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ISAIAH THOMAS 1749-1831

Senior Grand Warden, 1795-1797
Grand Master, 1803-1805
Grand Master, 1809

TERM

1803 1804 1805

1809

NOTES

INTERMENT, JUNE 1878

From Liberal Freemason, Vol. II, No. 4, July 1878, Page 114:

THE INTERMENT OF ISAIAH THOMAS.

The growth of the city of Worcester having so far exceeded the conception of fifty years ago, that the public interests have long since required the abandonment for purposes of sepulture, of the "burying ground" then provided by the town, and the right of eminent domain has now doomed it to the requirements of the city's interests.

The 24th of June, 1878, will be long remembered in Worcester as a day of especial interest to Citizens and Masons alike, who together observed in a becoming manner, the removal and re-interment of the remains of Isaiah Thomas, LL.D., famous as an Editor, and influential as a citizen in the revolutionary period — and who afterwards became famous as a distinguished Mason. He was Grand Master, as shown in the address of Grand Master Welch; and was Grand High Priest in 1806-1807 and 1808, being elected in September of each year.

Many distinguished visitors were present, as guests of the city, or of the Masonic Fraternity: The Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association, and the Mechanics' Apprentices Library Association of Boston were represented. The Hon. Stephen Salisbury, President of the American Antiquarian Society, of which Dr. Thomas was the first President, gave an Address. The Hon. John D. Baldwin spoke for the Spy, a newspaper founded and edited by Dr. Thomas, July 17th, 1770, as the Massachusetts Spy, published in Boston until April l775, when it was removed to Worcester, chiefly because of the risk it incurred in consequence of its uncompromising stand in behalf of the Colonies. Speeches were made by others, including Bro. Marshall P. Wilder, President of the Massachusetts Genealogical Society.

The Masonic fraternity was represented by the following.

• Grand Lodge:
  • Grand Master C. A. Welch; ** Deputy Grand Master A. H. Howland of New Bedford;
  • Senior Grand Warden William H. Chessman, Boston;
  • Junior Grand Warden I. B. Sayles of Millbury;
  • Grand Secretary T. P. Cheever;
  • Grand Treasurer John McClellan;
  • Acting Grand Chaplain George P. Sanger;
  • Senior Grand Deacon J. M. Rodonocanachi;
  • Junior Grand Deacon Marlborough Williams;
  • Grand Marshal Lyman Winship;
  • Grand Sword Bearer H. J. Parker;
  • Grand Tyler F. E. Jones.
• Grand Chapter:
  • Past Grand High Priest M. E. Alfred F. Chapman;
  • Grand R., E. Z. H. Thomas, Jr.;
  • Companion H. W. F. T. Stramps, of the District of Columbia.

The exercises of the day began with the marching of the Worcester County Commandery of Knights Templar from their quarters on Pearl Street to the Union Station, to receive the Officers of the Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter, and Grand Commandery. After receiving these guests the Commandery countermarched up Front street and down Main street to Mechanics Hall, receiving the several organizations on Front street, in the following order:

Detachment of Police, Officer Mathews in command.
Gen. Josiah Pickett, Chief Marshal, and Staff.
Worcester Brass Band, T. C. Richardson, leader.
Worcester County Commandery, Knights Templar, David F. Parker, Eminent Commander; R. H. Chamberlain, Generalissimo; R. James Tattnan, Captain General. 107 Sir Knights.
Morning Star Lodge, Albert J. Stone, Worshipful Master; Edwin S. Pike, Senior Warden; Henry A. Southwick, Junior Warden; accompanied by members of Montacute Lodge, Athelstan Lodge, Quinsigamond Lodge, and visiting brethren. 197 men.
Eureka Royal Arch Chapter, W. A. Farnsworth, E. H. P., 42 men.
Worcester Royal Arch Chapter, Thomas Talbot, E. H. P., 46 men.
Grand Lodge of Massachusetts and Grand Chapter of Massachusetts in carriages, and representative of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Bearers in carriages.
Morning Star Lodge, H. A. Richardson, W. M.; Montacute Lodge, W. A. Smith, P. M.; Athelstan Lodge, Samuel T. Bigelow, P. M. Quinsigamond Lodge, H. C. Wadworth, P. M.
(The bearers were all the first masters of the several lodges which they represented, except the one from the Morning Star Lodge.)
Hearse.

