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William Ladd, Sometime of Minot, Maine:
THE APOSTLE OF PEACE 1778-1841
By George C. Wing, Jr.
Printed in Sprague's Journal of Maine History
Vol. XI. APRIL, MAY, JUNE
Courtesy of the Androscoggin Historical Society
In these days of ardent hope for world peace, when the minds of thoughtful
men and women are much concerned with a League of Nations, conferences
between nations for the reduction of armaments and the payment of national
debts, when the Hague Tribunal is an accomplished fact, it is pleasant
and most satisfying to recall William Ladd and his life in the Town
of Minot, Maine, and his efforts to prevent war and to obtain the consummation
of peace.
William Ladd was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, May 10, 1778, the oldest
son of Eliphalet Ladd and Abigail Hall Ladd. He fitted for college in
the Academy at Exeter, entered Harvard in 1793, and there graduated
in 1798. Eliphalet Ladd moved to Portsmouth about 1795, and in that
city became an eminent and successful merchant. In 1797, William Ladd
sailed as a common sailor in one of his father's vessels and visited
London and other parts of Europe. At twenty years of age he was in command
of a ship. He followed the sea until about 1800. His title Captain was
thus earned and deserved. When he was twenty-one years old he married
in England, Sophia Ann Augusta Stidolph of London.
After leaving the sea Capt. Ladd lived for a few months in Savannah,
Georgia, where he occupied himself as a merchant. From Savannah, he
moved to Florida, where on a cotton plantation he undertook the abolition
of negro slavery by the introduction of free labor in the persons of
European emigrants.
In this he was a failure and he lost most of his property. In 1806,
the father, Eliphalet Ladd, died, and William returned to Portsmouth
and to the sea, which he followed until the War of 1812 made such an
occupation undesirable.
In June, 1814, as he himself records in his Annals of Bakerstown, "William
Ladd moved from Portsmouth to Minot" and the hill-top where he made
his home and built his mansion house, dreamed of peace, conceived the
idea of a Congress of Nations, as set forth in his Essay on a Congress
of Nations, and justly earned the title with which his memory is yet
honored, "The Apostle of Peace." The Cumberland County Registry of Deeds
shows in 1813 that Capt. Ladd bought of James Jewett of New Durham,
New Hampshire, "The New Farm" in the town of Minot. For this he paid
$7,750. In addition to "The New Farm" he bought other lands until he
possessed more than 600 acres. To house his herds and crops he had six
large barns. He employed many hands and his farming operations were
most extensive and conducted on scientific lines. That his interest
among his neighbors was not confined to selfish ends alone is evidenced
by the fact that he was a stockholder in the first shoe manufacturing
company organized in Minot, now Auburn, January 2, 1835. On July 4,
1814, he delivered at Minot, an oration, in the closing sentences of
which occur these ringing words, "religion, virtue and knowledge shall
rule and the Empire of Peace shall be established." In 1816, with Seth
Chandler, he was sent as a representative to the General Court and September
16 of that year he attended the convention at Brunswick to form a constitution
if there should be five-ninths of the voters of Maine in favor of a
separation. In July 20, 1817, he joined the Second Congregational Church
of Minot, and in 1837 he was licensed to preach the Gospel of Peace.
In 1819, when Capt. Ladd was forty-one years old, he saw the Reverend
Jesse Appleton, President of Bowdoin College. Hemenway, his biographer,
quotes William Ladd as saying: "I had the privilege of witnessing some
of the last hours of the Rev. Jesse Appleton, D.D., President of Bowdoin
College.
In his joyful anticipations of the growing improvement of the world,
and the enumeration of the benevolent societies of the day, he gave
a prominent place to Peace Societies; and this was almost the first
time I ever heard of them. The idea then passed over my mind as the
day-dream of benevolence; and so every one views the subject, who does
not examine it. It is probable that the impressions made at this interview
first turned my attention to the subject, but it probably would soon
have escaped from me, had not the Solemn Review, which came soon after
into my possession, in a very singular way, riveted my attention in
such a manner as to make it the principal object of my life to promote
the cause of Peace on earth and good-will to man."
The origin of Peace Societies may be traced to the publication in 1809
of a tract entitled, "The Mediator's Kingdom, not of this world, but
Spiritual," by David Low Dodge, a citizen and merchant of New York City.
