REV. NAPHTALI SHAW OF BRADFORD, VT.
Naphtali Shaw was born at Bridgewater, Ms., June 20, 1764, and was the fourth son of his parents. His father, who was by occupation a tanner and shoemaker, was William Shaw, who lived in Bridgewater, and married Hannah, daughter of Samuel West, who was a Deacon of the Congregational Church in that place, and lived to be more than eighty years of age. He had five sons and six daughters. At the age of fifteen the subject of this Memoir enlisted as a soldier in the Revolutionary army, and went with others to take Rhode Island, which was in 1779 in possession of the British, but he did not continue long in the service, the object being accomplished. He prepared for college under the instructions of Dr. Crane, a physician of Titicut Parish, and the Rev. Dr. Reed of West Bridgewater. In 1786, he entered the Freshman Class of Dartmouth College, and graduated there in 1790. After receiving his bachelor's degree, he taught school at Easton, Ms., and at Boston, as an assistant of Mr. Caleb Bingham, an instructor of much celebrity. His theological course of study was pursued under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Sanger of Bridgewater, who was in the habit of educating young men for the ministry. He was approbated to preach the gospel, as it was then called, by the Plymouth Association of Ministers, Aug. 1, 1792. Jan. 30, 1793, he was ordained Pastor of the church in Kensington, N. H., where he remained till Jan. 13, 1813, when he was dismissed on account of ill health. His ministry was pacific and useful; peace and harmony were restored, and the cause of education, morals, and religion promoted. His health was such, that upon resignation, he retired from the ministry, and devoted himself to agricultural pursuits, having purchased a farm in the town of Bradford, Vt., where he still lives in the enjoyment of his bodily and mental powers, to a good degree, at the age of 84 years.
Mr. Shaw married, June 10, 1798, Mary Crafts, daughter of Dr. John Staples Crafts of Bridgewater, who was to him a great blessing. "The greatest blessing," said Martin Luther, "with which a man can be favored is a pious and amiable wife, who fears God and loves her family, with whom he may live in peace, and in whom he may repose confidence." The wife of Mr. Shaw died Jan. 14, 1840. Their children were four;—Thomas Crafts, living in Bradford, Vt., a farmer, and a deacon of the church in that place, who married Sarah Jenkins, by whom he has two daughters, Sarah Jane and Mary Ann; Eliza Park, who married Dea. Randell H. Wild of West Fairlee, who died in Bradford, Dec. 22, 1841, leaving two daughters, Elisabeth and Emily; Samuel West, who married Jerusha Bliss of Fairlee, and died March 12, 1832, leaving no child; Mary Ann, who died July 12, 1808, in childhood.