Guard of Honor.
F. H. Kelley, J. W. Jordan, Charles G. Reed, Charles Belcher, G. J. Rugg, Geo. W. Brady, Charles H. Fitch, J. B. Lawrence.
Carriages.
Judge Thomas and Family.
His Honor Charles B. Pratt.
Hon. George F. Hoar, Hon. W. W. Rice.
Ex-Mayors and Sheriff.
City Government.
American Antiquarian Society.
Franklin Typographical Society of Boston.
Journalists.
Other Invited Guests.

After the ceremonies in Mechanic's Hall were completed, the line of march was taken up to Rural Cemetery. Here the exercises were conducted by the Masonic Fraternity, and began with the following address by M. W. Grand Master Charles A. Welch.

GRAND MASTER WELCH'S SPEECH

BROTHERS: We have met to deposit in this resting-place of the dead — this human habitation, "Where friends with friends still meeting, our meeting never greet," — what remains of the mortal frame of one of our most remarkable Grand Masters. Members of other Societies with which he was honorably connected have to-day very impressively commemorated his important services to his country as a printer and publisher, as a writer, as an antiquary, as a patriot; this city, which he selected for his residence, has, through its officers and citizens, borne witness to the good influence which he exerted as a public-spirited member of its community, as a generous and liberal hearted man, who waited not till death to dispense his charities, but willingly diminished a part of the wealth which he had accumulated by his own industry and ability, for the public advantage. It re mains for us, with whom he is united by the sacred tie of the Masonic brotherhood, to show our respect for him as a man and a Mason, our grateful recollection of the services which he rendered us by the courage with which he supported our institutions in its day of trouble, by performing around this spot to which his remains are removed our solemn ceremonies, and thus to offer to his memory before the world the tribute of our Fraternal affection. Brother Thomas was Master of Morning Star Lodge of this city, and was Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts in the successive years commencing Dec 27th, 1802, Dec. 12th, 1803, and Dec. 10th, 1804. The distinguished lawyer and advocate, Timothy Bigelow, was the first of these years Junior G. W. of the G. L., and two latter years Senior G. W. and succeeded him as Grand Master. After Brother Bigelow had served three years, Brother Thomas was again elected G. M. and served one year, and I find that during the four years in which he acted as G. M. his friend and fellow antiquary, Thaddeus M. Harris, was the corresponding G. Sec., of the G. L. Benjamin Russell, a fellow printer and publisher, with whom he had also many other points of sympathy, was a member of the Grand Lodge, and during a part of the time the excellent and venerable Dr. Ripley, of Concord, as well as many others almost equally well-known for their integrity and purity of character, were also members. Bro. Thomas had previous to this, in 1790 or 1792, I think, written, printed, and published in quarto, a History of Masonry, with the Constitution of 1792, a History of Masonry, the Grand Lodge, a second edition of which was afterwards edited by his friend, Dr. Harris.

but this is an occasion in which we can but briefly allude to his services to our Order, when after an active and well-spent life, profitable alike to himself and the community in which he lived, at the ripe age of eighty-two, and in the year 1831, his spirit was about to appear before the Grand Master of the Universe, he bore testimony in his characteristic manner to the excellence of the principles of our Order, and I do not know that I can do better and show more clearly the estimation in which he was then held by the Masonic fraternity than to read to von one of the resolutions which his brethren of the Grand Lodge passed at that time.

"Resolved, 4th, That in accepting the legacy bequeathed to us by our late Past Grand Master Thomas, and in taking charge of the Masonic Records which he has committed to our care, we renewedly pledge ourselves to sustain and extend, so far as in our power, the principles and forms of the Masonic Institution — an institution which We know to be useful to its members and to the world, and which for many years enjoyed the active support, and has now received the dying blessing of that patriotic and distinguished citizen and Mason."

