BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON

“NARRATIVE HISTORY” AMOUNTS TO FABULATION, THE REAL STUFF BEING MERE CHRONOLOGY

Benjamin Dudley Emerson “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON

HDT WHAT? INDEX

April 4, Wednesday or April 20, Friday (various genealogical sources disagree): Benjamin Dudley Emerson was born in Hampstead, New Hampshire, a son of Colonel Benjamin Emerson and Ruth Tucker Emerson.1

NOBODY COULD GUESS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT

1781

1. Colonel Benjamin Emerson, born in Hampstead, New Hampshire on April 2, 1740, a son of Benjamin Emerson and Hannah Watts Emerson, got married with Mary Tucker, and the two of them were together admitted to the church on May 5, 1799. He was owner of a mill, and resided where the late Dr. J.C. Eastman resided. He died on April 21, 1811, and the body was placed in the Hampstead village cemetery. Mary Tucker had been born in Kingston, New Hampshire on May 5, 1750, daughter of Jacob Tucker and Lydia Lunt Tucker. Having been admitted to the church upon her marriage on May 5, 1799, just after the death of her husband she was admitted to “full communion” in that church as a widow, on September 1, 1811. The couple produced six children, 1st Hannah Emerson on November 4, 1771, 2d Ruth Emerson on September 14, 1775, 3d Maria Emerson on October 5, 1777, 4th Benjamin Dudley Emerson on April 4 or April 20, 1781, 5th Abner Emerson on March 20, 1775 (he would graduate from Dartmouth College in 1805, become a teacher, and die in Somerville, Massachusetts on December 12, 1836), and 6th Frederick Emerson on November 28, 1789 (he would be the author of the North American arithmetics and spelling books, and a teacher many years in Boston public schools).

BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON

HDT WHAT? INDEX

November 28, Saturday: Frederick Emerson was born, 6th and final child of Colonel Benjamin Emerson and Hannah Watts Emerson in Hampstead, New Hampshire.2

LIFE IS LIVED FORWARD BUT UNDERSTOOD BACKWARD?— NO, THAT’S GIVING TOO MUCH TO THE HISTORIAN’S STORIES.

LIFE ISN’T TO BE UNDERSTOOD EITHER FORWARD OR BACKWARD.

1789

2. Colonel Benjamin Emerson, born in Hampstead, New Hampshire on April 2, 1740, a son of Benjamin Emerson and Hannah Watts Emerson, got married with Mary Tucker, and the two of them were together admitted to the church on May 5, 1799. He was owner of a mill, and resided where the late Dr. J.C. Eastman resided. He died on April 21, 1811, and the body was placed in the Hampstead village cemetery. Mary Tucker had been born in Kingston, New Hampshire on May 5, 1750, daughter of Jacob Tucker and Lydia Lunt Tucker. Having been admitted to the church upon her marriage on May 5, 1799, just after the death of her husband she was admitted to “full communion” in that church as a widow, on September 1, 1811. The couple produced six children, 1st Hannah Emerson on November 4, 1771, 2d Ruth Emerson on September 14, 1775, 3d Maria Emerson on October 5, 1777, 4th Benjamin Dudley Emerson on April 4 or April 20, 1781, 5th Abner Emerson on March 20, 1775 (he would graduate from Dartmouth College in 1805, become a teacher, and die in Somerville, Massachusetts on December 12, 1836), and 6th Frederick Emerson on November 28, 1789 (he would be the author of the North American arithmetics and spelling books, and a teacher many years in Boston public schools such as the Boylston School).

BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON

HDT WHAT? INDEX

May 5: At the age of 18, Benjamin Dudley Emerson was provisionally admitted to the church congregation at Hampstead, New Hampshire “without the indulgence of communing at the Lord’s table until he could more clearly ascertain his fitness for that ordinance.”

DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION? GOOD.

1799

Benjamin Dudley Emerson “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON

HDT WHAT? INDEX

Benjamin Dudley Emerson and his brother Abner Emerson graduated from Dartmouth College. Benjamin would teach for many years in Newburyport, Massachusetts and Boston. Abner would teach in Somerville, Massachusetts but die at a relatively earlier age.3

Henry Root Colman graduated from Dartmouth College.

George Ticknor entered the Junior Class at Dartmouth College.