These societies were an organized religious movement as a protest against
war as inconsistent with the teachings of the New Testament. "In 1815,
the following Peace Societies were created in the United States: The
New York Peace Society, the first of its kind, organized as has been
seen by Mr. David Low Dodge in August; the Ohio Peace Society, founded
on December 2nd; the Massachusetts Society founded December 26th, by
the Reverend Noah Worcester, D.D., author of the tract entitled 'A Solemn
Review of the Custom of War,' which appears to have converted Mr. Ladd
to the ways of peace."
William Ladd began his first series of Essays on Peace and War, thirty-two
in number, in the Christian Mirror at Portland, Maine, July, 1823. In
1825, these essays were collected and published in a volume. In 1825,
he wrote a review of Commodore Porter's "Journal of a Voyage in the
Pacific Ocean in the United States Frigate, Essex," in which he criticized
the "War Trade" as well as the "Slave Trade."
This same year in these articles in the Christian Mirror he disapproved
the erection of the Bunker Hill Monument on the ground that future generations
will look upon the column as a "monument of the barbarism and anti-Christian
spirit of our age."
In 1827, appeared another volume of essays begun in 1825, thirty-seven
in all. July 4, 1825, he addressed the Peace Society of Oxford County
at Sumner. In December, 1825, he addressed the Massachusetts Peace Society
and February, 1824, he spoke before the Peace Society of Maine. Both
of these addresses were reprinted in London. July 4, 1826, he delivered
an oration at Exeter, New Hampshire, in which his favorite note of peace
predominated. The American Peace Society was formed in 1828. William
Ladd was its first president.
Its first meeting was held in New York City, May 8, 1828, and in that
month and year Mr. Ladd issued the first number of a "Harbinger of Peace."
This paper was issued monthly and had a circulation of about 1500 numbers.
The "Calumet" took the place of the "Harbinger of Peace" in 1831, and
continued four years. The latter publication appeared every two months.
The writing and editorial work of these papers was done by William Ladd
on the Minot hill-top where he made his home and had his study. In 1830,
he wrote a tract published by the Minot Peace Society, "Reflections
on War," and between 1829 and 1832 he wrote the following books on peace
for the improvement of young people: "The Sword or Christmas Presents,"
"Howard and Napoleon Contrasted," "The French* Introduction "An Essay
on a Congress of Nations," Carnegie Endowment for International Peace,
James Scott Brown, Soldier," "History of Alexander the Great."
In 1831, Mr. Ladd published a dissertation on a Congress of Nations
in the Harbinger of Peace. This also appeared in pamphlet. This was
according to Hemenway, his biographer, the first work on a Congress
of Nations ever printed in America. In 1834 appeared his "Solemn Appeal
to Christians in Favor of Peace," and in 1835 he issued his work on
"The Duty of Woman to Promote the Cause of Peace." In 1836-7 he published
in the Christian Mirror twenty-two essays entitled "Obstacles and Objections
to the Cause of Peace." The essays afterward appeared in book form.
In 1837 the Constitution of the American Peace Society was revised and
the stand taken that all war is contrary to Gospel. This was in accordance
with William Ladd's idea and in the controversy which arose over the
amendment he was opposed by President Allen of Bowdoin College. In 1837
appeared nine articles in the Christian Mirror addressed to ministers
in which he sought to awaken and instruct them in their duty as to the
Cause of Peace. In November, 1837, occurred the death of Elijah Lovejoy
at Alton, Illinois, while defending his printing press against a mob.
Ladd took the ground that Lovejoy was not a martyr, that he did anything
but right in resorting to violence, that his conscience would not permit
him to say Lovejoy died like a Christian and justified his stand by
ample quotations from the teachings and words of the Saviour. In 1839
occurred the so-called Aroostook War. Ladd called attention to the fact
that the situation showed the want of a competent tribunal to settle
the disputes between Nations.
In 1840 appeared the prize essays on a Congress of Nations, together
with a sixth essay. The American Peace Society offered a prize of $1000
for the best essay on a Congress of Nations. The committee, Joseph Story,
William Wirt and John C. Calhoun could not agree as to the best effort.
Another committee, John Quincy Adams, James Kent and Daniel Webster
were selected and they could not agree. The Peace Society then concluded
to accept the proposal of the first committee to publish five of the
best essays. To these five, Mr. Ladd, at the request of-the Peace Society,
wrote and added a sixth essay, which was printed and bound with the
five prize essays. This volume was distributed among distinguished persons
in Europe and America. It is this essay which is William Ladd's greatest
claim for enduring fame. It was written at his home in Minot. In it
he gave a new idea to the law of international relations which found
expression in the great Peace Congress at Brussels, Paris, London and
the Hague. In his Advertisement to his Essay on a Congress of Nations,
William Ladd says: "In reading over these Essays, I noted down every
thought worth preserving; and I present them here in a body, with such
reflections, additions and historical facts as occurred to me during
my labor; so that my claim to originality, in this production, rests
much on the thought of separating the subject into two distinct parts,
viz: 1st. A congress of ambassadors from all those Christian and civilized
nations who should choose to send them, for the purpose of settling
the principles of international law by compact and agreement, of the
nature of a mutual treaty, and also of devising and promoting plans
for the preservation of peace, meliorating the condition of man. 2nd.
