Page:The librarians of Harvard College 1667-1877.djvu/32

26 LIBRARIANS OF HARVARD COLLEGE. of £180 which had been given to him as a gratuity. The records of the New London church state that Mr. Byles " dismissed himself from the church and congregation." His change of faith, although at the time it excited considerable comment and no little ridicule, was no doubt perfectly sincere.

Before settling in Boston he went to England to take orders, the society paying the expense of the journey. Returning in September, he began his work in his new parish. After some years, various differences, mainly political, arose between him and his parishioners, and Dr. Byles determined to accept an invitation to become minister of St. John's Church in Portsmouth, N. H. His resignation was accepted 18 April, 1775; but the outbreak of the war prevented his going to Portsmouth. He was a staunch loyalist, and after suffering many hardships, fled to Halifax. His name appears on the list of those proscribed by the act of 1778. In Halifax he was chaplain to the garrison and assistant to the rector of St. Paul's. In 1788 he was chosen rector of the parish of St. John, N. B. Here he remained until his death, 14 March, 1814.

Dr. Byles was twice married, first to the sister of Dr. Walter, rector of Trinity and many years afterward of Christ Church ; and second, to Sarah Lyde, whom he married in Halifax in 1777.

Mather Byles, Jr., does not seem to have been possessed of the sparkling wit for which his father was long remembered in Boston. He has left us a number of printed sermons, among them: The Christian Sabbath explained and vindicated (New Londo n : 1759), and two thanksgiving sermons "for the late signal successes" of the British troops (New London: 1760, and St. John's, N. B. 1778). He also printed a "Debate between the Rev. Mr. Byles, late pastor of the First Church in New London, and the brethren of the Church." (1768.) AUTHORITIES: Appleton's Cyclopedia of American biography, 1887, i. 485. Atlantic monthly, lxvii. 859 (June, 1891). Burroughs, ''Hist. account of Christ Church'', 1874, pp. 23-27. Caulkins, ''Hist. of New London'', 1852, pp. 489-498. Mass, hist. soc. Proceedings, 1862-63, pp. 354-6. Sabine, American loyalists, 1847, p. 192. Sprague, ''Annals of Amer. pulpit'', 1857, i. p. 379. Winsor, Memorial ''hist. of Boston'', 1881, iii. 128, 448. 1757-1758.

Elizur Holyoke, born in Boston, 11 May, 1731, was the son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Brigham) Holyoke, and the nephew of President Edward Holyoke. Graduating from Harvard in 1750, he took the degree of A.M. in course. His Librarianship covered only the years 1757-58. In the late fall of the latter year, the first church and parish in Boxford, Mass., which had long been without a minister, called him to the pastorate. His annual salary was to be £66.13.4 and twenty cords of wood, in addition to 160 at settlement. Having accepted this call, although with some hesitation, he was ordained 31 January, 1759. Elizur Holyoke married, 13 November, 1760, Hannah, daughter of Rev. Oliver Peabody of Natick, and sister of the Oliver Peabody who was Librarian from 1748 to 1750. Eight children were born from this union.

Mr. Holyoke's pastorate at Boxford was long and uneventful. In its earlier years, there was a violent controversy over the substitution of "Tate & Brady's New Version of the Psalms" for the old version. In 1782, £6 were added to the minister's salary. In February, 1793, Mr. Holyoke had a stroke of paralysis, from which, although he preached occasionally during the rest of that year, he never fully recovered. Although he was able to perform none of the duties of pastor, his salary was continued and no successor was appointed. In 1798 an effort was made by the parish to lead him to resign or to accept a small annual payment instead of his salary, but his family, for the aged minister was now too infirm to take any part in the discussion, objected to this arrangement, and so the relations of parish and pastor continued. He died, after a sickness of thirteen years, 31 March, 1806. He was buried in Boxford, near the church over which he had been the pastor for forty-seven years.

AUTHORITIES: Essex institute, ''Hist. collections'', 1861, iii. 60-61. Perley, History of Boxford, 1880, pp. 191-194, 267-273.

1758-1760.

Edward Brooks, the son of Samuel and Mary (Boutwell) Brooks, was born at Medford, Mass., 4 November, 1733. His father was a wealthy landowner and slaveholder in the town. Edward, the son, took his A.B. at Harvard in 1757 and before he took his second degree, was elected Librarian by the following vote, 26 December, 1758: " That Mr. Holyoke who hath been our Library- keeper, being about to leave the College, Voted, That Sr Brooks our Present Butler have the Care of the Library committed to Him, till the semi-annual Meeting of the Corporation in April next." This appointment was confirmed in April, 1759, and he continued to hold both offices, Butler and Librarian, until Deane's election as his successor in the summer of 1760. He received a call to the First Church, at North Yarmouth, Maine, and was ordained 4 July, 1764. Mr. Brooks found the members of his congregation rigid Calvinists, to whom his more liberal theology became less and less acceptable as time went on. In March,