122 



occupied the chair, and gave an interesting geological ac- 

 count of "Ship Rock and its Surroundings." This was 

 the last meeting of the Institute which our friend at- 

 tended. His health, not good at that time, soon began 

 to fail more rapidly, and after a lingering illness of sev- 

 eral months, he died on the 7th of August, 18G5, at the 

 ago of fifty-three. He was a devoted pastor, a kind 

 friend, and an active member of the Institute. He had 

 given considerable attention to geological pursuits, and 

 during his residence of a few years in Rockport, was, if 

 necessary assiduous in making collections of the minerals 

 of that locality, and had just entered upon a series of ob- 

 servations and research that would have resulted in ex- 

 tending largely our knowledge of the geology of the 

 region, when summoned to his final rest. A biographical 

 and obituary sketch prepared by Rev. Mrs. P. A. Hana- 

 ford has been printed in the 7th volume of the Historical 

 Collections. 



It is meet that the Institute should occasionally visit 

 its property, the famous boulder known as "Ship Rock," 

 and hold a meeting in some convenient place near by. 

 This boulder came into the possession of the Institute 

 through the instrumentality of the late Dr. Andrew Nich- 

 ols, in November, 1847, who was desirous that the society 

 should be the owner and guardian of this interesting and 

 valuable specimen. The late Mr. Pickering Dodge of 

 Salem obtained by subscription among several of his 

 friends the requisite funds to purchase the rock and ad- 

 jacent land and to make some improvements, including 

 an iron ladder to aid in ascending to the summit, from 

 which an extensive view is obtained. This purchase was 

 made of Caleb Osborne, who obtained the property of 

 Amos Trask, Jr., June 27, 1831, being part of the dis- 

 tributive share in the real estate of his father, Joseph 



