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A prominent citizen of Worcester, Edward Dillingham Bangs was an
early
member of the American Antiquarian Society, elected in 1819 and
serving
as councillor until his death. He studied law with his father,
Judge Edward
Bangs (1756-1818), and was himself admitted to the bar in 1813. He
practiced
law in Worcester and served as editor of the National Aegis, a
newspaper
published in Worcester under this name from 1801-1057.(1) He was
an ardent
Jeffersonian Republican and wrote political editorials for several
local
anti-Federalist newspapers. His interest in politics and support
of the
Republican Party led to his appointment as Secretary of the
Commonwealth
of Massachusetts in 1824, necessitating a move from Worcester to
Boston.
He was awarded an honorary A.M. from Harvard College in 1827.
Copies of Bangs's speeches and many of his personal papers are
housed
at the American Antiquarian Society, among them his diary and
correspondence
from his eleven years as Secretary of the Commonwealth.(2) His
personal
library was dispersed after his death, but several volumes in the
Society's
collection still bear his bookplate, including William Charles
White's
play Orlando, Or Parental Persecution (1797), and Thomas Jefferson
Randolph's
Memoir, Correspondence and Miscellanies From the Papers of Thomas
Jefferson
(1830). His AAS obituary published at his death noted his
contributions:
'Edward D. Bangs, Esq., one of the founders in the laborious
arrangements
following its organization, always devoted to the promotion of its
objects,
was lately an active and useful member of the board.'(3)
Bangs was a young professional when he commissioned this
portrait. In
his diary he recorded on October 3, 1827, 'Commenced sitting to
Harding
for my picture.'(4) Chester Harding, who had returned from Europe
the
previous year, set up a studio at 22 School Street in Boston and
was quickly
becoming the most fashionable portrait painter in the city. In
October
he completed a well-received portrait of President John Quincy
Adams;
it is logical that Bangs, himself an important state official,
would choose
Harding to paint his own portrait. Bangs's likeness was described
as good
and, when compared to a written description of Bangs seems to
capture
the man accurately: 'He...was a plain man, rather below middle
stature,
stout, thick-set, with sallow complexion, eyes slightly
protruding, rather
heavy and with an expression of sadness.'(5)
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1) Gregory, Winifred, American Newspapers 1821-1936 (New
York, 1937).
2) See Bangs Family Papers, 1760-1866, American
Antiquarian Society Manuscript
Collection.
3) Levi Lincoln, Reminiscences of the Original Associates of
the Worcester
Fire Society (Worcester: Edward R. Fiske, 1862), 28.
4) Edward D. Bangs, Diary and Memoranda Book, October 3,
1827, Bangs Family
Papers.
5) Lincoln, Reminiscences of the Original Associates of
the Worcester Fire
Society, 28.
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