Newton, Ephraim Holland Dd

Newton, Ephraim Holland D.D., a Presbyterian divine, was born in Newfane, Vt., June 13, 1787. He spent the early part of his life in labor with his father in the blacksmith-shop. He had a special fondness for books, and while at work making axes he always had a book before him on the forge. He fitted himself for college at the Wendhaam County Grammar School in Newfane; graduated at Middlebury College in 1810, and at the theological seminary in Andover, Mass., in 1813; was soon after licensed to preach by the Haverhill (Mass.) Association of Congregational Ministers, and in 1814 was ordained and installed pastor of a Congregational Church in Marlborough, Vt. His ministry in Marlborough continued for nearly twenty years, and was very successful. In 1833 he was installed pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Glen Falls, N. Y., and in 1836 of the Church in Cambridge, N. Y.; in 1843 he was elected principal of Cambridge Washington Academy, and filled this position with great efficiency and success until August, 1848. -Having a fondness for the natural sciences, Dr. Newton gave his attention early in life to mineralogy and geology; and, availing himself of the opportunities he had to collect specimens in these departments, he gathered one of the largest and most valuable private cabinets in the land. In 1857 he presented this cabinet of about ten thousand specimens to the theological seminary in Andover, Mass., and there spent the summer months of several successive seasons in arranging and preparing a catalogue. He afterwards gave his library of about one thousand volumes to Middlebury College. In 1860 he returned to Marlborough, Vt.; and, finding his former parish destitute of the Word of life, he consented to occupy the pulpit for a time, while at the same time he engaged in gathering materials for a history of that township. In 1862 he was elected to represent that people in the Legislature of Vermont. While in the discharge of his duties there he was attacked with a severe sickness, from which he never fully recovered. During 1863 and 1864 he was the acting pastor at Wilmington, Vt., and labored there until his death, Oct. 26, 1864. Dr. Newton was tall in person, dignified in appearance, and genial in manner. As a preacher he was plain and scriptural. His sermons were models of system and Scripture illustration. He was always a man of great industry, and, apart from the duties of the ministry, he devoted much of his time to the cause of education, and to every interest designed to benefit the community in which he lived. He took a great interest in agricultural matters, and introduced many beneficial changes in the mode of farming, especially in sheepraising. He contributed many articles for publication in the agricultural journals, and at the time of his death was president of the Washington County Agricultural Society. He excelled in the natural sciences. He delivered several sermons on the first chapter of Genesis, in which he displayed great ability in reconciling geology with revelation. See Wilson, Presb. Hist. Almanac, 1865, p. 108. (J. L. S.)