Bennington

EVARTS, Jeremiah

Vermont Historical Magazine, No XI, October 1867, pp 241-245
This biography, extracted from a section dealing with the history of 
Bennington, was written by E. C. TRACY, whose sources were: "Sermon on the 
Death of Mr. EVARTS" by Rev. Leonard WOODS, D. D.; "Memoir of Mr. EVARTS" by 
Rev. D. GREENE, in the "Missionary Herald" for 1831; and his own work, "Life 
of Jeremiah EVARTS." Martha Sherman EVARTS, daughter of Jeremiah EVARTS, was 
the wife of E. C. TRACY.

Jeremiah EVARTS, Corresponding Secretary of the American Board of 
Commissioners for Foreign Missions, was born 03 February 1781, and died 16 
May 1831. James EVARTS had taken his young wife with other emigrants, from 
Guilford [New Haven County], Connecticut, soon after the successful 
termination of the French war, to the new region opened to New England 
enterprise by that happy event, and had settled in Sunderland [Bennington 
County], Vermont. (Mrs. [James] EVARTS was the daughter of Timothy TODD, 
Esq., of Guilford [Connecticut]. Her family came from Yorkshire, England, 
and was distinguished for literary tastes. Her uncle, Rev. Jonathan TODD, of 
East Guildford [Connecticut], was among he best scholars of his time. Rev. 
John TODD, D. D., of Pittsfield [Berkshire County], Massachusetts, is a 
nephew of Mrs. EVARTS. She was intelligent, pious, and benevolent. There 
was also a grandmother resident in the family to car for the future 
philanthropist, a woman of strong mind and devoted piety. The EVARTS family 
is probably of Huguenot origin; were among the early emigrants to this 
country, and had resided in Guilford from about the year 1640. James EVARTS 
was a man of uncommon public spirit, and was the first representative in the 
Legislature of Vermont from the town of Georgia.) Jeremiah [EVARTS] was 
their firstborn son [the firstborn son of James and --- (TODD) EVARTS']. As 
soon, at least, as he needed a school, one was ready. We have only a glimpse 
of the boy's life in Sunderland, small and slender, beginning a life of 
benevolence, when three years old, by teaching a little playmate his letters; 
and a year after, begging for a new schoolbook, not that the one he had was 
worn out, but because he had "read all the sense out of it." Buddings both, 
of the future man.

In 1798 the rich promise of Franklin County attracted Mr. [James] EVARTS, and 
he removed thither as one of the original proprietors of the town of Georgia. 
(The Georgia [Franklin County, Vermont] home of the family is now occupied 
by Jonathan Todd EVARTS, Esq., brother of Jeremiah.) Jeremiah, at this time, 
when not otherwise employed, always had a book in his hand. "I believe," 
said his sister, "that every page of 'The Spectator' was as familiar to him 
as his spelling book, when quite a child." A short time he spent at school 
in Burlington (so early, it seems, an educational centre), and then some 
months under the care of Rev. John ELLIOT, D. D., of East Guilford [New Haven 
County], Connecticut, when, in 1798, not yet a twelvemonth from his axe and 
plough, he entered the freshman class in Yale College. (Mr. EVARTS took his 
son on to Guilford on horseback. On his way, as was his wont when on that 
road, he spent a night with his friend, the late Col. Seth STORRS, of 
Middlebury [Addison County, Vermont]. The object of the journey gave 
direction to the thoughts of those two public-spirited men, and the talk, 
evening and morning, was of a college that should provide at home for the 
education of Vermont boys. "This," said Col. STORRS, mentioning the incident 
to the writer many years ago, "was among the circumstances that led to the 
establishment of Middlebury College.") At the first recitation of his class, 
"there sat EVARTS, in a plain rustic garb, with which fashion evidently had 
never intermeddled; his stature of the middling height; his form remarkably 
slender; his manner stiff, and his whole exterior having nothing to 
prepossess a stranger in his behalf, except a countenance which bespoke as 
much honesty as ever falls to the lot of man." (Evidently the young 
Vermonter was not of that delicate-handed class of young fellows so 
flatteringly described by Dr. HOLMES as coming of "the Brahman caste of New 
England.") When his turn came to recite, he made a strong impression on the 
minds of his classmates. He soon commanded their respect, and convinced the 
ambitious that they would find in him a competitor for the honors.

This was his entrance upon college life. Four years after, his place to 
speak at Commencement was at the close of the morning exercises. When his 
name was called, some of the wearied audience were retiring. In his personal 
appearance, the four years had made little change, "but he had scarcely 
begun to speak, when there was a marked attention among those who were near 
him, which soon spread through the house. His subject was "The Execution of 
the Laws." It was treated with such clearness of statement, such cogency of 
reasoning, and such eloquence and solemnity of appeal, as awakened universal 
admiration." It was an utterance of the speaker's heart, and was afterwards 
published. One event of his college life must be distinctly noticed. Though 
always one of the purest and most faithful of youths, it was not until his 
senior year that he was brought into those consciously near relations to God, 
through Christ, which he cherished to the hour of death as the strength of 
his heart and his portion forever.

