Henry Warren Torrey, born in Plymouth, was the son of John and Marcia Otis (Warren) Torrey. He graduated at Harvard in 1833, and studied law in the office of his uncle, Charles Henry Warren in New Bedford. He was at the same time co-operating with Frederick Percival Leverett in preparing what is known as Leverett’s latin lexicon, published in 1837. While engaged in that work his eyes became seriously affected, and practice in the profession of law was abandoned. I remember that at the time of the great whig celebration in Boston on the 10th of September, 1840, he was living in New Bedford, and on that occasion the New Bedford delegation carried a banner with an inscription of which he was the author. On the banner a whale ship was painted with a whale alongside in the process of stripping, and the fires under the try pots smoking on deck, and beneath was the inscription: “Martin VanBuren—we have tried him in, and now we will try him out.”
In 1844 Mr. Torrey was appointed tutor at Harvard and instructor in elocution, and served until 1848. My impression is that from 1848 to 1856 he lived in Hamilton Place, Boston, and with his sister, Elizabeth, taught a young ladies’ school. In 1856 he was appointed McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History at Harvard, serving until 1886, when on his resignation he was appointed Professor Emeritus, serving until his death. In 1879 he received the degree of LL. D. from Harvard, and from 1888 until his death, he was a Harvard overseer. He was also a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He died in Cambridge in 1893.
Lemuel Stephens, son of Lemuel and Sally (Morton) Stephens, was born in Plymouth, February 22, 1814. He belonged to a sturdy race, and I well remember his grandfather, William, who was born in 1752. His father, Lemuel and his uncle William, occupied the two Stephens’ houses between Union street and the shore, but I am inclined to think, while Lemuel built the house he occupied, that the house William occupied was built by his father. Lemuel and William, the father and uncle of the subject of this notice were engaged many years in the grand bank fishery, and Stephens’ wharf, which since the abandonment of the fishery has gradually crumbled away, presented once a busy scene when the Jane and Constitution and the Duck and the Industry were fitting out in the spring, and washing out in the autumn. The Stephens brothers were men of brains, and consequently men of ideas, men who were called pessimists because they looked out for weak spots in government and society, and sought to correct them. The optimists on the other hand flattered themselves that everything was right when everything was wrong, and that the ship was tight, though leaking a thousand strokes an hour. They were the earliest abolitionists in the town, the earliest advocates of temperance reform, the earliest promoters of a well maintained education of the people, while the optimists as long as they were making money said, “All is well, let things be.”
Lemuel Stephens of whom I specially speak, the son of Lemuel, graduated at Harvard in 1835, and soon after graduation went to Pittsburg in Pennsylvania, where for a time he taught in a private school. After leaving Pittsburg he went to Germany for study, spending three years in Heidelberg and Gottingen. On his return he was appointed Professor of chemistry in the western University of Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1850, when he was appointed professor of chemistry and physics in Gerard College, continuing in service until 1885. He married Ann Maria Buckminster of Framingham, Mass., a relative of Rev. Dr. Joseph Stevens Buckminster, once pastor of Brattle street church in Boston, and died in Philadelphia, March 25, 1892.
Another Plymouth man, of whom I must speak, was Winslow Marston Watson, of whom few of my readers ever heard. The son of Winslow Watson he was born I think on Clark’s Island in 1812, and graduated at Harvard in 1833. His mother, Mrs. Harriet Lothrop Watson, was a close observer of persons and families, their traits of character and their relations to each other, and was the first genealogist whom I ever saw. Her son, Winslow, inherited her powers of observation, and her remarkable memory, which in a broader sphere of life made him a reconteur of wide reputation. He early entered the profession of journalism, and in 1842 I found him, while on a visit to Troy, the editor of the Troy Whig. He later removed to Washington, where for some years he rendered valuable service as correspondent of leading newspapers in New England and New York. His artistic taste and literary ability attracted the attention of Mr. Corcoran, the wealthy banker and patron of art, and in his service he performed appreciative work. I doubt whether any man ever lived in Washington who came in contact with more persons of distinction, and could portray their characters and habits more thoroughly, than Mr. Watson. For nearly forty years I never failed to see him when visiting Washington, and if he had followed my advice to publish a book of reminiscences he would have made a valuable contribution to the literature of Washington life. His personality was striking, of medium height and weight, with a fair complexion and large protuberant blue eyes, with that sad, patient, placid, yet protesting expression which Homer recognized who called the celestial queen the ox-eyed Juno. He married in 1852 Louisa Gibbons, and died in Washington in 1889. He was a cousin of the late Benjamin Marston Watson, of whom I have already spoken, and to whom it occurs to me to refer again by inserting the following lines, which I inscribed in a book presented to him on his last birthday, and which better than my earlier reference to him, illustrate the beauty of his character and life:
A placid stream, with flowers on either hand,
And meads beyond, tempting the eye of art;
With here and there a ripple as it runs
Against opposing winds, or flows triumphant
Over hidden shoals, with lips upturned