The Bay State Monthly Volume 2, Issue 3, December, 1884 written by Various
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Various >> The Bay State Monthly Volume 2, Issue 3, December, 1884
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7 [Illustration: Daniel Lothrop]
THE
BAY STATE MONTHLY.
_A Massachusetts Magazine_.
VOL. II.
DECEMBER, 1884.
No. 3.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1884, by John N.
McClintock and Company, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at
Washington.
* * * * *
DANIEL LOTHROP.
By JOHN N. MCCLINTOCK, A.M.
The fame, character and prosperity of a city have often depended upon
its merchants,--burghers they were once called to distinguish them from
haughty princes and nobles. Through the enterprise of the common
citizens, Venice, Genoa, Antwerp, and London have become famous, and
have controlled the destinies of nations. New England, originally
settled by sturdy and liberty-loving yeomen and free citizens of free
English cities, was never a congenial home for the patrician, with
inherited feudal privileges, but has welcomed the thrifty Pilgrim, the
Puritan, the Scotch Covenanter, the French Huguenot, the Ironsides
soldiers of the great Cromwell. The men and women of this fusion have
shaped our civilization. New England gave its distinctive character to
the American colonies, and finally to the nation. New England influences
still breathe from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the great lakes
to Mexico; and Boston, still the focus of the New England idea, leads
national movement and progress.
Perhaps one of the broadest of these influences--broadest inasmuch as it
interpenetrates the life of our whole people--proceeds from the lifework
of one of the merchants of Boston, known by his name and his work to the
entire English speaking world: Daniel Lothrop, of the famous firm of D.
Lothrop & Co., publishers--the people's publishing house. Mr. Lothrop is
a good representative of this early New England fusion of race,
temperament, fibre, conscience and brain. He is a direct descendant of
John Lowthroppe, who, in the thirty-seventh year of Henry VIII. (1545),
was a gentleman of quite extensive landed estates, both in Cherry Burton
(four miles removed from Lowthorpe), and in various other parts of the
country.
Lowthorpe is a small parish in the Wapentake of Dickering, in the East
Riding of York, four and a half miles northeast from Great Driffield. It
is a perpetual curacy in the archdeaconry of York. This parish gave name
to the family of Lowthrop, Lothrop, or Lathrop. The Church, which was
dedicated to St. Martin, and had for one of its chaplains, in the reign
of Richard II., Robert de Louthorp, is now partly ruinated, the tower
and chancel being almost entirely overgrown with ivy. It was a
collegiate Church from 1333, and from the style of its architecture must
have been built about the time of Edward III.
From this English John Lowthroppe the New England Lothrops have their
origin:--
"It is one of the most ancient of all the famous New England
families, whose blood in so many cases is better and purer than
that of the so-called noble families in England. The family roll
certainly shows a great deal of talent, and includes men who have
proved widely influential and useful, both in the early and later
periods. The pulpit has a strong representation. Educators are
prominent. Soldiers prove that the family has never been wanting in
courage. Lothrop missionaries have gone forth into foreign lands.
The bankers are in the forefront. The publishers are represented.
Art engraving has its exponent, and history has found at least one
eminent student, while law and medicine are likewise indebted to
this family, whose talent has been applied in every department of
useful industry,"[A]
[Footnote A: _The Churchman_.]
GENEALOGY.[B]
[Footnote B: From a genealogical memoir of the Lo-Lathrop family, by
Rev. E.B. Huntington, 1884.]
I. Mark Lothrop, the pioneer, the grandson of John Lowthroppe and a
relative of Rev. John Lothrop, settled in Salem, Mass., where he was
received as an inhabitant January 11, 1643-4. He was living there in
1652. In 1656 he was living in Bridgewater, Mass., of which town he was
one of the proprietors, and in which he was prominent for about
twenty-five years. He died October 25, 1685.
II. Samuel Lothrop, born before 1660, married Sarah Downer, and lived in
Bridgewater. His will was dated April 11, 1724.
III. Mark Lothrop, born in Bridgewater September 9, 1689; married March
29, 1722, Hannah Alden [Born February 1, 1696; died 1777]. She was the
daughter of Deacon Joseph Alden of Bridgewater, and great grand-daughter
of Honorable John and Priscilla (Mullins) Alden of Duxbury, of Mayflower
fame. He settled in Easton, of which town he was one of the original
proprietors. He was prominent in Church and town affairs.