Now came the work of life. His patrimony had been invested, as is so often 
done in New England, in his education. Henceforth he must work his way. A 
year was spent as Principal of the Academy at Peacham [Caledonia County, 
Vermont], where besides the care of his school, he was a faithful helper of 
the Rev. Leonard WORCESTER, pastor of the Congregational Church, in every 
good work. At the close of the year, he returned to New Haven [New Haven 
County, Connecticut] to marry (Mrs. Mehitable BARNES, daughter of Hon. Roger 
SHERMAN), and to enter upon the study of law. The Vermont life of Mr. EVARTS 
was now ended. The favorite plan of his father, that his son might help to 
settle, on the basis of right and sound law, the conflicting land claims of 
his native State, was to be disappointed. As in so many other cases, the 
State must give up to the wide world the son that might have been a blessing 
and glory to her at home. And the work of his manhood must be yet more 
briefly sketched, as belonging less peculiarly to Vermont, and because his 
services to mankind in other spheres were such as it is impossible, within 
these narrow limits, to give any just idea of. While a law student, and 
after his admission to the bar (at New Haven) [Connecticut], Mr. EVARTS came 
into close relationships with the late Professor STUART, of Andover [Essex 
County, Massachusetts], Dr. MORSE, of Charlestown [Suffolk County, 
Massachusetts], and other prominent leaders of the religious movements then 
commencing, and was filly, in 1810, led to remove to Boston [Suffolk County, 
Massachusetts], the centre of work and influence for the cause.

From 1810 to 1821 Mr. EVARTS was editor of the "Panoplist," a religious and 
missionary magazine; from 1812 to 1821 Treasurer of the American Board of 
Commissioners for Foreign Missions; and from 1821 to his death in 1831, 
Corresponding Secretary of that Board. The "Panoplist" was the leading organ 
of the Congregationalists of New England, and was a powerful agency in the 
awakening of a missionary spirit in the churches, in originating and 
directing measures for the supply of the religious wants of this country, in 
exposing religious errors and establishing the churches in the truth, and in 
the promotion of all the Christian and philanthropic enterprises of the time, 
but among them all, missions to the heathen hold far the highest place in his 
regard. He took an active part in the formation of the American Board, and 
his hearty devotion to the duties of Treasurer and Secretary identified him 
with it for the remainder of his life. The correspondence devolved on him to 
a great extent from the first, and with was his to present the new 
enterprise, from time to time, to the Christian public in such a way as to 
awaken a warm and well-principled interest in the object, and secure for that 
particular organization the necessary confidence and support. The remarkable 
success that crowned his labors and those of his associates, in this last 
respect, was often referred to in his later years with devout thanksgiving. 
In this service he was called repeatedly to undertake laborious journeys into 
the then wild Indian country, among the Cherokees, Choctaws, etc. and to 
Washington, with reference to the relations of the Government to Indian 
civilization and improvement.

These official labors, however, were far from absorbing his Christian 
activity. In the church, in numerous local religious enterprises, and in 
doing good in other parts of the country and the world, his counsel was 
sought, and he appeared as a leader, alike in judgment, in zeal, and in 
prompt efficiency. When he was removed from these counsels, the hearts of 
those who loved Zion throughout the land, and in the dark places of the 
earth, were smitten with the feeling that they had lost one who was 
unsurpassed in any quality that can render a wise man's counsel or a good 
man's influence valuable, and who in the language of eminent fellow laborer 
(Rev. Leonard WOODS, D. D.), "showed as little liability to mistake as can be 
expected of any man in this state of imperfection." "More unbending 
integrity," says another (Rev. Professor STUART), "more fidelity, and 
steadfastness, true heartedness, modesty and humility, ardent devotion and 
enlightened zeal, and sound judgment, trust worthiness, and kindness I never 
expect to find in this world; and not many have gone to the other who have 
more excelled in all that belongs to the true character of the Christian, the 
scholar, and the gentleman. Envy, slander, detraction, and everything of that 
nature, were as remote from him as from any man I have ever since known. 
There was an expansive, enlightened, elevated, noble state of mind and 
feeling, that rendered him incapable of descending to the arts which many 
employ, either to thwart his opponents or to throw obstacles in the way of 
those who were treading with himself the path to high esteem and elevated 
station. All that was or could be gained by his fellow Christians, of true 
and solid reputation, seemed to him to be clear gain to the church, and 
therefore to the stock whose interests he was most engaged to promote.

The amount of work that Mr. EVARTS was able to accomplish was remarkable. 
His memory was such that he rarely hesitated as to a name or date or fact 
that he wanted to use. He wrote very rapidly, and almost never had occasion 
to change a word; and was methodical, his work always so before him that no 
time was wasted in taking it up just where he had left it without looking 
back. To this accuracy and method he had trained himself from early life. 
While in college, and even earlier, he had kept a journal, making almost 
daily entries, and reviewing it at regular intervals, to see wherein he had 
failed as to the best discharge of his stewardship. This included an exact 
account of money received and expended to the last farthing. And in the 
busiest years of his life, he sometimes tested his own faithfulness by 
entering upon his journal the use made of every hour and moment of the day. 
With all this economy of time, his disposition was most kind and social, and 
no man enjoyed more or contributed more the pleasures of society.

