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DENISON
INSCRIPTIONS, HIGH ST. YARD.
The
Grave of Gen. Denison is covered by a heavy red slab. The inscription is
obliterated but was legible sixty years ago, and is partly remembered by aged
people. The sculptured ornamental, corner is
just tracable. The Coat-of-Arms has been carried away. The inscription was
something like the following:
Here Lyes
The Worshipful Major-General
DANIEL DENISON,
who deceased
Sept. 20, 1682,
in
ye 70th yr of his age.
Not
far from the grave of Denison is a slate stone in memory of his only
daughter:—Here Lyes Interred ye Body of Mrs ElizaBeth Rogers, Relict of Mr
John Rogers, (sometime) Presedent of Harvard Colledge, and Daughter of Major
General Daniel Denison of Ipswich who Decd July the 13th 1723 in ye 82nd year of
her age.
The
husband of Mrs. Rogers was buried in Cambridge, and we copy the following
translation of his Latin epitaph: “To this mound of earth is committed a
treasury of benevolence, a store house of theologic learning, a library of the
choicest literature, a living system of medicine, an embodiment of integrity, a
repository of faith, a pattern of christian sympathy, a garner of all virtues;
in other words, the mortal remains of the Very Reverend John Rogers, son of the
Very Learned Nathaniel Rogers of Ipswich in New England, grandson of Mr. Rogers
of Dedham in Old England, whose name is lustrious in all the world. He was a
favorite and deservedly admired President of Harvard College. His immortal part
was borne away from us July 20th, 1684, in the 54th year of his age. His very
dust is dear, ‘tis all we have.”
A
few feet from Gen. Denison’s grave is a monument to the memory of his
great-grandson, Col. John Denison:
Huic
Tumulo mandatur quod erat mortale
D
JOHANNIS DENIS0N, Armigeri,
Tribuni
Militum Vicarii,
Et
de Comitatu Essexiae Vice-comitis,
Illustrissimi
DANIELIS DENISON, Armig.
Milltaris
quondam Præfecti Provincialis,
Et
non minus Illustris RICHARDI SALTONSTAL, Armig.
Gubernatori
olim a Consiliis.
(Quorum
utroque gaudebat Nova-Anglia
Patre
ac Patrono semper memorando)
Pronepotis
non lndigni:
Quippe
qui
In
Collegio Harvardino Iiberaliter educatus,
Judicii
acumine Singulari dotatus,
Jurisprudentiam
non vulgarem adeptus,
Æquanimitate
haud æquiparanda præditus,
Moribus
Socialibus et Christianis Pollens,
Reipublicae
Ornamento fuit
Et
Fulcimento,
Dumque
viveret bonis omnibus
Non
immerito dilectus
Et
cum Animam efflaret, 25o Nov. 1724,
Ætat.
35o
Non
mediocriter defletus.
Famam
reliquit Unguento optimo meliorem.
Translation.
Here
rests the mortal part of Lieut. Col. Mr. John Denison, Esq., Sheriff of Essex
County; great-grandson of the most illustrious Daniel Denison, Esq., late
Major-General in the Province; and also of the not less illustrious Richard
Saltonstall, Esq., formerly one of the Governor’s Council, (in each of whom,
as in a father and champion ever to be remembered, New England used to delight,)
a descendant not unworthy of his ancestry; having been liberally educated in
Harvard College, endowed with extraordinary acuteness of judgment, remarkably
skilled in jurisprudence, gifted with unequalled steadiness of mind, mighty by
his social and christian character, an ornament and pillar to the state; while
he lived, deservedly beloved by all good men, and at his death, Nov. 25th, 1724,
in the 34th year of his age, lamented in no common degree.
He left a memory more precious than the most fragrant ointment.
Mrs.
Mary (Leverett) Denison, married (2) the Rev’d Nathaniel Rogers, and resided
in the house known to. the present generation as the residence of the late
Nath’l Lord, jr., Register of Probate. This house was built in 1728. “Here
Lyes ye Body of Mrs. Mary Rogers, ye Excellent Consort to ye Rev’d Mr.
Nathaniel Rogers, and Daug’r of the Hon’bl and Rev’d Mr. John Leverett,
Esq., who died June ye 25th, 1757, Ætatis 55.”
By
the side of Col. John Denison, rests his only son, who was the last of the
Major-General’s descendants in Ipswich, who bore the surname—Denison. His
gravestone bears the Family Arms, and the following: “In Memory of John
Denison, A. M. only son of Col. John Denison: grandson of a minister of the same
name & a descendant from the renowned Major General Daniel Denison. An
amiable young man & worthy of his ancestors. His genius learning & engaging
manners spoke him the future joy & ornament of his native town. But heaven
meant otherwise. He died in his 25th year on the 25th of August, 1747. He cometh
forth like a flower & is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow and continueth
not.