THE FUTURE IS MOST READILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT

1805

3. I am unable to uncover evidence that the math whiz of the family, Frederick Emerson, attended college (which may or may not mean that he did not attend, taking into account the collateral fact that I am also unable to uncover evidence as to when and where he died and am, nevertheless, convinced that he has indeed died).

BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON

HDT WHAT? INDEX

By this point Benjamin Dudley Emerson had become a member in full communion in his church at Hampstead, New Hampshire, allowed to participate with the others in the ceremony of the Lord’s Supper.

CHANGE IS ETERNITY, STASIS A FIGMENT

1830

Benjamin Dudley Emerson “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON

HDT WHAT? INDEX

Frederick Emerson’s THE NORTH AMERICAN ARITHMETIC. PART FIRST, CONTAINING ELEMENTARY LESSONS (Concord, New Hampshire: Marsh, Capen & Lyon; Boston: Lincoln and Edmands).4

1832

ARITHMETIC, PART FIRST

BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON

HDT WHAT? INDEX

January: Frederick Emerson’s THE NORTH AMERICAN ARITHMETIC. PART SECOND, UNITING ORAL AND WRITTEN EXERCISES (Concord, New Hampshire: Marsh, Capen & Lyon; Boston: Lincoln and Edmands)

4. A copy of this year’s edition of this often-printed school textbook would be in the personal library of Henry Thoreau, along with a copy of the 1845 edition of the corresponding KEY TO THE NORTH AMERICAN ARITHMETIC, PART SECOND AND PART THIRD. FOR THE USE OF TEACHERS.

ARITHMETIC, PART SECOND

BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON

HDT WHAT? INDEX

BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON

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The 1st free public library in the United States was established, at Peterborough, New Hampshire.

The 1st of the “Bridgewater Treatises on the Power Wisdom and Goodness of God as Manifested in the Adaptation of External Nature to the Moral and Intellectual Constitution of Man,” the Reverend Thomas Chalmers, D.D.’s ON THE ADAPTATION OF EXTERNAL NATURE TO THE MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL CONSTITUTION OF MAN.

Benjamin Dudley Emerson’s THE FIRST-CLASS READER: A SELECTION IN READING, FROM THE STANDARD BRITISH AND AMERICAN AUTHORS, IN PROSE AND VERSE. FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES. (Boston, Russell, Odiorne, and Metcalf: Philadelphia, Hogan & Thompson: New-York, N. & J. White: Mobile, Sidney Smith: Windsor, Vt.: Ide & Goddard).5

Suggestions to TeachersHumility and Perseverance. An Allegory - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - N.Y. MirrorManners of Scottish HighlandersThe Village Grave-Yard - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GreenwoodRural Life in England - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - IrvingFlowers - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HowittThe elevated Character of Woman - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CarterContemplation of the Starry Heavens - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ChalmersMountains - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HowittThe Ocean - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - DrummondThe Blind Teacher - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GriffinPhilip of Mount Hope - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Exeter News LetterComparison between the Turks and Persians - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - OlivierHerculaneum and Pompeii - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - KotzebtuWorks of the Coral Insects - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Universal ReviewThe Union of the States - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - D. WebsterWild Horses - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - T. FlintNational Recollections of the Foundation of National Character - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - E. EverettPassage of the Potomac through the Blue Ridge - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - JeffersonThe Emigrant’s Abode in Ohio - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - T. FlintMont Blanc in the Gleam of Sunset - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GriscomGreat Effects result from Little Causes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PorterMount Etna - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - London EncyclopædiaThe Ivy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - DrummondThe Pleasures of Religion - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - S. SmithSabbath Evening - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Knox

1833

5. A copy of this would be found in the personal library of Henry David Thoreau. Since it was printed in 1833, it could not be a leftover from his own childhood education in Concord, and since it is not college-level reading, it could not be from his period as a college student. It would therefore be –most likely– a text used at the school of the Thoreau brothers in Concord? I hesitate to think that because in looking at the nature of the extracts in this volume, I am appalled, considering a large part of the materials as inappropriate to offer to any who might be misled.