Brethren, the life of Isaiah Thomas, with its hard and laborious commencement, its subsequent useful and prosperous course, and its nappy ending, is full of instruction and encouragement. It shows how the very difficulties through which the young man may have to work his laborious path, may lend to strengthen the mind and form the character, may promote that sympathy with all classes of men which, if united with natural good qualities, will make him a sympathizer and assistant to others in their hardships and difficulties, and give him a sufficient knowledge of the world to properly direct and govern that sympathy, but the qualities I most respect and love in the character of our brother, as portrayed in the various remarks to which 1 have listened to-day, and which, I think, the portrait in our lodge room in Boston in some degree presents to one who observes it attentively, are the truth, frankness and independence of thought; and language, which always seemed to have characterized him. It has been written of him by one who has a natural right to resemble him in these very qualities, that such men, as far as public offices are concerned, are apt to find the post of honor in a private station This meeting of Thomas's fellow-citizens to do him honor, nearly fifty years after his death, the sentiments uttered this day on behalf of so many different bodies of men, the filial respect and admiration with which we, his brother Masons, now assemble around his grave and perform our ceremonial rites, quietly but decisively bear witness thai without public station, a good, upright and able man may do great good to the community in which he lives, may exert a great influence there, secure the permanent regard of his fellow-citizens, and leave a reputation of which his children, however distinguished, may be proud. Knowing then what the character of our departed brother was, we deposit these remains in this place of interment, without tears, without sadness, in the full confidence that —

There is no death! What seems so is transition;
This life of mortal health
Is but a suburb of the life Elysian,
whose portal we call death.

</blockquote>

The other exercises of the usual Masonic Burial Service were conducted by the representatives of the Grand Lodge. At the conclusion a Dinner was served by the Masonic Fraternity of VYorcester, to which the visiting brethern were invited, and special courtesies were extended by Brother and Sir David F. Parker.

GRAND MASTER GALLAGHER SPEECH, 1903

• 1903-186: Speech by Past Grand Master Gallagher; biographical information on Grand Master Thomas.

BIOGRAPHY

Isaiah Thomas. one of our best-known Grand Masters, was born in Boston a generation before the Revolution. He was apprenticed at an early age to a printer in the town, Zachariah Fowle, but his independent spirit ultimately forced him to seek employment elsewhere. Like another famous printer and Mason, Benjamin Franklin (whom he idolized), it had been young Thomas' intention to make his way across the ocean to London to improve his knowledge of the printing trade, but his travels only took him as far as Nova Scotia, where he found employment at the Halifax Gazette. His activities soon showed his political inclinations, forcing him to depart in haste after he published commentary in the newspaper regarding Nova Scotians' opposition to the Stamp Act.

By 1767 Thomas, now 18 years old, had retumed to his native Boston and reconciled with his former master, who employed him as a journeyman. After a brief sojourn south - which resulted, among other things, in his marriage to Mary Dill in Charleston, South Carolina, on Christmas Day 1769 - he returned and established himself in partnership with Fowle. By the fall of 1770 he had bought out Fowle, and was now the sole publisher of a newspaper of his own, lhe Massachusetts Spy, that reflected his own increasingly radical point of view. The paper, and Thomas himself, became increasingly associated with the Sons of Liberty, attracting contributors who favored the Patriot cause and opposed British rule. On April 19, 1775 he even published an account purported to be an eyewitness account of the battles of Lexington and Concord - electrifying news back in Boston. Shortly afterward, it became necessary for Thomas and the Spy to depart Boston; for the next few years both had a somewhat itinerant existence.

Thomas finally settled in Worcester, which thereafter became his home. Despite'the economic hardship of the Revolution, the young printer was able to flourish due to the prodigious output of his "forge of sedition." He made a number of close friends who assisted him in his efforts: prominently, Joseph Warren, Paul Revere, and Timothy Bigelow; Warren and Bigelow assisted him in transporting his press and type to Worcester just ahead of British soldiers, and Revere's engravings appeared in the Spy and even more frequently in the literary publication that would soon be renamed the Massachusetts Magazine.

