Person Page - 202

     John Emerson was born on 5 November 1829 in Reading, Windsor County, Vermont.^1,2 He was the son of Lester Emerson and Olive Wood.¹ John Emerson died in 1896.¹

     Rev. John Emerson was born on 25 November 1745 in Malden, Massachusetts.^1,2 He was the son of Rev. Joseph Emerson and Mary Moody.³ Rev. John Emerson graduated in 1764 from Harvard.¹ He was ordained on 21 December 1769 at Conway as the first minister, where he lived until his death.⁴ He married Sabra Cobb. Rev. John Emerson died on 26 June 1826 in Conway, Massachusetts, at the age of 80.⁴

     Rev. John Emerson was born on 27 February 1706/7 in Charlestown.¹ He was the son of Deacon Edward Emerson and Rebecca Waldo.¹ Rev. John Emerson graduated in 1726 from Harvard.¹ Between 1728 and 1774 Rev. John Emerson was living in Topsfield.¹ He was ordained on 27 November 1728 at Topsfield.¹ He died on 11 July 1774 in Topsfield at the age of 67.¹

     Rev. John Emerson was born on 26 February 1625 in Bishop's Stortford ?, England.¹ He was the son of Thomas Emerson and Elizabeth Brewster.¹ Rev. John Emerson graduated in 1656 from Harvard.¹ Between 1661 and 1700 Rev. John Emerson was living in Gloucester.¹ He was ordained on 6 October 1663 at Gloucester.¹ He was appointed in 1690, Chaplain for the Canadian campaign.¹ He died on 2 December 1700 in Gloucester at the age of 75.¹

     Joseph Emerson was born on 13 September 1731. He was the son of Edward Emerson and Hannah Beale.¹

     Rev. Joseph Emerson was born on 20 April 1700 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts.² He was the son of Deacon Edward Emerson and Rebecca Waldo.³ Rev. Joseph Emerson was ordained on 31 October 1721 at Malden.⁴ He married Mary Moody, daughter of Rev. Samuel Moody and Hannah Sewall, on 27 December 1721 in York, Maine. Rev. Joseph Emerson made a will on 12 January 1762 which was proved 1 September 1767. He died on 13 July 1767 in Malden, Massachusetts, at the age of 67.^5,6

     Rev. Joseph Emerson was born on 25 August 1724 in Malden, Massachusetts.^1,2,3 He was the son of Rev. Joseph Emerson and Mary Moody.⁴ Rev. Joseph Emerson graduated in 1743 from Harvard.¹ He was ordained on 25 February 1746/47 at Pepperell where he lived until his death.² He died on 29 October 1775 in Pepperell at the age of 51 he had been appointed Chaplain to the troops at Cambridge in the Revolution.²

     Rev. Joseph Emerson was baptised on 25 June 1620 at Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England.² He was the son of Thomas Emerson and Elizabeth Brewster.^1,3 Between 1664 and 1666 Rev. Joseph Emerson was living in Wells, Maine.² He married Elizabeth Bulkeley, daughter of Rev. Edward Bulkeley and Lucian (Unknown), on 7 December 1665 in Concord, Massachusetts.^1,4 Between 1666 and 1669 Rev. Joseph Emerson was living in Milton He was dismissed on 9 August of that year.² Between 1669 and 1675 Rev. Joseph Emerson was living in Mendon, Massachusetts, where he was the first minister, having been ordained there on 1 December.⁵ He died on 3 January 1679/80 in Concord, Massachusetts, at the age of 59 where he had retired at the outbreak of King Philip's War.²

     Joseph Wood Emerson was born on 5 March 1827 in Hartford, Windsor County, Vermont.² He was the son of Lester Emerson and Olive Wood.¹ Joseph Wood Emerson died on 17 June 1915 in Mantorville, Dodge County, Minnesota, at the age of 88.³

     Dr. Kendall Emerson was born on 1 March 1907 in Massachusetts.^1,2 He was the son of Dr. Benjamin Kendall Emerson and Josephine Devereux Sewall.¹ Dr. Kendall Emerson died on 20 April 1993 in Brookline, Massachusetts, at the age of 86.²

     Lester Emerson was born on 2 July 1796 in Reading, Windsor County, Vermont.^1,2 He married Olive Wood, daughter of Capt. Joseph Wood Jr. and Sarah Gerrish.¹ Lester Emerson died in 1886.¹

     Lucy Buckminister Emerson was born on 19 June 1827.² She was the daughter of George Barrell Emerson and Olivia Buckminister. Lucy Buckminister Emerson married Judge John Lowell, son of Hon. John Amory Lowell and Susan Cabot Lowell, on 18 May 1853 in King's Chapel, Boston, Massachusetts.²

