accepted an invitation to labor in the Protestant Episcopal church in Sonth Carolina. He was elected assistant minister of St. Philip's church, Charleston, 5 Jan., 1780, and, on the death of the rector. Bishop Robert Smith, in 1801, he was chosen to fill the vacancy. He served for eighteen years, and was noted as being an able preacher and a faithful pastor. — His son, Thomas Downs, b. in Charleston, S. C., 24 Feb., 1794; d. in the West Indies, 16 May, 1819, was graduated at Yale in 1813. His theological studies were pursued under Bishop Dehon's direction, and he was ordained, 21 Feb., 1815. He was immediately elected assistant minister of St. Philip's church. Charleston. In 1817 he was compelled to suspend his labors on account of failing health. He was benefited by a visit to Cuba, and resumed his parochial duties in May, 1818 ; but a renewal of the attack next year proved fatal, and he died suddenly. Mr. Frost was esteemed for many noble qualities, and was regarded as a highly attractive preacher.
FROTHINGHAM, James, painter, b. in
Charlestown, Mass., in 1781; d. 6 Jan., 1864. He
began life as a painter in his father's chaise
manufactory. With meagre instruction in colors, he
finally began a career as a portrait-painter, and
obtained recognition as a truthful and painstaking
artist. His works had sale chiefly in New York
and Salem. His copy of Stuart's “Washington”
was much admired, and his original portraits were
praised for fidelity of coloring.
FROTHINGHAM, Nathaniel Langdon, clergyman,
b. in Boston, Mass., 23 July, 1793; d. there,
3 April, 1870. He was graduated at Harvard in
1811, and, after teaching in the Boston
Latin-school, became in 1812 instructor in rhetoric and
oratory at Harvard, which office he was the first
to hold. He also studied theology, and on 15
March, 1815, was ordained pastor of the 1st
Congregational church (Unitarian) in Boston. He
resigned his charge, on account of feeble health, in
1850. He contributed largely to religious periodicals,
chiefly to the “Christian Examiner,” and
published, besides nearly fifty occasional sermons,
“Deism or Christianity,” in four discourses
(Boston, 1845); “Sermons in the Order of a Twelve-month”
(1852); and “Metrical Pieces, Translated
and Original,” a collection of verses contributed to
magazines (1855). These are distinguished, like
his prose writings, for refinement and grace. His
first notable poem was delivered at the installation
of President Kirkland, of Harvard, while its author
was a student there; his principal one is a version
of the “Phenomena of the Stars,” from the Greek
of Aratus. — His son, Octavius Brooks, author,
b. in Boston, 26 Nov., 1822; d. there, 27 Nov., 1895,
was graduated at Harvard, and, after three years
in the divinity school, was ordained pastor of the
North church (Unitarian) at Salem, in 10 March, 1847. He
preached in Jersey City, N. J., in 1855-'9, then
removed to New York, and became pastor of a
congregation that in 1860 was organized as the “Third
Unitarian Congregational church,” and represented
the most radical branch of his denomination. He
dissolved this society in 1879 and went to Europe,
and on his return in 1881 formally withdrew from
specific connection with any church, and devoted
himself to literature in Boston. He was a leader
in the movement that had for its object the
promotion of rationalist ideas in theology, and
contributed largely to various journals and reviews.
In 1867 he became first president of the Free
religious association. He was for a time
art-critic of the “New York Tribune.” Mr.
Frothingham published more than 150 sermons, and is
the author of the following works: “Stories from
the Lips of the Teacher” (Boston, 1863); “Stories
from the Old Testament” (1864); “Child's Book of
Religion” (1866); “The Religion of Humanity”
(New York, 1873); “Life of Theodore Parker” (Boston,
1874); “Transcendentalism in New England”
(New York, 1876); “The Cradle of the Christ”
(1877); “Life of Gerrit Smith” (1878); “Life of
George Ripley” (Boston, 1882); and “Memoir of
William Henry Channing” (1886). — Nathaniel
Langdon's daughter, Ellen, b. in Boston, 25
March, 1835, has devoted herself to German
literature, and has translated Lessing's “Nathan der
Weise” (1868); Goethe's “Hermann und
Dorothea” (1870); Lessing's “Laokoon” (1874); and
Grillparzer's “Sappho” (1876).
FROTHINGHAM, Richard, historian, b. in Charlestown, Mass., 31 Jan., 1812; d. there, 29 Jan., 1880. He was for many years a proprietor of the Boston “Post,” and in 1852-'65 served as its managing editor. He was a member of the legislature
in 1839, 1840, 1842, 1849, and 1850, and a delegate
to the Democratic national convention of 1852, and
in 1853 to the State constitutional convention. He
served as mayor of Charlestown in 1851-'3, and
was for several years treasurer of the Massachusetts
historical society. He published a “History of
Charlestown” (1848); “History of the Siege of
Boston” (Boston, 1849); “The Command in the
Battle of Bunker Hill” (1850): “Life of Gen.
Joseph Warren” (1865); “Tribute to Thomas Starr
King” (1865); “Rise of the Republic” (1871); and
many pamphlets and addresses including “The
Centennial: Battle of Bunker Hill” (1875).
FR0THINGHAM, Washington, clergyman, b. in Fonda, N. Y., 28 Feb., 1822. He received an academic education, became a clerk for Edwin D. Morgan in New York, afterward established himself in wholesale trade, and met with a moderate success. He then studied theology at Princeton, and entered the Presbyterian ministry in 1855. His most important work as a clergyman has been the establishment of the West Side Presbyterian church in Albany, N. Y. Beginning in 1862, he has built up a system of New York correspondence, which now forms a prominent and popular feature of
journals in Hartford, Rochester, Scranton, Troy, Utica, and other inland cities. His pen-names "Martel," "Macaulay," "Rosicrucian," and "Hermit of New York" are familiar to the reading public, because under them he deals with topics that are seldom treated by other correspondents. He has published in book-form "Atheos, or Tragedies of Unbelief" (New York, 1863); " The Martel Papers: Life-Scenes in the Reign of Terror" (1865); and other works, all anonymous.
FRUITS, George, soldier, b. near Baltimore, Md., in 1762; d. near Crawfordsville, Ind., 6 Aug., 1876. He served in the latter part of the Revolutionary war, went to Virginia in 1787, and was
afterward with Daniel Boone in Kentucky. He served against the Indians in 1791-'6, and also in the war of 1812. Four generations of his descendants followed him to the grave.
FRY, Benjamin St. James, journalist, b. in Rutledge, Granger co., Tenn., 16 June, 1824; d. in St. Louis, Mo., 5 Feb., 1892. He was educated in Cincinnati, contributing to the Cincinnati "Times" in 1840, and in 1844 was joint editor and publisher of the "Western Rambler." Pie became a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1847, was president of Worthington college for young women in 1856-'6(), and in 1861-'4 was chaplain of the 63d Ohio regiment. In 1872 he was elected editor of the St. Louis " Central Christian Advocate," and