IV. Jonathan Lothrop, born March 11, 1722-3; married April 13, 1746,
Susannah, daughter of Solomon and Susannah (Edson) Johnson of
Bridgewater. She was born in 1723. He was a Deacon of the Church, and a
prominent man in the town. He died in 1771.
V. Solomon Lothrop, born February 9, 1761; married Mehitable, daughter
of Cornelius White of Taunlon; settled in Easton, and later in Norton,
where he died October 19, 1843. She died September 14, 1832, aged 73.
VI. Daniel Lothrop, born in Easton, January 9, 1801; married October 16,
1825, Sophia, daughter of Deacon Jeremiah Horne of Rochester, N.H. She
died September 23, 1848, and he married (2) Mary E. Chamberlain. He
settled in Rochester, N.H., and was one of the public men of the town.
Of the strictest integrity, and possessing sterling qualities of mind
and heart Mr. Lothrop was chosen to fill important offices of public
trust in his town and state. He repeatedly represented his town in the
Legislature, where his sound practical sense and clear wisdom were of
much service, particularly in the formation of the Free Soil party, in
which he was a bold defender of the rights of liberty to all men. He
died May 31, 1870.
VII. Daniel Lothrop, son of Daniel and Sophia (Horne) Lothrop, was born
in Rochester, N.H., August 11, 1831.
"On the maternal side Mr. Lothrop is descended from William Horne,
of Horne's Hill, in Dover, who held his exposed position in the
Indian wars, and whose estate has been in the family name from 1662
until the present generation; but he was killed in the massacre of
June 28, 1689. Through the Horne line, also, came descent from Rev.
Joseph Hull, minister at Durham in 1662, a graduate at the
University at Cambridge, England; from John Ham, of Dover; from the
emigrant John Heard, and others of like vigorous stock. It was his
ancestress, Elizabeth (Hull) Heard, whom the old historians call a
"brave gentlewoman," who held her garrison house, the frontier fort
in Dover in the Indian wars, and successfully defended it in the
massacre of 1689. The father of the subject of this sketch was a
man of sterling qualities, strong in mind and will, but commanding
love as well as respect. The mother was a woman of outward beauty
and beauty of soul alike; with high ideals and reverent
conscientiousness. Her influence over her boys was life-long. The
home was a centre of intelligent intercourse, a sample of the
simplicity but earnestness of many of the best New Hampshire
homesteads."[A]
[Footnote A: Rec. Alonzo H. Quint, D.D. in _Granite Monthly_.]
Descended, as is here evident, from men and women accustomed to govern,
legislate, protect, guide and represent the people, it is not surprising
to find the Lothrops of the present day of this branch standing in high
places, shaping affairs, and devising fresh and far-reaching measures
for the general good.
Daniel Lothrop was the youngest of the three sons of Daniel and Sophia
Home Lothrop. The family residence was on Haven's Hill, in Rochester,
and it was an ideal home in its laws, influences and pleasures. Under
the guidance of the wise and gentle mother young Daniel developed in a
sound body a mind intent on lofty aims, even in childhood, and a
character early distinguished for sturdy uprightness. Here, too, on the
farm was instilled into him the faith of his fathers, brought through
many generations, and he openly acknowledged his allegiance to an
Evangelical Church at the age of eleven.
As a boy Daniel is remembered as possessing a retentive and singularly
accurate memory; as very studious, seeking eagerly for knowledge, and
rapidly absorbing it. His intuitive mastery of the relations of numbers,
his grasp of the values and mysteries of the higher mathematics, was
early remarkable. It might be reasonably expected of the child of seven
who was brought down from the primary benches and lifted up to the
blackboard to demonstrate a difficult problem in cube root to the big
boys and girls of the upper class that he should make rapid and
masterful business combinations in later life.
At the age of fourteen he was sufficiently advanced in his studies to
enter college, but judicious friends restrained him in order that his
physique might be brought up to his intellectual growth, and presently
circumstances diverted the boy from his immediate educational
aspirations and thrust him into the arena of business:--the world may
have lost a lawyer, a clergyman, a physician, or an engineer, but by
this change in his youthful plans it certainly has gained a great
publisher--a man whose influence in literature is extended, and who, by
his powerful individuality, his executive force, and his originating
brain has accomplished a literary revolution.