     Marion E. Emerson was born on 22 December 1904 in Lebanon, Grafton County, New Hampshire.^1,2 She was the daughter of Edward L. Emerson and Nellie Gee.¹

     Martin L. Emerson was born circa 1840.¹

     Mary Moody Emerson was born on 8 October 1726 in Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.² She was the daughter of Rev. Joseph Emerson and Mary Moody.¹ Mary Moody Emerson married Rev. Daniel Little on 5 December 1751 in Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.^3,4 Mary Moody Emerson died on 2 June 1758 at the age of 31.²

     Mary Moody Emerson was born on 25 August 1774 in Concord, Massachusetts.¹ She was the daughter of Rev. William Emerson and Phoebe Bliss.² Mary Moody Emerson died on 1 May 1863 in Waterford, Maine, at the age of 88.¹

     Nellie Blanche Emerson married Harlie Parker.¹ Nellie Blanche Emerson was born on 29 March 1884 in Lebanon, Grafton County, New Hampshire.^1,2 She was the daughter of Charles Hart Emerson and Melinda Elizabeth Stearns.¹ Nellie Blanche Emerson died on 31 January 1968 in Barre, Washington, Vermont, at the age of 83 or Chelsea, Orange County, Vermont.^1,3,4

     Olivia Maria Emerson was born on 27 January 1803 in Kennebunk, Maine.² She married Sheppard Haines Norris, son of Thomas Norris, on 5 March 1835.¹ Olivia Maria Emerson died on 15 April 1894 at the age of 91.³

     Peter Emerson was born in 1673.¹ He was the son of Rev. Joseph Emerson and Elizabeth Bulkeley.¹ Peter Emerson married Anna Brown in 1696.¹ Peter Emerson died in 1749.¹

