CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. THE FOREFATHERS OF MRS. BOARDMAN.

WILLIAM WHITING and JOHN MASON, civil and religious fathers

of Connecticut. WILLIAM WHITING emigrates from England, 13. He set-

tles at Newtown. Is a friend of HOOKER, and removes with him to Hart-

ford, 14.

JOHN MASON emigrates (1630) from England. Earliest mention of his name.

His titles, 14. Settles at Dorchester. Removes to Windsor. Is to be dis-

tinguished from a contemporary of the same name and title. Hartford, Wind-

sor, and Wethersfield, their settlement, situation, and population. Saybrook

Fort, when built, and why so called, 15. Is purchased by the General Court

of Connecticut. MASON and WHITING prominent and useful colonists. The

Pequots, their territory, their character, and their chief sachem SASSACUS.

Meditate the expulsion or massacre of the colonists, 16. The proposed ex-

terminating league. Its frustration. The colonies declare war against the

savages. MASON and UNCAS the leaders of an expedition to the Pequot strong-

holds, 17. The daring nature of the expedition. MASON's qualifications for

conducting it, 18. He sets sail. Is joined by Capt UNDERHILL. Refuses to

land at Pequot Harbor, 19. Obtains a reinforcement from the Narragansetts.

Proceeds, by land, to NINIGRET's fort, 20. Is guided by UNCAS and WEQUASH

to Porter's Rocks, near the Pequot forts. He and his men there rest until

after midnight, 21. They suddenly and boldly assail the Mystic fort, 22.

The fort is burnt, and about 600 Pequots destroyed, 24. MASON and his party

proceed to Saybrook Fort. The Pequots scatter themselves in despair, 24.

The fate of SASSACUS. MASON'S narrow escape from death. The Pequots

cease to exist as a tribe, 25. Reflections on this, by HOLMES, 26. DWIGHT'S

eulogium on MASON. His fame celebrated by ROGER WILLIAMS, and by

Governor WOLCOTT, 27. MASON is created Major General. The cere-

monial is conducted by HOOKER. The offices held by MASON, 28. Settles

Saybrook. His narrow escape from death there. His military and civil em-

ployments, 29. Is rewarded by the General Court. The enemies of UNCAS

meditate his death. HOPKINS, MASON, and WHITING, are appointed his pro-

tectors.

MASON declines an invitation from FAIRFAX to return to England

SEDGWICK, LEVERETT, MASON, and CULLICK, commissioners to reduce the

Dutch, 30. The agency of WINTHROP and MASON, in obtaining and pro-

claiming the charter of Connecticut. MASON makes over to the colony cer-

tain Indian lands. His descendants claim these lands, 31. Other Indian

lands deeded to MASON, and to his son. MASON's removal to Norwich, and

death there. His escape from envy and malice, 32. His Brief History of

the Pequot War. His house. His neglected grave, 33. His wives and

children. DANIEL MASON, and his son DANIEL. JEREMIAH MASON, 34.

ANNA MASON, the mother of Mrs. BOARDMAN, 35.

WILLIAM WHITING. His offices and employments, 35. The Dutch

claims, 36. WHITING and HILL's negotiations on the subject, 37. The case

of the Dutch Governor KIEFT and Mr. WHITING, 38. WHITING'S charac-

ter. SEQUASSEN'S plot to murder HOPKINS, HAYNES, and WHITING, 39.

WHITING'S estate and charities. His children. The Rev. JOHN WHITING, 40.

The Rev. SAMUEL WHITING, 41. Colonel WILLIAM WHITING, 42. The

battle of Lake St. Sacrament, 43. The retreat of Colonel WHITING. ANNA

RAYMOND. Anecdote of her mother and Capt. KIDD, 44. The sons of

Colonel WHITING, 45.

DOCTOR WILLIAM WHITING. He marries ANNA MASON. Her per-

son and character, 45. Dr. WHITING removes from Hartford to Great Bar-

rington. His professional and private character. His musical predilection, 46.

Receives a Puritan rebuke for his great love of music. His professional

standing, 47. His political standing, and civil offices, 48. He is, for five

years, the only acting Justice of the Peace in Berkshire, 49. He is First

Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, 50. The state of our country from

1783 to 1789. SHAYS' Insurrection. Dr. WHITING'S Essay for the Times, 51.

The nature of this Essay. His peril from a mob, 52. He urges pacific

measures, 53. His account of the actual scene presented by the western

counties of Massachusetts, his statement of the causes of the prevailing

distress and disquiet, and his exhibition of the only effectual remedies, 54—

60. The want of gunpowder for the prosecution of the Revolutionary

War. Measures of Congress, on this subject, 61. And of the Assembly of

Massachusetts. ROBERT TREAT PAINE and Dr. WHITING, very zealous on

the subject. The great success of Dr. WHITING's efforts to supply saltpetre.

