Viewing page 348 of 473

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

337

THE REV. DR. HENRY W. BELLOWS.

His Death This Morning-A Sketch of his Life.

The Rev. Dr. Henry W. Bellows, of all Souls Church, whose serious illness was announced in the EVENING POST last week, died peacefully a few minutes before eleven o'clock this morning, at his home, No. 232 East Fifteenth Street.

Henry Whitney Bellows was born in Boston the 11th of June, 1814, being one of twin brothers. His father, John Bellows, was a merchant in Boston, and was a native of Walpole, N. H., to which he returned for a time after the birth of the children. The subject of this sketch was sent for his preparatory education to the celebrated Round Hill School, at Northampton, Mass., from which he entered Harvard College. He was graduated from college in 1832, being but eighteen years of age, and then passed two years chiefly in travel through the Southern States. In 1834 he entered the Cambridge (Mass.) Divinity School, from which he was graduated in 1837. He preached for a short time in Mobile, Ala., and in Cincinnati, Ohio. Accepting a call from the First (Unitarian) Congregational Church of this city, he was ordained its pastor on the 2d of January, 1838. This church was then in Chambers Street. Its first pastor was the Rev. William Ware, who removed to Waltham, Mass., and its pulpit was then occupied for a time by Professor Follen, who lost his life by the burning of the Steamer Lexington on Long Island Sound. The society removed from Chambers Street to Broadway, between Spring and Prince Streets, taking the name of the Church of the Divine Unity. When it erected its present edifice, at Fourth Avenue and Twentieth Street the name of All Souls Church was taken and retained. 

Dr. Bellows early laid the foundations of his high reputation as a pulpit orator, and also as an able, original writer. He was the chief originator of the Christian Inquirer, a Unitarian journal published in this city, and for nearly five years was its principal contributor. He also contributed largely to the Christian Examiner, a bi-monthly magazine representing his religious denomination, and at a later date he was connected with the Liberal Christian. A writer said of him, years ago: "He is a ready speaker and popular lecturer. His tastes and connections lead him to intimate relations with artists, and engage him often in questions of a social and philanthropic character. He has spoken and published his views freely upon the prominent topics of the day, and inclines to deal with current events rather than scholastic studies." The most important of his published works, including some twenty-five pamphlets and discourses, with several books, have been his 'Phi Beta Oration,' delivered in 1853; a course of lectures on the 'Treatment of Social Diseases, which attracted wide attention when delivered before the Lowell Institute, in Boston, in 1857; 'The Relation of Public Amusement to Public Morality, especially of the Theatre to the Highest Interests of Humanity,' an address delivered in 1857 before the New York Dramatic Fund Society; 'Restatements of Christian Doctrine in Twenty-five Sermons,' published in 1860, and 'The Old World in its New Face,' a work in two volumes, published in 1868-9, containing an account of an extended journey which he made in Europe. He revisited Europe some years ago, but his stay was not prolonged. 

His address before the Dramatic Fund Society was a vigorous, well-studied defence of the drama and the dramatic profession. It excited a great amount of comment at the time, both favorable and adverse. Many clergymen and religious journals assailed his boldly-expressed opinions with fierce denunciation, but this did not prevent him from attending a dinner given by representatives of the art which he had defended. Independence in thought, and fearlessness in expressing his views, were always among his marked characteristics.

During the war of the Rebellion Dr. Bellows rendered an important national service by his labors in connection with the United States Sanitary Commission.  As early as April, 1861, local societies to afford comfort and relief to the volunteers in the field were formed by women in several towns of New England, and soon afterward, at the suggestion of Dr. Bellows and Dr. Elisha Harris, M.D., the "Women's Central Association for Relief" was organized in this city.  Its constitution was framed by Dr. Bellows.  Various auxiliary associations were formed, and in the following June the Sanitary Commission was established under the authority of the War Department.  Dr. Bellows, who was placed at the head of the Board of Managers, submitted a plan of organization, which was adopted as the constitution of the Commission, bearing the signatures of President Lincoln and the Secretary of War.  From this time till the work of the Commission was ended, Dr. Bellows was untiring in his devotion to his duties as president of the institution.  A writer says of him: "He drew about him men of equal zeal; he visited camps and hospitals in every part of the country; he stormed at 'red tape' and official stupidity and had the satisfaction of witnessing the complete success of his plans and the constant relief of untold suffering.  The ministering spirits of this Commission were on the battle-fields and at every sick couch; its watchfulness detected every error of hospital management and every want of the afflicted, while its influence in every department of the government, and with the people, was sufficient to make its authority efficient and its means ample.  In fact, the Sanitary Commission was the great philanthropic mission of the day.  Dr. Bellows was its parent, its never-flagging spirit, and its daily slave."  In the course of the war the contributions received by the Commission from the patriotic people of the country amounted to $15,000,000 in supplies and $5,000,000 in money.  In 1878 its archives were deposited in the Astor Library, Dr. Bellows saying in his letter of presentation: "With this act and with my signature as president of the Sanitary Commission, the last official act of my service, the United States Sanitary Commission expires.  You receive its ashes, in which I hope some fragrance may linger, and, at least, survive to kindle in times of new need a flame equal to its own."

Dr. Bellows was one of the founders of the Union League Club, and also one of the original members of the Century Club.  Among the other institutions with which he was connected were the New England Society, the New York Historical Society, the Phi Beta Kappa Society, and the Harvard Alumni Association.  His degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred by Harvard College in 1854.

While a successful public lecturer, and to a certain extent a popular preacher, whose church was frequently sought out by strangers in the city, Dr. Bellows was especially attractive in the pulpit to hearers of more than ordinary intelligence and education.  His large congregation has always included many well-known citizens, and its members have held him in the most affectionate esteem.  His views on all questions were broad and catholic. With a kindly, genial disposition, a mind stored with information and replete with fresh ideas, he was charming in his social intercourse, and secured the warm friendship of all who met him on terms of intimacy.  As an orator his natural gifts were perhaps most strikingly displayed when the spoke extemporaneously.  He could always be depended on to speak fluently and happily when called upon without opportunity of special preparation.  On such occasions he showed great command of language as well as quick thought, his ideas seeming naturally to clothe themselves in felicitous expressions.

Dr. Bellows was twice married, his first wife being a daughter of Elihu Townsend of the old firm of Nevins & Townsend, bankers in this city.  His children by the first marriage are the Rev. Russell N. Bellows, a Unitarian clergyman, who was lately in charge of Unity Chapel at Harlem, and a daughter, Miss Anna Bellows.  For his second wife Dr. Bellows married a daughter of the late Rev. Dr. Ephraim Peabody, of King's Chapel, Boston, who survives him, with three young children-Henry Whitney, Robert Peabody, and Ellen Debry Bellows.

During the last year, Dr. Bellows has occasionally shown signs of failing health, but his mental vigor and his attention to his pastoral duties were unimpaired.  On the evening of Tuesday, the 17th instant, he took part in an installation at Harlem, and on the following day he was able to officiate at a wedding in Brooklyn.  On Thursday, the 19th, he was confined to his room, and on the following Saturday his family physician, Dr. Draper, was summoned.  It was found that Dr. Bellows was suffering from a serious intestinal obstruction, and Drs. Sands and Van Buren were called in consultation. The question of performing an operation was considered, but it was decided that such an expedient would be too dangerous, in view of the patient's age and weak condition.

Evening Post
Jan. 30"