     Ralph Waldo Emerson. philosopher and poet. He was born on 25 May 1803 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the son of Rev. William Emerson and Ruth Haskins.¹ Ralph Waldo Emerson married firstly Ellen Louisa Tucker, daughter of Beza Tucker and Margaret F. Kent, in September 1829.² Ralph Waldo Emerson married secondly Lidian Jackson, daughter of Charles Jackson and Lucy Cotton, in September 1835.² Ralph Waldo Emerson died on 27 April 1882 in Concord, Massachusetts, at the age of 78.^3,2 He received his primary instruction at home from his mother and from his aunt, Miss Mary Moody Emerson, a woman of remarkable scholarship and literary ability. He entered the public grammar school at the age of eight and soon after was received into the Latin school. During his childhood he was fond of writing verses and at the age of eleven produced an excellent poetic version of a part of the fifth bucolic of Virgil. He entered Harvard in his fourteenth year, and during his college course excelled especially in Greek, history, declamation and composition, winning several prizes in the last two subjects. He was class poet on class day in 1821 and had one of the twenty-nine parts on commencement day. His mother had removed to Cambridge in his sophomore year, and his brother William, who had graduated from Harvard in 1818, opened a preparatory school in their home, where he was assisted by Waldo. In 1821 William opened a school for young ladies on Federal street, Boston, and Waldo again became his assistant. In 1823 he began the study of theology, attending many of the lectures at Harvard divinity school, but not pursuing the regular course. He accepted the theology of Channing, under whose direction he studied, and in 1826 was approbated to preach by the Middlesex association of ministers, but his health failing he was obliged to spend the following winter in the south. He returned in the spring of 1827 and supplied for brief periods various pulpits until Jan. 11, 1829, when he was invited to become the colleague of the Rev. Henry Ware, Jr., pastor of the Second church (Unitarian) in Boston. He was ordained March 11, and almost immediately Mr. Ware was forced to go to Europe for the benefit of his health. After eighteen months' absence Mr. Ware returned only to resign his pastorate, and Mr. Emerson succeeded to the pulpit. He was interested in all public affairs, serving on the school committee and as chaplain of the state senate. His church was open to all reformers, and in 1831 and 1832 several anti-slavery agitators spoke from his pulpit. In September, 1829, he was married to Ellen Louisa Tucker, who died in February, 1832. In September, 1832; he resigned his position as a minister in the Unitarian church after announcing to the society his conscientious scruples against administering the communion as provided in the offices of the church. Soon after this his health failed and he was obliged to seek a change of climate and in the spring of 1833 he sailed for Europe, visiting Sicily, Italy, France and England. He visited Waiter Savage Landor in Italy, and Coleridge, Wordsworth and Carlyle in England. From this time dated his life-long friendship with Carlyle. He preached in London and elsewhere and on his return to Boston several months later his health was fully restored. During the winter of 1833-34 he delivered lectures in Boston upon the subjects: "Water," "The Relation of Man to the Globe," and "Travels in Europe." Early in 1834 he was invited to become pastor of the Unitarian church in New Bedford, Mass., but his opinions regarding the communion service prevented his accepting. In the summer of 1834 he removed to Concord, Mass., and made his home in the "Old Manse" with the Rev. Dr. Ezra Ripley who in 1780 had married the widow of Emerson's grandfather, William Emerson. In February, 1835, he began a course of biographical lectures in Boston, choosing as his subjects Luther, Milton, Burke, Michael Angelo and George Fox. In August, 1835, he delivered before the American institute of instruction a lecture entitled "The Means of Inspiring a Taste for English Literature." In September, 1835, he was married to Lydia, daughter of Charles Jackson, sister of Dr. Charles Thomas Jackson, the discoverer of anæsthetics, and a descendant of the Rev. John Cotton. He continued to lecture in Boston during several successive winters: in 1835 on English literature; in 1836 on the Philosophy of History; and in 1837 on Human Culture. In 1838 he was called to the Unitarian church at East Lexington, but though he continued to preach there for several months he declined a formal settlement, saying, "My pulpit is the lyceum platform." His course of lectures in the winter of 1838-39 was on "The Resources of the Present Ages," and in 1839-40 on "Human Life." On June 15, 1838, he delivered the address before the graduating class of Harvard divinity school in which he made his first explicit statement of his faith. Much controversy was aroused, with the result that he was entirely separated from the Unitarians. Meanwhile the movement known as transcendentalism was forming in Boston and in 1839 an organization known as the Transcendental club was started by Dr. Channing, including among its members, Margaret Fuller, A. Bronson Alcott, George Ripley, Theodore Parker and William Henry Channing. In July, 1840, the organ of the club, a quarterly journal called The Dial was established under the editorship of Margaret Fuller, assisted by Emerson and George Ripley. In 1842 Emerson became sole editor of The Dial and remained as such until April, 1844, when its publication was discontinued. In 1841 the Brook Farm experiment was organized, and while Emerson did not sympathize fully with its purposes he made frequent visits to the farm, whose founders and leaders were among his intimate friends. In 1841 his first volume of essays was published and in the same year it was republished in England. These essays won for him a wide reputation as a philosopher, especially in England, and his second series published in 1844 was received with enthusiasm. In October, 1847, he lectured before a series of mechanics' institutes in England. He gave in many places a course of lectures on "Representative Men," and in London delivered before the Portman Square literary and scientific institution a special course on "The Mind and Manners of the Nineteenth Century." He also lectured in Scotland where the halls were always crowded. At his lecture on Montaigne in London his hearers numbered a thousand. During this visit he met personally all the principal men of letters in England, visiting Carlyle at his home and being also a guest of Wordsworth and of Harriet Martineau. On his return to America he lectured on the characteristics of the English people. In November, 1857, The Atlantic Monthly was established in Boston and Emerson contributed to its columns, in all twenty-eight articles in prose and verse. At about the same time a literary organization known as the Saturday club was formed, of which Emerson was a member from the first, and which included Longfellow, Agassiz, Hawthorne, Motley, Dana, Lowell, Sumner, John A. Andrew and others. Though his books were still persistently condemned by many critics the circle of his admirers rapidly widened, and two days after the publication of "The Conduct of Life" (1860), twenty-five thousand copies were sold. At this time the subject of slavery was under warm discussion. From the outset of Emerson's career he had openly advocated its abolition and now on the eve of civil war he made vigorous use of his tongue and pen in that direction. In January, 1861, he took a prominent part in the annual meeting of the Massachusetts anti-slavery society, and in February, 1862, gave an anti-slavery lecture in the Smithsonian institution building in Washington, his subject being "American Civilization." President Lincoln and his cabinet were among the listeners, and on the following day Lincoln requested an introduction to the lecturer and they had a long conference on the subject of slavery. He continued to lecture frequently on abolition and other subjects throughout the war and always to large audiences. In 1866 he lectured on "Philosophy for the People," and in 1868, 1869 and 1870 he delivered a series of lectures at Harvard on "The Natural History of the Intellect." In July, 1872, a fire in his house destroyed many valuable papers including his father's sermons. Through the dampness and exposure incidental to this accident Mr. Emerson contracted a severe cold and received a shock to his system from which he never quite recovered. His friends by unsolicited contribution raised a sum more than sufficient to rebuild his house which was finished in May, 1873, Emerson meanwhile making his home in the "Old Manse." In 1874 he received the nomination of the independent party among the students of Glasgow university for the office of Lord Rector, and received five hundred votes against seven hundred for Disraeli, who was elected. On April 19, 1875, the one hundredth anniversary of the Concord fight was observed, and Daniel C. French's statue of the minute man was unveiled, Emerson delivering the address. This was the last address he ever wrote. In 1879 he lectured on "Memory" before the Concord school of philosophy, and in 1880 gave his one hundredth lecture before the Concord Lyceum on "New England Life and Letters." Though his mind remained clear he suffered greatly from loss of memory, from the time of the burning of his house. In 1878 he retired gradually into literary inactivity, writing little or nothing, but reading occasional papers from old manuscripts up to the year before his death. He was an overseer of Harvard college, 1867-79; a fellow of the American academy of arts and sciences, a member of the American philosophical society and of the Massachusetts historical society. Harvard conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D. in 1866. His published books are: Essays, First Series (1841); Essays, Second Series (1844); Poems (1846); Representative Men (1850); Memoir of Margaret Fuller Ossoli (with William Henry Channing and James Freeman Clarke) (1852); English Traits (1856); The Conduct of Life (1860); May Day and other Pieces (1867); Society and Solitude (1870); Parnassus (1874); Letters and Social Aims (1874); Lectures and Biographical Sketches (1884); and Miscellanies (1884). His name was placed in the Hall of Fame, New York University, October, 1900. See his life by Oliver Wendell Holmes (1885) and Emerson in Concord (1888) by his son, Edward Waldo.⁴