His wife coöperates with him in these efforts, 62. His death. His religious

views, 64. His controversy with Dr. BELLAMY, on the baptism of the infant

children of non-communicants, 65-73. The organization of St. James'

Church, Great Barrington. The ordination of Mr. BosTWICK, 74. The peace-

ful manner of Dr. WHITING's death. His children and descendants, 75.

CHAPTER II. HER INFANCY, YOUTH, AND EDUCATION.

When and where born. Her baptism. The Revolutionary War, 77. Her

recollections of BURGOYNE and "the enemy." Her person and character in

childhood. Her religious education, 78. Her confirmation. Her academic

studies at New Haven, under Mr. MORSE. The counsels of her father.

Her health impaired by her studies, 79. General IVES' letter to her. Her

brother SAMUEL, her chief correspondent, 81. His devotedness, 82. The

family evening walks, 83. His counsels on her behavior among gentle-

men, 84, 85. His lively interest in her studies and recreations. Her atten-

tion to composition, 86. His Epistolary Ode to her, 88. His advice on her

studies, 91. Her attendance at balls. She removes from Mrs. BUEL's to

Mrs. DAGGETT'S, 92. Is visited by her father, and her brothers SAMUEL and

WILLIAM, 93. The character of her correspondence with her brother SAM-

UEL, 94. Her delightful home. Her preference for rural above city pleas-

ures. Her friend PATTY WILLIAMS, 95. Her brother SAMUEL's poem on

Solitude, 96. The poem's religious character. Her early and faithful Chris-

tian discipline, 97. She returns (1785) to Great Barrington, 98.

CHAPTER III. HER WOMANHOOD.

She resides at home for seven years before her marriage. Reflections on this

period of her life, 99. Her occupations, 100. Their admirable influence on

her character. DAVID SHERMAN BOARDMAN's account of her at this time, 101.

Her home and occupations described by her gifted friend and correspondent

BIDWELL, 102. And by her friend ESTHER FARRAND. Her refined and

amiable sensibilities depicted by her friend HETTY BOARDMAN, 103. Her

sprightly correspondent POLLY PITKIN, 104-106. Her friends Mrs. GooD-

RICH, Mrs. TRACY, and Miss FRANKS. Her affectionate cousin JEREMIAH

MASON, 107. His correspondence with her. His removal to Vermont, 108.

His painful feelings at the thought of burying himself in obscurity, 109. His

subsequent eminence. Eulogies on his character, by Mr. WEBSTER and Mr.

CHOATE, 110, 111. His cousin MARY ANNA's admiration of him. Her cor-

respondence with several gentlemen. The elegant refinement of this cor-

respondence, 112. Mr. BIDWELL's letters and poetic epistle to her, 113—

116. Her brother SAMUEL's letters to her, 117. Letters to her from HETTY

BOARDMAN and Mrs. TRACY, 118. And from POLLY PITKIN, 119. Her

brother SAMUEL's letters to her on marriage, 120. Her wise discretion on

this subject, 121.

CHAPTER IV. HER MARRIAGE AND FAMILY.

She marries ELIJAH BOARDMAN.

Account of the Rev. DANIEL BOARDMAN, his
grandfather, 123. And of Deacon SHERMAN BOARDMAN, his father. The age

and character of ELIJAH BOARDMAN, 124. His person, presence, temperament,

and habits, 125. His mother. His education. At the age of sixteen years,

he enlists as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. His father's letter to him,

on his duties as a soldier and a Christian, 126. Extracts from this letter,

127-129. The son's hardships and privations in the army, 129. He be-

comes a merchant. His views of marriage. Bishop TAYLOR's eloquent ob-

servations on the subject, 130. The refined pleasures of Mr. BOARDMAN'S

alliance, 131. He builds his family residence at New Milford. His corres-

pondence, at this period, with his wife, 132. Extracts from her letters to

him. Her father's death. Her husband's letter to her on the occasion, 133,

134. Her pastor, the Rev. GIDEON BOSTWICK, dies. Her correspondence

with her husband on the subject, 135. Sketch of the Rev. Mr. BOSTWICK'S

life and character, 136-140. Mrs. BOARDMAN's domestic and maternal du-

ties. Her deafness, 141. Her home pleasures, 142. Her letters to her

children at schools and colleges. Extracts from letters to her sons, 143-

146. Mr. BOARDMAN's letters to his son WILLIAM at the age of eight years,

and to his son GEORGE, 146, 147. The correspondence of the sons. The

devout gratitude of Mr. and Mrs. BOARDMAN for their children, 148. Their

conjugal attachinent. Mr. BOARDMAN's sickness at Hartford, and at Putney,

149-151. Mrs. BOARDMAN induces her husband to have family prayer, 152.

