be its president until his death. 2 The Rev. Dr. Worcester was born at Hollis, New Hampshire, and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1795. He was ordained pastor of the church in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, in 1797; dismissed in 1802; and in 1803 installed pastor of a church in Salem, where he continued until his death. He was respectable for talents and learning, estimable for the Christian virtues, and exemplary for piety. He was a very early and zealous promoter of the missions from New England to the heathen; was the first Secretary of the Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and continued in the office through life; and he devoted much of his attention to the business of the Society from the time of its organization. In 1820 he took a journey to the South, to improve his health, and visit the missionary stations among the Indians; and on the 7th of January, 1821, died at Brainerd, in the country of the Cherokees. act incorporating the town nearly two centuries before, together 1822. with all the books of records, title deeds, and documents belonging to the inhabitants. The mayor, in his address, gave ample testimony of the wisdom of the institutions which our ancestors established for the management of their municipal concerns; to the intelligence and experience of the citizens of Boston, who had for a long period meditated a change, and their influence to effect it; and to the ability, diligence, and integrity of the boards of Selectmen, justly denominated the fathers of the town. His concluding observations were illustrative of the city charter, and conciliatory, indicating those traits in his own public and private character," which endeared him to men of all parties." Referring to the difference of opinion upon the merits of the charter, he said, "While the love of order, benevolent affections and Christian piety, distinguish as they have done the inhabitants of this city, they may enjoy the highest blessings under a charter which has so few imperfections, as that which the wisdom of our Legislature has sanctioned."1 William Duvall of Kentucky, recently judge of the United Governor of States court in East Florida, was appointed by the president, Florida. with the consent of the senate, to be governor of the territory of Florida. The government of the United States erected a light house Genesee. for the harbour of Genesee. A conspiracy of negroes in Charleston, South Carolina, was Negro condiscovered in June, and, on trial, 72 were convicted, 35 of whom spiracy. were executed, and 37 sentenced to banishment. The legislature of Mississippi passed an act to establish a Education. literary fund for the encourageinent and support of education. A Professorship of Didactic Theology was founded in Yale Col- Theology. lege. The Mercantile Library in Philadelphia was formed, and the College of Pharmacy and Museum in that city, incorpo- Literature. rated.-President Adams gave into immediate possession to his native town Quincy, nearly 200 acres of land; the whole proceeds to be applied to religious and literary purposes from generation to generation. He also gave to the town his whole library, consisting of highly valuable books, in various languages. -The Rhode Island Historical Society was instituted.—A brick building, 4 stories high, 120 feet in length, 40 in breadth, and 1 The device of the seal of the Corporation is, a view of the city as seen from the harbour and South Boston. The motto is, "Sicut Patribus, sit Deus Nobiscum;" the inscription," BOSTONIA, condita, A. D. 1630. Formam municip. Civitatis accepit, A. D. 1822." 2 In 1802 a Professorship of Languages and Ecclesiastical History was founded in Yale College, now called the Professorship of the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew Languages. A Professorship of Sacred Literature was founded in that Seminary in 1827. 1822. containing 48 rooms, was erected at Providence, Rhode Island, at the expense of Nicholas Brown, and presented by him to the corporation of Brown University. Steam boats sissippi. Arkansas. In 9 years since the enrollment and license of the first steam on the Mis- boat employed in trade on the Mississippi, there were 89 boats enrolled at the port of New Orleans, forming, in the aggregate, a tonnage exceeding 18,000 tons.-The Arkansas river had already been several times ascended by a steam boat more than 500 miles from the Mississippi.-In Alabama there were now printed 11 newspsapers.-The Roanoke Canal was completed to the basin at Rock Landing. Alabama. Roanoke Canal. Waltham manufactory. Missions. At the manufactory in Waltham, Massachusetts, 35,000 yards of cloth were manufactured in a week, or 1,820,000 yards in a year.1 A mission was instituted at Cataraugus by the United Foreign Missionary Society. The Indians here were chiefly of the Seneca tribes. Missionary stations at Tuscarora and Seneca, instituted many years before by the New York Missionary Society, had been recently transferred to this Society.