To understand the business career of Daniel Lothrop it will be necessary
to trace the origin and progress of the firm of D. Lothrop and Company.
On reaching his decision to remain out of college for a year he assumed
charge of the drug store, then recently opened by his eldest brother,
James E. Lothrop, who, desiring to attend medical lectures in
Philadelphia, confidently invited his brother Daniel to carry on the
business during his absence.
"He urged the young boy to take charge of the store, promising as
an extra inducement an equal division as to profits, and that the
firm should read 'D. Lothrop & Co.' This last was too much for our
ambitious lad. When five years of age he had scratched on a piece
of tin these magic words, opening to fame and honor, 'D. Lothrop &
Co.,' nailing the embryo sign against the door of his play house.
How then could he resist, now, at fourteen? And why not spend the
vacation in this manner? And so the sign was made and put up, and
thus began the house of 'D. Lothrop & Co.,' the name of which is
spoken as a household word wherever the English language is used,
and whose publications are loved in more than one of the royal
families of Europe."[A]
[Footnote A: Rev. Dr. Quint]
The drug store became very lucrative. The classical drill which had
been received by the young druggist was of great advantage to him, his
thorough knowledge of Latin was of immediate service, and his skill and
care and knowledge was widely recognized and respected. The store became
his college, where his affection for books soon led him to introduce
them as an adjunct to his business.
Thus was he when a mere boy launched on a successful business career.
His energy, since proved inexhaustible, soon began to open outward. When
about seventeen his attention was attracted to the village of Newmarket
as a desirable location for a drug store, and he seized an opportunity
to hire a store and stock it. His executive and financial ability were
strikingly honored in this venture. Having it in successful operation,
he called the second brother, John C. Lothrop, who about this time was
admitted to the firm, and left him in charge of the new establishment,
while he started a similar store at Meredith Bridge, now called Laconia.
The firm now consisted of the three brothers.
"These three brothers have presented a most remarkable spirit of
family union. Remarkable in that there was none of the drifting
away from each other into perilous friendships and moneyed
ventures. They held firmly to each other with a trust beyond words.
The simple word of each was as good as a bond. And as early as
possible they entered into an agreement that all three should
combine fortunes, and, though keeping distinct kinds of business,
should share equal profits under the firm name of 'D. Lothrop &
Co.' For thirty-six years, through all the stress and strain of
business life in this rushing age, their loyalty has been preserved
strong and pure. Without a question or a doubt, there has been an
absolute unity of interests, although James E., President of the
Cocheco Bank, and Mayor of the city of Dover, is in one city, John
C. in another, and Daniel in still another, and each having the
particular direction of the business which his enterprise and
sagacity has made extensive and profitable."[A]
[Footnote A: Rev. Dr. Quint.]
In 1850 occurred a point of fresh and important departure. The stock of
books held by Elijah Wadleigh, who had conducted a large and flourishing
book store in Dover, N.H., was purchased. Mr. Lothrop enlarged the
business, built up a good jobbing trade, and also quietly experimented
in publishing. The bookstore under his management also became something
more than a commercial success: it grew to be the centre for the bright
and educated people of the town, a favorite meeting place of men and
women alive to the questions of the day.
Now, arrived at the vigor of young manhood, Mr. Lothrop's aims and high
reaches began their more open unfoldment. He rapidly extended the
business into new and wide fields. He established branch stores at
Berwick, Portsmouth, Amesbury, and other places. In each of these
establishments books were prominently handled. While thus immediately
busy, Mr. Lothrop began his "studies" for his ultimate work. He did not
enter the publishing field without long surveys of investigation,
comparison and reflection. In need of that kind of vacation we call
"change of work and scene," Mr. Lothrop planned a western trip. The
bookstores in the various large cities on the route were sedulously
visited, and the tastes and the demands of the book trade were carefully
studied from many standpoints.
The vast possibilities of the Great West caught his attention and he
hastened to grasp his opportunities. At St. Peter, in Minnesota, he was
welcomed and resolved to locate. They needed such men as Mr. Lothrop to
help build the new town into a city. The opening of the St. Peter store
was characteristic of its young proprietor.