The passing away of her early friends. Mrs. STONE'S farewell stanzas to

her, 153. The death of her husband's parents, and of her mother. Her

daughter MARY ANNA dies, 154. Her letters of condolence from Mrs. JA-

COB and Mrs. Merwin, 155–157. And from her brother SAMUEL, 158.

His verses on MARY ANNA's death. Mr. and Mrs. BOARDMAN's journey to

Ohio, 159. His lands there. His civil offices. His character, 160. His

religious principles, and his churchmanship. His confirmation. His admi-

ration of the character of WASHINGTON, 161. The peaceful end of this

great Christian patriot, 162. Mr. BOARDMAN's last illness. The case of

his daughter CAROLINE alone at home, 163, 164. His last illness and his

death, described by his niece HARRIET WHITING, 165-168. And by his

son WILLIAM, 168. He receives the Holy Communion, and takes leave of

his family, 169. His last words, 170, 171. Obituary notices of him, 171—

173. The grief and sorrows of his widow, 173, 174.

CHAPTER V. HER WIDOWHOOD AND OLD AGE.

She survives her husband, almost twenty-five years. The memories that hov-

ered around her homestead, 175. Her painful associations with the home

of her son Henry, in Ohio. Her deafness.

177. The death of her son GEORGE, 178.

sermons of the pastor of her childhood, the

Her serene gravity of age, 176,

Her sorrows are soothed by MS.

Rev. Mr. BOSTWICK, 179. And

by letters from her brother SAMUEL, and from MATTHEW MARVIN. Her com-

fort in her children, 180, 181. Her letters to her daughters, 182-185. Her

lively interest in her daughter CAROLINE'S children, 186-189. This daugh-

ter's illness, and voyage to Europe, 189-191. And return to New

York, 192. The death of the daughter's children MARY ANNA and WIL-

LIAM HENRY, 193. Mrs. McDONALD'S stanzas on the death of MARY ANNA,

194. Sketch of MARY ANNA's life, 195-209. Verses on her death, by

Miss HALE, 210. The Rev. Mr. FRENCH's account of her funeral, 211-

214. The Rev. Mr. BROWN'S Consolatory verses on her death, 215. Mrs.

BOARDMAN'S letters of condolence to her daughter CAROLINE, 216-218. She

is beloved by her children, 219. They and her grandchildren celebrate

her 74th birthday. Her old age, 220, 221. The death of her brother SAM-

UEL, 222. Sketch of his life and character, 223–232. Her remarks on

her old age and infirmities, 233, 234. The death of her son HENRY, 235.

Sketch of his life and character, 234-256. Reunion and recognition in

heaven, 257. Mrs. BOARDMAN's faithfulness as a Christian mother, 258.

Her admirable character in old age, 259, 260.

CHAPTER VI. HER CHARACTER.

Her person and her presence, 261, 262. Her views of life and death, 263.

Her religious principles and habits, 266-274. Her benevolence and char-

ity, 274-276. Her philanthropy, 277. Her devout gratitude, 278. Her

love of country, 279-282. Her love of the Church, 283-285. Her holy

life, 286. Her meekness, and kind condescension, 287, 288. Her domestic

virtues, 289. Her humility. Her home described, 290-297. Her piety.

Her social virtues, 298. Her affection for her brother WILLIAM, 299. For

her brother SAMUEL and his children, 300. For her brothers ABRAHAM and

MASON, 301. Sketch of the life and character of MASON WHITING, 301-

306. FANNY WHITING, 307. ELIZABETH WHITING, 308-310. A party of

Mrs. BOARDMAN's aged friends, 311. Her love for her children, 311-315.

Her love for her grandchildren, 316–319. Her spirituality of mind. Its
influence on her children, and on her grandchildren, 320. Anecdote of
her infant grandson HENRY HERMANN. She blesses him on her sick bed,
320, 321.

CHAPTER VII. HER LAST ILLNESS, AND HER DEATH AND BURIAL.

The symptoms and cause of her last illness, 322. The devoted affection of
her daughters, 323-326. Her grandson JOHN FREDERICK'S account of his
last interview with her, 326, 327. The views of Bishop KEN and Arch-
bishop SECKER, on the communion of saints, 328. Mrs. BOARDMAN's death-
bed, 328. Her farewell to her family. Her pastor's visit, 329. Her sleep