History

Ebenezer Gay, 1696–1787

Ebenezer Gay was the third minister of Hingham's First Parish and was destined to serve there for sixty-nine years in that capacity, longer than any man before or since. He was born in Dedham in 1696, graduated from Harvard College in 1714, and was ordained in Hingham in 1718. He died on Sunday morning, March 8, 1787, while preparing for that day's church services; he was ninety-one years old. 

Gay was a liberal Congregationalist in theology but conservative in politics. It is an unlikely paradox that, during the 1700's, he kept the love and membership of his con­gregation while moving them from an inherited Calvinism into what became Unitarian rationalism. At the same time, he remained a wartime Loyalist while his congregation, for the most part, became wartime revolutionists. 

It is a measure of Gay's dignity, softened by compas­sion, that these seemingly incompatible circumstances were met and lived with without stridency or controversy.

Dr. Gay's grandson, Ebenezer II, and great-grandson, Ebenezer III, later became Trustees of Derby Academy, as did his great-granddaughter's husband, Dr. Robert T.P. Fiske.

Dr. Gay's homestead on North Street in Hingham was occupied by a descendent, Ebenezer Gay, who was Class of 1944 at Derby. His son, Eben, was Class of 1972.

Daniel Shute became the first minister of Hingham’s Third (now Second) Parish. He was born in Malden in 1722, graduated from Harvard in 1743, and was ordained in Hingham in 1746. His ministry at Second Parish lasted fifty-six years. Like the Rev. Gay, Shute was a liberal Congregationalist in theology, but unlike Gay, he followed the revolutionary cause in politics. In 1780, Shute was a delegate to the convention to frame a Constitution for the New State of Massachusetts, and in 1788 was a representative at the Massachusetts convention to ratify the Constitution of the United States. On this occasion, Shute actively debated against the proposed “religious test” clause for those holding office in the Federal government. 

Shute’s son, Daniel, who had served in the war as a surgeon in the Continental army, later became a Derby Trustee, as did his grandson, Daniel.

The Shute homestead, which is no longer in the family, is on the southeast corner of Main Street and South Pleasant Street in Hingham.

John Thaxter was born in Hingham in 1721, gradu­ated from Harvard in 1741, and died in 1802. Although he styled himself "farmer," he had served the town as constable Selectman, town treasurer, and representative to the General Court. He had been Colonel in a King's Service regiment before the war in which his first cousin, Benjamin Lincoln, had been his Lieut-Colonel. Thaxter's own opinions about the split with England are not known, but he did not take any part in the war.

His son, John Jr., became an original Trustee and his niece, Lucy Lane, became the school's first Preceptress.

The spacious Thaxter homestead is now the Hingham Community Center at the corner of South and Central Streets.

Benjamin Lincoln, 1732–1810

At the time Benjamin Lincoln was asked to become a Derby Trustee he was living at his family home in Hingham and operating a flour and grain mill doing business under the name of Benjamin Lincoln and Son.

But Benjamin Lincoln was not an ordinary miller. Before 1784, Lincoln had, at one time or another, been constable, selectman, and town clerk of Hingham, representative to the General Court, and representa­tive to the revolutionary Provincial Congress. He rose from Lieut-Colonel to Major General during the war, was badly wounded in battle, received Cornwallis' surrender sword at Yorktown, was chosen Secretary of War, and was elected the first President of the Society of the Cincinnati, a posi­tion he held until his death.

In 1784 he was appointed a commissioner to work out a treaty with the Penobscot people, a position he also held working with the Creek people and again with western tribes. He commanded the militia that suppressed Shay's rebellion, was elected Lieut-Governor of Massachusetts, was a member of the convention that ratified the Constitution of the United States, was appointed by President Washing­ton to be the first Collector of the Port of Boston, and was Commander of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Com­pany. Benjamin Lincoln never attended college. In 1780 Harvard awarded him an honorary M.A.

Lincoln was born in 1732 and later married Mary Cushing of Pembroke whose sister, Deborah, was the wife of Daniel Shute. Two of his sons were to become Derby Trustees; his daughter, Hannah, married Abner Lincoln, the first Preceptor, who was also a Trustee. Lincoln died in 1810.

William Cushing, 1732–1810

William Cushing was born in Scituate in 1732, gradu­ated from Harvard in 1751, and died in 1810. He was the first President of the Derby Trustees, a post he retained for Derby's crucial first twenty years. Like so many young college graduates of that time, ­Cushing taught school for one year after graduation, in his case at The Roxbury Latin School. After reading law and working within the judicial system in Boston, he went to Pownalborough in the district of Maine to handle Provincial affairs there. At that time, John Adams of Braintree was serving as a Circuit Court Judge 10 the District. In the early 1770s, Cushing returned to Boston where he was appointed Judge of the Superior Court, a position which had been held for many years by his father.

In 1775, when the careers of men in high places depended upon their loyalties, a revolutionary council of state took over the government of Massachusetts. Every member of the Judiciary was asked his decision. All but Cushing stepped down and declared their allegiance to the Crown. Cushing wavered. After much soul-searching he threw in his lot with the revolutionary government and was appointed a member of the new Supreme Judicial Court. Although Cushing's future was assured, John Adams noted his indecision and, from that time on, never fully trusted him.

John Adams was appointed Chief Justice of this Court but never took his seat, with Cushing acting in his stead until 1777, when Adams officially resigned. Cushing then became Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, a position he held for the following twelve years, and during which time he was appointed a Derby Trustee. Among other activities, Cushing was a member of the convention which framed the first state Constitution and had been Vice President of the convention in Massachusetts that ratified the Federal Constitution. When the United States Supreme Court was organized in 1789, Cushing was appointed an Associate Justice. Later, with Chief Justice John Jay spending most of his time in London working on the Jay Treaty, Cushing served as Acting Chief Justice. In 1796 when Jay resigned, President Washington appointed Cushing Chief Justice of the United States Sup­reme Court, a position he held for one week, resigning because of ill health, although he remained on the bench as an Associate Justice.

Although Cushing's homestead no longer exists, that portion of Route 3A running between Hingham and the North River is named Chief Justice Cushing Highway in his honor. A memorial tablet to honor him is located alongside the highway in Scituate.

Little is known of Trustee Nathan Cushing. His father, William Cushing's father, and the father of both Mary and Deborah Shute were first cousins. Nathan Cushing graduated with the Harvard Class of  1763 and became a Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. His daughter, Abigail, was to marry Dr. Cushing Otis, who later became a Derby Trustee. Nathan Cushing’s home was in Scituate.