The extreme cold of October and November, 1856, prevented, by the early
freezing of the Upper Mississippi, the arrival of his goods. Having
contracted with the St. Peter company to erect a building, and open his
store on the first day of December, Mr. Lothrop, thinking that the goods
might have come as far as some landing place below St. Paul, went down
several hundred miles along the shore visiting the different landing
places. Failing to find them he bought the entire closing-out stock of a
drug store at St. Paul, and other goods necessary to a complete fitting
of his store, had them loaded, and with several large teams started for
St. Peter. The same day a blinding snow storm set in, making it
extremely difficult to find the right road, or indeed any road at all,
so that five days were spent in making a journey that in good weather
could have been accomplished in two. When within a mile of St. Peter the
Minnesota river was to be crossed, and it was feared the ice would not
bear the heavy teams; all was unloaded and moved on small sledges across
the river, and the drug store _was opened on the day agreed upon_. The
papers of that section made special mention of this achievement, saying
that it deserved honorable record, and that with such business
enterprise the prosperity of Minnesota Valley was assured.
He afterwards opened a banking house in St. Peter, of which his uncle,
Dr. Jeremiah Horne, was cashier; and in the book and drug store he
placed one of his clerks from the East, Mr. B.F. Paul, who is now one of
the wealthiest men of the Minnesota Valley. He also established two
other stores in the same section of country.
Various elements of good generalship came into play during Mr. Lothrop's
occupancy of this new field, not only in directing his extensive
business combinations in prosperous times, but in guiding all his
interests through the financial panic of 1857 and 1858. By the failure
of other houses and the change of capital from St. Peter to St. Paul,
Mr. Lothrop was a heavy loser, but by incessant labor and foresight he
squarely met each complication, promptly paid each liability in full.
But now he broke in health. The strain upon him had been intense, and
when all was well the tension relaxed, and making his accustomed visit
East to attend to his business interests in New England, without
allowing himself the required rest, the change of climate, together with
heavy colds taken on the journey, resulted in congestion of the lungs,
and prostration. Dr. Bowditch, after examination, said that the young
merchant had been doing the work of twenty years in ten. Under his
treatment Mr. Lothrop so far recovered that he was able to take a trip
to Florida, where the needed rest restored his health.
For the next five years our future publisher directed the lucrative
business enterprises which he had inaugurated, from the quiet book store
in Dover, N. H., while he carefully matured his plans for his life's
campaign--the publication, in many lines, of wholesome books for the
people. Soon after the close of the Civil war the time arrived for the
accomplishment of his designs, and he began by closing up advantageously
his various enterprises in order to concentrate his forces. His was no
ordinary equipment. Together with well-laid plans and inspirations, for
some of which the time is not yet due, and a rich birthright of
sagacity, insight and leadership, he possessed also a practical
experience of American book markets and the tastes of the people,
trained financial ability, practiced judgment, literary taste, and
literary conscience; and last, but not least, he had traversed and
mapped out the special field he proposed to occupy,--a field from which
he has never been diverted.
"The foundations were solid. On these points Mr. Lothrop has had
but one mind from the first: 'Never to publish a work purely
sensational, no matter what chances of money it has in it;' 'to
publish books that will make true, steadfast growth in right
living.' Not alone right thinking, but right living. These were his
two determinations, rigidly adhered to, notwithstanding constant
advice, appeals, and temptations. His thoughts had naturally turned
to the young people, knowing from his own self-made fortunes, how
young men and women need help, encouragement and stimulus. He had
determined to throw all his time, strength and money into making
good books for the young people, who, with keen imaginations and
active minds, were searching in all directions for mental food.
'The best way to fight the evil in the world,' reasoned Mr.
Lothrop, 'is to crowd it out with the good.' And therefore he bent
the energies of his mind to maturing plans toward this object,--the
putting good, helpful literature into their hands.
His first care was to determine the channels through which he could
address the largest audiences. The Sunday School library was one.
In it he hoped to turn a strong current of pure, healthful
literature for those young people who, dieting on the existing
library books, were rendered miserable on closing their covers,
either to find them dry or obsolete, or so sentimentally religious
as to have nothing in their own practical lives corresponding to
the situations of the pictured heroes and heroines.