In 1779 Isaiah Thomas remarried. Unusually for the time, he had been granted a divorce on the justifiable grounds of adultery on the part of his wife. His second wife Mary Thomas Fowle would be a loyal and loving companion until her death in 1818. In 1780 he was conscripted for military service, but his apprentice Benjamin Russell went in his stead and served with distinction. Thomas, meanwhile, built success upon success, establishing himself as the most prominent printer in Massachusetts and ultimately in the entire United States; in addition to his periodicals he began to print almanacs and books, including many children's books and some of the earliest editions of popular novels as well as the original Constitutions and Regulations of our Grand Lodge. In 1789 he acquired the rights to Noah Webster's spelling and grammar books, ultimately a very lucrative investment that helped establish his fortune.

Bro. Thomas' Masonic career began in the old Trinity Lodge in Lancaster, chartered by the Massachusetts (Independent ) Grand Lodge, where he was initiated some time after 1787. His first appearance in the Proceedings is in 1793 at the constitution of Morning Star Lodge in Worcester, where he was the first installed master. He was one of the first District Deputy Grand Masters after the positions were established, and by 1802 he had risen high enough in the Grand Lodge that he was chosen as Grand Master of Masons to succeed Samuel Dunn. His three-year term was extremely active; he granted thirteen charters, including five in the District of Maine and one in the State of Ohio (Scioto Lodge in Chillicothe, which would soon surrender its Massachusetts credentials to help found the Grand Lodge of Ohio).

After Most Wor. Timothy Bigelow's first three-year term, Bro. Thomas returned as Grand Master; his most memorable act was the recognition and welcome of the Lodge of Saint Andrew to Massachusetts jurisdiction, according it the second position of precedence behind only Saint John's Lodge of Boston.

Like his long-time friend Paul Revere, Thomas was well-known outside the fraternity as well as within it. His success as a businessman permitted him to retire in 1802, and gave him ample time to devote his attention to other interests. In addition to Freemasonry, Thomas was a skilled antiquarian; he published the seminal History of Printing in America in 1810, and in 1812 was a principal founder of the American Antiquarian Society, to which he ultimately donated his extensive library. He served as president of that organization until his death in 1831.

The building containing his 1796 printing office is currently located at Old Sturbridge Village; it lies a few hundred yards from the town green, near the stately house of Bro. Salem Towne. The press and other facilities are modest, yet it is the workplace of a skilled craftsman, a master of his trade in a small but growing town. It is in some ways quintessentially American, the sort of humble surrounding from which came the sorts of words that could start a revolution or build a nation. It is a fitting memorial to the indomitable spirit of Isaiah Thomas.

From Boston Masonic Mirror, New Series, Vol 2. No. 45, May 7, 1831, Page 356; Vol. 2, No. 46, May 14, 1831, Page 364:

Isaiah Thomas, Esq., L.L.D., who died in this town on Monday, the 4th instant, was probably the oldest printer in this country, the ancient founder of this paper, and for many years its sole editor and proprietor. He was born in Boston, Jan. 19, 1749. His ancestors emigrated from England in the early settlement of that place. His grandfather Peter Thomas was a merchant who kept near the Town Dock in a store owned by himself, and died in 1746 leaving four sons and two daughters. The second son, Moses, resided for some time at Long Island, from whence he returned with his family to Boston. Upon a voyage to North Carolina he died, leaving a destitute widow and five children, of whom the subject of this notice was the youngest. At the age of six years he was apprenticed to Zachariah Fowle, a printer of ballads in Boston. Instead of being sent to school he was placed in the printing office; and to enable bim to set the types for the small works executed at the press, he was elevated upon a bench raised 18 inches from the floor. The composing stick he then used is preserved with a specimen of this early attempt at typography. Without the assistance of any one, as he himself often declared, in this shop he not only acquired a knowledge of the elementary branches of learning, but was so far competent to write, as that at the age of 17 he was enabled to take charge of a newspaper at Halifax in Nova Scotia to which place he went upon a disagreement with his master.