As to personal and family expenditures he was equally exact and 
conscientious. It was a lifelong self-denial, for to his tastes the 
elegances of life had strong attractions. But his frugal home was an open 
one; the coming and going of guests constituted a characteristic part of the 
family life. And while learned and distinguished men were glad to enjoy at 
his table and fireside the earnest overflow of elevated thought, they might 
not infrequently meet there the ignorant seeking light, and the distressed 
asking for relief or counsel; men of all colors, and of every clime, 
literally, Greek and Jew, barbarian and Scythian, the Negro, the Indian, 
natives of the four quarters of the world, and of the islands of the sea. In 
the use of his small income there was a most generous and yet careful 
liberality. As a steward he would neither hoard nor squander the Master's 
gifts. There is now before the writer a memorandum of his entitled "Plan of 
Charities for the year 18--." It embraces the appropriation for charitable 
purposes, of not less than a quarter of his whole income for the year, while 
that income would have been regarded by most persons as only sufficient for 
the economical support of such a family in the position he occupied. It was 
felt that the object must be worthy that enlisted his warm advocacy. "While 
in college, says a classmate, "he exhibited the same noble, generous, and 
fixed traits of character which were so happily developed in his subsequent 
life. When I have seen him in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and elsewhere, 
in private consultation, or in public discussion, I have been stuck with the 
fact and have remarked it to others, how very like in his manner, in his 
matter, in his chief aim, was our friend EVARTS to what he was in college: 
calm, cool, dignified, of unbending integrity, with the spirit of an acute 
jurist, a statesman, an apostle, and a hero."

In personal appearance also , Mr. EVARTS remained much the same through life, 
but his manner lost its stiffness, and he moved in whatever society with 
gentlemanly ease. He was slender, as has been remarked, and of medium 
height; his head not large, but indicative of force, readiness, and quiet 
balance; the hair brown, the eyes large and blue, the nose large the chin 
square and rather prominent, the lips thin, mouth expressive of readiness and 
decision, and self control, the complexion dark." All these high qualities, 
together with his power of expression as a writer and speaker, rose with the 
occasion, and became more marked in proportion as weightier duties and wider 
spheres of action pressed their claims upon him. This was especially noted 
when he succeeded Dr. WORCESTER as Corresponding Secretary of the American 
Board; in several of his last reports in that capacity, in his defense of the 
people of the Sandwich Islands, and the mission there, against wickedness in 
high places, English and American, and especially when he roused and swayed 
the minds of the nation by his cogent reasonings and eloquent appeals, his 
laborious, protracted and exhausting efforts to secure to the Cherokee and 
Choctaw Indians the rights pledged to them by solemn treaties.

It was under the pressure of this last subject that, in the ripe meridian of 
his intellectual power, and of his personal influence, the frail body gave 
way. With the slender frame already described, he had through life been 
subject to consumptive complaints, which sometimes threatened his life, and 
repeatedly forced him to a milder climate. A wise care had enabled him to 
keep himself for the most part in working order. His appetite was uniformly 
good, and he could always sleep well, whatever cares might occupy his waking 
hours. But his work at Washington and elsewhere, for the Indians, in 1829 
and 1830, and other special exertions connected with missions, with scarcely 
an hour of relaxation, proved too much. Reluctantly he left his beloved 
office and the work so near his heart, and sought relief at the South, this 
time by a visit to Cuba. But it was too late. He soon turned his face 
homeward, and reached Charleston [Charleston County], South Carolina, on 03 
May 1831. There he lingered, under the care of attached friends, until 10 
May 1831, when the strong and loving spirit entered into the Saviour's joy.

Four children of Mr. [Jeremiah] EVARTS survived him: (1) John Jay EVARTS, a 
young man of high promise and Christian character, who died soon after 
leaving college; (2) William M. EVARTS, Esq., of New York; (3) Mary, late 
wife of Rev. David GREENE, of Westboro [Westborough, Worcester County], 
Massachusetts, and (4) Martha Sherman, wife of E. C. TRACY, of Windsor 
[Windsor County], Vermont [the author of this biography]. The writings of 
Mr. EVARTS are not of the kind that appears to best advantage in brief 
extracts. What he published, beginning while in college, and extending to 
almost the last day of his life, would fill many volumes. But for the most 
part there was an immediate object to be answered by each, and the parts were 
so compacted and interdependent that single paragraphs lose much of their 
significance and power, when severed from the whole. They will be found 
chiefly in the "Pantoplist," the "Missionary Herald," the "Spirit of the 
Pilgrims," the "North American Review," the "Reports on Foreign Missions," 
etc. His series on the rights of the Indians, first published in the 
"National Intelligencer," under the signature of William Penn, doubtless had 
wide circulation, and commanded the attention of a large number of 
intelligent readers, than any such series of articles since the days of 
Junius and "The Federalist." Our extracts are from his last Missionary 
Report, passages showing characteristic traits of thought being preferred. 
[Extract entitled "Future Progress of the United States" omitted here.]

Submitted by Cathy Kubly