A court of nations, composed of the most able civilians in the world,
to arbitrate or judge such cases as should be brought before it, by
the mutual consent of two or more contending nations: thus dividing
entirely the diplomatic from the judicial functions, which require such
different, not to say opposite, characters in the exercise of their
functions. I consider the Congress as the legislature, and the Court
as the judiciary, in the government of nations, leaving the functions
of the executive with public opinion, "the queen of the world." This
division I have never seen in any essay, or plan for a congress or diet
of independent nations, either ancient or modern; and I believe it will
obviate all the objections which have been heretofore made to such a
plan."
In 1840 and 1841, Capt. Ladd lectured on his favorite topic in Albany
and Troy, New York, Worcester, Massachusetts, Auburn, New York, Rochester,
and other places in western Massachusetts and New York. It is recorded
that in some instances he was unable to stand, but addressed his audiences
on his knees. In April, 1841, he left New York for his home in Minot.
He reached Portsmouth the 9th of that month. As he retired his wife
said, "now let us kneel down and thank God that you are safe returned."
They knelt and prayed. On lying down he felt the approach of death,
but before help could be called he passed beyond. He lies buried in
Portsmouth, and on his tomb appears:
Born May 10, 1778
Died April 9, 1841
Blessed are the Peace Makers for they shall be called the Children of
God.
Erected by the American Peace Society
Such were the activities of William Ladd, the Apostle of Peace, and
during the years which he gave so much to the cause of peace, he also
found time to carry on his large farm at Minot. He improved the general
conduct of agriculture in the neighborhood, he planted orchards, he
moved among his neighbors, respected and much liked. He contributed
to every good cause. He became an advocate of temperance. He lectured
to his fellow-townsmen on that subject. What he preached he practised.
No account of William Ladd would be complete without mention of the
rugged man who was his pastor and friend, Elijah Jones, who became pastor
of the church at Minot in 1823, and there continued for more than fifty
years. To this man must be attributed the Christian, if that term may
be used, touch of all of William Ladd's writings, for it must have been
noted from the foregoing that William Ladd's conception of Peace was
of a religious origin.
This is most clearly seen in his treatment of the Lovejoy episode. The
idea of a Christian Peace permeates his great essay on a Congress of
Nations. The homestead of William Ladd at Center Minot is now in the
hands of strangers. The elegance of his mansion house is no more. The
white church in which he worshiped yet graces the Minot hill-top, and
nearby in the churchyard sleeps Elijah Jones. But the idea that William
Ladd gave to the world in his great essay yet lives and grows greater
and more sublime as men of our day seek a World Peace under its benign
and simple doctrine, and as it becomes more and more evident that the
better ordering of the world lies in a Congress of Nations and a World
Court.
Among Maine men who have a claim to fame, none have a greater and sounder
cause for respectful memory than William Ladd of Minot, "The Apostle
of Peace."
Authorities The Apostle of Peace.
Memoir of William Ladd by John Hemenway with an introduction by Elihu
Burritt, 1872. Captain William Ladd -The Apostle of Peace, by John Witham
Penney-Collections and Proceedings of the Maine Historical Society,
April, 1899, Second Series, Vol. 10, Page 113.
Prize Essays on a Congress of Nations, together with a Sixth Essay.
1840.
An Essay on a Congress of Nations by William Ladd. Reprinted from the
original edition of 1840 with an introduction by James Brown Scott-Carnegie
Endowment for Interna- tional Peace. 1916.
An Oration pronounced at Minot, Maine, on the Fourth day of July, 1814,
by William Ladd.
Annals of Bakerstown, by William Ladd, Vol. 2 (First Series). Collections
of Maine Historical Society, Page 111.
GRAVE OF WILLIAM LADD Portsmouth, N.H-1897
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Address:
Veterans For Peace
William Ladd Chapter
PO Box 274
Freeport, ME 04032-0274
e-mail:
boblezervfp@suscom-maine.net
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