BRIDGEWATER TREATISES

THE FIRST-CLASS READER

BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON

HDT WHAT? INDEX

BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON

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Christmas in England - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - IrvingSports of New Year’s Day - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PauldingAnecdote of Sir Matthew Hale - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Anon.Scene from the Poor GentlemanTroth and Falsehood. An Allegory - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - JohnsonThe Escape - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Miss SedgwickEscape from a Panther - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CooperThe Dead Sea - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ScottReception of Columbus on his Return from Spain - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - IrvingExtract from the Lives of the Apostles - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GreenwoodThe Danger of a Military Spirit - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HopkinsonThe Mystery of Life - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - DeweyClose of Mr. Brougham’s Speech on the Reform BillRevolutionary Anecdote - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Anon.Heroism of a Physician - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mad. De GenlisStop a Moment - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Anon.Funeral at 8ea - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Anon.Imlac’s Description of a Poet - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - JohnsonThe Three Kingdoms of Nature - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BingleyReflections on the Moslem Dominion in Spain - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - IrvingSurrender of Grenada hy the Moors to Ferdinand and Isabella - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ibid.Early Recollections - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - New Monthly MagazineThe American in England - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - IrvingThe Poetry of Ossian - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HowittThe Pleasures of Science - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BroughamFemale Influence - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GannettAn Address to a Young Student - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - KnoxStudies of Nature - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MudieThe Love of our Country strengthened by the Observation of Nature - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ibid.Hannah Lamond - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WilsonFall and River of Niagara - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - T. FlintAurora BorealisAnecdote of Washington - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Anon.Story of Grant and Macpherson - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Anon.Adversity and Prosperity. An Allegory - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MooreMoral Effects of Intemperance - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WaylandAdams and Jefferson - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WirtCharacter of Martin Luther - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - RobertsonCharacter of Samuel Adams - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TudorPublic Faith - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - AmesChristian Benevolence - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ChalmersThe Unbeliever - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ibid.Recollections of Palestine - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - N.A. ReviewCharacter of Jesus contrasted with that of Mahomet - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WhiteValley of Jehoshaphat - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ChateaubriandA Scene nearly two Centuries ago on the Hudson - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - IrvingObjects of Reading - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Christian ExaminerHorrors of War - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ChalmersThe Effect of the Manners of the Athenians - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GilliesAccount of the Plague in London - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GaltRural Occupations favorable to Devotion - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BuckminsterDescription of the Speedwell Mine in England - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Silliman

BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON

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The Transport - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Anon.Reflections on the Return of Spring - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - AlisonInstability of Earthly Things - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HerveyAdvice to the Young - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ChanningImmortality the Reward of Virtue - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LindsayBring Flowers - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mrs. HemansThe Burial Place - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BryantThe Incarnation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MilmanRoar of the Sea - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WattSalmon River - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BrainardTime - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MardonThe Coral Insect - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mrs. SigourneyOpening of the Sixth Seal - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - T. Gray, Jun.To the Eagle - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PercivalPassage of the ned Sea - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HeberBelshazzar - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CrolyChrist in the Tempest - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WhittierSabbath Morning - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PinneyThe Knell of Time - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Anon.On Laying the Corner-Stone of the Monument of Mrs. Washington - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mrs. SigourneyThe Sunbeam - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mrs. HemanOde - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BirdA Hebrew Tale - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mrs. SigourneyWeep not for the Dead - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - B.B. ThatcherNight - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MontgomeryPoetry - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - PercivalThe Dying Boy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Anon.Sonnet - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BryantSailor’s Funeral - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mrs. SigourneyNew-England’s Dead - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mc LellanNapoleon Dying - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MacarthyHymn of the Moravian Nuns at the Consecration of Pulaski’s Banner - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LongfellowThe Child of Earth - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mrs. NortonOn visiting a Scene of Childhood - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Blackwood’s MagazineAutumn Woods - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BryantThe Rivulet - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ibid.The Evening Wind - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ibid.Autumn - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LongfellowScottish Public Worship - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GrahameTo the North Star - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Anon.Daybreak - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - DanaAlpine Flowers - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mrs. SigourneyIncomprehensibility of God - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Miss TownsendRuins of Babylon - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - HusenbethDarkness. A Dream - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ByronThe Philosopher’s Scales - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Miss J. TaylorA Mother’s Death - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CrabbeA Voice from the Wine Press - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Miss GouldTo-morrow - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CottonTime - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WhiteThe Storm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Anon.