He remained at this place some months during which time the memorable Stamp Act was to take effect in the colonies. To send out a newspaper with this odious badge of servitude was repugnant to the feelings of the young New Englandman as he was then called. An editorial paragraph caused the printer to be summoned before the public authorities. He exculpated himself by casting the blame upon his apprentice, who had the charge of the paper. A second paragraph induced a call upon the young man himself, who was permitted to extricate himself with a slight reprimand and by being reminded that he was not in Boston. The reams of paper in the office being secretly divested of the stamps, the Gazette was afterwards issued without this obnoxious mark. In March 1767 he left Halifax, and after working sometime in N. Hampshire returned to the employment of his former master in Boston. After separating from him by agreement, he attempted to establish himself at Wilmington, North Carolina. From this place he went to Charleston S. Carolina, where he worked for two years. In consequence of declining health, he abandoned a project in which he was engaged, of going to England to acquire a more perfect knowledge of his trade.

In 1770, he returned to his native town, and in connexion with Z. Fowle, commenced the Massachusetts Spy, a small paper published three times a week. The partnership continued but three months, when he purchased the establishment and published the paper upon half a sheet until December of that year when it was discontinued. March 7, 1771, he commenced the present Massachusetts Spy, which was published weekly upon a large sheet.— Although firmly attached to the popular side in the rising political contest, he permitted his paper to be open to both parties, but the royalists soon withdrew their patronage and the paper was then devoted exclusively to the Whig interest. Overtures were made by the royalists to obtain his influence, but these being rejected an attempt at coercion was made, by an endeavor to embarrass the pecuniary concerns of the establishment. The interposition of friends prevented any trouble from this quarter.

In consequence of an Essay signed Mucius Scavola, published in the Spy of November 1771, he was summoned by Gov. Hutchinson and his council to appear at the Council Chamber. — He promptly refused obedience to the order. His answers to the messenger, which were written down at the lime, discover a knowledge of his personal rights, a resoluteness of purpose, and an intrepidity of character that strongly indicated the course he would afterwards pursue in the coming contest. A defect of authority in this branch of the Government suspended further proceedings until the sitting of the superior Court, when a vigorous attempt was made to procure an indictment, but was defeated by the independent spirit of the Grand Jury. A proceeding by information was the next course but the general intelligence of the people frowned upon this cdious engine of government for shackling the press. In consequence of some supposed libels upon the King the attempts at prosecution were renewed in 1773, but by the assistance of his friends he was extricated from the danger. A proffer of the professional services from the distinguished James Otis, who had withdrawn from active life in consequence of the malady which prostrated the energies of his mighty mind, was gratefully received by Mr. Thomas and manifests the interest felt for his security by the leading patriots of the revolution.

At this period there were three other papers published in Boston, but neither of them had a patronage equal to the Spy. Upon its first publication the subscription list contained less than 200 names, but such was its increase that in two years it had more subscribers than any other paper in New-England.

Questions of political science and constitutional law were no longer confined to the forum and halls of legislation, but became daily themes of discussion in the mechanic's shop, at the farmer's fireside, and in the town meeting. The exigencies of the times called for a Journal conducted by one whose education, habits, and modes of thinking harmonized with those of the gieat body of the people, where every one could find his own feelings and principles reflected without the expositions of the learned. Such a paper was found in the Spy and such an editor in Mr. Thomas. The ability, prudence, and intrepidity exhibited by him in this department gives to his character an elevation and dignity which can be obtained but by few. It is here his name stands out in bold relief and claims the applause of mankind. Considering his youth, his limited means of acquiring learning, and the portentous state of the times, it must have required a mind of no ordinary bearing to have sustained itself in so unequal a conflict. On the one side, was most of the learning and wealth of the province, supported by the patronage of the Government, in favor of the existing state of things and branding with the reproach of sedition and rebellion every movement for liberty; on the other a people of staid and religious habits, enjoying the most unlimited practical freedom contending not against any actual or tangible oppression, but merely for principles and abstract right.