—The MasSlave trade. sachusetts Society for the Suppression of the Slave Trade was instituted. Cadets. Connecticut Laws. Publication. Of the cadets who were graduated at the United States Military Academy at West Point, from June 1802 to July 1822, there were now 195 in the military service, and 3 in the civil service; 9 had been killed in battle, 24 bad died in the service; 93 had resigned or were disbanded; total 324. The laws of Connecticut were revised and published. "The recent revision of the statutes of this state," said governor Wolcott, "has brought us to the commencement of a new and interesting era. We now see concentrated in a single volume, the results of the wise legislation of two centuries, embracing the municipal regulations which govern the conduct of a civilized community, where agriculture, commerce, arts and science have attained that proficiency, which is most favourable to the developement and maturity of each. Though to inexperienced eyes, this code may appear as a new work, produced by some great change in our social system, yet to more accurate observers it will be apparent, that it embraces the most ancient regulations of the founders of New England."2 The American edition of Rees's Cyclopædia, revised, corrected, enlarged, and adapted to this country, was completed 1 The number of workmen employed at this manufactory was about 500, nearly all of whom were Americans. The cloth for shirting and sheeting was gaining credit in every part of the Union. 2 Governor Wolcott's Message, May Session, 1822. at Philadelphia in 41 volumes, with 6 additional volumes of 1822. plates.1 William Pinkney died at Washington, in the 57th year of his Deaths. age; William Dandridge Peck, aged 59;3 Levi Frisbie, aged 38;4 Alexander Metcalf Fisher, aged 28 years; 5 and John 1 It contains 147 highly finished engravings; and was the boldest attempt in the way of publication, ever made in the United States. 2 William Pinkney, LL.D. was born at Annapolis, in Maryland, in 1765. He prepared himself for the bar under the instruction of judge Chase, and was admitted to practise in 1786. He was a member of the convention of Maryland, which ratified the federal constitution. After sustaining various high offices in the state and nation, he was appointed in 1806 envoy extraordinary to London; and on the return of Mr. Monroe in 1808, minister plenipotentiary. In 1811 he was appointed attorney general of the United States, and sustained the office with high reputation until 1814, when he resigned it. In 1816 he was appointed minister plenipotentiary to Russia, and envoy to Naples; and after his return, in 1819, was appointed one of the senators of Maryland in congress, in which station he continued until his death. "He possessed splendid talents, and was one of the most accomplished orators and statesmen of his time." Lempriere. 3 Obituary Notice of Professor Peck in 2 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. x. 161-170. Mr. Peck was graduated at Cambridge in 1782. For nearly twenty years his mind was assiduously and intently devoted to the pursuits to which his genius and taste inclined him. On the establishment of a Professorship of Natural History at Cambridge, he was elected by the subscribers the first professor; and he continued in the office until his death. "In zoology, ornithology, and icthyology, his knowledge was more extensive than that of any other individual in this part of the United States, and perhaps in the nation." In accordance with the wish of the Board of Visitors, he went to Europe, and visited the most eminent scientific establishments. He was absent three years, and made his longest stay in Sweden, the birth place of Linnæus. During his absence, he collected a valuable library of books connected with the subjects of his professorship, and which belong to the foundation, together with many exquisite preservations of natural subjects, and rare specimens of art. "He was intimately conversant with the productions of divine power and wisdom in the external creation. He was accustomed to see God in his works. He lived and died in a sense of his being and presence, and the hope of his favour." 