     Ralph Waldo Emerson was born circa 1867 in Island Falls, Maine.² He was the son of Martin L. Emerson.² Ralph Waldo Emerson married Pauline Wentworth Dow, daughter of Oliver Smith Dow and Pauline Wentworth Sewall, on 23 March 1890.^1,3

     Rebecca Emerson was born on 7 August 1738 in Malden, Massachusetts.¹ She was the daughter of Rev. Joseph Emerson and Mary Moody.¹ Rebecca Emerson married Jacob Parker on 13 February 1777 in Malden, Massachusetts.² Rebecca Emerson married Deacon Benjamin Brintnall circa 1779. Rebecca Emerson married Samuel Waite on 24 April 1809 in Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.² Rebecca Emerson died on 21 July 1816 at the age of 77.¹

     Rufus Emerson was born in 1832 in Vermont.¹ He was the son of Lester Emerson and Olive Wood.¹

     Ruth Emerson was born on 19 January 1741 in Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.¹ She was the daughter of Rev. Joseph Emerson and Mary Moody.¹ Ruth Emerson married firstly Capt. Nathan Sargent on 4 February 1779 in Malden, Massachusetts.² Ruth Emerson married secondly Samuel Waite on 14 January 1802 in Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.^2,3 Ruth Emerson died on 21 July 1808 in Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, at the age of 67^1,4 and is buried in Bell Rock Cemetery, Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.⁵

     Samuel Emerson was born on 7 July 1730 in Malden, Massachusetts.¹ He was the son of Rev. Joseph Emerson and Mary Moody.¹ Samuel Emerson died on 3 February 1775 at the age of 44.¹

     Sarah Emerson was born circa 1839 in Vermont.¹ She was the daughter of Lester Emerson and Olive Wood.²

     Rev. Sewall Emerson was born on 13 October 1904 in Massachusetts. He was the son of Dr. Benjamin Kendall Emerson and Josephine Devereux Sewall.¹ Rev. Sewall Emerson graduated in 1926 from Yale College and in 1930 from Cambridge University. He died on 22 September 1988 in Marblehead, Massachusetts, at the age of 83.²

     Sophronia Emerson was born in 1843 in Vermont.¹ She was the daughter of Lester Emerson and Olive Wood.¹ Sophronia Emerson married Joseph Leavitt?¹

     Susanna Emerson was born on 23 July 1762 in Methuen ?, Massachusetts.² She was the daughter of William Emerson and Abigail Pattee.² Susanna Emerson married Caleb Greenleaf, son of Timothy Greenleaf and Susanna Greenleaf, on 13 December 1785.² Susanna Emerson died on 29 March 1835 at the age of 72.²

     Thomas Emerson was baptised on 26 July 1584 at Bishop's Stortford.² He married Elizabeth Brewster. Thomas Emerson came circa 1635 to America from Ipswich, England.¹ He died on 1 May 1666 in Ipswich, Massachusetts, at the age of 81.²