Lucius Robinson Paige, D. D. Born March 8, 1802

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LUCIUS ROBINSON PAIGE, D.D.

BORN MARCH 8, 1802.
DIED SEPTEMBER 2, 1896.

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Rkpbintkd from the Procekdings of the American Antiquarian
Society, at the October Meeting, 1896.

WORCESTER, MASS.
1897.

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4
8

WORCESTER:

PRESS OF CHAS. HAMILTON,

311 MAIN STREET.

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MEMOIR.

Lucius Robinson Paige, D.D., died at his resi-
dence in Cambridge, Mas.sacliusetts, on the afternoon of
September 2, 1896, in the ninety-fifth year of his age.

He was horn in Hardwitk, ^Massachusetts, on the 8th of
March, 1802, and was the youngest of the nine children of
Timothy and Mary (Robinson) Paige of that town. His
grandfather. Colonel Timothy Paige, was active in the war
of the Revolution as a member of the " Committee of
Correspondence" and as an officer of the militia. From the
♦'History of Hardwick" we learn that he led his com-
pany to Bennington, at the alarm in August, 1777, and to
West Point in 1780 ; that on the organization of the militia
after the adoption of the Constitution, he was commissioqed
Colonel, which office he held during the remainder of his
life ; that he was a strenuous supporter of the government,
and rendered service in the suppression of the Shays
rebellion.

Mr. Paige's father, although but eighteen years old at
the time of the outbreak of hostilities at Lexington, Con-
cord and Cambridge, in April, 1775, joined the "Minute
Men" and marched with them to Cambridge. In his
maturer years, the sufiVagcs of his fellow-citizens placed
and retained him in positions of responsibility during the
greater part of his life. He was a representative in the
General Court for seventeen consecutive years, and a dele-
gate to the Convention for revising the State Constitution
in 1820. On his decease, the leading newspapers spoke

of him as an ** undeviating patriot," and "universally
esteemed for his intelligence and unbending integrity.''
Other members of the family and their connections by
marriage, were among the most respected and useful citi-
zens of Hardwick. Of this number were Brig. -Gen.
Timothy Ruggles, and Maj.-Gen. Jonathan Warner.

The American ancestry of Mr. Paige includes, in the
paternal line, Elder William Brewster and Governor
Thomas Prence of the Plymouth Colony ; in the maternal
line, Governor Thomas Dudley of the Massachusetts Col-
ony. Many of his ancestors attained remarkable longevity.

Mr. Paige was educated in the common schools of
Hardwick, and at Hopkins Academy in Hadley, Mass.
Having determined, after much reflection, to enter the
ministry of the Universalist denomination, he placed
himself in 1823 under the direction and instruction of the
Reverend Hosea Ballou of Boston. His first sermon was
preached in Charlestown, June 1, 1823. His first pastorate
was in Springfield, Mass. There hi^ arduous labors, both
by voice and pen, resulted in a marked increase of his
denomination in that town and its vicinity. His second
pastorate was in that part of Gloucester now known as
Rockport. In 1832, Mr. Paige was called to the Church
in Cambridge, and there also he gained a high reputation as
an able preacher and zealous pastor. Through ftiilure of
health in 1839, he was compelled to relinquish this pastoral
charge, with the warning that he had but a short time to
live. He preached occasionally, however, during the next
ensuing thirty j'ears.

In the early years of his ministry, Mr. Paige was a
frequent contributor to the religious press. In 1830 he
reprinted from the Religious Enquirer^ of Hartford, Conn.,
his polemical paper entitled " Universalism Defended."
Soon afterwards he published his " Selections from Eminent

Commentators " (Boston, 1833). This work passed through
several editions, and was favorably received beyond the
pale of his own denomination. In 1835 he began in the
Trumpet, of which for some time he was an assistant
editor, a series of *' Notes on the Scriptures," and these
contributions were continued for several years.

Mr. Paige held the office of town clerk of Cambridge
from March, 1839, to January, 1840, and again from
March, 1843, to May, 1846. From May, 1846, to Octo-
ber, 1855, he was the city clerk, and from 1842 to 1847,
one of the assessors of taxes. He helped to organize the
Cambridgeport Savings Bank, was its Treasurer from 1855
to 1871, and at his death was its Vice-President and one of
its Directors. Of the Cambridgeport Bank (now a National
Bank), he was the Cashier for about seven years, its Presi-
dent three years, and one of its Directors from 1857 until
his decease.

In adition to these secular labors, Mr. Paige devoted his
evenings to the preparation of his "Commentary on the
New Testament." The first of the six volumes was pub-
lished in 1844; the last, in 1870. This work has been the
standard Commentary in his denomination, and is still in
demand.