Thus circumstanced, this youthful apostle of liberty took the field. It is true his paper was the medium of communication for some of the ablest writers of the day and was directed in a great measure by the leaders of the popular party, but all the responsibilities were upon the editor and publisher, and a single act of indiscretion might have involved him in serious consequences. That he was indebted for his editorial matter chiefly to his own pen is apparent from an examination of the files of the Spy at that peiiod. Matters of fact without the tinsel of ornament, and plain argument without the sophistry of the schools, were the simple instruments by which the tempest of popular indignation was roused and a virtuous community required no other trident to set bounds to the swelling storm. In a review of that period, he himself observes, "common sense in common language is as necessary to influence one class of citizens, as much as learning and elegance of composition are to produce an effect upon another.— The cause of America was just, and it was only necessary to state that cause in a clear and impressive manner, to unite the American people in its support."

During that period of peculiar gloom when the people of Boston were goaded to resentment by the provisions of the Fort Bill, an act of wanton tyranny unparalleled in the history of this country, the editor of the Spy continued the publication of his paper in that city. The manner of his defeating the attempts to overawe the freedom of the press manifested a fertility of expedients and patriotic integrity that entitled him to the highest confidence. A numerous standing army held unlimited control of the metropolis and brutal outrages upon the part of the soldiery were not discountenanced by the publie officers. Mr. T. had rendered himself obnoxious to the British, and threats of vengeance were thrown out against him and his printing office. Timely information was given him of intended violence, in consequence of which, he privately packed up a press and printing apparatus and transmitted them in a boat across Charles River under the care of Gen. Warren, the martyr of Bunker Hill. Upon the opening of the Spring of 1775, arrangements were made for sending detachments into the interior to destroy the military property that the people were preserving against the approaching contest. The vigilance of the friends of liberty in town, had faithfully transmitted information into the country, of the intended expedition to Concord. The editor of the Spy was concerned in furnishing this information in consequence of which he left Boston at daybreak on the morning of the memorable 19th April and joined the provincial militia in opposing the King's troops at Lexington. The next day he arrived in Worcester, opened his printing office, and recommenced the publication of the Spy in this place May S, 1775. This event formed an era in the history of the country as well as in the annals of this village. It was the first printing ever performed in the interior of New-England. To form an estimate of the importance of this branch of business to the past renown or present prosperity of this place would be no easy task. The influence of a gazette so centrally located under the guidance of such an editor was not lightly esteemed by the patriots of the Revolution.

The Provincial Congress were now in session at Watertown and it was proposed by them to remove this press to that place, but it was afterwards determined that it should remain in Worcester, and that the Spy should be transmitted by post riders to Watertown and Cambridge. Until presses were established in those places, Mr. Thomas executed the printing for the Congress.

In the indulgence of a peculiar poetical fancy, his papers were generally ornamented with curiously significant devices and appropriate mcttos. In 1774 it bore a dragon and a snake, ihe former representing Great Britain and the serpent this country. This latter was separated into parts to represent the different colonies. The head and tail were furnished with strings for defence against the dragon, which were placed in the posture of making an attack. This device extended the whole width of the paper, with the motto over the serpent in large capitals: Join Or Die.

In consequence of an odious excise upon newspapers in 1785, the publication of the Spy was suspended, but its place was taken by a magazine which supplied the same matter without submission to the Stamp Act. The publication was resumed in 1788 after a suspension of about two years. The paper began its numbers March 7, 1771, and the series has been uninterrupted to this day.

The labors of Mr. T. bad not been confined to the Spy. He established the first newspaper in Newburyport as early as 1773, that he soon passed into other hands. In 1774. he published in Itos. toto the Royal American Magazine, a monthly periodical. Br sides the unusual variety of general literature, this work contains a faithful summary of the public transactions in Boston during that eventful year, and great value is added to the work from the public documents preserved in its pages, and which are not elsewhere to be found.

The small amount of property contained in the package sent Across Charles river, upon the flight from Boston, was all that he rescued from five years unremitted toil in the cause of freedom; the residue fell a prey to the soldiery, or was carried off with the plunder of the army.

