324 HORTON. HOVEY. him from exercising an independent judg- ment of men and measures, according to the exigency of the occasion. Mr. Horton was a member of the com- mon council of Salem in 1861 and '62. He was elected to the House of Representa- tives in 1859 for the year i860, when there were two sessions. He was also a mem- ber of the House in 1879 and ' 8o > and of the Senate in 1881 and '82. In 1880 he was elected a delegate from the 6th con- gressional district to the national Repub- lican convention, held in June of that year ; and, with the majority of delegates, he voted first for Edmunds, next for Sher- man, and finally for Garfield, who became the nominee. He has been a member of the Massachu- setts Press Association from its beginning, and was for two years its president. He is a Unitarian in his religious affiliations, and has for several years been the presi- dent of the Essex conference of liberal Christian churches. He is also one of the original trustees of the Salem public library, chosen for life. Mr. Horton began his political writings for the " Gazette " before he had reached his majority, and has been a regular con- tributor to its various departments to the present time. His writings have contrib- uted much to the editorial character and political influence of the "Gazette." While in the Senate, his disinterested judgment, independence of character, and forcible way of presenting his views upon pub- lic questions, always gave weight to his opinions and reasoning. His minority re- port, adverse to woman suffrage, has gen- erally been regarded one of the strongest presentations upon that side of the ques- tion, as well as one of the most courteous and temperate in tone ; and it has been at least once reprinted with a view to in- fluencing votes in a subsequent Legisla- ture. Mr. Horton has, at several times, but not with great frequency, delivered set ad- dresses upon special occasions. On sol- diers' Memorial days he has given addresses at Somerville, Groveland, Arlington and Salem. He also delivered an address be- fore the members of the Salem city gov- ernment, on the occasion of the setting up of a tablet to commemorate the resistance to Colonel Leslie at North Bridge in 1775. Though filling with credit the various pub- lic positions to which he has been called, Mr. Horton has never aspired to public life, nor sought public honors; but — like many others bred to newspaper life after the old ways — he has found that calling, with such public influence as may be carried with it, most congenial to his taste. HOVEY, ALVAH, son of Alfred and Abigail (Howard) Hovey, was born in Greene, Chenango county, N. Y., March 5, 1820. His parents returned to Thetford, Vt., in the autumn of that year. He attended the common schools of Thetford until fifteen years of age, work- ing on the farm with his father during the summer seasons after he was six years old. At the age of fifteen he attended Thetford Academy two terms, and the next year be- gan his preparation for college in Brandon, Vt., teaching in winter and studying the remainder of the year. At the age of nineteen he entered Dartmouth College, from which he was graduated in the class of 1844. He was obliged to fall back one class, having been out of college two years, as principal of the academy at Derby, Vermont. After his graduation he was principal of an academy in New Lon- don, N. H., one year and three months, then entered Newton Theological Insti- tution in the autumn of 1845, and was graduated in 1848. He preached in New Gloucester, Me., one year. He then (1849) became in- structor in Hebrew in the Newton Theo- logical Institution. In 1853 he was made professor of church history, professor of systematic theology in 1855, and president of the Institution in 186S, which position he still holds. In 1 86 1 and '62 he visited Europe, and studied in the universities of Berlin, Got- tingen and Heidelberg. Dr. Hovey was married in Newton Cen- tre, September 24, 1852, to Augusta Maria, daughter of Marshall Spring and Mary (Livermore) Rice. Of this union were five children : George Rice, Agnes Curtis, Helen Augusta, Harriet Lee, and Frederick Howard Hovey. He received the degree of D. D. from Brown University, and that of LL. D. from Denison University and Richmond College. Dr. Hovey has efficiently served on the Newton school board ; was trustee and afterwards fellow of the corporation of Brown University ; trustee of Wellesley College, and of the New England Conserva- tory of Music ; trustee of Worcester Acad- emy ; member of the executive committee of the American Baptist Missionary Union ; director of the Northern Baptist Education Society, and president of the same for sev- eral years; also trustee and director of