In the year 1850, in recognition of Mr. Paige's acquire-
ments and literary labors, Harvard College conferred upon
him the honorary degree of Master of Arts.

Amidst his many engagements and studies, he found
time also to prosecute historical and genealogical investi-
gations. In 1838 he delivered the historical discourse at
the centennial commemoration of the incorporation of
Hardwick. He had then begun a systematic collection of
materials for a history of that town, but this work was
not completed until after the lapse of forty years. While
holding the office of clerk of Cambridge, Mr. Paige became

deeply interested in the history of that ancient town ; and at
the suggestion of a member of this Society, the late Gov-
ernor Emory Washburn, he made a careful exploration of
the records in his custody, supplementing this research by
a thorough examination of the records of the old parishes,
the records and files of the Courts, and the State archives
in Boston. The "History of Cambridge" was published
in 1877, and the " History of Hardwick" in 1883. Be-
sides the historical narrative, each of these volumes contains
a very full and carefully compiled " Genealogical Register"
of the early settlers and their descendants. These volumes
are, in the most essential respects, models of what a town
history should be. They contain the most important
information obtainable from the sources then open to the
author, and this is presented in a clear and concise narra-
tive. By his habit of careful research, his perfect honesty
and freedom from prejudice, Mr. Paige was well fitted for
this task. In the estimation of those most competent to pass
judgment, these volumes are authorities. But they are
something more than authorities. They not only instruct;
they inspire. Their educational value was happily set
forth by President Eliot of Harvard University in his re-
cent address to the assembled school-children of Cam-
bridge. "I trust," he said, "that all of you study
faithfully Paige's History of Cambridge. Nobody deserves
the privilege of growing up in this city who does not make
himself familiar with that book. It is an epitome of the
history, not only of this town, but of a good many other
Puritan towns. It fills this place with memories of by-gone
scenes and deeds which were precious to the people of those
times, and are precious still to us, their descendants or
successors."

Mr. Paige was prominently connected with the Masonic
fraternity. He became a mason in 1824, and was Master

of Lodges in Hardwick and Cambridge, successively. In
1826, he was elected an Eminent Commander of Knights
Temphirs. In the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, he held
the office of Grand Steward in 1849-50, of Grand Deacon
in 1851, and of Deputy Grand Master in 1852, 1853 and
1854. This last appointment made him a member ad
vitam of the Grand Body, — a relation which he cherished
with much pleasure. In 1861, he became a member of the
Supreme Council ; was its Secretary two years, and Secre-
tary of State three years. He had for many years been
the representative of the Supreme Council of Belgium
in the Supreme Council 33° of the Northern Masonic
Jurisdiction of the United States. At his decease, he
was the oldest Past Commander of Knights Templars in
the jurisdiction of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and
the oldest member of the Grand Lodge.

Mr. Paige was one of the Representatives of Cambridge
in the General Court in 1878 and 1879.

He became a member of the Board of Trustees of Tufts
College in 1860, and was its Secretary from 1862 to 1876.
Previous to becoming a Trustee, he served on committees
for laying the foundations of this institution and arranging
its curriculum of studies. At the time of his death, he was
the senior Trustee, not only in years, but in length of
service. He received from this Colleije in 1861 the honor-
ary degree of Doctor of Divinity, and the dormitory of its
Divinity School is named in his honor — " Paige Hall."
His gifts to the College during his life amounted to five
thousand dollars. He bequeathed to it two thousand dol-
lars, to establish a scholarship. He also bequeathed to the
town of Hardwick his library and the sum of ten thousand
dollars towards the foundation of a Public Library, on cer-
tain conditions — failing which, his library is bequeathed to
the "Ladies' Free Library Association" of Hardwick, and

the ten thousand dollars is to become the property of the
Trustees of Tufts College.

Dr. Paige was elected a member of this Society, October
21, 1878. He became a member of the Massachusetts
Historical Society in 1844, of the New-England Historic
Genealogical Society — being its first elected member — in
1845, an honorary member of the Worcester Society of
Antiquity in 1876, and of the Phi Beta Kappa Society in
1877. He was, also, a corresponding member of other
historical societies.

He was married four times. His first wife was Clarinda,
daughter of Ezekiel Richardson of Brookfield. She died
in 1833. His second wife, Abby R., daughter of Joseph
Whittemore of Charlestown, died in 1843. Lucy, his
third wife, was a daughter of Barnabas Comins of Charlton,
and widow of Solomon Richardson of Brookfield. She
died in 1864. He had five children, all of whom have
deceased. His fourth wife, who survives him at the age of
ninety, was the widow of the Hon. David T. Brigham of
Keokuk, Iowa, daughter of Robert M. Peck, and grand-
daughter of the Hon. Joseph Allen of Worcester. She is
also a grandniece of Samuel Adams, the Revolutionary
leader and patriot.