Twilight - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Halleck

BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON BENJAMIN DUDLEY EMERSON

HDT WHAT? INDEX

To Tranquillity - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ColeridgeTo a Cloud - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BryantThe Vulture of the Alps - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Anon.The Arctic Dove - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BowlesThe Convict Ship - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hervey

Emerson would be giving his Hampstead hometown in New Hampshire beaucoup money (evidently out of the proceeds for the many, many bestselling school textbooks he would create over a lifetime) — and let me tell you, those hometown folks would just really really be admiring him and respecting him for that:

The man who publishes a book for common school usewields a mighty influence. The character of his bookoperates upon the mind when it is most susceptible ofbias. It is the duty of the people then to look into thecharacter of the instruments which aid in forming themost lasting impressions the youthful mind ever

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receives.I believe no other town has the honor of being thebirthplace of men whose school books have been souniversally approved and adopted. This fact, togetherwith the esteem with which we have always regarded them,must be my apology for alluding to what at first sightmight not seem strictly appropriate to the occasion.Our fathers had not the advantages which we enjoy. Thetown in 1750 contained but one district, and accordingto the terms of the vote the school was to be sustainedonly in the summer season. Its advantages could not,therefore. have been extensive. The great distance musthave excluded most of the smaller children, and theduties of the farm and the dairy in the busiest seasonof the year must have deprived many of the elderchildren from attending. The first attempts in otherparts of New England to establish schools were attendedby similar inconveniences, and produced only the samelimited advantages. But from this small germ has grownup around us our strongest bulwark of defense. It is thecause of our unexampled prosperity. In vain will bigotryand infidelity attempt to undermine our security whileour system of common schools is cherished as one of theefficient aids to religion and national prosperity. Thefoundation of all prosperity is in an enlightenedcommunity. An ignorant people, though inhabiting themost favored land on earth, soon sinks intoinsignificance.Our extended seacoast invites the merchant to traversethe ocean for trade with every clime. Our fertilevalleys have given employment to the agriculturist. Ournumerous waterfalls have attracted the enterprisingmanufacturer. “Cities spring up like exhalations underthe magic touch of his wand, and the hum of machineryarises out of the midst of a thrifty, industrious andhappy people.” The majestic plains and rivers of thewest have collected adventurers from every part of theworld. Our country exhibits to other nations theunexampled rise and prosperity of a free, self-governedand educated people. The common school system has beenone of the most effective means in producing these magicchanges. Its benefits and its inevitable results arearguments which come directly home to the hearts andunderstandings of a great body of people. To theforesight and wisdom of the Pilgrim we are indebted forthis rich legacy. With what care and anxiety then shouldwe cherish it, so that we may hand it down to those whoshall come after us, not only untarnished, but in ourhands made the instrument of increased good.Time forbids indulging in any further reflections towhich so fruitful a subject invites our attention.

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— Harriette Eliza Noyes, A MEMORIAL OF THE TOWNOF HAMPSTEAD, NEW HAMPSHIRE. Boston: George B.Reed, 1899

THE FUTURE CAN BE EASILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT

Benjamin Dudley Emerson “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

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October: Salma Hale was admitted to the New Hampshire bar.

James Fenimore Cooper purchased a family seat at Otsego, New York.

Frederick Emerson’s THE NORTH AMERICAN ARITHMETIC. PART THIRD, FOR ADVANCED SCHOLARS (Concord, New Hampshire: Marsh, Capen & Lyon; Boston: Lincoln and Edmands).

1834

ARITHMETIC, PART THIRD

ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM

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The schoolteacher Benjamin Dudley Emerson was mustered as a private under arms and marched north to participate in the “Aroostook War,” a bit of wilderness hoo-hah intended somehow to protect the upper frontier of Maine from the New Brunswick forces of Her Majesty the Queen of England, while US Secretary of State Daniel Webster and special delegate General Winfield Scott sought to negotiate a suitable buffer zone between the two nations with British Minister Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton — in a mountainous woodsy frontier region peopled primarily by native Americans and by “Acadian” descendants of the original French colonists.

1839

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The result of said wilderness hoo-hah, after one death of unknown causes, would be the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842, settled on the basis of an old map allegedly discovered by Jared Sparks in the Paris Archives that allegedly had been marked in 1782 with a red line by none other than our Benjamin Franklin, Minister Extraordinary (which may very well have been a fake created for this very occasion by the British team of negotiators, as it placed the entirety of the disputed region on the Canadian side of the line).

The following is per AROOSTOOK WAR: HISTORICAL SKETCH AND ROSTER OF COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND ENLISTED MEN CALLED INTO SERVICE FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE NORTHEASTERN FRONTIER OF MAINE, FROM FEBRUARY TO MAY, 1839 (Augusta, Maine: Kennebec Journal Print, 1904).

