The Rev. Increase Niles Tarbox (1815-1888) was a 19th century American theologian and author. He was the youngest child of Thomas and Lucy (Porter) Tarbox of East Windsor, Connecticut. Throughout childhood, tragedy was his constant companion. Raised by his older sister after his mother’s death in 1816, he was orphaned at the age of nine with his father’s passing. At this time, he was sent to live with an uncle in Vernon, Connecticut. At age fourteen tragedy stuck once again with his uncle’s death. Tarbox returned to East Windsor to live and work on a farm owned by Mr. John Bissell. He stayed with the Bissells until he turned eighteen and left to teach school in North Coventry Connecticut.
Tarbox left North Coventry in the spring of 1834 to attend the Academy of East Hartford in preparation for entrance to Yale College. He completed his studies at Yale in 1839 and then returned to the Academy of East Hartford where he taught until 1842. The faculty at Yale had great confidence in his superior academic achievement and elected him as tutor. He stayed on as tutor at Yale for two years while working on his Doctor of Divinity Degree.
In 1844, at age twenty-nine, Tarbox became the pastor at the Plymouth Congregational Church (previously known as the Hollis Evangelical Church) in Framingham, Massachusetts. Tarbox held this position for seven years and made quite a name for himself in the community.
With his even, friendly temperament, common sense, and pleasant manner he was embraced not only by his own congregation, but also by the greater Framingham community. He served on the Framingham School Committee. He was selected by the townsmen to chair the committee to build two high schools, one in the Centre Village and one in Saxonville. He was also a trustee for the Academy and for the Public Library. In 1848, Tarbox was chosen to deliver the address at the consecration of the Edgell Grove Cemetery. Despite theological differences, he aided the parishioners of the Unitarian Church when they were without a pastor. The ladies of the First Parish were so grateful for his assistance that they presented him with an inscribed silver pitcher in January 1848.
During his tenure in Framingham, he married Delia A. (Adelia Augusta) Waters of Millbury, Massachusetts. They made their home at 4 Warren Place in Framingham Centre where they raised their family. Of their four children, only two survived to adulthood.
Throughout his life, Tarbox was a writer. While at Yale, he contributed poems and articles to the Yale Literary Magazine and the New Englander. In 1849, Tarbox accepted the position of editor (one of three) for The Congregationalist, a new religious publication which supported the philosophy of Jonathan Edwards. He held this position for two years before moving on to head the American Education Society (later the American and College Education Society). The Society aided poor, young men who wanted to become ministers. At this time, he resigned as pastor of the Plymouth Church and as editor to The Congregationalist. The Tarbox family then moved from Framingham to West Newton to be closer to his new office. He held this position for thirty-three years. After his retirement from the Society, he went on to write for the New England Historic Genealogical Society. In 1881, he became the historiographer for the Society, a position he held until his death in 1888.
Tarbox also penned books for children. Many were published anonymously. His titles included The Story of Our Darling Nellie (1858, a fictionalized account of the short life of his daughter, Helen), the three volume Winne and Walter (1860), When I was a Boy: A Story of Real Life (1862), and the four-volume Uncle George Stories (1868).
The Rev. Tarbox died at his home in West Newton on May 3, 1888 after wintering in Kittrell, North Carolina where he came down with pneumonia. After a funeral service in West Newton, he was laid to rest on May 7, 1888 in the Edgell Grove Cemetery beside his wife, Delia, and two of their children.
Facts
Feb. 11, 1815- May 3, 1888
Children: Charles Porter, 1846-1849 (died in childhood); Susan Waters, 1849-1872; Mary Porter, 1851-1876; Helen Jane, 1854-1858 (died in childhood)
Siblings: Lydia Harriet Tarbox Brown, 1810 or 12-1864; Lucy W. Tarbox Haines, 1810 or 11-1888; Thomas B. Tarbox, 1806 -1816 (died at age 10 years); Benjamin P. Tarbox, 1804-1863; Octavia Tarbox, 1801-1804 (died in childhood)
Degrees: A.M. (Master of Arts) from Yale 1842; D.D. (Doctor of Divinity) 1844; S.T. D. (Doctor of Sacred Theology) from Yale 1869; S.T. D. from Iowa College 1869
Further Reading
“Online books by Increase N. Tarbox.” Online Books Page. Ockerbloom, John Mark, editor. c1999-2018. http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=TarboxIncreaseNIncreaseNiles1815-1888
Bibliography
Dexter, Henry Martyn. Sketch of the Life of Increase Niles Tarbox. Boston: David Clapp & Son, Printers, 1890. Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?id=0VwEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=increase+niles+tarbox&source=bl&ots=qgeFQpNKr9&sig=nzeVeXnUKVxmhvPtOal3cdrOOBU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwixlJCgzqPcAhWxmeAKHZaqDLIQ6AEIQTAH#v=onepage&q=increasenilestarbox&f=false Accessed 16 July 2018.
Johnson, Deidre. “Increase Niles Tarbox.” 19th-Century Girls’ Series. c2017. http://www.readseries.com/auth-oz/tarbox-bio.html. Accessed 16 July 2018.
“Rev. Increase Niles Tarbox.” Memorial no. 150509369. Find A Grave. 11 Aug. 2015. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150509369/increase-niles-tarbox Accessed 15 July 2018.
Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University: Deceased during the Academical Year ending in June 1888. Tuttle, Morehouse, & Taylor Printers, 1888. Yale University Library, Manuscripts and Archives. http://mssa.library.yale.edu/obituary_record/1859_1924/1887-88.pdf Accessed 8 Aug. 2018.