As noon as the enemy bad evacuated Boston, his enterprising spirit was in pursuit of more extensive business than tiial of conducting a country newspaper. An attempt to form an establishment in Salem, terminated unsuccessfully. The Spy having been leased to two gentlemen of the bar in Worcester for one year, and again for another year to Anthony Haswell, was resumed by its former editor in 1778. In consequence of bad materials and unskilful workmanship, the paper appeared in a wretched dishabille during the continuance of the lease. The general depression of the times also affected the subscription list, which in '79, '80, did not much exceed 300.

In July, '76, he participated in the first cele
bration of American Independence in this place. The great charter of Liberty was first publicly promulgated by him, standing upon the porch of the meetinghouse. It was recieved by the united acclamations of a vast number of citizens, who under the open canopy of heaven, superadded to that of Congress their solemn pledge to support it with fortune, honor and life.

After the war when the Government began to assume a more permanent form, he extended his business not only as a printer, but as a bookseller. The first paper mill and bookbindry in this county was established by him. For several years he employed seven printing presses in this town, and with his partner in Boston, Mr. Andrews, furnished business for five in that city and four in other towns. He established the first newspaper in Walpole, N. H. and in Brookfield in this county, at which places as well as Albany and Baltimore he was concerned in extensive bookstores. From these sources much of the literature of the country was supplied. The systematic manner in which the details of these extensive concerns were conducted gave him an elevated character for skill as a merchant. In 1802 the Spy, with a proportion of his other business was transferred to his son, who died a few years since in Boston. Leisure and opportunity were now given him to pursue his literary avocations. In 1810 he presented to the public his History of Printing in two volumes, 8vo., including a history of newspapers, with biographical sketches of the antirevolutionary printers and booksellers in New-England. This work manifested great research, untiring industry and no inconsiderable share of learning. It passed the ordeal of the reviewers both in this country and Great Britain, and is received as a standard work upon the subjects treated of in its pages. During the long period in which he contemplated the preparation of this work, he was continually laying aside for preservation every book, pamphlet, and file of newspapers that came in his way which might aid him in the undertaking. He likewise expended large sums in procuring from abroad valuable materials for the same purpose.

His library now comprises the most valuable collection of American literature to be found in the hands of any individual in the country. Many of his works are rare, and no other copies were to be found. Such a library, he observed, if once dispersed could never again be gathered. Its importance to the future historian was inestimable. The want of it had been sensibly felt by himself in making bis compilation and the inconvenience had been overcome by personal sacrifices that no other individual could make.— He therefore proposed to a number of his friends of American history,principally of his own neighborhood, the establishment of an association for collecting and preserving the materials of our history in every form in which they may present themselves, and he offered to endow the institution with a donation of his collection.

The proposition was readily acceded to and the American Antiquarian Society was incorporated in 1812. Upon its organization he was elected its President and has ever since held the office by the unanimous votes of the members in each successive year. The interest be manifested in its early success, suffrred no diminution in its subsequent progress. Every year be has made liberal donations of books and rare curiosities, obtained both by solicitation from their possessors, and by purchases at an amount not inconsiderable. In 1820 the Society published the first volume of their transactions, with the title of American Archaeologia; the work is enriched by a learned and minute account of the ancient mounds upon the Muskingum and Scioto rivers, with other vestiges of that mysterious race of men who probably were the former possessors of this continent. The subjects were illustrated by diagrams made from actuals surveys and expensive engravings.

These labors which had added to the general stock ol human knowledge and attracted the notice of many learned societies in Europe were wholly at the expense of Mr. Thomas. In the same year he erected a spacious and permanent edifice, fitted with rooms for the accommodation of the Library and Cabinet, appropriated for the exclusive use of the members of the Society. The Library now exceeds 8000 volumes, more than 3000 of which consist of annual files of American newspapers bound in regular series. Nearly all the papers printed before the revolution are to he found among them. The residue of the Library includes history, theology, and miscellaneous literature. One room is appropriated for a cabinet of curiosities, illustrating the manners of the Fathers as well as the Aborigines of North America. For many very valuable donations of books as well as other articles, the Institution enumerates a long list of benefactors. But in whatever has given it character, energy and living principle, the Society is indebted to the untiring generosity of its founder. Nor has his paternal regard been bounded by the present generation, but his desire for bestowing the benefits of historical knowledge has extended to future time, and by bis last will, be has provided for the exigencies of the Institution to an extent it is believed unparalleled in the history of any literary association in this country.

