THE TOWNE MEMORIAL. 15
Souhegan National Bank. The Free Public Library of the town enlisted his warm sympathies, receiving from him care and attention, as well as substantial aid. He became a leading member of the New Hampshire Historical Society, In 1872, Dartmouth College conferred upon him the honorary degree of Mas- ter of Arts.
The favorite pursuit, it appears, to which Mr. Towne applied himself, was genealogical research, for which he evinced a decided taste as early as 1827, when a lad at school. His inclination in this direction doubtless gained fresh imi)etus upon his becoming acquainted at Concord with John Farmer, whom Mr. Dean justly styles "the father of American genealogy." Without enu- merating the results of Mr. Towne's unremitting labor, both in print and in MSS., it may be said in a word, that to him the New England Historic, Genealogical Society, owes much for its present stable and flourishing condition. Among other offices, he held that of treasurer for ten years ; and he succeeded the late Ira Perley as vice-president of the society for New Hampshire.
Mr. Towne gave one thousand dollars in 1864, and a like sum in 1870, "to be placed in the hands of trustees, and to be invested and known as the Towne Memorial Fund, the principal and interest to be kept separate and apart from the other funds of the society, and the income thereof to be de- voted to the publication of memorial volumes of deceased members whenever the society should deem it expedient." In 1878, two years after the decease of its founder, the fund had increased to upwards of four thousand dollars, and a committee was appointed to gather materials and bring out a volume. That the gentlemen thus selected have done their work wisely, and in a manner worthy of the society and of the spirit that prompted the institution of the fund, the volume itself amply attests. In the language of the circular which they sent out, their design has been " to make the work a positive contribution to the history of the times, not consisting of mere eulogies, nor of statistical and colorless abstracts, but models of full and accurate detail."
The memoirs are forty-three in number. Some are slender sketches that occupy but a page or two ; but the greater part extend to a length that permits adequate fulness of treatment. The arrangement is chronological, according to the date of the death, beginning with William Durkee Williamson, of Maine, who died in 1846, and closing with Amos Lawrence, of Boston (1852). The list embraces such names as the following : James Kent, by James Kent, ot Fishkill, N. Y, ; Samuel Hubbard, by Mrs. Elizabeth Greene Buck, of Andover ; John Quincy Adams, by Charles Francis Adams, of Quincy ; Harrison Gray Otis, by Augustus T. Perkins, of Boston ; Albert Gallatin, by Henry Adams, of Boston, the editor of " Gallatin's Works," now in course of publication, and author of the " Life of Gallatin ;" Levi Woodbury, by Charles Levi Woodbury, of Boston ; Henry Clay, by Robert C. Winthrop, of Brookline ; and Daniel Webster, by Charles H. Bell, of Exeter.
The sketch of Mr. Clay will add to the reputation of its distinguished author. There is something touching in the spectacle of this last survivor of the great statesman of his day, taking up the pen in the sunset of life, with all the vigor and freshness of early manhood, to portray the character of his friend and compatriot. The fervor of friendship only animates the style of the writer, it does not betray him into unwarranted eulogy. An ex-cabinet officer, who for more than a quarter of a centurv has been a figure in our national polidcs, expressed to me the other day his opinion that this v/as the finest piece of work Mr. Winthrop has ever done. This gentleman, when a boy, was frequently at Mr. Clay's house, and later enjoyed his intimate acquaint- ance and confidence.
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