The later years of Dr. Paige's life were passed in com-
parative retirement ; but he was never idle. He continued
to be actively interested in the several fraternal societies of
which he was a member, and in the. religious and educa-
tional institutions of his denomination. Respected and
trusted by his fellow-citizens of every religious body and
of all political parties, his counsel and cooperation were
sought in the eftbrts made, happily with a large degree of
success, to promote the good government and general
welfare of Cambridge. For many years he was regular in
his attendance at the meetings of the historical societies.

For the last four or five years his attendance was necessarily
less frequent. His communications whenever present, and
his letters when he was compelled to be absent, gave, even
to the last, no indication of decay in his mental powers.
His large correspondence, his reading of historical and
kindred books, and unfailing interest in public events,
furnished ami)le employment for his mind. He knew
what was transpiring in foreign lands and in the world
about him, and he also knew the chief contents of the
monthlies and quarterlies. Surrounded by his carefully
selected library, and by pieces of furniture and other relics
that had descended to him from his ancestors, he read —
read without glasses — and made copious notes, to the end
of life.

Those who knew Dr. Paige only as a citizen, with his
quiet, digniticd and refnicd manners and gentle spirit, were
in a large measure strangers to his reserved force, his
capacity for concentrated thought, and the deep and strong
currents of his emotional nature. To those who were
honored with his intimate friendship in his own home,
when the doors were shut and the curtains drawn, he
disclosed his abounding humor, the warmth and generosity
of his heart, the sweetness, purity, and elevation of his
nature. He also gave evidence, in his unpretentious way,
of the fulness and accuracy of his knowledge of history,
both ancient and modern, and his extraordinary memory.
He seemed to have forgotten nothing that he had read or
witnessed. His conversation was enlivened by a great
fund of illustrative reminiscences ; but he was always a
gentleman and dealt kindly with the reputations of his con-
temporaries and of the dead. He abhorred that habit which
reveals itself in the repetition of scandal, and in efforts to
excite mirth over the weaknesses and eccentricities of other
men. Of such "reminiscences" Dr. Paige could not be

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the author or the disseminator. Nor was this reserve the
dictate of mere prudence. We might rather apply to
him the remark made by Paul de Remusat concerning
M. Thiers, and say that this reserve was not an " incident
of his life," but "was a trait of his character."

Born and bred among a people who were separated from
the Puritan epoch more by a long interval of years than
by any substantial difference in spirit or in principles,
Dr. Paige inherited their quick and clear apprehension of
truth and justice, their unswerving loyalty to whatever
they regarded as the imperative demand of duty. But
his Puritanism was ameliorated by warm sympathies for
his fellow-men, a tolerant disposition, and a serene faith in
the infinite love of his Divine Master.

He was conservative in respect to established principles
in the sphere of politics and government, and in the sphere
of ethics and conduct. At the same time, he was unaf-
fectedly hospitable to every real advance in science and
Christian philosophy, as he was, likewise, to every rational
efibrt for reform in civil and in social life.

Looking back over his long life, he took delight in
noting the upward progress of the race. He believed in
the "Brotherhood of Man," and saw with joy every step
gained towards the conciliation of the nations.

In his nearer view, he looked for the best results from
the average man. He saw how, under the cooperating
influences of wise laws and good government, of peaceful
and useful industries, of the culture that comes from the
schools and the wide diffusion of the products of the prmt-
ing-prcss, and more than all, under the benign influence of
religious institutions and inculcations, — the average man
is advancing to a plane higher than that occupied by his
predecessors. And this advance, although it might be
interrupted and delayed by periods of reaction, he believed

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would continue. Hence he was never disturbed by sudden
gusts of folly and fanaticism, of social and political pas-
sion. Hence he could not be a '* prophet of evil," nor,
like Carlyle, a hero-worshiper. He approved the saying
of the late Sir John Seeley, that hero-worship is the nat-
ural issue of '* despair of society." It seemed to him "a
sign of pessimism," as another writer has said, "just as
pessimism in turn is a sign either of epicureanism, or of
impatience." His hopefulness saved him from impatience ;
his Christian foith furnished a firm basis for his recognition
of "avast providential law of secular progress," and so
saved him from despair.

To Dr. Paige was granted an ideal old age, which was
passed in a community where everybody was his friend,
eager to show him tokens of reverent regard, and during
all which he was ministered to by a loyal and devoted wife
— a playmate and schoolmate of his boyhood days, the
companion of the last thirty years of his life. The end
came after only a few days of serious illness — his vision
undimmed, his mind unclouded, his Faith unshaken, his
resignation perfect.

ALBERT H. HOYT.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

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