HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Samuel Appleton (June 22, 1766 – July 12, 1853) was an American merchant and philanthropist, active in
New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, and
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
.


Early life and education

Appleton was born in
New Ipswich, New Hampshire New Ipswich is a New England town, town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,204 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. New Ipswich, situated on the Massachusetts bo ...
, the great-great-grandson of another Samuel Appleton (1625 – May 15, 1696), who was a military and government leader in the
Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...
and
Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of Eng ...
and a
commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...
of the Massachusetts
militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...
during
King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1678 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodland ...
who led troops during the Attack on
Hatfield, Massachusetts Hatfield is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,352 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The census-designated place of Hatfield consists o ...
and the
Great Swamp Fight The Great Swamp Massacre or the Great Swamp Fight was a crucial battle fought during King Philip's War between the colonial militia of New England and the Narragansett people in December 1675. It was fought near the villages of Kingston and We ...
and also held numerous positions in government and was an opponent of Governor Sir
Edmund Andros Sir Edmund Andros (6 December 1637 – 24 February 1714; also spelled ''Edmond'') was an English colonial administrator in British America. He was the governor of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. At other ...
. His family had come there from
Ipswich, Massachusetts Ipswich is a coastal town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,785 at the 2020 census. Home to Willowdale State Forest and Sandy Point State Reservation, Ipswich includes the southern part of Plum Island. A res ...
and his relatives live there to the present-day.


Career

From 1790 to 1792, he cleared fields in
Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
for farming. He also taught school. For a time he kept a store in
Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...
. In 1794, he moved to
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, where he became an importer in partnership with his brother
Nathan Nathan or Natan may refer to: People and biblical figures *Nathan (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name * Nathan (surname) *Nathan (prophet), a person in the Hebrew Bible *Nathan (son of David), a biblical figu ...
as S. & N. Appleton, buying European dry goods at auction and for resale to country traders in exchange for homespun cloth as well as pot and pearl ash for export to Britain. He later established cotton mills at Waltham and
Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...
. After 1799 he passed much of his time in Britain, and at age 53 married a widow, Mrs. Mary Gore, with whom he had no children. He retired from business in 1823. After retirement, he devoted much of his fortune to charity, including his gift funding the Appleton Cabinet at
Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...
, built to house the
Hitchcock Ichnological Cabinet The Hitchcock Ichnological Cabinet is a collection of fossil footmarks assembled between 1836 and 1865 by Edward Hitchcock (1793–1864), noted American geologist, state geologist of Massachusetts, United States, and President of Amherst College. ...
, and the Appleton Chapel at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
. He endowed the academy at New Ipswich with a fund which secured its permanence, and founded the professorship of natural philosophy of
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
, with a gift of $10,000. Appleton served as a
vestryman A vestryman is a member of his local church's vestry, or leading body.Anstice, Henry (1914). ''What Every Warden and Vestryman Should Know.'' Church literature press He is not a member of the clergy.Potter, Henry Codman (1890). ''The Offices of W ...
of
King's Chapel King's Chapel is an American independent Christian unitarian congregation affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association that is "unitarian Christian in theology, Anglican in worship, and congregational in governance." It is housed in ...
from 1830 to 1840, and a monument to him sits on the north wall of the chapel. Wilson's biographical directory of Boston's business aristocracy, published 1848, noted that it was “to the credit of Samuel Appleton, that he commenced life with a single four-pence half penny, paid to him by a drover who passed his father's house, for assistance in driving
attle Debris (, ) is rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded waste, garbage/refuse/trash, scattered remains of something destroyed, or, as in geology, large rock fragments left by a melting glacier, etc. Depending on context, ''debris'' can ref ...
” At his death, Appleton's fortune amounted to nearly $1,000,000, and he had given away nearly as much as that during his lifetime. By his will he placed property to the amount of $200,000 in the hands of his executors, “to be by them applied, disposed of, and distributed, for scientific, literary, religious, and charitable purposes.” The Samuel Appleton Building located on 110-114 Milk Street, Boston is currently under study as a
Boston Landmark A Boston Landmark is a designation by the Boston Landmarks Commission for historic buildings and sites throughout the city of Boston based on the grounds that it has historical, social, cultural, architectural or aesthetic significance to New Engla ...
by the
Boston Landmarks Commission The Boston Landmarks Commission (BLC) is the historic preservation agency for the City of Boston. The commission was created by state legislation in 1975. History Urban renewal in the United States started with the Housing Act of 1949, part of Pres ...
.


Historic ship

The 1846 ship ''Samuel Appleton'' was built by P. Curtis in
Medford, Massachusetts Medford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, Medford's population was 59,659. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus on both sides of the Medford and Somervill ...
and owned by Daniel Pinckney Parker, a
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
shipping merchant.


Notes


References

* Mann, Anthony, "How 'poor country boys' became Boston Brahmins: The rise of the Appletons and the Lawrences in ante-bellum Massachusetts", Historical Journal of Massachusetts, Winter 2003. * Peabody, Ephraim, "Notice of Samuel Appleton, Esq.", New England Historical and Genealogical Review, 8 (January, 1854), 12. * Wilson, Thomas L V, ''The Aristocracy of Boston; who they are, and what they were; being a history of Business and Business Men of Boston, for the last forty years'', Boston : Thomas Wilson, 1848. *


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Appleton, Samuel 1766 births 1853 deaths 19th-century American philanthropists Appleton family Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery People from New Ipswich, New Hampshire People from colonial New Hampshire 19th-century American merchants