93 



1767. He warmly espoused the cause of his country, 

 imbibing deeply the principles of the American Revolu- 

 tion, and, in 1777, entered the army as chaplain and con- 

 tinued until the close of the war. On the 1st of Oct., 

 1783, he was installed over the Benevolent Congregational 

 Society in Providence, R. I., his connection with the 

 church in Beverly' having been amicably dissolved in 

 1780. Soon after he was elected into the Fellowship of 

 Rhode Island College and for many years was one of its 

 most enlightened and efficient directors. He was a good 

 preacher, a learned divine, a man of active benevolence 

 and deeply interested in the cause of popular education. 

 He early turned his attention to the establishment of pub- 

 lic schools for the instruction of the children of the poor, 

 as well as those of the wealthy, visited these school fre- 

 quently and made such suggestions as tended to aid the 

 efforts of the teachers and at the same time to awaken 

 the energies of the pupils. He also addressed parents 

 and others on the importance of education and published 

 several books that were replete with useful information 

 on this subject and highly esteemed. He died at Provi- 

 dence, Feb. 27, 1803, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. 



REV. DANIEL OLIVER 



the third minister, ordained Oct. 3, 1787 ; the pulpit, 

 since the retirement of Mr. Hitchcock, having been tem- 

 porarily supplied by several persons. Mr. Oliver was 

 the son of Nathaniel and Mercy (Wendell) Oliver, and 

 father of Gen. H. K. Oliver of Salem. He was born at 

 Chelsea, April 4, 1753, and graduated at Dartmouth 

 College in 178.'). He dissolved his connection with this 

 church in August, 1797, and was for several years engaged 

 as a missionary to the Indians in the Genesee River coun- 

 try and in the Eastern parts of Maine. He died at Rox- 