Muster Roll of Captain William S. Haines’ Company of Infantryin the Detachment of drafted Militia of Maine, called intoactual service by the State, for the protection of itsNortheastern Frontier, from the twenty-fifth day of Februay[sic], 1839, the time of its rendezvius [sic] at Augusta, Maine,to the nineteenth day of April, 1839, when discharged ormustered.

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CaptainWilliam S. Haines

LieutenantThomas Hovey

Ensign[no name given]

SergeantsAbner Pitts, Jr.Alexander T. KatonF. M. CollierWilliam Thornton, Jr.

CorporalsEliphalet RollinsAsa TraskJohn TarrNathan Swetland

MusiciansSilas Hunt

PrivatesJesse AustinWilliam BeedleJames BookerAbial BrownRufus BunkerWilliam ChristopherWilliam H. CollinsJohn CovellSamuel CrockerMoses C. CummingsMoses DavisBenjamin D. EmersonSamuel GrayJacob HeathThomas W. HolbrookWilliam Little, Jr.George W. LyonCharles McKenneyDwight MinorCharles MoodyLewis MoodyJohn MoodyJoseph F. NortonJames W. PotterT. W. RollinsWilliam H. StacyHiram B. Stevens

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“War is God’s way of teaching Americans geography.”

— Ambrose G. BierceUS MILITARY INTERVENTIONS

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The church of Benjamin Dudley Emerson in Hampstead, New Hampshire dismissed him to Boston, where he would serve as the Principal of the Adams Grammar School. He and his brother Frederick Emerson would be authors of many well known money making school texts — THE FIRST-CLASS READER was among the most popular of these.

Charles James Fox’s A GUIDE TO OFFICERS OF TOWNS CONTAINING THE STATUTES RELATING TO THEIR OFFICIAL DUTIES, WITH FORMS, DIRECTIONS AND LEGAL DECISIONS, ADAPTED TO THE REVISED STATUTES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE (Concord, New Hampshire: G.P. Lyon). Samuel D. Bell and Charles James Fox’s THE REVISED STATUTES OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, PASSED DECEMBER 23, 1842 (Concord, New Hampshire: Carroll & Baker, state printer).

WHAT I’M WRITING IS TRUE BUT NEVER MINDYOU CAN ALWAYS LIE TO YOURSELF

1843

Benjamin Dudley Emerson “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

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Frederick Emerson’s KEY TO THE NORTH AMERICAN ARITHMETIC / PART SECOND AND PART THIRD. FOR THE USE OF TEACHERS (Philadelphia: Hogan & Thompson).6

1845

ARITHMETIC, PARTS 2&3

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The “prize question” at the end of this volume has generated, over the years, a very great deal of controversy. It has been discovered that a significant portion of the difficulty of the problem arose from the fact that the question (a question of the calculation of relative velocity, having to do with the rate at which grass grows as a linear function of time in comparison with the rate at which a herd of oxen will eat it as a linear function of time) had been copied out of a volume published in 1704 by Sir Isaac Newton, ARITHMETICA UNIVERSALIS: SIVE DE COMPOSITIONE ET RESOLUTIONE ARITHMETICA LIBER. CUI ACCEFFIT HALLEIANA ÆQUATIONUM RADICES ARITHMETICE INVENIENDI METHODUS. / IN UFUM JUVENTUTIS ACADEMICÆ / CANTABRIGIÆ TYPIS ACADEMICIS. (Londini, Impenfis Benj. Tooke; Volume XII, page 480), and that this copying had introduced a typo.

The typo was that Newton had put the twelve oxen out to graze, not in a field of 3 1/2 acres, but in a field of 3 1/3 acres. Newton chose a field of 3 1/3 acres because that would cause the answer to come out in the form of an integral number of oxen. Substituting a field of 3 1/2 acres needlessly complicates the question because then the answer must come out to, not as an integral number of oxen, but as an integral number of oxen plus, ridiculously, a fraction of an additional ox!

6. A copy of this year’s edition of this often-printed teacher’s key would be in the personal library of Henry Thoreau, along with a copy of the 1832 edition of this author’s THE NORTH AMERICAN ARITHMETIC, PART FIRST, CONTAINING ELEMENTARY LESSONS.

