Diman, Henry Wight, 1835-1884.

Henry Wight Diman (HWD) was born in Bristol, Rhode Island on April 2, 1835. The Dimans were an old and respected family in Bristol, with antecedents stretching back to 1730 and the arrival of Jeremiah Diman from Easthampton, Long Island. (The Rhode Island Historical Society has a collection of correspondence and diaries from members of the Diman Family, including some papers related to Henry Wight Diman.) Henry’s father, Byron, a prominent member of the Whig party, served as a state senator, and as Rhode Island’s Lieutenant Governor between 1840 and 1842, and 1843 and 1846. In 1846 he successfully campaigned for the Rhode Island governorship, and served in that capacity until 1847. Given this environment, politics was an integral part of Henry’s life, and a fertile source of material for his journals. As the son of a loyal Whig, the Democrats were a frequent target of Henry’s fulminations. Especially repugnant to his sensibilities were the Locofocos, a radical wing of that party organized in New York City in 1835. The name Locofoco derives from the eponymous self - igniting friction matches. The term was coined following an incident in New York wherein the radicals used locofocos to light candles to thwart an attempt by Tammany Hall loyalists to end a nominating convention by turning off the gas lights. Despite Henry’s interest in politics he did not fully embrace elected office, and confined his office holding to brief service in the state legislature.

Diman attended Brown University from 1851 to 1854, leaving without taking a degree. By his own admission he was not a diligent student. He thoroughly enjoyed the social scene while in college, and recalled with special fondness the times spent at Switzer’s Beer Garden, drinking lager and smoking seegars, and sailing and socializing with classmates. This penchant for the social whirl and distraction was a marked contrast to the behavior of his older brother J. Lewis Diman (1831-1881). J. Lewis graduated from Brown in 1851. He established himself as a respected Congregational clergyman, and later became a professor of History and Political Economy at his alma mater. His lectures, orations and essays were collected in two books published posthumously. In addition, his intellectual and teaching acumen brought offers of professorships at Harvard and Princeton, and the presidencies of the Universities of Vermont and Wisconsin. The level of respect he achieved among his peers is reflected in a 363 page tome edited by Caroline Hazard entitled Memoirs of Rev. J. Lewis Diman, D.D. His Letters, Journals and Writings, and the Recollections of his Friends. Although he never sought ordination, J. Lewis’s son, John Byron, (1863-1949) also completed his studies for the ministry, albeit in the Episcopal Church. Like his father, John Byron found his true calling in education. He is credited with the founding of 3 schools. The first two were the St. George's School of Newport, Rhode Island (1901), and an experimental manual training center in Fall River, Massachusetts (1912). Following a long period of reflection he entered the Roman Catholic clergy, and was ordained on December 16, 1917. As a member of the Benedictine Order, Father Hugh- the name Diman assumed upon entering the order- later founded and served as administrative head of the Portsmouth Priory School (1926) now known as the Portsmouth Abbey School.

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