Ezekiel Cheever

Ezekiel Cheever (1614–1708) was a schoolmaster, and the author of "probably the earliest American school book", Accidence, A Short Introduction to the Latin Tongue.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Upon his death, it was said that "New England [had] never known a better teacher."<ref name="bls.org">ABOUT BLS – History (375 Years) – Reflections on Alma Mater Template:Webarchive, accessed July 15, 2011</ref> He has been called "the chief representative of the colonial schoolmaster".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Biography

Cheever came to Boston, Massachusetts in June 1637. Not much later, he went to New Haven, Connecticut and taught school.<ref name="cheever"/> In 1650, Cheever moved the family back to Massachusetts. On December 29, 1670, he was invited to become Head Master of the Boston Latin School.<ref name="bls.org"/> He taught for seventy years, the last thirty-eight as master of the Boston Latin School.<ref name="bartleby.com">The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21) – VOLUME XVII. Later National Literature, Part II – XXIII. Education. – § 10. Ezekiel Cheever, accessed July 15, 2011</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Gould, Elizabeth Porter. Ezekiel Cheever, Schoolmaster, 1872.</ref> Cotton Mather gave the eulogy at his funeral.<ref name="cheever">Hassam, JT (1879) Ezekiel Cheever and some of his descendants, David Clapp & Son (via google.com)</ref> In it Mather praised Cheever for his "untiring abjuration of the devil."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Family

In 1638, Cheever married Mary Culverwell, his first wife. She was the daughter of Ezekiel Culverwell, niece of Nathaniel Culverwell and cousin of William Gouge. Ezekiel and Mary had six children. Their daughter, Elizabeth, was grandmother of Ezekiel Goldthwait.<ref>John Singleton Copley portrait, Ezekiel Goldthwait, 1771</ref> Their son, Rev Samuel, graduated from Harvard in 1659. Mary died on January 20, 1649.

On November 18, 1652, Ezekiel married Ellen Lathrop who was the sister of Capt Thomas Lathrop, a casualty during King Philip's War.<ref name="cheever"/><ref>Perley, Sidney (1924) 'The History of Salem, Massachusetts' (V I, P283 @virginia.edu)</ref> Ezekiel and Ellen had five children. Their son, Rev Thomas, graduated from Harvard in 1677. Their son, Ezekiel Cheever, was a resident at Salem Village during the time of the Witch Trials.

Ezekiel was an ancestor of author John Cheever.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Legacy

• Ezekiel Cheever School was named in his honor.

References

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External links

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