Question #137, the “prize question,” according to Emerson:

CONSIDER THIS ANALYSIS

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February 24, Friday: Charles Darwin’s THE DESCENT OF MAN, AND SELECTION IN RELATION TO SEX appeared in two volumes in London. This work cited the 1854 text by Dr. Josiah Clark Nott and George Robin Gliddon TYPES OF MANKIND: OR, ETHNOLOGICAL RESEARCHES, BASED UPON THE ANCIENT MONUMENTS, PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES, AND CRANIA OF RACES, AND UPON THEIR NATURAL, GEOGRAPHICAL, PHILOLOGICAL, AND BIBLICAL HISTORY: ILLUSTRATED BY SELECTIONS FROM THE INEDITED PAPERS OF SAMUEL GEORGE MORTON, M.D., AND BY ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PROF. L. AGASSIZ, LL.D., W. USHER, M.D.; AND PROF. H.S. PATTERSON, M.D. (London: Trübner; Philadelphia), popularizing the polygenist theory of separate origins for various races of humans, as an example of the attempt to consider the races of man to be separate species (Darwin insisting that to the contrary, all humanity is one single species).

Benjamin Dudley Emerson made his will. He would leave, for a schoolteacher, surprisingly large sums to his alma mater Dartmouth College, and to his home town Hampstead, New Hampshire:

I, Benjamin D. Emerson of West Roxbury, in the Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, make this my last will and Testament....8th. All the residue of my estate, real and personal, I directshall be sold by my executors, at public or private sale,according to their best discretion, as soon as conveniently maybe after my decease, and the proceeds applied as hereinafterdirected.

1871

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Whereas it is my desire to provide for the establishmentand permanent maintenance in my native town of Hampstead, inthe state of New Hampshire, of a school to be called“The Hampstead High School,” and to be for the free use andbenefit of that town forever, but only upon the followingconditions, namely:—First. That within two years from the final probate of this Will,there shall be procured from the Legislature of said State anact of incorporation, making seven persons, namely, John Ordway,Tristram Little, William C. Little, Amos Buck, Amos Ring, andFrederick A. Pike, together with the pastor of the presentCongregational Society in town for the time being, ex-officio,or such of said persons as shall then be living and residing insaid Hampstead, together with such other persons residing insaid town as said Legislature may name in the place of any whomay have deceased or removed from said town, a body corporateby the name of the “Trustees of Hampstead High School,” with thepower to fill all vacancies that may occur in their own body,and to establish, govern, maintain, and administer a high schoolin said town of Hampstead, subject to the substantial observanceof the following principles and regulations, which are to beregarded as the fundamental constitution of said school, namely:(1) The said school shall be open and free to youth of both sexesbelonging to said town of Hampstead, impartially and withoutdistinction; but no scholar shall be admitted who shall not haveattained the age of twelve years, and who can read, write andspell the English language with reasonable correctness andfacility, considering his or her age; nor shall any scholar beadmitted or retained who does not sustain a good moralcharacter. (2) The whole number of scholars in said school shallnot exceed thirty at anyone time. (3) No person 8hall beappointed to the office of preceptor or master of said school,who has not been regularly graduated at some University orCollege in our country, or who does not sustain a good moralcharacter. (4) It shall be the duty of the preceptor to commencethe daily exercises of the school by reading, or causing to beread, some portion of the sacred scriptures, and by prayer; andon each alternate Saturday during school term, he shall berequired to devote one half hour at least to instructioncalculated to improve the manners and morals of his pupils,impressing on their minds the duty of practising the cardinalvirtues of truth, temperance, modesty, industry, benevolence,and especially filial love and obedience, and deference and.respect for old age. The last named virtues, which have been toomuch neglected in later years, should be made an important partin every youth’s education: they are indispensable to theforming of good morals and good manners, as well as the religiouscharacter. I cannot too strongly urge their claim upon those whohave in charge the education of youth. The emphatic words ofSacred Writ are, “Honor thy father and thy mother.” “Thou shaltrise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the oldman, and fear thy God.” On each other alternate Saturday during