Benevolence was a prominent trait in his character. And the community in which he resided will long cherish his memory as a public benefactor in other departments of life. The land upon which the present County Court House stands, was a donation from him, and the grounds around that building received their present convenient and beautiful form from his direction. For his personal services in this meritorious act he received no compensation but a vote of thanks upon the county records. To the town, he gave the street which bears his name, besides a grant of land which gives the Main street its peculiar beauty.— The square near the jail with the stone bridge that intersects it, were formed principally at his individual expense. The Parish of which he was a member had reason to recollect many acts of his munificence for their benefit. The public clock upon their brick meeting house was his exclusive donation. To almost all the acts of public philanthropy which mark our age, he was a generous contributor, and this without discrimination of party or sect. The unfortunate children of want around him, in the gloom of sickness and distress, will lament his death, for his charities to them had ever been abundant and reasonable. — His estate, which amounted to a large sum for this part of the country, is distributed equally among his descendants and a great variety of public societies, whose objects he wished to promote.

—[Worcester Spy.]

MEMORIALS

From Boston Masonic Mirror, New Series, Vol 2. No. 41, April 9, 1831, Page 327:

The venerable Isaiah Thomas is no more!

This venerable and well-beloved man died at Worcester on Monday last. He was the father of American printers; and past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of this Commonwealth. He was born in this city in January, 1749. "He began his career," says Mr. John Russell, in his address to the members of the Faustus Association in 1808, "about the time Franklin was called from the private studies of his office, to fulfil the duties of public minister abroad. On his first entrance into business, he was distinguished for enterprise and ingenuity — and possessing an ardent mind, he pursued tbe natural bent of his enthusiasm in the cause of liberty, by eminently contributing in his private example, and professional ability, as editor of a newspaper, to the progress and consummation of that glorious revolution, which seated the proud empire of America on the throne of independence."

At a meeting of the Council of the American Antiquarian Society, held at tbe house of tho Rev. Dr. Bancroft, on Monday the 4th day of April, A. D.1831, being the day of the decease of the late Isaiah Thomas, L. L. D. and late President of said Society—

• Resolved, That this Society deplore (he death of their venerable President, as a distinguished public benefactor, to whose munificence we are almost exclusively indebted for our valuable literary and other property.
• Resolved, That for a long succession of years he has devoted his valuable services with great zeal to the interests of this Society, and has left to the public in the Library,a legacy for wbicb tbey ought to be grateful.
• Resolved, That this Society will attend his funeral, and request a member of their body to deliver an appropriate address on that occasion.
• Resolved, That Rejoice Newton, Esq. be requested to communicate these Resolutions to the surviving relatives and to make all necessary arrangements.

Attest, REJOICE NEWTON, Rec'g. Sec.

His funeral was attended at the meeting house ef the Second Parish in Worcester, on Thursday last.

CHARTERS GRANTED

1803-1805

• 03/14/1803 St. John's, Newburyport (endorsed)
• 06/13/1803 Charity, Mendon
• 06/13/1803 Wisdom, West Stockbridge
• 06/13/1803 Pythagorean, Fryeburg (Me.)
• 06/13/1803 Cumberland, New Gloucester (Me.)
• 09/12/1803 Washington Remembered, New Bedford
• 09/12/1803 St. Mark's, Newburyport
• 09/12/1803 American Union, Marietta, Ohio (renewed)
• 12/13/1803 Sheffield, Sheffield
• 03/12/1804 Oriental, Bridgetown (Me.)
• 09/10/1804 Solar, Bath (Me.)
• 06/10/1805 Amicable, Cambridge
• 06/10/1805 Mount Carmel, Lynn
• 09/10/1805 Orient, Thomaston (Me.)
• 09/10/1805 Scioto, Chillicothe (Ohio)

1809

• 03/13/1809 Felicity, Buckston (Me.)
• 06/12/1809 Maine, Farmington (Me.)

RULINGS

• 1803
• 1809

Grand Masters