Memoir of Daniel Appleton White

Memoir Of Daniel Appleton White by George Ware Briggs. Daniel Appleton White was born June 7, 1776, on his father’s farm in the part of Methuen now within Lawrence, and his boyhood and youth are traced with affection and detail. Prepared by request of the Essex Institute and read in 1864, the memoir covers his ancestry, early home life, and the surrounding natural beauty that formed his character. It follows his schooling at Atkinson Academy and Cambridge, his devotion to study, and the religious questioning and eventual faith that guided him. The narrative then recounts his professional path: teaching in Medford, a legal career in Salem and Newburyport, and his appointment as judge of probate in Essex County, where he served for thirty-eight years and led reforms. Briggs also details White’s domestic life, his two marriages, his children, his lifelong literary interests, philanthropy, and civic leadership, concluding with a tribute to his character and lasting influence.