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term time, said preceptor shall devote one half hour or more tothe inculcation of the doctrine and practice of religion 88displayed in the Old and New Testaments, and as exemplified inthe conduct of our great exampler, Jesus Christ, and hisdisciples; carefully excluding all sectarianism anduncharitableness, as tending to not only to make the narrow waystill narrower without necessity, but even turn it from itsheavenly direction: it being believed that simply inculcatingthe doctrine of the Saviour and his apostles, 88 nearly 88possible in their own language, without attempting to makeproselytes to the peculiar views of any class of Christians, isthe best instruction in religious knowledge.Second. That within three years of the final probate of saidWill the said town of Hampstead. shall erect a suitable andsubstantial schoolhouse, satisfactory to said trustees, 011 alot of land containing not less than one acre, measuring notless than two hundred and ten feet on any side, and situated insaid Hampstead, on the main road between the Old Meeting Houseand the house formerly owned by Dr. James Knight, at the cornerof what is called “Kent’s Farm Road,” and shall within said threeyears convey said lot of land, with said schoolhouse finishedand well fitted for the reception of scholars, to the saidTrustees for the use of the said High school forever; the saidlot to be planted with not less than fifty ornamental shadetrees, one half elms, and the other one half sugar maples, andthe distance between the schoolhouse and the road to be not lessthan one hundred feet.Now, therefore, in case the foregoing conditions are compliedwith, then, and not otherwise, I direct my executors to pay onehalf of the net proceeds of the sale of my real estate in WestRoxbury, together with one-half of any net income of suchproceeds that may accrue before the time of such payment, to thesaid Trustees of the Hampstead High School upon the followingtrusts: namely, to invest the same, and from time to time tochange the investments, having regard always to the safety ofthe fund, rather than to its productiveness; and all the netincome thereof, but no part of the principal, to apply to theuse, benefit, and support of said High School, forever.• • • • • • • • • •In witness whereof I hereto set my hand and declare this to bemy last will in the presence of three witnesses, this twenty-fourth day of February A.D. eighteen hundred and seventy-one.BENJAMIN D. EMERSON.

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October 1, Tuesday: Benjamin Dudley Emerson died at Jamaica Plain near Boston. He left the magnificent sum of $100,000, equivalent to some ten millions of dollars today, to his alma mater, Dartmouth College. By his will probated in 1871 he also founded a new high school for his home town of Hampstead, New Hampshire.

Clearly above in the report from the New-York Times, the Boston Journal would get it a bit wrong, for it would indicate that Emerson had left money to found a library rather than a school.

“MAGISTERIAL HISTORY” IS FANTASIZING: HISTORY IS CHRONOLOGY

1872

Benjamin Dudley Emerson “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

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COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In addition to the property of others,such as extensive quotations and reproductions ofimages, this “read-only” computer file contains a greatdeal of special work product of Austin Meredith,copyright 2014. Access to these interim materials willeventually be offered for a fee in order to recoup someof the costs of preparation. My hypercontext buttoninvention which, instead of creating a hypertext leapthrough hyperspace —resulting in navigation problems—allows for an utter alteration of the context withinwhich one is experiencing a specific content alreadybeing viewed, is claimed as proprietary to AustinMeredith — and therefore freely available for use byall. Limited permission to copy such files, or anymaterial from such files, must be obtained in advancein writing from the “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo”Project, 833 Berkeley St., Durham NC 27705. Pleasecontact the project at <Kouroo@kouroo.info>.

Prepared: October 1, 2014

“It’s all now you see. Yesterday won’t be over untiltomorrow and tomorrow began ten thousand years ago.”

– Remark by character “Garin Stevens”in William Faulkner’s INTRUDER IN THE DUST

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ARRGH AUTOMATED RESEARCH REPORT

GENERATION HOTLINE

This stuff presumably looks to you as if it were generated by ahuman. Such is not the case. Instead, someone has requested thatwe pull it out of the hat of a pirate who has grown out of theshoulder of our pet parrot “Laura” (as above). What thesechronological lists are: they are research reports compiled byARRGH algorithms out of a database of modules which we term theKouroo Contexture (this is data mining). To respond to such arequest for information we merely push a button.

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Commonly, the first output of the algorithm has obviousdeficiencies and we need to go back into the modules stored inthe contexture and do a minor amount of tweaking, and then weneed to punch that button again and recompile the chronology —but there is nothing here that remotely resembles the ordinary“writerly” process you know and love. As the contents of thisoriginating contexture improve, and as the programming improves,and as funding becomes available (to date no funding whateverhas been needed in the creation of this facility, the entireoperation being run out of pocket change) we expect a diminishedneed to do such tweaking and recompiling, and we fully expectto achieve a simulation of a generous and untiring roboticresearch librarian. Onward and upward in this brave new world.

First come first serve. There is no charge.Place requests with <Kouroo@kouroo.info>. Arrgh.