4 Professor Frisbie was the son of the Rev. Mr. Frisbie, a very worthy and respectable minister of Ipswich, Massachusetts. He was born in 1784, and educated at Harvard College. In 1805 he was chosen Latin tutor in that seminary, and he continued in the tutorship until 1811, when he was appointed professor of the Latin language. The duties of this professorship, by his classical attainments and his long experience in the department, he was eminently qualified to perform with facility and accuracy; and he continued to discharge them until 1817, when he was inaugurated Professor of Moral Philosophy. Several of his ingenious and elegant compositions in prose and verse, with extracts from the manuscript notes of his Lectures, were published after his death, in a "Collection of the miscellaneous writings of Professor Frisbie ; with some notices of his Life and Character," by Professor Norton. 5 Professor Fisher was born in Franklin, Massachusetts, in 1794, graduated at Yale College in 1813, and in 1815 was appointed a tutor in that seminary. In 1817 he was elected adjunct professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, and in 1819 entered upon the entire duties of his office. During the short period of his professorial life, he prepared a full course of lectures in Natural Philosophy, with theoretical and practical experiments, which for copiousness, clearness, and exact adaptation to the purposes of instruction, equalled the highest expectations of his friends. After having once delivered the course, he undertook a voyage to Europe to improve himself in his professional studies, and on the 22d of April, this year, perished in the wreck of the 1822. Stark, at Manchester, New Hampshire, in the 94th year of his age1. New consti- Rochester. 1823. THE new constitution of the state of New York, made the last year, went into operation on the 1st of January. The first general election under this constitution was in the preceding November. In ten days preceding the 6th of May, 10,000 barrels of flour were shipped at the village of Rochester, on the Erie Canal, for Albany and New York. The completion of the canal aqueduct across the Genesee river was celebrated by the passage of boats, escorted by the military companies, societies, and citizens of the village. The sixth house for public worship, a Roman Catholic Canal navi- chapel, was built in Rochester.2-On the 1st of October the gation. whole line of the Canal between Albany and Schenectady was prepared for the reception of water. On that part of the line there were two stupendous aqueducts, and 29 locks between Albany and Schenectady. On the 8th of the month, the first packet Albion, on the coast of Ireland, where, with a single exception, all the passengers were lost in the waves. Professor Fisher early discovered very uncommon talents for the acquisition and communication of knowledge, and excited high expectations of his usefulness and distinction. As an officer of college, he was regarded as "a model of integrity and faithfulness. The peculiar traits of his character were the amiable, the modest, the refined; and to these qualities was united a deep sense of religious obligation. Several of his scientific papers were inserted in Professor Silliman's Journal of Science and the Arts. He sent an account of his Observations on the Comet of 1819, and calculation of its orbit, to Dr. Bowditch of Salem, who communicated it to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and it is inserted, with an article of Dr. Bowditch's on the subject, in the 4th volume of the Memoirs of the Academy. Lempriere. Professor Kingsley's Eulogy on Professor Fisher. 1 Memoir of general Stark, in Farmer and Moore's Hist. Collections for 1822. N. Hampshire Gazetteer, Art. MANCHESTER. General Stark was born at Londonderry, New Hampshire, in 1728. As early as the year 1752 he was taken prisoner by the Indians, while hunting near Baker's river, in Rumney. In the subsequent French and Indian war, in which he had the command of a con.pany of rangers, he was distinguished for his bravery. In the war of the revolution he was among the most conspicuous for his valour and success. In 1773 he was appointed a colonel of one of the three regiments raised in New Hampshire, and was at the battle of Bunker Hill. At the battle of Trenton, in 1776, he commanded the right wing of the advanced guard, and led the van of the attack. He defeated colonels Baum and Breyman at the battle of Bennington, in 1777. For this victory he received the thanks of congress, and was appointed brigadier general in the army of the United States; and, before his death, was the only surviving American general officer of the revolution. 2 Account of Rochester, 1827. The first canal boat left the village for Little Falls, laden with flour, in 1822. The second house for public worship was built in the village by Episcopalians in 1820. A paper mill had been built there, and the second weekly newspaper, entitled The Rochester Telegraph,' established, in 1818; and a second bridge built across the Genesee river in the village, in 1819. |