Samuel Holden was a fine type of self-made man,—a character well rounded with the solid English virtues. By his own endeavors he rose to positions of trust and honor in the diverse fields of trade, politics, religion, finance, and charity. Nor did he forget that though the latter virtue begins at home, it by no means ends there. At his death on June 12, 1740, he left to his widow, Jane, and his three daughters, Priscilla, Jane, and Mary, the tidy sum of £80,000. By a codicil to his will he had provided that if his estate exceeded £60,000 the surplus should be distributed, at the discretion of his wife and children, in charitable uses, “such as promoting true Religion, I mean Sobriety, Righteousness and Godliness, without regard to any party or denomination, either here or in New England.[1]
Here was Hutchinson’s opportunity made to his hand. He himself had been bred a Dissenter (though in after years, as Royal Governor and Chief Justice of Massachusetts, he attended the Church of England) and could meet the Holdens on a common religious ground. As an alumnus of Harvard he could set forth the needs of the College convincingly. Especially on financial affairs of every sort he was already an acknowledged authority. Upon the amiable Jane and her offspring, who seem to have been ladies of notable modesty, piety,
- ↑ New England Historic-Genealogical Register, xlv, 163.