The family library was another channel. To make evident to the
heads of households the paramount importance of creating a home
library, Mr. Lothrop set himself to work with a will. In the spring
of 1868 he invited to meet him a council of three gentlemen,
eminent in scholarship, sound of judgment, and of large experience:
the Reverend George T. Day, D. D., of Dover, N.H., Professor Heman
Lincoln, D.D., of Newton Seminary, the Rev. J.E. Rankin, D.D., of
Washington, D.C. Before them he laid his plans, matured and ready
for their acceptance: to publish good, strong, attractive
literature for the Sunday School, the home, the town, and school
library, and that nothing should be published save of that
character, asking their co-operation as readers of the several
manuscripts to be presented for acceptance. The gentlemen, one and
all, gave him their heartiest God-speed, but they frankly confessed
it a most difficult undertaking, and that the step must be taken
with the strong chance of failure. Mr. Lothrop had counted that
chance and reaffirmed his purpose to become a publisher of just
such literature, and imparted to them so much of his own courage
that before they left the room, all stood engaged as salaried
readers of the manuscripts to come in to the new publishing house
of D. Lothrop & Co., and during all these years no manuscripts have
been accepted without the sanction of one or more of these readers.
The store, Nos. 38 and 40 Cornhill, Boston, was taken, and a
complete refitting and stocking made it one of the finest
bookstores of the city. The first book published was 'Andy
Luttrell.' How many recall that first book! 'Andy Luttrell' was a
great success, the press saying that 'the series of which this is
the initiatory volume, marks a new era in Sunday School
literature.' Large editions were called for, and it is popular
still. In beginning any new business there are many difficulties to
face, old established houses to compete with, and new ones to
contest every inch of success. But tides turn, and patience and
pluck won the day, until from being steady, sure and reliable, Mr.
Lothrop's publishing business was increasing with such rapidity as
to soon make it one of the solid houses of Boston. Mr. Lothrop had
a remarkable instinct as regarded the discovering of new talent,
and many now famous writers owe their popularity with the public to
his kindness and courage in standing by them. He had great
enthusiasm and success in introducing this new element, encouraging
young writers, and creating a fresh atmosphere very stimulating and
enjoyable to their audience. To all who applied for work or brought
manuscript for examination, he had a hopeful word, and in rapid,
clear expression smoothed the difficulty out of their path if
possible, or pointed to future success as the result of patient
toil. He always brought out the best that was in a person, having
the rare quality of the union of perfect honesty with kind
consideration. This new blood in the old veins of literary life,
soon wrought a marvelous change in this class of literature. Mr.
Lothrop had been wise enough to see that such would be the case,
and he kept constantly on the lookout for all means that might
foster ambition and bring to the surface latent talent. For this
purpose he offered prizes of $1,000 and $500 for the best
manuscripts on certain subjects. Such a thing had scarcely been
heard of before and manuscripts flowed in, showing this to have
been a happy thought. It is interesting to look back and find many
of those young authors to be identical with names that are now
famous in art and literature, then presenting with much fear and
trembling, their first efforts.
Mr. Lothrop considered no time, money, or strength ill-spent by
which he could secure the wisest choice of manuscripts. As an
evidence of his success, we name a few out of his large list: 'Miss
Yonge's Histories;' 'Spare Minute Series,' most carefully edited
from Gladstone, George MacDonald, Dean Stanley, Thomas Hughes,
Charles Kingsley; 'Stories of American History;'' Lothrop's Library
of Entertaining History,' edited by Arthur Gilman, containing
Professor Harrison's 'Spain,' Mrs. Clement's 'Egypt,'
'Switzerland,' 'India,' etc.; 'Library of famous Americans, 1st and
2d series; George MacDonald's novels--Mr. Lothrop, while on a visit
to Europe, having secured the latest novels by this author in
manuscript, thus bringing them out in advance of any other
publisher in this country or abroad, now issues his entire works in
uniform style: 'Miss Yonge's Historical Stories;' 'Illustrated
Wonders;' The Pansy Books,' of world-wide circulation;' 'Natural
History Stories;' 'Poet's Homes Series;' S.G.W. Benjamin's
'American Artists;' 'The Reading Union Library,' 'Business Boy's
Library,' library edition of 'The Odyssey,' done in prose by
Butcher and Lang; 'Jowett's Thucydides;' 'Rosetti's Shakspeare,' on
which nothing has been spared to make it the most complete for
students and family use, and many others.
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