Person:Urian Oakes (1)

"3. Urian (Oakes), s. of Edward (1), grad. H. C. 1649, went to England and was minister at Titchfield until he was silenced in 1662, by the Act of Uniformity. On invitation of the Church, communicated by a special messenger, he returned, and was installed here 8 Nov. 1671. He was elected President of Harvard College 1675, but declined the appointment; he acted, however, as President pro tempore, until 2 Feb. 1680, when he was fully inducted into office. He continued to perform the duties of President and Pastor (having an assistant in the latter office) until his life was suddenly terminated by fever 25 July 1681. His w. d. in England 1669, about two years before his return hither. His children were all born there, and consequently no record of them is found here. He had a son Edward, who was a joint administrator on his estate; he was prob. the same who grad. H. C. 1679, and preached for a short time at Branford and New London, but d. before 1698; Urian, grad. H. C. 1678, and d. 13 June 1679, 'at 22 years of age, after almost two years' languishing by a consumption;' and Laurence, styled B. A., though his name does not appear on the Catalogue, who d. 13 June 1679, a. 18, was probably son of Rev. Urian Oakes; perhaps he had completed his studies, but was cut off by death shortly before the Commencement; he had certainly been in Camb. a considerable time; for he gave a deposition concerning Indian troubles 1 Oct. 1677, in which he is described as about fifteen years of age. Hannah, who m. Rev. Samuel Angier 2 Sept. 1680, and d. 15 Aug. 1714, a. 55, was buried here, and her epitaph describes her as 'daughter of the Rev. Mr. Urian Oakes, sometime President of Harvard College and Pastor of Cambridge.' Judge Sewall in noticing her death calls her the 'only surviving: child' of her father."

"Urian (Oakes), Cambridge, s. of the first Edward, b. in Eng. a. 1631 or 2, pub. an Almanac for 1650, went home, and obt. a situat. in the ch. the fine liv. of Titchfield, in Hants, 78 miles from London, m. as is said, Ruth, d. of famous William Ames, aft. eject. in 1662, and his w. d. 1669, he came again to C. but not bef. 1671, and was install. 8 Nov. 1671, to fill the place of matchless Mitchell, freem. 1672, and in Apr. 1675, chos. presid. of the coll. as success. to Dr. Hoar. How to construe the dark sayings of Cotton Mather in Book IV. 129 of the Magn. without indulg. of some suspicion against O. puzzled the late Presid. Quincy in his great Hist. of the Univ. and when we rememb. that a very short interval aft. the d. of Oakes, the greater Mather was call. to stand in his place, and that the lesser Mather was under Hoar and Oakes at the time of their academic. rule, we may suppose that the oracle was, as often happened, ambiguously inspired. Some tenderness may, however, be yield. to the Ecclesiast. Histor. for he did not feel as if call by a Ct. of justice, under oath, to tell the whole truth. Silence was safety to hims. and superiors. What the learned s. of Increase meant by his phrase, about new election, 2 Feb. 1680, is of little consequence, for the presid. d. 25 July 1681, under 50 yrs. of age. Some obscurity also attaches to our kn. of his fam. Prob. he m. in Eng. and there. had ch. two, three, four, or more; but when b. who was the mo. how many were brot. over the ocean, whether his w. d. bef. or aft. are unansw. questions. That his d. Hannah m. 2 Sept. 1680, Rev. Samuel Angier, and was his only d. seems clear; but the town rec. helps to incr. our vexation, as it tells the d. of Lawrence O. bachelor of arts, 13 June 1679, aged 18, and of Urian O. 3 Nov. foll. for we kn. there was no such bach. and are left to conject. that the honora. title belongs to Urian, H. C. 1678, who d. at 22 yrs. that Lawrence was an undergrad. and that both were s. of the presid. Of the gr. of 1679, Edward, too, doubts on more than one point would at this late day be not easy of solution."