Washington Frothingham’s useful life - Focus on History |
Frothingham Free Library at 28 W. Main St. in Fonda is named for a local man who was a writer and a minister.
The Rev. Washington Frothingham was born in 1822 in East Fonda and died at his home in Fonda in 1914 at age 92. He left money in his will to help establish a library, reading room and billiard room.
Frothingham had a “useful career,” according to stories about his death in numerous newspapers. Dubbed the dean of American journalism, he was a syndicated columnist, book author, historian, philanthropist and clergyman.
Frothingham’s family (he was the third of 10 children) moved from Fonda to Johnstown when he was a young child. Frothingham’s mother was a niece of author Washington Irving and his father was a New York State judge. Frothingham wanted to be a writer but to please his father and help the family, he moved to New York City and worked in a Broadway store.........